The best way to summarize this entire review is to say that Apple’s MacBook Air is the best $1900 Netbook I’ve ever owned. Apple has managed to create a notebook that can go anywhere, do anything and satisfy 90% of my needs in such a small package that it makes me wonder what took me so long to get one. Yes, there are caveats but I’m the happiest Mac user ever with The MacBook Air.
I was at Macworld San Francisco in January of 2008 when Apple’s MacBook Air was released. At the time, I was using a 2.33Ghz MacBook Pro 15″ and would soon be upgrading to a 2.6Ghz Model. This was pre-unibody so many of the construction & material decisions of the Air were new and cutting edge. Apple’s notebook line didn’t see the black keyboard and unibody construction until October (7 months later) so yes there was a bit of drooling going on but the 1.8Ghz processor w/ 64GB SSD for a whopping $3100 was just too much for a middle-class income person to buy.
My opinion didn’t change until June’s WWDC Keynote when Phil Schiller announced the Air would receive a CPU bump to 2.13Ghz w/ NVIDIA’s 9400 GPU (The same as the MacBook Pro has) w/ a 128GB SSD and for only $1799. One year and five months later, the MacBook Air received a healthy CPU boost, improved GPU and storage and over $1300 price drop. I was ecsatic but wasn’t ready to buy just yet.
Since January of 2009, I was convinced that a netbook was in my future. Windows doesn’t bother me and I as feverishly trying to find a netbook that fit my needs when I was away from my desk or traveling. Honestly, I would spec out a slew of netbooks once a week and always be dissapointed. My dream netbook cost somewhere around $800 with a 10″ screen, 1.6Ghz ATOM processor and 2Gbs of ram. These netbooks were all the same with slightly different form factors and all of them came loaded with Windows XP. My thought was that I should just wait for Windows 7 and NVIDIA’s next gen low-power chipsets but the MacBook Air kept calling me.
MacBook Air could run all of my favorite shareware apps, open all of my iWork documents, sync between my other Mac seamlessly and was thinner and lighter than most netbooks with a much larger screen. Yes the mental tension was high but it wasn’t until I purchased the 17″ MacBook Pro (June ’09 version) that I craved the Air even more! That’s right, the unibody 17″ Pro is too thick and too sharp on the edges for extended use. It was great when plugged into my external monitor at work and it was great at home where it was, once again, plugged in to my 30″ Dell LCD. the problem arose when I decided to travel or simply work from a coffee shop that day. Only one hour after I started working, the pain in my wrists from the sharp edges would begin to cause pain and soon my hands were falling asleep and in an 8 hour writing session for my book, my wrists started to bleed like I had been cutting myself. The construction of the unibody macs are simply awesome but for long periods of time, I honestly can’t use them.
The MacBook Air is extremely thin at the front (only .18″) which means my wrists sit on it for hours and hours and I don’t even know the air has a front piece. Basically it’s non-existent and I write for hours without a hitch and yes I love it. The MacBook air is the utlimate portable Mac for typing. If you type a lot or you’re starting your next book, get a cheap, used MacBook Air because it will change your life.
Another thing I realized about the Air is that it does most of the things that most users need most of the time. I know that sounds confusing but the Air has been an excellent machine for me and I can accomplish most of the things that I do without any issues. The only issue I’ve had is 2Gbs of ram limit and the only thing keeping me from using it full time is the 128GB solid state drive. If I could bump the machine to 4 gigabytes of ram and a 256GB SSD, everythign else would be completely perfect.
The machine is fast and I mean very very fast! It’s mostly because of the SSD but I never put the MBA to sleep. Instead, I just shut it down and put it to sleep because I don’t need to keep it asleep. Booting takes around 12 seconds with Snow Leopard. I can run every single one of my apps, even iMovie and Photoshop but those two have a bit of weirdness when it comes to encoding, exporting or applying filters. For casual use, it’s fine for most tasks. Remember, iMovie was released originally when Apple Computers were sporting G3 Processors at 233Mhz. iMovie 9 is certainly more advanced but a 2.13Ghz Dual-Coare Processor w/ SSD & a 1066Mhz Front Side Bus can handle most of what iMovie could throw at it. The only issue is storage.
I still own my Macbook Pro 17″ but I don’t carry it with me at all anymore. It’s either at home or work and the only place it goes is in my bag. Why even have a Macbook Pro? Because, I’m still taking it between home and work. It’ll be at my desk at the office nearly all week and then go home with me on the weekends. The Air is with me AT ALL TIMES and I use it for everything that I need to do. I turn on the computer, launch 8 of my every day apps and then it’s time to work.
The Macbook Air is the most portable, accessible and easy to use Mac ever made. When I had a meeting before the MBA, I’d be forced to close my 17″ MacBook Pro, unplug everything, put it and the power adapter in my bag and load up for a long haul (or at least a heavy one). When I had to “whip it out” at meetings, the 17″ would be a beast and take up an entire table at Starbucks. People say that I should just get the 13″ Macbook Pro but I honestly love the screen resolution, speed, functionality and power of the 17″ model and the 8 hour battery is something of beauty. I would never give up my 17″ because it’s just awesome in every single way except for portability.
The MacBook Air is always in my bag and if a meeting is close, I find myself just grabbing it and going to a meeting with just a sleeve on it. Opening it is easy and as long as there’s wi-fi I’m on board. The size is a thing of beauty.
MacBooks are normal now and everyone in SF has one. The MacBook Air is an envy machine and I’m taken back to 2003 when I had an iBook and everyone looked cause it was a beautifully designed Mac but after 5 seconds they’d add, “but Macs Suck!” That’s ok but they were still drawn in by the amazing design and construction of my 600Mhz 12″ iBook. That was gone with the MacBook Pro but with the Air, it’s a cool machine and everyone wants to hold it, feel it and use it and they’re always amazed at just how fast it is.
What about price? Well yeah that’s a big caveat, huh? To be honest, there are $999 MacBook Air models on Apple’s refurb store and some are cheaper on eBay. These are mostly first-gen Airs with 1.6Ghz CPUs, a slow front side bus, hard drives and Intel integrated GPUs. Be prepared to have a slow machine that doesn’t satisfy. If you’re looking at the MBA, get at least a 1.8Ghz CPU w/ 64GB SSD & NVIDIA 9400m GPU. This machine was released in October ’08 and was updated in June with a faster CPU. You’ll get a good machine that’s known universally as The MacBook Air Rev B. This is a great machine that doesn’t have many of the issues that Rev A had.
Your lowest entry point for the Macbook Air will probably be around $1300 for a refurb or slightly used model. That’s around $900 more than some of the best netbooks so is it worth it? That’s totally up to you.
- Do you want the experience of a machine that will probably replace your current laptop?
- Do you want a computer that you feel good about using?
- Do you want a computer that runs all of your current Mac apps?
- Do you want a computer that can do most things you throw at it?
- Do you want a computer that has great support and a great warranty?
- Do you want a computer that is designed and constructed well w/ great included software?
OR….
- Do you want a computer that runs Windows xp?
- Do you want a computer that has a low quality support system w/ a warranty that forces you to call India?
- Do you want a computer that doesn’t run any of your Mac apps?
- Do you want a computer that doesn’t read your Mac formatted drives?
- Do you want a computer that is difficult to back up and you need antivirus software for?
- Do you want a computer that has a 7-10″ screen?
- Do you want a computer that’s slow and can barely keep gmail & facebook open at once without locking up?
- Do you want a computer that looks bland in a sea of windows laptops?
Yeah of course I’m putting the best and worst features and laying them out here but I’m sure you see my point regarding which one is a superior machine. The thing is, most people that have used the MBA would agree that it’s a better machine. The problem is, that huge price tag is a big hurdle. I think the MBA is a full-size netbook and more people should consider it. Just to show you though how bad it is, I went into The Apple Store to buy one and the employee tried to talk me out of it and into a 13″ MacBook Pro. It’s clear that even Apple has issues with people thinking the MBA is too expensive and too slow but it’s really not.
It’s a great full-featured netbook and it has the speed, storage, size and even ports to show this. I’ve enjoyed my MBA and can’t wait to show it off to more people and sell a few more. It’s the one computer I don’t want to see cancelled by Apple if sales are less than stellar.
Comments 1