Apple MacBook Air MD231LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION)
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- Faster Flash Storage; USB 3.0; 720p FaceTime HD Camera
- 1.8 GHz Intel Core i5 Processor
- 128 GB Solid State Drive; 4 GB DDR3 RAM
- Intel HD Graphics 4000; 13.3-inch LED Display
- Mac OS X v10.7 Lion Operating System
The ultimate everyday notebook is better than ever. MacBook Air now features the latest Intel processors and graphics, faster flash storage, and a 720p FaceTime HD camera. All packed into a notebook that’s incredibly thin and light. With up to 60 percent faster graphics performance, it makes everything you do feel quicker and more fluid than ever. And the latest flash storage is up to 4x faster than a traditional hard drive, making MacBook Air remarkably responsive. Thin, light, durable design High-resolution display OS X Lion Up to 7 hours of battery lifeSpecifications Intel Core i5 1.8GHz Dual-Core Processor with Turbo Boost up to 2.8GHz 3MB Shared L3 Cache 4GB of 1600MHz DDR3L onboard Memory 128GB Flash Storage 13.3-inch (diagonal) high-resolution LED-backlit glossy Widescreen Display, 1440 by 900 resolution Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Dual display and video mirroring – Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pix
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Apple MacBook Air MD231LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION)
List Price: $ 1,199.00
Price:
New 13″ MacBook Air vs. New 13″ MacBook Pro: A side-by-side comparison,
I purchased both the newly updated 13″ MacBook Air and the updated 13″ MacBook Pro the day they were announced at WWDC and released for sale in June 2012. After using the two machines side-by-side for a couple weeks now, I can say that the MacBook Air offers superior performance in virtually every respect to such a degree that I’ve pretty much stopped using my brand new MacBook Pro. Of course the Air (which I got factory upgraded to the 2.0 GHz i7 processor and 8GB of RAM) is lighter, slimmer, and sleeker than the Pro, and yes, it does have a much higher resolution display, but I was surprised just how much faster the MacBook Air is compared to the Pro is despite the Air’s slower CPU clock speed. The SSD hard drive on the MacBook Air makes an enormous difference in everything from casual web browsing to video editing.
Speed and Performance: Advantage MacBook Air
Apart from the hard drives and port configurations, the technology inside the machines is virtually identical in both the newly refreshed MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Both Pros and Airs come with either i5 or i7 Intel “Ivy Bridge” processors, Intel HD Graphics 4000, USB 3.0, and lightning-fast Thunderbolt ports. While the MacBook Air models are at a disadvantage to the MacBook Pro models in terms of CPU clock speeds, any performance disadvantage from the processor speed is more than made up for by the lightning fast performance of the Air’s SSD hard drive, which Apple markets as “Flash” storage. In everyday tasks from gaming to web browsing to watching Flash movies and editing video, the MacBook Air is faster significantly faster in virtually every task. The Air boots up in less than 12 seconds while the Pro takes upwards of one minute.
Screen: Advantage MacBook Air
Once you get used to the super high resolution 1440 x 900 LED display on the MacBook Air, the 1280 x 800 back-lit LED display on the MacBook Pro looks downright grainy and primitive. Simply put, once you get used to a higher resolution display, the 1280 x 800 display on the 13″ MacBook Pro just isn’t acceptable. Even for simple tasks like email or word processing where you wouldn’t think the resolution would matter, the graphics look grainy and pixelated, which just isn’t acceptable for a pro-level laptop in 2012.
Upgradability: Advantage MacBook Pro
One major difference that’s important to consider between the Air and the Pro is that the Pro is more flexible and adaptable in terms of upgradability. With only a screw driver and about 10 minutes of your time, you can add more memory to the Pro, replace the hard drive, and even add a second hard drive in place of the optical disc drive. The Air, on the other hand, is stuck in the configuration you purchase it in except that you can opt to replace the SSD “Flash” hard drive with a higher capacity drive. However, both the Air and Pro have USB 3.0 (which is five times faster than USB 2.0 and backward compatible) and Thunderbolt (which is ten times faster than USB 2.0), I see no reason to replace the Air’s hard drive any time soon given how cheap external hard drives are and how fast the connection has become.
Design, Weight, Portability, Battery Life, and Form Factor: Advantage MacBook Air
The MacBook Air is the most beautiful computer ever produced by man. The aluminum case is impeccably designed, almost tailored to accommodate the necessary internal components, while maintaining practical ergonomics. It’s an incredibly thin, svelte, sexy little notebook. The aluminum case seems sturdy and durable, and its mechanics are very similar to the time-test unibody construction of the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro, on the other hand, is a bit of a dinosaur in its bulky circa 2006 unibody. The Pro is heavier than a half gallon of milk at 4.5 lbs, while the MacBook Air weighs in at less than 2.9 lbs. Battery life is roughly even on both machines at anywhere from 4 to 7 hours depending on workload and settings.
Summary Judgement: Buy the MacBook Air
Simply put, the guts of the two machines are basically the same, but the Air’s SSD hard drive gives it a tremendously significant boost in performance. Sadly, the MacBook Pro’s 5400-rpm hard drive leaves the machine unable to capitalize on the newest, most expensive Intel “Ivy Bridge” i5 and i7 processors that you’re paying a $300 premium for in the newly updated Pros. If you are going to buy a Pro, invest the extra money and get it upgraded with a SSD hard drive and get an extra external hard drive if you need additional cheap storage space for multimedia files. When you also consider the superior display, lighter weight, increased portability, and lower price of the MacBook Air, it’s hard to find a reason to justify purchasing the current 13″…
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|Absolutely amazing lightweight notebook,
Going from a White Macbook circa 2008 to the 2012 Macbook Air is a massive leap forward in technology for me. The big question is deciding which one will be best for you: The 13″ Macbook Pro or the 13″ Macbook Air.
Things I like:
It’s fast! I plan on using this when I travel for Office, Adobe Lightroom and other photography applications. I’m able to move quickly, even when shuffling around hundreds of photos in Lightroom. This is remarkably different from my old Macbook.
The SSD. Absolutely fast. Bootup/shutdown/restart times are in seconds. Yes, it’s pricy, but I love it.
Solid build. It feels much like other Macbook Pros, despite the thinness. Yes, it feels like it’ll be a magnet for scratches, so I’m off to find a case/skin.
Opposite side USB ports! The most annoying thing about my Macbook (old White, new MBP as my office computer) is that there’s not enough spacing between the USB ports, so a chunkier flashdrive and another USB device won’t fit. Now I don’t feel like I have to choose what gets plugged in.
USB 3.0. I’ve got enough USB 3.0 flash drives and the speed increase will be noticeable. Thunderbolt technology is supposed to be a lot faster, but a lot more expensive and quite frankly, cost-prohibitive.
Weight: I’ve gotten used to heavier laptops so this feels downright thin. Thin enough that I don’t notice it in my bag.
Screen resolution: 1440×900 gives me more real estate than the 1280×800 of the 13″ Macbook Pro. The screen was bright and vivid.
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Things I don’t like:
Non-upgradeable: So much for adding more RAM down the road.
New Magsafe power connector: This might cause an issue with places that have older Macbooks as well and determining which is which. That’s what labels are for.
Aluminum case: It’s beautiful but I’m feeling worried that I’m going to scratch it.
Software update: 350MB worth of fixes out of the box. Ugh.
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Sound. It’s decent enough – it seems like any other laptop’s audio that I’ve ever used. If you’re serious about audio, you’ll have external speakers (or even pair it up with Airplay speakers.)
Battery: I got about 6 hours in a torture test of watching video while surfing the web on WiFi. It’s pretty decent and within the 5-7 range that Apple stated.
DVD drive: I don’t miss it. I thought I would, but I don’t. It just adds weight and bulk to the computer.
The webcam is also a higher resolution 720p camera. It’s quite nice, but now the downside is that during Facetime, my friends and family can see my ugly self more clearly. Also, early adopters won’t have the computer come with the newest version of OS X – Mountain Lion. That will come in mid/late July. It’s nice that this will come gratis to those who bought early.
The big question is Macbook Air or Macbook Pro? It comes down town a number of issues. If this will be your primary computer, then Macbook Pro is the way to go. The MBP is a faster computer with more storage and an optical drive. If you plan on doing any high-end computing, you’ll notice the difference. If this is going to be a secondary computer or if weight is the deciding factor, then the Macbook Air is for you. Either way, you can’t go wrong.
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|The quintessential ultraportable notebook,
I needed a laptop that I can carry and walk around with every day, use it for development, word processing and presentations. Last year I got a Lenovo U300s, and was very happy with it. Three things stood out: screen was a bit dark and image would fade at an angle, 4GB ram was low and it had an inferior trackpad; otherwise it was a superb laptop. Unfortunately, that laptop was stolen and so I decided to finally embrace the new age of personal computing with a MB Air. I’m very happy with my choice.
Pros:
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– The screen is very bright, colors are vivid and can be viewed from any angle. It’s probably the best quality display that I’ve seen on a 13″ laptop.
– The SSD is very fast. Ultrabooks with a hybrid SSD are not the same. With SSD, apps open quicker, files copy faster by a factor of 4 or 5. You can go to Tom’s hardware to see a detailed analysis of hybrid HDDs vs SSD storage.
– Ergonomics are top notch. The lid flips open without the laptop flopping up, the entire body feels rigid, nothing flops around or moves when it’s not supposed to.
– The backlit keyboard is very comfortable to type on, although I do miss Pg Up/Down, Home/End and Delete buttons as a long time PC user.
– Trackpad and Lion’s multitouch gestures are in a class of their own. Unfortunately no PC can touch Apple here. At first I was skeptical of the new Lion features, but if you spend a few minutes learning each gesture, it actually makes the experience of working on a MB Air very enjoyable.
– Thunderbolt and USB 3 finally live together. You shouldn’t have to choose as a customer, and finally both are available for fast I/O to your heart’s content.
– 8GB ram is a plus. I run Fusion 4 w/ Win 7 without any trouble for any PC-only needs.
– I’m finally starting to realize the benefits of a Mac ecosystem. Things like airplay, the local file drop on Lion, wireless syncing with an iPhone…all nice little extras that make life easier.
– At 3 lbs, I leave it in my backpack and walk around with it every day, it’s like carrying around a small textbook. That’s enough for me to compromise on price and some performance when compared to MB Pros and some PC offerings.
Cons:
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– Screen resolution could be slightly higher, i.e. similar to what Asus or the MB Pro retina offer.
– I miss having F-buttons that PCs offer, mainly because I do some work in Excel.
– Price is up there, but you I fully expected that buying Apple and I know that I’m getting quality with instant support, no gimmicks, no bloatware.
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