Now more than 10 years after it was first unveiled as the next-generation laptop you could fit in an envelope, the 13.3-inch MacBook Air is still on sale from Apple. It remains the cheapest laptop Apple offers, but is that a good enough reason to buy it? The Air lost its status as Apple's most lusted after MacBook some time ago, though it did get a processor bump last year – even if the upgrade was to Intel's 5th-generation chips rather than the newest batch, it helped the Air from sliding completely into obscurity. The laptop also got a small boost with its storage and graphics. The 11-inch model, meanwhile, was discontinued back in 2016.
The Apple MacBook Air laptop, released in 2017, renders performance and multi-tasking efficiencies with the integrated 8 GB RAM. This device is powered by a reliable Core i5 1.8 GHz processor.
• Starting at £949/$999 for the entry-level 128GB version that comes configured with an Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 1.8 GHz (Turbo Boost to 2.6 GHz), the review below is of the top-spec model with 256GB of flash memory for £1,099/$1,199. As of January 2018, all MacBook Air 13-inch models come with 8GB of memory as standard.
Meanwhile, the entry-level 12-inch and the 13-inch both start at £1,249/$1,299, and both rival the Air in terms of thinness and lightness. That's not much more money for better internals, a more modern design, and a vastly superior screen. Unless you're really working on a budget, the MacBook Air is looking rather dated. MacBook Air Design The MacBook Air's design was revolutionary when it debuted in 2008, spawning countless imitators. Times have changed, and Apple's decision to leave unaltered for several years now has seen the competition close the gap. It's far from ugly, but the “wow” factor disappeared long ago. Measuring 17mm at its thickest point, the Air is bested by the new (11.6mm) and the 12-inch MacBook (13.1mm).
The new measures just 10.4mm thick, so you can see what the Air is up against. One big turn off when it comes to the Air's design is its chunky bezel, which is thicker than the ones on its competitors. It's not helped by its metallic finish, which can prove distracting when watching movies compared to the thinner black bezels of its competitors. The 13-inch MacBook Air also has an unusually large footprint compared to the XPS 13 and even the 13-inch MacBook Pro, meaning it takes up more space whether rested on your lap or on an aeroplane table. The one advantage there is that it has a protruding wrist rest on either side of the trackpad which makes typing for long periods of time a comfortable experience.
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Aesthetics aside, the MacBook Air's build quality remains top-notch. Its unibody aluminium enclosure that forms both the Air's screen and body is durable, easy to clean and more than capable of taking a few knocks and scrapes. We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices MacBook Air Features If the 12-inch MacBook could be accused of introducing too many features all at once, the MacBook Air has the opposite problem. Aside from its Thunderbolt 2 port, which has been upgraded from standard Thunderbolt, it's business as usual. Apple hasn't even carried over the 12-inch MacBook's innovative Force Touch Trackpad which made it into the company's new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro models. Like its predecessor, the Air has a below-par display that tops out at a pixel-resolution of 1440 x 900. It also has the same number of ports, made up of two USB 3 ports, one Thunderbolt 2 port, a MagSafe 2 power connector and a SDXC card slot.