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  • mmrezaie - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I have to wait and see what rMBP 13 will offer. I am not interested in this years Air line. I have a 2011 Air line with i7, and still we haven't got any faster, and also one can never buy a notebook with this resolution after they saw the retina displays. ;-)
  • VivekGowri - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Yeah, this Air directly followed a 15" retina MacBook Pro for me, the display transition was...painful. I think the next rMBP13 is going to absolutely slay though, it's going to be ridiculous from an overall mobility standpoint.
  • Samus - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    A one-thousand dollar netbook.

    As if a $800 tablet wasn't insulting enough (there are plenty of 10" tablets that can be expanded to 128GB and beyond for half that price.) I feel sorry for the suckers that buy the WWAN model for nearly $1000 with tax.
  • SirPerro - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    $800 iPad is far more insulting than this. But hey, sure there are wealthy people out there which don't give a shit about spending that ammount in such an inneficient way.
  • MonkeyPaw - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I don't think it's fair to say people are throwing their money around frivolously here. If you buy cheap $400 notebooks every year (because they aren't built to last very long) or upgrade premium phones all the time, then suddenly buying a well-made decent performing laptop for $1000 isn't so bad. From what I hear, Apple notebooks run for a long time and even resell for a good price, so if you keep this air for 3 years and then sell it for $400, you aren't really being so wasteful after all, are you?

    I'm not even an Apple owner, but let's face it, they make nice hardware.
  • kevith - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I´ll agree to that. Macbooks are well built and lasts long.

    In fact, I think mac prices are pretty much what hardware ought to cost.

    It´s easy to find a Windows based laptop, that wil match the Macbook in design, build quality and
    wow-factor. And what does it cost? The same as a Macbook...

    I never owned anything Mac, but that´s for totally different reasons.
  • nerd1 - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Macbooks last long? try find out how much it takes to fix anything (display, keyboard, etc).
  • madmilk - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    If you have to fix it, that's not long lasting.
  • rudolphbyers - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link

    I would not trade my Macbook Air for anything in the world! /Rudolph from http://www.consumertop.com/best-desktop-guide/
  • darwinosx - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Right..like anyone fixes laptops as it is...try harder.
  • MobiusStrip - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - link

    People with self respect fix laptops. Grow a nut and demand better instead of being a tool.
  • rupert3k - Tuesday, August 20, 2013 - link

    /me smirks
  • HKZ - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    I bought the 17 inch model when the unibody design for them first came to market. Two weeks later the backlight died and I walked into the Apple store, booted it up, the guy saw the backlight wasn't working and 10 minutes later I was handed a brand new machine. I had the keyboard replaced twice when the backlight died and it didn't cost me a dime. Any and all laptops are pretty expensive to repair, and Apple laptops have highly reputable places like OWC and iFixit to get quality parts at good prices.
  • MobiusStrip - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - link

    Except that everything's glued or soldered in now, making Apples overpriced, disposable, and insulting.
  • malcolmcraft - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link

    MacBook Air is absolutely fantastic! It is also interesting that it's the highest rated laptop among consumers (see http://www.consumertop.com/best-laptop-guide/). I would not trade mine for anything.
  • malcolmcraft - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link

    I love Macbook Air and so does consumers, it's the highest rated one (see http://www.consumertop.com/best-laptop-guide/ for example). I would not trade mine for anything.
  • abazigal - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    If a laptop with Haswell, 4gb ram and 128gb ssd can be called a NetBook, then all laptops in existence now are netbooks.
  • coder543 - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    You're calling this a netbook? You really don't understand the concept. This thing is surprisingly high performance, and the battery life is insane. That's before we mention that I've never once beheld an aluminum netbook, let alone an aluminum one with USB 3.0 and a fantastic keyboard and trackpad.

    This is a full computer. I don't own one, and I don't even really want one, but you really look dumb when you let your bigotry against Apple prevent you from seeing what a quality product this is.
  • andrewaggb - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Yeah, it may be about the same diagonal size to a netbook, but that's absolutely where the similarity ends.
  • darwinosx - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    He's just a jackass troll. Probably has a Windows RT "tablet".
  • 4me2poopon - Tuesday, August 20, 2013 - link

    Agree with this.
  • solipsism - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    The netbook arose from the cheap x86 Atom CPUs. Everything about netbooks was cheap. Just the CPU in these machines cost more than most netbooks.
  • darwinosx - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    You A) didn't read the article, b) don't know what a netbook was, c) are an idiot.
  • name99 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    And you say the same thing about cars? People who buy a Tesla or Lexus or Mercedes are idiots because, heck, I can buy a Versa or a Kia for way less?
    Hell, why are people so stupid as to want to live in their own houses --- all you need is one third of a room you share with two other guys, in an apartment fitting eight people.

    The point of money, after all, is not to buy things that make you happy, it's to accumulate the largest pile of treasure to sit on until the day you die...
  • phillyry - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    It's not a netbook.

    It's Haswell, not Atom.
  • ex2bot - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - link

    Troll.

    Trolololoollooloo!
  • ds1817 - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - link

    Don't feel too sorry for them; if they're buying apple they probably have cash to spare. To make a point other have -- Apple products are, as a general rule, very well made. The MBP I bought in 2006 for $1800 is still chugging along just fine 7+ years later. In that same time, a friend of mine had gone through 2 HP laptops. He recently bought himself a Retina MBP, even though he detests OSX and installed Windows 7.

    The Core Duo processor is plenty powerful for word processing, web-browising and excel, which is all I use it for nowadays. I have no plans to get another laptop until this one completely gives up the ghost.
  • pippyfleur - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link

    okay well I've been looking up laptops and this pretty much has the best battery life etc. for a portable laptop i can find. hp and acer are apparently more unreliable and have really high malfunction rates, and then the asus is not that portable and quite expensive anyway?
    any suggestions as to what the solution to not 'throw my cash around' there is? genuine question i would rather not spend $1100AUD
  • KoolAidMan1 - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link

    Are you for real? What an incredibly ignorant comment, even for the usual tech message board stupidity
  • solipsism - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I'm waiting for Retina (and getting rid of that archaic looking aluminium ring around the display), as well. I hope it arrives next year. I wasn't hopefully that the power saving of Haswell and the 5xxx iGPU would be enough to make it a reasonable inclusion this year.

    Once the technical aspects are feasible for this ultraportable then there is still cost to worry about since these are Apple's least expensive machines. I don't think it's likely for the iPad mini to be Retina this year for similar reasons.
  • darwinosx - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Haven't gotten any faster? Did you read how fast the ssd is?
  • antonio22m - Friday, August 16, 2013 - link

    Air is perfect and the best "second computer" that you can wish for.
    Take a look at this comparison at http://www.squidoo.com/apple-macbook-air-133 and You will see comparison to the another Apple laptops.Anyone considering purchasing this laptop needs to see the information in this chart.
  • BryanDobbins - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link

    my classmate's half-sister makes $88 every hour on the computer. She has been without a job for six months but last month her pay was $21529 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read more on this site... http://xurl.es/mcduf
  • xTRICKYxx - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Damn, that is awesome battery life. It almost makes me want to sell my 2012 MBP... But, its the heavy workloads that make my battery tank. For the most part, its the discrete GPU's fault.

    Could you guys do a light gaming test? How long will Minecraft last for these guys?
  • xTRICKYxx - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Using HD 4000 graphics, I can get around 2.5 hours of gaming. It would be pretty cool to have a more portable gaming experience.
  • solipsism - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I would wait for the 2013 MBPs to drop before making a decision. I assume going to the Air wouldn't be a great move if you like the performance, ports, storage, and display the MBP offers that the Air cannot.

    I suspect they will arrive by October with TB2 being a holdup. Same for the new Mac Pro. I also assume Apple will have a 4K (or higher) replacement to their 27" display, which may be 30.5" if other vendors are anything to go by.
  • name99 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    TB2 may be the holdup.
    But what is the status of 3x3:3 802.11ac chips? Obviously we have ones that are good enough for a base station, but maybe the lower power ones that you'd want in a laptop aren't available yet, and Apple doesn't want to ship with 2x2:2. (Though I assume they will if necessary, that they have that as a plan B if the 3x3:3 ships delay too long.)

    It's worth noting that the other obvious MIA is the new Mac Mini. That COULD ship with a power-hungry 802.11ac chip, but would be embarrassing for Apple because they have made a big deal in the past about how low-power it is.
    The Mac Mini suggests that the delay is not in any way screen related (eg waiting for a cheaper retina screen, so the whole line is rMBP, or waiting for a lower power retina screen.)

    It seems likely, IMHO, that both MBPs and Minis are being delayed by a part, not just for the sake of scheduling, because when they do get released they're going to make Apple's revenues even more volatile. If they could have been released last quarter or this quarter, they would have upped revenues (which were down because of no new iOS devices). Shipping in Fall means they're going to pump up the already high revenues from iPhone 5x and iPad new, and make Apple look even more manic depressive, going from a slow Q1 to a blowout Q3 and Q4.
  • vFunct - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    These Airs really do need LTE connectivity built in.
  • Scannall - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I agree. I'm surprised it isn't an option yet.
  • name99 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    The general consensus on this point is that while iOS was built from the ground up to "monitor" networking and carefully use the cellular network only to the bare minimum (so delaying non-critical network ops until they can maybe go out over WiFi) OSX is a more traditional model of saying whatever it wants (in a more chatty fashion) whenever it wants.
    Users of the LTE might be upset that their data usage vastly exceeds what they expected, given iOS experience.

    Reading between the lines of the work that has been done for Mavericks (eg all the work bunching stuff which is nominally to save power) it is possible, even likely, that they are gradually moving the iOS code into OSX, and when that is ready the LTE models will ship.

    (It's also possible that there is a kind of hardball negotiation going on here between Apple and the telcos. Obviously Apple, as advocate of its customers, would like the telcos to offer plans along the lines of "2GB of data, used however you damn well like, across whatever devices you damn well like". The telcos would obviously prefer their various current models (which all involve paying a hell of a high monthly fee for separate devices, regardless of exactly how that extra per device fee is calculated or named). But whichever one breaks first has the chance to pull an ATT and sweep up a huge pool of the most desirable customers. When that telco [Sprint or T-Mobile most likely] caves is when Apple will ship with LTE?)
  • teiglin - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Minor correction: I believe the Vaio Pro 11 has a 31Wh battery (spec page says 4125mAh, pretty sure it's 7.5V).

    I hadn't realized the Vaio Pro had come down already--and the Sony website is having a most upgrades discounted--only $120 to go from 128->256GB SSD is especially appealing. If you include the rebate, an 8GB/256GB Vaio Pro 11 is only $1250 compared to $1300 for the same configuration of 11" Air. There is certainly an argument to be made in favor of the Air's body over the flexible carbon fiber Vaio Pro, and the Air certainly has the advantage in battery, touchpad, and GT3; in my opinion, though, a 768p TN panel has no place in a $1000+ device any more.
  • ananduser - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    GT3 is not all that it could have been since it's hampered by the 15W TDP of the SKU. HD4400 has proven faster in certain areas when paired with a faster CPU than what the MBA sports. I believe Anand showed this in the original MBA13" review.
  • Glindon - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    If I recall correctly the CPU turbo boost is the same on 4600 and 5000 models. So unless you are using the graphics at full bore the CPUs should be comparable. I'd rather have better graphics.
  • ananduser - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    At low frequencies a 300MHz-500MHz increase is noticeable. Again I point to Anand's review of the faster 13" MBA. Thus the CPUs are not comparable and it is this that allows the the HD5000 to underperform in certain areas compared to HD4400.
  • iwod - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I would love to get a bigger screen with the Current 11" MBA. Which is still leaving quite lot of bezel space left and right. The Size of 11" MBA is perfect. But Just that slightly larger display would do. The same goes for 13" where it could actually fit in a 13.9" or 14" LCD instead.

    Other then that, Anand has already covered there are lot of space left in the MBA circuits which means next generation Broadwell CPU will get that redesign along with even bigger battery. Along with better software and Video Decode. So i think the MBA this year is good. The next one is going to be Great.
  • DesktopMan - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Totally agree about the bezel. Could probably fit a 12 inch display there.
  • EnzoFX - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link


    Of course it can. Since the current display is 11.6". =p
  • Daniel Egger - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Why would Apple want to radically change a proven chassis design? Just because it looks aged? Sorry but that is bollocks. I would even go so far as to say this is by far the best design in the market and as long as no one (including Apple) can come up with a better package they should stay with this one and make incremental changes, like getting rid of the f...ing bezel around the screen and have a matte gorilla glass screen going edge to edge.
  • GekkePrutser - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    In my opinion it's not that it looks aged, the only thing that looks out of place is the large bezel (especially on the 11")

    But the problem is that it no longer pushes the envelope. When Apple released the 2010 model it was the smallest and lightest you could buy for the price (not including much lower-specced netbooks).

    Now everyone is doing unibodies and they're all at the same point, most of them are doing it better than Apple (e.g. Samsung with their small bezels and better screens). I think Apple should keep pushing forward, and push the 'ultramobile' thing to the max again. I'd love to see something similar to this: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/19/inhon-blade-13-... a 870g/1.9lbs 13" laptop..
  • nerd1 - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Huge bezel, terrible resolution (and TN screen), heavier than others (compared to series 9 / vaio pro etc which are almost 25% lighter)
  • chrnochime - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Bezel size the same as the Vaio Pro. Sticking point is TN panel.1195-1050=145. 145/1195= 0.1213, or 12.13%, NOT 25%. Nice math genius.
  • chrnochime - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    And you're comparing a FP body with a CF body. Amazing.
  • name99 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    The bezel will go, and the screen size MAY increase to use up the extra space, when the retina displays are ready. Until that point, it makes no sense to make the change.

    This is one of (of course far from the only) the reasons Apple makes a profit --- they don't screw around with pointless modifications to something that works. You see a similar pattern in the way they have reused and repurposed the A5 CPU across their iOS line.

    Compare with the Asian companies, which change chassis and internal components every three months. They never get a chance to perfect anything, they're wasting money on constant retooling and driver writing, and if you get a buggy device, it's kindof random whether the bug will ever be fixed or not.
  • IanCutress - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    1.3 GHz DC 256GB 13" MBA is £1139. Vaio Pro 13 with battery slice, 1.8 GHz, 256GB, 1080p, 8gb RAM, £1130, and if I go into a shop, 3% discount. That's the challenge.
  • abazigal - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    MBA comes with OSX and access to the apple ecosystem, plus iLife suite and a host of other useful software features. Apple also tends to have better after-sales service.

    For me, I have learnt that specs alone don't always paint the full, complete picture.
  • ananduser - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    You can add the downside to that as well. It doesn't come with W8 and last time I checked, a win license is not cheap. That and the relatively poor bootcamp performance(half the battery).
  • ESC2000 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Um for a lot of people the fact that it comes with OSX is a downside. I've been considering a Mac but I'd have to bootcamp Windows because my firm requires Windows, like pretty much every large company/firm, and I dislike OSX regardless of my job's requirements. That means i'd have to pay extra for a windows license.

    It is true that similarly-specced Windows machines cost about the same (although I doubt we would see such a crappy screen being passed off as premium) but those OEMs are also paying for the windows license. The bottom line is Macs are overpriced. There is a reason they have $150 billion in the bank.

    Every time I start thinking about buying an apple product and I look into what they offer, I always come away feeling like I would be ripped off if I bought it: either it is overpriced or some corner was cut, like the terrible air screen this year, or it lacks some software feature (in the case of the ios).

    I have no idea what iLife is but I hope it is worth all that extra money.
  • andykins - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Argument about cost of Windows is moot. Developing your own OS is neither cheap nor easy.
  • teiglin - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    That 1130 is with VAT? I guess UK is getting even better sales than here--that config currently runs $1680 less $100 rebate, before sales tax. So for me, that'd be a little over $1700 after cashing the rebate.

    Anyway, definitely the vaio, or wait for rMBP. 1440x900 may not be as awful as 1366x768 but why in god's name would you be willing to suffer a TN panel in 2013? And the vaio is freakishly light; that extra .6lbs is really easy to feel when you're holding the thing.
  • 8steve8 - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I'm a MBA 13 has well owner who has been disappointed with the 11 for years now... 16:9 is a terrible aspect ratio for this kind of system, also this system has a huge bezel relative to its size, I'd love the mba11 formfactor with a 12.5 16:10 screen with a tiny bezel.
  • Torrijos - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    One has to wonder how much more battery life improvements OS X Mavericks will bring, seeing how Apple made most of their selling points about energy efficiency.
  • xTRICKYxx - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I've been using Mavericks for a while and I haven't noticed anything too drastic. I typically get around 7-8 hours of light workload for my 15". At most maybe a 10% increase.

    But this is not including the fact that most of my 3rd party apps do not include App Nap yet. It could make a difference.
  • ctrocks - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I still want to know the fascination with 11 inch notebooks. I am 6'3" (1.9m) tall, with relatively large hands, and am 47 with good vision for my age (no glasses needed yet). 13 inch notebooks seem small to me, let alone 11. My hands can't fit comfortably on keyboard to touch type.

    I understand portability, but I just can't see using such a small device except for cases where extreme portability is an absolute necessity. I would prefer a 15 inch screen, and a bigger keyboard that fits me over portability.
  • abazigal - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    You just answered your own question. Ultra-portability. 15-inch laptops are great to use, but absolute murder to haul around when it's time to pack up and leave.
  • ananduser - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Since you talked about the new Sony Vaio, how about, you know, actually reviewing one(the Pros or the Duo or both). You(Anandtech not Vivek) have reviewed 3 MBAs already and not a single other ultraportable.
    BTW corners have been cut in order to achieve the MBA's battery life, the low res screen and the relatively slower CPU. Why not mention it so as to compare apples to apples(no pun intended)?
  • fokka - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    though i'm not a big fan of the mba, i still think that it is a valid choice for someone seeking portability and not dependent on a ton of processing performance, even more now the battery life has improved to a level you don't really have to think about it much anymore on a day to day basis.

    sure, the display is a bit of a bummer, but only because we became so spoiled by tablets and high-DPI laptops in the recent years. still, it won't hinder you doing any of your work.

    what i like about the air and essentially the entire macbook line-up, is that they are no-nonsense solutions. you get a great package of high quality case, great input devices, above average display quality and most important usable battery life on a mobile device.

    just compare it with the vaio pro. i love some of the vaio lineup for their performance, features and portability, but no way in hell i'm going to shell out this much for a plasticy-feeling computer, no matter if they call the material carbon fiber, magnesium, or whatever they come up with.

    still, using a 2010 mbp13 right now, i'm not really thinking of investing in apple gear again very soon since i learned to prefer a more native windows environment. this is where asus zenbook line comes into play and i hope they can make similar progress with the haswell upgrade as apple, all while providing a great 1080p display.
  • ESC2000 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    So a plastic feel would stop you from an otherwise superior product? Thus is the same tired old argument always trotted out by Apple fans. They used it when the S4 came out with features that demolished the iphone 5. They've probably used it for every Samsung phone that has been released with that prole plastic.

    It is your business how you spend your money, but I but devices to perform tasks for me. If a physical feature is relevant to function (eg the air's unnecessarily large bezels take up precious screen real estate) then I care. But if the best device for me comes in plastic I don't care unless plastic will disrupt its functioning. I don't care whether other people think my device looks expensive. I don't care whether it feels 'plasticky' when I touch it. What is so terrible about plastic anyway?

    I know this is a tired old argument. I should probably save this post in keep so I can just copy paste it every time someone tries to say metal is more premium. Apple did do a good marketing job on that one though.
  • fokka - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    i wouldn't even go so far as to call myself an apple fan, since the macbook is the only apple product i ever owned and i'm not having plans on upping that count in the future, but still, i can appreciate certain aspects, like the build quality, of their line up.

    see, in the end it's just personal preference. i for one wouldn't be happy with a "superior" machine hardware wise, if it feel plasticy and flimsy. and please don't tell me a VAIO lid doesn't feel flimsy. i can't comment specifically on the VAIO pro, but about every sony ultraportable i ever touched had a crazy thin display lid which twisted by mere looking at it, so i feel safe extrapolating from that.

    if you are happy with a polycarbonate build that's great and i don't even mean this sarcastically, but for me, i want a device i use for hours to feel great and sturdy and i find this is more the case with a good metal build.
  • geok1ng - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    U$1000 for a 768p TN panel. I do agree with the review: lets wait for the Surface Pro with Haswelll parts. Or get a real high end ultraportable with a real high end display, for the same price apple is asking for this airthingie
  • abazigal - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Higher screen res typically comes at the expense of poorer battery life. Apple simply made a judgement call to prioritize battery life over everything else. I don't see that as an inherently bad thing.
  • DigitalFreak - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    "Higher screen res typically comes at the expense of poorer battery life. Apple simply made a judgement call to prioritize PROFIT over everything else. I don't see that as an inherently bad thing."
  • solipsism - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    And yet they've been pioneers to add high-density displays to nearly their entire line when most people on this site were saying how pointless it was. It's apparently more difficult than you give it credit or the Samsung Ativ Book 9 wouldn't be considerably higher priced than a comparably specced MBP.
  • DesktopMan - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Displays aren't actually very expensive. Look up retina screens on eBay. Samsung is charging that because they think they can, not because they have to. IMO the Ativ Book 9 is priced too high for success.
  • ananduser - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Cut the crap with the "pioneering" please. They only provided the first leak of a pissing contest in display panels. Sony's quantum dot tech present on their Vaios is pioneering, the iphone was pioneering; paying Samsung/LG to provide you high res panels is NOT pioneering.
  • solipsism - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Sure it is. Investing in a technology that a vendor saw no route for monotizing is moving technology forward. History has shown that it's not enough to simply have created a technology but you need to have an application that can effectively utilize it. Just within the the recent years of Apple we've seen Intel dust off their SFF ULVs to make them the basis of an entirely new Ultrabook™ brand under Intel, we've seen Corning retrofit a factory to make alkali-aluminosilicate sheet for the original iPhone that they then branded as Gorilla Glass® despite their CEO reportedly telling Steve Jobs it could not be done, we've seen Apple become in the most profitable handset vendor in the world in a little over a year of reaching the market despite claims from Blackberry (nee Research In Motion) that the iPhone OS couldn't be that smooth as well as the entire industry moving to a multi-touch capacitance touchscreen.

    What's amazing is that you could claim that none of those involve new ideas or methods which means that even Google hasn't pioneered search, email, other web-based apps, and ad placements simply because they all existed in some rudimentary and less useful ways prior to Google's involvement.
  • ananduser - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    You went way overboard. I did credit the iphone. There is nothing pioneering in being the first to fit a high res display in a laptop or a high res display in a smartphone(Sony and Sharp). It's like being the first to make a carbon fiber laptop, it's not pioneering.
  • solipsism - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Yes, it is pioneering to be able to source components (which you often invest heavily in years prior) that you then mass produce before anyone else. You can claim all you want that Sony demoed or shipped a smartphone in Japan with more pixels or a higher PPI at CES before Apple released the iPhone but that isn't exactly pioneering in the way Apple has. You clearly think that being "First!" is somehow more relevant than being feasibly priced, efficiently produced, of high quality, or mass marketed. You really need to look at the big picture of what is involved from the start to getting into the hands of consumers.
  • fluxtatic - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - link

    Pointlessly, it seems - 8 -> 11 hours makes a lot less impact than 5 -> 8 hours. There's no way in hell I'd pay over $1k for a laptop with a 1366x768 TN display. There's no excuse for that.
  • KPOM - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I've long been a fan of the 11" MacBook Air, but after having used a 13" rMBP for the past few months I likely won't go back to the Air until it gets a Retina display. Hopefully that comes in 2014. Since OS X doesn't scale as well as Windows 8, we won't get a 1080p "compromise." It will either be 1366x768 or 2732x1536 next year.

    I prefer the form factor of the 11". The 13" rMBP weighs over 50% more, and it doesn't fit into iPad pockets or front pockets of briefcases/notebook cases the way the 11" Air does. I've heard rumors that the 13" rMBP will be made a bit thinner, but maybe what that means is that in 2014 the 13" Air and rMBP lines are merged. We'll get a better sense of Apple's direction when they release the Haswell rMBPs this fall.
  • wendoman - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    > iPad versus MacBook Air 11” But which would I actually take?

    Surface Pro 2 with Haswell.
  • KPOM - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Maybe. We need to see the design. The current Surface Pro is too big to be a good tablet, and too small to be a good notebook. 10.6" 16x9 is a bit cramped, even more so than the 11.6" screen on the MacBook Air. At the same time, 2lbs is bulky for casual tablet use. An iPad Mini or Nexus 7 with an 11" MacBook Air or 13" Ultrabook may be a better combination than any attempt at an all-in-one. But if the Surface Pro can lose 0.5 lbs while improving battery life, it might have a shot.
  • Impulses - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Meh, it'll still be too small as a laptop and too big as a tablet... Convergence just isn't that big a deal to mospeople, unless you travel or move around constantly and you always find yourselflpacking both laptop and tablet.
  • flyingpants1 - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    What is the best-case scenario idle battery life? Brightness at 0%, no wifi, CPU idle with the screen ON all day. Think it would top 20 hours?
  • solipsism - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    What would be the usefulness of such a test?
  • seapeople - Monday, August 12, 2013 - link

    Playing solitaire in the car at night on a long road trip. Seriously, I've done this quite a bit. When it's dark in the car, no need to run 200 nits, or have wireless on, and you're effectively not using the CPU. The hardest part is still paying attention to the road. (Just kidding on the last one)
  • nerd1 - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Yet another MBA review? Come on, there are tons of new interesting laptops around (vaio duo 13, Clevo 230ST, MSI gs70, lenovo 15.6" with 760M SLI ETC) and we're seeing boring MBA review ever and ever and ever?
  • KPOM - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    The 11" MacBook Air is one of the few 11" notebooks out there. For whatever reason, apart from hybrid tablets, the Windows market has largely ignored this form factor. Therefore, for someone looking for a "real computer" the size of a tablet it is one of the few options out there.
  • nerd1 - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    You are missing the fact that MBA has HUGE bezel so it actually has smaller screen than its size. Many other oems (samsung, sony, LG etc) are putting 12.5" or 13.3" screen to similarly sized and weighted laptop as MBA 11.
  • KPOM - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    There are a few, but most of the 12.5" or 13.3" Ultrabooks are still physically bigger than the 11.6" MacBook Air.
  • fhmuffman - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Vivek, did it occur to you to attempt to drive a 4k display? I have been trying to find info on this. Anandtech as been very helpful in the past but anything relating to the Thunderbolt ports (page 11 of the June '12 rMBP review) has been missing in the last two MBA reviews. Does the MBA use a half Redwood Ridge solution like the previous models did with Cactus Ridge, and therefore can't drive a 4k display?
  • repoman27 - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    For some reason Apple is still using Cactus Ridge DSL3510L 4C controllers in the 2013 Airs.

    Technically the configuration could drive any 4K display on the market just fine, even with only a single port exposed. The problem is the lack of daisy-chainable Thunderbolt devices with dedicated DisplayPort / HDMI 1.4 / dual-link DVI ports.

    Theoretically, you could build a device in the $80 retail range with two Thunderbolt controllers and two DP ports just to drive 4K displays.
  • Darkfire - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I'm impressed with the listed 7 hours of battery life on the Macbook Pro (Early 2011). I have gfxCardStatus and keep it forced on integrated most of the time, and usually get around 5 and a half.
  • darwinosx - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Why does Vivek do Apple anything reviews? He makes many mistakes while progressing to prefer Windows. Leave the Mac reviews to Anand who knows what he is talking about and does not have an anti-Apple bias.
    Also how is their no performance improvement when the sad is twice as fast and destroys anything else on the market? You know the SSD's that you didn't event set or show stats for? Ridiculous.
  • KPOM - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Since the 11" and 13" MacBook Air models have the same processors this year, (both in base and upgrade form), apart from the impact of thermals the performance should be pretty similar. I think a separate review from someone else is warranted. As for pro- or anti-Apple bias, let's face it. While Apple legitimized and mainstreamed the ultraportable category (which was largely restricted until 2010 to an ultra-expensive and underpowered niche), most people use Windows. It's good to get some different perspectives.
  • ananduser - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    "Mainstreamed" is a stretch; only by virtue of their limited lineup and by positioning ultrabook skus at the low end. I'm saying average macusers aren't rushing for the form factor but for the entry level price. In the Windows world ultrabooks are still a niche because more inexpensive alternatives exist.
  • KPOM - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Regardless of why, the bottom line is that before October 2010, ultraportables (including the earlier MacBook Air) were not very popular and were mostly executive toys. After October 2010, they became popular and as sales of the MacBook Air improved, more manufacturers started making them.

    The 13" MacBook Pro has outsold the MacBook Air, so I doubt that it was solely price that drove MacBook Air sales. I think people genuinely like the smaller form factor. I've long preferred ultraportables and was an early MacBook Air buyer (February 2008). The only reason I switched was for the Retina Display on the 13" rMBP.
  • solipsism - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    1) Maybe they think they are being more "objective" by having someone make such subjective, anti-Apple comments in some of their Apple-released reviews.

    2) Anand already tackled the new SSD last month, as well as the new 13" MBA.

    • http://www.anandtech.com/show/7058/2013-macbook-ai...

    http://www.anandtech.com/show/7085/the-2013-macboo...
  • VivekGowri - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    I'm somehow characterized as an Apple fanboy by the other notebook editors on staff, but I'm glad that you can look past that and make sure someone who's literally owned every Apple product released over the last five years other than the Mac Pro can be called out for hating Macs. That takes a lot of analytical depth and strength of reason.

    Refresh my memory though, where do I say anything particularly anti-Apple? Or that I prefer Windows? I ask only because OS X has been my primary mobile OS for the better part of the last three years, and if you have insight into my tastes that perhaps I am not aware of, I should heed your advice and move off the platform.
  • VivekGowri - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Also, Haswell IPC stayed flat relative to IVB. Lowering clock speed naturally means that CPU performance goes down. Deal with it. I mentioned that the SSD helps balance the performance gap in daily usage, but damn if you can use it to claim a typical generational bump in raw compute power. That's not the point of Haswell, but it's still important to recognize the strengths and faults of the platform. Did you actually read the review?
  • nerd1 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    There are lots of mSATA RAID 0 setups among new windowsbooks, and they are a) just as fast b) user expandable c) WAY cheaper than proprietary solution.

    And I highly doubt MBA can do any serious task that can benefit from faster SSD.
  • solipsism - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Your first paragraph compares a RAIDed system to a single drive system that then says it's "just as fast" then your 2nd paragraph argues that the MBA can't benefit from having a PCIe SSD over a SATA SSD.

    Do you honestly don't know what faster storage can do for disk reads and writes? Do you think Anand lied about the results of his 2013 13" MBA comparison?

    128K Sequntial Writes:
    2010 MBP — 89 MB/s
    2013 MBA — 714.2 MB/s

    How exactly does that not offer any benefit?
  • ESC2000 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Anyone who reads this review and thinks there is anti apple bias is himself biased toward Apple. You've made your position pretty clear.

    Anandtech has done three major articles/reviews of Mac laptops in the past two months and basically none on any other laptops. That should be pro Apple enough for you.
  • ESC2000 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Just to be clear, that is a response to darwinosx not Vivek.
  • IHateMyJob2004 - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    $999? Who would spend that much on a small screen laptop? Only fools ....
  • solipsism - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Because the performance, quality and utility of a device is based solely on the size of the display? I guess that means it's foolish to even spend $200 on a cheap cellphone since the display on those is much smaller¡
  • purerice - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    Good point. Actually in the end you end up paying over $600 for that $200 cell which just adds to your point. This can handle 1600p resolution on an external display. Not for Crysis but it will run Excel fine.
    I used to have a 12" laptop with 1024x768 screen that I attached to a Dell 2407 when at my home office. At the time 4.6 lb (2.1kg) was light for a laptop. Having a small laptop for the road that you can plug in to a beautiful display at home is the best of both worlds. I would rather have a fully functional, 2.4 lb 11" laptop with SSD for $1000 than 15" laptop that weighs 3x and has a 5400 rpm hard drive for $600.
    I replaced that 12" laptop with a 6 lb, 15" Penryn-based Dell laptop that got 90 minutes of battery life new, that was about $600. I use it when I have to for work and looking back I gladly would trade portability, HD speed, and battery life for the higher screen resolution, a little speed, and $400. Most gladly.
    Though now that Toshiba's IB-based U925 is no longer available, I am hoping they replace it with a Haswell version. Touchscreen+tablet mode are features I would rarely use, but in certain cases they would be extremely helpful.
  • jutre - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    And what about the RAM ? Is 4GB (not up-gradable) acceptable for anybody ? If you buy your laptop today, it is for using it for the next couple years. I guess forking 100$ for the extra RAM in order to futureproof your laptop a no brainer ?
  • purerice - Friday, August 9, 2013 - link

    I think so. LPDDR3 memory that Apple uses here and Sony uses with the Vaio Duo is (almost?) always attached to the motherboard, unlike most DDR3L memory. There will likely be other bottlenecks for sure, but especially with shared vram, the 4GB is closer to 3-3.5GB.
  • name99 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Are you people retarded?
    This is not a machine being sold to run huge Mathematica simulations, or to host 4 simultaneous VMs. It's a machine sold to people who perform "normal" computing tasks, basically email, web, reading PDFs, maybe MS Office, maybe some arranging photos, maybe some light gaming.

    You're like people who look at the specs for a 2-door sedan and complain "But what if I want to use it to tow my boat 24 hours a day?"

    If it doesn't fit your computing needs, don't fscking buy it. It doesn't meet my needs (which DO include substantial Mathematic usage), so I bought a quad-core 16GB 15" rMBP. The difference is I don't waste everyone's time by claiming that the entire damn world has the same computing needs that I do.
    Does it meet my GF's needs? My mother's needs? My two sister's needs? Yes, yes and yes.
    My programmer brother's needs? No.
    That's why Apple makes multiple laptops!!!
  • TheinsanegamerN - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - link

    dude, roid rage much?
    nobody is retarded here. they were having a legitimate conversation on the ram found in the macbook air, and then you butted in.
    normal users can run over 4 GB of ram usage. ask anyone who runs multiple tabs while a video is playing in the background.
    and nobody was claiming that the world has the same computational needs as them.
    so kindly shut up and go back to your "Mathematical equations" and leave socializing to people who are not incredibly rude morons.
  • jutre - Thursday, August 15, 2013 - link

    Sorry name99, but I do not really mind your opinion, given your clear lack of judgment in posting comments. If you re-read carefully my post and the one from purerice, you will not find any complaint.
  • jutre - Thursday, August 15, 2013 - link

    I have not worked with a SSD-based computer so far. I am used to keeping multiple applications opened at the same time, because launching them takes to much time, so I really need 8Gb or RAM on my 2009 Imac. With an SSD-based laptop, maybe usage patterns change and you no longer need as many apps opened at the same time, so need less RAM ?
  • HodakaRacer - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    Battery life and Performance with windows bootcamped? I know Anand tweeted about running windows on it..
  • cindaydavilla - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    my buddy's step-aunt makes $61 every hour on the computer. She has been without work for 6 months but last month her pay was $14651 just working on the computer for a few hours. Here's the site to read more... www.max38.com
  • ccd2 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    I disagree with you comment on the iPad versus MBA 11". After using the iPad for 6 months, I understand why you believe tablets are going to settle in at 7-8". That size tablet is easy to hold in one hand and, even more importantly, light enough to hold with one hand for extended periods of time. So why would I want the MBA which is even more awkward to handle??? It's even heavier, the keyboard does not fold fully around like the Yoga or detach. The MBA isn't better than an iPad because it can't be used the way most of us use a tablet.

    And as a PC? Why get the MBA when a larger PC like the 13" MBA is simply a better device?

    Convergence devices like the 11" MBA have to make a decent compromise between tablet and PC to justify their often premium prices. I just don't see any device which has made a compelling argument for these devices. Some are getting close, like the Surface Pro or XPS12, but there is still more development to be done
  • FwFred - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    You hold a laptop (it's in the name "lap") far differently than a tablet. A 13" laptop is not awkward in the least. A 13" tablet is laborious to use. The point of the 11" is you bring your computer with you. When you get home, you can even dock it to a keyboard/mouse/monitor and use full fledged desktop software.

    I agree a 13" laptop is a better experience... unless you are very mobile and you always have your laptop stuffed in your bag.
  • ccd2 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    You kind of support my point. Used as a laptop, in your lap, an 11" PC doesn't offer any real advantage over a 13" laptop. Stuffed in my bag, the weight difference doesn't matter much either. A 11" laptop needs to be some sort of convergence device for most of us, otherwise there are better options like a bigger laptop.
  • Impulses - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    I've kind of given up on convergence devices for now... I enjoyed my Transformer, but I've moved on to a smaller Nexus 7. I was excited about Surface Pro, but it's just too much of a compromise for the price... Same for the 11" MBA. Even $500 Silvermount convertibles that finally break past the Atom performance envelope are unlikely to tempt me.

    I guess there's a reason the traditional laptop form factor has endured... I think some of the more interesting convergence devices are actually those that stick to one role without sacrifices and only offer extra versatility as a second choice... The Yoga 13 hinge design is rather appealing, I doubt I'd prop it up like an easel or whatever often but it takes nothing away from it's role as a laptop.
  • ccd2 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    I agree. I'm looking at the new Nexus 7 as well. The problem with convergence devices is that they charge a premium for being a convergence, but just don't work that well. For the price of most of them, I can have a good 7" tablet and a larger PC with no compromises.
  • name99 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    The value of a large iPad is as a document reader. Not an eBook reader, but a technical document reader --- generally, but not limited to PDFs. This market appears to be large enough (individuals who most read tech documents, like myself, business use cases, and older people with bad eyes for whom the extra screen space is worth the other hassles) to sustain the 10" iPad indefinitely. Heck, if we assume the rumors to be true, there is enough of a demand for document readers that it makes sense for Apple to try a 13" iPad form factor.

    The basic point is that people use these devices in different ways. There is no way I would ever consider a 7" iPad -- it is useless for my specific needs. But obviously other people love it.
    It is a waste of time from the point of view of market analysis to rely on anecdote ("I use this device in this way, and likewise all my [demographically identical] friends".)

    Unless one has specific numbers regarding how people use devices, we have to rely on the common sense observation that if a company keeps making and selling a product, there is a substantial group of people who want it. Apple has been selling the 11" MBA for a while now. This seems to suggest that, in spite of your theoretical analysis, there IS a large enough group of people for whom this size is best that it remains a viable product.

    I am sympathetic to your analysis. I have made a very similar analysis claiming that one of the reasons Surface Pro is not a viable product is because it fits uncomfortably between the cell phone (which everyone has and which serves mobile tasks well) and the laptop (which everyone has if they hope to do any sort of real work with Windows).
    But at the end of the day, we have to calibrate these arguments to reality, especially if they're arguments from the gut without numbers to support them. I'd say reality supports my argument (Surface Pro is not and will not be viable) whereas it does not support your argument.

    (It would be an interesting twist on your argument to consider why Apple can sell this form factor successfully whereas Windows cannot. Perhaps it is the very fit and finish of Apple --- a quality keyboard and trackpad --- along with OSX and its support for full-screen apps with maximum use of the display and easily controlled multiple virtual displays --- which makes the difference. A lousy keyboard and trackpad may be more painful in smaller form factor, and Windows full screen mode may still include enough chrome that each window is just that much less useful? In theory Windows8 Metro solves the chrome problem, but Metro has its own issues in that it does a terrible job of information density. Space isn't wasted in chrome, instead it's wasted everywhere.)
  • ccd2 - Monday, August 12, 2013 - link

    It could be that Apple makes for good one stop shopping. Many like myself have issues with the cost of Apple machines, but hardly anyone questions their quality. Many feel that, in part, Microsoft and Google entry into hardware is due to the failure of non apple OEM to offer well executed products
  • KPOM - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link

    If you travel a lot the 11" Air is a good choice. Try using a 15" or even some 13" notebook in the middle seat on an airplane tray table and you'll see why. The 11" and 13" MacBook Air models have identical internals now.
  • beggerking@yahoo.com - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - link

    absolutely no need to be torn between an ipad vs air... just get a Surface PRO!! even the current version beats air with its touchscreen and pen input..

    the next version with Haswell processor will absolutely replace both ipad and air.
  • name99 - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - link

    For christ's sake. You are committing an even dumber error than Vivek with his repeated reference to "real computer.
    The salient difference between an iPad and an MBA is not the realness of the computer, it is that they have different input systems, and these different input systems have different strengths.

    It would be a simplification, but a justifiable one, to say that the MBA, with its keyboard and trackpad, has a much higher bandwidth input system. That's not quite true --- for certain purposes (making music for example) multi-touch provides a high bandwidth input system. But for MOST purposes, the keyboard provides rapid input of one sort, the trackpad rapid input of another sort. Typing on glass does not match the keyboard speed, and even the with keyboard of a Surface Pro you're missing the fine accuracy and immediacy of a trackpad.

    The point is not that one is "better" than the other. That's precisely the sort of stupidity that leads you to create devices like Surface Pro which try to do too many things and do them all badly.
    The point is that different is DIFFERENT. Navigating Apple Maps is vastly superior on my iPad to navigating Google Earth on a laptop or my iMac, and while I imagine Apple will do a good job with their UI for Maps on OSX 10.9, my guess is it will not be as good as on the iPad. The task of manipulating the 3D view of a city works really well with the immediacy afforded by a multitouch screen. Music is a similar sort of activity where that sort of immediacy can work well, likewise for some types of art creation.
    We're on our first tentative steps to voice UIs, but there are already a few situations where commanding Siri is indeed faster than the alternative ways of getting things done.

    MBAs and iPads will coexist for a long time because they do different things, and the way they do those different things is so intrinsic to the way they are shaped that each cannot usefully be morphed into the other. When Vivek says he wants a "real" computer he means that, for certain tasks, he wants the high input bandwidth that an MBA gives him. He's not going to be satisfied by replacing that with a keyboard that's not as good, no trackpad, and apps that are not optimized for this sort of high bandwidth input. And why should he have to? It's easy enough and cheap enough (and getting cheaper every year) to have both.
  • beggerking@yahoo.com - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - link

    a single Surface Pro replaces both. better and cost less.
  • KPOM - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - link

    Not really. It's too big and bulky to be used as a tablet, and its screen is even smaller than a MacBook Air. Plus it has only a single USB port. A MacBook Air has two USB ports and a Thunderbolt port.

    Tablets seem to be settling into the 7-8" range. Where that leaves the 11.6" MacBook Air is a bit uncertain, since a 13" MacBook Air or Ultrabook provides more viewing area. Perhaps the next version will fit in a 12.5" screen. Even as is, however, an 11.6" MacBook Air does provide a better desktop computer experience.
  • TheinsanegamerN - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - link

    surface pro has 2 usb ports. please go and LOOK at one before denouncing it.
  • KPOM - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - link

    Not according to this:

    http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/surface-wit...

    Ports Full-size USB 3.0
    microSDXC card slot
    Headset jack
    Mini DisplayPort
    Cover port
  • Site7000 - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - link

    Then why doesn't anybody buy them?
  • willstay - Monday, August 12, 2013 - link

    I would like to know battery performance with Parallels or VMFusion running Microsoft Outlook connected to Exchange Server in Windows 8 Vs running Windows 8 as base OS.
  • newbietech - Monday, August 12, 2013 - link

    I'd like an option to embed a wireless data card in the mac air. Touch feature on screen would be nice but I care more about being able to have an inbuilt wireless data card.
  • androticus - Monday, August 12, 2013 - link

    For both models, topping out at 4GB RAM is just a total non-starter for me.
  • Pneumothorax - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - link

    Hmmm... Apple does sell 8gb custom order configurations....
  • darwiniandude - Saturday, September 7, 2013 - link

    I ordered mine with i7 CPU, 8GB, and 512 SSD. It feels way faster than my old 15" retina MacBook Pro (wouldn't be for gaming though) and I have $480 left over after selling the Retina to buy this. Great little machine.
  • MobiusStrip - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - link

    Apple makes the same two mistakes over and over:
    1. Crap-ass glossy screen
    2. No real Delete key
  • KPOM - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - link

    Glossy screens are commonplace now. The ones on the MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pros do not have the glass layer on top, so they don't reflect as much as the older MacBook Pros. The lack of a delete key is made up for by the functional function keys. Ii.e. I change the brightness or volume a lot more often than I need to front-delete, so I don't mind pressing FN-DEL as much (since I don't need to press FN-F4 or some other combination like I need to do on my Windows notebook).
  • antonio22m - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link

    Macbook Air is undoubtedly a very good notebook
    Price and lack of optical drive can affect a large number of users whose decision during the judgment can be negative so that they can decide to choose another manufacturer.
    Air is perfect and the best "second computer" that you can wish for.
    His task was not to be the main and only computer we can possess.
    If you want excellent laptop computer that will be able to carry it with you wherever you go, the Air is an excellent choice for perfectly reasonable size and more pronounced weight that barely exceeds one kilo.
    Take a look at this comparison at http://www.squidoo.com/apple-macbook-air-133 and You will see comparison to the another Apple laptops.Anyone considering purchasing this laptop needs to see the information in this chart.
  • SirKronan - Tuesday, October 15, 2013 - link

    So a question I would have REALLY REALLY liked to see answered in this review is this: Is the $150 upgrade to the i7 processor worth it? How much of a gain will you see for your dollars?
  • SirKronan - Tuesday, October 15, 2013 - link

    http://www.anandtech.com/show/7113/2013-macbook-ai...

    Yay!! Found my answer ... finally! Thanks, AnandTech. i7 worth every penny for what I'll be doing with it.

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