New MacBook is the Air apparent
WHILE it might look the same, it's what's inside Apple's new MacBook Air that really counts, as Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson discovers
WHILE it might look the same, it's what's inside Apple's new MacBook Air that really counts, as Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson discovers
Apple has released a new MacBook Air, but you wouldn't know from looking at it.
The new Air looks like the old Air, the same as when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs first pulled its slender aluminium body from a manilla envelope.
What's changed is inside the machine. But these upgrades are so significant they could tip the balance between this computer being a highly portable laptop and your go-to, store-it-all, back-to-base mainframe.
The biggest enhancement to the new 13-inch MacBook Air is its processor.
This computer benefits from Intel's fourth-generation Core i5 chip, dubbed Haswell. Intel promised this chip would be faster and more power efficient.
Apple promises the 13-inch Air will operate for up to 12 hours on one charge, thanks to this new addition, or will play a film on its screen for up to eight hours.
This varied slightly in real-world conditions, of course, but Apple's claims were not far off, even when we pumped up its LED-backlit screen to full brightness, opened four screens filled with apps, and downloaded operating system updates. Promises of "all-day battery life" are factually correct.
Another upgrade has been made to its storage. MacBook Airs have often lacked serious capacity because of their reliance on fast, but pricey solid-state drives.
As the technology has fallen in price, the top-of-the-line 13-inch Air can now pack in a 512GB drive, making it a suitable everyday laptop for those with modest multimedia galleries (or those willing to store them on an external drive).
Other upgrades include a wi-fi boost to include the 802.11ac band that, with the right router, can deliver three times the performance, dual microphones for better noise isolation during FaceTime or Skype video calls and Intel HD Graphics 5000 built into its new processor. In use, our review MacBook Air with 1.3GHz Intel Core i5 and 4GB RAM didn't falter, even when multi-tasking beyond common usage and editing video.
Apple's thinnest computer hasn't added any new ports - two USB 3.0 connections, a Thunderbolt port and space for headphones and a memory card feature - so users will still need Ethernet and HDMI
accessories for complete
connectivity.
A top-of-the-line 13-inch MacBook Air, with 1.7GHz Core i7 processor, also peaks at $2099, putting it on a par with full-sized and sometimes more powerful laptops.
Upwardly mobile computer users are bound to appreciate its all-day battery life, 1.7cm thickness and 1.35kg weight, however, and its new-found storage capacity will just make the choice tougher.
> MacBook Air 13-inch
From $1249 / apple.com.au
Rating: 4.5/5