Oh, come on. I’m home sick, let me have a little fun with my titles, would you?
The MacBook Air is back, filling in the space between the MacBook and MacBook Pro. This is a place that hasn’t been properly filled since Apple redesigned the MacBook. The new MacBook was so drastically different from the MacBook Pro, underpowered for all but the most trivial of tasks, yet the MacBook Air was woefully out of date. Finally, Apple has paid some attention to the MacBook Air. The new model is smaller, faster, lighter, with a 13.3″ screen in a smaller space, and two Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C ports. Of course, Apple didn’t forget to upgrade the internals either.
In This Article:
Smaller Envelope
When Apple first released the MacBook Air, they did so by pulling it out of an envelope. In 2008, this was an impressive feat. A laptop that could fit in a manila envelope? Amazing! Then, it was a bottom of the lineup MacBook. It was less impressive than the existing MacBook. Apple tried to cram as much power into that small chassis as they could, but it just couldn’t take much power.
However, Apple switched the spots, making the MacBook a more simplistic machine than the MacBook Air, slimmer and lighter as well. Now the MacBook Air is a slim model that slides perfectly between the MacBook and MacBook Pro. The “just right” MacBook for many consumers.
The new MacBook Air is thinner, lighter, and with a smaller footprint than the outgoing model. It’s still slightly thicker and heavier than the MacBook, but that additional size is used for a larger screen and more power. Of course, it can also still fit into an envelope.
More Power
The old (left) vs the new (right) MacBook Air specs.
The MacBook Air comes with only one processor choice. It’s not a very fast one, but it will outperform the 12″ MacBook, and it’s a huge improvement over the outgoing MacBook Air. You get a 1.6GHz dual core Intel Core i5 processor. The MacBook, as a reminder, comes with a 1.2GHz Intel Core m3, a mobile processor, and can be upgraded to a 1.4GHz Intel Core i7. The MacBook Air is no powerhouse. However, for web browsing, emails, meetings, note taking, and other such ordinary tasks, the MacBook Air will be more than enough for you, and certainly more powerful than the MacBook.
When it comes to memory, the MacBook Air can only get up to 16GB. That’s not much if you’re building apps or editing video, but if you’re just looking for a computer that can keep 12 tabs open while you do your homework and chat over Facebook Messenger, then it’ll be perfect for you.
Something to Look At
The new MacBook Air has a 13.3″ screen, just like the one that came before it. However, it has a smaller bezel, shrinking the giant bezel of the previous MacBook Air down to something more manageable. Apple also added a retina display, increasing the resolution from 1440×900 pixel to 2560×1600. That screen can also display far more colors than the outgoing MacBook Air, for a more brilliant experience. This is not a P3 color gamut, but a wider one than the previous model.
Touch ID
The new MacBook Air has a Touch ID sensor, like the MacBook Pro. Apple didn’t add a Touch Bar to the MacBook Air, which some would consider quite fortunate. The Touch Bar hasn’t been universally popular. In fact, I still can’t tell if I like it or not, I oscillate between the two. Leaning towards indifference though. If I had to pay money for the Touch Bar, I wouldn’t.
The MacBook Air power button has been replaced with a Touch ID button, sitting at the end of the row of normalz function keys. Good, solid, clicky butterfly mechanism keys. They might not travel more than a fraction of a millimeter, but they’re better than typing on a solid surface.
More?
100% recycled
The MacBook lineup has been made of aluminum for some time. Some of that metal came from recycled sources. However, the MacBook Air is the first Mac laptop Apple has constructed only from recycled aluminum. It’s a new type of alloy that is produced strictly from aluminum shavings. I’ll be sure to throw all the cans of my soup in the recycling, so we can all have MacBook Airs that, at one point, may have helped someone get over the common cold.
The new MacBook Air lowers carbon emissions by 47% over the previous model. Getting your papers in on time and saving the planet? It’s a mighty Mac, indeed!
Larger trackpad
Apple loves a good trackpad. Multitouch trackpads that can be clicked anywhere? Fantastic. But why not more trackpad? That’s what Apple has been doing to their entire MacBook lineup. The MacBook Air is no different. The new trackpad is 20% larger than the previous one. It might be a small difference, but it’ll surely improve your productivity.
Larger speakers
Hey, you’re not going to listen to music loudly in the library with those, are you? Good, because the new MacBook Air has twice the bass and speakers that are 25% larger than the previous model’s. That can translate to quite a ruckus. Sure, you’ll still need headphones or quality speakers to really enjoy your music, but watching a video or playing some music softly while you write? They’ll be perfect for that.
HD camera
Surprisingly, I don’t use the camera on my Mac often. In fact, I have a little slider that I stuck over it, so I can disable it whenever I’m not using it. Turns out, I’m almost never using it. That’s because I have a phone for making FaceTime calls. However, that may change now that Apple has introduced Group FaceTime.
Maybe your brother went off to college too, and you want to be able to bring the whole family together with the new group FaceTime feature. Can you do it on your iPhone? Sure. But wouldn’t you rather a big 13.3″ screen to see your loved ones on? I’m sure they would prefer it as well. The new HD camera is clearer than ever, for those times when you have to phone home.
Ports
The MacBook Air is right in between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro when it comes to ports. The MacBook has just one USB-C port and headphone jack (hurray!). The MacBook Pro has four Thunderbolt 3 ports over USB-C and a headphone jack. The MacBook Air has two Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C ports and a headphone jack. They’ll be useful for charging, expanding the functionality, or connecting to displays or projectors for presentations.
Power Sipping
The MacBook Air can last up to 12 hours with regular use over WiFi, or 13 hours of movie playback. That’s more than enough power to get you through your day. In fact, if you’re taking notes in class, you can turn WiFi off, ensuring that, even if you’re compiling apps, writing code, or doing some photo editing, your MacBook Air will last you through every class before you need to hit a charger.
MacBook Air: Class is in Session
While writing this article, I came to a conclusion. When I went off to college, I did so with a MacBook. It was a wonderful machine that took me through all four years of school beautifully. The MacBook Pro I got after that was the perfect upgrade. I went from college student to professional and student of the world. You don’t want to head off to school with the most expensive MacBook Pro you can buy. Instead, it would be better to get a MacBook Air or an iPad Pro. I recommend the MacBook to almost no one, usually recommending a iPad over it, however, if money is tight, and you need all the capabilities of a full computer, the MacBook is a perfectly good option.
If I was going off to college today, or if I was sending a child off to school today, a moderately upgraded MacBook Air would be my choice. It’s got enough power to bring a student through their four years of undergrad, battery life to last all through classes, even when you get stuck with 8 hour days without a charger, and it’s slim and portable. I think the MacBook Air is the perfect Mac for a student. In fact, it seems as though it was designed for them. Of course, if you just want a Mac for around the house or office that you can take anywhere and stay connected, it’s perfect for that as well.