CNET Editor's rating: 7.7 out of 10
Reviewed by
Dan Ackerman
Review date: 01/25/08
Release date: 02/08/08
The good: Incredibly thin yet surprisingly sturdy; new trackpad gesture controls are very useful; remote optical drive makes living without a built-in drive much easier.
The bad: Very limited connectivity; slower than other MacBooks; SSD hard-drive option is ridiculously expensive and standard hard drive is small; battery is not user replaceable.
The bottom line: The design is revolutionary, but Apple's MacBook Air will appeal to a smaller, more specialized audience than the standard MacBook, thanks to a stripped-down set of connections and features.
Editor's note: We have updated this review (2/4/08) with additional benchmark testing.
Apple's new laptop, the MacBook Air, may not be the true ultraportable that many had hoped for, but it still easily breaks new ground for small laptops. Mimicking the 13-inch silhouette of the current MacBook line, it's only 0.76 inch thick at its thickest, and Apple calls it the "world's thinnest notebook." Some nitpickers say an obscure Mitsubishi laptop from 1997 was a hair thinner, but two of the smallest current ultraportable laptops, the 11-inch Sony VAIO TZ150 and the 12-inch Toshiba Portege R500, are both slightly thicker, and neither tapers to 0.16 inch as the Air does along its front edge.
As we've come to expect from Apple, the design and engineering that went into the MacBook Air is extraordinary, but it's certainly a much more specialized product than the standard 13-inch MacBook and won't be as universally useful as that popular system. The biggest compromises, which have been well-documented, come in its connectivity: The MacBook Air finds room for only one USB port and doesn't include a built-in optical drive, FireWire, Ethernet, or mobile broadband. And like with its other laptops, Apple refuses to outfit the Air with a media-card reader or an expansion card slot. Offsetting its sparse connectivity are genuinely useful new features including new trackpad gesture controls and the ability to wirelessly "borrow" another system's optical drive.
Choosing the Air over the cheaper, faster standard 13-inch MacBook, or the comparably priced MacBook Pro, will depend on your needs. Travelers who want minimum weight, maximum screen real estate, and who live their lives via Wi-Fi hot spots, with little need for wired connectivity, will find the $1,799 starting price a reasonable investment for owning one of the world's premier bits of high-tech eye candy. And while the MacBook Air's specs are inferior to those found on the cheaper MacBook, they compare more favorably when you look at other ultraportables, where a price premium is always exacted. For instance, both the Sony VAIO TZ150 and Toshiba Portege R500 cost hundreds more than the MacBook Air and feature slower CPUs and half the RAM as the Air.
Although it shares a desktop footprint with the standard black and white MacBooks, the first thing you notice about the Air is its aluminum chassis--similar to the one found on the MacBook Pro, and much more fingerprint resistant than the standard MacBooks. Picking it up, the MacBook Air feels a little heavier than you would expect from looking at it, even though it's only 3 pounds. At the same time, it feels very sturdy and solid, thanks in part to the aluminum construction, and we'd have no qualms about carting it around with us all day. By way of comparison, the VAIO TZ150 features an 11.1-inch screen and weighs only 0.3 pound lighter than the Air, and the Portege R500 is 0.6 pound lighter than the Air with a 12.1-inch screen.
The MacBook Air includes an iSight camera and mic, and an LED-backlit display that works with an ambient light sensor to adjust the screen brightness in response to the light in the room. The keyboard--the same full-size version found in other MacBooks--has backlit keys that are also controlled by the ambient light sensor, although we had to adjust the room lighting a good deal to see any difference.
The revamped trackpad is large, measuring nearly 5 inches diagonally, and it works with new multitouch gestures. Other MacBooks let you do things like use two fingers to scroll through documents--this one lets you use three fingers to go forward and back in your Web browser history, and use your thumb and forefinger to zoom in and out of documents and photos--much like on the iPhone. The three-finger forward/back gesture was immediately useful, and we're already missing it when using other laptops. Apple tells us these new gestures won't be available on older MacBooks as a firmware upgrade, as the hardware behind the new trackpad is different.
Another noteworthy new feature is the remote disc function. Since the Air lacks an optical drive, you can instead remotely use the optical drives of other systems, PC or Mac, as long as they're on the same network. The setup was a little cumbersome for the "host" PC--requiring us to insert the OS X disc that came with the Air, run a small setup program, and then find and turn on "CD and DVD sharing" in the Windows control panel (the documentation could have been a little clearer on what you need to do to on the Windows side). Once we set it up, however, it worked like a charm. You won't be able to stream DVD movies or music CDs via remote disc, but it's fine for getting files and installing apps. A matching external USB DVD burner is available from Apple for $99, but any USB DVD drive should work.
The display offers the same 1,280x800 native resolution as the standard 13-inch MacBook, but the Air's LED-backlit screen means its lid is thinner with an image that was somewhat brighter, at least with both systems set to max brightness.
Apple MacBook Air
Average for thin and light category
Video
VGA, DVI out (via included dongle)
VGA-out, S-video
Audio
Mono speaker, headphone jack
Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data
1 USB
4 USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, mulitformat memory card reader
Expansion
None
PC Card or Express card slot
Networking
802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth
Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth
Optical drive
None, optional USB DVD burner
DVD burner
The real key to finding out whether the MacBook Air is right for you lies in its stripped-down set of ports and connections. Those who regularly use more than one USB device, or need FireWire, an SD card slot, or an Express card slot will find the single USB jack too limiting. Likewise, we often say the telephone modem jacks and S-Video outputs on most laptops are a waste of space, but the MacBook Air goes even further, removing the Ethernet jack (a USB-to-Ethernet adaptor will run you $29) and offloading video output to a pair of included dongles (one VGA, one DVI).
If you live on Wi-Fi hot spots, use Bluetooth for your external mouse, and only need a USB port to occasionally sync and charge your iPod or iPhone, these limitations may not be a deal-breaker for you. While most hardware vendors offer a choice of mobile broadband options, Apple continues to offer none, which is disappointing for a system so clearly meant for life away from home and office. Without an Express card slot, your only option would be a USB mobile broadband modem, but with the sole USB jack under a tiny flap on the right side of the system with limited clearance, you may need a small USB extension cable to get a bulky USB mobile broadband modem connected (similar to the problems people had with the iPhone's recessed headphone jack).
While the 80GB hard drive included in the base $1,799 model may be smaller than you're used to, the only other option is a 64GB solid state hard drive. With no moving parts, and advantages in heat, power consumption, and reliability, SSD hard drives are certainly the way of the future. The future may have to wait a few years for prices to come down; however, swapping the 80GB platter drive for the 64GB SSD drive is a whopping $999 upgrade. The only other internal hardware option is a CPU uptick, from 1.6GHz to 1.8GHz for $300. With the upgraded CPU and SSD drive, the $1,799 MacBook Air suddenly becomes a $3,098 laptop.
We are pleased to see that the MacBook Air comes standard with 2GB of RAM, but with a processor that runs at a much slower clockspeed than the standard MacBook (2.0GHz or 2.2GHz), plus a 4,200rpm 1.8-inch hard drive (as opposed to the standard 5,400rpm), it's not surprising that the MacBook Air is not as fast a performer as the $1,649 MacBook we reviewed in December 2007. Do note that the baseline $1,099 MacBook features a slower processor and half the memory of our MacBook review unit.
And as we often point out, any modern dual-core CPU is going to be more than adequate for Web surfing, multimedia playback, and productivity tasks, and we were able to surf the Web, play videos, and work on a document at the same time with absolutely no slowdown or stuttering. We're currently conducting additional benchmark tests and will update this review with new results as they're available.
One of the biggest drawbacks of the MacBook Air is the lack of a user-replaceable battery. While most laptops will be obsolete before their batteries wear out, we are sensitive to the desire to occasionally carry an extra battery for extended field use. We're still conducting our standard DVD battery drain test on the system, and will report those scores shortly, but in anecdotal testing, the Air lasted for nearly 4 hours of mixed use, including video playback, software installation, Web surfing, and productivity tasks. That's reasonably close to Apple's 5-hour claims, but may not be enough for a full day of off-site use.
We're still not fans of Apple's nearly obligatory extended warranty upsell (so much so that we've simply copied this complaint from our last MacBook review). The default warranty for the MacBook is one year of coverage for parts and labor, but toll-free telephone support is limited to a mere 90 days--well short of what you'd typically find on the PC side--unless you purchase the $249 AppleCare Protection Plan, which extends phone support and repair coverage to three years.
Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds) (Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple MacBook Air - 1.6GHz
OS X 10.5.1 Leopard; Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 144MB Intel GMA X3100; 80GB Samsung 4,200rpm
Sony Vaio TZ150
Windows Vista Business Edition; 1.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage U7500; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 64MB Mobile Intel 945GM Express; 100GB Toshiba 4,200rpm
Toshiba Portege R500
Windows Vista Business Edition; 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage U7600; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel 945GM Express; 120GB Toshiba 5,400rpm
Intro:
This configuration of the Apple MacBook Air is a 3-pound, ultra light notebook computer.Compared to other ultra compact notebooks on the market, it is relatively inexpensive at around $1,745.Has Wi-Fi (wireless connectivity) built-in.
Noteworthy Features:
Has only a 3-pound weight, which is somewhat lighter than some similarly priced notebooks.Also, this notebook has 2 GB RAM, which is more than some similarly priced notebooks.
Weaker Features:
Has only a 80GB hard drive, which is smaller than some similarly priced notebooks.For example, the Sony VAIO SZ381P/X, a 3.7-pound notebook at around $1, 690, has a 160GB hard drive.The Apple MacBook Air comes with basic word processing software -- serious business or academic document authors probably will want to upgrade to a more powerful office suite.Shared video memory has a negative impact on system performance which may be okay for users with more modest graphics needs.Users with more demanding needs should look to a graphics solution that brings its own muscle.
Suitability:
Suitable for those who consider weight the most important feature.Clean up your digital photographs with the photo editing software included with this notebook.If you have a wireless network at home, wirelessly browse the Internet from any room in your house with this Wi-Fi enabled notebook.
Value:
In general, this notebook's features are in line with its price.However, the average price of ultra compact products with a comparable screen size is considerably more -- right around $2,532.
Suggestions:
(1) Given this device's Wi-Fi capability, you may want to get a wireless access point for your home, so that you can browse the Internet more conveniently from any room.(2) To get the most out of this notebook's Bluetooth capability, you could have a Bluetooth-enabled headset, handheld or other device, and be able to link it wirelessly to your computer within a range of 20-or-so feet inside the same room.
10 out of 10 - Perfect Absolutely astounding
Before I say anything about the MBA, for those of you who don't have one or never used one, ...
Before I say anything about the MBA, for those of you who don't have one or never used one, GET OFF THIS FORUM. I have had it with people who like to express an opinion before they've seen the product. What's worse is how many of you have rated the machine so low before seeing it. So get out of here!
Now, the Macbook Air is NOT for everyone. It should not be considered a primary notebook. It is a true subnotebook in every sense - few ports, no optical drive, etc. But consider the following. It does have an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and at 1.6 GHz in a machine this small is not too shabby. The screen quality is better than any subnotebook I have ever seen, and it is soooo thin and light that it is a joy to carry around. I've gotten more than 4 hours of battery life on it as well. I like the Remote Disc feature - it works great with my iMac and I have had no problems. But buy the $99 superdrive - it's so small and light it'll fit into a case easily.
Oh yeah - I'm running WinXP in Parallels on this thing and that works great as well, so if anyone wants to whine about performance, forget it. Look, it's not my MBP. But once you realize what it is for (a road warrior's dream) you'll accept it as the best subnotebook available.
9 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
7 out of 10 - Very good Super cool but no thanks
The MacBook Air is undeniably very cool, with its ultraslim design, forward-looking flash memory option and nifty new track pad. ...
The MacBook Air is undeniably very cool, with its ultraslim design, forward-looking flash memory option and nifty new track pad. But the price, and the "missing" features that I don't need to list here (everyone else already has) add up to a non-starter for me. I like a nice small laptop but how many of us really need this one considering the cons? If you're an early adopting image-conscious corporate exec on the move, go for it. I'll stick with my black MacBook.
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by mpfinneran (see profile) -
January 15, 2008
8 out of 13 users found this user opinion helpful.
To start, the computer has only 80 gb of memory, unless you buy more overpriced memory. 80 gb is the equivalent to a big ipod. Its terrible for a college student who will be storing music and movies, essays, term papers, and presentations. Only buy it if you plan on listening to music all day and not doing any work.
The laptop is light which is good, and has a full keyboard and is very nifty with the track pad but thats all for the new and good.
There is no replaceable battery. Don't overlook this. DON'T OVERLOOK THIS. For college students this is a disaster. The computer may not be 2,000 bucks but its still 1,800. Thats a pretty penny for a battery that isn't replaceable. College students who have this computer a few years down the line, will be without a computer for weeks after they send it in to the mother ship for a new battery. This is terrible for exams, papers, or any college deadlines and eliminates any sort of longevity.
I respect the stylistic choice and technological endeavor to have a diskless computer, but its too soon an idea. The macbook air is meant for travel. Why else would it be so light? But what do the majority of travelers do while traveling? They watch movies. This defeats the purpose of the macbook air because dvds aren't usable for the air. Thus the user will be forced to buy a movie off itunes from a limited selection. Here is an example of corporation like mac moving their iron hook around society. The user will be stuck spending more money on mac to pay for more memory, a new batter, and entertainment. With this computer mac trying to monopolize the market, forcing the consumer to rely on mac for all of his needs.
The macbook air is not a terrible piece of equipment by any means. But it's not a computer. It's a toy.
I urge college students not to waste their parent's money on the air. It's not a good choice for college. The regular macbook or macbook pro are much better machines for college. However, those who go on frequent business trips, the macbook air is a nice addition to the home computer.
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by mfed1089 (see profile) -
January 24, 2008
4 out of 10 - Mediocre Great Form, lousy Function
Just ran some specs with a new Macbook Air and my current 20 month old win/amd Compaq laptop (for ...
Just ran some specs with a new Macbook Air and my current 20 month old win/amd Compaq laptop (for which I paid $1k) is faster at almost everything (except loading). Plus I can easily attach it to a variety of projection and TV systems for presentations (which you can not with the air unless you purchase and carry a variety of adapters.
I get cd/dvd from a variety of people (even Apple gave out CD's promoting the air) how do you play them over a closed network?
My laptop is 23 ounces more in weight (excluding power cord/adapter). I traveled 189,000 air miles over that last two years, so weight means a lot to me. But function is more important.
The Air does have nice touch pad features and whiles feeling light, still feels sturdy.
This a a great machine for a well-to-do college student while walking across campus but for a frequent fliers this machine is not practical or even useful.
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by nutjob (see profile) -
February 7, 2008
5 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Be realistic. This is not a desktop replacement
The problem with people who are commenting about this laptop is they complain about functions to that of a desktop ...
The problem with people who are commenting about this laptop is they complain about functions to that of a desktop replacement.
People must keep in mind that the main reason laptops were invented was for those that need a PC while on the road for business or school. If you truly see the intention of the mac book air is for those that have to lug a laptop everyday for work purposes. It's not a tool to watch movies, listen to music, or any other entertainment function. No, it's to be efficient and have a way to be productive.
I primarily bought this laptop because of travel for work. My last laptop was close to nine pounds and just became a pain to caring this from location to location. I can't even feel the mac book air when strapping it over my shoulder.
If you need a solid, light, and sexy version of an IBM thinkpad then buy this. Video games, movies, music, and entertainment fanatics should look elsewhere.
Updated I've said this to many people that this is not a multimedia toy. Be realistic in what you are buying this for. It's a device for business travelers and those that need to do work. If you want to watch a movie, meaning making it a multimedia device .... wake up.
Imagine the benefits. If you have to lug a slew of books in college and have one less thing that doesn't weigh a ton. More importantly to those business travelers that fly 3 to 4 times a month. This is godsend when slugging it on your shoulder from airport terminal to terminal.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular I really like it, it is light and can be taken anywhere, wait it is good for my work but not me?
I got my macbook air 3 weeks ago now, and I figured I would wait to write the review after ...
I got my macbook air 3 weeks ago now, and I figured I would wait to write the review after a while of using it. I originally got it so the dreadful way through security in airports and train connections would be easier. There has been many times when I just want to drop my old laptop just to not have to carry it :P . For power and performance I got a monster desktop, why would I want the monster to come with me everywhere? no, no, I need to leave it running things in a secure place like my office so it can crank all my work day and night! The laptop for me is an instrument to connect to my desktop and do easy tasks as watch movies browse the internet and write papers (for that I need a decent graphic card, so no cheap lil' laptops would do). In all, this computer is perfect for me and not being able to connect many things to it makes me seriously think in what do I want to carry with me, an usb hard drive with backup and data is all I have and I love it! I was thinking I did not like the idea of having to buy the external dvd player and carrying it :P so I did not buy it and I gave it a try to the itunes store, it is quite cool I have to say. I'm in the middle of nowhere now, with no video stores in sight, and I still can rent a movie and watch it . Somehow it work better than I expected. I think the reviews should be posted by people that actually have or at least have seen the computer instead of people just talking why they hate so much an imaginary piece of crap, of course if you imagine it is crap, you of course will not like it. I say this computer is very useful and it is perfect for me. No more heavy backpacks for the plane or the bike ride, just a light bag I never think anymore: "do I REALLY need to take my laptop?"
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by nataliagp (see profile) -
May 16, 2008
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
7 out of 10 - Very good "Ridiculously expensive" SSD is not fair
I don't think it's fair to say the SSD drive option is "ridiculously expensive" that is actually how ...
I don't think it's fair to say the SSD drive option is "ridiculously expensive" that is actually how expensive SSD drives are. You cannot blame Apple for that. If you search around for a 60GB SSD, you will see it does cost about $1,000!
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by thibaulthalpern (see profile) -
April 25, 2008
8 out of 10 - Excellent Best Ultraportable?
I recently bought a Vaio TZ11 ultraportable. It was my first PC with Vista. Oh dear!
After 3 months of ...
I recently bought a Vaio TZ11 ultraportable. It was my first PC with Vista. Oh dear!
After 3 months of trying to get on with it I got the MacBook Air, with the solid state hard disk. What a joy! My first Mac.
Everything works, it doesn't hang, the battery life isn't quite as good as the Vaio but it is good enough, and the power pack is much lighter and more portable.
I use it for work, I don't do any gaming on it so the performance is fine. In fact although the Vaio has theoretically higher specifications, the fact that it has Vista means that it is much slower in reality.
The problem - as most people have noted, it is connectivity. One USB port, no Ethernet port? This is a problem and means that I have to carry around a portable USB hub and ethernet dongle. I don't really mind this so much at work, since I only use the USB port for memory stick transfers - At home however, I have a couple of disks, a TomTom, an external monitor, speakers, an iPod etc.
What Apple should release is a docking station (Bluetooth?). Right now my desk just looks like a whole wired up mess, with USB ports and cables everywhere.
Ironically, I could organise things much better with the Vaio via the docking station, only one connection and all the cables neatly lead away.
I bought a Timecapsule with the idea of using its USB port as a quasi docking station, but the airport link is much too unreliable for that to work (what is that all about?)
I think my MacBook Air is a great improvement over the Vaio (but that is mainly about the OS) with a decent solution for setting up at my home office I'd be delighted.
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by madridpunch (see profile) -
April 15, 2008
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular totally awesome laptop - yes it can be a desktop replacement
I see a lot of comments by people saying that this machine has compromised too much and that its just ...
I see a lot of comments by people saying that this machine has compromised too much and that its just not very useful to a wide number of people. I think this is totally not true. While there are some short comings - this is a very useful laptop and dare I say - quite capable of replacing a desktop.
First the bad stuff; there are really four things that I don't like:
1. no firewire; using target disk mode is really useful (backups, disk recovery); plus I have three firewire drives. Luckily my firewire drives also have USB ports. Lastly, what about video cameras? Hopefully USB will become more common place.
2. No replaceable battery. I normally carry three batteries for international flights. EM power seats just aren't that common - at least not in coach.
3. A small hard drive - I can live with a 80gb HD but I would prefer at least a 120gb.
4. No onboard ethernet - its true that you can use the USB dongle but it only goes up to 100mb. I use to plug my old laptop into a gigabit switch - so this is a bit of a step back.
That's the bad - but the good is that this laptop is totally awesome when it comes to its light weight. In addition the screen is gorgeous and bright. I've connected my blue tooth keyboard and mouse with out any problem as well as an external 20" screen and USB drive.
My Macbook Air is replacing my G4 12" laptop which had been my main desktop for 3 years. Yeah - its true that the 15" Macbook Pro has a lot more features (and built in ports) but the reality is that adjusting to the Air has been relatively painless and still an upgrade from my G4.
I think most people will find the Air to be a great computer and not the major compromise that everybody says it is. While I do plug it in to Ethernet - it works just fine on the wireless in my house, at my school, and at the coffee shop. I only plug it in at work and when I need to transfer large files.
Speed-wise its just fine for web and office functions. Using iPhoto is snappier than my old G4. I'm also using VM Ware to run Windows, Solaris, and Linux with out any problems.
I really think this is a great computer and would have given it a 10 if the four issues above had been addressed.
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by noise_in_dc (see profile) -
March 30, 2008
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent For my first plunge into the world of Mac, I love it...
Yes, I actually own the product I'm reviewing - imagine that! I've had my MacBook Air for a ...
Yes, I actually own the product I'm reviewing - imagine that! I've had my MacBook Air for a few days now and I absolutely love it. I don't understand all the complaining about poor connectivity, lack of an optical drive, it's impractical... hello, it's an ultra-portable notebook, not the end-all computing/entertainment solution! Would you write a review for the Dell XPS 630 and complain that it it's too big to carry on an airplane? Someone even complained about watching a DVD on it. If you want a portable DVD player, buy one.
All I need is the built-in Wifi, Bluetooth, and USB 2.0 port, and I'm good to go. I've been working on my home wireless network with a Dell XPS 210 running Windows XP (I scrapped the out-of-the-box Vista as soon as I got it). Setting up my preferences in OS X was so easy, but that's after years of having to tweaking Windows settings to get everything to run just right.
Among the things I like about it are how quiet the machine is (no whirring fans or loud hard drives); the fact that I don't even need a computer bag to carry this on a plane - just slip it into the front pouch of my carry-on luggage; and of course the multi-touch trackpad technology is way handy. I could go on - the display quality, the built-in camera and mic, and again the slick OS.
I am a little taken aback by the price. Obviously I still thought it was worth it, but a lot more should have been included with the base price: like more than ONE customer support phonecall? How 'bout a custom-designed Air-bag for when you're carrying this around the city? And it wouldn't have broken the bank for Apple to throw in a complementary USB Ethernet adaptor or maybe a Bluetooth mouse. Also, I've learned that it's still a Windows world. Only two days in and I've run into applications I need that are only available for Windows machines or are still in Beta development for the Mac. It's been kind of eye-opening.
So maybe I'm just a sucker for the latest trendy notebook, but overall I'm very happy with my purchase and it's exactly what I was looking for. I know my rating is a little skewed since this is also my first time running the Mac OS, so I imagine if I had Windows XP on this exact computer my rating might have only been a 6 or 7, depending on how well it ran on this hardware. Hope that helps.
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by ahdrews (see profile) -
March 26, 2008
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so it can crank all my work day and night!
. Somehow it work better than I expected.