Overview of MacBook Air will begin with the fact that in recent months, Apple has increasingly popularized its mobile iOS platform and related devices, so active that consumers began to worry about the long lull in the Mac. Well, during the Back to the Mac event on October 20 this year, Steve Jobs reassured the public by announcing a lot of interesting products and assuring that the theme of the Mac will again be heard. After all, it was time to use the best workings of the mobile iOS platform in the progenitor – in Mac OS X.
But today we will not talk about this, today we will talk about the future of Apple laptops. That’s right … pathetic, or something, and nothing else. It was the “future” laptop Steve Jobs called the new MacBook Air models. Yes, now there are several of them and these gadgets really stand out against the general background, and not only with their extraordinary dimensions. In my hands came the youngest and most compact model among Apple notebooks – 11.6-inch MacBook Air with 64 GB of flash memory, 1.4-gigahertz processor and 2 GB of RAM. We will talk about it and also discuss whether the given device can replace the MacBook Pro 13 “for an IT-observer and freelancer (we knew about Air for development as well, earlier, RoR creator David Heinemeyer Hansson said).
Get rid of excess cardboard
The small Air comes in a small and stylish cardboard box, which in its design is somewhat reminiscent of that of the iPhone 4, and similar in dimensions to the MacBook Pro 13. “
On the back of the box is a sticker with the device configuration, on the left and right sides – silvery apples, as in the box from the iPad, on the top and bottom – the name of the gadget. The cardboard is sturdy, the printing industry is traditionally of high quality, and the box is opened as well as in the iPhone / iPad – smoothly leaving the lid, an ideal fit.
Inside, almost everything is familiar with other Apple laptops: the laptop itself is on top, a small box with “waste paper”, stickers and software, a power supply and an extension cable, in this case an American plug. This is one of the first devices that got into the country, flew directly from the US, visited the hands of keyboard engraving specialists and became quite localized.
Inside a small black box waiting for me, I’m sorry for the tautology, the expected surprise: a flash drive from Mac OS X 10.6.4 and iLife ’11 instead of a pair of DVDs. Expected, as this moment was widely covered by the press, but still very damn pleasant. It is not necessary to search for a PC on a wireless network to use its optical drive or to purchase / borrow an external one if it becomes necessary to reinstall the OS. The storage capacity is 8 GB and it is write-protected.
The 45-watt power adapter turned out to be more compact than the 65-watt PSU from the personal MacBook Pro 13 “and manufactured by Delta, which inspires confidence. It also creates good computer power supplies for many famous brands. By the way the adapter “proshki” is made by Samsung. I will add that in old models Air the power supply unit is similar to that of the novelty. The American plug was easily removed and replaced with a standard European plug. The wire is, by the way, thinner and softer than the 65-watt PSU, like a cord for connecting iGadgets to USB.
How small he is!
Away off the cardboard, off of the protective cellophane, off of the traditional soft pad between the keyboard and the display – here it is handsome. And what a smell, the incomparable scent of Apple’s new technology. I remember, just in the doldrums, when there were no optical CD-drives, the new 3-inch 3.5-inch floppy smelled.
The laptop is small, thin, metallic and sturdy. The feeling of monolithic design immediately catches your eye, as soon as you take the device in your hands – it looks stronger than the old Air models. Externally, it is closer to the models of MacBook Pro, which is not surprising – the same brand Unibody-design, strict forms, clear edges.
The hinge of the display unit in the device is new or, rather, borrowed from the Pro models. Its design has already shown itself well in practice, and problems with breaking loops like in the previous generation of Air should not be. The laptop opens easily, literally with one hand. From the folding module with peripheral connectors Apple refused, hurray! It was not very convenient, it was too difficult to open if the laptop was on the table. Moreover, USB-ports are now two – hurray! And they are located on different sides. That is, the problems with simultaneous connection of overall USB devices, as in the MacBook / MacBook Pro in the new Air there, and again, “Hooray!”. On the left side are the MagSafe proprietary connector, a USB port, a 3.5 mm audio jack and a microphone. On the right – one more USB-port and Mini DiaplayPort output. In the 13.3-inch model there is also an SD card slot. It is a pity that the engineers donated them to the 11.6-inch Air.
Everything is relative
The dimensions of the laptop are 299.5x192x3 ~ 17 mm weight – about 1.06 kg (may vary slightly depending on the configuration). That is, it weighs about half as much as the MacBook Pro 13 “, and as for the sizes or, rather, the volumes, the smaller the device, probably three times. What can I say – the elephant and the moska.
Engineers and designers of Apple tried their best. It is difficult to find analogues in the world of ultraportable Windows-notebooks, similar in aggregate mass-size characteristics and filling. You can recall the Sony Vaio TT, but it is far less compact, not at all monolithic, and the filling is weaker (integrated graphics adapter Intel vs. NVIDIA GeForce 320M in Air). In fact, the new “Air” in size only a third exceeds the iPad, while it is a full-fledged laptop with the appropriate OS.
Miniature apparatus looks and in the open state and an important role in this is played by a widescreen screen with a 16: 9 aspect ratio. About the display we’ll talk later, but for now we’ll compare Air again with the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The reduced size of the notebook did not affect the keyboard, but the trackpad was slightly lower (about a centimeter), and the width is identical to that of the MacBook Pro. The American keyboard, respectively, slightly different sizes of buttons and quite a bit of layout from the official Russian.
Keyboard and trackpad in the official 13.3-inch MacBook Pro
Keyboard and trackpad in the US 11.6-inch MacBook Air
Trackpads in 13.3- and 11.6-inch laptops respectively.
The progress of the keys in the Air seemed slightly less than in the MacBook Pro, for ease of use it does not affect. The reduced height of the trackpad also does not strain and negative emotions do not cause – the experience with it is similar to that in Pro. Please note that the usual round power button disappeared in the upper right corner. In the new MacBook Air, it moved to the keyboard block. Functional keys have become a little narrower – at first it strains, but you quickly get used to it.
The keys in the MacBook Air 11.6 are recessed slightly more than in the MacBook Pro 13.3
Keys in the MacBook Pro 13.3 please illuminate
In general, the beginner has changed a lot in comparison with other Apple laptops. Of minor differences, I note a little increased in height legs on the bottom panel, but they are all the same slippery.
The backlight of the keyboard was missing – this is not encouraging, although I tried to work in the dark. With my half-blind printing method, there is enough light from the display to more or less comfortably type the text. He died a brave light sensor. Now the brightness of the screen will have to be adjusted with handles, not a great loss. The infrared port has disappeared – Apple Remote will be idle. This fact is depressing. The power of Air is enough to play HD video – it could well be used occasionally as a home media player. Without a remote control this will not be so convenient.
The brand LED sleep indicator is also new to the beginner. Refusal of it is quite understandable. In Air, flash memory is used instead of a mechanical hard disk, respectively, to determine when the laptop fell asleep and the HDD stopped working (it’s better not to move the laptop sharply until the HDD is turned off). And in principle, the device falls asleep almost instantly, just as it wakes up. Plus, the use of fast flash memory allowed to use not a simple sleep mode, but some kind of analogue of hibernation in the iPad and other portable technology, when almost all the stuffing is de-energized. In this condition, Air can work up to 30 days without recharging. MacBook Pro – three to four times smaller.
The display is again glossy, but something is wrong here
I want to talk about the display separately. It is not covered with glass as in the MacBook Pro, but also not glossy, as in the older generation of Air, but glossy. Nevertheless, the gloss is not so “vigorous” as in my 13-inch “bug” in which the reflection of a loved one can be seen even on a white background. If you look at the screen at a certain angle, you see a kind of purple tide – most likely it’s an anti-glare filter. This applies Sony in some of its expensive laptops. The result, as they say, on the face. Working with this display is much more convenient than with the screen of the MacBook Pro. Sensations about the same as when working with a matte display – if it is active and there is some image, then you will not see any reflections. Yes, and a matte silver frame, too, does not reflect anything, unlike the black in older laptops Apple.
The matrix here is not IPS, and I was hoping so. Very high-quality TN + Film, comparable to the matrix in the MacBook Pro and even a little bit better. As it seemed to me, the colors in the display of the MacBook Air are more saturated. Perhaps, the absence of glass, color filter, slightly changed gamma adjustment or increased pixel density affects. Still, the resolution in it is 1366×768 pixels, that is, even slightly higher than in my laptop (1280×800 pixels). The opening angle of the display unit is similar to that of the MacBook Pro and it is comfortable. It is enough to work with the device both at the table and on the lap.
Sim-sim … turn on!
Stop scrutinizing, feeling and trying on the tooth – it’s time to turn on the laptop. I expected a very fast system boot, but I forgot that it was the first start and it was unhurried.
But after the final configuration of the system, subsequent reboots occurred for 5-10 seconds, which is much faster than in my “bug”. Very pleased with the display. I was afraid that a reduced diagonal with such a high resolution for it would negatively affect the readability of the text and it would be necessary to strain my eyes, but everything turned out exactly the opposite. Even very small text is easy to read, it is clear, and a few reduced menu items do not bother at all. Sensations from working with this display are about the same as with Retina on the iPhone 4 – very pleasant. Moreover, it is even clearer than in the new 13.3-inch MacBook Air (I recall that it also had a higher resolution – 1440×900, as in 15-Pro) – it was possible to compare both devices.
What can I say about the experience of working with the device – fast flash memory steers! Programs run much faster, and stuffed with third-party languages Dictionary.app simply flies, giving the results of translation in context just instantly. On a MacBook Pro with a 2.4 GHz processor, but a HDD with a spindle rotation speed of 5400 rpm, it happens, you have to wait 3-4 seconds. Fear that there will be problems with the speed of copying small files, but this is not – everything works very quickly. And most importantly – a laptop can be shaken as you like, running around with an open device in the apartment or office, throwing on the couch, closing and instantly hurling into the bag, and doing any other things that are not desirable when using a laptop with a mechanical hard drive. Microcircuits shaking is not terrible, unlike rotating at a huge speed plate, over which flutters the reading / writing head.
The test of the MacBook Air was, so to speak, in the most out-of-the-field conditions. There were installed applications with which I constantly work, and made some news, as well as a small article. General sensations of the speed of the device do not differ from the experience of the native MacBook Pro. The device works smartly, applications, as I mentioned above, run even faster than on a large laptop, the presence of a weaker 1.4-gigahertz low-voltage processor is not felt. But it’s only in my personal tasks: working in Pages, Numbers, simple image processing in Pixelmator, parallel use of Safari and Firefox (needed for some admin sites), plus Adium, Mail and several other programs hang in the background.
I note a funny fact – Flash-plugin in the kit does not really exist and Safari does not try to download it independently. Moreover, the branded browser does not indicate in any way that a Flash player is required from the Adobe site, but merely notes the lack of software necessary for playing the content. An advanced user, to whom I relate and myself, easily understand what’s the matter, will find and install the necessary software manually. And what about some inexperienced person, and words that are so terrible as the “Flash plug-in” to the unknown? Here it is – an insidious diversion of Apple. By the way, it was made not because of some fictitious press dislike of Jobs to Adobe. In his open letter, he has long placed all the points above the “e”, noting that the technical side is weak in Flash. One of the possible reasons is to get the user to install the latest version of the Flash player with fixed bugs and fixed vulnerabilities (after all, the laptop can lie down for half a year in the warehouse until it gets to the buyer). Automatically it is not updated in the Mac environment – another stone in the garden of Adobe. The second, more realistic, in my opinion, the reason, saving battery power. As the tests of foreign colleagues showed, with the presence of a Flash plug-in, active web surfing in Safari eats up the battery in four hours, and without it, in six hours. But nothing prevents using any “cutting” Flash-content, whether it’s Click-to-Flash or Plugin Customs.
In my standard operating mode and with the same “flash cutter”, the device worked without external power for about three hours and, judging by the indication of the system, it was ready to function as much again. Similar results I have in the MacBook Pro.
As for heating and noise, they are not. This moment was very pleased, especially considering the “hot” temper of the past generation MacBook Air. The laptop was always a little warm in all places and zones of increased heating, as, for example, in the MacBook Pro (the upper left corner) it was not found. The temperature of the processor ranged from 40-50 ° C.
“To take or not to take?” – that is the question!
The device described above was taken into use for a while with two insidious aims. One of them is to write this review. The second is to decide the choice. My ticket to the world of Mac OS X was a 15-inch laptop MacBook Pro – the first model in the Unibody package. I took it, wanting to get more power (bribed the availability of GeForce 9600) and a more screen display. The 13-inch aluminum device was then called simply a MacBook and many annoyed with its infamous display. After some time, there was a new 13-inch model of the MacBook Pro, devoid of the defects of its predecessor, and without looking, I changed my 15-ku to a less powerful unit, having long understood that “terrible power” in my work is not needed, and for games there is a desktop Windows PC. Plus I needed a more compact device, since with a laptop I have to carry often and not in my own car, which is not yet, but on the hump.
Now there is a new 11.6-inch MacBook Air, which, according to my personal feelings and personal tasks, perfectly replaces the 13.3-inch device. He lost his childhood illnesses in the form of overheating and breaking loops, he received a glass trackpad and a powerful video card similar to the one in the Pro-model. In this case, the laptop is twice as light as my current working tool and much more compact, not afraid of shaking, has a less glaring and very clear display. That is, I can replace a large backpack with a compact shoulder bag and have a MacBook Air with me almost always. And for me, as for a non-sitting home freelancer, it is fraught with increased efficiency of work and, accordingly, earnings.
There is also an iPad, which, in principle, can partially replace the laptop in some tasks (see the detailed review), but here the key is the word “partially”. Yes, I can type on the tablet some text and even an article black, which has already been done, but no more. I can not, using only a tablet, make quality and publish news, prepare a full article, process images for printed materials, etc. The iPad is an auxiliary tool, a wonderful entertainment gadget and E-Reader. MacBook Air 11.6 “- this is a full-fledged unit for work, actually a personal office in a small bag. These devices are weakly intersecting functionally and complement each other well.
As a result, the decision was taken and the modified 11.6-inch model of MacBook Air with a 128-gigabyte Flash-drive and 4 GB of RAM ordered. Accordingly, the continuation follows. Stay in touch.
MacBook Air 11.6 “for review provided by the store” America “
