11-Inch MacBook Air Review

The 12-inch PowerBook G4 is one of my all time favorite Apple notebook designs. The combination of performance and extreme portability this model offered upon its release in 2003, was unmatched by any other machine of the time. When Apple made the transition to Intel in early 2006, I like many PPC users, eagerly awaited the announcement of a 12-inch Intel based notebook. Sadly, the day never came. In the years to follow, the rumor mills occasionally hinted of the return of a sub 13-inch professional Apple portable. However, the closest Apple ever came was with the introduction of the 13-inch MacBook Pro in 2009. Once Steve Jobs himself confirmed that Apple had no interest in the netbook market, my wishes for a minuscule Mac seemed permanently dashed. Last month, however, my faith was restored when Apple announced the next generation of MacBook Air. Featuring an all new 11.6-in model to accompany the existing 13.3-in design, the new line of Air looked fantastic. When we received our first shipment at Small Dog, I decided to get my hands on one to review.

After about a week on and off with the 11.6-in Air, I’m pleased to report the machine has taken everything I loved about the 12-inch PowerBook and brought it into 2010. Perhaps the first thing to grab my attention was the machine’s size. While I got a decent point of reference during the keynote, it was not until I held one myself that I realized just how small the machine was. Weighing in at 2.3 pounds, the 11-inch Air is only slightly heavier than an iPad. At a glance, its form factor and footprint are roughly the same too. Though more elongated in order to accommodate a full sized keyboard, this machine is the most portable notebook Apple has ever produced. In fact, I’d argue that it is even more portable than an iPad, as its durable unibody offers a larger degree of protection than the iPad’s fragile and exposed display.

Speaking of displays, the Air’s is gorgeous. LED backlit and featuring an impressive 1366 × 768 resolution, it is truly a sight to behold. Though individual pixels are still discernible, one has to squint hard to see them. To put things in perspective, the 11.6-inch Air features a tighter native resolution than the 13-in white MacBook by almost 100 pixels horizontally. The display not only looks great, but increases functionality by accommodating more windows simultaneously. Supplementing the superb screen, the Air includes a wide range of other features.

In terms of ports, some may argue that the Air is a bit lacking. However, for its target audience, the range of included ports seems just right. Featuring 1 USB 2.0 port, a MagSafe port, and a headphone output on its port side (sorry for the nautical pun) it also boasts a secondary USB port and a Mini DisplayPort. This not only enables compatibility with Apple’s existing line of display adapters, but also allows multiple peripherals to be used at once–a feature the original Air lacked.

While the Air’s weight and size may be biggest draw, some have raised concerns over performance. Due to size constraints, battery life issues, and heat, Apple was restricted to the Intel Core 2 Duo series of processors in both models of Air. With clock speeds of only 1.4GHz and 1.6GHz in the 11-inch model, benchmarks seem rather low compared to other Apple products (the iPhone 4 allegedly uses a 1GHz Apple A4 processor.) However, those quick to critique the new Air fail to acknowledge its secret weapon: means of storage.

While it would be careless to dismiss the importance of processor and graphics performance in a computer, many people fail to realize that at times the slowest component of a modern machine is its hard drive. Have you ever wondered why your Mac takes a few seconds to fall asleep? It’s because whatever information and applications you are currently accessing need to be written from memory to your hard drive. Vice versa, when you wake your machine, it quickly loads stored information from the hard drive into system RAM. Though drive speed has vastly improved over the years, there’s no denying this process is the Achilles’ heel in many modern machines. The Air avoids this problem entirely with its fantastic implementation of solid state flash storage. Like the iPad, the Air’s storage is entirely flash based. While perceivable benefits of this inclusion are greater reliability, no moving parts, and improved battery life, it impacts the machines’ speed significantly as well. The aforementioned transition from drive to RAM takes place almost instantaneously on the Air. As there is no hard drive to spin up, the Air wakes almost instantly. This incredible read/write speed transcends start up time as well as application launch time. Coupled with the powerful NVIDIA GeForce 320M card, the inclusion of flash storage eclipses any weaknesses the processors may present when handling routine tasks.

Though I was admittedly skeptical of the Air’s performance, I was pleasantly surprised after speed testing the base 11.6-in model. Offering only 2GB of RAM and a 1.4GHz processor, I didn’t set my expectations very high. I figured at best, the machine would be able to handle a couple of programs and maybe run a YouTube video in the background. To my surprise, these initial estimates didn’t even touch upon the machine’s full capabilities. I was able to playback 1080p video while simultaneously running the iTunes visualizer, several 3D tests in Grapher, and typing this review. Did I mention I also had nearly every member of the iLife ’11 suite open as well? The Air quickly surpassed my expectations easily handling these relatively stressful tasks without stuttering in performance or breaking a sweat.

In addition to the inclusion of flash based storage by default, the second largest innovation in the new MacBook Air is its battery. The Air’s battery (or should I say batteries…it has four) provide up to 5 hours of use in a device that’s thinner than an axe blade. While some of Apple’s portables boast up to 10 hours of battery life, you must consider the size of these batteries and how they influence the size and weight of their corresponding machines. Considering that a typical Apple battery can account for up to 50% of a machine’s weight, it is all the more impressive that Apple was able to incorporate such a great battery into the Air’s slim profile.

Starting at only $999.99, the 11.6-in Air is among Apple’s most affordable notebook offerings. Though higher priced configurations of both the 11-inch and 13-inch models benefit from more RAM and higher amounts of internal storage, the base model is a fantastic solution for any light to moderate user.

Though in some ways the Air is not as versatile as it’s 12-in forebear, it doesn’t pretend to be. The 12-in was designed as a professional machine, whereas the 11-inch Air targets a “pro-sumer” market. The line is relatively upfront about its limitations and though some of its omissions will turn off demanding users, the Air is a fantastic machine for the right person. A great fit for students, writers, and otherwise general users, the Air truly innovates Apple’s portable line. Fusing next generation hardware with an incredibly thin design, the Air has more hits than misses. A great primary or secondary Mac, I would highly recommend the 11.6-in MacBook Air.

To view our unboxing/first impressions video click here

To learn more about the 11.6-in MacBook Air click here

What are your thoughts on the new Air? Feel free to comment below.