t's been just under a year since Apple last updated its MacBook Air lineup, but Intel's launch of its latest generation Haswell Core processors has resulted in this, the 2013 MacBook Air announced this week at WWDC 2013.
We
picked up this 11-inch version from Apple this morning, so here are our
initial thoughts on the smaller version of what the company loves to
call the "ultimate everyday laptop".
In fact, we can't help but think that Apple has missed a little trick
in redesigning the air to make it even more desirable, as it did to the
MacBook Pro line with the more expensive retina. The bezel around the
screen - especially on the 11-inch - still seems rather large and we
were hoping that we'd see more than a spec bump this time.
But then it is a pretty special spec bump. As with Intel's marketing of Haswell,
Apple is also talking up the battery life improvements to this version
of the MacBook Air – Apple is talking about 12 hours for the 13-inch
version and nine hours for this 11-inch with eight hours of video
playback. Obviously
we haven't had chance to test the battery life out as yet, but we'll be
giving it a full analysis in our forthcoming review.
The
displays are the same with 1,366 x 768 and 1,440 x 900 resolutions for
each of the two sizes. Again, we're a tiny bit disappointed these aren't
higher resolutions, given that Full HD displays are now making it into
some high-end Ultrabooks. One
of the key differences for the 11-inch is that it contains double the
storage of the older model – so 128GB and 256GB variants are available
while you can also upgrade to 512GB of flash if you have money to burn.
It's the same with the 13-inch, though Apple has dropped the price of
the base 13-inch model to GBP £949, USD $1,099, AUD $1,249. The
graphics have been improved significantly, but only in so much as it's
the Intel HD 5000 graphics used by the refreshed Haswell chips – there
are no dedicated graphics available with the Air, while the processor
variants used don't have Intel's new top-of-the-range Iris graphics.
Apple cites a 40 per cent improvement in graphical prowess. The
Flash storage is also speedier than the previous generation, which was
already impressive. We've noted blistering performance from this model
already. Last year's model would wake up quickly, but ours had a habit
of hanging for a couple of seconds once this was done. There's no sign
of that here. Another enhancement is 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
We're looking forward to seeing this launch on more and more devices,
but Apple is one of the first to the punch and has launched an updated
AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations featuring
802.11ac Wi-Fi to go alongside the Air. As before you get a FaceTime HD 720p camera, a Thunderbolt port, two USB 3.0 ports and video mirroring. As OS X Mavericks won't be with us until Autumn/the Fall, these MacBook Airs ship with OS X Mountain Lion
though naturally they will be upgradeable to the forthcoming OS for a
fee. There's 4GB of RAM and the same, excellent, keyboard and trackpad. Another
thing that has been changed is that the MacBook Air now ships with dual
microphones for clearer dictation and video calls. We'll
have a full 2013 MacBook Air review on TechRadar next week after we've
put the battery life and graphics through its paces.
Early verdict
The
2013 MacBook Air has got cheaper (for the 13-inch), faster and will
last longer. It's an improvement on an already terrific laptop and,
though we always love to see a new design, the only thing we'd like to
see dramatically different is the screen resolution. The specification
is stunning and we're really looking forward to seeing how it copes in
our battery life and performance tests.
While you're here, check out 25 top laptops for every budget.
-580-90.jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment