Apple MacBook Air 11inch 2010
While netbooks were on the up last year, and Windows laptop makers were duking it out to sell more than rivals, Apple conspicuously stayed out of the melee. CEO Steve Jobs said Apple didn’t know how to make a netbook for $500.
Now, with the release of a scaled-down 11in-screen MacBook Air, Apple really does have a netbook – in all respects bar one. The £849 price is far higher than most netbooks, products that initially gained popularity because of their low cost.
Yet besides price, this is a netbook. Not just an over-priced netbook, but perhaps the best on the market. Impeccable standards of build quality and performance for the size also qualify the MacBook Air 11in as a high-end ultraportable.
No other mini-laptop offers the MacBook’s instant-on usability, rugged solid-state storage, decent-resolution screen, full-size keyboard and virus-free operating system.
Like the Bin MacBook Air, the 11in is beautifully crafted from milled aluminium, making a flex-free case that feels as expensive to the touch as it looks. It doesn’t have an SD Card slot, but still has two USB 2.0 ports and Mini DisplayPort.
The screen has a 1366×768-pixel resolution, making a 16:9 aspect ratio. This is the first Apple laptop to use this layout – previous models have used 16:10-ratio screens.
With slightly less front-to-back depth to the body, the glass multitouch trackpad is marginally shallower too – still 105mm wide but 64mm deep. A smaller case also means less space for integrated batteries. Despite its slower CPU, it lasted 313 minutes compared to the Bin model’s 434 mins.
Overall performance was very good, considering. In Xbench 1.3, the 11in MacBook scored 122 points, about the same as our reference two-year old MacBook Pro 2.4GHz.
The slower processor impacted gaming speed slightly, averaging 25fps in Fear (‘Maximum’ detail) against the Bin’s 30fps. The WorldBench 6 speed test recorded 74 points, in the face of the Bin’s 91. Compared to a netbook, that makes this a road-runner; Intel Atom-based netbooks struggle to hit 35 points.
Verdict
Unlike a netbook, the 11in MacBook Air will rarely keep you waiting. A 5-hour-plus battery life is good, running longer still in the Air’s native Mac OS X. And measured statistics don’t show what a delight the 11in is to hold and work with. The 11in Air is the category’s new gold standard
Specification
1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400; Apple Mac OS X 10.6:2GB DDR3 RAM; 64GB SSD; 11.6in (1366×768) LED-backlit glossy LCD screen; 2 x USB 2.0; 802.Ha/b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR; multitouch buttonless trackpad; MagSafe power connector; USB restore flash drive; iLife 11; 299x192x14mm; 1.1kg WorldBench 6 score: 74 Battery life: 313 mins
While netbooks were on the up last year, and Windows laptop makers were duking it out to sell more than rivals, Apple conspicuously stayed out of the melee. CEO Steve Jobs said Apple didn’t know how to make a netbook for $500.
Now, with the release of a scaled-down 11in-screen MacBook Air, Apple really does have a netbook – in all respects bar one. The £849 price is far higher than most netbooks, products that initially gained popularity because of their low cost.
Yet besides price, this is a netbook. Not just an over-priced netbook, but perhaps the best on the market. Impeccable standards of build quality and performance for the size also qualify the MacBook Air 11in as a high-end ultraportable.
No other mini-laptop offers the MacBook’s instant-on usability, rugged solid-state storage, decent-resolution screen, full-size keyboard and virus-free operating system.
Like the Bin MacBook Air, the 11in is beautifully crafted from milled aluminium, making a flex-free case that feels as expensive to the touch as it looks. It doesn’t have an SD Card slot, but still has two USB 2.0 ports and Mini DisplayPort.
The screen has a 1366×768-pixel resolution, making a 16:9 aspect ratio. This is the first Apple laptop to use this layout – previous models have used 16:10-ratio screens.
With slightly less front-to-back depth to the body, the glass multitouch trackpad is marginally shallower too – still 105mm wide but 64mm deep. A smaller case also means less space for integrated batteries. Despite its slower CPU, it lasted 313 minutes compared to the Bin model’s 434 mins.
Overall performance was very good, considering. In Xbench 1.3, the 11in MacBook scored 122 points, about the same as our reference two-year old MacBook Pro 2.4GHz.
The slower processor impacted gaming speed slightly, averaging 25fps in Fear (‘Maximum’ detail) against the Bin’s 30fps. The WorldBench 6 speed test recorded 74 points, in the face of the Bin’s 91. Compared to a netbook, that makes this a road-runner; Intel Atom-based netbooks struggle to hit 35 points.
Verdict
Unlike a netbook, the 11in MacBook Air will rarely keep you waiting. A 5-hour-plus battery life is good, running longer still in the Air’s native Mac OS X. And measured statistics don’t show what a delight the 11in is to hold and work with. The 11in Air is the category’s new gold standard
Specification
1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400; Apple Mac OS X 10.6:2GB DDR3 RAM; 64GB SSD; 11.6in (1366×768) LED-backlit glossy LCD screen; 2 x USB 2.0; 802.Ha/b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR; multitouch buttonless trackpad; MagSafe power connector; USB restore flash drive; iLife 11; 299x192x14mm; 1.1kg WorldBench 6 score: 74 Battery life: 313 mins
