Apple MacBook Air

Laptop makers have been trying to make laptops smaller and smaller for many years. They’ve created processors that are half the size of their predeccessors, cut the lenth of RAM in half and even shrunk graphic cards and hard drives to fit into tiny spaces.

While most laptops are rather small the average still weighs around 6-7lbs, there are only a few that can be said to be truly small. One of them is Apples newest MacBook. The MacBook Air is extremely small. Coming in at 0.76″ at its thinnest point, this laptop is one of the thinnest in the world. The Air features a relatively big hard drive (for its size), with the ability to upgrade to a Solid State Drive if you want.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the MacBook Air:

• Street price: $1799
• 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 13-inch widescreen
• 2GB Ram, 80GB hard drive
• Intel Integrated Graphics

Things I like
Before I get started, I must say that I really don’t like this laptop. I think it’s more of a novelty item for Apple Fans, so I’m just going to warn you that this part of the review is going to be short, and the next part will be long.

Pretty much the only thing I like about the MacBook Air is its size. It only weighs 3 lbs and can fit in your average size envelope. If you’re a business person that’s always on the move, or a student that needs a laptop just to take notes in class than the Air is for you. Because of its small size, you’ll be able to take it with you anywhere you go without worrying about bogging yourself down with excessive weight.

I also like the fact that they’ve included 2GB of RAM. For some reason if you wish to buy RAM from Apple it’s extrondinarily expensive. The fact that Apple gives you 2GB might be a reason why the price of the Air is so high.

Thigns I don’t like
Where to begin…The first thing that I dislike about the MacBook Air is the processor. At only 1.6GHz, you won’t be able to do anything processor intensive on this laptop. Even opening some applications like Photoshop and Final Cut were agonizingly slow when I tested it out.

The other thing I don’t like about the Air is that you cannot take the battery off. In an attempt to make it smaller Apple included a built-in battery. I don’t like this for many reasons. THe first reason is that it means if the battery dies you have to take it to Apple to replace it. You can’t buy your own. It also means if the battery dies outside of the warranty (which is quite possible), it’ll be an expensive fix.

Another thing that I don’t like about the Air is its ridiculously expensive upgrade. For $1300, you can upgrade your processor to a 1.8GHz C2D and a 64GB SSD drive. Now I know SSD drives are all the rage and at this point-in-time they are rather expensive. But considering that you can upgrade the base model to the 1.8GHz processor for only $300 (which is still ridiculous), this means that they’re charging you $1000 for the SSD which is still more than you’d pay elsewhere.

My list of things that I don’t like about the MacBook Air could go on for a long time but the review would just get long winded. Oh ya, they don’t even include a DVD drive.

Pros:

• Small and Light
• 2GB of RAM

Cons:

• More expensive than the MacBook with a lot less features
• Very slow processor
• Can’t take off the battery
• $300 for a 0.2 upgrade to the processor. $1000 for the SSD upgrade
• Mostly a novelty laptop

Final Thoughts
In my opinion after using the MacBook Air for a week, is that this laptop is more of a novelty item. If you want to look good and show off the fact that you need to have the latest gadgets then go ahead and buy the Air. If you like your money and don’t mind something that’s only 2lbs heavier, go with the MacBook.

Rating: 1.8 / 5