There are 2 sizes in the Macbook Air Series and I have reviewed and compared the new 11.6 inch version against the 13.3 inch for you to help you choose the right Macbook for you.
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| MacBook Air |
The MBA 11" comes with a Sandy Bridge 1.6 gHz dual-core Core i5 CPU (or a 1.8 gHz dual-core i7 directly from Apple). Despite rumors to the contrary, the Turbo Boost and hyper threading capabilities were NOT turned off in the Core i5 CPUs. Geekbench benchmarks show extraordinary speed increases.
The previous generation MBA 11" 1.4 gHz Core 2 Duo produced 2024 on Geekbench, while the 2011 MBA 11" now produced 5040 for a 149% increase. This speed even rivals the 2010 MacBook Pro 17" which scored 5423! (The 2011 MacBook Air 13" uses a slightly faster 1.7 gHz dual core i5 which scored 5860.)
Extraordinarily small
The MBA 11" measures 11.8 x 7.56 x 0.68 inches, while the MBA 13" is 12.8 x 8.94 x 0.68 inches. This means that the 11" is "only" 1 inch shorter and "only" 1.3 inches less deep, but in reality, when you hold up both machines, the MBA 11" feels like a completely different machine. My wife uses a 2011 MacBook Pro 13" which has a similar footprint to the MBA 13". The MacBook Air 13" still felt too much like a laptop, albeit an extraordinarily thin and light one.
Extraordinarily light
The MBA 11" weighs 2.38 pounds (while the MBA 13" weighs 2.96 pounds and an iPad 2 weighs 1.35 pounds) I actually sometimes hold the MBA like an iPad while reading in bed because it's so light. If you are seeking just a light, portable laptop, then the weight of the MBA 11" or 13" would be great, but if you (like me) are seeking a truly mobile device, then even fractions of a pound matter. The MBA 11" weighs less and is consequently the better choice, but as amazingly light as it is, even lighter would be better. Its doubtful that a mobile device will ever exist that would be considered too light.
High-speed Thunderbolt
(i.e. Lightpeak) port offering bidirectional 10 gigabits/s throughput - Thunderbolt technology is far more revolutionary than USB 3.0 or eSATA. Thunderbolt is NOT limited to the use of a storage device. An external LCD can be attached. Although I use the MBA 11" as my mobile device, it may be acceptable as a primary computer if one attaches an external LCD display and a high-speed Thunderbolt drive. Supposedly an external Thunderbolt hard drive would be nearly as fast as an internal hard drive.
Everything is solid state
This MBA feels more like a true "mobile" device since it is fully solid state with its solid state drive. I am far less worried about damaging this versus other laptops I've owned in the past.
Added Features
Extremely fast cold starts and shutdowns thanks to the solid state drive and OS X.
Great, full-size keyboard AND keyboard backlighting is back again! While this may seem like a minor point, the previous generation Core 2 Duo Airs did not have the backlighting.
Tremendous, typical Apple build quality. The MBA feels like a piece of solid precision crafted machinery.
Same great glass trackpad with even more gestures in OS X Lion to be used.
Comes with the new Mac OS X Lion (which I won't discuss, but it will allow for apps to use a full-screen mode which is of benefit to MBA 11" owners).
Extraordinary aesthetics - I can't express adequately in words how beautiful this machine looks.
But every computer is not perfect and here are some of the disadvantages I have found.
Apple's battery life ratings have become much more stringent in the past few years are much closer to real world usage. What was even more important for me than screen size, was battery life in trying to decide between the Macbook Air 11" ( upto 5 hours) and 13"( upto 7 hours).
There is no Secure Digital memory card slot on the 11" Macbook Air, although there is one in the larger 13" size.
MACBOOK AIR REVIEWS
The latest version of Macbook Air has just been recently released and I wanted to let you know about the features between the two great light weight laptops, so I have done a comparison chart to help you choose the right laptop for you.
There is the 11 inch MacBook Air with 64GB or 128GB of storage for roughly US$999 and $1199 and there is the 13.3 inch MacBook Air with 128GB or 256GB of storage for roughly US$1299 and $1599
MACBOOK AIR LAPTOPS COMPARISON CHART
General Features | ||||
Screen Size | 11.6" | 13.3" | ||
Weight (Approx Lbs.) | 2.38 | 2.96 | ||
Battery Life (Approx. Hrs) | Up to 5 hours | Up to 7 hours | ||
Processor Type | 1.6GHz Intel Core Dual | 1.7GHz Intel Core i5 | ||
CPU Speed (Min GHz) | 1.8 | 1.8 | ||
CPU Speed (Max GHz) | 1.8 | 1.8 | ||
Installed RAM (GB) | 64GB & 128GB | 128GB & 356GB | ||
RAM Capacity (GB) | 2 or 4 1333MHz | 4 of 1333MHz | ||
Hard Drive Size (GB) | 256MB & 384MB | 384 | ||
Operating System | MacOSX Lion | Mac OS X Lion | ||
Communication | ||||
Webcam | ü | ü | ||
Microphone | ü | ü | ||
Bluetooth | ü | ü | ||
Ethernet LAN | ü | ü | ||
Wi-Fi | ü | ü | ||
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