Wednesday was a whirlwind . The amount of Mac clobber that come down out of the sky was noteworthy : A tease of a new version of OS X , a young Mac app store , iLife ’ 11 , apublic beta of FaceTime for Mac , and two new MacBook Air modelling . I ’m still trying to process it all . My coping strategy : playing around with the new 11 - column inch MacBook Air , the smallest Mac laptop computer Apple ’s made since the days of the 12 - inch PowerBook .
I love small-scale Mac laptop . The little , the better . That ’s why I embrace the 12 - in PowerBook ( and before it , the iBook ) . But the 11 - column inch MacBook Air puts that fear system to pity . It ’s make roughly the same width and depth as the paragon of tiny Mac laptops ( the 11 - inch Air is almost an inch wider , but is an in less mysterious ) , but of course the Air is also only seven - tenths of an inch fatheaded at itsthickestpoint , while the old PowerBook was a full half - inch thicker . And that erstwhile standard wastwiceas heavy ( at 4.6 Irish punt , compared with the 11 - column inch melodic line ’s 2.3 pounds ) .
Suffice it to say , there ’s a new Mac laptop computer that reigns sovereign as the adept of pettiness . But how does it measure up ? Like I enjoin , Wednesday : a whirlwind . But when I was n’t learn a nailbiting baseball game playoff game I tried to use the 11 - column inch MacBook Air . I ’ve set out some first impressions , though keep in mind there ismuchmore to be tell about this intersection ( and its 13 - inch full-grown brother ) , much of which will appear in our full , concluding review , along with complete lab testing of the product .
In the meantime , then , here ’s a first look at the 11 - inch MacBook Air .
Physical characteristics
Out of circumstance you would n’t notice much different with the new Air . It ’s a innovative Apple laptop computer , all aluminum unibody and whitened Apple logo . But get a sense of scale and you realize , this thing ’s not much bragging than an iPad . The self-aggrandizing ornamental conflict between the Air and most other current Mac laptop is the absence of the full methamphetamine hydrochloride covering and black bezel on the exhibit of the MacBook Pro good example ( block off the high - conclusion MacBook Pros of users who have exercised their alternative for an anti - glare screen ) ; alternatively , it ’s a facile version of the white bezel on the MacBook . In other word , the same look the MacBook Air model have had since Clarence Day one .
The original Air models had their ports ( what few there were ) hide behind a little flip - down door ; with the new flat - sided Air models , that construct ’s history . And or else of one meager USB port , there are now two ! One on each side . On the odd side of the 11 - in tune , there ’s a MagSafe power port wine on one side of the USB port and a headphone jak on the other . The 11 - inch model lacks the SD card - reader slot of the 13 - inch exemplar . ( Bonus feature : These Modern Airs will discover and use the microphone that comes along with your headphones , if it ’s a set you also use on an iPhone . Other MacBook models did that , but the Air did n’t . ) Next to the USB port on the proper side of the Air , there ’s a Mini DisplayPort . The strain supports external displays with resolution up to 2560 - by-1600 pel .
As for the 11.6 - inch display itself , it ’s a bright lead - backlit color display with 1366 horizontal pixels and 768 vertical ones . In other words , it ’s the 16:9 aspect ratio version of a 1024 - by-768 pixel display . If that seems a small tight , well , it is . The Mac mini in my closet at abode is attached to a 1024 - by-768 pixel display , and it ’s sometimes distressingly obvious that software package is not really designed for screens of that altitude . ( Pro peak : Move your dock from the bottom to the side or turn on Hiding right away . ) However , most modern Mac software has been design with widescreen aspect ratios in mind , and the extra breadth is what keeps the showing from not feeling strangle .
Also , keep in idea that this new display is packing all those pixels into an 11.6 - diagonal video display blank space . That intend it ’s got a answer of rough 135 pixels per column inch , like to the iPad or the high - resolution alternative offer on MacBook Pro models , and a whole circle more than you ’ll find on a 27 - inch iMac ( 109 ppi ) or a MacBook ( 113 ppi ) . Because the Mac OS X interface is n’t resolve independent , the result is that everything on the MacBook Air ’s screen seems a little bit smaller than it does on most other Macs . get from a previous - exemplar MacBook Air with a much more scurvy - settlement screen , I ascertain myself adjusting my nonpayment case to be turgid and pressing mastery - plus in Safari to blow up Web page .
A lot of citizenry have asked me about the keyboard on the 11 - column inch strain , and I ’m pitiful to cover that the solution is going to be pretty dull — but in a good mode . This is a MacBook keyboard . It ’s just like the one found in the old Air , in the MacBook , in the MacBook Pro , even in Apple ’s current - model USB and Bluetooth external keyboards . You know the one . It has the exact same feel . ( await , did I say this was tiresome ? It ’s really really exciting if you ’ve used a PC netbook with a nigh - unserviceable mini keyboard . Those matter are terrible , and Apple has quite rightly refused to compromise on keyboard size . )
What Apple has done is thin the space around the sides of the keyboard , in Holy Order to plane some breadth off the laptop . It ’s also reduced the top of the top row of keys ( the map keys , plus the escape key and the fresh power button , which now just looks like a even key and is located at the top correct corner of the keyboard ) . Keyboard backlighting appear to be a thing of the past , as well , which makes me a little sad , even though I do jazz where all the key are at any given time .
The big change , at least compare to the previous MacBook Air mannikin , is that the young Airs have in conclusion adapted the glass - trackpad technology that was add up to the MacBook Pro two geezerhood ago . Once again , though , the account ’s a bit slow : It take care , feels , and works just like you ’d expect . Though the Air is only .11 in duncish at the same edge that hold the trackpad , the trackpad still depresses with a substantial pawl .
in conclusion , one of the lamest feature article of the MacBook Air was its single mono speaker bond under the right side of the keyboard . Good news , everyone : The new Air has stereo speakers . They ’re never go to win any awards , but they voice vastly better than the old Air ’s speakers .
Speed and such
After just a few hours using the 11 - inch MacBook Air , it ’s really hard to render judgments on how fast it really is . I will say that despite the fact that the model I ’m using is powered by a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo mainframe , the laptop computer felt pretty responsive . The fact is , introductory tasks like WWW surfing and penning are not going to tax any advanced processor . The plus of the Nvidia GeForce 320 M graphics mainframe certainly help keep things displace .
The veridical nitty - gamey results are go to have to wait for the Macworld laboratory tests . But if you ’re raring , let me tell you what we ’re go to witness : the Air is perish to be much slower than other Mac systems . If you require to edit television or multitrack sound on this little laptop computer , you will clamber with speed issues . That ’s just one of the trade - offs you have to make when you switch to a small laptop computer , and the patronage - offs are even greater with this lilliputian 11 - inch model .
I did seek to see some picture on this Air — typically a major MacBook Air booger . I was able to stream an episode ofTerriersfrom Hulu without incident . The episode played without getting all highly strung and dropping framing ( a distinctive symptom of an overheated and struggle MacBook Air in the past ) . The Air decidedly inflame up when the video was play , and its fan kicked in — though aboveboard , I had to almost place my ear against the back hinge before I could actually take heed it . Playing H.264 picture was much smoother than I ’ve experience on anterior atmosphere theoretical account as well — again , presumably because of that Nvidia nontextual matter central processor .
Apple is making a big deal about allege that these new MacBook Airs have “ instantaneous on ” engineering . I have n’t had a chance to do a lot of examination , but it seems that what the fellowship is talking about is a new might - keep open mode . After it ’s asleep for a while , the laptop computer switch into a super force - saving standby mode that lets the battery survive for up to 30 day . But when you unfold the laptop back up , it does n’t show you a progress bar while it dilute poppycock — it just snaps back to aliveness . Or so they say . I ’ve been too engaged actually using it to count on out all these permutation . bide tune .
More to come
There ’s a stack more I want to try out with the 11- and 13 - inch MacBook Air models . For instance , I ca n’t wait to get this 11 - column inch modeling on the bus I mount to and from work every daytime , to see if it ’s more comfortable to utilize in a really plastered space . And of course , Macworld Lab is on the event of speed - testing these guys as well .
So watch this space for much more about the MacBook Air . In the meantime , if there are other thing you ’d wish to know , or think we should enquire for our full review , please permit us roll in the hay in the Macworld.com forum thread confiscate to this article .
