Apple MacBook Air unibody 13-inch Mid 2011 Pro Reviews

The most expensive of the thin and light laptops we've tested recently, the 13in Apple MacBook Air will set you back the best part of a grand and a half. This makes it a sizeable investment, but one you're unlikely to regret – the build quality is phenomenal and the components top-notch.

The MacBook Air is simply best in class when it comes to hardware. The build is outstanding, the touchpad works better with Microsoft’s operating system than any other laptop trackpad out there, and the display makes Windows look better than ever. All that combined with very snappy performance makes the Air more enjoyable to use than many of the other ultrabooks on the market, including the higher end $1,110 Asus Zenbook and the $1,200 Lenovo IdeaPad U300s. However, there are some insurmountable issues that make the Air with Windows very hard to recommend over the Asus and Lenovo. The battery life is disappointing, especially when you can jump into OS X and get more juice out of the same cell, it’s hard to overlook that the keyboard was crafted for a different operating system, and the price — which is at least $1,500 — is significantly more than other ultrabooks. No matter how you break it down, it’s a lot of cash to lay out for some glaring compromises. What is clear is that there is not yet a perfect ultrabook for Windows 7 users — one with the perfect balance of features and value. Obviously, Apple is never going to make that machine, but in many ways its hardware enables the best Windows experience right now, even if it hasn’t been tweaked for power efficiency and costs too much for the tradeoffs involved. It might be hard to recommend the Air with Windows over a competing ultrabook based on sheer expense and the reduced battery life, but what’s not hard is seeing exactly where PC makers have to focus their efforts if they ever want to give Windows users a machine that can match up with Apple.

There's a lot to like with the new MacBook Airs; the last update was good, but performance was still often lacking. The MBA 11 in particular is now much more useful, and the 13 rightfully spells the end of the line for the old MacBook. While pricing is higher than typical 11" to 13" Windows laptops, you really can't find a competing Windows laptop with all the features the MBA offers without paying a similar price premium. You get a nice chassis with excellent build quality, decent displays that trump every budget laptop we've looked at, and reasonable battery life. If you like thin and light ultraportables, the MacBook Air continues to be one of the best options around.

Despite the hiccough in graphics performance, the new MacBook Air solidly outperforms last year’s model and it no longer feels as though you’re sacrificing performance in order to achieve that lightweight design. It’s still pricey, of course, but the improved performance and ultraportable design is an undeniably attractive combination.

We think that the MacBook Air is absolutely marvelous. It is thanks to Apple, who persevered in the direction in which they think they should, that we are able to get the MacBook Air today. Instead of letting the MacBook Air die a novelty (Dell Adamo?) when faced with poor sales, they chose instead to turn the MacBook Air into one of the mainstays of the Mac family. We’ve even heard whispers down the grapevine that it may even be favored by the powers-that-be, over the MacBook Pro form factor for Apple notebooks in the future. While we are unable to verify any of that, we can however verify that the MacBook Air is the notebook which you would want.

You’ll be forgiven for thinking this new version of the MacBook Air is just a minor spec-bump over the old — on paper it’s basically the same machine with a new processor and a Thunderbolt port. But in reality, it’s much more than that: it’s the first Air that’s capable enough to replace not only the old white MacBook but also the MacBook Pro — at least for some. The new processors are fast enough for almost any day-to-day task, and the Thunderbolt port allows the system to expand to almost full desktop strength using just a single cable. Oh, and Apple added the backlit keyboard back in.

The second-gen Intel Core i5 in the new model provides performance that is almost indistinguishable from a larger laptop. The gap becomes apparent only after benchmarking, and even then it’s smaller than expected. Some problems do remain. Port selection is still lackluster, which will surely frustrate some users. Battery life is only average, even when compared to Windows ultraportables, never mind the MacBook Pro. Finally, graphics performance has taken a step back, which makes casual gaming just a tad more frustrating than before.

The latest and, at 13 inches, largest version of the MacBook Air series is undoubtedly the best. Over the previous generations it offers a better processor, a backlit keyboard and a Thunderbolt connector, while leaving everything that made its predecessors so attractive intect. It's still not cheap, but it has gained that vital bit of credibility as a worthwhile premium laptop solution, and is now worth its asking price. For many, PCs costing half the price offer a better, more sensible solution, but the MacBook Air remains king of the ultraportable brigade.

The Apple MacBook Air 13in (Mid-2011) that we reviewed carries the maximum memory and storage of 4GB and 256GB. If you can work with 128GB of flash storage, the price drops to £1099, which is unbeatable even amongst shabbier-built ultraportable imitators. At time of press, we couldn’t find any Wintel manufacturer that could match the 256GB model's specs.

A sensational piece of laptop engineering, now boosted by a Sandy Bridge turn of speed to create the ultimate executive laptop

This However, the benchmarks are clear - if it's high-end task-orientated or gaming performance you want, you need a MacBook Pro. If you don't need that extra oomph, a MacBook Air is one of the very finest laptops on the market. Sleek. Powerful. A real statement and pretty handy at every common task. But you're digging pretty deep for the pleasure of owning one.

We're left thinking that the MacBook Air succeeds by striking the right balances at the most points. It's very portable; it's fast; it's easy to use; it's long-lived; and in what's still a premium segment, it's affordable. If you want, you really can use the Air as your only notebook and, just possibly, as your only system.

If you're in the market for a new Mac this is certainly worth the upgrade. We for one will be going out to buy one once our review model goes back, and you can't get better praise than that.

We already loved the 13-inch MacBook Air, and Apple's improvements make it the perfect notebook as far as we're concerned. When you combine a sleek ultraportable design with a great display and touchpad then nearly double the performance--without sacrificing battery life--you're left with a winner. You also get an improved backlit keyboard, Thunderbolt support, and the more powerful and versatle Mac OS X Lion. The 13-inch Air is also a better deal than the Samsung Series 9, which costs $50 more when you configure it with the same amount of flash memory. Add it all up and you have a machine that not only earns our Editors' Choice award but also a very rare five-star rating.

In short, that difficult decision between prioritizing portability and performance has pretty much been made for you: the MacBook Air grants you both. Build-quality is reassuringly strong, speed and performance are sufficient for most users, and the ability to drop the Air into a bag and hardly notice it’s in there is a huge advantage. In 13.3-inch form it’s a little more expensive than the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro (and you get a slower processor, less storage and no optical drive), but we’d wager the Air could still hold its own. Altogether, the MacBook Air remains our ultraportable of choice.

The latest version of the 13-inch MacBook Air vastly outperforms its predecessor, and can finally be called suitable for mainstream use, instead of relegated as a niche product.

A new processor and Thunderbolt connectivity brings the MacBook Air bang up to date; now that performance is in line with the rest of the industry, there’s no question that it is ultimate ultra-portable.

The Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Thunderbolt) is a formidable player in the ultraportable space, thanks to a Core i5 processor, backlit keyboard, and Thunderbolt port.

Intel's next-gen processors put the latest Air on performance overdrive. It's one of the most powerful—and beautiful—ultraportables available.