The new Apple MacBook Air

Two of the most common wish-list items from prospective Apple customers have been a smaller, sub-13in. MacBook and a less-expensive version of the ultrathin MacBook Air. The new 11.6in. version of the MacBook Air kills both birds with one stone: it's the smallest current Apple notebook (there were 12in. PowerBook models as recently as five years ago), and it lowers the entry price to £849 (inc. VAT; £722.55 ex. VAT) — coincidentally, the same as the white basic 13in. MacBook.



The end result is a notebook that feels like a cross between a traditional aluminium MacBook and the wave of upscale 11.6in. premium netbooks that have caught our attention this year.

The MacBook Air is a product line that, in its previous life, had a dedicated cult following but never found a mainstream audience because of its high price and lack of distinction from the rest of Apple's 13in. notebook lineup. It was thinner and lighter, but still not quite different enough to justify the hefty investment. By doing more to differentiate the product, and dropping the entry price, the new MacBook Air succeeds in carving out more than an enthusiast niche for itself.

The quick boot times, long battery life (with extra-long standby time), and excellent keyboard/trackpad combo make this our new go-to ultraportable (if price is not an issue), with our enthusiasm muted only by a missing SD card slot and older low-voltage CPU.

If anything, the addition of an 11.6in. size is a nod to the past several years of notebook development, where small, inexpensive netbooks started as a niche market, with 7in. and then 9in. screens, then moved into the mainstream with 10in. and 11in. versions. Since the start of the MacBook era, Apple had largely ignored the shift in notebook prices and sizes, opting instead to stick to the higher end of the market, and not venturing below 13 inches.

The new MacBook Airs, in both the 13in. and 11in. formats, are incredibly thin and light, even to someone used to working with very small notebooks (such as Sony's SSD-based VAIO Z models). The all-metal construction keeps it from feeling too fragile — often an issue for ultrathin systems. The shape is closer to the previous Air than we would have expected, given the radical redesign the iPhone 4 got over its predecessors. The body is tapered toward the front, creating an optical illusion of even more thinness (although it's still only 1.7cm thick at the rear): interestingly, the 11in. and 13in. models both narrow down to the same 0.3cm.

The large keyboard and trackpad (which is the same glass version found on other MacBooks) both work well, although the function keys at the top are very small. The F5 key is the only one missing a secondary function; on other MacBooks, it's for the keyboard backlight. Typing was typically excellent, but we're so used to the backlit keys on other MacBooks that we missed it instantly.

Apple's large multitouch trackpad remains the best available, largely thanks to the software that enables gestures control. The pad is hinged at the top, allowing the entire pad to click down, but we prefer traditional tapping (which is off by default and must be activated in the Preferences menu). Other notebook makers have subsequently added similar clickpads, and we hear the next generation of clickpads will fully depress, instead of working off a top hinge, which should make for an even better experience.

The inclusion of the latest version of Apple's iLife software suite is notable. The iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand apps include tons of useful and fun features, and are ideal for casual consumers (although pros will likely stick with Photoshop, Final Cut and Logic or Pro Tools). The most notable new additions are iPhoto slideshows that place pictures on an interactive map with GPS data, and a series of amusing movie trailer templates in iMovie, complete with canned Hollywood-style scores.

It's not necessarily a software feature, but the system boots extremely quickly. Apple calls it Instant On, and although it's not exactly instant, it boots up very quickly — faster even than an iPad.

This is the first MacBook with a 16:9 display (the 13in. model is still 16:10), and it uses the same 1,366-by-768-pixel native resolution as most 11in. - 15in. notebooks. The screen area lacks the edge-to-edge glass over a black bezel found in other MacBooks: instead, the screen is surrounded by a thick silver bezel. Perhaps it's to save on weight, but it's the only aesthetic blemish on the system. There seems to be a lot of extra real estate around the actual screen, and one can assume the extra room was required to keep the keyboard from feeling cramped.

Doubling the USB ports over the original Mac Book Air from one to two is a welcome gesture, but only the 13in. model has an SD card slot (seriously, Apple: every 10in. £250 netbook has an SD card slot, it's not that hard). Even more disappointing, even the 13in. version lacks a backlit keyboard. Likewise missing: dedicated VGA or HDMI outputs (you'll need an aftermarket adapter for the Mini-DisplayPort jack). You'll look in vain for onboard Ethernet or integrated mobile broadband either.

There's a legitimate concern for hard-drive hogs that the 64GB or 128GB of SSD storage space may not be enough for high-res photos and video. We've rarely filled up too much of a hard drive, but today's notebook users are more used to 500GB of space on even the most basic systems.

The 11in. MacBook Air feels speedy enough — closer to a full-size notebook than than most dual-core 11in. premium netbooks. That makes sense, as the Core 2 Duo/Nvidia 320M combo is similar to what you'll find in the current £849 (inc. VAT) white MacBook (although this is a ULV version of the Core 2 Duo in this case). It's especially interesting to compare this with the 11.6in. Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T-68U118, which has a low-voltage Intel Core i7 CPU for $899 (£567). Acer's system was faster in our Photoshop and iTunes tests, but slower than the MacBook Air in our multitasking test. It's not as fast as a non-ULV system, but the MacBook Air is about as good as you're going to find in this 11in. arena.

There is some confusion over Apple's use of Intel's older Core 2 Duo line in both the MacBook Air, and also in the 13in. MacBook and MacBook Pro, but the back-and-forth performance lead compared with the ULV Core i7 Acer Timeline shows that this isn't a deal killer. The real reason for the Core 2 Duo is so Apple can include the pretty decent Nvidia 320M graphics chip. If the MacBook Air had used an Intel Core i-series processor, it would have to use Intel's uninspiring integrated HD Graphics or else a fully discrete Nvidia GPU (which is bigger, requires power and is more expensive).

Macs have never been known as gaming machines, but a few new features may change that perception. The Steam platform for online game delivery now has a Mac client (although the selection is still pretty thin), and the OnLive streaming game service works on Macs as well, and has the added value of allowing you to play PC-only games on a Mac.

In a cross-platform Call of Duty: Modern Warfare test, on medium settings at 1,366 by 768 pixels, the MacBook Air ran at 40.5 frames per second (fps) (thanks to the Nvidia 320M), whereas the Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T-68U118, which only has integrated Intel HD Graphics, ran at 15.fps.

MacBooks have always been known for the long battery life, and the Air continues the trend. The large, sealed battery takes up much of the system's internal space, and it ran for 4 hours and 23 minutes. That's very close to Apple's 5-hour estimate, although the lowest-power netbooks and tablets such as the iPad have us more accustomed to all-day computing than ever before.

Service and support from Apple is always a dual-edged sword. Apple includes a one-year parts and labour warranty, but only 90 days of telephone support. Upgrading to a full three-year plan under AppleCare will cost an extra £199 (inc. VAT) and is pretty much a must-buy, considering the proprietary nature of Apple products. Support is also accessible through a well-stocked online knowledge base, video tutorials and email with customer service, or through in-person visits to Apple's retail store Genius Bars — which, in our experience, have always been fairly frustration-free encounters.

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