Apple picker It's been a week since I stood in line for about an hour at the newly opened iStyle store in the Palladium shopping center in Prague for my eagerly awaited Macbook Air. The reward for waiting on opening day was a 10% discount on a box of Air in the armpit.
You can find enough technical reviews on the Internet, I offer a view from my subjective user's viewpoint.
Choice
Why the thirteen-inch Air? As I already mentioned in mine firstly for Apple fans, I was brought to Apple by the iPhone, last year an iMac 27" was added, but for traveling, which I enjoy quite a bit, and "couching", I still had a 15" Dell XPS with Windows Vista. I was not satisfied, not so much because of the machine itself and the worst operating system that Microsoft has ever produced, but because of the change in my requirements for a laptop. In short, I no longer need a laptop that will be my only computer and will have to handle everything at the cost of many compromises.
As a travel and sofa accessory, an iPad, or a smaller Macbook Pro or just a Macbook Air was offered.
I ditched the iPad. Sure, it has its charm, it's (too) trendy right now, and it would work great as a content viewer. However, creating on it would be worse - typing reports, tables or other texts on the touch keyboard would only delay me. I type by touch "with all ten" and dragging an external keyboard with me to the tablet is scratching my left hand behind my right ear.
I would probably buy a Macbook Pro if the Air wasn't on the market. If it weren't for the Air, I would consider a small Macbook Pro a decent standard for traveling. But Air is here and it pushes the standards and ideas of mobility and elegance several levels further. I already fell in love with last year's version, and if finances hadn't held me back, I would have bought it back then, even though it was already equipped with a slightly outdated Core 2 Duo processor.
Macbook Air meets my idea of a mobile, fast and, last but not least, good-looking laptop. It covers 99% of the daily agenda on the go, as well as a mobile office or Internet pool in the comfort of a sofa, coffee shop or bed. After purchasing an external sound card, I hope it will also fulfill my smaller demands in the field of musical endeavors.
Commissioning
When you first start up your new Air, it's ready to use pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the beautiful animation that accompanied the first boot of the system in previous versions of OS X no longer takes place in Lion. On the other hand, you click a few data and you have a machine in front of you as pure as the word of God. But the goal is rather to adapt it to your requirements. I will describe how everything happened for me. I tried at first though Migration Assistant in anticipation of the fact that I would drag everything I needed from my iMac this way, unfortunately, everything took an incredibly long time this way, and the estimated transfer time was displayed in tens of hours. After which I ended the process and continued with another style.
Step 1: I signed in to my MobileMe account in Air settings. It can do more than find your iPhone, provide you with an email inbox or a remote drive. It can synchronize between all devices, contacts, Safari bookmarks, Dashboard widgets, Dock items, mail accounts and their rules, signatures, notes, preferences and passwords stored in the system. Everything went smoothly and quickly.
Step 2: The files, applications, and documents I need for work or fun are as follows. I use the service Sugarsync, it's a great alternative to the ubiquitous Dropbox. It costs a few dollars a month and can sync any folder you specify between different devices, be it Windows PC or Mac, iOS device, Android and so on. Concrete example: I set up folder synchronization Business a Home, which I have in Documents so that they are on all computers. I also access these folders from the iPhone via the native Sugarsync application. Then I told Sugarsync to sync my GarageBand projects between the iMac and the Air and it was done. The application will already take care of the fact that when, for example, I come back from a business trip where I sweated some documents in hotels, they are already stored on my iMac, even in the same folder. My folder Documents in short, it looks the same on all computers and I don't have to copy anything, forward it, or organize it in any other medieval way.
Step 3: Install Microsoft Office. I bought an office suite for my iMac a year ago MS Office Home and Business, multi-licensing according to Microsoft means I can install it on up to two whole Macs (oh thank you, Steve Balmere). I use Office applications mainly for creating documents traveling within the company structure. For the post office on Lion Email, I used on Snow Leopard Outlook. Mail did not support the new Exchange, but in Lion it is no problem.
But how to install Office if the Air does not have a DVD drive? Remote disk is a tool directly included in OS X that allows you to "borrow" the drive of another Mac that is connected on the same local network. Everything worked after the correct settings, I was able to control the mechanics of my iMac from the Air and started the installation. Unfortunately, as in the case of use Migration Wizard, the data transfer took an unbearably long time, so I aborted it. But it's likely to be a problem with my home network, where the devices are terribly slow to talk to each other. So again, an alternative way. It is very easy to create a disk image in OS X, and even here everything needed is part of the system and there is no need to install another program. So I created a disk image with MS Office in a short time, transferred it to the SD card in Air and installed it without complications. Office runs fine on both computers.
Step 4: The icing on the cake is installing apps purchased through the Mac App Store. Just click on the tab in the Mac App Store Purchased, which will show you all the apps you've already acquired, and you'll just re-download the ones your new PC can't live without, without paying extra, of course. You just need to sign in to the Mac App Store under your account.
Hardware, design
I knew almost everything about the Air, long before I bought it, I had seen many photos and even touched the last generation in the store. Nevertheless, I am still enchanted by how simply great, precisely crafted, beautiful it is. In terms of equipment, some complained about the number of peripherals that the Air lacks. I say with a clear conscience: THERE IS NO MISSING.
Is it possible to have Air as the only machine? It's not my case, but yes, it's possible without major complications if we're talking about the 13″ version, I'm not sure about the 11″. Ask yourself some simple questions like: when (if ever) have I used an HDMI connector, ExpressCard slot, CD drive, etc. on my laptop? Apparently, many people will attack the missing CD drive, but for me: I don't need it and especially I don't want it because of its size. Music that is important to me is now only and only in digital format. Not that I don't have stacks of CDs, but when was the last time I physically played one? If so, to convert it to digital, put it in my iTunes library, and I'll do that on my desktop computer. If I didn't have it, I would consider an external drive, but I don't want one in my laptop anymore.
Regarding the processor, graphics, operating memory, disk, I see it like this: graphics is the weakest link, but only when playing demanding games, you won't feel any limitations elsewhere. Of the more demanding games, I tried to install only Assassin's Creed 2, but it turned out that Air's graphics or the game itself still need to be fine-tuned with some kind of update, because all the characters had bright green clothes and orange heads, which discouraged me so much that I didn't continue the game, unfortunately. But it was the first time I realized how quiet and cool the new Air is. It was only during such a load that I heard the fan for the first time and noticed an increase in temperature. In normal use, the Air is absolutely, yes absolutely, quiet, and you'll hardly notice any areas of the laptop's body being a bit warmer than others. Another nice thing by the way, try to find the vents, it's a superhuman task, because the Air sucks in air through the gaps under the keys.
Of the (graphically) undemanding games that I think are ideally suited for seizure on the Air, I have tried Angry Birds a Machinarium, everything is perfectly fine.
The RAM is 4GB in all current models and I haven't noticed any lack of it so far, everything runs smoothly without you having to think about if and why this is actually the case. So exactly what you expect from a Mac.
The new generation of the Sandy Bridge i5 1,7 GHz processor is also no match for normal tasks, I haven't come across its limits yet.
What is essential about the Air is the storage. Forget the classic hard drive, its slowness and noise, and welcome to the SSD era. I would never have believed how fundamental the difference is right here. Don't go chasing paper CPU or memory numbers and believe that the biggest drag on your existing computer is the hard drive anyway. The start of applications or the entire system is incredibly fast. I made a video for you comparing the launch of the iMac 27″ 2010 with 2,93 i7 processor, 1 GB graphics card, 2 TB hard drive and 8 GB RAM and the just mentioned Air 13″ 1,7 i5 with 4 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD. Do you think Air will learn a lesson? Nowhere.
Software
Another note about the operating system. Only now on Air do I appreciate the new Lion and its gesture support. Because on a desktop computer without a Touchpad or a Magic Mouse, you're missing out on a major difference, and I only realized it now. Gestures in Lion are absolutely great. Scrolling pages in Safari, switching between full-screen applications as needed Email, iCal or Safari. Addictive and excellent. And criticized Launchpad? Exceptional on the iMac, precisely because of the missing touch device, but on the Air I use it completely naturally with the help of a gesture, although of course it still has a few shortcomings that will hopefully be removed by updates soon. I also enjoy using it now Mission Control.
A big plus for me is the immediate start of the system after waking up from sleep. During the meeting, let's say, I write the document, but then other topics start to be discussed at the meeting, I click (or fall asleep with the keyboard) and the moment I want to continue, I open the lid and write, and I just write right away, without waiting. As a friend says, there is no time to waste.
Summary
It is the leader of the class, moment, rather the founder of a new class, without the performance compromises of netbooks and so-called ultraportable notebooks of previous years, without the bulky dimensions and weight of classic notebooks, with speed amplified by an SSD disk, battery power that will probably last you all day and clean design, defining the direction the industry will take. This is the new Macbook Air.
Congratulations on the purchase, maybe one thing: MB air, just like other MBs, it sucks in air through a slot under the display. Otherwise, it would suffocate in dock mode
in: through keys
out: through the slot under the display
:)
Yes, thanks for the clarification
Well, it blows out through that slot and sucks it in through the keyboard :-) if it were the other way around, the keys would melt:-D
not true, air, just like mbpro has an airtight keyboard. air is sucked in and sucked out exclusively through the rear slot. mechanic
but then there are still other tricks to keep things cool: i.e. indeed, the keys have slits, but only for the release of heat, i.e. the heat sinks. if the computer sucked in cold air through the keys, it would feel a pleasant coolness. what's wrong, you can almost feel the released heat. also, another gadget is body cooling. i.e. the entire bottom, because it is made of aluminum, has very good thermal conductivity. that's what the gap is there for, and he should always lie on a hard surface so that the gap doesn't close.
but these are passive cooling, the only active cooling works using the gap between the display and the body. otherwise it would suffocate in dock mode, wouldn't it?
I'm kidding, it's officially called "clamshell mode" http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3131
apple itself would not enable this mod if the air was sucked in through the keyboard, because the rubber on the edge of the display hermetically closes the keyboard.
but a small test is also enough: when the computer has been heated to working temperature for a long time, it is enough to run your hands over it and find the coolest places. they are right in the slot and are several times cooler than the touch keyboard
I used Outlook on Snow Leopard. Mail did not support the new Exchange, but in Lion it is no problem.
This surprised me because we have several Macbooks running on Mail.app in snow leopard and Exchange 2010. And that without any problems.
I had a problem with it, and our IT sent me to Sipak with the fact that Mail under Snow Leopard does not support Exchange 2010. Maybe they just made their work easier as is their good habit :/
Mail under Snow Leopard, as well as under Lion in cooperation with Exchange 2010, works without any problems. It is even much "simpler" on Mac OS X to start a connection to the Exchange from an external environment, like the same connection from Windows 7 and Outlook 2010.
Yes, it's exactly as you say, they just made the job easier. Exchage 2010 SL supported it, I know from my own experience. But Mail.app is, in my opinion, the biggest innovation brought by Lion compared to SL. He has a HUGE plus for me!!!! :-)
why do you need an external sound box?
Well, I bought a USB external sound box for the MBP 15″ 2009, because I use it to connect to the high-end Marantz amplifier together with the floor speakers, and when I did it only through the classic jack (integrated sound box), it was impossible to listen to it. It was terribly loud and noisy, something that a person does not notice through headphones/laptop speaker at all, the file did not even do it.
The Air only has a headphone output and no audio input (only a built-in microphone), for possible recording (my case) an external sound card connected via USB (Thunderbolt) will be a must. The USB card has its disadvantages for professional use (but it is plenty enough for me), but Thunderbolt cards are still the minimum, if any at all, and they will still be expensive compared to the established USB format.
It has input - same as output. You can switch it in system settings - sound. It just probably won't have the professional quality you're looking for.
I thought it was really just a performance. I will verify.
Very nice review, guys!!!!
Air is a gem from which I am denying myself the immense joy for now…..
and the iPad is not only trendy, but sufficient for a lot of fun - I wonder how much it can handle :-)
I'm crossing my fingers and wish you a lot of fun with this gem.
I also thought of this solution (imac+air). Sugarsync is probably a good thing that would help me. but I would also need to solve libraries in aperture. And it won't sync automatically anymore.
We'll see what Apple does with the Pro series. if the 13 takes out the drive and hard drive, increases the display resolution, pro+cinema will probably be a better solution.
Just a small note: I scratch my left ear with my right hand quite normally and I like to do it;0)
When I read it, I thought exactly the same thing...xD
Air is great, and as it happens with me, it only lacks one thing: win7/8
Yes, Horst, you are right. But please:
1/ finally buy any Apple computer
2/ install Windows there
3/ please don't write comments under almost all articles when I buy, so I'll install Windows
4/ when you replace Windows with anything else (Mac OS X, Linux), let us know. We will interview you. In fact, I can promise you that we will definitely interview you.
:)
I've had the Air13 2011 for about a week and I'm still amazed. It's my first mac and I didn't buy it because of the image and the trend (I'm not interested in it). It fulfills what I have been asking for since the beginning of the PC - immediate response. I don't have to wait for anything at work, I don't oversleep the hours, it's just a parade. I would be a little more critical about the noise. It is true that during normal work it is not audible at all, but after starting e.g. flash player (hopefully it will disappear soon) it starts humming and the sound from the reprack becomes louder. It melts easily (especially from the bottom) so that eggs could be fried. But that doesn't change the fact that there isn't a more awesome laptop.
+ speed
+ touchpad (it doesn't look like it, but it's a great gadget)
+ dimensions
+ weight
+ designer
+ processing quality, design
+ osx lion (I have only used Windows for 15 years and I also like Vista :-), but osx is simple
more user-friendly), I hope that enthusiasm will not wane
– temperature + noise at max. load (but every machine has that)
– in my opinion, the battery will not last the promised 7 hours (3-4 hours without work)
– of course the price
The Air has 4GB of memory in the base, which is a bit small for the stable operation of the system with Lion, especially after some time of use and OS X will be full of data and updates. I don't know, but in the interest of the company, I would expect more if the RAM cannot be replaced and their purchase price is negligible today. Intel graphics the same, I don't understand the authors who only talk about the connection with games. Today's GPU is mainly about application acceleration, and here Intel does not have much to offer compared to the previous generation of graphics. Presto MB Air is unbelievably sexy and I believe that in time it will replace ordinary Macbooks.
Disagreement. It is necessary to realize the focus of this notebook, it is not intended to be a tool for professionals, i.e. to meet the hardware-intensive requirements of specialized programs, but it is sufficient for many of them. For normal use, typically e.g. Safari, Mail, iCal, managing and creating documents and the like, 4GB in Lion is absolutely sufficient. Specifically; I just have Safari, iCal, Mail running in full screen mode and I still have exactly 2 GB free. I added one more of the Office tools Excell and still have 1,78GB left and everything still runs smoothly without any problems.
I recently switched from 4GB to 8GB and the OS feels much "smoother" to me. Because of the User Experience and full 64 bits, I would prefer to see more memory in the base in the 13', because within a year it may be an unnecessary limit even for normal activities.
Finally, an article that is not copied from another site and translated by Google (of course, such articles are also needed, but they certainly should not prevail, as is the case here).
Such articles are a joy to read. It can be seen that the author wrote it with great enthusiasm for the matter. It has everything: head and foot, readable content, facts, the subjective opinion of the author, and I would not like to forget the excellent style composition and the use of an obviously large vocabulary,
I am glad that Jablíčkář.cz has editors like Jan Otčenášek.
Thanks.
Like
Lukas, I think you are a little more than just fabulating.
Articles from other websites we do not copy, always we indicate the source a via google we do not translate.
In the last few days there are 14 articles, of which 6 are original written directly for apple lovers. Doesn't that seem like enough? We are not able to create more. It is difficult to please all readers. One is interested in the news, another is interested in an iPhone or iPad, a third only reads interviews...
If you have an idea for an article, here it is. Do you want to write for our website? Contact me on my email. I will only be glad.
By the way: thanks for the compliment.
so can you use HDMI in MBA? because I would like to buy an MBA and I need quite a lot of HDMI....I thought I would put it through the minidisplay port
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Thundebolt is compatible with Mini Display Port. All you need is a Mini Display Port - HDMI adapter, just check the necessary parameters such as to transmit image and sound at the same time, resolution. E.g. http://store.apple.com/us/product/H1824ZM/A/Moshi_Mini_DisplayPort_to_HDMI_Adapter?fnode=MTY1NDA3Ng&mco=MTgwOTAzMjI
i have this one:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TY600VC/A
in addition to HDMI (with sound), you also get DVI for connecting a classic monitor.
I am also very interested in the new Macbook Air, but the 11-inch version with a 64GB SSD and 4GB of RAM instead of the basic two. Do you think 11″ is “ok” or is it too little? Yes, it depends on my requirements, but…
Thanks for the reply
I don't have it, but I used it for a while. I have a MBP13. However, the resolution of 11 air is almost the same. And fullscreen in lion helps the small screen a lot. Tudis, if you don't edit the video and make graphics on it, I wouldn't worry about it. It's a shame the smaller ones will last.
I think that is enough. After all, the match is not that much smaller, that's why I also go to the 11th. The performance will then be the same as the 13, I take the maximum equipment and here they both have the same.
It's so borderline. I have Air 11 "basically" from last year and I get used to increasing the font size by one level when browsing. Then it is optimal in combination with fullscreen. As for what will be done, no problem, I can only see the difference when rendering videos, games, etc. otherwise, the Air feels significantly faster than anything with a normal disc.
Does anyone know how the air is doing with Apple TV connectivity? I use airplay a lot (it's great) and I'm thinking about an ipad or the 13″ air... the ipad is clear, with iOs5 it will have direct mirroring of the image to the TV, but what about the support for the mcbk air? Advise…
Hi, it's perfectly fine, I can't even imagine where the problem could be. I have an MB Air 13″ (late 2010, so not this new one), Apple TV2, I have the iTunes library shared on TC 2TB.
great review, personally sometimes I regret that I didn't wait a month and buy this air instead of mbp13, otherwise when the article mentions assassins creed 2, I went to play it, I have it installed even before I upgraded to Lion, and it will probably be some kind of incompatibility games with the system because on Snow Leopard it's fine and now I also have all the characters green with orange heads :)
interesting, Assassins creed 2 doesn't work for me on the iMac, it does on the Air and you too on the MB Pro...
probably the Intel HD graphics and drivers in Lion, anyway, hopefully they'll fix it :) it's a great game
Jan Otčenášek: special question about Your Air. I didn't read it anywhere, I have a MacBook Pro 13″ and I appreciate the digital output through the 3.5 jack. However, I did not find out anywhere whether the new Air also has this, because it is a clear choice for me when upgrading due to durability. (I have a 2009 model and it lasts "only" 5 hours).
Also for cooling, to confirm that the air is being sucked in by the keyboard, turn on some game, heat up the MBA to a decent temperature, the fan will go to 6000RPM approx. it really only blows air through the joint, it would be pointless to suck in and blow air out of the slot because two fans would be needed. And what's more, the shape of this fan clearly shows its function: it sucks in air from above vertically and blows it out horizontally... something like a turbo in a car :)
I'm just wondering how it is with the fan noise. Specifically, is it worse or the same as the 2010 model???
I personally hear the fan on the 2010 maybe 1x a week :) depending on what I do with the apple, but I certainly don't save it, however, due to the absence of a dedicated nVidia in the 2011, I think it will probably be even better there with heating, so still a very quiet ntb. But that is again the reason why I absolutely do not want to change 2010 for 2011 precisely because of the HD 3000 graphics card vs nVidia 320, so nVidia clearly leads...
I'm more or less decided to buy the MB Air 13″, but since I can't live without the Total Commander app, I want to ask, what is the alternative to the Air? I would like something similarly thin, light and beautiful, but with Windows 7. Can you recommend something for comparison, so that I can make sure that the almost 40K will be well invested before I buy?
I have an MBA 11″ (i7, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD). I switched from WinXP. Then I get used to different controls, but I'm excited about it, it's small, light, powerful, lasts quite well.
I am a developer and I need to have a Win platform as well. I solved it with Parallels Desktop. Very elegant solutions.
The fact that I could continue to manage my accounting even on MB Air via
Parallels Desktop 7, thanks to David's post it started to become clear to me at this point. But what I would like advice on, please, is how you got the SSD into the MBA, when the AppleStore only offers this configuration option for the MacBook Pro version?
I would like to ask for leniency from the possible writers. I'm no IT guru. Thanks.-)
I wonder if it is possible to install skype or icq normally on a mac..
Yes, you can. Skype is still under development, the ICQ client for Mac has been updated after many years, but I have no idea how it is with stability. Adium is used as a replacement for ICQ. It can handle multiple protocols.
Adium is absolutely stable and no problem with Skype either, definitely more stable than fork.
There is nothing more beautiful than having a 27-inch iMac and Macbook Air on your desk. I also experience beautiful moments when I have both my darlings on :). Harman Kardon is connected to the iMac and the movie can start
Really very informative article, I really enjoyed it and I have NO complaints.
Thank you, he helped me choose, now I just have to save :D