Love my 11" Air

Nice to hear all the love towards the 11"!

I am strongly thinking about replacing my current setup of 15" MBP (late 08) and iPad 2 with keyboard case for a 11" MBA and iPad Mini. I will most likely wait for the refresh on both of them; want to see if Haswell will improve the battery on the Air (that's my only worry, as currently I can go a full day+ with my iPad and keyboard) and I swore to never buy a first generation Apple product again, so going to wait for the next Mini.

Have to say, I'm already excited about the idea of it

Love mine as well though my 13" MBA has much better battery performance and is easier to read on.

wolfpuppies3 said:

Love mine as well though my 13" MBA has much better battery performance and is easier to read on.

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Since you mentioned difficulty reading on the 11", how difficult is it and is it a matter of your personal eyesight or does the form factor/resolution play a part in it just being more difficult overall? I ask because I have an 11" Chromebook and sometimes I will CTL+ to zoom one time on websites and it works pretty well. After considering buying an 11" MBA, I wonder if the same action would help any or if it would make it cumbersome to use the computer overall? My vision is corrected to 20/20 for distance and my near vision is perfect, if that matters in this instance.

11" is widescreen, good for watching movies. However the battery is not as much power as 13". I tried 11" & 13" and come to conclusion that the 11" screen is too limiting for me to do heavy work comfortably.

SMDBill said:

Since you mentioned difficulty reading on the 11", how difficult is it and is it a matter of your personal eyesight or does the form factor/resolution play a part in it just being more difficult overall? I ask because I have an 11" Chromebook and sometimes I will CTL+ to zoom one time on websites and it works pretty well. After considering buying an 11" MBA, I wonder if the same action would help any or if it would make it cumbersome to use the computer overall? My vision is corrected to 20/20 for distance and my near vision is perfect, if that matters in this instance.

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It's less easy to read on the 11" screen than the 13" screen because it is that much smaller. Period.

Matt Leaf said:

It's been about 6 months since I've had the 11", and man. I totally love it.

It's my everyday computer... in fact.. I thought to post this because today I sold my iPad 1, which I didn't replace with anything. The 11" Air is the perfect machine for me, I love taking it travelling, to the kitchen, on the couch, in bed, on the desk... etc...etc.

Granted, I still own a 2011 15" MBP, but it's been pretty much permanently left on my desk, only taken when I absolutely need portable video performance.

For me, the 11" is the perfect sketchpad, notetaker, planner, organiser, surfer etc... The iPad was just too cumbersome and crippled.

I imagine I will probably get another iPad one day... since I purchased all those apps.... maybe a new Mini whenever they are released.

Anyway... I just thought I would share the <3 lol

I'm firmly in the 11" camp. I don't think the 13" would have been as phenomenal as this.. I just absolutely love the weight and size of this thing...

It's my favourite of all computers I've ever owned

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yay! how do you use it as a sketchpad?
also how did you go about selling your ipad 1 and if i might ask, what did you get for it?

I've got an 11" (2012) MBA too, and it's wonderful, I've hooked it up to an external monitor so becomes my main machine at home (much faster than my ageing 2007 iMac). I paired the MBA with an iPad mini - these two devices together are perfect in my opinion, if portability is as big with you as it is with me. I can throw both devices in my bag (with other things) and the bag still isn't heavy or burdensome, so the small size and weight of these two devices ensure that wherever I go I can have both available to use - what a great world it is when you've got a tablet and laptop both with you, and no aching back<grin>.

i too love my 11" air (2012). it has more than enough computing power for me and it's so portable. on trips, i used to debate if i was going to lug my 13" macbook because it had to go in a separate bag. now i throw the air in a sling pack along with my iPad and i'm done.

I got one for my Mrs, but find I prefer it to my MBP when I'm travelling. The keyboard isn't quite as nice as the 15" MBP I have, but it's very close and a million times better than a netbook. When the time comes to replace my 2011 MBP there will probably be no Apple laptops with a physical ethernet port, so I will probably choose the MBA over the rMBP. The rMBP isn't as light as the MBA, nor as flexible as the cMBP (ethernet, optical drive, matt screen option) so I'd rather just have the lighter machine.

The 11" is almost perfect except:

I somehow can tell the 16:9 vs the 16:10 differential and prefer the aspect of the 13" better, I dunno why the weird 1366 resolution of the 11"

Again, the 11.3" viewable screen leaves THICK wasted bezels, in the same package I wish they could had squeeze a 12" screen would be more perfecter.

Looking forward to the first all-Ive's design.

I like the 11"MBA, however, the 13" is much easier to read on and it's not that much more heavier - so I thought at the time.

Anyways, this is why we have choices, everyone gets to pick what they like or what they feel suits them.


I don't think the 11" camp will understand those of us in the 13" camp

Howdee said:

I like the 11"MBA, however, the 13" is much easier to read on and it's not that much more heavier - so I thought at the time.

Anyways, this is why we have choices, everyone gets to pick what they like or what they feel suits them.


I don't think the 11" camp will understand those of us in the 13" camp

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DEATH TO THE 13"ers!

Matt Leaf said:

By Sketchpad I just mean, it's great for getting down ideas. I use DayOne, Processing, Ableton Live. Stuff like that.

I got $220 AUD for the iPad 1 on eBay

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sweet - thanks for the reply. my wife has an ipad 1 that we're thinking about upgrading.

I did a swap of a PS3 with a shed load of games for a 2011 MBA, the deal I got was a killer one! I thought I'd use it a week and then sell on. 6 months later I'm still using it! The limiting factor was 64GB SSD but Ive added a 64GB USB stick to store files on.

Generally I split taking it on trips 50/50 with my ipad 4 128GB. It's the prefect combination of portable computing dependant on needs for each trip. Then at home I have 2012 Mac Mini as the workhorse serving up iTunes to the house. Works great.

Resolutions I have a wide choice covered, 24" 1080p monitor at home, retina on the ipad and the odd resolution of the MBA.

I use dropbox for all my documents and work so it syncs between all devices really well.

If the new "11 air went retina and added a touch screen I'd be all over it. Either way I see this machine lasting me another 2 years. Very good for the 'basic' mba.

Smeaton1724 said:

If the new "11 air went retina and added a touch screen I'd be all over it. Either way I see this machine lasting me another 2 years. Very good for the 'basic' mba.

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no way that will happen (in my opinion anyway)
Retina on the MBAs? i don't think so. I would be shocked if the 13" got retina and absolutely flabbergasted if the 11" got it.

just look at the battery difference between the 13" mba and the 13" rMBP. there's a reason there's a 74w in the retina which is 15% larger than the standard, almost 50% larger than the battery in the 13" MBA and more than twice the size of the one in the 11".

Yes, the new chip will run more efficiently but not enough to justify sacrificing weight and battery life on their ultralights...at least not in my opinion. the 13" rMBP already confuses things and Apple has a long history of compartmentalizing their merchandise.

The high-def race is obviously going to be eternal, but i don't think the tech is going to support a retina MBA.

Well I hope they don't get retina then the resale of this MBA I have will stay decent for the next 12/24 months. Sensibly I could see the Air's getting retina in 3 years.

In all honesty I'm more interested in the convergence of software between OSX and iOS. I love the aspect of buying a piece of software and it being on all my devices. I know what Jobs said regarding touch on laptops however I don't see Apple making iOS more complicated so for me touch is a massive possibility on part of the laptop range.

DisplacedMic said:

no way that will happen (in my opinion anyway)
Retina on the MBAs? i don't think so. I would be shocked if the 13" got retina and absolutely flabbergasted if the 11" got it.

just look at the battery difference between the 13" mba and the 13" rMBP. there's a reason there's a 74w in the retina which is 15% larger than the standard, almost 50% larger than the battery in the 13" MBA and more than twice the size of the one in the 11".

Yes, the new chip will run more efficiently but not enough to justify sacrificing weight and battery life on their ultralights...at least not in my opinion. the 13" rMBP already confuses things and Apple has a long history of compartmentalizing their merchandise.

The high-def race is obviously going to be eternal, but i don't think the tech is going to support a retina MBA.

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For me, the 11" is too small for my uses.

Smeaton1724 said:

Well I hope they don't get retina then the resale of this MBA I have will stay decent for the next 12/24 months. Sensibly I could see the Air's getting retina in 3 years.

In all honesty I'm more interested in the convergence of software between OSX and iOS. I love the aspect of buying a piece of software and it being on all my devices. I know what Jobs said regarding touch on laptops however I don't see Apple making iOS more complicated so for me touch is a massive possibility on part of the laptop range.

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i dont think that will happen either

same feeling to the 11" air, just like the OP. However, i didn't have my mba on the purpose of choosing this ultraportable apple machine in the first place. im a 13" mbp user actually. in that time i choose 13" mbp because its more make sense to me to purchased it, in terms of value (having 500gb drive, and optical superdrive with the same money with 11" 128gb version). and i think 13" real eastate is the perfect size to not having to small screen size but still potable enough to carry than the big 15" MBP. Then, i had an "accident", i left my 13" MBP at the airport, i completly forgot to take my bag. my mbp in it. my friend offer me his 11 mba, with very light term of paying, lol. then i take that offer, i cant continue my work without my macbook. now on the several weeks i own it, i cant put my mba down. i love to use it everywhere ,at anytime i want. its a full mac os, with the same capability to my previous mbp, but way more lighter, easier to carry, and its faster and snapier due the SSD capability. its like an iPad but with no limitation. combine it with 1 TB external and external optical drive, and its more useful than my past mbp. love it, and cant go back to the mbp 13" i guess. waiting for the update, and probably get the bigger ssd storage.

My 11" MBA Setup

I use an 11" Air as my main mobile machine, it is perfect to just carry around and use on the plane in conjunction with an iPad and an iPhone. I have an entire office in one bag! My girlfriend has the 13" Air and I just don't like it, which is weird as I also have a 15" rMBP which I use when I need a larger screen or a quad processor. Ideally I want a retina 11" Air with 16Gb RAM, a Quad Core processor and 1Tb SSD. With that I'd sell my 15" and just use the air with a Thunderbolt display at home when I need more screen space. With regard to ports I carry a Belkin Thunderbolt Dock which covers all the missing ports with the portability at the same time.