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2012 MBAs: Now we've had it for a while, what do you like/dislike about it?

Jobsian

Jobsian

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 30, 2009
853
98
11" i7 model


Dislike:
  • Magsafe2 dislodges a lot more easily than Mg1.
  • Battery life is good but wish it was a little better. Still need to bring my power adapter when I'm out if usage is going to be quite long.
  • More of a Lion criticism (coming from Snow L): access to all apps (including those minimised) more cumbersome than SL's quick 4-finger swipe to expose. Desktop access also slightly slower with the 4-finger 'spread'. Feels a bizarrely counterintuitive step backwards.


Like:
  • Blazingly fast - devours HD video including flash.
  • 2 years on, still in love with the design/portability/convenience. Unmatched imo.
  • Silent and cool.
  • Fantastic SSD capacity/RAM allowance.

All in all, a terrific upgrade from the 2010 model, well worth the price, best notebook I've ever owned.
 
I'd have liked to have seen a resolution bump on the 11" model to 1600x900 and 1680x1050 on the 13". It doesn't need to be "Retina" yet, but the HD4000 could certainly handle a higher resolution.

Overall, the 2012 is a solid update. I like USB 3.0. It's nice having both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. It's also nice to see Apple make use of the port by offering Gigabit Ethernet and soon Firewire 800 adapters.
 
11" Ultimate i7/8gb/512gb


Like:
-Small form factor is absolutely perfect for couch surfing and for traveling. I've taken it out of the house more times since I've gotten it than I ever did with my unibody 13" MBP.
-Blazing fast, new to SSD so I was expecting to be impressed by the speeds, but this combo of the new ivy bridge's + ssd is just incredible. Copying items to itunes takes seconds and never have any hiccups.
-Screen is fantastic. I have it about 5-6 bars below full brightness and it's still vibrant and gorgeous, probably why I'm getting such great battery life.


Dislike:
(Not really dislikes, but things I would they would improve)
-Right now I'm getting 4+ hours on my battery, when I'm at home I use it attached to a charger and the times I've taken it out of the house I don't use for more than 4+ hours. It would be nice however, if the battery would be 7+ hours like its larger sized version. Again not a dislike per se, but wouldn't hurt to have larger capacity.
-Silver bezel is growing on me, again not a dislike, but something that could be changed for the better. Coming from a black bezel on my MBP the silver is a bit different but it's growing on me.


I am absolutely enamored with this machine and am so glad I went with the 11" air, seeing my GF's 13" mbp just makes me gasp at how much bigger it really is.
 
13/8/128

Zero complaints. Thin and light. Runs cool and silent. Trackpad is intuitive and better than I expected. Battery life is iPad-like.
 
I have an 13/i5/4/128. :apple:

:)

SSD: probably my favorite thing about the Air. Quiet, blazing fast, less of a battery eater. Obviously you can have this in the Pro, but I wanted a different look and form factor than my previous computer.

Form factor: Coming from a 13 inch MBP, this is a significant upgrade for me while keeping the same real estate screen size. Love how much more portable and friendly this computer is to work with. Beautiful design.

Trackpad: nothing different from my MBP, but the integration and usability this has in Lion is amazing. I am looking forward to seeing this work as well if not better in ML.

Battery: Seems to keeping charged as advertised. Without has much power and a SSD it is no surprise this thing can hold a charge.

:(

Not much to be honest.

Would like if they kept the previous charger, it would've been nice to use my MBP magsafe with this w/o buying an adapter.

Miss having an Ethernet port. Much faster speeds up in my dorm room. I'll worry about that come August though. I know they make an adapter as well.
 
echo'ing some others:

Dislike:
- magsafe 2, no specific purpose for mba since form factor hasn't changed, not sure why apple did that (fine if they wanted to make retina macbook pro magsafe 2 but why mba?)
- hotter/louder
- screen is 2+ years old technology; if not retina, at least higher res and definitely at least IPS (apple i thought prided itself on it's displays and in this case, it's the weak spot of the mbas)
- 11" screen size could be larger/less bezel and thus accommodate a higher resolution better
- 11" battery could still be better

Like:
- faster cpu, faster ssd, more ram, larger ssd, better FaceTime camera, backlit keyboard (i know 2011 had this but i was missing in 2010), usb3, thunderbolt

for me, it wasn't worth the upgrade (my wife's iMac is the video edit, dvd ripping machine -- if i needed the mba to do heavy lifting, the 2012 mba would've been a definite upgrade). i would've still considered the upgrade if the display had grown in size or improved. oh well, until 2013...
 
I have the base 13" model...

Likes:
Love the comfort of typing with the wedge design (so much nicer than the pros sharp edge)

Love the light weight

SSD super fast boot up time

Low glare on the screen

Crisp display (who needs retina- this thing seems so crisp compared to my old imac and a macbook pro 13" i test ran)

Super intuitive trackpad


Dislikes:
My ONLY dislike is the small text size, however I was able to remedy this with Allpageszoom and other adjustments, so really not a dislike at all!

I LOVE this computer!!! :eek::eek::):p:):eek::eek:
 
Magsafe2 is the worst thing ever. I don't know who designed it from Apple, and why they approved that moron's design, but this is just lame in any parameter I can only think about.
 
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My dislikes are not that much, but here they are:
The screen is glossy and there is no option for antiglare like on the 15" MBP. About 50% of the people like glossy and the other 50% dislike it. Why not offer glossy/antiglare as an option on all Apple notebooks?

Not having the eject key is obvious but this means that the ctrl-shift-eject combination does not work. Unfortunately Apple does not have an alternative key combination for this. You need to solve it via tools such as BetterTouchTool or hotcorners.

While the Thunderbolt-GbE is a nice addition for getting gigabit ethernet on the Air it is also getting quite hot, even with little use (aka simply have it connected). It is not that big of a deal until you want to unplug it. Not the most pleasant experience but not the worst either. That's what you get when putting a tiny circuitry with an IC on it in a tiny plug I suppose. I solved it by unplugging it by holding the wire between the 2 plastic parts.

Something that doesn't bother me but probably will bother others is the port arrangement. If you want to hookup the Thunderbolt Display or the previous display you need to hook it up to the right side and the left side. It would have been nicer if it were only 1 side.

What I like is a shorter list: anything else :p The display is nice, the resolution is wonderful, the ssd is great (I have the SM256E), the 8GB of memory is good (but I knew that already from my previous notebook), weight is marvellous (which is one of the main reasons why I bought it), usb3 and Thunderbolt will be great add-ons in the future, sound and video performance surprised me and battery life is actually a little bit above what is advertised.

Magsafe2 is the best thing Apple did. The previous one is by far the worst because it absolutely didn't do what it was meant for. I'm glad Apple came to their senses and went back to the older design. The newer Magsafe2 connector now actually disconnects when somebody trips over the wire. With the previous one I've had several occasions where it was my quick reaction that saved it from going to the ground because that crappy L-connector stayed put instead of disconnect.

Also, the Magsafe2 connector is easier to hold which makes connect/disconnecting it by the user easier. With the L one I always found myself yanking it off by its wire.
 
11in / 8GB / 256GB

Dislike:
  • Add keyboard protector and screen protector, clam won't shut (small gap due to the two protectors fighting for a very limited space).
  • Apple didn't scale down its logo on the shell, purely aesthetics, but it just annoys the hell out of me as I am used to see the logo in proportional with 15" mbp.

Like:
  • Weightless - on my left hand is MBA, on my right hand is iPad2 with cover...I can't feel the difference.
  • Battery life - my mbp didn't come close as this, even when I use a new battery on it.
  • Graphics—when i discovered diablo 3 and skyrim runs (minimum settings of course), I **** my pant. My MBP's 8600GT is struggling with Starcraft II and look where Intel 4000 leads me to. Plug the HDMI to TV and boom 1080p, flawless video playback. I was proud on my 8600GT, now I'm not...I think this is Apple's real segmenting success. The size of this air explain that I want to be mobile, but I'm not gonna haul a 17 inch sized brick laptop. But even if I want to go nuclear, I can always find a big sized TV or something, and the graphics will be able to handle it perfectly fine.

Conclusion:
With all the positive stuffs, all the bad stuffs can kiss my bum!
 
I 100% agree with all of the post about the 11" so far. A resolution bump would be great and a little better battery would be amazing. Honestly, aside from the battery life I think this is the perfect machine.
 
I've only had my 2012 11" MBA for 8 battery cycles but I'm loving it. Small, light, cooler than my 2010 13" base MBA (I only have i5 in my 11") and of course, Apple's awesome backlighting on their keyboard (notice I am thrilled with the backlighting more than the keyboard itself :) ).

I was voted down in another thread for saying my 11" MBA made my 13" MBA look huge, but it does! Just got a backpack so I can keep my MBA with me wherever I go so I'm always ready when the creative impulse strikes! :D I even have enough room for my Wacom tablet (which is half the size of my MBA LOL). :D
 
dyn said:
The screen is glossy and there is no option for antiglare like on the 15" MBP. About 50% of the people like glossy and the other 50% dislike it. Why not offer glossy/antiglare as an option on all Apple notebooks?
Click to expand...

It's way less glossy than the Pro. I have never had an issue with the Air screen like I did with the Pro screen.
 
I just got a 2012 MBA. I'm coming from a 2011 MBP. Although the rMBP has some of these features below my last MBP didn't. I use it for school and light gaming and im taking it overseas in a few months. (I couldnt let myself bring a rMBP to Afghanistan.)

The wedge shape is much nicer to type on.
Has USB ports on both sides.
I like the silver bezel.
Asymetrical fan.
Sooooo light.
The included SSD supports TRIM.
The intel HD4000 is a sweet spot between the weaker 3000 and a dedicated card.

But my fav is the wedge shape.
 
11" i7/8gb/256gb

Likes
  • Blazengly fast for everyday tasks. I can't stress enough how "instant" everything feels and what a great experience that offers. Fastest feeling notebook I've ever used by a significant margin
  • Smallest, lightest, most mobile friendly laptop I have ever used
  • Great battery life under light use (significantly better than my 2010)
  • Could be used as your only machine (fast dual core processor, enough ram and SSD storage for most users)
  • This combination of feature make it a truly remarkable machine

Dislikes
  • Under heavy load battery life is still remarkably short
  • Magsafe 2 connector much more prone to accidental disconnects and not as elegant as old L connector
  • Would like power and display port on same side to facilitate an elegant docking solution
 
robvas said:
It's way less glossy than the Pro. I have never had an issue with the Air screen like I did with the Pro screen.
Click to expand...
Yep it is, but it is still as glossy as my old MacBook from 2006 and I didn't quite like that back then. It's workable though but I just like the matte displays more.

Btw, I have to add another like: it charges amazingly fast. I have to check the clock twice now, it's just so fast.
 
Can't wait!

I love reading all this feedback on the new MBA. Just ordered the 11.6" i7 with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. I'm STOKED and can't wait! Should arrive between the 16th-18th. I opted for the 11.6" because I read so many positive things over that form factor versus the 13". I will be sure to add to this discussion once I get it.

----------
Higgs1 said:
I am absolutely enamored with this machine and am so glad I went with the 11" air, seeing my GF's 13" mbp just makes me gasp at how much bigger it really is.
Click to expand...

Isn't there a problem when you're gasping at how much bigger your GF's package is, instead of her gasping at your's? ;)

----------

Do some of you regret getting the 256GB SSD over the 512? Do you think the 512GB is overkill?
 
MagicThief83 said:
I love reading all this feedback on the new MBA. Just ordered the 11.6" i7 with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. I'm STOKED and can't wait! Should arrive between the 16th-18th. I opted for the 11.6" because I read so many positive things over that form factor versus the 13".
Click to expand...
Ok, allow me to forgo diplomacy a little here regarding 11" vs 13" etc: The 11" form factor is out of this world. I've owned these things since the 2010 models. Yes some people need more screen for various reasons. But my honest perspective is that the 11" MBA makes almost every other notebook feel like an obese pig of a brick. I tried to like some of the bigger form-factor macs, for the battery, etc, I tried, but it just doesn't come close to the 11 MBA for me. You'll love it!
 
Likes:

Attractive, lightweight, feels well built
Starts/boots quickly
Smooth trackpad performance, swipe page-back gesture
Fast SSD/processor performance, nearly instant response
Plays HD flash videos smoothly
Fan is quiet
Good battery life, charges quickly
Recognized my wireless HP printer (my old HP laptop couldn't)
In general, a joy to use

Dislikes:

Screen is nice, but not much better than my old HP's (there is less glare, though)
Umm...
 
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Jobsian said:
Ok, allow me to forgo diplomacy a little here regarding 11" vs 13" etc: The 11" form factor is out of this world. I've owned these things since the 2010 models. Yes some people need more screen for various reasons. But my honest perspective is that the 11" MBA makes almost every other notebook feel like an obese pig of a brick. I tried to like some of the bigger form-factor macs, for the battery, etc, I tried, but it just doesn't come close to the 11 MBA for me. You'll love it!
Click to expand...

and the best thing about the 11"....you get the most bang for you buck :) I feel like if you can use an 11" you save yourself so much money
 
Plenty fast for my needs(heavy lifting is done at iMac anyway) and form factor(how light it doesn't matter too much as I baby my mac laptop too much anyway).

Just like others, I am not too crazy about the screen but hey... nothing is perfect.... I love this thing.. It's good time. 8 gig really puts this over the top w/ parallel running windows 7 for work with it's own vpn .. it's freaking fantastic to work from coffee shop. Can truly get lot of work done in those situation as well now.
 
13" i7 2.0 /8gb/512gb

Likes
For a "capped" low-voltage i7 it's screamingly fast. Coupled with a huge SATA-3 SSD it is fantastic for virtualization on the road.
Great battery life under regular use
Excellent connectivity options (2x USB 3.0 + TB)
Can perfectly accommodate just about anyone's needs except hard-core graphics designers.
Runs very silent, even under load. Fan kicks in less often than 2011 MBA i7
Great W7 performance (once Apple solves TurboBoost)

Dislikes
Would like power and display port on same side to facilitate an elegant docking solution
Magsafe2 plug too protruding and therefore slightly limiting access to USB 3.0 port next to it.
 
Dislikes

Magsafe2: pig-tail design looks cheap coming off MBA at right-angle. Very unnecessary design change. The product manager who got this through should be flogged daily.

Cooling: Apple still failing to adequately vent the Air's lovely design form. Bottom or side vents would do wonders for air flow, rather than trying to use the same vent for in/outgoing air flow.
 
calvol said:
Dislikes

Magsafe2: pig-tail design looks cheap coming off MBA at right-angle. Very unnecessary design change. The product manager who got this through should be flogged daily.

Cooling: Apple still failing to adequately vent the Air's lovely design form. Bottom or side vents would do wonders for air flow, rather than trying to use the same vent for in/outgoing air flow.
Click to expand...

The whole original idea for the MagSafe was so that if someone trips on the cord, it doesn't pull your laptop off the table and onto the floor.

The previous L shaped MagSafe design was a huge mistake. It looks pretty, but it doesn't work for its intended purpose. Pulling straight on the wire would still pull your laptop off the table. The new T shaped design fixes that and restores original function.
 
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