2014 MacBook Air 11" - a pleasure

[dagdagdag234]

I've had it for a month. The base model. Love it.

I have a thin travel case with handles, it's like traveling with a 2nd generation iPad except fully powered.

It's even snappy enough for iMovie video editing

If you learn all the trackpad gestures you have your apps full screen with lots of quick 4 finger swiping between apps, two finger double tapping on safari to zoom in etc...

And the keyboard feels no different than the larger models.

It encourages me to do more work, because it's so easy to carry around the house, open up for a quick note or two, like I used to do with an iPad.

I have no great insight here but I was one of those people who was worried the screen would be too small etc etc, so I thought I'd post that my fears have gone unrealized and it is my favorite laptop ever.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

It is a brilliant laptop, especially if you are travelling or have a 'portable' office in someplace such as a coffee shop. Moreover, the 2013 (and beyond) models came with vastly improved batteries, which allowed for far longer periods away from a mains supply.

 

[EdMan]

I just picked up one yesterday. I originally bought a 13" but returned it after one day when I realized it was bigger than I wanted. I used the 11" on the plane today and it's perfect on a tray table. I can tell I'm going to love this thing.

 

[ramolina9]

I just picked up one yesterday. I originally bought a 13" but returned it after one day when I realized it was bigger than I wanted. I used the 11" on the plane today and it's perfect on a tray table. I can tell I'm going to love this thing.

I travel a lot for work and I have to say the size of the 11" is absolutely perfect for using in planes. I love my Air!

 

[yoak]

I got a 2012 11" very cheap, so the battery is not in the same league as the new ones, but I just stopped using my iPad after I got it so much nicer for everything, except reading iBooks, but it's fine for they too.
It's the perfect travel laptop, I can even review 5K footage from my Red Epic camera at 1/4 setting.
I will get a new one and hand this to my wife I think

 

[Meister]

I got a 2012 11" very cheap, so the battery is not in the same league as the new ones, but I just stopped using my iPad after I got it so much nicer for everything, except reading iBooks, but it's fine for they too.
It's the perfect travel laptop, I can even review 5K footage from my Red Epic camera at 1/4 setting.
I will get a new one and hand this to my wife I think

You got a red epic? Holy crap! I heard you can pull dslr quality stills from the >100fps footage.
You didn't buy that with your own cash?
I mean you have to sell you house just to buy a lens for that beast.

 

[motrek]

I got a 2012 11" very cheap, so the battery is not in the same league as the new ones, ...

Just to nitpick since it's come up twice, but the battery is basically the same in all MBAs of a particular size.

The reason recent MBAs get much better battery life is because their processors are more recent and use much less power.

 

[yoak]

You got a red epic? Holy crap! I heard you can pull dslr quality stills from the >100fps footage.
You didn't buy that with your own cash?
I mean you have to sell you house just to buy a lens for that beast.

I didn't have to sell the house, but close ;-) I drive old cars instead.
I did buy it with a friend and colleague, we actually got two now. One RED EPIC and one withe the latest 6K sensor, the Dragon.
You can shoot 96 fps and each one is a dslr quality still. It's amazing.
I'm a Director of photography so they are my tools, but very expensive ones.
Lenses even more so, but we rent them or use Canon still glass.

Thanks for clearing up the battery part, I thought the batteries got better, but it's of course the other way around

 

[Traverse]

The 11.6" MBA always seemed like the perfect school companion. Not much added bulk over an iPad.

 

[Danley]

So agreed. The instant-on capabilities, silence, weight and sturdiness make it a better and more productive experience than any other laptop I've ever had... (Usually it's been some flimsy plastic, loud, heavy Dell or Sony)

As my first Mac, the UI is more easily adapted than going to Windows 8 from Windows 7 , and like my iPhone, everything is intuitive.

Sad part is I use it less than I would if I wasn't so worried about now screwing it up, haha.

 

[Boyd01]

I went from a 2011 13" MBA to a 2013 11" MBA. I really liked the 13" model, but with the 11", it's love.

Just bought a 13" MBA for a family member and it arrived today. I had forgotten how much bigger and heavier it is than the 11". On paper it might not seem that way, but the real world difference is very significant.

 

[motrek]

I went from a 2011 13" MBA to a 2013 11" MBA. I really liked the 13" model, but with the 11", it's love.

Just bought a 13" MBA for a family member and it arrived today. I had forgotten how much bigger and heavier it is than the 11". On paper it might not seem that way, but the real world difference is very significant.

It's not only to do with the weight but the size. If you're holding the laptop by a side/edge/corner, then you can imagine it as a lever. The 11" is effectively a shorter lever with less weight at the end, and the 13" is longer and heavier, so mechanically there's a lot more force acting on your hand. That's why it seems so much heavier... because it effectively really is that much heavier.

I noticed the same difference when I had a MacBook Pro and put it at one end of a duffel bag when traveling, seemed SUPER SUPER heavy. Going to the 11" MBA was a big win there too.

 

[dagdagdag234]

I should say, when choosing between 13 or 11 inch, I guess it ultimately matters what you use a laptop for the most.

I'm a writer, so having a small screen is often a benefit, it lets me focus on the writing -- what I'm looking at is very small, and minimalist. Nothing to distract me from my words.

If someone was, say, a web designer, they may need more screen space to take in all the visual details they need to focus on.

(That said, it's interesting to note that the screen dimensions of the 11" are perfect for watching videos, since the "wide screen" length means there's usually no letter boxing.)

 

[Danley]

Also writing, I enjoy the minimalist presentation and interface of Pages; I only sometimes miss the right-click functionality from MS Word in terms of selecting fonts etc. As a whole it's a more productive environment.

One minor complaint, wish the screen would angle back more than it does, it's at a perfect position to create glare in a few locations and positions where I commonly write.

 

[macnewbieee]

got my new MBA 11''. best laptop i have use. size is just perfect, i don't have problem with its tiny size and i enjoy watching movie when i am not at home. at home i connect it to ext. monitore. the weight is the best. with 8gig ram and 256gb ssd, it can handle everything i throw at. i would say i am happier using this tiny laptop as my previous 15'' MBPr.

 

[Christian 5G]

I've had it for a month. The base model. Love it.

I have a thin travel case with handles, it's like traveling with a 2nd generation iPad except fully powered.

It's even snappy enough for iMovie video editing

If you learn all the trackpad gestures you have your apps full screen with lots of quick 4 finger swiping between apps, two finger double tapping on safari to zoom in etc...

And the keyboard feels no different than the larger models.

It encourages me to do more work, because it's so easy to carry around the house, open up for a quick note or two, like I used to do with an iPad.

I have no great insight here but I was one of those people who was worried the screen would be too small etc etc, so I thought I'd post that my fears have gone unrealized and it is my favorite laptop ever.

Have had mine for about 5 months and absolutely LOVE IT!! Great for a student like me and just perfect in flights too, watching movies, battery life is great also!

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got my new MBA 11''. best laptop i have use. size is just perfect, i don't have problem with its tiny size and i enjoy watching movie when i am not at home. at home i connect it to ext. monitore. the weight is the best. with 8gig ram and 256gb ssd, it can handle everything i throw at. i would say i am happier using this tiny laptop as my previous 15'' MBPr.

Sorry to bother but do you mind telling what monitor and what cord do you need to connect to the monitor?

Thanks!

 

[motrek]

...

Sorry to bother but do you mind telling what monitor and what cord do you need to connect to the monitor?

Thanks!

You can connect a Mac to any external monitor.

How you connect it depends on what inputs the monitor has:

HDMI - You can get a mini-DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter for $10 on Amazon
DVI - You can get a mini-DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter for $6 on MonoPrice
DisplayPort - easy, you need a mini-DisplayPort-to-DisplayPort cable for ~$8

The only problem is if you have a high-res monitor (like 2560x1440) and it doesn't have a DisplayPort input. That means you probably have to connect via dual-link DVI which requires a very expensive (~$100) Apple adapter.

 

[judethat]

Got base model today in black friday sale in UK with £100.00 off in John Lewis. Much faster than my old macbook air.

 

[Christian 5G]

You can connect a Mac to any external monitor.

How you connect it depends on what inputs the monitor has:

HDMI - You can get a mini-DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter for $10 on Amazon
DVI - You can get a mini-DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter for $6 on MonoPrice
DisplayPort - easy, you need a mini-DisplayPort-to-DisplayPort cable for ~$8

The only problem is if you have a high-res monitor (like 2560x1440) and it doesn't have a DisplayPort input. That means you probably have to connect via dual-link DVI which requires a very expensive (~$100) Apple adapter.

Thanks for the info!