Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
This thing is the fastest computer I have ever owned. Smokes my 2008 iMac 2.8. yea I get 3-5 hours depending on what I do but its the size of a netbook but the power of a desktop. No complaints here.

funny I used to have the 24'' for 2008 that I just sale for the air i7 13'' pretty same as you !
 
thrilled

I have to say after reading some comments of the MBA i7 being hot being slow etc.. I got a bit worried..

My feedback is very very early since I've been using the mba for only 3hours now.
First of all let me tell you that i got the ultimate i7 13'' 256 SSD.
I checked and I got the samsung SSD and the LG display.
Speewise nothing to say - screen wise, i'm not a professional of the photo editing but I love it too.

what i've done for the last 3hours is.
setting up the mba with my settings - did 3 restarts...
installed the updated version of iPhoto, iMovie and garage band...
Re download from app store aperture
Installed the 2 software updates (remote something and iTunes)
I am currently copying my iPhoto library from an external auto powered USB drive (100GO) (which I will have to clean latter on).

Anyhow after this 3hours playing around copying a lots of files my mba is still alive (estimating battery remaining 30 min)
i7 CPU currently at 57°C SSD 48°C the rest around 30°C.
Fans at 2000 rtm
I also played a bit with photo booth !

So what could I say except that I am thrilled by this computer - super quiet and super fast...
I still have to see for a longer time but until now great device !!!

a happy bma owner !
 
also forgot to mention that wifi and bluetooth were on + playing and listening though head phone music with spotify !
 
13" Ultimate and I very much like it. I've got Bootcamp installed with Win7 x64 Home Premium (a suprisingly easy task) and now have the ultimate in portability and function. I can boot over into Windows to deal with work stuff, have VPN access, etc, and back into Lion to play with iOS and Java development, as well as have a Unix shell lurking underneath if I need to get down and dirty with the OS.

Other than issues with FireFox 5 (that browser has gone downhill in a huge way which is disappointing because FireBug is irreplaceable), the Air runs Windows 7 much faster than my old Q6600-based Asus gaming laptop, which also has an older Intel SSD.

Really it's the best of both worlds.
 
My new 13" MBA is a joy to carry around. Like someone else said, I find myself picking it up and looking at it from every angle, marvelling at it's size, weight, form, and construction. I love that I don't have to be concerned about the battery running down fast (compared to every other laptop that I've used where I have to make sure that a power outlet is nearby and my power cord/brick are with me at all times). I love that the MBA is comfortable to actually use as a laptop: it's easy to resposition, it doesn't put my legs to sleep, it's so light that the weight isn't an issue, and I haven't had a problem with heat. The keyboard is a pleasure to use. I can't say enough about the trackpad: the size, the smoothness, and the gestures are all wonderful. I feel little need to carry a mouse with this trackpad. The screen is so bright and sharp that I find myself staring at it with a silly grin on my face (yes, I have the LG panel). The speed of the SSD is amazing: I don't know if I can go back to a spinning hard drive.

All in all, this is the laptop that I've been waiting for (he said, ending with a preposition). :)
 
Honestly, dream come true for me. It is everything I wanted and imagined. As someone above noted, I feel lucky to have one.

Agreed. Wish there was a 512 GB option but other than that I am thrilled with it. It's an amazing machine. Replaced my 2008 15" MBP.
 
Just to counteract some of the angrier / disappointed threads on this sub forum I thought I'd chime in...

Bought the 13" i5 with 256 SSD on Monday. Upgraded from an original 2006 MacBook Core Duo. I love that I get a 15" screen resolution without having to increase the physical size of my notebook. I love how FAST this thing is. My old MacBook took anywhere from 5-12 bounces to launch iTunes and this does it in NO bounces. It jumps once to register the click and it's there. Opened and ready to go. And it scrolls album art like butter. The battery has been incredible. Averaging 6-7 hours depending on use is a dramatic improvement from the 3 hours my old MacBook was offering. And I love how thin and light it is. I set the two of them side by side on my desk and my original MacBook looks like a brick and feels like it weighs the same. The MacBook Air feels so... advanced. I cannot wait to spend the next 5 years computing with this. If my original MacBook was a workhorse for me, then this will be a powerhouse.
 
totally thrilled with my 13" base 2011 MBA. MUCH MUCH faster than my old 2008 MBP and my 2007 24" iMac. All that, and in a beautiful, extremely portable computer form.
 
Well, I got my first Mac today; 11", i7, 128Gb.

Love it so much!! I can't get off from the track pad like it more than a mice.
 
I bought the base 13" - i5, 128gb SSD

This is the best computer purchase I've ever made. This is the first laptop I've ever owned that I feel doesn't sacrifice for anything I need it to do. Previously I've always had to value function over design and be practical. Finally I don't have to do that anymore. I now own the best looking machine on the market (IMO) with all the specs I need.
 
Probably premature for me to say since we just joined the Apple lovefest, but my wife and I are ecstatic about the 13" MBA. I have more gripes (minor) with Lion, but the hardware itself is fantastic.

I'm waiting for more OS support, specifically either VMWare or Parallels (as opposed to running it through Bootcamp) so I can run Win7 in addition to DropBox, remote desktop software, etc.
 
i_shall_play_you_the_song_of_my_people.jpg


I bought the 13" MBA (i7/256GB) to replace my 2009 MBP 2.53. I was a bit leery at first as to whether or not the MBA would seem like an upgrade, but after a week with the MBA my MBP is hitting e-bay as soon as I can pull out the SSD I threw in the optical bay. The MBA has impressed me so much that I'm considering dumping my 2006 MacPro 2.66 as well.
 
Probably premature for me to say since we just joined the Apple lovefest, but my wife and I are ecstatic about the 13" MBA. I have more gripes (minor) with Lion, but the hardware itself is fantastic.

I'm waiting for more OS support, specifically either VMWare or Parallels (as opposed to running it through Bootcamp) so I can run Win7 in addition to DropBox, remote desktop software, etc.

You can use dropbox on the mac side FYI. Also I vote VMware for you windows environment as I have been using it for years. It's nice to run dual OS's at the same time.

And, yes love my second MBA even though mine is a 2010- love it.
 
Probably one of the best purchases I have ever made. This is the first computer that I have bought new from Apple with my own money. The iMac was a graduation gift. I thought I would regret getting the base 11" model but I put all of my files and my applications on it and I still have a little over 40GB left. This thing is amazingly fast. I am so happy I sold my unibody white macbook for this. Best decision ever! :D
 
To answer the OP's question, the return window on my 11" Core i7 256GB model ends tomorrow, and I'm not returning it. Infer what you will from that.
 
You know when you spend a lot of money and you regret what you purchase? Nothing of that sort for my Macbook Air! I love it so much, and it's such a great investment.
 
im totally in love with my new 11" i7 256, I've already sued two people with this MBA who sold broken-framed cars lying about the damage. Great tool for my business!
 
It seems everyone is happy with their MBA whether it's the i5 or i7. We got a bunch of happy campers here. :)
 
I know there is a lot of chattier on which model is better for whatever reason. But how happy are you with your purchase?

I bought the 2010 Macbook Air 13.3" back in June and I didn't realize it was about to be updated. I bought the ultimate: 2.13ghz, 4gb mem, 256gb SSD. When the new one with the backlit keyboard and I5 cpu came out I tried to take mine back but was a week too late to get an exchange. The Mac store rep was very polite but unbending. I tried selling it on ebay for $1,375 but there were no takers. I'd have had to give up around $600 off what I paid to unload the laptop at current used prices because so many 2010 13s have hit the used market. I saw an ultimate 13" 2010 on Craigslist for $975!

While I was attempting all this I bought the 11.6" 2011 version thinking the 13 would sell on ebay, and I really like that laptop the best between the two. I've also decided to just keep the 13, so now I have both sizes. It's kind of working out well actually. I use the 13 at home most of the time and the 11 goes on the road. Umm, don't tell my wife though, let me break it to her over dinner with a new necklace to distract her.

A guy in this forum was mad about the refresh and a lot of people gave him major grief over it: But I can understand how people who buy their Macs within two months of a refresh feel. I felt a bit stung actually. If I had bought it even 3-4 months prior I wouldn't feel that way but I feel a bit misled by Apple. They should be more lenient toward people who have bought within 8 weeks of a refresh if those people want to "upgrade", but not to those who just want a refund, that wouldn't be fair. I think they should at least warn people when they are close to releasing an upgrade, maybe a 4-8 week pre-notice or they could help out those of us who did buy close to the cutoff so we could upgrade without losing 30-40% of what we spent to do it.

The hardware itself is great and I'm not holding any hard feelings because the Air is truly a revolutionary development. I think it's going to change the whole laptop market. The 11" is truly a work of brilliant engineering. There's just never been anything like this before. The 13" certainly is 80% as cool as the 11" and the main reason I'm keeping it as well is the 11" battery life won't always get me through a day so the 13" will get used in class and during studies away from power outlets. I also own a 17" Macbook pro for heavy duty stuff (video and photo) but that thing might as well be called a desktop, yeah? I mean who wants to carry that around out in the world? For one thing it cost more than my first car so I'd be afraid of losing it or dropping it.

My last point is that the idea of what is portable has changed a lot over the years. When I got my first computer Compaq had a "portable" with a 7" monochromatic screen that must have weighed 45 lbs and people loved it. Any laptop, no matter how large used to be considered very portable and I've had some that weighed >10 lbs. Now it's common to see the 13" Air and 13" Pro compared with the Air being considered portable and the pro not portable and it only weighs 4.5lbs. That's still very, very portable unless you have advanced Rhumatoid Arthritis.
 
I think that I'll quit my job so that I can play with my new 13" MBA. :D
Seriously, though, I get kind of bummed that I cant use it during the day: I'm stuck with a 4 year old windows xp laptop at work.

The MBA is a joy to use!
 
Is there any major difference in spec to the 11" and 13" with the i5 and 4gb RAM? I know there is some difference in the speed of the HD3000 graphics - GPU clock of 1.15mhz vs 1.2mhz. Would there be any significant difference in gaming?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.