Apple's New 2018 MacBook Air vs. Old MacBook Air

[LordVic]

I'm a fast touch typist. I have an old MBA and the keyboard is fine, can't complain given the constraints.

I tried the new MBA keyboard in Best Buy yesterday. Holy moly that thing is very, very bad. One of the worst I've used in my life. The keys are too big? And the way they hit at the bottom of travel 8 knuckles hurt? I've never had that happen before. DO NOT WANT.

Come from the same basic boat. Touch Typists. Decently fast. I have a 2011 MBA and the keyboard was simply the best mobile keyboard I've ever used.

Had to roll out a few MacBook Pro's to users over the last couple years (though very very few and far between). I got the chance to use them for a few days extensively.

I DESPISE THE NEW KEYBOARD. some/ many might be perfectly fine with it. But Apple absolutely dowgraded the quality of the typing experience from their old keyboards in the name of 1mm

 

[Bazza1]

Considering they give it a bunch of new parts it's hardly a used computer. Any return becomes a refurb model too; doesn't mean there was something wrong with it.

This is true. Besides, each refurb device is arguably better tested than something straight off the factory conveyor line as each refurb is there for different reasons, so checked individually. I don't know the history behind my refurb, but cosmetically it arrived 'as new', the internals seem to be working as intended, it came carefully wrapped with all the cables in a correct Apple box, was shipped free, and was eligible for full AppleCare. It was $CDN250 less than the same model in the store - or over $500 less than current new Air.

 

[LordVic]

Of course it would be swell and probably the machine I'd prefer (an updated nTB MBP). I don't think we'll see it, though, as I believe Apple considers the MBA to fill that role. Honestly, I can't argue with the thought that there are three and not four segments to sell into.

But I don't feel like it fills that roll. your original post to me summarized it best. the MBA is the "every day ultrabook". it uses a Y series CPU and is just not fully featured. I have no complaints about it or it's market segment.

it's that damn 13" PRO lineup that really screws with things. The 13" MBPro without touch bar in it's current form should be dropped. it's internals should have been in the Air. and the 13" MBpro with touchbar should be available with the same performance, but without the TB.

Llineup I see that would make sense
MacBook (replaces the old 11" Air essentially)
MacBook Air (should be a functional and straight on upgrade from existing air, which I think other than CPU choice, they did well)

MacBook Pro 13/15" Non Touch bar (with full performance)
MacBook Pro 13/15" Touch Bar (with full performance)

I spend WAY too much of my day in linux consoles using VI. I CANNOT live without a physical ESC key.

 

[hudson1]

But I don't feel like it fills that roll. your original post to me summarized it best. the MBA is the "every day ultrabook". it uses a Y series CPU and is just not fully featured. I have no complaints about it or it's market segment.

it's that damn 13" PRO lineup that really screws with things. The 13" MBPro without touch bar in it's current form should be dropped. it's internals should have been in the Air. and the 13" MBpro with touchbar should be available with the same performance, but without the TB.

Llineup I see that would make sense
MacBook (replaces the old 11" Air essentially)
MacBook Air (should be a functional and straight on upgrade from existing air, which I think other than CPU choice, they did well)

MacBook Pro 13/15" Non Touch bar (with full performance)
MacBook Pro 13/15" Touch Bar (with full performance)

I spend WAY too much of my day in linux consoles using VI. I CANNOT live without a physical ESC key.

I like that lineup, too, but can't see Apple delivering. If you combine your thought of the MBA ideally having the current nTB MBP internals and then the MBP simply differentiated by the Touch Bar, this is what you end up with:

MB -- passive cooling only
MBA
nTB MBP -- MBA with a little better performance and more ports
TB MBP -- MBA with a little better performance, more ports and a Touch Bar

I'm not sure why Apple would do that as it functionally reduces more ports and the Touch Bar to little more than very expensive add-ons.

 

[LordVic]

I like that lineup, too, but can't see Apple delivering. If you combine your thought of the MBA ideally having the current nTB MBP internals and then the MBP simply differentiated by the Touch Bar, this is what you end up with:

MB -- passive cooling only
MBA
nTB MBP -- MBA with a little better performance and more ports
TB MBP -- MBA with a little better performance, more ports and a Touch Bar

I'm not sure why Apple would do that as it functionally reduces more ports and the Touch Bar to little more than very expensive add-ons.

because the Touchbar is a mostly useless add-on that I'd be willing to opt to not get. need to do some mobile database work in the next year for a major project. I am not a fan of 15" laptops. But at the same time, I need some performance options.

a 13" MacBook Pro. NO TOUCH BAR. But with Quad core i7, 16gb RAM and 500GB NVME storage would be an amazing machine productivity machine for me. if they put the older keyboard in, than it would be the computer i'd buy RIGHT NOW. As is the combination of product lineup and price points make me scratch my head and looking elsewhere

 

[hudson1]

because the Touchbar is a mostly useless add-on that I'd be willing to opt to not get. need to do some mobile database work in the next year for a major project. I am not a fan of 15" laptops. But at the same time, I need some performance options.

a 13" MacBook Pro. NO TOUCH BAR. But with Quad core i7, 16gb RAM and 500GB NVME storage would be an amazing machine productivity machine for me. if they put the older keyboard in, than it would be the computer i'd buy RIGHT NOW. As is the combination of product lineup and price points make me scratch my head and looking elsewhere

I agree (with the caveat that I don't have a TB MBP so only going by what I've seen) but you better tell Apple as telling the rest of us won't get either of us anywhere.

 

[mscice]

I got i7, 8gb, 256 -- 2014 model... no way i will upgrade to the new ****!

 

[Aston441]

Come from the same basic boat. Touch Typists. Decently fast. I have a 2011 MBA and the keyboard was simply the best mobile keyboard I've ever used.

Had to roll out a few MacBook Pro's to users over the last couple years (though very very few and far between). I got the chance to use them for a few days extensively.

I DESPISE THE NEW KEYBOARD. some/ many might be perfectly fine with it. But Apple absolutely dowgraded the quality of the typing experience from their old keyboards in the name of 1mm

They need to cushion the bottom of travel or do SOMETHING I'm not sure what. I've used many keyboards with a sharp "clack" end to theb keystroke, but I've never, ever used a keyboard that caused almost instant pain like the new MBA. And the giant keys were just weird. I hardly ever make typos on a real keyboard, I was messing up constantly on the new MBA.

I think maybe Apple purged too many great people... Or maybe they all retired. Who knows what's going on over in Cupertino, except that it's not good.

 

[BruceEBonus]

Curious, what are the upsides of being a "true Apple aficionado," and what are the downsides of the changing user base?

Or, what are the downsides of being a "true Apple aficionado," and what are the upsides of the changing user base?

Honest question!

I can't tell whether you're praising or lightly criticizing the virtues of being a "true Apple aficionado" and am just curious of of what at least one person thinks are the upsides or downsides of being one!

Indeed. There once was a time that Apple MacBooks were product placed in movies using their instantly recognised and much loved iconic illuminated logo on the top lid. A symbol of their unique identity and refusal to adhere to the (then) bland and dull Windows competition. Apple. The innovators. The forward thinkers. The up and coming upstarts to the (then) stagnant computing world.

That time has gone. And trying to explain the magic of Apple’s rise (pre iPad) to those who weren’t there is a futile effort. Now, it’s all about removing the uniqueness, the MagSafe. The dongleless ports, the illuminated top lid. The removals list goes up. The prices sadly do as well.

 

[Tozovac]

Indeed. There once was a time that Apple MacBooks were product placed in movies using their instantly recognised and much loved iconic illuminated logo on the top lid. A symbol of their unique identity and refusal to adhere to the (then) bland and dull Windows competition. Apple. The innovators. The forward thinkers. The up and coming upstarts to the (then) stagnant computing world.

That time has gone. And trying to explain the magic of Apple’s rise (pre iPad) to those who weren’t there is a futile effort. Now, it’s all about removing the uniqueness, the MagSafe. The dongleless ports, the illuminated top lid. The removals list goes up. The prices sadly do as well.

*** slow golf clap ***

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

[BruceEBonus]

*** slow golf clap ***

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Sorry It's a Pay Per View Subscription Service only!

 

[Tozovac]

Sorry It's a Pay Per View Subscription Service only!

Ugh, sounds just like the App Store.

 

[Georgetown]

The keyboards on the new MacBook Air look great. But they are not suitable for typing on because there is barely any key travel. It’s a shame because the old MacBook Air has one of the best, most comfortable keyboards ever! It puzzles me why a smart company like Apple with all their resources would produce such a horrible keyboard.

 

[Tozovac]

The keyboards on the new MacBook Air look great. But they are not suitable for typing on because there is barely any key travel. It’s a shame because the old MacBook Air has one of the best, most comfortable keyboards ever! It puzzles me why a smart company like Apple with all their resources would produce such a horrible keyboard.

Because they know what you and others don't know you want. Come on, get with it already.

 

[filmbuff]

Indeed. There once was a time that Apple MacBooks were product placed in movies using their instantly recognised and much loved iconic illuminated logo on the top lid. A symbol of their unique identity and refusal to adhere to the (then) bland and dull Windows competition. Apple. The innovators. The forward thinkers. The up and coming upstarts to the (then) stagnant computing world.

That time has gone. And trying to explain the magic of Apple’s rise (pre iPad) to those who weren’t there is a futile effort. Now, it’s all about removing the uniqueness, the MagSafe. The dongleless ports, the illuminated top lid. The removals list goes up. The prices sadly do as well.

Counterpoint:

Apple never had good ports. Sure they had Ethernet and USB-A, but they wouldn't have Expresscard, mic in, eSATA, or HDMI, and they never had a Blueray drive even though it was a "must have" feature in the early 10s. All that stuff was taken for granted on a Windows PC. If anything going to only 4 obscure USB-C ports is perfectly in the spirit for Apple.

Magsafe is overrated, falls off way too easily.

Illuminated lid - nice, but not really worth the battery drain and light leak into your screen.

Price - not going up at all, coming down actually in the Mac line.

 

[Tozovac]

Magsafe is overrated, falls off way too easily.

Illuminated lid - nice, but not really worth the battery drain and light leak into your screen.

Counterpoint - Interesting. I never had magsafe fall off except when it was supposed to.

Illuminated lid - that's not extra power - it's a resultant effect from illuminating your screen. Dim the screen and so does the Apple dim.

 

[filmbuff]

Counterpoint - Interesting. I never had magsafe fall off except when it was supposed to.

Illuminated lid - that's not extra power - it's a resultant effect from illuminating your screen. Dim the screen and so does the Apple dim.

and as a side effect of that you need an apple-shaped hole in the case which you can see on the screen in bright conditions.

 

[wriconsult]

Ha! Is the old one still "worth" buying? Let's see: costs $200 less (I love the "oh well, you're already spending a grand, what's another 20%?" conclusion of the article), better keyboard, MagSafe adapter, upgradeable SSD, iFixIt repairability score of 4/10 (admittedly not great) versus a completely glued-together design? Not a close contest, unless you're an actual developer or serious gamer, and need high-end processing speed.

 

[iMi]

I like the new Air and wonder what it means for the 12” MacBook. I think Apple’s product lineup is getting really messy and way too fragmented.

 

[applesed]

I like the new Air and wonder what it means for the 12” MacBook. I think Apple’s product lineup is getting really messy and way too fragmented.

and full of compromises. you cannot get a 3rd gen keyboard, without touchbar, in a pro/quad core package. (the air, ntb pro, and tb pro are each missing one of those three)

 

[Cmdrx3]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't the 2015 MacBook Air originally sell the 13 inch version for $1199. It wasn't dropped to $999 until it was several years old.

Nope

https://web.archive.org/web/20150308000837/http://www.apple.com:80/macbook-air/

 

[Alhagar]

Counterpoint - Interesting. I never had magsafe fall off except when it was supposed to.

Illuminated lid - that's not extra power - it's a resultant effect from illuminating your screen. Dim the screen and so does the Apple dim.

I miss MagSafe but on my 2017 MBA it used to fall out all the time and it drove me a bit crazy. I think on older Macs the connection was stronger.

 

[Velin]

It’s a shame because the old MacBook Air has one of the best, most comfortable keyboards ever! It puzzles me why a smart company like Apple with all their resources would produce such a horrible keyboard.

Truth. Even the original Macbook Air had an amazing keyboard. Such a great machine. It still could be, if Apple would fix the problems with the junko keyboard and dim/dull screen.

 

[polaris20]

The Keyboard is not fixed.

According to iFixit: https://ifixit.org/blog/10319/butterfly-keyboard-teardown/

An excerpt: " On the 2018 keyboard, with the addition of more particulate and some aggressive typing, the dust eventually penetrates under the sheltered clips, and gets on top of the switch—so the ingress-proofing isn’t foolproof just yet. Time will tell how long the barrier will hold up. Following the Mythbusters method of testing, we pushed the keyboard to failure with the higher-grit particulate we used last time: sand. And just like last time, a few poorly placed particles bring the mighty butterfly down to earth, never to click again."

I guess I won't be bringing my computer to the sandbox. Damn.

 

[BigBoy2018]

I guess I won't be bringing my computer to the sandbox. Damn.

Hah ha. Laugh now funny guy, but particles like sand can show up anywhere. Text me again in the next 6 months or so when you’re waiting at the Apple store for your beloved laptop to get fixed. I’ll be curious to see how your hilarious sense of humor is holding up.