It's an unfortunate thing that the 2018 $1199 MacBook Air come with 128gb SSD but the 2017 $1199 MacBook Air come with 256gb ssd.
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First 2018 MacBook Air Benchmark Shows Moderate Gains Over 2017 MacBook Air and MacBook
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no surprise here
what I do like about the new Air is the screen (Mojave fonts look bad on the 2017 Air) and HEVC capabilities
what I do like about the new Air is the screen (Mojave fonts look bad on the 2017 Air) and HEVC capabilities
I tend to agree with Wirecutter's recommendation (https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-macbooks/) that the best Macbook right now is the 13-inch MBP without TB.
There is no windows laptop under £400. I fact it is hard to find one with ssd usbc i5 under £700. That would be still chunky in plastic.
Cheapest surface is over a £1000 too
Macbook Air was never supposed to be a powerful laptop.
It will remain same,along 12” Macbook.
Portability,style,ease of use and reliability and build quality are the focus of these 2 product lines.
Air is more targeted to students while 12” Macbook is best for casual home/coffee shop/travel use.
both will have close/similar power,12” remains more portable and more attractive,Air remains slightly more functional due to extra USB port and slightly bigger screen.
It will remain same,along 12” Macbook.
Portability,style,ease of use and reliability and build quality are the focus of these 2 product lines.
Air is more targeted to students while 12” Macbook is best for casual home/coffee shop/travel use.
both will have close/similar power,12” remains more portable and more attractive,Air remains slightly more functional due to extra USB port and slightly bigger screen.
I'm surprised to hear you have already had a chance to test the new keyboard - - were you at Apple's Brooklyn launch event on Tuesday?
Here's a review of the recent evolution of MacBook keyboards from a commenter on ArsTechnica:
"I tested the 2016 keyboard and absolutely hated it. Despite being on an aging 2011 MBP, I chose to not buy a device with that 2016 because it was so bad.
When they revised it to v2 in 2017, I went and tested it again. And the improvement was so big I pulled the trigger and don't regret it (except the TouchBar, which sucks).
Then my job bought me a 2018, and the improvement over the 2017 is so freaking huge I'm sad when I go back to my 2017. The extra rubber (or whatever) they added to the gaskets makes an enormous difference, and the 2018+ devices are a true pleasure to type on.
That's just my own opinion, of course, but hope it offers some insights. I get where you're coming from, but if you haven't tried the newest revision keyboard, it really is worth another look."
When they revised it to v2 in 2017, I went and tested it again. And the improvement was so big I pulled the trigger and don't regret it (except the TouchBar, which sucks).
Then my job bought me a 2018, and the improvement over the 2017 is so freaking huge I'm sad when I go back to my 2017. The extra rubber (or whatever) they added to the gaskets makes an enormous difference, and the 2018+ devices are a true pleasure to type on.
That's just my own opinion, of course, but hope it offers some insights. I get where you're coming from, but if you haven't tried the newest revision keyboard, it really is worth another look."
I agree.
I also have the 2013 MBP (dual core).
No reasonable upgrade path unless I want to sell a kidney.
I made the wise decision back then to get 16Gb and 512Gb SSD but the processor being dual core is slow for running virtual machines. Wish I had stumped up for the quad core as well.
Newer OS upgrades haven’t helped.
A 2018 MBP with viable specs lands at about 2 grand! Even the Air (once you add reasonable memory and ssd is extortionately expensive).
I think I paid about 1300 for the 2013 model. Yes 5 years later, inflation etc, but tech does get cheaper in other areas. And newer models have other compromises too.. ports and keyboard for example.
Apple is ignoring affordability in its quest to produce the best machines.
What a useless machine. An iPad is twice as fast already, has a touch screen, is smaller, lighter and in reality will run as long or longer on battery than this. Oh, cost less too.
If only Apple would enable a mouse pointer and put a trackpad on their keyboard like Microsoft does with their Surface, open up the file system and there wouldn't be a need for an intel Mac for 90% of people out there.
If only Apple would enable a mouse pointer and put a trackpad on their keyboard like Microsoft does with their Surface, open up the file system and there wouldn't be a need for an intel Mac for 90% of people out there.
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That's why benchmarking is such a nonsense.
Yes, the iPad Pro's stats are insane, but it can't sustain a heavy load for a long period of time like a notebook processor can. Nor can the iPhone as it would just get hot, drain the battery very quickly and eventually shut down.
I have a theory that Apple purposely gimped the new MBA to make the performance transition to their own processors in a few years time seem more seamless & on-par with the Intel CPU's they are replacing.
There hasn't been a non-Intel Mac for over a decade now mate. I think you're getting confused between two vastly different platforms, which differ far beyond the absence of a mouse pointer.
Same. I own the mid-2012 15” MBPr and each year Apple releases new machines, I can’t seem to justify a replacement. To get the same functionality of the 2.3GHz quad core i7 and 16GBs RAM in that machine, I’d have to pay FAR more than I spent on it in the first place. With an education discount at the time, it was something like £1700. The equivalent modern machine is at least that much if not more, and the raw power gains aren’t necessarily substantial enough to warrant it.
So, yes, it becomes really difficult to identify an upgrade path when machine specs have stagnated and cost has increased significantly.
$1000 means different things for different people. Additionally, computers are fast enough for most use cases already. Some people pay extra for other features rather than performance. For example, a frequent traveler would not mind to pay a couple-hundred dollar premium just to have Apple’s touchpad.
The MacBook Air was never supposed to compete with the iMac Pro; it's more than powerful enough for it's intended market. Considering it's only a little 7W CPU, it's what we call in Australia would call 'a little ripper'—I'm guessing Apple is being conservative about it's battery performance.
That’s Cook’s law - overthrowing Moore’s law
if this thing was released for $999 nobody would be having these arguments
In addition to this major rip-off I could ditch another €10 for a BT tactile keyboard - as my permanent travel partner
It’s coming no doubt. Though I’m curious how an A style chip would handle macOS rather than iOS.
I'm quite torn... I have a friend who had a MacBook 12" 2016 with i7. Somebody stole it one month ago and I told her to wait the keynote for updates. She really liked the small size, but with the fact that they didn't update it... I really don't know wether to suggest her the new MacBook Air or the "old" MacBook at this point.