Question for long-time MBA users

[ayres]

Aloha all, I've been an MBA user since 2013 (currently using a 2015 i5/8gb/256 model). I'm considering buying the '19 model, but I'm a little hesitant.

i have two questions for owners of the 2018/19 MBA model who have experience with the older MBA models:

1) do you all feel like the screen brightness was/is an issue? (i can't help but feel underwhelmed when demo-ing the '19 model, but that's in a brightly lit store.)

2) Battery life... the older models had great battery life because they weren't powering a retina display. And i could be wrong, but the '18/'19 MBA still doesn't match the older models. Is/was the diminished battery life noticable when converting to the new machines?

 

[AxelFoley]

Aloha Ayres,

1. I have had my MacBook Air 2019 for a little over a month now. No screen brightness issues here. Never thought about it until you mentioned above. One thing to note and that is that the 2019 model comes with Retina display with True Tone and that may be the difference that you may be experiencing. True Tone makes the display slightly warmer and therefore the whites are not completely white. Turn off True Tone and the screen favors the blue spectrum making it appear cooler and brighter. In short, in my opinion, no brightness related issues.
2. I am normally really active on my laptop with multiple apps running at the same time. Safari with 6 tabs open, 3 MS Office apps open loaded with documents etc. I get about 6 hours from the battery and sometimes shorter. I have heard about some folks getting 8 hours or so but I haven't been that lucky.

Axel F.

 

[jpn]

Aloha all, I've been an MBA user since 2013 (currently using a 2015 i5/8gb/256 model). I'm considering buying the '19 model, but I'm a little hesitant.

i have two questions for owners of the 2018/19 MBA model who have experience with the older MBA models:

1) do you all feel like the screen brightness was/is an issue? (i can't help but feel underwhelmed when demo-ing the '19 model, but that's in a brightly lit store.)

2) Battery life... the older models had great battery life because they weren't powering a retina display. And i could be wrong, but the '18/'19 MBA still doesn't match the older models. Is/was the diminished battery life noticable when converting to the new machines?

i understand wanting to hear what long term MacBook Air users say. understand that completely.

i have only bought MacBook Air models since 2008.
i always max out on all specs for the models each time i have bought.

the last two i can compare for you.
Mid 2015 model (MacBookAir6,1) and (the one i use now) the Late 2018 model (MacBookAir8,1).
i loved the 2015 keyboard but the screen was about 2 or 2.5 steps too dark for me.
i didn't want to upgrade due to the keyboard horror stories.

but i took the plunge and got the Late 2018 model.
the keyboard on the 2018 model is in fact wonderful. no problems.
(when i went into apple stores, i really couldn't stand to type on the Macbook 12 inch model since there was zero travel it felt to me after using the 2015 very very very springy almost trampoline 2015 Air keyboard) but this 2018 MacBook Air has more travel than the (now discontinued MacBook). its really no problem at all.
and since i don't eat powdered donuts in front of my keyboard the keyboard has zero issues.

brightness: i cant remember exactly but sometime in early 2019 there was a firmware update that changed the degree of brightness that each keyboard click changed. this was a firmware change only for the 2018 Air i think) and it did the trick. this 2018 model i have never experienced the poor level of brightness that my older 2015 model had. its not too bright. apple made it max out perfectly.

battery: this is a bit confusing issue i think. you read a lot of posts that Catalina has caused battery drain.
and i think that there has been some reason to think that is true. but as true, loyal MacBook Air users, we understand that apple's genius with the Air is to make a well tuned machine that meets an average person's needs (not heavy processor intensive usage, for example).
on my old 2015 Air when new i got about 7 or 8 hours and by mid-2018 i was getting around 6.5 or 7 hours.
with this 2018 Air, when Catalina first came out i was only getting around 5.5 - 6 hours. but now am getting around 7 hours of solid full time use.
how much is Catalina and how much is actual hardware based i cant tell. but as Catalina and the Catalina/iOS dependency for sharing info and data more and more has become less buggish, the battery life has improved. as long as i can get 7 hours its enough for me.

its still the best model for my money. and the lightest.
this Retina screen is great. Catalina really pops and Dark Appearance coupled with Night Shift creates a night time possible use with almost no eye strain no matter how many hours i am on it.

its the Air. still the greatest. (until they come out with an ARM based Air in 2021 with only iOS apps and an integrated trackpad - that i will buy on its launch day. a true Air it will be.)

 

[auxbuss]

MBA 2018 8/128

1. Brightness is fine. Level depends on the brightness of the environment. Evenings and dull days, 50% for me. Very bright environments might take it to 100%. To be honest, I rarely check, since the machine adjusts automatically. (On release, back in 2018, both colour and brightness were a mess. Long forgotten now.)
2. Before closing down yesterday, I noticed 6.5 hrs on battery with 62% remaining. I mostly use five or six apps simultaneously. I tend to shut down Safari after I've used it; a lot of websites seem to continuously run Javascript nonsense, and that eats away at battery life. Watching videos with VLC uses approx. 10% battery per hour.

 

[loby]

Been a Macbook Air user from the beginning...2008/2010/2013 models

All Apple needed to do was to just add a retina display to the almost already perfect (for a MacBook Air) form and call it a day. No other changes needed...just the usual yearly updates.

The new Mac book Air is nice...but...the MacBook Air 2013 maxed out model and form was the best!

 

[ayres]

Thank you all for the replies. I appreciate having the perspective of others, who like myself, are long-time MBA users.

i understand wanting to hear what long term MacBook Air users say. understand that completely.

i have only bought MacBook Air models since 2008.
i always max out on all specs for the models each time i have bought.

the last two i can compare for you.
Mid 2015 model (MacBookAir6,1) and (the one i use now) the Late 2018 model (MacBookAir8,1).
i loved the 2015 keyboard but the screen was about 2 or 2.5 steps too dark for me.
i didn't want to upgrade due to the keyboard horror stories.

but i took the plunge and got the Late 2018 model.
the keyboard on the 2018 model is in fact wonderful. no problems.
(when i went into apple stores, i really couldn't stand to type on the Macbook 12 inch model since there was zero travel it felt to me after using the 2015 very very very springy almost trampoline 2015 Air keyboard) but this 2018 MacBook Air has more travel than the (now discontinued MacBook). its really no problem at all.
and since i don't eat powdered donuts in front of my keyboard the keyboard has zero issues.

brightness: i cant remember exactly but sometime in early 2019 there was a firmware update that changed the degree of brightness that each keyboard click changed. this was a firmware change only for the 2018 Air i think) and it did the trick. this 2018 model i have never experienced the poor level of brightness that my older 2015 model had. its not too bright. apple made it max out perfectly.

battery: this is a bit confusing issue i think. you read a lot of posts that Catalina has caused battery drain.
and i think that there has been some reason to think that is true. but as true, loyal MacBook Air users, we understand that apple's genius with the Air is to make a well tuned machine that meets an average person's needs (not heavy processor intensive usage, for example).
on my old 2015 Air when new i got about 7 or 8 hours and by mid-2018 i was getting around 6.5 or 7 hours.
with this 2018 Air, when Catalina first came out i was only getting around 5.5 - 6 hours. but now am getting around 7 hours of solid full time use.
how much is Catalina and how much is actual hardware based i cant tell. but as Catalina and the Catalina/iOS dependency for sharing info and data more and more has become less buggish, the battery life has improved. as long as i can get 7 hours its enough for me.

its still the best model for my money. and the lightest.
this Retina screen is great. Catalina really pops and Dark Appearance coupled with Night Shift creates a night time possible use with almost no eye strain no matter how many hours i am on it.

its the Air. still the greatest. (until they come out with an ARM based Air in 2021 with only iOS apps and an integrated trackpad - that i will buy on its launch day. a true Air it will be.)

MBA 2018 8/128

1. Brightness is fine. Level depends on the brightness of the environment. Evenings and dull days, 50% for me. Very bright environments might take it to 100%. To be honest, I rarely check, since the machine adjusts automatically. (On release, back in 2018, both colour and brightness were a mess. Long forgotten now.)
2. Before closing down yesterday, I noticed 6.5 hrs on battery with 62% remaining. I mostly use five or six apps simultaneously. I tend to shut down Safari after I've used it; a lot of websites seem to continuously run Javascript nonsense, and that eats away at battery life. Watching videos with VLC uses approx. 10% battery per hour.

Been a Macbook Air user from the beginning...2008/2010/2013 models

All Apple needed to do was to just add a retina display to the almost already perfect (for a MacBook Air) form and call it a day. No other changes needed...just the usual yearly updates.

The new Mac book Air is nice...but...the MacBook Air 2013 maxed out model and form was the best!

 

[jpn]

Thank you all for the replies. I appreciate having the perspective of others, who like myself, are long-time MBA users.

thanks and good luck.

 

[Saturn007]

Keep us posted on what you end up deciding to do, what you buy, and how you like.

Long-time MBA users and others will appreciate your insights!

 

[Erehy Dobon]

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