#2017 mac air review upgrade#
#2017 mac air review full#
#2017 mac air review pro#

You can’t plug in an external mouse and keyboard (without a dock). It’s an unnecessary hindrance, not a feature. You’ll butt up against this limitation in your everyday life, probably more than once during a single day. In use, it’s a step backward, plain and simple. At first glance, it seems like a daring move, an effort to pare away the non-essential elements. You can even choose which side your power adapter plugs into, which is much more convenient than it sounds.īy contrast, the 12-inch MacBook has a single USB-C port one the left side, and a single headphone jack on the right. You can charge your phone while your laptop is plugged in, or use an external mouse. It’s simple, elegant, and just enough for everyday use.

#2017 mac air review pro#

On the MacBook’s larger sibling, the MacBook Pro 13, each side of the chassis features a single USB-C port (or two, if you go for the Touch Bar model). We like that approach, but if you want a cool, slick, thin device that feels like it was chiseled from one piece of metal, it’s hard to beat the MacBook.

Other laptops, like the Dell XPS 13, go a different direction entirely, using soft-touch materials to make the system feel warmer and more approachable. Though also rather efficient in its use of space, the Huawei option doesn’t feel as solid when handled, or when the display is opened. We like the MateBook X, but its design isn’t quite up to Apple’s standard. Huawei’s MateBook X is perhaps the MacBook’s most obvious competitors, as it rather directly apes Apple’s design. Speaking of those bezels, they’ve been reduced but don’t quite compare to laptops like the Dell XPS 13 or the HP Spectre 13. It’s clearly a descendent of the popular $1,000 MacBooks of yore, but there’s a refinement here - a uniquely modern feel. You can see the DNA of previous MacBooks here in the bezels around the display and in the proportions of the chassis. It’s an elegant, economical design that uses all the available space to maximum effect.Įvery inch is engineered to perfection, from the laser-cut speaker grille, to the silky glass trackpad.

#2017 mac air review full#

Opening it up, the keyboard stretches to either edge of the chassis, with the speaker running the full length of the top-edge. The 2018 MacBook Air is only slightly thicker at 0.61 inches, although it’s considerably heavier by three-quarters of a pound because of its larger 13.3-inch display. In particular, the HP Spectre 13 comes in at 0.41 inches and the 2018 Acer Swift 7 is the thinnest of all at a stunning 0.35 inches. Upon the release of its redesign, the MacBook was the absolute thinnest of its kind at 0.52 inches, though it’s been bested this year by a number of laptops. When it’s closed and set on a flat surface, it looks impossibly thin - the angled edges give the appearance that it’s much thinner than it is. There are some clever design flourishes that help set the MacBook apart from similar competitors. There’s no doubt that this is a luxury device from the moment you first touch it, and it’s an absolute joy to use. Every inch is engineered to perfection, from the laser-cut speaker grill to the silky glass trackpad and the high-gloss sheen applied to the iconic Apple logo on the lid. The 12-inch MacBook is an impeccably crafted laptop. Featuring a 7th-gen Intel Core m3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage space, the new 12-inch MacBook ramped up performance across the board and aimed to give customers more bang for their buck. The 2017 MacBook model was intended to change all that.

#2017 mac air review upgrade#

The new MacBook was a looker, but its high price and low performance pushed customers toward more cost-effective competitors, including the MacBook Air that just received an upgrade (in both components and pricing) in October 2018. In early 2016, Mac sales saw its first year-over-year decline in 15 years. In 2015, the MacBook was brought back with a controversial redesign - and sales took a hit. The multi-colored, polycarbonate MacBook was once the popular choice for years, before it was replaced by the thin, unibody MacBook Air back in 2011. It’s been a tough couple of years for the entry-level MacBook.