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Apple MacBook Air 11-inch (mid 2012)
9.0
final rating

reviewed on
this review has been viewed 596 times

Criteria Comments Rating
  • Speed and features I got the 128gb SSD model, speed wise, I really haven't pushed it yet, but it's not left me wanting either. good
  • Design and form factor It's the design everyone is trying for, it's small, slim, light and perfect for everyday use for average people wanting a Mac. It's put together really well. great!
  • Battery life Seems solid, way better than any other laptop I've personally owned or used for any notable amount of time. Charges aren't slow either. good
  • Display It's crisp, looks great, colors are nice. Viewing angles are good too, though, it's not something to playback and really share with a large group anyways. great!
  • Durability I've babied it in the few days I've had it, but no scratches, though it's inevitable that I'll get a couple when I get careless. The SSD lets me worry less. good
  • Expandability You can't change anything on your own like the SSD or RAM, but the USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt give me options for more storage, without sacrificing speed. so-so
  • Noise The noisiest part of the Air is the keyboard. My ceiling fan is louder than that. Love how quiet it is, though, it does get warm because there's no cooling. great!
  • Portability (size / weight) It's the 11" Air. I'm still amazed how incredibly small this thing is, and yet how much oomph it really has. great!
Detailed review
I've only had this Air for a few days, and it's my first Mac too. I've had my eye on the Air for quite some time though. I'm loving it. The gestures, the polish everywhere, the fact that I can just set it up and not worry about deleting HP or Dell crapware when I get it. The App Store, updates, it has a lot of forethought in it's design and it shows. The boot speed is quite nice, but it still takes twice as long as my Cr-48 Chromebook to boot, though it is much faster than my gaming PC with SSD.

I didn't get this for gaming, or heavy productivity and creation. It's mainly a travel laptop that serves as my everyday machine. I will, for grins, see what it is capable of when I try and use Garageband with my Apogee line-in for my bass and guitar.

The only thing I wish is that I could figure out all the keyboard shortcuts faster than I am now. I'm so used to "CTRL+" everything, I find it frustrating now, but I'll get the hang of it soon enough.
review history
2012-06-17
Edited comment on Noise
Edited comment on Speed and features

Comments (5) subscribe to this review's comments

jvenator

jvenator

Thanks for the review. Can you give any input around the battery life? I want to buy the 11", but reports generally put the battery life at 4-5 hours. The most recent 13" seems to have realized a 1-hour increase in battery life over it's 2011 predecessor.

Can you offer any insight around whether the 2012 11" is also seeing longer battery life?

Thanks,
J
jhearne86

jhearne86

I would say that it does fall short of Apple's 7 hour claim. Though, I've been doing a good bit of streaming on Spotify, and mixing in some decent YouTube (720p mostly) usage too. I can't say how accurately my usage now, and even later once I settle in, compares with Apple's usage criteria for determining battery life.

I need to knock the new off of it and find what my habits are going to be with it so I can see how long a battery will really last with my realistic usage. I've just been playing around for now and this is my first Mac so I can't say how it compares to a previous model.
jhearne86

jhearne86

I was showing some things off to a coworker today on the MBA11" and came across the battery specs. I was wrong regarding the life. It's only rated for 5 hours, 7 hours for the 13". I have no idea why I couldn't recall that, or fact check when I replied earlier. It does get near the claimed life, so I can't complain.

www.apple.com­/macbookair­/specs.html
jvenator

jvenator

Thanks for the update. I was just curious if it's actually getting close to the advertised 5 hours, or if it's coming in closer to 3.5-4.0 hours.
Jensanity5000

Jensanity5000

@jvenator Mine gets about 3.5 - 4 when in actual use, for example watching a movie on the plane. It is the only small downside to this computer. @jhearne86 , you should google better touch tool if you want to really get some gestures going.
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