MacBookAir still has a similar Y-seriesprocessor that'sfast enough to do most day-to-day tasks. But itcan slow down on heavy stuff likevideo and photo editing. Or evenjust having too many apps and tabs open. It stillgets about seven or eight hours of active use in mytesting, it still uses USB-C to charge. And itstill has a superconvenient Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Plus, areally nice, big Force Touch trackpad.
Thescreen looks great, and I really prefer screens that haveTrue Tone. Plus,thanks to a software update for the Air line that cameearlier this year, it can get just alittle bit brighter, up to 400 nits.
Butthat's not as bright as what the MacBook Pros can do. Also,just FYI, the webcam is pretty bad. But let'sadmit the obvious. You'rewondering about the keyboard. Well,what can I really tell you? My firstimpression is that it's the same as last year. It's alittle bit softer and quieter thanearlier MacBook Pro models.
Now somepeople don't like typing on this style of keyboard, becauseit's so shallow, but the truth is, like, Ikinda like it. Cool, right, fine.
Macbook Air Case
Whatever,what about reliability? Well, I justcan't say. I don'tknow. These are the style of the new materials of the Butterfly switches, so thatshould help with reliability. And it'scovered under Apple's extended keyboard warranty, so thatmust make you feel better too.
But atthis point, these keyboards have been so hit or miss, it's safeto say that you're taking at least a small chance until weknow how these new materials are gonna work. Or untilApple just switches to another design. That'spretty much, what there's to say aboutthis new revision of theMacBook Air.
But the thing that you should know is, thereare plenty of Windows laptops at aroundthe same price point as this machine that beatit on any number of metrics. So youcan log in with your face, you canget an edge-to-edge screen, or youcan get a faster processor.
But noneof those Windows laptops have theoverall build quality or fit and finish of thisMacBook Air. Settingaside the keyboard, of course. But moreimportantly, for a lot of people, thoseWindows laptops, they're not Macs. So thefact that I think that, this is a pretty good laptop is a bigdeal.
It reallyneeds to be pretty good, becauseit's the main option for a lot of people, who wantto use a Mac laptop. Whichbrings me all the way back around to the question, we asked at the top. Is thisthe one? Is it thedefault?
Theanswer to that totally depends on your needs. Theadvice that I always give about technology stillapplies. If youneed a new computer, buy thebest one that you can afford. If youdon't, you should wait. You'llsave money, and there's always a bettercomputer coming around next year. But thatadvice only works in technology if theproduct cycles are predictable. And theMac has been super unpredictable.
Macbook Air
First,Apple took forever to update anything on any Mac. Then, itstarted updating the Macs, but itwasn't providing yearly spec-bump updates, whichmakes the whole line feel more consistent. Then,they started doing that, but theykeep changing the iteration of the keyboard withevery new release, to try and fix thatreliability problem. It'sinfuriating. you knowwhat's going to happen with the iPhone. Therewill be a new one in September. And thatmeans, don't buy one after, I don'tknow, May or so.
But doyou know what's gonna happen next for the Mac? Probablynot. Maybethey'll fix the keyboard. Or, maybeIntel will get its act together andfinally deliver a much better processor. Or hell,I don't know, maybeApple will finally switch to ARM processors. The pointis, you can't predict, whichmakes it harder to decide what tobuy right now, if you need a computer. Plus, ontop of that, you also know in the back of your mind that youcould spend $200 more and get the new MacBook Prothat gotannounced next to this thing, which hasa better screen and a better processor, and aTouch Bar, and it's a little bit thicker.
Butwhatever. Do yousee what's happening here? Insteadof me, just saying, yep, this is the default. There area bunch of ifs, and maybes, andcaveats to worry about. Now, Iknow that, that is always the way with tech. But itwas never the way with the classic MacBook Air. Thiswasn't just the default for Mac users. It waspretty much the default laptop for almost everybody. And Idon't think that thisMacBook Airhasearned that title yet. It's verygood, but it's not the default.