Apple 13 Macbook Air 8gb Memory 128gb Hard Drive - (2017) Reviews

Our Verdict

The MacBook Air may non be a flagship notebook, only this xiii-inch ultraportable is still a pretty good value.

For

Long battery life
Comfortable keyboard
Solid performance
Convenient MagSafe power port

Against

Lackluster display
Heavier than competitors

Laptop Mag Verdict

The MacBook Air may non exist a flagship notebook, but this thirteen-inch ultraportable is still a pretty good value.

Pros

+
Long battery life
+
Comfy keyboard
+
Solid operation
+
Convenient MagSafe power port

Cons

-
Lackluster display
-
Heavier than competitors

July 9 Update: Apple discontinued this MacBook Air, leaving just the 2018 MacBook Air in its identify.

Yous may not have noticed, but Apple upgraded the MacBook Air in 2017. Specifically, the $999 13-inch notebook got a slightly speedier, ane.8-GHz Core i5 CPU, upgrading from a ane.vi-GHz Core i5 processor. While we appreciate that the Air still has the best-feeling keyboard on a Mac and its USB iii.0 ports don't send us shopping for dongles, this auto's depression-res display holds it back. Withal, if you're looking for a relatively affordable Mac laptop, the Air is a solid choice..

MacBook Air 2017 Pattern

The MacBook Air's unibody aluminum chassis is so iconic that it'south tied in my head to the late 2000s and early 2010s. Back then, it was the new kid on the streets, but now, everyone from Acer to LG is making even thinner metallic unibody notebooks.

Weighing 3.0 pounds and measuring 0.7 inches thick, the MacBook Air doesn't measure upwards well to more modern machines. The Acer Swift vii (2.5 pounds, 0.iv inches), Asus ZenBook UX330UA (2.vii pounds, 0.5 inches) and 12-inch Apple MacBook (2.0 pounds, 0.5 inches) are all lighter and thinner.

MacBook Air 2017 ports

The Air splits its dual USB 3.0 ports between its sides, with a MagSafe 2 charging connector and headphone jack on the left and an SDXC memory reader and Thunderbolt two.0 port on the right.

While some will lament the lack of USB Type-C or Thunderbolt 3 ports, I'm perfectly happy living an adapter-free life with those USB three.0 ports and feeling like my notebook is safer cheers to the MagSafe connector. When you apply tension, this cable detaches more easily and safely than USB Blazon-C cables, which would pull a device downward with it when snagged by a running pet or child.

More: Surface Laptop vs MacBook Air: Information technology'south Not Fifty-fifty Close

MacBook Air 2017 display

The MacBook's 1440 ten 900-pixel screen has anile more than poorly than any of its other aspects, defective full HD and vibrant colors. While the screen managed to emit inky-black tones for a John Wick: Chapter 2 trailer, a wooden chest in the clip appeared more faded than it should accept, and a burning house didn't offering proper glow.

Fifty-fifty though Apple doesn't seem to believe the Air needs a Retina-level, or at least full-HD (1920 ten 1080 pixels) display, I felt as if my optics had gotten worse after using this auto for extended periods, as text on the screen doesn't look equally sharp as it does on any of my personal devices.

Our colorimeter measured the MacBook Air every bit producing 71 percent of the sRGB spectrum, which is beneath the 100 percent category average and low for this price. The Swift 7 (105 pct), ZenBook UX330UA (106 percentage) and 12-inch MacBook (117 pct) all rated higher.

The Air tries to make upwards for its color deficiency with brightness, emitting upward to 336 nits. That'due south similar to the 340-nit 12-inch MacBook, and it outshines the 290-nit category average, the 319-nit Swift 7 and the 286-nit ZenBook UX330UA. Unfortunately, this brightness isn't enough to produce solid viewing angles, equally I saw color darken at 45 degrees to the left and right.

MacBook Air 2017 keyboard and trackpad

The MacBook Air offers a pleasant typing feel, with keys that actually feel like they're moving -- something I'll never accept for granted again. With it, I striking an average of 76 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing exam, which isn't as well far from my eighty-wpm average. That speed, and the condolement I experienced during the examination, is enabled by the one.four millimeters of travel in the keys, which require 72 grams of force to actuate.

For comparison, I tried out the shallower, clickier keys on the 15-inch MacBook Pro (whose keys have 0.8 mm of travel and require 74 grams of actuation forcefulness). While I hit a relatively similar 74 wpm on that machine, my hands started to injure during the test, which I attribute to how much less travel is in those keys. The 12-inch MacBook's similarly designed keys are even shallower, with 0.5 mm of travel.

The MacBook Air's iv.0 x 2.nine-inch trackpad offers accurate tracking and a solid feel to each click. It's also arguably easier to apply than those in Apple's 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Pros, as it really moves. Here, dragging and dropping items -- something you need to relearn on the Strength Bear on trackpads that appear on more advanced MacBooks -- is a whole lot easier.

MacBook Air 2017 audio

Skillful sound never gets outdated, and the MacBook Air continues Apple's track record of laptops with sweet-sounding audio, blasting enough book to fill our medium-size conference room. When listening to Rocky Romero's "RPG Vice" and Survive's "Wizard" on the notebook, I noted clear vocals, total bass and accurate synths.

MacBook Air 2017 operation

The MacBook Air'south Intel Core i5-5350U CPU and 8GB of RAM enable smooth and speedy multitasking. For example, I saw no slowdown after I carve up my screen between a 1080p YouTube video and a dozen Safari tabs (including Slack, Google Docs and Giphy).

The MacBook Air notched a respectable score of 6,438 on the Geekbench 4 general performance test. That'southward shut to the 6,565 category average, to a higher place the 5,519 from the Swift seven (Core i5-7Y54, 8GB of RAM), and below the 7,182 from the ZenBook UX330UA (Core i5-7200U, 8GB of RAM) and the half-dozen,853 from the 12-inch MacBook (Cadre M3-7Y32, 8GB of RAM).

The MacBook Air's 128GB PCIe solid-state drive copied a DVD's worth of files in just 24 seconds, for a charge per unit of 212 MBps. That's similar to the 215-MBps category average and faster than the 116 MBps from the Swift 7 (256GB SSD) and the 159 MBps from the ZenBook UX330UA (256GB SSD). We recorded a much faster 467 MBps from the 12-inch MacBook (256GB SSD).

Macs aren't exactly seen as speedy gaming machines, and the Air doesn't buck that conventional wisdom. The integrated Intel Hd Graphics 6000 chip in the Air ran the racing game Dirt 3 (set to medium graphics and 1920 10 1080 pixels) at 25 frames per second. We consider 30 fps playable.

MacBook Air 2017 battery life

Don't worry about lugging your power cable everywhere yous go, because the MacBook Air'due south battery has your back. The MacBook Air lasted 10 hours and 26 minutes on the Laptop Mag Battery Test (web browsing at 100 nits), which is similar to the 10:17 from the ZenBook UX330UA and longer than the vii:25 from the Swift 7 (7:25), the nine:29 recorded by the 12-inch MacBook and the 8:twenty category average.

MORE: Longest Battery Life Laptops

MacBook Air 2017 webcam

Integrated webcams oft provide the bare minimum of quality and accuracy, but the 0.seven-megapixel photographic camera in the MacBook Air exceeded my expectations. It not only nailed the purple hue of my shirt but besides accurately captured a tiny stretch detail to a higher place the D. Of course, it isn't perfect, as a block of my hair looks like a flat brown patch.

MacBook Air 2017 heat

The MacBook Air nonetheless does a good job of dispersing estrus. After we streamed Hard disk drive video on the notebook for xv minutes, our heat gun captured temperatures on its touchpad (83.v degrees Fahrenheit), G and H keys (92 degrees) and underside (94 degrees) that didn't breach our 95-degree comfort threshold.

MacBook Air 2017 software

Our MacBook Air came running macOS Sierra, which brought Siri to the Mac, and it took less than an hour for u.s. to install the recently released High Sierra. Unlike most of the PC laptops nosotros review, macOS features zero bloatware.

We've establish High Sierra to exist an excellent update, making slight, welcome improvements to of import apps and keeping macOS but as usable and stable as ever.

MacBook Air 2017 configuration options

We tested the $999 entry-level MacBook Air, which packs an Intel Core i5-5350U processor, 8GB of RAM, a 128GB PCIe SSD and a 1440 x 900-pixel panel.

Doubling your storage (to 256GB) adds on $200 (for a total of $one,199), and moving it up to 512GB adds on $400 (for $1,399). Upgrading to a two.2-GHz Core i7 CPU costs an extra $150.

Bottom line

The MacBook Air may be going gray (well, silverish) as it ages, merely we yet love its long battery life, solid performance and safety-start MagSafe 2 power port. You as well don't take to worry nearly schlepping any dongles to plug in peripherals. Two downsides, however, are that its display is stuck in the by decade, and it's up to a pound heavier than competitors.

Platform-agnostic users tin save $300 with a similarly configured Asus ZenBook UX330UA, which boasts a brighter, more colorful console. If you're partial to the Apple feel and desire to go on the cost reasonable, you've got two options. If you plan to lookout man a lot of video and are constantly on the move, the 12-inch MacBook, which costs $300 more, will be all-time. Writers and other keyboard jockeys, though, will get the all-time experience on the 13-inch MacBook Air.

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Apple tree MacBook Air (13-inch 2017) Specs

Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0
Brand	Apple tree
CPU	1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
Bill of fare Slots	SDXC
Company Website	https://www.apple.com/shop/purchase-mac/macbook-air
Display Size	13.3
Graphics Card	Intel HD Graphics 6000
Hard Bulldoze Size	128GB SSD
Hard Bulldoze Blazon	PCIe SSD
Highest Available Resolution	1440 ten 900
Native Resolution	1440x900
Operating System	macOS Sierra
Ports (excluding USB)	Headphone, Thunderbolt 2.0, USB three.0
RAM	8GB
Size	12.viii x 8.9 x 0.vii inches
Touchpad Size	iv.ane x 3 inches
USB Ports	2
Video Memory	Shared
Warranty/Support	90 days of technical support, 1-yr limited warranty.
Weight	ii.98 pounds
Wi-Fi	802.11ac

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Source: https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/apple-macbook-air-13-inch