MacBook Air Rev. B mini-review
By Paul Miller 
posted December 1st 2008 6:31PM
posted December 1st 2008 6:31PM
[Images courtesy of Sam]
Caveats
So, before you get the wrong idea, you might want to read the MacBook Air review we did the first time around: almost all those caveats still stand. There's still one measly USB port, no FireWire, no Ethernet, a non-standard display plug (mini-DisplayPort instead of the equally obscure micro-DVI) a non-replaceable battery, an external-only disc drive with some odd power requirements and no internal 3G option or ExpressCard slot -- this is still a far cry from your standard, "full featured" laptop. Still, there's something about the MacBook Air, especially as a daily machine, that really shines through -- it's just so dang thin and light that you end up taking it everywhere and using it anywhere, and its shape is perfectly suited for slipping into a messenger bag almost unnoticed. It's the sort of portability that lends itself to lounging around the house, or boosting Starbucks cred, and it's a testament to that form factor that we've put up with the incredibly sluggish and fickle Rev. A for so long.
What's changed is that the frustratingly, mind-numbingly slow internals have been almost entirely chucked, to be replaced by a real grown-up processor, great NVIDIA integrated graphics, faster memory and a faster system bus for a dramatic speed boost -- Apple calls it 4x faster, and we can't really argue with that.
The dark ages...
We could comb over specs all we want, but what's really telling is usage scenarios. The primary problem with the original Air is that when put under strain -- especially video card-related strain -- it'd overheat to a point that it would shut down or at least severely throttle its weakling processor cores. At the start this led to completely-unacceptable stop-start freezing as the computer choked under even mild strain, but after a few firmware updates Apple got things down to just kind-of-unnacceptable -- though never managed to do as good a job of throttling and undervolting the processor as a certain 3rd party utility.
In daily use this usually meant that by your third or fourth YouTube video you were getting stuttered playback, and a bit more strain would result in slowdowns system-wide. Hulu or iTunes TV shows could rarely keep things going strong for more than five minutes, 3D games (even World of Warcraft dialed way back in quality) were out of the question and even significantly glitchy. Things would get exponentially worse if you were using the laptop away from a cold, hard surface, and instead plugged up the vents by using it on your -- gasp -- lap. Plugging into an external monitor was a particularly effective recipe for slowing the machine down to the point of unsuitability, and a day with the Air was a constant struggle to keep the right balance of tasks and locale to keep the temperature under crisis levels.
A coming dawn...
With Rev. B? Not so much. In fact, we've only managed to get the computer to stutter once, doing some particularly hefty HD flash video, after running on our lap (and destroying our reproductive chances) for the past hour or two. This also opens the laptop up to new possibilities like light iMovie editing -- out of the question with the original -- decent Garage Band multitracking, or a quick jaunt across Azeroth. Boot times are incredibly snappy (we're testing the SSD version, don't hate us), and the computer is generally a joy to use.
Since we're crazy enough to rarely use Ethernet, physical media or multiple USB peripherals, our two biggest remaining drawbacks are the fixed battery and the lack of internal 3G. With a shrinking chip and plenty of hollow aluminum, we're sure Apple could squeeze in some 3G if it tried, and it'd save us from using up that single USB plug so frequently with a horrifically awkward dongle affair. The battery is perhaps more serious. We'd say the average battery life with mild use -- about three hours, very much on par with the previous version -- is plenty acceptable, but for a laptop that so encourages portability, the inability to replace the battery means you can never be more than three hours away from an outlet, less if you want cellular internet. Lenovo, Voodoo and just about everyone else has figured this out, Apple needs to step up on both fronts if it really wants to get taken seriously by true road warriors, instead of some namby pamby bloggers (Paul Miller) looking to save their backs as they make the daily ten yard trek to the coffee shop -- or to the couch, if the weather's no good.
Wrap-up
Overall, we'd say we highly recommend the MacBook Air to that particular sort of person who can deal with all the remaining caveats, but we really wish Apple had gotten some of this overheating stuff under control the first time around -- and that the firmware updates and compassionate Genius Bar shoulder shrugs wouldn't halt just because there's a new, trouble-free revision making the rounds.
I love my MacBook Air Rev A, but even though I am an Apple Fanboy, I admit that it has been a flawed product. It appears that Rev B is exactly what Rev A should have been. With that in mind, I agree with many posters regarding the viability of buying one of the new MacBooks instead. In fact, that is just what I wanted to do as soon as I saw the specs on the new MacBook. It is an excellent laptop. The thing that stopped me was the fact that the MacBook has an inferior screen. The screen of the Air does not get enough credit...it is beautiful! The MacBook is pretty good, but I cannot handle the idea of going backwards from this amazing screen... That will probably keep me buying the new Air.
It really is an amazing device. With it's full 13 inch screen and full size keyboard and amazing screen you don't feel like you are using a toy (the stutter and other issues notwithstanding.. see previous comments on A vs. B). The design is perfect enough to just grab it with 2 fingers and stuff it in the tiniest portion of your bag and off you go.
I would probably have given up some of that amazing portability for the slightly, yet noticeably, thicker and heavier MacBook were it not for the inferior screen.
and just to add to my previous comments... if you don't value the OS and the amazing interface, especially with the multi-touch trackpad and the fact that everything (from a software perspective) just works beautifully, then clearly this device will not appeal to you and you can go ahead and get a cheaper pc laptop of some sort.
I use a Dell at work and suffer through the muck of the OS as infrequently as possible. It too is a tiny 3lb device, but it has worse specs, and has a crappy (I mean crappy) 12" screen and cramped keyboard. This is what the Air (now that video issues are fixed) delivers... an amazingly convenient and sophisticated approach to a thin and light Apple laptop that doesn't leave you with cramped fingers and tired eyes.
It's still a bit overpriced, but with the new 128GB SSD, it is a much better deal than when I overpaid for a flawed Rev A with only 64GB SSD.
Oh and for those who think people only buy these to look cool.... there are people like that, but there are others who just love the product and couldn't give a rat's a$$ what others think. But then again, that applies to most nice things, like Porsches and the like. I suppose there must be some bloated PC product that someone buys because it makes them feel cool... blame the person not the product.
Unfortunately, using that exact same model, I'm getting screen glitching (minor tearing/smearing) on an external 23" Apple Cinema Display (using the optional Apple DVI adaptor dongle). Disappointing.
flickering screen, grey lines, crap macbook air.
How do Engadget make money????????????????????????????????????????????????
After reading this review I spend several hours browsing the net to find out how bad the video problems really are- the point is that some rev A have the problems you describe others work perfectly fine. Apple had apparently some problems with quality control. Did the author ever contact apple to get it checked out?
I ordered a rev A shortly before this since the price was similar to a macbook with a better screen (and the size fits me better) - it plays video perfectly fine.
SO PLEASE- STOP WASTING MY TIME!
New box design too. I bet that one is considerably easier to get into, the suction was so tight when you lifted up on the old one that you just had to wait until it fell open. NOT something you want to do when you've been waiting long enough to get your new MacBook Air!
Everyone hating on the Air is a fucking idiot.
"I'm going to stick with my Macbook instead"..
-Go ahead and do that. If you need all your ports, to watch DVDs, etc, THATS WHAT THEY MADE THE MACBOOK FOR.
I think that the ignorance is due to the fact that people completely miss the point of why the Air was even developed in the first place.
I'm buying one next week to use for travelling. Portability and productivity are basically the basis on what the Air was built for.
Mind you, I also have a 17" macbook pro with the hi res 1920x1200 screen for watching movies, playing games, and having a great multimedia experience which I use FOR those purposes.
My Air will be nice to have because it's lightweight, easy to carry and travel with, it has a great amount of speed for its size, and I can get done what I need to get done on the road. I just wish people would think before posting a comment on here that is completely irrelevant. And to those complaining about the price, go buy an AspireOne or something for way cheaper. If you can't afford it, don't complain. I have a $400 pair of Dior glasses but I can go to the gas station and buy a $7 pair of glasses that serve the same purpose.
It's how the world turns, get used to it.
Anyone who uses the phrase "boosting starbucks cred" is clearly a loser and deserves to use a macbook air for a year.
I'm going to print me out a page of the specs, so I can have a good laugh. XD
I don't get why everyone hates like this. Yeah it's not going to be perfect the first or even the second time around. But if apple and such didn't give something to compete with we'd still be using enormous laptops.
well I have rev B and it is quite lovely... yea I could have bought a mac book etc. and I actually love that line (I have a previous iBook that works great to this day!). However, TRAVELING is the key. This thing is so thin and light that I can shed my extra laptop bag that a regular laptop requires and move EVERYTHING down to one bag. When you're hopping from subway to train to subway all the time it makes all the difference in the world!! It still has enough horse power to get everything done and via mobileme syncing I really am able to remain quite productive no matter what city I go to sleep in. I have a smaller sony that was fine for presentations (but sucked for typing) and ultimately it was Windows XP that just drove me bananas... spyware this, virus that... god how many years is it going to take MSFT to produce a stable OS? I would consider a linux netbook but linux feels like OS X 10.1-> still too rocky and not user friendly (just try to fix something not using terminal!!) but getting there and maybe in 4-5 years will be THE goto OS. Until then... look up in the sky, is it a bird, is it a plane, no, its the air..... ;-)