Two years ago, Apple updated their product line with an ultra flat laptop. In 2008, CEO Steve Jobs arrived on stage with a brown envelope and took the first Macbook Air out of the envelope. Two years later, in 2010, Apple launched the new Macbook Air. The laptop is available in two versions: 11” and 13”. I tested the top-model for about one month and looked at this product with critical eyes and one major question: is this the new laptop for a photographer?
Design
The new 11” and 13” Macbook Air (or simply MBA) are both almost completely identical, except for the size. The design is really amazing; the MBA attracts everybody’s attention and in no time there is a small group of people around you interested in finding out what this could be. When the laptop is closed, some people couldn’t believe it to be a laptop! Many people are really curious to see, feel and hold this piece of design.
At the front, the new Macbook Air is less than 3mm thin and it increases up to 1,7cm at the back. In total, the laptop weights 1,3kg.
© Apple
Display
The display of this 13” MBA has a resolution of 1440x900. That is a lot for such a small display and results in sharp pictures and good colors. The only part I don’t like is the glossy display. As a photographer, personally, I prefer anti-glare displays for editing my pictures, but this display didn’t bother me at any time within the period of testing. Still, it would have been nice to have a mat display.
Speed
Speed is a relative meaning on a Macbook Air. The 13” MBA has standard a 1,86Ghz Core2duo processor onboard. For those who want to upgrade, you can have a 2,13Ghz processor for only 90 Euros extra. In practice, the MBA is really fast. In some way, the flash storage will be a major part of this level of speed. This new way of storage is a lot smaller, less noise, less heat (read: no heat) and is a lot faster! A cold boot on the MBA will take less than 10 seconds and within 1 second, you awake the MBA from sleep-mode. You can buy the 13” MBA with 128 of 256GB flash storage. Your budget will determine the storage capacity.
© Apple
Using Solid State Drives (with flash storage inside) is the future. It will improve the Macbook Air in many ways: it produces a lot less heat, it’s less sensitive to shocks and has a higher read- and write speed. The disadvantage is the limited storage capacity (maximum 256GB). For a photographer, this is no luxury! If you remove every picture after each job (like I do), it will however be enough.
The MBA is standard equipped with a NVIDIA GeForce 320m video card, which is enough for that kind of laptop. Standard, you’ll find 2Gb memory in a MBA, but for just 90 Euros extra, you’ll able to upgrade to 4Gb. Personally, for such a small supplement, I would take the upgrade.
Ports
The main reason, you wouldn’t find many connection ports on this laptop is because it is ultra flat. Macbook Air users of the first generation could only use one UBS 2.0 port. On this laptop, there are already two ports available. You can easily connect your external drive as well as your iPhone. At the right side of the laptop, next to the USB 2.0 port, you’ll find also a mini display port. You can connect the new Apple 27″ Cinema Display and use the USB hub at the back of the screen. Next to these ports, you’ll find one 3,5mm audio jack and a SD-card reader (only on the 13” model). You won’t find an ethernet-, Firewire 400- en Firewire 800 port on this laptop. Especially the Firewire 800 port is the port that is missed a lot. My card reader (for all CF cards) and some external hard drives are connected to a Firewire 800 interface. If you need an ethernet connection, you can buy a small convertor from USB 2.0 to ethernet (costs 29 Euros). Personally, I think Apple thought that you can connect everywhere to a wireless network.
Apple still sells an external optical DVD super drive to watch films or install programs, but the OS and iLife are on a small USB-stick delivered with the laptop. If needed, you can simply reinstall your OS or iLife applications.
Battery
Battery wise, the Macbook Air is, like Steve Jobs told, awesome! It would hold for 30 days in stand-by, but that seems to me a bit too much. Still, when we charged the MBA completely, we could use him for 7 up to 8 hours! That is almost double of my (old) Macbook Pro 15”.
Conclusion
Apple has chosen the right design for the new Macbook Air. The mobile business user as well as the photographer will love this product. I tested the Macbook Air for photographers and I’m convinced that it could become your best friend. Even with the disadvantage that you can’t buy him with an anti-glare display, an Ethernet-port and with a Firewire 800 port, I do think that the portability and great speed are larger advantages to buy him.
Best regards,
Sven Michiels