The Wait is Over: A Closer Look at the New MacBook Air

We've been waiting for a new MacBook Air for a really long time, and finally, we have one. On the surface, it looks pretty nice, but as we dig deeper, we'll explore whether this laptop is worth the $1200 price tag.

The Screen: A Step Up, But Not Revolutionary

The new MacBook Air boasts an Apple-called "Retina display," which has been a primary feature that Apple fans have been calling for ages. In reality, this is a big jump over the previous MacBook Air, but not necessarily revolutionary or innovative. Unfortunately, this is one of the weaker screens we've seen Apple put in a laptop recently, where laptops like the MacBook Pro dominate in areas like brightness contrast ratio and color gamut. The MacBook Air is more of a run-of-the-mill laptop in terms of screens. Comparing it to its predecessor from 2018, setting up both the MacBook Pro and the air side-by-side, you can really see the difference between the two, with noticeable differences in brightness and color.

Performance: A Dual-Core Processor

What we need to know about performance is that this new MacBook Air comes equipped with an 8th gen Core i5 processor. However, it's not the same kind you'll find in comparable Windows 10 laptops. This specific processor is unique to this laptop alone, right now, and feels quick and snappy, especially when trying not to do too many things at the same time. The limit, however, is in multitasking. It wasn't that hard to hit the performance ceiling using a secondary display, a handful of desktop apps, and 15 or 20 chrome tabs. While this might sound like a lot, it's not unusual for daily workflows, and once we reached that point, it was clear where the limits were on this 2-core processor.

Battery Life: The Standard Set by Its Predecessor

The original MacBook Air set the standard for how much battery life a thin and light laptop could really get. Windows 10 devices have been trying to catch up to that since then, with notable examples like the XPS 13 and Made Book X Pro. So, how does this new MacBook Air perform in terms of battery life? We're getting around 8 hours of web browsing in our tests, which is not quite up to the 12 hours Apple claims it can get. However, this will still get you through most of a workday, and it's actually the best battery life you can get on a modern MacBook today.

Is the MacBook Air Worth $1200?

The answer really comes down to one thing: whether or not you consider yourself fully bought in into the Apple ecosystem. Is the Mac the only computer you're considering? If so, then the MacBook Air is probably the most well-rounded MacBook in this price range, unless you're willing to spend five or six hundred more dollars on a fully decked-out MacBook Pro. The MacBook Air really sits at a nice balance of price, performance, and features.

However, if you consider yourself someone who's just looking for a great computer and maybe considering the MacBook Air as one of many options, we think there are plenty of other Windows 10 laptops that give you better value and more performance than what you're getting here.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe've been waiting for a new MacBook Air for a really long time and hey we finally got one and on the surface it looks pretty nice even though there's nothing particularly revolutionary or innovative about it however is this a good laptop if you spend $1200 on this today are you gonna regret it in a year or you're gonna be happy about what you've got that's the question we're gonna answer first we've got to talk about the screen the new MacBook Air has what Apple calls a Retina display and this has been the primary feature that Apple fans have been calling for for ages and it's finally here and in reality this is a big jump over the previous MacBook Air but that's not really saying much the unfortunate truth of the matter is that this is one of the weaker screens we've seen Apple put in a laptop recently where laptops like the MacBook Pro dominate in areas like brightness contrast ratio and color gamut the MacBook Air is more of a run-of-the-mill laptop in terms of screens in 2018 you set up the pro and the air side-by-side and you can really see this clearly in person the difference between the two and brightness and color was very noticeable the next big feature is performance what you need to know is that this is an 8th gen Core i5 processor but it's not the same kind you'll find in comparable Windows 10 laptops in fact this specific processor is unique to this laptop alone right now it's a dual-core y series processor that feels quick and snappy especially when you're trying not to do too many things at the same time the limit however is in multitasking it wasn't that hard to hit the performance ceiling using a secondary display a handful of desktop apps and 15 or 20 chrome tabs that might sound like a lot but it's not unusual for my daily workflow and once we hit that ceiling and had all that stuff going it was pretty clear where the limits were on this 2 core processor but if what you need the MacBook Air for is a bit simpler than that or a bit lighter than that you'll probably find enough performance here to get you through your day the third and final thing we need to address with the MacBook Air is battery life because the original MacBook Air set the standard for how much battery life a thin and light laptop could really get and Windows 10 devices have been trying to catch up to that ever since and devices like the XPS 13 or the made book X Pro I've actually passed it up since then so how does this new MacBook Air do well we're getting around 8 hours of web browsing in terms of battery life in our tests and while that's not quite up to the 12 hours that Apple claims it can get it will get you through the majority of a workday and it's actually the best battery life you can get on a modern MacBook today so considering all that let's get back to that initial question is the MacBook Air worth $1200 the answer really comes down to one thing and one thing only and that's whether or not you consider yourself to be fully bought in in the Apple ecosystem is the Mac the only computer that you are considering if it is the MacBook Air is probably the most well rounded MacBook in this price range unless you're gonna spend five or six hundred more dollars on a fully decked out MacBook Pro the MacBook Air really sits at a nice balance of price performance and features however if you consider yourself somebody who's just looking for a great computer and maybe considering the MacBook Air as one of many options we really think there are a host of other Windows 10 laptops that give you better value and a lot more performance than that you're getting here hey thanks for checking out this review I really curious to know what you guys think of the MacBook Air leave us a comment down below to let us know what you think about it and how it compares to other laptops out there also make sure to subscribe and check out digital Transcom for our full review of this laptopwe've been waiting for a new MacBook Air for a really long time and hey we finally got one and on the surface it looks pretty nice even though there's nothing particularly revolutionary or innovative about it however is this a good laptop if you spend $1200 on this today are you gonna regret it in a year or you're gonna be happy about what you've got that's the question we're gonna answer first we've got to talk about the screen the new MacBook Air has what Apple calls a Retina display and this has been the primary feature that Apple fans have been calling for for ages and it's finally here and in reality this is a big jump over the previous MacBook Air but that's not really saying much the unfortunate truth of the matter is that this is one of the weaker screens we've seen Apple put in a laptop recently where laptops like the MacBook Pro dominate in areas like brightness contrast ratio and color gamut the MacBook Air is more of a run-of-the-mill laptop in terms of screens in 2018 you set up the pro and the air side-by-side and you can really see this clearly in person the difference between the two and brightness and color was very noticeable the next big feature is performance what you need to know is that this is an 8th gen Core i5 processor but it's not the same kind you'll find in comparable Windows 10 laptops in fact this specific processor is unique to this laptop alone right now it's a dual-core y series processor that feels quick and snappy especially when you're trying not to do too many things at the same time the limit however is in multitasking it wasn't that hard to hit the performance ceiling using a secondary display a handful of desktop apps and 15 or 20 chrome tabs that might sound like a lot but it's not unusual for my daily workflow and once we hit that ceiling and had all that stuff going it was pretty clear where the limits were on this 2 core processor but if what you need the MacBook Air for is a bit simpler than that or a bit lighter than that you'll probably find enough performance here to get you through your day the third and final thing we need to address with the MacBook Air is battery life because the original MacBook Air set the standard for how much battery life a thin and light laptop could really get and Windows 10 devices have been trying to catch up to that ever since and devices like the XPS 13 or the made book X Pro I've actually passed it up since then so how does this new MacBook Air do well we're getting around 8 hours of web browsing in terms of battery life in our tests and while that's not quite up to the 12 hours that Apple claims it can get it will get you through the majority of a workday and it's actually the best battery life you can get on a modern MacBook today so considering all that let's get back to that initial question is the MacBook Air worth $1200 the answer really comes down to one thing and one thing only and that's whether or not you consider yourself to be fully bought in in the Apple ecosystem is the Mac the only computer that you are considering if it is the MacBook Air is probably the most well rounded MacBook in this price range unless you're gonna spend five or six hundred more dollars on a fully decked out MacBook Pro the MacBook Air really sits at a nice balance of price performance and features however if you consider yourself somebody who's just looking for a great computer and maybe considering the MacBook Air as one of many options we really think there are a host of other Windows 10 laptops that give you better value and a lot more performance than that you're getting here hey thanks for checking out this review I really curious to know what you guys think of the MacBook Air leave us a comment down below to let us know what you think about it and how it compares to other laptops out there also make sure to subscribe and check out digital Transcom for our full review of this laptop\n"