Few companies generate anything like the buzz that Apple does for its new products, with rumours flying around months before an official announcement is made. Apple's keynote event at the Worldwide Developer Conference put the wagging tongues around the new MacBook Airs to rest as it unveiled the latest revisions to its range of sleek and stylish laptops.
The 13-inch model I had in for review might not look any different on the outside, but it's packing some new treats within. The base 13-inch configuration featured here comes with a dual-core 1.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor, from the new Haswell family of chips. A 128GB SSD drive is on board too, along with 4GB of RAM.
If you regularly find yourself working on the move, the Air is an excellent choice. It remains one of the skinniest laptops around, making it a joy to slide in and out of a backpack or briefcase. Its metal construction helps it put up with knocks too.
The 2013 model is equipped with Intel's latest Haswell processors. Performance for everyday tasks hasn't been noticeably improved, but battery life has had a significant boost. We were able to squeeze 14 hours out of it in our tests, making it the ideal laptop if you often find yourself working away from a plug.
It's not seen any change in its design though, and Apple surprisingly hasn't equipped it with a retina display like its MacBook Pro brethren. Acer's Aspire S7 is a similarly slim machine with good looks, high performance and a Full HD touch-enabled display. If you're not fussed about Windows or OS X, Acer's option is worth considering.
If you were desperately hoping for a fresh-faced Air with an exciting new design, you won't be too chuffed. Apple hasn't given the Air any physical changes from the last few generations.
The Air is already a sleek and arguably stunning piece of kit though, so that's not necessarily a bad thing. Other ultrabooks -- like the gorgeous Acer Aspire S7 -- are bringing similar proportions and new styles to the table though, so Apple might want to consider new designs before long.
It keeps the same svelte dimensions -- 325mm wide by 227mm deep -- so it will slide perfectly into your existing neoprene sleeve or fancy leather carrying bag. It's still 3mm at its front edge, which expands to 17mm at its fattest point at the back.
The 13-inch model I had in for review might not look any different on the outside, but it's packing some new treats within. The base 13-inch configuration featured here comes with a dual-core 1.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor, from the new Haswell family of chips. A 128GB SSD drive is on board too, along with 4GB of RAM.
If you regularly find yourself working on the move, the Air is an excellent choice. It remains one of the skinniest laptops around, making it a joy to slide in and out of a backpack or briefcase. Its metal construction helps it put up with knocks too.
The 2013 model is equipped with Intel's latest Haswell processors. Performance for everyday tasks hasn't been noticeably improved, but battery life has had a significant boost. We were able to squeeze 14 hours out of it in our tests, making it the ideal laptop if you often find yourself working away from a plug.
It's not seen any change in its design though, and Apple surprisingly hasn't equipped it with a retina display like its MacBook Pro brethren. Acer's Aspire S7 is a similarly slim machine with good looks, high performance and a Full HD touch-enabled display. If you're not fussed about Windows or OS X, Acer's option is worth considering.
If you were desperately hoping for a fresh-faced Air with an exciting new design, you won't be too chuffed. Apple hasn't given the Air any physical changes from the last few generations.
The Air is already a sleek and arguably stunning piece of kit though, so that's not necessarily a bad thing. Other ultrabooks -- like the gorgeous Acer Aspire S7 -- are bringing similar proportions and new styles to the table though, so Apple might want to consider new designs before long.
It keeps the same svelte dimensions -- 325mm wide by 227mm deep -- so it will slide perfectly into your existing neoprene sleeve or fancy leather carrying bag. It's still 3mm at its front edge, which expands to 17mm at its fattest point at the back.
