MacBook Air Lacks Power for Heavy-Duty Applications
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I didn't test the SuperDrive, but I did use another computer's
disc drive and that worked flawlessly. I simply arranged to share my Mac Pro's DVD
drive, and it worked in seconds with my MacBook Air. Using another computer's DVD
drive might seem like a major hassle, but it really wasn't a bad experience.
As another workaround to the lack
of a disc drive, the MacBook Air has two USB
ports on either side. In addition, the 13.3-inch model comes with an SD card slot,
which is quite handy when needing to transfer content quickly to the computer. So
users can use a USB flash drive to download files
to the MacBook Air.
Yet another issue with the MacBook Air is that while it comes
with WiFi, it lacks 3G connectivity. It's a rather unfortunate omission, since
the MacBook Air is designed for mobility and so there is a definite need to have
access to the Web while away from a WiFi connection.
Performance
The MacBook Air has
somewhat outdated components. As mentioned, my 13.3-inch model comes with a
1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which most enthusiasts of the latest CPUs
would probably laugh at.
But I found no issues with the MacBook Air when surfing the
Web, checking e-mail and performing some basic photo editing. In fact, it held
up quite well.
Video editing was a different story. The MacBook Air comes
with iLife '11, which includes iMovie '11. After loading it up and adding video
to the computer, it quickly became clear to me that the MacBook Air wasn't up
to snuff. Admittedly, that was to be expected. The device is designed for
mobile customers, not for heavy video editing. Nonetheless, unless users want
to engage in the simplest video editing, the MacBook Air isn't the best
solution.
The MacBook Air I tested includes a 128GB solid-state drive-which
becomes immediately apparent when opening the computer from sleep. Rather than
wait a few seconds-as with a typical notebook-for a hard drive to start
spinning, the solid-state drive in the MacBook Air gets users up and running
almost immediately. I tested the wake-up time next to my iPad and was shocked
to find that it's just about as fast.
The MacBook Air boasts similarly fast boot-up times and easily
bests hard drive notebooks, although there is still some wait time. But the
bottom line is: It won't take long for users to be able to get to work.
Apple claims the 13.3-inch version of the MacBook Air will
offer 7 hours of battery life, which in my testing I found to be true. That
kind of battery life is extremely important to road warriors and enterprise
customers. However, those folks would also like to see a removable battery, and
the MacBook Air doesn't have one.
