Resolved MacBook Air - real world experience

[revmacian]

For many people, price/performance ratio is very relevant to the evaluation of a product.

Performance? Well, then they need to be taking iCloud and a lot of other things into account during their evaluation. How well would our Apple gear work without iCloud and Apple's other back-end services and servers?
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You're a heck of a salesman. Too bad about Apple's stock price going south. When did you buy in?

I've never bought stock in anything. I just thought about how things would be without the internet, just the hardware alone.. then I was truly grateful for the services we often take for granted.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

Performance? Well, then they need to be taking iCloud and a lot of other things into account during their evaluation. How well would our Apple gear work without iCloud and Apple's other back-end services and servers?

I for one don't use iCloud with my Mac.

 

[iMi]

Interesting. I found the new Air underpowered and with inferior display that is too dim. There appears to be a problem with the display. Some people seem to get some that are brighter than others.

I use the machine for basically everyday work tasks. Email, a lot of web tabs, Daylite, Office Suite (keynote, Pages, Excel typically). I do light photo editing and some graphics work, but nothing serious. Lot's presentation and media rich documents.

I've seen the air beach ball a good number for times. It did not feel nimble, so I returned it and picked up the Pro with a Touch Bar... I don't understand why everyone hates it. I love it. It's contextual behavior is brilliant and very useful.

Personally I think Apple failed to balance the Air properly. One of the signature features of the original Air (I've owned a few) has been the battery life. It was really the first ultra portable notebook with all day battery life. It's clear to me that this was Apple's focus here. Dialed back, custom tuned 5W chip. Same slim enclosure (therefore limited size battery) and 40% dimmer display but still impressive 12 hour battery life.

It's a good machine if you want efficiency and portability for travel and basic office tasks. Then again, the 12" Macbook would probably be a better option for absolute portability. I initially really liked the new Air but after a day with it, I found it to be a bean-counter's dream machine -- full of compromises.

 

[revmacian]

Interesting. I found the new Air underpowered and with inferior display that is too dim. There appears to be a problem with the display. Some people seem to get some that are brighter than others.

I use the machine for basically everyday work tasks. Email, a lot of web tabs, Daylite, Office Suite (keynote, Pages, Excel typically). I do light photo editing and some graphics work, but nothing serious. Lot's presentation and media rich documents.

I've seen the air beach ball a good number for times. It did not feel nimble, so I returned it and picked up the Pro with a Touch Bar... I don't understand why everyone hates it. I love it. It's contextual behavior is brilliant and very useful.

Personally I think Apple failed to balance the Air properly. One of the signature features of the original Air (I've owned a few) has been the battery life. It was really the first ultra portable notebook with all day battery life. It's clear to me that this was Apple's focus here. Dialed back, custom tuned 5W chip. Same slim enclosure (therefore limited size battery) and 40% dimmer display but still impressive 12 hour battery life.

It's a good machine if you want efficiency and portability for travel and basic office tasks. Then again, the 12" Macbook would probably be a better option for absolute portability. I initially really liked the new Air but after a day with it, I found it to be a bean-counter's dream machine -- full of compromises.

I think the battery life is due to the 5 watt chip and dimmer display. I returned to Best Buy and played with the 2018 MBA today to try some new things - I'm still happy with it and plan to buy one this month.

 

[iMi]

I think the battery life is due to the 5 watt chip and dimmer display. I returned to Best Buy and played with the 2018 MBA today to try some new things - I'm still happy with it and plan to buy one this month.

That's exactly right. Efficiency and performance are out of balance on the Air and Apple will likely correct this next year... I think you'll love the Pro. It's a great machine.

 

[revmacian]

That's exactly right. Efficiency and performance are out of balance on the Air and Apple will likely correct this next year... I think you'll love the Pro. It's a great machine.

I played with the Pro for a bit today just to see how it performed. It would be perfect for people who need that much power, but I think it would be overkill for my needs.. and I hate wasting money on overkill.

 

[iMi]

I played with the Pro for a bit today just to see how it performed. It would be perfect for people who need that much power, but I think it would be overkill for my needs.. and I hate wasting money on overkill.

You're doing the right thing. Try them both and pick the one that works for you. There are advantages to the Air and you have to weight the two options. Go with what works for you. It's easy to get caught up in the "value game." Sometimes a faster processor or brighter display are not what you need, right?

Good luck!

 

[EugW]

Interesting. I found the new Air underpowered and with inferior display that is too dim. There appears to be a problem with the display. Some people seem to get some that are brighter than others.

I use the machine for basically everyday work tasks. Email, a lot of web tabs, Daylite, Office Suite (keynote, Pages, Excel typically). I do light photo editing and some graphics work, but nothing serious. Lot's presentation and media rich documents.

I've seen the air beach ball a good number for times. It did not feel nimble, so I returned it and picked up the Pro with a Touch Bar... I don't understand why everyone hates it. I love it. It's contextual behavior is brilliant and very useful.

Personally I think Apple failed to balance the Air properly. One of the signature features of the original Air (I've owned a few) has been the battery life. It was really the first ultra portable notebook with all day battery life. It's clear to me that this was Apple's focus here. Dialed back, custom tuned 5W chip. Same slim enclosure (therefore limited size battery) and 40% dimmer display but still impressive 12 hour battery life.

It's a good machine if you want efficiency and portability for travel and basic office tasks. Then again, the 12" Macbook would probably be a better option for absolute portability. I initially really liked the new Air but after a day with it, I found it to be a bean-counter's dream machine -- full of compromises.

Did you compare an 8 GB Air to an 8 GB Pro?

I agree the Pro is a noticeably faster machine but having 16 GB can sometimes help, depending on the workflow.

 

[Steelhead1957]

I was trying to decide whether to buy the MacBook Air 2018 or the MacBook Pro 2017. So, as part of my research, I hopped on youtube and watched video after video detailing the pros, cons and every review I could find. Most of these reviews focus on benchmarks and many of them made a point of pointing out how bad the MacBook Air is using Final Cut Pro to work on a long video project. These videos had me smiling that I would be able to make a MacBook Air cry "uncle" so easily.

So, I went down to my local Best Buy store and spent some time actually using both machines for a comparison.

What I did on the MacBook Air 2018:

1. Launched and ran most of the apps that come with the machine
2. While those apps were running, I launched Safari and opened websites in 15 different tabs - including NASA, CNN and a few other content-heavy websites. I even watched a few youtube videos in one of the tabs

Keep in mind that this quite a bit more than I would be doing on a laptop at any given time and I rarely use third-party apps. I may use GIMP once a month or so, but I don't think that's going to hurt anything.

What I found on the MacBook Air 2018:

• No lag to speak of
• No jittering during scrolling
• No buffering videos
• No pinwheels
• The screen is beautiful - never owned a Retina machine before

I was actually surprised that I wasn't able to bring the machine to its knees. According to most of the reviews I watched, I should have been able to make this machine scream for help by making it do so much work.

Well, I closed all of the apps and returned to the desktop.. and I stood there admiring my next laptop. I had intended to compare the MacBook Air 2018 to the MacBook Pro 2017 (I don't want that silly Touch Bar), but I found that a comparison was unwarranted.

I still don't understand why many people throw Final Cut Pro on a MacBook Air and then complain that the machine isn't up to the task. I suppose there is a reason that the MacBook Air doesn't contain the word "Pro" in the name.

Note: Your mileage will most likely vary, I was working only according to my needs.

I am totally on board with your thoughts! I am completely addicted to my Air. I bought the Space Gray 512GB/16GB ram because I love the form factor, keyboard feel, sweet, familiar design and went big on ssd & ram because I can. I am a long time MacBook pro user and from the beginning, an iPad fanboy. This year, this I have gone through the 11" and 12.9" iPad pros already. Both went back to the store (12.9 & Keyboard just do not feel like the elegant solution I had hoped it would be). I have nothing but love for the power of the machines. That said, the iPad IMHO is a promise not kept. Nobody in my universe used the iPad for as many situations and applications as I did, spending countless hours excusing it's shortcomings, figuring out work-arounds for tasks that peers thought silly and time consuming (they were) and all the while praying Apple would bring the OS up to Mac OS snuff. I use my Air non stop for work and pleasure and will never go back to the "advantages" of the iPad until the promise is realized. In weeks of use doing photo editing, streaming video and "flying" on my spreadsheets again (bye-bye iPad) I rarely hear the fan come on and pinwheels are almost non existent. My wife had a 13 MacBook Pro NTB and has her 5k iMac. She spent a day on mine and made me get her the Gold Air (tired of the wrist crease when typing on Pro). Now she almost never uses her iMac. The retina screen is a great screen and I am doing 90% of usage inside and keep my brightness about 70% or less. Thought I would NEVER "step down" to an Air. Form factor and performance hits a sweet spot for us...

 

[Ghost31]

I for one don't use iCloud with my Mac.

REALLY? For some reason that just kinda blows my mind. I guess just because I find iCloud useful. Not for email or reminders or calendars or iMessage or anything? Wow. That’s the biggest reason I got the Mac

 

[OLDGUYWITHAHIFI]

Folks, if you don't like the prices, then don't buy the products. Complaining on these forums isn't going to change the prices, it's only going to negatively affect the moods of others. Learning to find something positive in everything will vastly improve your attitude and it will eventually become a habit so that nothing brings you down anymore.

I created this thread because I found something good in a product despite the rising prices. Please, follow my lead.. and feed the right wolf

You have the right attitude, but I would like to refer to your comment "Complaining on these forums isn't going to change the prices, it's only going to negatively affect the moods of others".

To me sharing feelings on a forum may affect other people, possibly influence their buying decisions, but conversely could improve conditions. If enough people read about Apple's increasing prices and read about the reactions of others, they too may feel vindicated that they think it is not worth the cost and it' OK to look elsewhere. If people look elsewhere and do not buy Apple, Apple will most definitely feel the effects of their price gouging eventually.

Instead we are being told here on these forums to look on the bright side of cloud storage to justify these actions, and accept increasing prices and Apple's pricing structure because we don't have a choice. Meanwhile Apple profits soar, and we the consumer are happy to fork out more money so Tim can buy another yacht. Talk about brand loyalty.

Further, attitude does not necessarily equate negativity. I can complain about the cost of something not because I am a negative person who sees the cup half empty, but because I feel the value we all look for is not present when it comes to some of Apples products. Apple's prices are going up, while they still continue to offer minimal specs at the entry level, and charge a premium to increase RAM or Storage. It will make it harder for some to continue to enjoy the products we have all willingly embraced, but now we are told if we don't like it to leave.

The same people who say they love the Apple eco-system and realize how hard it is to use other products outside the eco-system are telling others to leave. Explain that one to me.

If others are going to suggest people who don't like Apple's prices to look elsewhere, maybe they can offer some tips on how to successfully leave the Apple eco-system, buy a PC laptop or tablet, or desktop, and integrate them with our other Apple products.

Lastly, I liked your review and real world testing. Some people look only at specs and complain without any real reason for complaining.
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REALLY? For some reason that just kinda blows my mind. I guess just because I find iCloud useful. Not for email or reminders or calendars or iMessage or anything? Wow. That’s the biggest reason I got the Mac

I too minimally use iCloud or cloud based storage. I use iCloud to store my calendars and contacts but that's about all. I have lost photos, music and files in iCloud and OneDrive. I prefer physical external drives and a NAS to store my media.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

REALLY? For some reason that just kinda blows my mind. I guess just because I find iCloud useful. Not for email or reminders or calendars or iMessage or anything? Wow. That’s the biggest reason I got the Mac

The key phrase in my post was "with my Mac." I use it with my phone to back up contacts and a few other things. I'm not advocating against iCloud and can see where it would be of use to others who use their Macs and phones differently.

 

[Jimmy James]

I’m mostly interested in the pro. My interest in the Air is purely based on price. In Canada the 512/8 are $1,999 and $2,229. Where my budget is $1,500 that’s a lot of extra money.

 

[EugW]

I’m mostly interested in the pro. My interest in the Air is purely based on price. In Canada the 512/8 are $1,999 and $2,229. Where my budget is $1,500 that’s a lot of extra money.

At Apple.ca, it's cheaper to buy a refurbished Pro than it is a new Air. (There are no refurb 2018 Airs.)

$1899: Apple refurbished 13" dual-core 2.3 GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro with 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD

 

[iMi]

Did you compare an 8 GB Air to an 8 GB Pro?

I agree the Pro is a noticeably faster machine but having 16 GB can sometimes help, depending on the workflow.

Yes, I compared 8GB to 8GB but... I opted for the Touch Bar Pro, which has a quad core processor. To be honest, it's a beast in a small package. I love it.

I will also go on record and say... I love the Touch Bar and don't understand why everyone hates it. Go ahead, I'm ready for the heat.

 

[revmacian]

I'm seeing many folks on youtube actually editing videos (some are 4k) in Final Cut Pro on a MBA. Sure, exporting the videos takes longer, but I'd just use the time to grab lunch or something. But, it does say a lot about the power of a MBA. The only Mac I've ever used is my current Mac mini (Late 2014) and I'm certain a 2018 MacBook Air will be faster and more powerful.

Less than 30 days and I'll be buying my first Apple laptop.

 

[0092762]

It's all about the price. I'd have NEVER bought the Air at 1199/1399 but I got my 256 for 1060 tax included at microcenter with some incentives, so at that price it makes sense.

 

[kreasonos]

I'll be ordering a 2018 MBA with 512GB SSD and 8GB of ram. For my purposes, I don't need 16GB of ram but I do want the extra storage given I'm currently using 167GB on my current machine. I want room to put more movies on it and more storage to me gives it a longer shelf life.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I for one don't use iCloud with my Mac.

Neither do I, and have little interest in doing so.

However, the thread itself is very interesting.

 

[Gamer-Dad]

Just bought my wife a gold 8GB/256GB model from Best Buy yesterday. Best yet was they price matched MicroCenters price of $1199!

Used it all day today setting it up and moving files to it off of thumb drives. System is plenty zippy, with no lags at all. Installed Parellels so she can get on to her work computers and no lag there either. Really happy with the system. Best yet, all that was done while running on battery. Started around 10:30 this morning and at 6:30 when I finished playing around with it before giving it to her, it still had over 2 hours of battery remaining.

 

[revmacian]

Just bought my wife a gold 8GB/256GB model from Best Buy yesterday. Best yet was they price matched MicroCenters price of $1199!

Used it all day today setting it up and moving files to it off of thumb drives. System is plenty zippy, with no lags at all. Installed Parellels so she can get on to her work computers and no lag there either. Really happy with the system. Best yet, all that was done while running on battery. Started around 10:30 this morning and at 6:30 when I finished playing around with it before giving it to her, it still had over 2 hours of battery remaining.

Dude! Missed your chance.. should have told her it was lost or something!

All kidding aside, I'll be doing the same thing (setup and file transfers) on or around January 3rd. Can't wait!

 

[Gamer-Dad]

Dude! Missed your chance.. should have told her it was lost or something!

All kidding aside, I'll be doing the same thing (setup and file transfers) on or around January 3rd. Can't wait!

I prefer the bigger 15" screen size of mine... You will be happy with the new Air.

 

[revmacian]

I think the only tough decision will be.. silver or space gray. Space gray would look so much better with dark mode UI.

I just realized today that the reason the new MBA seems so powerful is because some of the work is offloaded to the T2 chip.

 

[Gamer-Dad]

I think the only tough decision will be.. silver or space gray. Space gray would look so much better with dark mode UI.

I just realized today that the reason the new MBA seems so powerful is because some of the work is offloaded to the T2 chip.

The T2 chip offloads a lot of different functions. I like the space grey color. Looks really nice. She wanted gold so that's what I got her (actually its more rose gold if you ask me, not like the gold on the 12" MacBook). Keyboard feels just as good as my 2018 15", track pad is a nice size, no beach balling, no stuttering, no video buffering, wifi is fast and stable, stays relatively cool unless you are really stressing the machine, fans are quiet.

I read about how poor the screen brightness was, and was a little hesitant, but to be honest, hers is pretty bright and looks great. I used the Rec709 profile and manually adjusted white balance to around 7250 (same as on my 15"), and it really made the screen come to life. It doesn't have True Tone, but, its an Air, not a Pro. It looks fine.

 

[revmacian]

The T2 chip offloads a lot of different functions. I like the space grey color. Looks really nice. She wanted gold so that's what I got her (actually its more rose gold if you ask me, not like the gold on the 12" MacBook). Keyboard feels just as good as my 2018 15", track pad is a nice size, no beach balling, no stuttering, no video buffering, wifi is fast and stable, stays relatively cool unless you are really stressing the machine, fans are quiet.

I read about how poor the screen brightness was, and was a little hesitant, but to be honest, hers is pretty bright and looks great. I used the Rec709 profile and manually adjusted white balance to around 7250 (same as on my 15"), and it really made the screen come to life. It doesn't have True Tone, but, its an Air, not a Pro. It looks fine.

Yeah, I read about the poor screen brightness and didn't even notice it until I compared it to a MBP 2018 model. Still, the screen brightness is fine with me. Issues will always show up when you compare anything with a higher level product.

Good to hear from someone who uses a MBP and did a lot of work on the MBA and a had positive experience. Thank you!