The "I just bought/ordered/got/shipped my new/refurb MBA" thread, [Merged]

[- rob -]

I really like the slim and dark bezels. The older MBA's with the big silver bezels looked terrible to me and was a reason I never considered an MBA before. But this new one is very, very nice.

The Retina display is also very, very nice. Everything is crisp and clear. The biggest thing I like about this is how lightweight it is compared to the old MBP and how small it is overall. That will be very nice while going from meeting to meeting at work. I won't feel like I'm dragging a ton of bricks around anymore.

I didn't realize it but ya, the black bezel is a major, major improvement for the MBA line. I've been using it in notebook mode here for a few hours and it is way, way better than my 2015 11" silver guy, just on the bezels alone. (I think width matters but the dark matters a lot too.)

I actually was never able to get behind the white bezel iphone or ipad devices because i thought they were so hard to look at. So it makes sense that this would be a better experience as well.

So just opened it up and I really love the color but I can see why others may not.

I think that rose gold color is a fashion thing. I get why some folks are rejecting it. but glad some people like it.

 

[thebeatsalive]

Got mine this morning. Got my SG 256GB (I stream a lot and store most thing online) w/ 16GB ram. This thing flies! I was really dreading the keyboard. I really love mechanical keyboards and good key travel. I like the keyboard way more than I thought I would. I like the click feeling. A bit more key travel would make this great.

 

[MacLadybug]

Ordered Gold, 512GB, 16GB RAM the day of the Keynote. Supposed to be delivered today. Instead UPS said they tried to deliver and no one was home. They lied. I've been home all day, nose pressed to the window waiting for the UPS truck. Now they say they will redeliver tomorrow. I'm dying.

 

[Big Apple]

Got mine this morning. Got my SG 256GB (I stream a lot and store most thing online) w/ 16GB ram. This thing flies! I was really dreading the keyboard. I really love mechanical keyboards and good key travel. I like the keyboard way more than I thought I would. I like the click feeling. A bit more key travel would make this great.

I am loving it so far! I was really nervous about the new style of keyboard but I actually really like it too. Coming from an MBP, I can see why the wedge shape of the Air is popular. It feels so much easier for me to pick up and move around with one hand, and feels light as air ( no pun intended) after 5 years with my 3.46lb MBP.

I have the 16GB/512GB and no issues at all here so far. I've been on all evening and it's handled everything I've needed to do just fine. I'll see how it does tomorrow after a full day of work but so far so good!

 

[in2tech]

So just opened it up and I really love the color but I can see why others may not. It's hard to describe it exactly and it changes depending on the light and the angle. At some angles it did look like a darker, deeper gold but at others it did look rose gold. Comparing it directly to my rose gold iphone 7, it was lighter and had more of a gold tone, but comparing to my gold xs iphone it was deeper, almost copperish.

Here's a couple of photos comparing to the rose gold iPhone

Nice, I like it. What a birthday present, congratulations!
[doublepost=1541657226][/doublepost]

Mine just arrived. Now to try it out

View attachment 802080

Space Gray or Silver? I am super excited for everyone! I want one at some point in the future. When's the last time you saw the MBA get so much attention? Been awhile, and thought for sure they were gonna discontinue it, I am so glad they did not. Best laptop (2012 MBA), I have every owned for what I need it for! Congratulations everyone!

 

[Rob9874]

I'm noticing mine is very hot in the middle above the F keys. Right below the MacBook Air name. Almost too hot to touch. Anyone else noticing this? I'm browsing Chrome, syncing my music on my iphone, and importing photos to Photos.

 

[Geert76]

I'm noticing mine is very hot in the middle above the F keys. Right below the MacBook Air name. Almost too hot to touch. Anyone else noticing this? I'm browsing Chrome, syncing my music on my iphone, and importing photos to Photos.

Probally due to indexing

 

[Dave245]

So just opened it up and I really love the color but I can see why others may not. It's hard to describe it exactly and it changes depending on the light and the angle. At some angles it did look like a darker, deeper gold but at others it did look rose gold. Comparing it directly to my rose gold iphone 7, it was lighter and had more of a gold tone, but comparing to my gold xs iphone it was deeper, almost copperish.

Here's a couple of photos comparing to the rose gold iPhone

From those pictures it doesn't look bad, judging by the phone you have next too it the Air doesn't look as pink, i was kind of worried that it would be Rose Gold pink like the Macbook 12" was or the iPhone when that had Rose Gold.

 

[iConnected]

Frustrating delivery process.

Ordered on 1st Nov, due on 14th.
On 6th, got email saying shipped.
Today (8th), tracking status was still only "shipment info received" and still scheduled for 14th.

So I just cancelled it, went online and reordered (same custom spec).
Now it's coming tomorrow

 

[Big Apple]

From those pictures it doesn't look bad, judging by the phone you have next too it the Air doesn't look as pink, i was kind of worried that it would be Rose Gold pink like the Macbook 12" was or the iPhone when that had Rose Gold.

I would definitely check it out in person if you have a store close by that carries them. It's definitely not as pink as the their old rose gold shade but it's not a neutral gold either. For something this expensive, you definitely need to love it though. I asked my husband last night if this is a color he would buy for himself and he said yes but everyone is different and I know this color won't be right for everyone.

 

[Dave245]

I would definitely check it out in person if you have a store close by that carries them. It's definitely not as pink as the their old rose gold shade but it's not a neutral gold either. For something this expensive, you definitely need to love it though. I asked my husband last night if this is a color he would buy for himself and he said yes but everyone is different and I know this color won't be right for everyone.

Yea I think that may be the best thing to do, the nearest Apple store to me is not too far, about 45 minutes on the train, I may go later this month and also check out the new iPads while I’m there

 

[MacLadybug]

Frustrating delivery process.

Ordered on 1st Nov, due on 14th.
On 6th, got email saying shipped.
Today (8th), tracking status was still only "shipment info received" and still scheduled for 14th.

So I just cancelled it, went online and reordered (same custom spec).
Now it's coming tomorrow

Mine was supposed to be delivered yesterday. UPS said they attempted to deliver but no one was home. They lied. I was waiting all day and no truck. Rescheduled for delivery today. I’m following the driver on their app. So frustrating.

I’m especially excited, I haven’t bought a newly designed notebook since the Unibody. Can’t wait to get my hands on it.

 

[lambertjohn]

Got my base Air last night, space gray, and I have to say, it's pretty darn nice. Fit and finish is flawless, and the size of this computer is perfect. Small and compact. Screen does seem a bit dim, but it's nothing I can't live with. Computer is surprisingly fast for the CPU that it has; everything opens and runs instantly. I've only got 8GB of RAM, and it's handled everything I've thrown at it including Photoshop and Office 365 with zero effort. As for the keyboard, it feels exactly like my wife's 2016 MacBook Pro keyboard. Kind of weird but hey, if it's going to keep working because of that condom they threw on it, I'm good. The one niggle I have is that right out of the box, the 128 GB hard drive shows 96 GB free. The rest is taken up by system files and apps and some kind of music files (?). So I'm on the fence whether I should just go ahead and get the 256GB Air instead. All in all, it's a pretty sweet little machine.

 

[MacLadybug]

Got my base Air last night, space gray, and I have to say, it's pretty darn nice. Fit and finish is flawless, and the size of this computer is perfect. Small and compact. Screen does seem a bit dim, but it's nothing I can't live with. Computer is surprisingly fast for the CPU that it has; everything opens and runs instantly. I've only got 8GB of RAM, and it's handled everything I've thrown at it including Photoshop and Office 365 with zero effort. As for the keyboard, it feels exactly like my wife's 2016 MacBook Pro keyboard. Kind of weird but hey, if it's going to keep working because of that condom they threw on it, I'm good. The one niggle I have is that right out of the box, the 128 GB hard drive shows 96 GB free. The rest is taken up by system files and apps and some kind of music files (?). So I'm on the fence whether I should just go ahead and get the 256GB Air instead. All in all, it's a pretty sweet little machine.

Get the 256GB! We’ve had our old Airs forever... given their longevity your going to wish you had that space right away... it’s worth the $200.

 

[iConnected]

I'm noticing mine is very hot in the middle above the F keys. Right below the MacBook Air name. Almost too hot to touch. Anyone else noticing this? I'm browsing Chrome, syncing my music on my iphone, and importing photos to Photos.

So it's literally effing hot? (sorry!)

 

[MacLadybug]

Mine came! The gold is beautiful. Feels very solid. Migrating my data now and it is flying. Transferring 250GB in under 45 minutes. It’s been so long since I’ve done this but that seems super fast to me.

 

[Brookzy]

Glad everyone seems to be enjoying their new MacBook Airs.

Mine arrived on Wednesday... which I ordered in the hope that it would be the goldilocks MacBook I've been waiting for: one with some of the lightweight qualities of the 12" MacBook combined the performance of a higher-end machine.

On the plus side, it is nicely built as we would expect, and, assuming you can get by on 128GB, is a good value for money as far MacBooks go, with the latest industrial design, advanced architecture courtesy of the T2 chip, and Touch ID.

But sadly this is not the goldilocks machine I was hoping for:

It is not a thin and light computer by 2018 Jony Ive standards. It's actually thicker than the 13" MacBook Pro at its thickest point - noticeably thicker. On paper it's only 8.5% lighter than the Pro - in the hand it feels about the same weight. The footprint of the Air is actually larger than the Pro.

Its screen is poor. The 13" MacBook Pro without Touch Bar is just £50 more yet ships with a beautiful, P3, 500-nit display. The Air's screen isn't terrible, but after being spoiled by beautiful screens in the latest iPads, iPhones, and Macs, the Air really underwhelms. Not to mention, it doesn't have True Tone like the 2018 Pros. More than two years since a £1249 device with a great screen launched - two years in which technology has marched on and prices have presumably fallen - you would hope a £1199 device could ship with a screen at least as good as the two year old one.

The overall hardware performance is acceptable, but a MacBook of this bulk and a fan should either be equipped with the 15W class quad core processors (if they want to prioritise capability), or be even lower power and have a the same legendary battery life of the old MacBook Air (if they want to prioritise usability).

As it stands, I just wonder, what are they using all this space for?!

Minor observations that I've not seen in the reviews:

• The FaceTime HD camera - while finally "HD" - is not as good as the one found in the Pro.
• The speakers distort a bit at max volume.
• The trackpad is the 'first generation' Force Touch trackpad. The 2016 MacBook Pro introduced a revised style with a more natural click, but the Air uses the type from 2015. They're functionally the same and it's a personal preference thing, but I do wonder why Apple is still shipping different incarnations of trackpads in brand new products.
• The hinge is the 12" MacBook style - not the Pro style liquid metal hinge. I wonder if this will be less reliable over time.

Overall it is still a great laptop. I'm just hoping within a year or so the price will drop to £999 and start at 256GB of storage. For now, I'm still a bit homeless in the MacBook lineup.

 

[AJAAY]

Finally able to unpack and play with my new Air this evening. Loving it so far. Build quality is great, haven't noticed anything out of place or questionable. It feels lighter than the MacBook Pros that I had the past few weeks. 128GB is fine for me, as I'm pretty much going to use this as an extension to my iMac. It's nice and quiet, no high pitch noise from the keyboard, and I haven't heard the fan once. Seems to be a keeper!

 

[Big Apple]

I used mine all day yesterday at work and did not hear the fan once either. It zipped through everything and felt so much faster than what I was used to. The Touch ID is awesome and if for some reason I had to return this, I would gladly pay the extra money for the TB MBP, just so I could still have the Touch ID

 

[darkmatter343]

Glad everyone seems to be enjoying their new MacBook Airs.

Mine arrived on Wednesday... which I ordered in the hope that it would be the goldilocks MacBook I've been waiting for: one with some of the lightweight qualities of the 12" MacBook combined the performance of a higher-end machine.

On the plus side, it is nicely built as we would expect, and, assuming you can get by on 128GB, is a good value for money as far MacBooks go, with the latest industrial design, advanced architecture courtesy of the T2 chip, and Touch ID.

But sadly this is not the goldilocks machine I was hoping for:

It is not a thin and light computer by 2018 Jony Ive standards. It's actually thicker than the 13" MacBook Pro at its thickest point - noticeably thicker. On paper it's only 8.5% lighter than the Pro - in the hand it feels about the same weight. The footprint of the Air is actually larger than the Pro.

Its screen is poor. The 13" MacBook Pro without Touch Bar is just £50 more yet ships with a beautiful, P3, 500-nit display. The Air's screen isn't terrible, but after being spoiled by beautiful screens in the latest iPads, iPhones, and Macs, the Air really underwhelms. Not to mention, it doesn't have True Tone like the 2018 Pros. More than two years since a £1249 device with a great screen launched - two years in which technology has marched on and prices have presumably fallen - you would hope a £1199 device could ship with a screen at least as good as the two year old one.

The overall hardware performance is acceptable, but a MacBook of this bulk and a fan should either be equipped with the 15W class quad core processors (if they want to prioritise capability), or be even lower power and have a the same legendary battery life of the old MacBook Air (if they want to prioritise usability).

As it stands, I just wonder, what are they using all this space for?!

Minor observations that I've not seen in the reviews:

• The FaceTime HD camera - while finally "HD" - is not as good as the one found in the Pro.
• The speakers distort a bit at max volume.
• The trackpad is the 'first generation' Force Touch trackpad. The 2016 MacBook Pro introduced a revised style with a more natural click, but the Air uses the type from 2015. They're functionally the same and it's a personal preference thing, but I do wonder why Apple is still shipping different incarnations of trackpads in brand new products.
• The hinge is the 12" MacBook style - not the Pro style liquid metal hinge. I wonder if this will be less reliable over time.

Overall it is still a great laptop. I'm just hoping within a year or so the price will drop to £999 and start at 256GB of storage. For now, I'm still a bit homeless in the MacBook lineup.

I'd have to agree... as nice as the new Air may seem, the nTB MBP just seems a better buy. You're getting the better screen, and a 15w CPU which will more then surpass the IPC increase you'll be getting from moving to the Air's 8th gen cpu. Also, while the new Air does come with the 3rd gen keyboard, I'm hearing it can fail as well... so while it may be more reliable, at least with the 2nd gen you know there is an active exchange program out. So if you buy the Air with 1 year warranty, and on day 366 a key gets stuck... unless the genius bar rep is in a great mood and happy to help you because he got laid the previous night, you're probably going to be sol. At least with the 2nd gen, you're covered for 3 years, regardless if you opted out of the Apple Care.

 

[iConnected]

Gutted.

Out of the box, there was a nick on the upper edge of the bottom right corner that flashed silver (on a Space Grey) when it caught the light.

If it had been many other places, I might have lived with it. But with it being RIGHT THERE, it was a non-starter and all I would ever see.

Returned and replacement ordered.

 

[AJAAY]

I still haven’t even charged this thing yet! The charger and cord still in the packaging closed up in the box. It was at 79% out of the box. Been using it constantly and just reached the halfway mark.

 

[- rob -]

I'm also really happy with mine so far. I had my doubts, particularly given those early benchmarks. But this will definitely hold me over until we see an A chip.

I have only had the fan go on once, and it was when I was pulling down 30+ GB of dropbox stuff and I think the machine was indexing it as it came down.

 

[ApolloBoy]

Got this beauty at Best Buy tonight, it's the 256 GB version and I am absolutely smitten with the gold color, it's really more like a copper color honestly.

This is also the first brand new Mac that I've owned since my very first one 11 years ago, a mid-2007 white MacBook.

 

[raqball]

Does BB have the new Air on sale as part of their Black Friday early sale?