MacBook Air 11.6″ — A Steal At $999, But For Whom?

Much has already been written by now about the newest revision to the MacBook Air. Apple has seemingly once again done a number that has managed to get everyone talking about them and their crazy gadgets, and now that I’ve had the chance to play with one, I understand why. It’s no secret that Steve Jobs seems to have his finger on the pulse of what people want, but I wasn’t convinced that I’d want the new smaller, more diminutive, less powerful MacBook Air. But I do.

Now, I haven’t purchased one (yet), so seeing as I was using someone else’s, I didn’t have the opportunity to install my usual arrangement of software and really kick the tires, but even with my limited time with it, I see a winner. Granted, it may be because I like small machines (see: this site), but if Apple had put this computer out two years ago, I’d never have purchased as many netbooks as I did.

So here’s the short of it: the 11.6″ MacBook Air is surprisingly responsive. I’d heard that it was, and knowing that it uses a custom SSD (that’s not as fast as, say, a good traditional SSD (i.e. one that’s not soldered onto the motherboard)), this is what makes the MacBook Air a winner. If it had a traditional hard drive, the bottleneck in the system would be firmly on that drive, much as it was with the older 13″ MacBook Air that had a traditional HDD, but with an SSD, the 1.4 GHZ CPU really cooks.

Safari launched with a single bounce on the dock and quickly loaded the default Apple page. It was as responsive as you’d expect it to be on any other laptop. I also fired up iTunes, and while it took quite a bit longer to load, it didn’t feel bad, certainly not much if any slower than my 13″ MacBook Pro with a 7200 RPM HDD.

Even though I didn’t have the opportunity to take any hard numbers, my feeling upon leaving the MacBook Air was that it could replace my 13″ MacBook Pro in super-portable situations and I wouldn’t miss a thing.

The keyboard was the same Apple keyboard I know and love, with the exception of the function keys. Apple has cut these in half, which means they’re roughly 1/4 the “height” of any other standard key, but that’s the only change I could detect, and even then, I didn’t notice it until I actively started looking.

The trackpad is also a little squished down, but still wide and very usable, certainly as usable as almost PC trackpad (Apple uses oversized trackpads, you know).

The whole machine felt solid thanks to the unibody construction, and when you close it and pick the damn thing up, it’s shocking. It’s so light, and really, so small that it’s hard to believe you have 95% of a proper laptop in your hands. That, more than anything, was a big part of what sold me. It weighs a little more than the iPad and is just as portable. Simply amazing.

While it’s not really instant-on when waking from sleep, it’s still pretty damn quick, quick enough that I won’t grumble too much about it. It’s no iPad, but it’s close. It is a little disingenuous to call it instant-on when it’s not, but for most people, it’s close enough that I don’t think Apple will brook much complaint over it.

Lastly, a lot of stink has been made lately about display problems, and the one I used showed no problems. I closed the lid and opened it up a few times toward the end of my playtime and never saw anything fitting any of the known issues, so it’s difficult to say at this point how widespread the problem is. (I’ve read some folks saying that Apple has sourced a couple of different pieces of hardware for the display from multiple sources and that it may be one of those sources has faulty equipment, so whichever machines have parts from that company, those are the ones with the issues and not others. Then again, internal documents from Apple indicate that a software fix is imminent, so only Apple knows what the real problem is.)

The 11.6″ MacBook Air is a phenomenal piece of equipment, but is it worth $999? It’s not a “main” computer, that’s for sure, but for those who are looking to supplement their computer herd, it sure looks like a good “super portable” choice. I would like to see a couple hundred dollars knocked off the price, but it’s an Apple, so it’s going to be expensive. Still, I’m hard-pressed to complain too much and find myself still lusting after one, $999 or not.

Apple may be charging a premium on this, but they’re also going to get some extra market share with the MacBook Air. I know I’ve already said this will happen, and now that I’ve had a chance to use one, I’m standing by it.

The only thing I don’t get is, why even bother with the 13″ MacBook Air? Why? Because it’s going to replace the other 13″ Apple notebooks eventually. I’m not positive about that one, but I can see it happening. I’m sure I’m not the only person to predict that, too.

So am I going to buy one? Maybe. I don’t really need another laptop, so I’m hoping to wait for a hardware iteration before I buy because I’ve gotten spoiled by the iPad’s battery life. That’s bound to be a long wait, huh?