MacBook Air

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  • Review

    Upgrading your MacBook Air solid-state drive

    Posted May 24, 2011 - 10:17 am

    The MacBook Air has won over a large number of Apple laptop users. But in order to offer such extreme portability, the MacBook Air comes with a few tradeoffs. One of those tradeoffs is with the flash storage--it's fast, but it's expensive, and to keep the cost down, Apple is a bit stingy with the amount of flash storage it makes available in the standard MacBook Air configurations. With the ultra-thin laptop's storage space ranging from a miniscule 64GB to an underwhelming 256GB, it's no wonder that some MacBook Air lovers want to increase the capacity, no matter the cost.

  • Review

    MacBook Air flash storage torture tests

    Posted December 9, 2010 - 3:06 pm

    As you probably know, the MacBook Air uses flash storage instead of the hard drives found in every other Mac. And while the initial results using our Speedmark 6.5 test suite showed that the Air’s flash storage helped provide a performance boost, we were concerned about whether that performance could be maintained over time.

  • Review

    New MacBook Air: The best ever

    Posted October 29, 2010 - 1:26 pm

    Apple's spectacularly responsive new MacBook Air is the best Air yet -- and might be the best MacBook, period.

  • Review

    11.6-in. MacBook Air: Don't call it a netbook

    Posted October 28, 2010 - 3:09 pm

    When you first take the 11.6-in. MacBook Air out of its box, the word "netbook" will almost certainly pop into your head. After all, the diminutive size and weight of Apple's newest ultraslim laptop -- not to mention its modest 1.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor -- are very netbook-like.

  • Review

    Lab report: MacBook Air benchmark results

    Posted October 26, 2010 - 2:14 pm

    There's a lot to like in Apple's latest version of the MacBook Air, such as the smaller size, longer battery life and faster flash storage. Still, I was disappointed that the new MacBook Air uses the aging Core 2 Duo processor. The new Air even takes what looks like a step backwards in processor speeds, going from the standard 1.83GHz and 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo processors in the previous models to a wince-inducing 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo in the standard 11-inch models ($999 with 64GB of flash storage, $1199 with 128GB of flash storage) and 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processors in the standard 13-inch model ($1299 with 128GB of flash storage and $1599 with 256GB of flash storage).

  • Review

    New MacBook Air, now with extra SSD goodness

    Posted November 25, 2008 - 11:34 am

    Apple's newly revamped MacBook Air got extensive under-the-hood updates last month, including a larger solid-state drive (SSD) that makes a noticeable difference in how fast the Air boots up, how fast programs launch and how fast this slimmest of Apple laptops feels -- especially in comparison to the stock 4,200-rpm hard drive.
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