2014 MacBook Air opinions

[Clicky]

Hey I'm thinking about picking up a 13" MacBook Air to use for school (I spend a good chunk of my day on campus and the train) and I was wondering if anyone who has used one has opinions that they would like to share. Would you buy one again? I'm largely concerned about the quality of the screen. Oh, I'll mostly be using it for programming. Thanks for your help!

[mashby]

Hey I'm thinking about picking up a 13" MacBook Air to use for school (I spend a good chunk of my day on campus and the train) and I was wondering if anyone who has used one has opinions that they would like to share. Would you buy one again? I'm largely concerned about the quality of the screen. Oh, I'll mostly be using it for programming. Thanks for your help!

I bought the 11" Macbook Air last year and my only regret is that I didn't get the 13". There's nothing wrong with the 11", but the size savings wasn't worth the loss of screen real estate and battery life.

Like all Macbook Airs, I think they shine for the common computer stuff. It's only when you start needing heavy video, or proc stuff that you'll feel the performance hit. Video editing or encoding, gaming, etc., are not ideal on this platform. Not that you can't do any of those things, just that it's not going to be ideal.

Overall, it's the best laptop I've ever owned and I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.

[Altis]

Have a 13" from December. It's very well made and the trackpad is like no other. I wouldn't worry about the screen too much... despite its resolution, it really does look quite good.

It certainly isn't cheap though. You can buy a reasonably decent Windows laptop for half the money, or for the same money you can throw in an iPad, or just get a Surface Pro 3.

Do you use OSX much? My biggest complaint with the Air is not the computer, but the way OSX is becoming. You can always run Windows and/or Linux on it though.

[Belfong]

I bought a 11" Air, used for a year, regretted that I went with that small and compact size, sold it off and bought a 13" Air. Love it to death. I'd buy a Mac again, no doubt!

[skcheng]

I prefer the retina display Pro.   It's a better laptop in every way unless you really need thinner and lighter.

[Belfong]

Yeah.. I would love a Retina Air but battery and weight is a huge concern for me because I am on the move daily.

[riotonthebay]

I use a 13" Retina Pro and carry it to and from work daily. Not much of an issue for me, fits in a messenger bag and is much lighter than my older model, larger chassis MBP.

[Sifo]

Highjacking this, I'm in school for sound design and digital music composition, which... well, many artists out there seem to be using Apple-exclusive software. I was hoping to pick something up to have only dedicated to music production (so... probably mostly using Logic for the first little bit), and to keep my main computer free of all this drivers and **** for my equipment. Any suggestions for something portable? I have 0 ****ing idea about apple ****, and well... my budget isn't top tier.

[Belfong]

Mac mini. Cheap! You can reuse your keyboard (I hope you don't buy Apple's), mouse and monitor.

[exitfire401]

Highjacking this, I'm in school for sound design and digital music composition, which... well, many artists out there seem to be using Apple-exclusive software. I was hoping to pick something up to have only dedicated to music production (so... probably mostly using Logic for the first little bit), and to keep my main computer free of all this drivers and **** for my equipment. Any suggestions for something portable? I have 0 ****ing idea about apple ****, and well... my budget isn't top tier.

As somebody who did this for that exact reason (don't really work with music much anymore) if you're planning on going that route, I'd recommend the lower end 15" MBP or the high end 13" MBP. They have the processing power you'll need and will last as long as you need.

[jorgenslee]

I use a 13" Retina Pro and carry it to and from work daily. Not much of an issue for me, fits in a messenger bag and is much lighter than my older model, larger chassis MBP.

How's the performance on the 13" Retina Pro? I'm on the market finding a replacement for my 3 year old MBP which is now showing signs of failure. I'm on a fence between 13" and 15", I kinda lean on 13" due to price and portability but I like the performance of 15".

[rowdy]

For any Apple product, you should wait until tomorrow.

There is a keynote tomorrow (or today, something, anyway soon) where new products might be announced.

[demik]

they just did a refresh of the macbook airs.

tomorrow's event is iphone related

[bazh]

For any Apple product, you should wait until tomorrow.

There is a keynote tomorrow (or today, something, anyway soon) where new products might be announced.

Macbook event is usually taken in October if I remember right, there're some rumors about the new Air this year with 12" retina display (and new design MBPro) and it sounds quite true, so if you can wait, yeah it's better to buy MB in the end of the year imo

[sleepy916]

I remember my wife got her MBP a couple of months before they released the newer Retina ones. It was bad timing, but she couldn't wait.

[rowdy]

they just did a refresh of the macbook airs.

tomorrow's event is iphone related

April is sort of "just".  That would make it about 1/3 the way through its product cycle, and should be safe to buy.

The Retina Macbook Pro was updated in July - safe to buy.

The non-Retina Macbook Pro was updated in June 2012

MacRumors Buyer's Guide

[Belfong]

Sifo is on budget. He should get a Mac Mini.

[cherpalla]

I prefer the retina display Pro.   It's a better laptop in every way unless you really need thinner and lighter.

This is what I work on as well. (I game on a custom PC, but as a developer & designer, Mac owns).

[jorgenslee]

I prefer the retina display Pro.   It's a better laptop in every way unless you really need thinner and lighter.

This is what I work on as well. (I game on a custom PC, but as a developer & designer, Mac owns).

You using 13" or 15"?

[cherpalla]

I prefer the retina display Pro.   It's a better laptop in every way unless you really need thinner and lighter.

This is what I work on as well. (I game on a custom PC, but as a developer & designer, Mac owns).

You using 13" or 15"?

I'm on the 15", but it's only because I didn't pay for it (thanks Gannett/USA Today). I would have gotten the 13", as it offers plenty of screen space with retina and I plug into a secondary monitor. Both are fantastic.

[mashby]

I agree 100% about using an external monitor when you can. My 11" is fine for short bursts of work, but being able to work on something larger is heaven.

I recently was out of town for a month for my work and shipped my monitor there. Totally worth it.

For ergonomics sake, if you do think you'll be doing a lot of work on the laptop directly, you might want to check out getting a Roost laptop stand (http://therooststand.com)

[cherpalla]

I agree 100% about using an external monitor when you can. My 11" is fine for short bursts of work, but being able to work on something larger is heaven.

I recently was out of town for a month for my work and shipped my monitor there. Totally worth it.

For ergonomics sake, if you do think you'll be doing a lot of work on the laptop directly, you might want to check out getting a Roost laptop stand (http://therooststand.com)

oooo those are nice!

[Sent]

I agree 100% about using an external monitor when you can. My 11" is fine for short bursts of work, but being able to work on something larger is heaven.

I recently was out of town for a month for my work and shipped my monitor there. Totally worth it.

For ergonomics sake, if you do think you'll be doing a lot of work on the laptop directly, you might want to check out getting a Roost laptop stand (http://therooststand.com)

Can confirm Roost stands are awesome.  Used both the Apple and non-Apple versions for almost a year at the office.  Zero complaints.

[Hypersphere]

i have an earlier 11-inch MBA, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Most of my computing is done with desktops -- I have three workstations, each of them sharing a keyboard, mouse and three monitors with 3 to 4 computers (running OS X, Linux, and Windows) via a combination of hardware and software KM switches.

i bought my laptop with portability in mind rather than attempting to go for a desktop replacement.

Previously, I had a 13-inch Macbook, and I found that it wasn't quite as portable as I would have liked.

I tried an iPad, but i found it too difficult to type on it, and I wanted a real computer so that I could access the file system and easily share files with my other computers.

The 11-inch form factor of the MBA is perfect for my needs. It is a real computer with a full-size keyboard, but it is small enough to be easy to pack and carry.

If I needed a new laptop, I would definitely purchase another 11-inch MBA.

[julayyy]

I have the mba 2013 and I love it! You get approximately 10-12hrs on it so it'll last you the whole day at school unless you do heavy work then maybe 8hrs?  Right now at best buy they're on sale for $850 and if you have a .edu email, then you'll get another $100 off so it'll be $750 which is such a great price for a mac book air. It's probably on sale because a new retina version should be coming out soon but if you don't really care about retina display then this should be just fine.

I'm using a dual monitor set up with my macbook air and it works just fine. Very light so perfect for traveling around.

I also use it to play league of legend and it works just fine.

[rowdy]

I have the mba 2013 and I love it! You get approximately 10-12hrs on it so it'll last you the whole day at school unless you do heavy work then maybe 8hrs?  Right now at best buy they're on sale for $850 and if you have a .edu email, then you'll get another $100 off so it'll be $750 which is such a great price for a mac book air. It's probably on sale because a new retina version should be coming out soon but if you don't really care about retina display then this should be just fine.

I'm using a dual monitor set up with my macbook air and it works just fine. Very light so perfect for traveling around.

I also use it to play league of legend and it works just fine.

Welcome to Geekhack!

[Oobly]

It's quite nice if you install Windows 7 on it. Good quality hardware, nice trackpad, good design, should last a long time and is tough enough to carry around without much worry. Not so happy with the latest versions of MacOS, though.