MacBook Air Still Offers Excellent Notebook Value – The ‘Book Mystique

Maybe we should start a club. Last week BusinessInsider’s Brandt Ranj posted a tribute to the MacBook Air, declaring it “still one of the best laptops you can buy,” a point on which we are in agreement.

I’m one of the traditional Mac notebook fans who reacted to Apple’s unveiling of its new MacBook Pro with TouchBar (mostly) last fall by buying a mid 2015 model Broadwell MacBook Air. As it turns out, we needn’t have rushed. Roughly 18 months later, the venerable MacBook Air is still offered for sale as Apple’s entry level notebook, even getting a modest clock speed upgrade to 1.8 GHz Core i5 (still Broadwell) a few weeks back.

Photo Courtesy Apple

I’m also still using my previous mid-2013 Haswell MacBook Air as my workhorse notebook while the newer one handles desktop substitute duty in my home office. The last time I had two same model Apple notebooks in front line service simultaneously was with a couple of PowerBook G3 Series 2000 (Firewire), better known as ‘Pismo,’ which I have long considered one of the best Apple notebooks ever in the context of its time. However, the second generation MacBook Air now also has to be considered a strong candidate for that accolade, and it’s a tough call to pick one or the other of these machines as the definitive honoree.

In general the Pismo and the MacBook Air present as having little in common aside from both being Apple notebooks. The PowerBook, while considered a “slim” notebook back in 2000, weighed in at one side or the other of six pounds depending in configuration, making a bit of a hulk by today’s standards, compared with the three-pound MacBook Air which itself is now looking a bit portly compared with the 12-inch Retina MacBook and some Windows Ultrabooks.

Pismo has a slightly larger-dimensioned but lower-resolution 1024 x 768 14-inch display compared with the MacBook Air’s 1440 x 900 13-inch panel, now considered low-res by current standards. The Pismo was extensively expandable and upgradable with a vast array of connection options, while with the MacBook Air you’re pretty much stuck with the RAM and processor specs it left the factory with, and with two standard USB 3 ports, a Thunderbolt 2 port, an SDXC card slot, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The Pismo was in production for only about eight months in 2000, whereas the 2nd-Gen MacBook Air was first rolled out in October, 2010, and is still being actively marketed seven years on.

Characteristics the Pismo and MacBook Air do share include excellent notebook keyboards, a reputation for reliability and ruggedness, and a difficult to define quality of “rightness” for their respective times. Brandt Ranj notes that the 13″ MacBook Air is a “balanced machine… thin, light, powerful, and featuring great battery life,” albeit without some of the new features that set its MacBook and MacBook Pro siblings apart.

On the other hand, the current latest Apple notebook designs are missing several attractive traditional Apple notebook features such as the MagSafe MagSafe 2 power port, USB ports that will connect to peripherals you likely already have without the expense and hassle of dongles, the backlit Apple logo, and a keyboard that’s comfortable to type on.

Photo Courtesy Apple

The fact that the Air, originally pitched as a premium notebook, now the least expensive Apple notebook isn’t hard to take either. I agree with Ranj that for most consumer notebook users and even for some pros who use portable PCs as a tool, the MacBook Air should provide ample performance, and that he’s even been surprised himself by how well it handles high-resolution image-editing.

Ranj says he’s used his MacBook Air every day for over a year, still finds it “pretty fast.” I even still find the 3 1/2 year old 1.3 GHz Haswell unit reasonably lively, and the newer 1.6 GHz Broadwell chip more than amply speedy for my needs. Personally unenchanted by Apple’s current MacBook and MacBook Pro offerings, I’m anticipating getting at least another three years out of my younger MacBook Air, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Air as an excellent value for almost anyone — especially if they’re on a tight budget — who wants a macOS notebook, isn’t a high-end gamer or power user, and can happily get along without Retina resolution, USB-C and the TouchBar.

Currently Amazon is offering MacBook Airs (Early 2015 1.6 GHz Core i5) for $824.99:
https://www.amazon.com/Apple-MMGF2LL-MacBook-13-3-Inch-Laptop/dp/B01EIUOSRS

For more information, visit:
https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/