The stereo speakers are tucked deep inside the Air with audio resonating from under the keyboard.
The speakers get decently loud and don’t distort at high volumes, even in bass-laden songs.
I conducted our standard notebook battery tests on the MacBook Air.
This is a taxing test that resulted in 5 hours and 8 minutes of usage.
Max screen brightness is used and Wi-Fi is enabled.
This test resulted in 5 hours and 21 minutes of life.
Our informal YouTube 4k resolution video test taxed the CPU up to 76 percent.
The video feed remained lag-free despite the high processor utilization.
For comparison, the HP Omni 27 All-in-One I recently looked at topped out around 50 percent.
The Intel CPU in that system is clocked much higher, however; 3.0GHz versus 1.8GHz.
Also read:Apple Tax or Not?
Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks vs. 13" MacBook Air
Pros:Great looks with a lasting impression.
Balance between performance, portability and battery life, doesn’t really get any better than this.
Cons:In the short term, users may favor HDMI instead of Thunderbolt.
Costly upgrades all around.
Retina version may see the light in the coming 12 months.
