Riley Young/Digital Trends
If you’re looking for an excellent laptop that won’t weigh you down, look no further. The MacBook Air, arguably the first Ultrabook, is now made thinner and lighter than ever, yet still possesses the same amount of power and solid build quality that’s typical of Apple devices.
The latest version of the MacBook Air normally retails for $1,099, but right now Amazon is offering a sweet $99 discount. Take home this 13-inch Mac for $1,000. Still a little too pricey? You can get the previous, slightly heavier model for the much lower price of $750. This older version normally costs $999, so that’s a whopping $249 worth of savings. What’s even cooler is that you can get an additional $50 off upon approval for the Amazon Rewards Visa card, lowering the price to $700.
What used to be the MacBook Air’s defining traits are its thinness and lightness. Today, there are other MacBooks and laptops out there that are thinner and lighter. Even if it’s not the featherweight champion anymore, the MacBook Air still has an excellent build quality, thanks to its eco-friendly aluminum chassis. This is one sleek-looking laptop, with the same clean aesthetic as the rest of its MacBook kin.
The latest version of the MacBook Air looks almost exactly like the previous one, with a few significant hardware and software upgrades. The older version is outfitted with a single Thunderbolt 2 port and two USB 3 ports; the latest one has two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports instead. The previous one is powered by a 1.8GHz Dual-Core i5 processor. Although both models have a 13-inch LED-backlit screen, the newer MacBook Air’s display is made better thanks to Apple’s True Tone technology. The screen now has the power to adapt to your environment’s ambient light to make the images appear more natural, with accurate colors that aren’t oversaturated. It’s not the best screen we’ve encountered on a MacBook though (that honor goes to the MacBook Pro) since it doesn’t go as bright as we hoped for, but it still looks fantastic.
Working alongside their respective Intel processors, both versions have 8GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory. These MacBooks proved speedy and performed well when tasked with normal daily workflow, like streaming videos, working in Photoshop, word processing, and web browsing. We did, however, noticed a bit of a slowdown when we had multiple browsers, apps, and programs opened simultaneously, but not enough to raise concern.
Both MacBook Airs can last up to eight hours with light web browsing. While not exactly a bad number, it pales in comparison next to Huawei’s MateBook X Pro, which managed nine and a half hours in our test.
If you’re determined to buy a MacBook but don’t want to shell out too much money, then the MacBook Air is for you. It’s a well-rounded portable laptop that boasts a solid performance and premium build quality. Get the latest version of the MacBook Air for $1,000 or purchase the previous model for $750.
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