Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 256GB Mid 2011

Sleek, sexy and expensive. But enough about us, is the new MacBook Air still the best ultraportable laptop you can buy? Alan Lu takes a closer look in our review.

IT Pro Verdict

It's a tad disappointing that Apple's latest MacBook Air didn't last quite as long in our battery test as its predecessor, but it's still more than good enough for all but the longest trips. It's still the best ultraportable laptop you can get thanks to other features such as it comfortable input devices, high-resolution screen and excellent build quality. Although cheaper, less generously specified versions are available, it is still unavoidably pricy but surprisingly it's still better value than the comparable competition which is something we never thought we'd see for a Mac. If you can afford it, the MacBook Air really is the best ultraportable laptop available.

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We also suspect that the new Core i5 processor may be the reason why the new Air didn't last as long as the older model in our light usage battery life test. It lasted just under ten hours our test, which is still impressive, but the older model lasted over 13 hours. The Core i5 2557M has a TDP of 17W compared to just 10W for the Core 2 Duo SL9400 used in the now discontinued older model. Still, ten hours is nothing to sneeze at and should be long enough for a working day.

The ports on the right hand side of the 13in Apple MacBook Air

One new feature we're not surprised to see is the Thunderbolt port which is rapidly spreading to all of Apple's Mac computers. We're eager to try out this blazing fast new port technology, but five months after its first appearance there are still no compatible peripherals available. We hope this will change soon, but in the meantime the port can still be used to connect monitors using adapters which sadly aren't included in the box.

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