Opinions on New MacBook Air?

[Zidane]

Apple have increased the price, do you think the product is worth it?

[Ttaskmaster]

Was it ever?
Not only is it an Apple product anyway, so already seriously overpriced, but IIRC that was the one where someone could hack in, steal all your data and then brick your battery, with the potential ability to whack up the current draw and make the battery explode.

But whatever gets Apple's post count up, I guess.....

[philehidiot]

I bought a 2011 Air and I have been very happy with it. It has lasted longer than any other laptop I've ever had, it's a little sluggish now but that's all the updates pitching at a higher spec and even though it's now obsolete and there are no OS updates, I'm still getting secutiry updates which is impressive. It's still faster and easier to use than my missus's i3 laptop with Windows 10.

The new product is silly. One of the best parts of the Air was the compactness and robustness and long battery life meaning you didn't need to carry a charger or anything else, it just fit in a slim case. As a result, having to carry dongles just to use a USB stick if required is infuriating. I know they're future proofing it but you NEED a USB-A port. There are reasons to have thunderbolt / USB-C but the people who have the need for that kind of bandwidth on every port won't be buying an Air. The new screen had to be done, there was no excuse for the old TN screen being kept.

I think that myself I'd be buying a ~£500 laptop every 3 years or so or if I spend more it will be better and last longer. My concern with doing this with a Windows machine is that if MS decides everyone needs to produce new drivers to keep hardware running and the manufacturer doesn't make them after 5 years, I'm left with a brick. At least Apple will support it for a decent length of time. I think 6-7 years is pretty reasonable.

I also like to keep my hand in with another OS as it keeps you thinking rather than getting into a singular way of thinking. Once the security updates stop, my Air will turn into a Linux machine. The thing is still in very good condition and the hardware is still up to the job.

[walibe]

Just purchased the new MacBook Air for my wife for Christmas and its really rather good. I got it in gold in the 256gb spec and found it to be preferable to the MacBook which I didn't expect. The finger print sensor is a nice addition carried over from the MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar which I hadn't found that useful. The real star is the screen which is a big improvement over the old airs and is a nice comfortable size to work from. It's also amazingly light and provides very good battery life. After years of working in 'cyber security' I must say Macs are my default go to computer system. If in doubt, go physically hold the thing in an Apple store. It will feel like its worth every penny. Also keep an eye out if you aren't in a rush as I noticed places curry often do 10% off promotions which helps a little. Interestingly whenever I attend any SANS courses, if you look around its a sea of glowing or shiny apples glowing back at you. I may even replace my MacBook Pro and just run my virtual research machines/labs and remotely access them instead. Just be aware you will need USB C adapters for conventional memory sticks etc for now.

[rell]

Nope.

[walibe]

Nope.

Useful

[proaudio]

Apple have increased the price, do you think the product is worth it?

I don't think the MacBook Air will ever be worth the money. Unless you NEED MacOS, Windows Laptops and Notebooks with the same/similar specs can be had for far cheaper all over the net.

[Croupier]

I would highly advise not to buy any Macbook. I recently bought the top end 2017 Macbook Pro for a LOT of money, it was simply very poor value for money, great product but extremely overpriced, all MacBook's are overpriced including the new Macbook Air, I would go with a Windows laptop for a LOT less money.

[JBuckland]

I would highly advise not to buy any Macbook. I recently bought the top end 2017 Macbook Pro for a LOT of money, it was simply very poor value for money, great product but extremely overpriced, all MacBook's are overpriced including the new Macbook Air, I would go with a Windows laptop for a LOT less money.

I can second this, I have the same macbook and it just isn't worth the price for something that can't realistically handle a heavy workload. If you are just using it for light use and don't mind spending money on dongles then the Air does look great and will cause you a lot less headaches if you're not particularly tech savvy.