Review of the new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air and the Force Touch touchpad. Important little things
Then engineers from Cupertino equipped the computers with more powerful processors, due to which the MacBook Air should have become more productive. The other day, one of the representatives of the new generation MacBook Air came to our editorial office - a 13-inch laptop in the maximum configuration, so we decided to see for ourselves whether it is as good as its predecessor.
By tradition, we’ll start with the technical characteristics of the new product that came to us for review.
: OS X 10.9.4
Processor: Intel Core i5 (Haswell) 1.4 GHz
Memory: 4 GB DDR3
Display: 13.3 inches with a resolution of 1440 x 900, IPS matrix
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5000
Storage: SSD 256 GB
Wireless interfaces: Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11ac
Ports: 2 USB 3.0, Thunderbolt 2, 3.5mm audio out
SD, SDHC memory card slot
Front camera FaceTime HD 720p
Claimed battery life: 12 hours
Dimensions: 325 x 227 x 17 mm
Weight: 1.35 kg
The equipment of the new MacBook Air is the most standard - a power supply with a charger and an adapter for Russian sockets, the laptop itself and a black envelope with brief instructions, a cloth for wiping the screen and two stickers in the form of white “apples”.
Design
The appearance of the laptop is no different from the design of its predecessors - the same incredibly thin body, a pleasant-to-touch keyboard with a characteristic quiet rustle when pressed, a comfortable trackpad and a glowing apple on the lid.
Compared to the 2013 MacBook Air, you will notice that the dimensions of the laptop have not changed. As well as the weight - still the same 1.35 kg.
The computer has one USB 3.0 port, a 3.5mm audio output, two microphones and a charging port on the left side, and another USB 3.0 port, a Thunderbolt 2 connector and an SD card slot on the right.
But the main thing that interests us now in the new MacBook Air is its “filling”.
Iron
The 13-inch new MacBook Air comes with a 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5 (Haswell) processor, four gigabytes of DDR3 RAM, integrated Intel HD 5000 graphics and OS X 10.9.4 Mavericks.
The computer is also equipped with a 251 GB flash drive.
After reviewing the laptop's hardware, we ran several tests on it and the 2013 13-inch MacBook Air to compare key performance.
Tests
We'll start with a general performance test using the Geekbench 3 utility. The new product showed a noticeable increase compared to last year's model - 2760 points versus 2439 and 5364 versus 4575 points. Not bad, considering that the “stuffing” of computers is almost identical.
In the spring, many publications wrote that the drive in the new MacBook Air was slower than in last year’s model. Indeed, the read speed fell, but only slightly, but the write speed increased - 565 MB/s for the new model and 392 MB/s for the old one.
In performance tests conducted using the NovaBench utility, the new MacBook Air also turned out to be great - the program assigned it 604 points on its scale. Last year's computer scored 586 points.
It was especially interesting to see how the CINEBENCH utility, which tests the performance of the graphics chip and processor, would evaluate the new product.
In the graphics performance test, the new computer showed a similar result compared to its predecessor.
As for the processor, the 2014 MacBook Air wins noticeably here - 239 versus 229 points for the previous generation (the old MacBook Air is on the right).
As you can see, in the tests the new MacBook Air, although slightly, outperforms its predecessor. If we talk about battery life, then Apple laptops are clearly unrivaled here - under average load the computer lasted about 10 hours. And that's very cool.
Editorial opinion
The laptop is very thin, lightweight, runs silently and is ideal for performing medium-complex tasks. Of course, if you really want to, you can easily edit videos, edit photos, or create text content on it, but for gaming or more serious needs, we recommend the MacBook Pro Retina.
Is it worth buying a new MacBook Air? If you haven't gotten yourself Apple's lightest laptop yet, definitely. But if you already own a MacBook Air, there's no point in upgrading just yet. At least until October of this year, when the corporation's MacBook line.
You can purchase a computer from the official Russian Apple online store using this link at a price starting from 41,990 rubles.
We thank Apple Rus for kindly providing the laptop for review.
Any Apple technology in the minds of consumers is associated exclusively with style and prestige. Despite their price, almost all products of this company are always popular around the world. Sometimes there are exceptions, like the iPhone 5C, which didn't take off.Today we look at the latest MacBook Air with a screen diagonal of 13 inches 2015.
I will consider it from the zero coordinate, so to speak, from a blank slate. Although there are already enough reviews on the Internet about how difficult it was to switch from Windows to a Mac, I will try to move away from this approach and will consider the entire experience from the perspective of the ratio of the cost of the device to the pleasure of using it. Let's get started.
We open the box and find a metal cutting board wrapped in several layers of transparent film.
Like all products from the apple company, when you remove the film you can immediately smell the smell of a new device, which disappears in a few days. However, you can catch it later if you sniff the USB ports or audio output. I don’t know why to do this, but this is for your information.
Apple was a little greedy with connectors. On the right there is a Thunderbolt 2 port, followed by a USB port and a card reader with support for reading SDXC cards.
On the left is the Magsafe charging input, followed by a USB port and audio output, and there are two tiny microphone holes. And that’s it, no HDMI and a couple more USBs for you. On the other hand, they take the device for the wrong reason.
The laptop really seems impossibly thin, but this is just an optical illusion: only the edges are thin and their thickness increases closer to the center of the case. Roughly the same principle was used in the iMac.
The body of our hero is made of aluminum, which undoubtedly adds both weight and strength to it. But not everything is so rosy, since it is quite easy to get dents on the corners. For example, if you are trying to get through the closing doors of a subway car while running, or if you hit a bag of poppy seeds on the door frame.
The case is not always able to successfully resist scratches. During the first couple of months without a case, you will definitely grab a couple of nicks on the case. The first of them will most likely appear on both sides of the touchpad. The culprits of these scratches are the metal parts of the watch strap or fitness bracelet.
One of my friends, having learned that I use a MacBook, thoughtfully said: “The main thing is not to spill a smoothie on it during a coworking space, otherwise the repier will be very expensive.” Unfortunately, I had to Google the meaning of some words in this sentence.
Having experience working on different laptops, you get used to the generally universal movement of the buttons on the keyboard. But here you will have to get used to it again. In my opinion, the key travel is very soft and sometimes some characters are not printed because you don’t press the buttons hard enough. Luckily, you get used to it pretty quickly.
I would also like to highlight the touchpad.
Mouse movements are very smooth. You get used to the gestures so much that later on other computers a warm memory comes to mind when on a Mac they all worked quickly, correctly and the first time. Response time is very fast. That is, the touch pad is a pleasure to work with. Basically, after a while you get used to it so much that a simple mouse seems big and clumsy. No matter how absurd it may sound.
On the left is the 2015 MacBook Air 13, on the right is its 11-inch brother from 2012.
The screen is noticeably different from other laptops. Here it acts as a kind of calling card, according to which it can be safely used as a standard. Its viewing angles are no worse than those of smartphones, but if we consider the vertical angles, then when the lid is tilted forward as much as possible, some negativity already appears in the picture.
The display has a glossy finish, thanks to which we can make sure that no matter how much we wash our hands, they will still remain dirty. On the other hand, it copes well with direct sunlight, coupled with auto-brightness turned on.
MacBook Air 13" specifications (model MJVE2RU or A1466):
- Intel Core i5 processor with a frequency of 1.6 GHz (chip model I5-5250U, 2 cores, 3 MB cache)
- Turbo Boost processor speed up to 2.7 GHz
- RAM 4 GB LPDDR3 (low power), 1600 MHz
- graphics built-in Intel HD Graphics 6000, 1536 MB DDR3L SDRAM, allocated from free RAM
- screen 13.3 inches, TFT, resolution 1440 x 900 pixels
- front camera FaceTime HD (720p)
- 128 GB SSD hard drive (PCIe slot)
- wireless interfaces Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.0 (with BLE support)
- connectors: 2 USB 3.0 ports, Thunderbolt 2 port, MagSafe 2 power connector, headphone jack (3.5 mm audio output, full EarPods support), SDXC card reader
- Li-Pol battery, 7333 mAh (54 Wh, operating time up to 12 hours with connected Wi-Fi)
- dimensions: 32.5 x 22.7 x 0.3 - 1.7 cm
- weight 1.35 kg
I need to make a small remark. Initially, the built-in Wi-Fi module supports operation in the 802.11 ac range, but due to restrictions of Russian legislation, it is artificially cut to 802.11 a/b/g/n. Want ac support? Buy a laptop abroad.
I won’t talk about the difficulty of switching from Windows to Macintosh, I will only say that the “Apple” operating system has many useful functions that “windows” lack. Although they can be installed on Windows, some falsehood will still be present. And the system works quite quickly and stably, considering its not the most powerful hardware.
There are no problems with the software, but if there is a need for something specific that is not in the official application store, you will have to pay. Well, or live on sites with hacked Mac applications.
I liked the iPhone integration. This is just a small taste of how convenient it is to use several Apple devices at once. Any notification will be displayed inside the interface. You add a calendar event, and it appears on your phone. It's a small thing, but it's convenient.
A few words about autonomy. The laptop has a 7333 mAh battery, which allows you to experience freedom from wires for about 12 hours, according to Apple. The most interesting thing is that the battery life can be longer if you reduce the screen brightness to minimum, turn off all wireless interfaces except Wi-Fi and turn off the keyboard backlight. Then he will be able to hold out for a couple of hours more, but at what cost. It won’t be very comfortable to work in this mode, but it will significantly extend the life of the Mac. In general, the promises of autonomy are true, at least in that the laptop can easily withstand a working day, starting with 100% battery charge.
On the left is an 11-inch MacBook Air 2012, and on the right is our hero
And now the main question: who needs it and why?
Well, firstly, to journalists and bloggers who are engaged specifically in writing. Typing on a MacBook is a pleasure. If you install a good office, it will work even faster than on Windows. Working through cloud systems, such as Google Docs, is also much more pleasant, while battery consumption is kept to a minimum. Well, there is no need to talk about the other advantages of the functionality, you just need to try it and a positive opinion will come by itself.
Who else would it suit? Designers and photographers who deal with graphic editors. There may not be enough power, but it will still be possible to effectively solve some relatively simple problems. The functionality of special Apple software can be the envy of any Windows. What can I say, the optimization of the software component to the hardware is almost ideal.
If you have any other ideas where our hero would fit in 100%, then go ahead in the comments.
As for those who like to play, I have bad news for you. At the very least, it will be possible to run non-productive games, but with some caution. It even launches the original Half Life seemingly immediately and quickly, but from the start of the game the processor begins to work with increased load, while connecting the cooler. In general, it begins to warm up noticeably, and judging by the sound of the cooler, the laptop is planning to take off.
And this, for a moment, is the situation with the game, which was released when this poppy was not in the design drawings!
The situation is worse with more productive games. Let's not go too far - we're talking about Half Life 2.
Then the cooler started blowing from the menu. During the game, it clearly could not cope with the load, which is why almost the entire body became very hot. Therefore, I only managed to play for about an hour, and then I simply began to fear for the further performance of the computer and turned it off out of sin. It's not worth a lot of money.
The maximum modification of our hero has an Intel Core i7 processor with a frequency of 2.2 GHz. I'm afraid that if you run a powerful game on it (for example, Metro 2033), then within 10 minutes the upper part of the case will turn into a hob suitable for preparing breakfast.
What is the essence of this problem? The simple fact is that the Air in particular is simply not designed for gaming. Well, at worst, not so productive. Browser or Flash (for old-school fans) is the maximum.
What would you like to say as a conclusion? The MacBook Air has a number of significant advantages, which form the basis of its competitiveness:
Firstly, these are its dimensions, thickness and, in a general sense, appearance. It feels a little heavy to carry due to the metal body. But here the use of metal is more than advisable. Otherwise it would bend like an iPhone 6.
Secondly, Mac OS, which, although inferior in functionality to Windows, is far ahead in terms of security, stability and speed. Well, she is simply more beautiful, in my subjective opinion.
But there are some downsides here too.
The first and most serious thing is its price. On the other hand, high prices apply to all Apple products, so why be surprised? But there is some reason for the high price.
For example, here’s how Mercedes positions itself: you don’t buy a car, you buy a lifestyle. Owning a Mercedes shows your financial status.
It’s the same here. You pay that kind of money for everything to work comfortably and stably. You are buying a nice appearance, user-friendly operating system, and build quality. Here you are absolutely sure that this computer will not malfunction and will not show the “blue screen of death” for no reason. It is impossible here, while installing the application, accidentally forgetting to uncheck the box, install the Amigo browser and other garbage, which can only be gotten rid of by ritually burning the computer at midnight from February 31st to 32nd. There is no urgent need for an antivirus here.
It seems like I'm praising this computer too much and that I've suddenly become an Apple fan. Not at all. I got to know this product and its entire ecosystem and liked it. I'm sure this is the best computer for work. But for entertainment you should still use good old Windows.
In a couple of months, Apple will introduce a new generation of MacBook with updated hardware. Probably, the presentation of the new product will be reminiscent of the recent presentation of the iPhone SE, which did not leave a good aftertaste. After all, owners of the iPhone 5S can now put a case on it and tell everyone that it has an SE. However, I digress.
The second disadvantage I would call is the limitations of the system.
Let me give you a metaphor: Windows is plasticine. You can mold it into whatever you want. If you are already an adult and know how to work with your hands, then you will get a beautiful figure that will please you and stand firmly on the shelf. But if you give plasticine into the hands of a child who does not know how to sculpt, then all sorts of dirt (for example, viruses, malware) will get into the plasticine and you will end up with a shapeless heap of something incomprehensible, vaguely reminiscent of what you originally wanted, and on an unstable basis , due to which this pile will constantly fall off the shelf.
While the Mac is a brand new 3D printer. Even without knowing how to model beautifully, in the end you still get exactly what you wanted. It is enough to be able to download a CAD model from the Internet and load it into a printing program. The printing itself, in this case, takes place in a clean chamber, without dust and dirt.
The guy in the photo clearly likes him
In any case, whether to buy it or not is up to you to decide. If the choice falls on Mac, then there will definitely be no fear that you will do something wrong and everything will be covered with a copper basin. Plus, you'll look pretty cool sitting with him in some coffee shop. Of course, if this coffee shop is not located in Moscow (you won’t surprise anyone here with “Makom”).
The cost of the MacBook Air 13" of the 2015 model series (the last one at the moment) starts from 77,999 rubles for the version with i5 and 128 GB SSD drive. Of course, we are talking about official deliveries. You can also buy the gray version, but you won’t be able to save much - the purchase will cost 8 thousand less.
I must say that prices have now dropped slightly for a specific device, so you shouldn’t put off the purchase if you are already ready to purchase it.
Already on sale Price: RUB 77,999 or 92,990 rub.
The 13-inch MacBook Air essentially forced competitors to create an entirely new laptop segment, but the venerable ultraportable hasn't gotten enough love from Apple in the past few years. And while the latest generation MacBook Air gets a 5th-generation processor core and fast flash memory, it doesn't get the Retina displays you'll find on other Apple laptops, a redesigned chassis, or cool new features like the ForcePad. However, for RUB 65,000 it offers you the best battery life in its class (14 hours) and high performance, giving it excellent value for money.
What's new?
Basically, the 2015 MacBook Air 13 is quite stingy when it comes to new products. The 13-inch Air now runs on 5th-generation Intel Core i5-5250U processors, Intel Graphics 6000 (Iris graphics only come with the 13-inch MacBook Pro), and upgraded Thunderbolt 2 flash memory. The manufacturer promises twice as much performance. previous generation MacBook Air 13.
- Excellent battery life;
- High overall performance;
- Fast flash memory;
- Comfortable keyboard;
- It's time to update the design;
- Screen resolution is lower than competitors;
Appearance. Apple appears to think it has perfected the design of its 13-inch ultraportable in 2010, and other than the ports, the all-aluminum laptop looks the same as it did five years ago. Let's hope that in the next generation of the laptop, Apple will allow you to choose at least the color that is available in the 12-inch version of the MacBook (Gray, Silver, Gold).
At 1.35kg, the MacBook Air 13 is light enough that you can carry it around all day, although it's heavier than the Lenovo Yoga Pro, which each weighs around 1.2kg. The HP Specter x360 is heavier than Apple's laptop, at 1.47kg, but it offers a wrap-around screen.
Additionally, the MacBook Air's 13-inch display hasn't changed in the last five years. Apple is firmly sticking with a 1440 x 900 pixel panel. Our entire editorial team is disappointed that Apple's 13-inch laptop doesn't have a Retina display, or at least a resolution closer to 1080p.
The MacBook Air's keyboard and touchpad are the same as before. At the time we wrote this review of the Apple MacBook Air 13, 12- and 15-inch MacBook Pros, Apple's innovative ForcePad, which uses haptic feedback instead of a physical mouse and allows you to use a variety of functions depending on how much you click on it.
Great keyboard
The MacBook Air 13 (2015) keyboard hasn't changed, but this is an area where we don't mind sticking with tradition. As long as the keys have about 1mm of travel (we prefer at least 1.5mm), typing on the MacBook Air 13 keyboard remains just as comfortable.
In fact, I prefer the MacBook Air 13's keyboard to its 12-inch counterpart, whose keys are simply too small for extended typing.
Lots of ports
Unlike the 12-inch MacBook, which is limited to just one USB Type-C port, the 13-inch MacBook Air comes with Thunderbolt 2, two USB 3.0 ports, and a MicroSD slot.
The most important addition, in my opinion, is the MagSafe power connector. Why did other laptops abandon this amazing idea?
Incredible battery life
Battery life has remained impressive over the past few generations of MacBook Air 13, and the 2015 model is no different in this regard. In our test (web surfing with active Wi-Fi and screen brightness of 100 nits), the laptop lasted 14 hours. That's two hours longer than Apple said and compared to last year's Air (12:20), and six hours longer than the laptop category average (8:05).
Among competing systems, only the non-touch XPS 13 can boast a close result, 11:42. While they perform better than average, the ASUS UX305 (9:38) and HP Specter x360 (9:28) simply can't match the MacBook Air 13's endurance.
Fast flash memory
The MacBook Air 13's 128GB PCIe flash storage is significantly better than what competitors use. It copies 4.97 GB multimedia files at a speed of 358.4 MB/s. This is twice as fast as last year's model (190.3 MB/s), Yoga Pro 3 (175 MB/s), ASUS UX305 (154.2 MB/s) and HP x360 (141.4 MB/s). With).
Best in class performance
In Geekbench 3 tests, which measure overall system performance, the Core i5-5250U Air 13 scored 5,783, easily edging out the XPS 13 (5,530) and HP x360 (5,614), which use the slightly less powerful Core i5-5200U. The average score for ultraportable systems is 4.523.
The Apple MacBook Air 13 we reviewed also dominated the competition in our address book test, reading 20,000 names and addresses in 4 minutes and 3 seconds. That's a minute faster than the XPS 13 (5:02) and Specter x360 (5:04), and twice as fast as the average (8:33). However, the 2014 Air 13 was even faster, finishing in 3 minutes and 46 seconds.
Mediocre display
I can see only two reasons why Apple is hesitant to increase the resolution of the 13-inch MacBook Air: high-resolution panels use more power, and Apple wants to ensure that the Retina display on the 12-inch MacBook remains special. However, all of the Air's competitors - including those that cost RUB 20,000 less - use at least 1080p panels. Moreover, if Apple boasts the best gaming experience with its Airs, shouldn't it have a screen that lives up to its claims?
With 334 nits of brightness, the Air is on par with the HP x360 (339 nits) and brighter than a typical ultraportable (272 nits), XPS 13 (298), ASUS UX305 (281), and Lenovo Yoga Pro (318).
However, the Air's display falls short in other areas. Apple's MacBook Air 13 review found that it can only cover 65.8 percent of the sRGB color gamut, making it far less colorful than the ultraportable laptop average (78.7%), as well as the XPS 13 (92%), HP x360 (103), Yoga Pro (99) and even the cheap ASUS ZenBook UX305 (94).
Its ability to display colors is also not very accurate. In Delta-E tests it returned a score of 4.3 (closer to zero the better), putting the Air behind the class average (3.4), the HP Specter x360 (1.3) or the UX305 (1. 5), the Dell XPS 13, however, showed an even worse result, 8.1.
Graphics and consequences...
In World of Warcraft, the MacBook Air (2015) managed 32 frames per second with a resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels and graphics in Good mode. This is only slightly better than the playable level (30 fps). At the higher resolution of 1080p, the Dell XPS 13 managed 33fps at the same graphics level, and 24fps at Full graphics.
However, the MacBook Air 2015 outperformed the Air 2014 in Cinebench's OpenGL tests. This year's model scored 24.81 fps, which is much more comfortable than the 18.47 fps of the previous model.
MacBookAir vs 12"MacBook
Suppose you are ready to spend another $300 (RUR 19,500) on top for a 12-inch MacBook, is it worth the candle? In terms of mobility, the MacBook is almost a third of a kilogram lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Air. Apple's smaller laptop offers a better display with a resolution of 2304 x 1440 pixels, which is not only brighter but also has better color reflection.
However, the Air trumps the MacBook when it comes to performance and endurance. The Air's Core i5 processor easily beats the Core MacBook 12, and its flash memory is 100 Mbit faster than the MacBook. The MacBook Air's battery life of 8 hours and 43 minutes is much better than the MacBook 12's five hours. Most importantly, the MacBook only offers one port (USB Type-C), so you'll have to buy adapters if you want to charge the laptop and connect another device simultaneously.
Summing up
The Apple MacBook Air 2015 review showed a nice upgrade over last year's model. You get higher performance and better battery life, always for RUR 65,000. We really liked the comfortable keyboard and precise touchpad, even if the MacBook Air lacks the ForcePad. However, the laptop's design is due for an overhaul and of course buyers deserve a clear and colorful display.
Cheaper, about 6-7,000 rubles, offers an even clearer display with a resolution of 1080p, as well as a lightweight and attractive design. However, it trails the Air's two hours of battery life and isn't quite as fast. If you're not devoted to Apple's operating system, a Dell laptop makes a good alternative, but Mac fans who value endurance will find the 13-inch MacBook Air the best option available.
Not all updates to Apple product lines are created equal. Traditionally, each such line is updated once a year (sometimes more often), but in some years we see a device that is radically different from its predecessor and immediately run to the store to get it, and in others we only dissatisfiedly ask “That’s it?”, having studied the list innovations of the updated gadget.
Unfortunately, Apple MacBook Air 13 Early 2014 belongs to the second group. And, nevertheless, it is a worthy device. In this review we will talk about the characteristics of this MacBook Air and what the MacBook Air 13-inch version 2014 does release is different from its predecessor.
It must be said that the design of Apple laptops generally changes rarely and insignificantly from generation to generation. So you may not be surprised to learn that the 2014 version of the laptop looks completely indistinguishable from the 2013 model. However, in defense of the hero of the review, we note that the 2013 model was also a complete twin of its ancestors.
However, we still have to talk about the main points. The laptop is presented in an all-metal aluminum case, which is almost resistant to scratches and other hiccups, but (!) even with a slight fall, dents are most likely unavoidable - well, the only good thing is that laptops do not “fly” as often as smartphones.
The color of the case is noble silver, we would even say dark silver, which gives it a double advantage - both refined and not easily soiled.
There is a delicious “apple” on the lid of the laptop, which lights up as soon as you press the Macbook’s power button.
As for the thickness of the case - the main feature of Apple laptops compared to laptops and even ultrabooks of competing brands, it has also not changed, but is still impressive, amounting to only 17 mm - and this is the maximum value; in some points of the case it reaches 3 mm.
The weight of the 2014 model is, again, the same as its predecessor - 1.35 kg.
Performance
This section will be the only one where we will talk about changes. At the heart of the MacBook Air 13 Early 2014 is the Intel Core i5-4260U chipset, the maximum clock speed of which is 1.4 GHz, and at turbo speed it can accelerate to 2.7 GHz. Last year's model was equipped with an Intel Core i5-4250U processor and, it would seem, a different version of the processor = a lot of innovations, but the 4250 chipset differs from the 4260 only in clock frequency and the difference is minimal - only 100 MHz, that is, the performance of the processor of the 2013 model is as follows - 1 .3 GHz in normal mode and 2.6 GHz in turbo. Modest, isn't it? Especially considering that the processor is the only difference between the 2013 and 2014 Macbook versions.
RAM capacity MacBook Air 13 Early 2014 - 4 GB, built-in depending on the version - 128, 256 and 512 GB. Everything is the same as the MacBook Air 13 Early 2013 - exactly like a carbon copy.
By the way, a funny point, every MacBook has a kind of Pro version with a more powerful processor and double RAM, but in the 2013 and 2014 versions these advanced versions are completely no different from each other - they run on an Intel Core i7-4650U with 8 GB RAM.
Controls and Connectors
So, let us repeat once again - all the differences between the Macbook models of 2013 and 2014 are over, then we simply present the characteristics of the MacBook Air 13 Early 2014, but you must understand that they are completely identical to the MacBook Air 13 Early 2013.
The 2014 MacBook Air has two controls - a keyboard and a fairly large touchpad - Apple does not support the trend for touch displays set by ultrabook manufacturers.
The island-type keyboard is very comfortable due to the large distance between the buttons. It must be said that the keyboard unit is also part of the all-metal case, although the surface on which the buttons are located is slightly recessed.
The keyboard is backlit and, importantly, the level can be adjusted, which is great news for those users who often have to work in the dark and in poor lighting conditions. The layout of the keys is classic - the top row is given to F1-F12 and control buttons. The on/off key is located in the upper right corner.
The touchpad supports multi-touch and has a respectable size of 10.5x7.5 cm.
Now about the connectors - as the Apple giant likes, there are not many of them - two USB 3rd generation ports - one on the left and one on the right, the classic Apple Thunderbolt port , microphone/headphone/headset jack , as well as a card reader for SDXC memory cards. There is traditionally no network port, that is, only a wireless protocol is available, but if you really need to set up a wired interface, you can purchase an adapter and work with a USB or Thunderbolt port.
Display
MacBook Air 13 Early 2014 is equipped with a 13-inch LCD display Samsung model LSN133BT01A02 resolution 1440x990 pixels with LED backlighting. As we noted above, the display is not touch-sensitive.
The screen is equipped with oleophobic properties - fingerprints are reluctant to stick to it, and even if they do stick, it’s not at all difficult to get rid of them. Special protective technologies make the display also resistant to scratches.
As advantages, I would also like to note the good anti-glare characteristics, the brightness reserve is sufficient both for a bright sunny day (working in the park on a fine day can be done without problems), and for conditions of complete darkness (climbing on social networks when everyone at home is already asleep can also be done comfortably ). Automatic brightness adjustment works well.
As for the viewing angles, they are good, but, let's say, not brilliant. The color gamut is narrow, and the gray balance is not pleasing. However, these are all classic problems with TN screens.
Sound and noise
The sound of the MacBook Air 13 Early 2014 is provided by the HDA Cirrus Logic CS4208 codec and two speakers. In general, the sound of the laptop can be characterized as very good. The sound is clear, expressive, and the volume reserve is large.
As for the noise parameters, I also want to praise the laptop here; at minimal loads, the cooler does not work and the laptop does not make any noise at all. At medium loads, the fan is activated and the noise level rises, reaching 41 dB at maximum load, which is quite a lot. For example, the “noise” parameter of human speech is 45-60 dB, depending on the volume of the voice. In short, 41 dB is not at all quiet, but the laptop rarely goes to this level. In addition, it is enough to slightly reduce the load and the device will become noticeably quieter.
Autonomy
And finally, the last, but by no means least important indicator is autonomy. This is not to say that the parameters here are outstanding, but they are not bad. In the mode of playing videos from Youtube, for example, the laptop will last 9-10 hours, in a more light mode - working with documents, photos, listening to music will last all 12.
conclusions
Well, let's summarize. The MacBook Air 13 Early 2014 differs from its predecessor only in the processor, but this, however, does not make it bad. On the contrary, the hero of our review is a very worthy device, although (here everything is the same as with autonomy) and not outstanding. Yes, they still buy it, although buying it today is not so easy, even on Yandex.Market it says sternly “Not for sale.” Probably buy a MacBook Air 13 Early 2014 now Can only be purchased at a piece price. But whether to do this or not is a big question.
Yes, at the beginning of the Macbook “path” a more stylish, more powerful and thinner laptop could not be found, however, the golden days of laptops with apples have already passed; today there are a lot of competitive ultrabooks and laptops that, in one way or another, can give odds to even the most modern Macbook, not to mention the 2014 version . However, if you have long dreamed of a laptop with a glowing “apple” on the lid, and have just saved up money for it, look for a seller, buy it and be happy!
At the end of April this year, Apple introduced updated models of 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air laptops (early 2014 models) with Intel Haswell processors. These laptops traditionally received an unofficial addition to the name “Early 2014”, which makes it easy to distinguish them from previous models.
In general, traditionally, updated laptop models are expected to at least have higher performance. However, the new MacBook Air models are almost no different from last year's models; we are talking only about cosmetic changes in the basic configuration, which have virtually no effect on performance. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves and talk about new laptops using the 13-inch example.
Model range and configuration
Detailed specifications of the 13-inch MacBook Air laptop model (Early 2014), which we tested, are presented in the table.
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4260U | |
| Chipset | N/A | |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR3-1600 | |
| Video subsystem | Intel HD Graphics 5000 | |
| Screen | 13.3 inches (1440x900), glossy (Samsung LSN133BT01A02) |
|
| Sound subsystem | Cirrus Logic CS4208 | |
| Storage device | Apple SSD SD0256F (256 GB) | |
| Optical drive | No | |
| Card reader | SDXC | |
| Network interfaces | Wired network | No |
| Wireless network | Broadcom BCM4360 (802.11b/g/n/ac) | |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.0 | |
| Interfaces and ports | USB (3.0/2.0) | 2/0 |
| Thunderbolt | There is | |
| Microphone input | yes (combined) | |
| Headphone output | yes (combined) | |
| Input Devices | Keyboard | island type with lighting |
| Touchpad | clickpad | |
| IP telephony | Webcam | HD (720p) |
| Microphone | There is | |
| Battery | 4-cell lithium polymer, capacity 54.4 Wh (7150 mAh; 7.6 V) | |
| Dimensions | 325×227×17 mm (3 mm at the thinnest point) | |
| Weight without power supply | 1.35 kg (with battery) | |
| Power adapter | 45 W (14.85 V; 3.05 A) | |
The 13-inch MacBook Air (Early 2014) is based on a 22-nanometer fourth-generation processor (codenamed Haswell) with a nominal clock speed of 1.4 GHz, which can be increased to 2.7 GHz in Turbo Boost mode. Its L3 cache size is 3 MB and its TDP is 15 W. Optionally, the new 13-inch MacBook Air laptops can be equipped with a more powerful dual-core processor with a clock frequency of 1.7 GHz (Turbo Boost frequency up to 3.3 GHz) and 4 MB L3 cache.
Note that the 13-inch model of the MacBook Air laptop from last year (Mid 2013) in the basic version was equipped with a dual-core processor with a nominal clock frequency of 1.3 GHz (frequency in Turbo Boost mode - up to 2.6 GHz). As you can see, in terms of the processor, the changes are minimal: in the basic configuration, models with a clock frequency of 100 MHz higher were used, and in the maximum configuration, nothing has changed at all - the same Intel Core i7-4650U processor.
Let us recall that the Intel Core i5-4260U and Intel Core i7-4650U models are SoCs, that is, they combine the computing cores of the processor, the graphics core (Intel HD Graphics 5000), and the chipset.
Like last year's models, the new 13-inch MacBook Air comes with 4GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM. Moreover, the memory is soldered on the board (that is, it cannot be replaced), but at least it works in dual-channel mode, which is important when using a graphics core integrated into the processor. We also note that MacBook Air laptops can optionally be equipped with 8 GB of memory.
The 13-inch MacBook Air (Early 2014) laptops traditionally use SSD drives with a PCI Express x2 interface. Laptops can be equipped with storage capacities of 128, 256 and 512 GB. Our version had a 256 GB SSD installed, which was identified as Apple SSD SD0256F.
The communications capabilities of the MacBook Air laptop are determined by the presence of a dual-band (2.4 and 5 MHz) wireless module based on the Broadcom BCM4360 chip, which supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac standards. Let us recall that the 802.11ac standard provides for the possibility of using from 2 to 8 spatial communication channels with a width of 20, 40, 80 or 160 MHz, and the maximum theoretical speed per one 160 MHz channel is 866 Mbit/s.
The Broadcom BCM4360 chip can use a maximum of three 80 MHz wide spatial communication channels, which allows for a maximum throughput of 1.3 Gbps. However, the MacBook Air has only two antennas, which allows you to form two spatial communication channels and, accordingly, the maximum speed will be no more than 866 Mbit/s, which, nevertheless, is still very high. In addition to Wi-Fi support, the MacBook Air laptop also includes a Bluetooth 4.0 module. Note that the Broadcom BCM4360 chip was also used in last year’s MacBook Air laptops.
We also add that the laptop has a webcam (720p), located centrally above the screen, and built-in stereo speakers.
So, if we talk about the hardware configuration, the updated models of MacBook Air laptops are practically no different from last year’s models. More precisely, the basic configuration is equipped with only a slightly more powerful processor, and the top configuration is no different at all.
| Characteristics | 13-inch MacBook Air (Mid 2013) | 13-inch MacBook Air (Early 2014) |
| operating system | Mac OS X 10.8.4 | Mac OS X 10.9.3 |
| Screen | 13.3 inches (1440x900) | 13.3 inches (1440x900) |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4250U Intel Core i7-4650U | Intel Core i5-4260U Intel Core i7-4650U |
| Graphics core | Intel HD Graphics 5000 | Intel HD Graphics 5000 |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR3L-1600 8 GB DDR3L-1600 | 4 GB DDR3L-1600 8 GB DDR3L-1600 |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Flash storage capacity, GB | 128 256 512 | 128 256 512 |
| Connectors | 2 × USB 3.0 1 x Thunderbolt SDXC memory card slot | 2 × USB 3.0 1 x Thunderbolt SDXC memory card slot headset combo jack (3.5mm) |
| Wireless module | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Webcam | 720p | 720p |
| dimensions | 325×227×17-3 mm | 300×227×17-3 mm |
| Weight, kg | 1,35 | 1,35 |
It would seem that since the new MacBook Air laptops are actually quite new, we can finish our review here, referring to a year ago dedicated to the 13-inch MacBook Air laptop (Mid 2013). However, taking this opportunity, we decided to conduct a more detailed test of this laptop not only with the standard Mac OS X operating system, but also under Windows 8, and therefore we will continue.
Equipment
The 13-inch MacBook Air laptop has standard equipment for Apple laptops. It comes in a massive box without a handle. The overall dimensions of the box are 360x265x70 mm, and its weight is 2.2 kg.
Inside the packaging box, in addition to the laptop itself, there is a MagSafe 2 charger (45 W), an extension cord for the charger, two booklets with operating instructions and, of course, Apple stickers. That is, the package includes only everything you need, without additional bonuses.
Appearance
The design of MacBook Air laptops has remained unchanged for many years (there are only minor changes that are invisible to the eye). The body of the 2014 models is indistinguishable from the body of the 2013 models, and they, in turn, are no different from the models of previous years.
Considering that there is nothing new in terms of design, let’s just briefly recall the main points. So, the MacBook Air body is all-metal (made of aluminum) and has a noble silver color. On the lid of the laptop there is a traditional Apple logo, which is highlighted when the laptop is turned on.
Of course, the main distinguishing feature of MacBook Air laptops is their unprecedentedly thin design. In the 11- and 13-inch models of 2014, the thickness ranges from 0.3 to 1.7 cm. Note that the thickness of the case has not changed compared to the 2013 models. The body width of the 13-inch model is 32.5 cm and the depth is 22.7 cm. The weight of the laptop is only 1.35 kg.
The interior design of the MacBook Air laptop is made to match the exterior. The screen frame, like the entire body, is made of aluminum. The surface framing the keyboard and touchpad is also metal.
Keyboard and touchpad
Since we have already written about the keyboard and touchpad of the MacBook Air, let us just briefly recall that these laptops use an island-type keyboard with an increased distance between the keys. The surface under the keyboard is uniform with the rest of the surface, but slightly recessed. That is, holes are simply cut into the surface of the case for each button on the keyboard.
The keyboard keys have adjustable backlighting, which is convenient when typing in the dark. The top row of keys traditionally has two functions: either traditional F1-F12, or laptop control functions (brightness, sound, key backlight level, etc.); one set works directly, the second - in combination with the Fn function key. The rightmost button in this row is responsible for turning on/off the laptop.
The touchpad in the MacBook Air laptop, like the keyboard, has not changed compared to the 2013 model. It supports the multi-touch function and has a size of 10.5x7.5 cm, which is quite enough for comfortable work.
Connectors
As for the connectors in the new MacBook Air models, they have not changed compared to the 2013 models. There are two USB 3.0 ports (one on the left and one on the right), Apple's traditional Thunderbolt port, a combined Apple microphone/headphone/headset port, and an SDXC card reader.
As before, there is no RJ-45 network port (only a wireless interface). But if a network port is absolutely necessary, then you can use the appropriate adapter for a USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt port, which is purchased separately.
Screen
The 13-inch MacBook Air laptop is equipped with a Samsung LSN133BT01A02 LED-backlit LCD screen with a resolution of 1440×900 pixels. The exact screen size is 287x180mm (diagonal size 13.3 inches). It has a glossy finish and is not touch sensitive. In fact, last year's MacBook Air laptop used exactly the same model of LCD screen. Nevertheless, we tested the screen again, but in order not to repeat ourselves, we tested not with a truncated program, but with the full program.
Note that all screen hardware tests were carried out with the Windows 8 (64-bit) operating system installed on the laptop.
The front surface of the screen is apparently formed by a plastic, but relatively hard and scratch-resistant plate with a mirror-smooth surface, which has some oleophobic (grease-repellent) properties. The finger does not glide across the surface of the screen well, but fingerprints appear at a lower speed and are removed more easily than with regular glass. Judging by the brightness of reflected objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are noticeably better than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photograph in which a white surface is reflected in the screens of both devices (Apple MacBook Air is on the left, then they can be distinguished by size):
Due to the difference in color tone and frame color, it is difficult to visually assess which screen is darker, but the brightness determined from the photo shows a clear victory for the MacBook Air - 45 versus 91 for the Nexus 7 (average gray scale brightness 0-255). Note that in this test the MacBook Air was turned on, but its screen backlight was turned off. This is due to the fact that when the MacBook Air screen is turned on, it has better anti-glare properties than when it is turned off. From a practical point of view, the anti-glare properties of the screen are so good that even direct reflection of bright light sources does not interfere much with the work. We did not find any significant doubling of objects reflected on the screen, that is, there is no air gap in the layers of the screen, which, however, is expected for an LCD screen without a touch layer and/or protective glass.
When manually controlling the brightness, its maximum value was 330 cd/m²; with the minimum brightness adjustment value, the backlight turns off completely, and in the first step (using hot keys) of adjustment from the minimum position, the brightness is 29 cd/m². As a result, at maximum brightness in bright daylight (taking into account what was said above about anti-glare properties), the screen remains readable, and in complete darkness the screen brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front camera eye). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 29 cd/m² (acceptable), in an office illuminated by artificial light (about 400 lux) it sets it to 303 cd/m² (it could have been lower), in very bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more), the brightness increases to 330 cd/m² (to the maximum - this is how it should be); if the adjustment is 50%, then the values are as follows: 14 (low), 144 (normal) and 162 cd/m² (low), the regulator at 0% is 1.4, 26 and 29 cd/m² (always very dim). It cannot be said that this function works flawlessly, however, the first option of the three is closest to the optimal one. At high and medium brightness levels there is no significant backlight modulation. There is some modulation in the first step from zero brightness, but its frequency is very high - about 10 kHz - and the relative amplitude is small. As a result, at any brightness level there is no screen flicker.
The MacBook Air uses a TN LCD matrix, so the screen has good viewing angles without inverting shades and without a large color shift when looking horizontally, but when looking down, dark colors are inverted, and when looking up, light colors are inverted. For comparison, here are photographs in which identical images are displayed on the screens of the Nexus 7 and the device under test, with the brightness of both screens set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera forced to switch to 6500 K. Test picture perpendicular to the screens:
It can be seen that the colors on the MacBook Air screen are noticeably distorted and the image is less saturated. And a white field:
Note that the uniformity of brightness and color tone of the MacBook Air is good. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the screen plane along the long side:
It can be seen that when deviating in this direction, the color distortions are not very large; on the contrary, the picture even improved in color. When deflected, the MacBook Air's screen brightness drops quickly. As an example, here is a photograph with a white field, taken with a downward deviation of 45 degrees:
The brightness at this angle for both screens decreased noticeably (shutter speed increased), but in the case of the MacBook Air the drop in brightness is greater. When tilted upward (45 degrees), the image becomes very bright, and details in the highlights disappear:
When the deviation is downward (45 degrees), everything is much worse:
The colors are turned inside out. When the view deviates from the perpendicular to the screen, the black field brightens quite strongly. For example, let's give the best case - downward deviation (also 45 degrees):
When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is good, but not ideal:
The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is good - 845:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 18 ms (14 ms on + 4 ms off), the transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 46 ms. The matrix, although TN, is not particularly fast. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, revealed a significant drop in the shadows (shade 16, 16, 16 is still indistinguishable in brightness from black), but in the highlights the shades are clearly distinguishable. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.30, which is slightly higher than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve in the shadows slightly deviates from the power-law dependence:
Let us recall that these results were obtained with the sensor orientation strictly perpendicular to the screen surface. The slightest vertical deviation in the case of TN changes everything. Color gamut less than sRGB:
Apparently, the matrix’s light filters mix the components with each other. The spectra confirm this:
This technique allows you to increase the brightness of the screen with the same energy consumption for the backlight, but the colors lose their saturation (remember that most digital images - illustrations, photographs, videos and films - are optimized for display on screens with sRGB coverage or very close to it) . Note that such spectra with a relatively narrow blue peak and wide humps of green and red colors are typical for screens that use LED backlighting with a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor. There is no shade balance on the gray scale as such - the color temperature of the white point is the standard 6500 K, but it grows very quickly as the lightness of the gray shade decreases:
The deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is not extremely large, but varies greatly from hue to hue, which also worsens the visual perception of color balance:
Let's summarize. The screen of the Apple MacBook Air laptop has a relatively high maximum brightness and has very good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works more or less adequately. Also, the advantages of the screen include the absence of screen flickering, and that’s where the “buns” end. Further disadvantages: typical TN distortions of colors and brightness of shades when the gaze deviates from perpendicular to the screen plane (especially vertically and especially downwards), blockage in the shadows when looking directly at the screen, narrow color gamut and disgusting balance of shades of gray. This laptop is comfortable for working with text in a wide range of ambient lighting, but more or less serious work with images is not recommended. By the way, testing of the previous model MacBook Air, which seems to use a similar matrix, gave very similar results in terms of the main parameters, except for color balance assessment. Apparently, this is due to the fact that when using a laptop with a native operating system, color correction is performed by default. There is nothing stopping you from activating it under Windows; this will improve the color balance, but the matrix type will remain the same.
Sound path
The audio subsystem of the MacBook Air laptop is based on the Cirrus Logic CS4208 HDA codec, and two speakers are built into the laptop body.
According to subjective feelings, the acoustics in this laptop are quite good. The volume level is quite sufficient, and the sound quality will satisfy most users. To evaluate the output audio path intended for connecting headphones or external speakers, we resorted to instrumental testing using an external Creative E-MU 0204 USB sound card and the RightMark Audio Analyzer 6.3.0 utility. Testing was carried out for stereo mode, 24-bit/44.1 kHz and, of course, with the Windows 8 operating system installed (similar testing under Mac OS is simply impossible). According to the test results, the audio path in the MacBook Air laptop received a “Very Good” rating. The full report with testing results in the RMAA 6.3.0 program is posted on a separate page, followed by a short report.
| Frequency response unevenness (in the range 40 Hz - 15 kHz), dB | 0,07, −0,13 | Very good |
| Noise level, dB (A) | Very good |
|
| Dynamic range, dB (A) | Very good |
|
| Harmonic distortion,% | ||
| Harmonic distortion + noise, dB (A) | ||
| Intermodulation distortion + noise, % | Very good |
|
| Interpenetration of channels, dB | ||
| Intermodulation at 10 kHz, % | ||
| Overall rating | Very good |
|
Noise level
The noise level was measured in a special sound-absorbing chamber, and the sensitive microphone was positioned relative to the laptop so as to simulate the typical position of the user's head. To stress the processor, we used the AIDA64 utility (Stress FPU stress test) with the Windows 8 operating system installed.
In idle mode, the fan does not turn on at all, so the laptop does not make any noise.
When the processor is under stress, the noise level emitted by the laptop increases to 41 dBA. This is quite a lot, and at this noise level the laptop will stand out from other devices even in a not very quiet room. However, it is important to emphasize that in most cases (working with office applications, watching videos, surfing the Internet) this laptop is practically inaudible, and in order to make it make noise, you need to specially create conditions for stressful CPU load. Moreover, it is worth noting that the cooling system is quite inert, and even when the processor temperature exceeds 90°C, the fan does not start rotating at full speed immediately, but after some time. When the processor cools down, the same thing happens: the processor temperature drops to 50°C, and the cooling system fan continues to rotate for some time (about a minute).
| Load scenario | Noise level |
| Idle mode | No | 41.5 dBA |
Battery life
We measured the laptop's offline operating time using our method using the iXBT Battery Benchmark v.1.0 script. Let us remind you that we measure battery life at a screen brightness of 100 cd/m² and with the Windows 8 (64-bit) operating system installed. MPC-HC x64 was used as a video player.
So, the test results are as follows:
| Load scenario | Working hours |
| Watch video | 5 hours 18 minutes |
| Working with text and viewing photos | 9 hours 43 minutes |
In principle, under Windows 8, battery life is good, but by no means outstanding. There are ultrabooks that provide better battery life.
However, our measurements were made under Windows 8. Under Mac OS X, the manufacturer claims up to 12 hours of battery life in wireless Internet connection mode and up to 10 hours in video playback mode via iTunes. In principle, there is no reason not to trust this data. So, for last year's MacBook Air Mid 2013 model, we measured battery life in video viewing mode. At maximum screen brightness, a Full HD movie downloaded from the App Store could be viewed offline via iTunes for 9 hours and 6 minutes. This result is fully consistent with what the manufacturer claims.
Testing under Mac OS X
Compared to Windows systems, there are a very limited number of benchmarks for Mac OS X-based solutions. The most popular are Geekbench, and, which we used to test the 13-inch MacBook Air laptop (Early 2014).
So, let's start with the Geekbench benchmark. The current version of this test is 3.1.6.
In the Geekbench 3 test, which measures processor and RAM performance, the 13-inch MacBook Air (Early 2014) scored 5,368 in dual-core mode and 2,750 in single-core mode.
More detailed testing results using the Geekench 3 benchmark are presented in the table:
| Geekbench 3 test | single core mode | dual core mode |
| Geekbench Score | 2750 | 5368 |
| Integer score | 2819 | 6024 |
| Floating Point Score | 2805 | 6080 |
| Memory Score | 2504 | 2632 |
In order to be able to compare the test results of last year's 13-inch MacBook Air laptop (Mid 2013) on an Intel Core i5-4250U processor with the test results of our MacBook Air laptop (Early 2014), we also used the previous version of the Geekbench benchmark (version 2.3.4) , for which we had test results for the MacBook Air (Mid 2013) laptop.
Note that the MacBook Air (Mid 2013) laptop was tested with the Mac OS X 10.8.2 operating system, and the MacBook Air (Early 2014) laptop was tested with the Mac OS X 10.9.3 operating system. The results of comparative testing are presented in the table.
| Geekbench 2 test | MacBook Air (Mid 2013) | MacBook Air (Early 2014) |
| Score | 6783 | 7306 |
| Integer | 5086 | 5301 |
| Floating Point | 8751 | 9244 |
| Memory | 6238 | 7347 |
| Stream | 6927 | 7460 |
In the Novabench comprehensive benchmark, the 13-inch MacBook Air (Early 2014) scored 620 points.
A comparison with the test results of the MacBook Air (Mid 2013) laptop is presented in the table:
| NovaNench test | MacBook Air (Mid 2013) | MacBook Air (Early 2014) |
| NovaBench Score | 587 | 620 |
| System RAM | 130 | 131 |
| CPU Test | 357 | 389 |
| Graphics Test | 44 | 44 |
| Hardware Test | 56 | 56 |
The next benchmark is the synthetic rendering test Cinebench R15 from Maxon. Rendering can be done using either the CPU or GPU (OpenGL).
The last test is the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, which measures the performance of the drive. The results of this test are impressive: the 13-inch MacBook Air (Early 2014) with the Apple SSD SD0256F (256 GB) SSD drive has a read speed of 727.4 MB/s and a write speed of 554 MB/s.
It is interesting to note that for the 13-inch MacBook Air (Mid 2013), which also has a 256 GB SSD, the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test results are somewhat more modest: a read speed of 730 MB/s, and a write speed of only 318.6 MB/s . Apparently, the MacBook Air (Early 2014) laptop uses a different drive. For Apple, SSD drives are produced by Samsung and SanDisk. For example, Apple SSD SD0256F is SanDisk (SD), and if the drive is defined as Apple SSD SM0256F, it is Samsung (SM). Moreover, it is impossible to determine in advance which drive you will get a laptop with.
Testing under Windows 8
As already noted, we tested both using the standard Mac OS X 10.9.3 operating system and the Windows 8 (64-bit) operating system installed via Boot Camp. In passing, we note that there are no problems installing Windows 8 on the MacBook Air.
Of course, the Windows 8 operating system has significantly greater capabilities in terms of testing and diagnosing the system. We will start with diagnostic tests of the AIDA64 utility.
Work under load and in idle mode
In idle mode, as it should be, the processor frequency in the laptop is 800 MHz (naturally, we are talking about a balanced power consumption scheme), that is, there are no complaints about Intel SpeedStep technology. The processor temperature in this mode is approximately 40°C.
When the processor is loaded with the Stress CPU test (AIDA64 Extreme Edition utility - a system stability test), which uses integer calculations, the processor frequency is 2.4 GHz. The processor temperature in this load mode increases to 92°C, that is, it actually reaches its maximum value.
When the processor is loaded with the Stress FPU test, which uses floating point calculations and heats up the processor to a greater extent, the core temperature reaches a critical threshold and throttling mode begins. In this case, the processor frequency is reduced to 2.0 GHz.
In the mode of simultaneous loading of both the processor cores (Stress FPU) and the graphics core (Stress GPU), the processor cores operate at a frequency of 1.4 GHz and a throttling mode is also observed.
In general, it must be stated that the cooling system in the MacBook Air laptop is not very effective. Of course, the laptop is very quiet, but in this case it is more of a minus than a plus. On the other hand, if you do not plan to seriously load the processor, the cooling system will do its job, providing comfortable silence.
Memory subsystem and drive performance
According to the AIDA64 Cache & Memory Benchmark utility, the memory write speed is 20693 MB/s, and the read speed is 24887 MB/s. For DDR3-1600 memory (peak bandwidth 12800 MB/s) in dual-channel operating mode, these are quite typical indicators.
The AIDA64 GPGPU Benchmark utility gives approximately similar results for RAM. In addition, this utility allows you to determine the GPU memory access speed, as well as some GPU and CPU performance indicators.
As already noted, the data storage subsystem in the MacBook Air laptop is an SSD drive with a PCI Express x2 interface (in our case, Apple SSD SD0256F).
The ATTO Disk Benchmark utility determines the maximum sequential read speed at 770 MB/s, and the sequential write speed at about 590 MB/s. It should be noted that this is a very good result for an SSD drive. We also note that diagnostic utilities for Mac OS X and Windows 8 have come to a consensus regarding SSD performance.
Performance in Windows 8
To evaluate the performance of the MacBook Air laptop (Early 2014), we used our performance measurement methodology using the iXBT Notebook Benchmark v.1.0 and iXBT Game Benchmark v.1.0 benchmarks.
The test results in the iXBT Notebook Benchmark v.1.0 are shown in the table. In addition, for clarity, we also added to the table the results of testing a desktop PC based on an Intel Core i7-4770K processor (in normal operation).
| Logical test group | Reference system | Core i7-4770K (standard mode) | MacBook Air (Early 2014) |
| Video conversion, points | 100 | 371,0 | 115,0 |
| MediaCoder x64 0.8.25.5560, seconds | 408,1 | 110,0 | 354,9 |
| Video content creation, points | 100 | 296,0 | 107,5 |
| Adobe Premiere Pro CC, seconds | 1115,7 | 324,1 | 1011,1 |
| Adobe After Effects CC, seconds | 1975,4 | 674,4 | 1854,4 |
| Photodex ProShow Gold 5.0.3276, seconds | 913,6 | 370,2 | 864,0 |
| Digital photo processing, points | 100 | 217,2 | 138,1 |
| Adobe Photoshop CC, seconds | 1834,0 | 844,2 | 1327,8 |
| Audio processing, points | 100 | 216,9 | 110,0 |
| Adobe Audition CC, seconds | 880 | 405,7 | 799,9 |
| Text recognition, points | 100 | 305,8 | 106,7 |
| Abbyy FineReader 11, seconds | 115,3 | 37,7 | 108,0 |
| Archiving and unarchiving data, points | 100 | 229,0 | 102,1 |
| WinRAR 5.0 archiving, seconds | 313,8 | 107,7 | 316,5 |
| WinRAR 5.0 unzipping, seconds | 12,6 | 7,06 | 12,0 |
| Application and content loading speed, points | 100 | 166,9 | 134,4 |
| Application and content loading speed, seconds | 157,4 | 94,3 | 117,1 |
| Integral performance result, points | 100 | 249,7 | 115,6 |
The test results are as follows. In terms of integrated performance in Windows applications, the MacBook Air (Early 2014) laptop is only 15% superior to the reference system based on the Intel Core i5-3317U processor. Of course, this is a more than modest result, and in general we can say that in terms of performance in non-gaming Windows applications, the MacBook Air (Early 2014) is only slightly superior to a typical 2013 ultrabook.
As for comparison with a powerful modern desktop PC, its integrated performance is more than twice that of the MacBook Air (Early 2014).
Now let's look at the results of testing the MacBook Air (Early 2014) in Windows games. When testing in games, a screen resolution of 1366x768 was used.
| Game test | Maximum quality | Minimum quality | ||
| Average FPS | Minimum FPS value | Average FPS | Minimum FPS value | |
| Aliens vs Predator D3D11 Benchmark | 9,1 | - | 32,0 | - |
| Grid 2 | 12,5 | 12,0 | 49,9 | 37,4 |
| Bioshock Infinite | 10,2 | 2,3 | 35,5 | 15,1 |
| Word of Tanks | 23,5 | 4,7 | 57,9 | 27,7 |
| Metro:LL | 4,6 | 2,0 | 15,5 | 8,0 |
| Hitman: Absolution | 4,2 | 3,4 | 19,4 | 13,0 |
So, as can be seen from the test results, with the minimum quality settings, the MacBook Air (Early 2014) laptop allows you to comfortably play most games (only Metro: LL and Hitman: Absolution will be slow). But with settings at maximum quality, you won’t be able to play at this resolution.
According to our measurement methodology, the 13-inch MacBook Air (Early 2014) receives 7 points out of 11 possible in the minimum quality setting and 0 points in the maximum quality setting.
conclusions
So let's summarize. First of all, we note once again that the updated version of the 13-inch MacBook Air laptop (Early 2014) updated is very conditional. In the basic configuration, the updated model is equipped with an Intel Core i5-4260U processor, while last year's models in the basic configuration were equipped with Intel Core i5-4250U processors. Actually, this is the only difference between the basic configurations of this and last year. Well, the top configuration has not changed at all - as before, it is equipped with an Intel Core i7-4650U processor. It is clear that with such “updates” one cannot expect any increase in performance. When using the Windows 8 operating system, the 13-inch MacBook Air (Early 2014) with an Intel Core i5-4250U processor in non-gaming applications is only 15% faster than the performance of a typical ultrabook from last year with an Intel Core i5-3317U processor.
If we talk about the cost of the MacBook Air (Early 2014), then in the initial configuration (Intel Core i5-4260U processor, 4 GB DDR3 memory, 128 GB SSD) it is 45,990 rubles, and in the top configuration (Intel Core i7-4650U processor, 8 GB DDR3 memory, 512 GB SSD) - 76 thousand rubles. In our opinion, if the laptop is intended to be used with the Windows operating system, then the 13-inch MacBook Air (Early 2014) is not the best option. Yes, this is a legendary, prestigious, stylish, thin laptop with an excellent keyboard and a very high-quality audio system. And at one time, it was the MacBook Air that served as the prototype for all ultrabooks. But, on the other hand, by today’s standards it is no longer the lightest or thinnest, and the screen resolution is quite modest (this, however, can be considered a plus in these days). When it comes to running a Windows laptop, its performance (in the basic configuration) and battery life are not impressive. And if even a year ago the MacBook Air could be considered as a worthy alternative to many ultrabooks, today, especially taking into account the fact that this laptop has remained almost unchanged, you can find a better and cheaper option for Windows applications. Well, for the Mac OS X operating system, the MacBook Air was and remains the cheapest option (unless, of course, you compare the top-end configuration of the MacBook Air with the minimum configuration of the MacBook Pro), so the choice here is obvious.