Apple MacBook Air (2013)

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Apple’s most recent refresh of the MacBook Air updates the processor to Intel’s fourth-generation, ultra-low-voltage Core i5-4250U, which nominally runs at 1.3GHz, although it’ll ramp up and down as needs require, with Turbo Boost up to 2.6GHz. There’s an option to upgrade to a Core i7-4650U, at 1.7GHz Boosting up to 3.3GHz (although this will take a small toll on battery life, we’d expect around 20 per cent). GeekBench reported a score of 6051 for the MacBook Air, a large improvement from the 4543 of the previous mid-2011 Air, and moreso from the 2045 of the mid-2010 Air before. The new Intel processor has a lot of power up its sleeve when you need it, but it’s able to ramp down when you don’t, using barely any processing power unless you’re typing or clicking away. No component of the MacBook Air is easily user-serviceable, so if you want more RAM or a bigger solid-state drive, you’re better off just choosing these when you initially purchase the Air. This is a downside for those that want to tinker, but the trade-off of this entirely closed-off system is the extra space can be filled by a particularly impressive battery — increased in size, but not weight, over the previous iteration. The battery life of the 13-inch MacBook Air, naturally the more impressive of the two models available, is impressive. Apple claims battery life of up to 12 hours of ‘wireless Web’, up to 10 hours of iTunes movie playback, and up to 30 days of standby time as made possible by the fourth-generation Intel chipset’s excellent energy-saving states. We managed a full 9hrs 20min of battery life from the MacBook Air while playing 720p HD video through VLC, with Wi-Fi running in the background, and the display back-light at 75 per cent. Playing back 1080p Full HD video, this figure drops to 5hrs 41min, still excellent. We measured an average time of 1hr 53min for the MacBook Air to charge from completely empty to completely full (averaged over half a dozen charge cycles), with the majority of the charging (up to 95 per cent) happening in the first 90 minutes. These kind of battery figures are brilliant, especially from a notebook of the miniscule dimensions and overall power of the Air.

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