MacBook Air 2018
After a number of years, Apple updated the MacBook Air this fall with new processors, memory and form factor. Another huge plus was the introduction of the retina screen, something all other Apple devices pushed past the previous MacBook Air models.
The MacBook Air has been around for about 10 years with changes coming about annually in the way of processor speed bumps, memory and drive capacity. Other than that, almost completely unchanged for the last 5 plus years. That all changed this fall.
The advent of two USB-C ports for power, connection to a monitor or network and any other legacy USB-type device started the change. There is still a headphone port on the opposite side, but one stark and welcomed change is the retina screen providing rich and crisp images on the laptop.
With these changes, Apple has pushed the price point up a bit from the $999 to $1200 range. The system also does not allow for more than 16GB RAM and maxes out with a dual core 8-gen processor.
All that said, this is a solid device for the mobile user. Good screen size, light-weight, portable computer and able to handle a lot of what most would throw at it. It can process and keep up with the needs of everyday tasks but if you are looking for something with more power, a MacBook Pro would be required (and bump the price at least $500).
The MacBook (12”) is still an option but after using the MacBook Air and Pro, the MacBook seems just to be a portable little laptop and not much else — I would recommend the 2018 Air moving forward.
The advent of the MacBook Pro (2018) really changed the landscape a lot for the Apple ecosystem providing some serious portable power with discrete graphic card, additional storage and 6-core processor.
If you are considering a portable every-day laptop in the $1500 range, the Apple MacBook Air is a great solution!
