The MacBook Air has an almost universally recognized silhouette at this point, largely unchanged since 2010 and still substantially similar to the original 2008 version. (A model with an 11.6-inch screen and otherwise very similar specs is available for even less.) That the Air is the least-expensive MacBook, starting at $999 (£849 or AU$1,099) for the 13-inch model, means it's within reach for many shoppers who might not want to go up to the $1,299 or more being asked for the latest ultraportables from Apple, Samsung and others. It remains one of the most universally useful laptops you can buy, thanks to a still-slim design, excellent keyboard and touchpad, generally fast performance and great battery life.

Especially so when compared to the groundbreaking new-for-2015 12-inch MacBook, which is amazingly thin and stylish, or the MacBook Pro - redesigned in 2012 - which has a great higher-res display and plenty of high-end configuration options.īut that doesn't mean we're writing the MacBook Air off. For the past several years, Apple's flagship MacBook Air has dutifully added the latest generation of Intel processors, and sometimes tweaked the included ports or the type of solid state memory inside, but those changes have felt very minor.

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