Shoppers Magazine 02

SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE
MacBook Air 2013
ut the 2013 MacBook Air
(MBA) next to the last three
iterations of Apple’s slimline
wonder and you’d need an
eye keener than a laser hawk to spot any
difference.
In fact, the only external change since the
MacBook Air 2012 is the array of dualmicrophones
on the left flank, replacing
the single mic. Everything else is the same;
unibody aluminium construction, Face-
Time HD cam, Thunderbolt port, MagSafe
2 power connector, even the weight -
1.08kg. But this is no bad thing.
The 11-inch MacBook Air remains a pinnacle
of laptop design, sporting a full-size
keyboard yet being light enough to carry
around all day, slimmer than a copy of T3
magazine and swanking a footprint not
much bigger than an iPad.
It’s no surprise that it adorns many a
commuter lap and, if IT departments allow
it, it’s seen in many a business meeting.
We’ve seen a few Ultrabooks attempt similar,
and some are truly noteworthy – the
Asus UX31 Zenbook and Dell XPS 13 – but
with the Cupertino sheen the MBA continues
to be a laptop built for the modern day.
However, to see what’s really changed, we
need to go under the bonnet.
MacBook Air 2013 11-inch:
Features
However, before we get into what’s new,
we’ll just come out and say it: where was
the Retina screen upgrade?
Ok, so battery performance could be compromised
(we’ll come onto that) by such
a potentially energy-zapping display, but
the inclusion of Intel’s new Haswell ULT,
with its low-power tendencies, should have
been a match for any jump in screen drain.
We’re just so used to the pin-sharp resolutions
of the iPhone 5, iPad 4 and the latest
MacBook Pros, see.
Nevertheless, standout improvements
here are Apple’s claimed ‘all-day’ battery
life (see below), Intel’s fourth-gen Intel HD
Graphics 5000, faster RAM (now LPDDR3,
expandable to 8GB), two USB 3.0 ports
and the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter. All
of which we’ve seen on various Windowsbased
laptops.
The aforementioned dual-mic tech is also
nothing new to the world of laptops but is
a welcome addition to the new MBA line,
improving speech clarity by reducing background
noise. It’s a marked improvement
when using Skype or FaceTime.
Our MBA came with OSX Mountain Lion
rather than the impending Mavericks,
expected later this year. As for backlit keys,
Bluetooth 4.0, iLife, stereo speakers and
ambient light sensors, they’re all correct
and present on this latest iteration. An
SDXC card slot only appears on the 13-
inch version and ethernet lovers will still
have to purchase a USB adapter for £25.
MacBook Air 2013 11-inch:
Performance
With regards to processing power, the new
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