APPLE MACBOOK AIR (2018) 13.3" INTEL CORE I5 1.8GHZ / 8GB RAM / 512GB SSD

Its Junior - Utellre788

12.11.2022

What to expect when buying a Macbook Air 2017

You will expect amazing build quality, Its portable and thin, Battery lasts 12 hours for basic tasks and 6 hours just by playing roblox and 2-3-4 hours on fortnite and rocket league But 7 hours on Minecraft, Performance Is quite great But on medium or Low, The keyboard is great but the trackpad is what surprises me the most because Apple always makes the best trackpads and software but This trackpad is better than most windows laptops! Overall I rate this Macbook 8.5/10 People may say the viewing angle sucks but I wouldnt be looking at the macbook from the side I would be looking at it face to face.

Tipoo

16.08.2019

Could you test the update to the MBA that raises the existing screen to 400 nits? It was an odd update to Apples product page but I haven't seen it tested.

JayC1979

20.11.2018

Hello, I am debating between MBA 2018 Retina and Macbook Pro 2017 no TB. Will you eventually update this review and give final verdicts and a percentile score like you did with the MacBook Pro 2017's review? That would be appreciated. Thank you!

Andregomes

19.11.2018

Does this MBA presents the same wi-fi connectivity problems of the 2016 and 2017 MBP without TB when connecting external peripherals through USB-C ?

Toruss

14.11.2018

I take back my previous point. Huawei's Matebook D 14" is a direct competitor to the MBA, just as its popular brother Matebook X Pro goes against the 2018 MBP 13. Ryzen 5, Vega 8 SKU of the Matebook D is only $600 MSRP, $450 with discount in the US. Most similar Windows laptop hardware to the MBA apart from its touchscreen. Order goes - Ryzen 2500U > i5-8250U > i3-8130U > Core Y > m3 Hence "i5"Y / 8GB / 256GB MBA is egregiously overpriced even at $500, even with the mandatory AppleTax. Still believe Apple should have gone with at the very least i3-8145U "Whiskey Lake" in this revision.

Martin_fos

12.11.2018

@Browny however the Air has to be compared with the Pro, which runs a CPU with TDP of 28 Watts (not 15 Watts).

Browny

12.11.2018

No chance this can run 7hrs+ in everyday multitasking. Even with good software optimization the numbers just do not add up with a 13" QHD screen and Y series chip powered by a relatively small 50Wh battery. Full screen local 1080p video playback going 9hrs may be feasible as MacOS has proven before. However a power starved 7W dual-core CPU is often times more inefficient than 15W quad-core when stressed ever so slightly, resulting in higher power consumption. Stuck between U series and Pentium / Snapdragon, this and Intel's "core m3" indeed utterly missed the mark at both performance and battery life at a budget price. And the MBA is redundant since Apple already sells the 12" MacBook, which is lighter than the said "Air". No wonder even Apple isn't excited at launch, considering everything.

jds

12.11.2018

This review is more evidence that notebookcheck is the only serious review site in existence.  All other reviews are silly subjective impressions mixed with company-issued PR.  You instead take an empirical, experimental approach.  Well done.

Martin_fos

11.11.2018

Do you plan to perform the "Big Buck Bunny H.264 1080p" battery test so that we have a second battery test to compare with the MacBook Pro 2017/2018 ? Many thanks !