Intro:
I recently moved across the country and initially only brought my early 2015 13-inch Macbook Air with me. Since I left my Windows gaming pc and media server back with my fiancé, I got to spend a few weeks working solely on the Macbook Air, and this is what I realized. I love this machine! Therefore, I thought I might make a review of it. I wanted to share my thoughts and opinions on the 2015 13-inch Macbook Air, and create a Mid 2018 Review. What if the Macbook Air, the inspiration for all ultrabooks, was released today after so many Ultrabooks and ultralights have already saturated the market. I am going to discuss both it’s hardware and software components starting with the Keyboard.
Configuration Options:
As an average Joe, who doesn’t want to break the bank, I am reviewing the base model, the absolute cheapest model you can purchase that also has 8GB of RAM. My configuration: 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-5250U dual-core, automatic overclock capability to 2.7 GHz on demand through Intel Turbo Boost technology. Currently, you can buy the 8GB 2017 version refurbished at Apple.com with 128GB of SSD storage for $849. If you upgrade to 256GB of SSD storage, you’ll be paying $179 extra. Other options include a Core i7 for $150 extra. I don’t recommend either of these upgrades, and I’ll get into why later in the review.
Keyboard:
I love this keyboard. It feels way better than this generation’s new Macbook and Macbook Pros. It uses the better, and yes, I mean better Apple keyboard where each key has 1.4mm of travel before registering a click. The newer Macbook Pro keyboards with the new butterfly keys have almost HALF that travel at 0.8mm. There have been many reports that these newer butterfly keys break often and stop working when a piece of dust gets lodged under the key. I’m sure there are many who will agree with me that this older keyboard not only feels better to type on, preventing carpel tunnel, but that they are also quieter as well. Therefore, not only are you are happier when you’re typing, but your significant other sitting next to you on the couch will also appreciate you more as well. Classmates will thank you too. Finally, the keys are backlit with the ability to adjust the brightness. They also include an ambient light sensor.
Glass trackpad:
This trackpad is like no other trackpad I’ve used on a Windows or Chrome OS computer. The glass feels smooth under my fingers. It is a mixture of software and hardware too. Although Microsoft eventually upped their game with the Windows Precision Drivers, the sensitivity in a mac trackpad is like the sensitivity of using the glass touchscreen on your smartphone. I can roll the tip of my finger on the trackpad and the curser on the screen will move exactly the distance I want it to. Next time you’re in a computer store, I highly recommend that you test a few laptops with the “trackpad fingertip roll test. All this said, if you try and install Windows or a Linux distribution through Bootcamp, you lose this functionality. It isn’t the Force Touch Trackpad where users have the ability to hard press anywhere on the glass to generate a simulated “physical click.” The click is real in this trackpad, but you have to click close to the bottom; tapping to click does work anywhere on the trackpad, though. For me, I click only by tapping the trackpad just like I do on my smartphone screen, so I have no issues.
Also, this trackpad doesn’t have Apple’s new Force Touch – force click feature. I tried this on the Macbook Retina, and it seemed poorly implemented and gimmicky for me at the time. Maybe Apple has improved it over time.
Ports:
Although not as fast, the port selection is significantly better than what is currently offered in Apple’s latest, more expensive laptop line.
The 13-inch Macbook Air includes:
- Two USB 3 ports with speeds up to 5 Gbps
- Thunderbolt 2 port with speeds up to 20 Gbps
- Magsave 2 power port
- SDXC card slot
- 3.5mm headphone jack
It is a shame that I have to talk about the headphone jack like it is a plus.
Sound:
This laptop includes typical laptop speakers. There is no distortion at high volumes. They are stereo speakers.
Size and Weight:
The screen is 13 inches diagonally. The screen uses Apples 16:10 aspect ratio, which in truth, is great for scrolling through webpages as you can see more from the top to the bottom. As far as weight, I can hold this laptop with one hand with no problems. The 2.9 lb laptop easily fits inside a bag. It is 0.68inches at its widest point, but it tapers to just 0.11″, which revolutionized laptops back in 2008, but is now sub-par compared to other ultra books. All this said, the size of the laptop is large enough to multitask, but small and light enough to be very portable.
Display:
I remember a few years ago that reviewers were saying that the TN panel (yes, it is a TN panel, not an IPS display), was one of the best TN panels in a laptop. Yes, the resolution isn’t as high and the text is slightly blurrier than laptops of this generation, and it’s good to know that apple has done a really great job at making higher resolution displays work well with their OS (looking at you, Microsoft and windows software developers. Fix your UIs!) Is this screen retina quality? No, but am I putting my retina 3 inches away from my screen like I do with my smartphone? No. Therefore, the higher resolution isn’t as apparent as it was for smartphones. Can you tell a difference? Yes, but is it worth the cost? No, and here’s why. Battery Life!!!
Battery Life:
Let me just say, WOW! I remember when the 2014 model was released with Haswell processors. The battery life expectancy blew everyone’s mind. Apple claims 12 hours of battery life. Realistically, I see closer to 10 hours, which is still better than any other laptop, windows or mac. I’ve been writing this blog post for the past hour on the macbook air, and the battery is still at 100% capacity. Also, when I close the lid, the laptop goes to sleep and it will last for weeks in this mode. I’ll pick my laptop up a month later, open it up, and it will instantly turn on and prompt me for my password.
Upgradeability
Unlike Apple’s most recent models, you can still open the macbook air and replace the SSD and the battery, but there is a cost. The problem is that Apple uses a proprietary SSD. Other manufacturers make the SSD, but they are costly. Transcend Jetdrive 820 is a good SSD for $199 for a 240GB SSD, $330 for a 480GB SSD, and $599 for a 960SSD. You can purchase Transcend Jetdrive 820 in the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-240GB-JetDrive
Batteries are a better deal. You can get a new battery for $49.99 on Amazon right now:
https://www.amazon.com/HUSAN-Laptop-Battery-MacBook-Version/
Therefore, you can make any used macbook air like new again by simply upgrading the SSD and battery… all except the processor.
Processor:
The i5 processor in the macbook air is still very decent in 2018. I think that since the performance growth in processors hasn’t been very fast in the past few years (with the recent exception of 13 inch laptops finally getting quad-core processors), that using a computer with an older generation processor (as long as it’s later than Haswell) isn’t going to prevent you from doing what you need to do.
- Geekbench 4.2.3 Benchmarks:
- Single-Core Score: 3320
- Multi-Core Score: 5918
- OpenCL Score: 18404
RAM:
As I said before, in my opinion, do not buy a computer today with anything less than 8GB of RAM.
Gaming:
The Macbook Air is NOT meant for gaming. That said though, let’s run some benchmarks and do it anyways. The integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000 with 1536 MB of dedicated memory runs TombRaider just fine.
- TombRaider Benchmarks at 720p Low Settings:
- Min FPS: 16.7
- Max FPS: 47.8
- Average FPS: 36.7
The fans do kick in during gaming. They aren’t loud, but they are present. GeForce NOW Cloud Gaming for Mac and Steam In-home streaming are great alternatives if you really want to game on this Macbook.
2015 vs 2017:
Why get the 2015 model over the 2017 model? The Macbook Air 13-inch versions are physically identical from a chassis standpoint. The 1.6 GHz to 1.8 GBz processor bump shows an approximate 10%-13% better performance in Geekbench 4 benchmark results. The same processor is being used, but it’s just at a slightly higher clock-rate. This is not a significant enough performance boost for me, so there is no need to upgrade, but if you can find the 2017 model for a good deal, go for it.
Mac OS:
If you’ve stayed this long, you might be wondering if I am a Mac fanboy. Mac OS is Mac OS. It has it’s positives and its negatives. It works well on apple hardware and is one of the reasons why this laptop has such great battery life. On the other hand, gaming in Mac OS is a challenge. We can review the operating system in more depth in a different review, but I see computers and operating systems as tools. I use everything.
Conclusion:
I highly recommend the 2015 and 2017 Macbook Airs. I’ve upgraded to both the Macbook and Macbook Pros, but went back to using my Macbook Air both times. If you can get past the dated display, the long-lasting battery-life, supurb keyboard and trackpad, and sturdy but light construction makes this the best laptop I’ve ever used!