- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How it compares
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
- 13.3"
- Core i5 1.7 GHz Dual core
- 4 GB DDR3-1333
- 256 GB SSD
Released July, 2011
Rated 100% by by H.-Sole (Aug, 2011)The computer includes an HD webcam (Facetime camera) which again if you travel and a friend or loved one has one of the more recent Macs or iDevices (iPhone 4, iPad2) you can do videocalls using Apple's facetime feature at no cost and with minimal setup.
Conclusion Check out the Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
First reviewed December, 2011
Features Key features of the Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
1.7 GHz
Intel Core i5 2557M
Rated 100% by by Glenn-R.-Howes (Jul, 2011)It's OK, but not the spectacular clear FaceTime HD of the camera in my laptop.
screen size
13.3"
15.6"
11.6"
MacBook Air 4th Gen by K.-D.-Hess (Sep, 2011)Although small, the screen is clear and bright, and the full-size keyboard is as good as one from a bigger computer.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Milton-Donnell--fishin-fanatic (Dec, 2011)I even considered the 15-inch MacBook Pros with the powerful processers, huge hard drive, big glossy screens, etc, which are practically a desktop replacement, but the big price tags kept me away.
screen resolution
MacBook Air 4th Gen by R.-V.-Laxmikanth--L.V.-Raghavendra** Screen/Resolution:. >> Higher resolution on the 13" Macbook Air which i believe was greater than the 15" regular MBP definitely looked good.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Chris (Jan, 2012)I was originally concerned about the smaller screen size, however the pixel density is so tight that it's the same resolution as usually found on a 13" laptop.
cpu speed
| 0 GHz | 2.4 GHz   | 3 GHz |
MacBook Air 4th Gen by E.-Kim (Jul, 2011)I purchased the MBA 11" with standard 1.6 gHz Core i5 and am happy with this.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by E.-Kim (Jul, 2011)Anandtech has found that the 1.8 gHz Core i7 upgrade produces significantly faster benchmarks.
processor
MacBook Air 4th Gen by J.-McWhirter (Apr, 2012)I know it sounds nuts, but the new i7 Dual Core MBA with 4 GB of RAM seems to be as fast as my 27" i7 Quad Core iMac with 16 GB of RAM, when it comes to managing RAW photos in Lightroom, and editing RAW photos in Photoshop...I kid you not!
MacBook Air 4th Gen by R.-V.-Laxmikanth--L.V.-RaghavendraThough the Processor in the Macbook Air was not the full quad core i7, my reasoning was the SSD should more than make up for routine tasks.
memory
| 0 GB | 4 GB   | 8 GB |
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Nancy-J.-Bookfan (Jan, 2012)When it comes down to a choice between quicker processor or more RAM, I've been advised to always go with more RAM, and I find this to be good advice.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Urban-Geek (Nov, 2011)The only issue I have with the laptop is that the ram is not upgradeable so be alert to your needs and how much ram you will need.
Performance Real world tests of Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
3DMark06 CPU
MacBook Air 4th Gen by GatorowlI don't run benchmarks, and the benchmarks I've seen so far show that this computer is much, much faster than my nearly 4-year-old MBP, which is my most important performance requirement.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by R.-Chapman (Aug, 2011)I haven't read any benchmarks on the performance over time with the new MBA.
battery life
7 hour
10 hour
7 hour
MacBook Air 4th Gen by E.-Kim (Jul, 2011)I am indeed able to use my 11" for about 6 hours with light usage, which is much better than Apple's claimed 5 hours.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Harkanwar-AnandThe macbook pro has a much better outlandish battery life so if that is of a lot of concern I would recommend the 15 inch oddity cause it's beautiful.
cinebench r10 32Bit
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Wayne-N (Jul, 2011)the two CPUs are actually pretty neck to neck on GeekBench benchmarks.
Our analysis How does it stack up against its top 10 competitors
pros
-
Automatically adjust screen brightness for environmental factors -
1.3 MP -
0.1 ms (SSD) -
1,342 g -
SDSC -
DDR3-1333 -
24 Mbit/s (Bluetooth v4.0) -
127 ppi -
17 mm
cons
-
13.3" -
256 GB -
1.7 GHz -
2.7 GHz (Intel Core i5 2557M) -
Jul, 2011 -
57 MB/s (USB 2.0)
Reviews Word on the street
 |   Rated by 388 users at amazon.com Rated 80% by by Eva--mellow1304 (Jun, 2012)  Rated 100% by by volsfan--volsfan Rated 100% by by Marcelo (May, 2012) |
|---|---|
Screen
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Lovethefuture (Aug, 2011)Especially with 4 GBs of RAM.11.6" screen: Unless you really need a larger 13" screen, I'm confident you will be more than happy with what this model Air offers.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Y.-Zhou (Jul, 2011)it is NOT made of the same screen as the Pro and iPad (IPS), however, it is a matte screen so a much better screen in the sun.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Raj (Jun, 2012)All 3 work great.-Display - the resolution on it is amazing and it can get really bright if you're outdoors.-Keyboard - the keys on this thing are amazing.
Type
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Daniel-Lipson (Oct, 2011)Although in the future, it might be reflected upon as a transitory device in the convergence of iOS and Mac OS, right now it feels like the perfect combination of the two.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by James-R. (Feb, 2012)There is no Windows laptop this size that I've ever seen that can match the quality that the MacBook Air possesses - and believe me, I shopped around A LOT for a Windows laptop before I chose the MacBook Air.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 80% by by Glenn-R.-HowesSo Windows user now have a variety of computers to choose from, and can make a determination if the higher cost of the MacBook Air (due to purchasing Windows) is worth differences in build quality and parts quality-I would be particularly suspicious of the ZenBook's trackpad and screen.
Operating system
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Dhruv-N.-Patel--ADP (Jan, 2012)Its great, I have dual booted it so I can use my Windows based compliers/development suites and I can use the Mac OS for everything else.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by kaiyi (Nov, 2011)the new lion os is a state of the art operating system, that is great for entertainment and engineering work.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Harkanwar-AnandIt's much lighter, Lion loads much faster on the macbook air than any other operating system I have seen load on any other machine I have used.
Cpu
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Jake (Aug, 2011)Make no mistake about it - the MacBook Pro models with quad-core Sandy Bridge Intel processors are still roughly 2-3 times as fast as these new Air models, but before two weeks ago they were 8-10 times as fast as the older Air with the Core2Duo in it.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 80% by by Wayne-N (Jul, 2011)CPU can turbo boost to 2.7 GHz and the SSD allows for instant application launching.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Josh (Nov, 2011)No need to upgrade to i7 etc.If you want to heavy video editing or 3d animation then get a macbook pro, imac, or mac pro.11inch macbook air 1.6 ghz i5 4gb ram on amazon is where it is at!
Storage
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by TKKGUY--tkkguy (Feb, 2012)I appreciate the fast SSD hard drive (an SSD is a solid state drive without any moving platters like a traditional hard drive) and the near instant-on access and performance of the machine.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by R.-V.-Laxmikanth--L.V.-Raghavendra** 256 GB SSD was perfect storage vs Speed Size for me.
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen 13.3", 1.7 GHz, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 80% by by Joon--The-RubyHead (Jan, 2012)I am concerned about the memory size and especially 256GB HDD, but so far so good.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | SAMSUNG Series 9 900X3A Quite good CPU benchmark score SAMSUNG Series 9 900X3A vs Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen |
 | 2 | ASUS Zenbook UX31E 2-way tie: Highest resolution screen ASUS Zenbook UX31E vs Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen |
 | 3 | Acer Aspire S S3-951 Longest battery life Acer Aspire S S3-951 vs Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen |
 | 5 | Apple MacBook Pro 5th Gen 8-way tie: Most CPU cores MacBook Pro 5th Gen vs MacBook Air 4th Gen |
 | 6 | Dell Studio XPS 1640 Biggest screen Dell Studio XPS 1640 vs Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen |
New duel?
Let the battle continue or dare to compare.
Editions Editions of the Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
| Price | Edition | Resolution | Cinebench r10 32Bit | 3DMark06 CPU | Manufacturer code | Compare | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | | 1366 x 768 | 5,891 | 2,421.2 | MC968LL/A | | ||||
 | | 1366 x 768 | 5,891 | 2,421.2 | MC969LL/A | | ||||
 | | 1440 x 900 | 6,533.5 | 2,750 | MC965LL/A | | ||||
 | | 1440 x 900 | 6,533.5 | 2,750 | MC966LL/A | | ||||
