Core i5 MacBook Airs approach perfection Review | Laptops | Macworld

Core i5 MacBook Airs approach perfection Review | Laptops | Macworld

Apple's smallest notebook takes center stage in the product line

by Jason Snell, Macworld.com Aug 2, 2011 7:30 am

The MacBook Air has been a product in transition. When it was introduced in 2008, it was an oddity: an expensive and underpowered—yet incredibly thin and light—13-inch laptop. Last year's revision—which added a second USB port, upgraded the processor, and introduced an 11.6-inch model—was much more appealing.

With the new MacBook Air models introduced by Apple in July 2011, the MacBook Air has arrived dead center in Apple's product line. This is the laptop OS X Lion was designed for. You get the distinct impression that it's only a matter of time before all Mac laptops look like the Air. And with the addition of Intel Core i5 and i7 processors (the latter for the build-to-order models) and the high-speed Thunderbolt connection technology, the story of the MacBook Air is no longer about making severe compromises in order to use a small light laptop.

If the MacBook Air is the future of the Mac laptop, the future is now.