I love the MacBook Air.
For the longest time, I’ve used this laptop through thick and thin. I had this laptop way before I got really serious with this blog. It currently has a bad battery that needs replacement and tons of dirt. The 4GB of RAM it has is showing its age as well. I actually don’t mind how dated the design is today. This MacBook Air feels like a living legend in a way. We’re in a world where more and more laptops either closely resemble this or surpass it in various ways. I wondered if Apple would ever update this laptop or make a spiritual successor to it. It finally came.
This is the new MacBook Air.
Apple released a new MacBook Air during their October 2018 event. Since then, there were complaints coming out about its keyboard. Knowing full well that those complaints exist, I still decided to get one here in Japan. I wanted to see for myself whether the keyboard issue would happen in my case or not. Without further ado, here are my first impressions of the MacBook Air 2018!
Retina Really Spoils You.
As of this writing, I’ve been using this MacBook Air for around 2 weeks now. Ever since I saw the Retina Display on the new MacBook Air, I never looked back. At 2560×1600, this is easily the most pixels I’ve seen on a laptop that I have used. Yeah yeah, a lot of laptops today have 2K or even 4K displays. The MacBook Pros have better displays too. For me though, this really really looks great. When I looked at my old Air, it really looked bad.
My current gripe with the new display is the glass itself. I always get it smudged when opening the laptop. As a result, the screen ends up having a lot of fingerprints. Good thing I don’t notice it too much while using it.
How’s the Keyboard So Far?
To be honest, the keyboard’s just fine. I notice how shallow the travel of each key is. Blogging and social media require me to type a lot of things, so the keyboard experience matters to me. Some people find the arrow key placement weird, but I’m also fine with it.
It’s only been two weeks, so I couldn’t give you my assessment as to the keyboard issue just yet. Rest assured that will come with my full review.
Other Things…
I’ve always thought that Touch ID on a Mac makes a ton of sense. I just didn’t like the Touch Bar at all. For me, it doesn’t provide enough advantages to warrant the change. When I found out that the new MacBook Air gets Touch ID but without the Touch Bar, I FELT SO OVERJOYED! It feels like the best of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and the old MacBook Air. After using it for 2 weeks, it really feels so natural. I kinda miss it on the iPhone so seeing it here is a relief for me.
The bigger trackpad is great! I also love how I can basically click anywhere on the trackpad thanks to the Taptic Engine under the glass. It’s amazing how it can fool me into thinking it was a legitimate click. In spite of the trackpad size, it doesn’t feel that my hands are cramped with the remaining space.
I love that this laptop has 8GB of RAM, so I rarely run into problems when running multiple Safari windows with multiple tabs. The full-screen way is good for apps like Safari, so having multiple windows open without a hitch is really good.
A Strike of Lightness.
I’m enjoying my time so far with the new MacBook Air! Despite the slightly higher price tag, I think this is still the right decision for me (so far) to get this laptop. I would have to save my recommendation for the full review though.
Anything you want to know about the new MacBook Air? Sound off in the comments below!