Thus, we would absolutely recommend a higher resolution display for those of you who work with and look at text all day long. This is most obvious when looking at text, where the Air’s lack of sharpness results in blurry shading along the edges. The comparison with the MacBook 12, with its 12-inch 2304x1440 resolution (226 PPI) display, makes it painfully obvious how outdated and terrible the Air’s display really is, and how crisp and clear a panel can be in 2017. At this size, its resolution of only 1440x900 translates to a pixel density 128 PPI, which is not only fairly low when compared to Apple’s own Retina displays, for example its 227 PPI 13-inch MacBook Pro, but also the 1920x1080 FHD panels that have become more common in the last few years. We did, however, take another look at the display using our new measuring equipment, and whether the bump in performance also induced changes in emissions and battery life.Įvidently, Apple is still equipping its Air with the well-known 13.3-inch TN panel with a highly reflective coating. Thus, we will not discuss the case, connectivity, and its input devices in this review and would like to refer you to our MacBook Air 13 2015 review instead. It has only recently been bumped to 1.8 GHz and equipped with a faster 128 GB SSD, but is otherwise identical to its predecessor. We have picked the basic entry-level model for $999 for our test. Convincing people to purchase this particular notebook in 2017 is a feat that only Apple is capable of pulling off. Kudos to Apple though, for keeping the Air around for yet another year, and thereby satisfying the still surprisingly high demand and, most importantly, managing to continue selling it at a high profit. It thus makes sense that Apple has refrained from making a public announcement of what can only be described as continued life support for its Air lineup. Unfortunately, at this price it does not include an IPS panel with decent viewing angles, and even lacks Apple’s Force Touch touchpad. At only $999, the MacBook Air with its 13.3-display (1440x900), 1.8 GHz dual-core processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a whopping 128 GB SSD is a true steal (this sentence may contain traces of irony).
![2017 macbook air specs 2017 macbook air specs](https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/28463-44359-MacBook-Air-CPU-test-xl.jpg)
Still, the Air is the most affordable path into Apple’s universe. Most probably, this is due to their recent product strategy. It almost seems as if Apple is making final preparations for the MacBook Air’s retirement rather than upgrading it from the bottom up. And with that, all hope for a higher resolution display is gone. Without much ado, Apple’s oldest piece of hardware has been quietly updated. By comparison, the wide silver border around the 13-inch MacBook Air screen may be the single most dated thing about the design.3D Printing, 5G, Accessory, AI, Alder Lake, AMD, Android, Apple, ARM, Audio, Benchmark, Biotech, Business, Camera, Cannon Lake, Cezanne (Zen 3), Charts, Chinese Tech, Chromebook, Coffee Lake, Comet Lake, Console, Convertible / 2-in-1, Cryptocurrency, Cyberlaw, Deal, Desktop, E-Mobility, Education, Exclusive, Fail, Foldable, Gadget, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S, Gamecheck, Gaming, Geforce, Google Pixel, GPU, How To, Ice Lake, Intel, Intel Evo, Internet of Things (IoT), iOS, iPad, iPad Pro, iPhone, Jasper Lake, Lakefield, Laptop, Launch, Leaks / Rumors, Linux / Unix, List, Lucienne (Zen 2), MacBook, Mini PC, Monitor, MSI, OnePlus, Opinion, Phablet, Radeon, Raptor Lake, Renoir, Review Snippet, Rocket Lake, Ryzen (Zen), Science, Security, Single-Board Computer (SBC), Smart Home, Smartphone, Smartwatch, Software, Storage, Tablet, ThinkPad, Thunderbolt, Tiger Lake, Touchscreen, Ultrabook, Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR), Wearable, Wi-Fi 7, Windows, Workstation, XPS, Zen 3 (Vermeer), Zen 4įor the original German review, see here. TVs and phones are nearly bezel-free today, and high-end laptops like the Dell XPS 13 or Samsung Notebook 9 are following the same path. So many new devices have shaved down the bezel, which is what we call the outer border around the screen.
![2017 macbook air specs 2017 macbook air specs](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1KIqEmKJ1y0/maxresdefault.jpg)
For anything above an ultrabudget laptop, it's not wrong to expect a higher resolution, especially in 2017, where even bargain basement televisions have 4K panels, and a growing number of midrange laptops are shooting past 1,920x1,080 towards 2,560x1,440 or even 4K. It's also not an IPS display, the in-plane switching technology found in newer laptops that helps with off-axis viewing.
![2017 macbook air specs 2017 macbook air specs](https://support.apple.com/library/APPLE/APPLECARE_ALLGEOS/SP747/SP747_mbp13-gray.jpg)
This is a 1,440x900-pixel display, the same as the Air has used for many generations.
![2017 macbook air specs 2017 macbook air specs](https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/6/e/csm_P1040362Kopie_05942b5463.jpg)
The single biggest thing that keeps the MacBook Air stuck in the past is its display. the 13-inch Air in a battle of the bezels.