After a long wait, Apple finally released the new MacBook Air. The new Air is a blend of the old and the new and was one of the most talked about letdowns during the Apple Event last week. Luckily, I got to go hands-on with the new Apple laptop. Here are my 2018 MacBook Air impressions

The machine honestly isn’t a bad machine, but there were a couple of things that really let down the tech crowd: the price and the processor.

I’m at a weird spot in the tech crowd. I love my technology, but I’m not really a Pro user. I surf the internet, do some writing, collect my photos, and do a small bit of video editing (but I’m hoping to do more). iOS and iOS devices have been used more than Macs for the past few years in my work flow. That isn’t to say that I hate the Mac, far from it, I’m just more excited about iOS devices these days.

I bought a MacBook Air yesterday. While I haven’t had the MacBook Air long I do have some initial thoughts on the device.

Setting up the 2018 MacBook Air

I mentioned yesterday in my very first impressions of the MacBook Air and the iPad Pro that the setup process did not impress.

I know about Time Machine and if I had a stationary machine or a network attached storage, I would probably use it. These days, everything important to me is backed up to the cloud these days, and multiple cloud services as well. I don’t feel like I need to use Time Machine.

On the other hand, my iPad was backed up to iCloud. To get my new iPad up and running all I had to do was bring my old iPad close to it.  It backed up the older iPad and downloaded everything to the new one.  After a few hours, it was just like I had left it but it was a new device.

I know there are ways, Time Machine and Migration Assistant (which would have solved all this if I had thought about it).  I honestly didn’t think about it Migration Assistant until after I had already set everything up.  It would have been nice to have the screen pop up to tell me to bring it close to another Mac as it does on iOS.

If I had a Time Machine Back Up I also wouldn’t have been able to even use it since the ports have changed if it was local.  I didn’t buy a USB converter so I’m not sure I would have even helped.  It would have just sent me back to the Apple Store.

Anyway, let’s move on.

2018 MacBook Air Impressions

Exterior

In the store, I wasn’t really sure about the Space Gray or Gold colors.  I feel like those are the popular ones so I went a little retro with the one I brought home.  It looks just like my old MacBook Pro and it feels like home.

But I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

The MacBook Air is a nice computer.  I had the 11-inch one back when it was introduced and I loved the little thing for the longest time until it started to feel cramped.  Picking up the new Air, it felt heavier than I was expecting, which is weird.  It is lighter than my Pro, but not by as much as I was expecting it to be. The Air is 2.75 lbs, while my old Pro is 3.46 lbs.  I’m surprised by the difference.

Still, all the finishings are great.  Apple still makes one of the best laptops around.

Screen

One of the biggest changes from the previous model Air is the new retina screen.  The older Air wasn’t known for having a quality screen and Apple has stuck their Retina screen on this one.  It looks great and the colors pop even though it doesn’t have the same color gamut of the MacBook Pros, iMacs, iPhones, or iPads I’m not sure many people will miss it.

One of my favorite things about the screen is the lack of bezels.  Apple has managed to shrink the bezels pretty far down on the side, and some off the top as well.

It’s one of the best things about this laptop.

Keyboard

This is my first butterfly keyboard to really type one and it’s okay.  I don’t hate it and I’m adapting to it pretty quickly.  It is very loud when typing when I’m really getting going it sounds like I’m angry.  I hope that they have fixed all the issues that they’ve had with it up until this generation 3.  I haven’t really heard any complaints about keyboards messing up much since it debuted with the MacBook Pros in July so I think it’s headed in the right direction.

In addition to the keyboard

comes TouchID.  It’s a tiny little button on the top right of the keyboard.  It was easy to set up, and reminded me of the old TouchID days on the iPhone. You have to push and lift repeatedly.

I haven’t really had much reason to use it yet.  I do have 1Password installed on here and use it to open up the app.  A couple of apps as they install have asked come up with a picture of TouchID and pushing your finger on there approves whatever they are asking.

Most of the time so far has been for the installation of Apps asking to add something to the system.  Passwords auto populate without the need for TouchID so far.

If you restart the system you can’t use TouchID to log into your account either.  The iPhone was the same way, but I guess I just assumed that it would work since I just restarted the system.

TouchID is useful, and if you are in need of it you’ll be thankful that you have it.  I wouldn’t go looking for TouchID on my Mac though, especially if you have an Apple Watch already.  You can set up the Mac to sense your Apple Watch and it will automatically log you in.

Trackpad

The trackpad on this computer is giant and it’s taking me some time to get used to it.  It’s not the ForceTouch although I do find it difficult to drag things around on the trackpad with it, I hated that before as well.  Sadly, when you’re setting up a Mac you have to drag things pretty often and I just felt it was cumbersome.

The more I’ve used it since then, the more I’m getting used to it.

I still don’t love it though.

Wrap Up

So far, I don’t love this machine like I love my new iPad Pro.  There don’t seem to be too many fancy new features.  The system is fast so far, but it does still stutter in some places.  But I don’t feel like it’s enough to justify upgrading to this machine for me right now. But these are just my first MacBook Air impressions

It is a great base model Mac, though.  If you are in need of a new laptop and you are looking for a MacBook, this is the one you start with.  It is one of the cheaper systems with better specs.  If you need more power, you can step up to one of the pro models. I wouldn’t recommend going with the 12-inch MacBook right now unless you need portability.

What do you think?  Did you pick one up? What are your first MacBook Air impressions?

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