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5 reasons to buy a MacBook Air

Apple's MacBook Air is now available from just £749, here we look at why it's one of the best Macs you can buy.

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  • MacBook Air Price 1. Price
  • MacBook Air 2014 side 2. Portable
  • MacBook Air 11 13in 3. Power
  • Battery Life 4. Battery life
  • Macbook Air dimensions 5. Widescreen
  • More stories
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The price is right

You can now buy an 11-inch Apple MacBook Air for £749. This isn't the lowest ever price for a Mac laptop – back in 2005 you could buy a 12in iBook for just £699, but the price drop, is as much as £130 off last year's models.

If the 11-inch MacBook Air is too small for you, the 13-inch MacBook Air now starts at £849.

Still too expensive? Take a look at Apple's refurbished store for cut priced Macs. From time to time you can pick up some real bargains, and last year's MacBook Air is still a great machine – even better if you can find it at a lower price.

We also have 5 reasons NOT to buy a MacBook Air

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Next Prev MacBook Air Price

You can now buy an 11-inch Apple MacBook Air for £749. This isn't the lowest ever price for a Mac laptop – back in 2005 you could buy a 12in iBook for just £699, but the price drop, is as much as £130 off last year's models.

If the 11-inch MacBook Air is too small for you, the 13-inch MacBook Air now starts at £849.

Still too expensive? Take a look at Apple's refurbished store for cut priced Macs. From time to time you can pick up some real bargains, and last year's MacBook Air is still a great machine – even better if you can find it at a lower price.

We also have 5 reasons NOT to buy a MacBook Air

 

It's the most portable Mac

The MacBook Air is Apple's lightest and thinnest Mac. It's incredibly thin, tapering to just 0.3cm at its thinnest point.

It's also the lightest fully featured laptop around. The 11-inch MacBook Air weighs just 1.08kg. The 13-inch MacBook Air weighs in at 1.35kg, but you are unlikely to notice that extra 270g when you carry it around.

You'll have no problems fitting the 11-inch MacBook Air in your bag - it measures 30cm by 19.2cm. That's a fraction shorter than the 13-inch MacBook Air, which measures 32.5cm by 22.7cm.

If you are thinking about getting a desktop Mac, remember that with a laptop you get the best of both worlds because you can always plug it into a monitor and use a separate keyboard and mouse when you are at your desk.

 

Don't sacrifice power for the portability

When choosing between the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models there is no need to sacrifice power for the portability.

The decision about which model to purchase boils down to the size of screen you want, the amount of storage, how much weight you are happy to lug around, your battery life requirements, and of course, how much you are willing to pay. There are no tradeoffs.

 

MacBook Air battery life

The only significant difference between the two sizes of MacBook Air is battery life. Apple claims that the 11-inch MacBook Air offers up to 9 hours of battery life, while the 13in MacBook Air can give you full working day of battery life – that's 12-hours.

The 13in MacBook Air offers more battery life than any other Mac laptop, so if battery life is what's more important to you the MacBook Air is a good choice. By contrast, the 13in MacBook Pro Retina offers 9 hours, while the 15in Retina model offers 8 hours battery life.

And while there's not a lot of difference between the 2014 and 2013 models of the MacBook Air, the new models do offer an additional two hours of iTunes video playback time compared to last year's MacBook Air, according to Apple.

 

Go widescreen with MacBook Air

The 11-inch MacBook Air is the only Mac laptop to offer 16:9 aspect ratio – which is the typical ratio for widescreen TV. This is the same aspect ratio used by widescreen televisions, making the 11-inch MacBook Air a great device for watching movies on.

The 16:9 aspect ratio has become more popular, with fewer laptops offering the 16:10 aspect ratio offered by Apple's other Mac laptops, including the 13-inch MacBook Air.

Find out more about the MacBook Air, read:

12in MacBook Air with Retina launch date

Entry-level iMac compared to MacBook Air

13in 2014 MacBook Air review

11in 2014 MacBook Air review

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