Welcome My New Workhorse – A MacBook Air 2011
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Over the last few months I have been holding off to buy a new main computer for my daily work. The main reason for this was that I couldn’t make up my mind and decide on what the right machine to go for would be.
It was clear to me that it had to be a portable, so the only Macs that came close were a MacBook Pro 13” or 15” or a new MacBook Air, which – back then – hadn't been released yet and was overdue for a refresh.
I knew that I wanted a SSD drive, since these are so much faster and the possibilities of a mechanical defect are pretty much non existant. I also wanted it to be as light as possible, thus tending to the rather small MBP 13” or the MBA 13”.
When the new Airs arrived, I was a little disappointed that they didn’t come with 8GB of RAM as I hoped for, but eventually gave it a shot after considering that I hardly do have any processor intensive work to do. And in case I really do need it, any portable wouldn’t be great at it then either.
After working on the new MacBook Air (1.8GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, 13”) for almost four weeks now, I am very happy that I did make the right choice. This computer is the fastest, lighest, most quiet and also cheapest Mac I have ever owned.
Booting only takes seconds, including logging in and opening all applications (about 5 that I mostly open), even though I usually only put it to sleep instead of shutting it down. Most applications start up instantly, being visible right after being clicked/triggered. Google Chrome and BBEdit are two of the especially fast ones. Impressive.
Bottom line: If you don't have the need for a (extra-)fast processor, lots of RAM or fast graphics for gaming and do have an external display to hook it up to for your daily work, I recommend considering the new MacBook Air as your main workhorse.