But first the question: Macbook Air? Macbook Pro Retina? Or maybe Macbook Pro with HDD and optical drive. The Old Pro with HDD difference for me from the beginning: An employee at the Apple store said that Apple is likely to take the device off the market because HDD and optical drive are no longer sustainable. Too bad, at the Pro you can change the equipment namely retrospectively, z. B. You can replace the HDD with a SSD, besides you can also exchange the DVD drive and the battery. Thus I did not want to wrangle me after the purchase of a new. (RAM but not SSD and battery can be replaced by a specialist!) Everything firmly soldered battery permanently installed: A conversion is no longer at the Air and Pro Retina. Therefore, you should be with its configuration is really safe. The course has a great Pro with Retina display, which was for me but not decisive, since I no graphic designer o. Ä. am. The retina is just as expensive as the Air 13 "256GB, but only has 128 GB. The difference Retina / no retina strikes me hardly, unless you keep the display directly to his face, but nobody does. Therefore, I am for Air decided, especially since it is much thinner, weighs less and does the battery last longer.
The Air 11 "also has its appeal because it is highly mobile, similar to a netbook. It has a lower battery life than the 13". As uncompromising mobility plays a not so great role for me and 11 "are really small and I did not want to necessarily buy an external display to fell even the 11" away.
Important to know is still that this is to the Macbook Air mid-2013. It has fast and efficient Haswell processor. The newest Macbook Air mid 2014 has been reduced in price, has the same, but slightly faster (+0.1 GHz) processor, designed to increase battery life again. It is pure facelift. The difference betw. Mid 2013 and mid 2014, not as big as the difference Mid 2013 Mid 2012, as the 12er over the older Ivybridge processor features.
The minimalist design is timeless and elegant. It is firmly behind understatement. Most striking is the still lighted apple on the display back. The MacBook Air is as thin as the display of my old Vaio. Unbelievable. The brushed aluminum feels extremely high. In this price range there is nothing; similar Ultrabooks from Asus and Sony do not reach this value throughout. Typing on the keyboard feels very good, but a (still) better sense would expect me. The keyboard backlighting is very practical and looks really cool. The illuminance can be adjusted even.
Unfortunately, the Air 13 "with 1.3 kg somewhat heavy compared to 11". It could have a significantly lower weight to give 1.3 kg still acceptable. Aluminium is just heavier than plastic ...
The decor is a bit sparse, but adequate for me: 2x USB 3.0, 1x Thunderbolt, 1x SD input and an AUX port. And that's it. 4 GB RAM are installed by default in the Air, If you want more, pay hefty surcharges, directly from the Apple Store, because this configuration is only available upon request (that goes for 512 GB SSD). 128GB SSD was not enough for me, it had to be 256 GB, unfortunately, bought with hefty surcharges. 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and i7 processor there only on request and at exorbitant prices. Thunderbolt is the "replacement" for all other connections. However, you need outrageously expensive adapters that allow you to connect the Mac to other devices: For example, Thunderbolt to HDMI, Thunderbolt to VGA, Thunderbolt to Ethernet, etc. However, the adapter there even with third-party for less money. Direct you can connect the Mac via Thunderbolt with Apple Thunderbolt Display (1000). Would there be tens of connections for each device, the Air might not be so thin. On Amazon I bought a cheap Thunderbolt-VGA adapter and tried it on a flat screen TV: It is wonderful easy to connect an external display. Your Mac will recognize it immediately and you can either extend the desktop or duplicate the image. If you turn off the display of the Mac, the picture on the external display continues. So you can eg. As wonderful look Podcasts or TV programs (with the right app). Really great and much better than Windows solved, where you had to press any keys cumbersome.
When you turn on a tune like A Clockwork Orange sounds, setting up was easy, because I already had an Apple ID. Overall, this has not configure times lasted 7 minutes and I was able to (ie the desktop) see the desktop for the first time. My data I have with my old external hard drive (formatted for Windows) transferred to the Mac; the Mac has recognized the hard drive without any problems.
OS X Mavericks. OS X is a big change for an experienced Windows user. It is not quite as intuitive as an iPad, so as iOS, to use, but which is primarily on the touch screen. But after almost a week, I get along very well with it. You can every day to do so. Nevertheless, the operating system is likely to be a hurdle for any Windows user. Books like my first Mac but you do not need more, but not hurt. On various Apple websites (Macwelt, maclife etc.) there is a lot of information and tips about the Mac. Man but always feel that OS X Windows is against clearly superior.
Programs. OS X comes standard with iLife (iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand) and iWorks (Pages, Keynote, Numbers). iWorks is in scope not serve up Microsoft Office. Very positive is that with Windows iWorks files (.docx, .pptx, etc.) is compatible. You can also save a document in Pages as .docx (unfortunately a bit cumbersome). Nevertheless, I bought Office for Mac. The differences to the Windows version only affect the design and solid Mac-typical menu bar, which is independent of the window rigid.
Many programs that are from iOS knows (FaceTime, iBooks, maps) are integrated. Class I also find that you need to load any Adobe PDF reader; Mac Preview for PDFs can even edit PDFs (Mark, comment) and put together. Internet pages can be printed in the print preview as a PDF. This all goes without any extra programs that you have installed.
Otherwise a lot of programs are already integrated that you actually use. Was probably not the case with Windows. Unfortunately, the app offer in the Mac AppStore is rather not so great, there are many very expensive Apps for professionals.
About Time Machine you can constantly create back-ups, and reset the Mac up to a certain date. For this you need either an external hard drive (caution: hard drives that have been formatted for Windows, formatted for the Mac, so a back-up can create; all data is deleted) or Time Capsule via WLAN. Formatted for the Mac hard drives are not recognized by Windows.
iMovie like it very much. It is very easy and intuitive to use (compared to the Movie Maker of MS). You can create and store in iTunes format slideshows with effects and music. But one notices often that the Mac comes to its limits, because iMovie requires a lot of resources. The calculator will quickly noisy and very hot.
It is encouraging that there are many programs that I know Windows, even for the Mac are (Firefox, Virtual DJ, Evernote, CCleaner, etc.).
Many other programs that are integrated into OS X (Bootcamp, etc ..) I have yet to explore.
There is even a program of Google, which allows you to synchronize your Mac with an Android smartphone. So the Mac recognizes Android devices.
The Finder is great (the equivalent of the Start button, the Microsoft has scrapped with Win8). Using the Finder you really find everything. And you can find it in fact. Moreover, the Finder All programs, documents, pictures, videos, etc. are listed. Through the page I will not miss the start button of Windows, and that is what!
In addition, the installation of programs that have been downloaded from the Internet is really awesome. One pulls the program after downloading the program list - and that's it. No eternally long installation (with a bar which is never fully) like Windows, where sometimes you experience any error, but an installation within seconds!
The battery life is simply amazing. You can work on half an hour and the display still remains the top right at 100%! For mixed use (take notes Lecture, surf the net, listen to music, etc.) creates the Mac loose 10 hours (if not more). After 5 hours of battery lecture had a remaining capacity of about 68%. In principle, one can compare the battery life with an iPad. The brightness of the keyboard backlight and the display has no effect on the battery life.
The quality of the display is fully in order. I can not understand why such. B. Chip Online has criticized the display. For normal users it is more than adequate. You can adjust the brightness wonderful. The brightness at the highest level is very high. The speakers are good, but you can not expect miracles, especially the speakers are not visible. The Air is geared to mobility, therefore can not expect ultimate display and sound quality.
The Air is in operation so quiet that you have to keep his ear directly to the machine in order to perceive slightest noise can; that's a huge difference to a standard Windows laptop. Especially when I am learning / working with the Mac, I appreciate this calm scary! When playing a graphics-consuming game, but it's over with the peace and the fan come on.
In addition succeeds wonderfully easy to get into the work mode from Standby mode: It works on the Mac, the screen immediately, you type his password - that's it. One can compare the "wake up" well with an iOS device.
The operation of the trackpad is compared to the touchpad of Windows machines more intuitive. That struck me as I used my old Windows laptop again. The secret operation tricks You can also intuitively. For old Windows veterans: For right-click to type with two fingers simultaneously onto the trackpad. Mission Control (all tasks are listed as on an iPad) is achieved through wiping with four fingers. The trackpad can be adjusted in the system settings individually.
Unfortunately air drop is for OS X is not compatible with Air-Drop for iOS, ie you can not share files between iPad and Mac via air drop. I do not know what Apple has been thinking. In addition, there are sometimes problems with the Wi-Fi if the Air was too long in standby. When I off the WLAN and then turn on again, comes down again. I do not know obs a Mac or router is located; but is only a small flaw.
What bothers me enormously is that the firewall is disabled upon initial startup - and a matter of principle! Apparently there is no link at all hazard awareness. As a user, I've assumed 100%, that the firewall is enabled - that she was not until I've enabled them. Apple advertises that you have to take care of as a Mac user to nothing and that everything from the beginning goes the way it should be (not like in Windows); that the firewall is disabled intentionally factory, can not be! Especially since no warnings from the system came ... Therefore I advise every new Mac users: Checks your firewall immediately after initial startup! Finally, for OS X viruses, even if that does not want to admit the white, clean Apple world. Even if an infection is likely to be very unlikely.
Unfortunately, the Mac is under load very warm when you z. B. a video with iMovie created or while playing a graphics complex game, we must not forget, however, that metal is a good heat conductor. The fan turns on quite late and is a bit noisy.
Overall, I have not regretted the switch from Windows to Mac. Everything feels high-quality and smart se. The overall concept is just right. Starting with the packaging, the great keyboard (and keypad illumination) on the unique quality perception to intuitive operation. A Mac is really worth the money and one of the few products for Apple, with convincing price-performance! In addition, Macs have a high residual value, which means that high prices for used equipment are paid. The Macbook Air is not expensive compared to other Ultrabooks, although Apple always require premium prices. The reason is that the Apple Air has since 2008 range and the other Ultrabooks are available only since 2011/12, has therefore procured a cost advantage. In other Apple products which looks rather different: An iPhone 5s 64GB storage there at Apple for 899th For 100 more you get a Air 11 "128GB with a long life and usage time.
I have read many reviews in advance for Macbook Air on Amazon, who have helped me. I hope now that I've helped you too with my review!
PS the end of 2014 is probably the successor to the Air with design changes and may appear without a fan ...
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Update (18/03/15): I have the Macbook now updated to OS X Yosemite. The installation worked perfectly and not even lasted one hour. The Macbook running perfectly with Yosemite, without performance loss! Also alleged WLAN problems are not surfaced! In addition, I feel that the battery lasts as long as after the update, as was the case at the beginning.
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