Just remember you can’t upgrade it, so get all the RAM, storage, and processing power you’ll need when you buy it.įor more information on the 2012 MacBook Air 11-inch, including performance and battery life benchmark test, check out Scott Stein’s full CNET review. Bottom LineĪs is its larger sibling, the 2012 11-inch Air is a solid update to the line. And for those accustomed to a standard laptop, the machine’s 11-inch may take a little getting used to. The base model’s 64GB SSD seems small given the machine’s $999 price tag. There’s no SD card slot, as there is on the 13-inch Air. So what’s not to like about the new 11-inch Air? Well, nothing too serious. And just like this year’s 13-inch Air, the battery is identical to last year’s 11-inch model. There’s a large battery in the center, two speakers on either side, a small I/O board, single cooling fan, and motherboard. Tamper-resistant case screws: Like previous Air models and the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, Apple uses special, pentalobe screws on the case’s bottom cover.ĭespite all the hardware updates, the 20 11-inch Airs have identical internal hardware layouts.MagSafe 2 power connector: Like the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, the 2012 Air has Apple’s new MagSafe 2 power connector.USB 3.0: The 11-inch Air has two USB 3.0 ports, a single Thunderbolt port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and built-in microphone.720p FaceTime camera: The Air’s built-in camera can shoot 720p video.More storage: The new Air can be configured with up to 512GB of storage–twice the maximum capacity of the 2011 model.As on previous models, the chips are soldered to the motherboard, which makes adding more memory impossible. The chips also faster, 1,600MHz DDR3L SDRAM compared to the older model’s 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM. More, faster RAM: The 2012 Air can support up to 8GB of RAM, compared to the 2011’s 4GB.Better graphics: The 2012 Airs also come with Intel’s HD Graphics 4000–a step up from the older model’s HD Graphics 3000 system.I ntel 3rd generation (Ivy Bridge) processors: A 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor comes standard, but our test machine had a 2.0GHz Core i7.It measured 0.68″ (H) x 11.8″ (W) x 7.56″ (D) and weighs 2.38 pounds.įull teardown gallery: Cracking Open the MacBook Air 11-inch (2012) Cracking Open Observations Our MacBook Air test unit had a 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD, and a 11.6-inch LED-backlit display (1366 x 768 native resolution). In this week’s episode of Cracking Open, I take you inside this year’s 11-inch Air and show you what’s changed and what hasn’t.

The company didn’t make any big design changes to the 2012 Air, but Apple did make several significant hardware improvements. The 11-inch MacBook Air is Apple’s smallest, lightest, and lowest-priced laptop.

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