A 13.3-inch Retina IPS display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels (227 dpi)

Surprisingly, the MacBook Air is slightly thicker than a 13-inch MacBook Pro at its highest point (1.56 cm vs. 1.49 cm for the MBP), but thins considerably at the wrist rest with 0.41 cm only. The width and depth of the recycled aluminum frame are identical to the MacBook Pro, with respectively 30.41 cm and 21.24 cm

So we wonder about the relevance of the name "Air", at a time when a MacBook Pro weighs only 1.37 kg against 1.25 kg. But we are no longer at an inconsistency near

The MacBook Air 2018 embarks, like all other notebooks of the brand, the butterfly keyboard in its third version. An iteration that, according to Apple, is protected against the concerns of its predecessors. As a MacBook Pro user with a first-generation Touch Bar, I find with a certain pleasure that the sensitivity of the keys has been slightly hardened, and especially that the sound of the typing has been considerably lessened

Touch Bar point so on the MBA, but the good old rank of stock keys present on Apple keyboards since the world is world. However, the computer does not skip the Touch ID fingerprint sensor, allowing unlocking (and payment via Apple Pay) via a single touch

This new MacBook Air is also equipped with the trackpad that are fitted to the latest Pro models. Larger, they also have the Force Touch technology, allowing access to contextual actions by more pressure. Note, however, that the Air's trackpad is slightly smaller (12 cm) than the Pro's (14 cm)

Finally, Apple has also declined the speakers that equip its other devices. These deliver a truly stunning sound for integrated speakers. The mediums are very clear and bass present, and can enjoy your music or movie without regretting that you do not have headphones or headphones on hand

True commercial argument when it appeared in 2010, Apple could not decently offer on its MacBook Air a non-HD screen. We are therefore delighted with the presence of a beautiful IPS panel displaying 2560 x 1600 pixels, but it is ultimately the least of things. It would have been appreciated, however, that Apple is slashing more on the edges of its screen, to offer a product as convincing as the MateBook X Pro Huawei, whose slab occupies 91% of the front panel. The company misses here a great opportunity to demarcate its MacBook Air other models in its range of computers

No offense, we must recognize that the pleasure of reading is optimal, and that working on this MacBook Air is a real pleasure. Perfectly calibrated, the 13.3-inch screen suffers from a rather irritating lack of brightness. Indeed, it rises only up to 300 nits, where that of the MacBook Pro climbs to 500. This results in a brightness slider often pushed to its maximum, even when the ambient light conditions are correct. The gray Parisian prevented me from putting the screen of the MacBook Air to the test of a use in full sun, but that must not be very brilliant

Another technical concession: the MacBook Air's display skips the TrueTone technology, which automatically adjusts the heat of the screen according to the ambient light

We will not tell you anything by announcing that you will not be running Battlefield V or export video renditions of several hours with your 2018 MacBook Air. Its battle is office automation. Although it must be admitted that the laptop is quite conciliatory with the most demanding tasks in resources

It is noticeable that the 8 GB RAM is appropriately allocated to the different applications that you launch, making them all flawlessly fluid. Some slowdowns are felt compared to a MacBook Pro for the same use, but it's still anecdotal

It is essentially the small i5 series Y processor that surprises here. With only two hearts, the chip has the unfortunate tendency to play yoyo in terms of temperature. It is not unusual to see it jump from 30 ° C in idle to nearly 80 ° C in minutes if it is high contribution. This is particularly the case when I wanted to process the photos in this test in Adobe Lightroom. We feel that the export of photos has been undergone by the small processor, which is still doing so in a very convenient time. It should be noted that the MacBook Air 2018 is able to troubleshoot in audio and video production tasks, but can not replace a real workstation

A heater, however, restricted in the upper part of the keyboard, which ultimately never interfere with the use of the computer. Especially since, even pushed to its limits, the MacBook Air 2018 escapes little effect "plane in takeoff phase" in terms of noise

Also, it is quite possible to play some video games on the MacBook Air. We will simply favor independent games with retro graphics in front of 3D mastodons

On its website, Apple says that its MacBook Air is able to hold about 12 hours of "Web browsing" and 13 hours of "iTunes movie playback". It is not quite far from the account, but the plateau is more around the 10 hours of use according to the uses

Apple does not propose a big evolution here compared to its previous models, but one can nevertheless consider that such a autonomy is largely sufficient for a day of work and of course - supposing that you do not have access at any moment to a catch to charge the device. In addition, the autonomy mentioned here is consistent use, and closing the hood or putting the MacBook Air in standby will logically extend its life

However, we remain a bit disconcerted by the speed at which online video playback pumps the energy of the latest MBA. On my first day of use, I juggled between office tasks (mainly word processing and web browsing) and watching videos on Netflix (two episodes of 59 minutes). That day, it only took the MacBook Air 4:15 to go from 100% to 0%

But as I wrote above, exclusively in office use, I found an average autonomy between 10 and 12 hours

Finally on the charge, the 30W charger included fulfills its task nicely, and can fully recharge the battery of 50.3 Wh in about 1h30

We do not hide our annoying posture with regard to this MacBook Air. On the one hand, it is undoubtedly a good ultraportable computer, which fulfills its tasks perfectly. On the other hand, how to recommend this computer, sold for € 1349, when a MacBook Pro with significantly higher performance is sold € 1499? Admittedly, 150 € difference is not nothing, but it must be said that Apple tends the stick to be beaten by ruining the tariff bait that once enjoyed its MacBook Air

Because if it is more expensive, it is not impeccable either, this MacBook Air 2018. The main complaint that can be made to him is the lack of brightness of his Retina screen, capped at 300 nits. Under the hood, we can not really say that Apple spoils us either, with a dual core processor that, if it can help, will not be enough for image professionals

The new MacBook Air is finally nothing other than the desktop laptop that it has always been. Apple has simply found the way to justify by evidence a rise of almost 300 € in the price of his device. Not innovative for a penny, the firm is content here to bring back to date a formula formerly revolutionary. But this iteration is finally nothing but a lazy upgrade, which is only worth it because it is still the most accessible gateway on macOS for a laptop

And just for that, he does not deserve praise