{"id":2793,"date":"2013-07-01T12:30:01","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T16:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=2793"},"modified":"2013-07-01T12:30:01","modified_gmt":"2013-07-01T16:30:01","slug":"same-wrapper-all-new-candy-center-the-2013-macbook-air-reviewed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/07\/01\/same-wrapper-all-new-candy-center-the-2013-macbook-air-reviewed\/","title":{"rendered":"Same wrapper, all-new candy center: The 2013 MacBook Air reviewed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/arstechnica.com\/apple\/2013\/06\/same-wrapper-all-new-candy-center-the-2013-macbook-air-reviewed\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Same wrapper, all-new candy center: The 2013 MacBook Air reviewed | Ars Technica\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/img_6541.jpg?resize=614%2C414\" width=\"614\" height=\"414\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While many PC makers introduce new or tweaked laptop designs just about every year, Apple tends to stick with the same design for a few years before changing everything all at once to reflect changes in internal hardware (the move from HDDs to SSDs, for example) and evolving design tastes (the move across the lineup to aluminum unibody chassis). 2013&#8217;s MacBook Air retains the same basic design that the laptops have used since their late-2010 rebirth, when Apple refined the design of the existing 13-inch Air and introduced the 11-inch model.<br \/>\nSet the brand-new Airs on a table next to last year&#8217;s models and it&#8217;s unlikely anyone could tell the difference. Even changes to the speeds of the I\/O ports, like what happened in 2011 with the addition of Thunderbolt and in 2012 with the addition of USB 3.0, aren&#8217;t here to convince would-be upgraders. Everything that&#8217;s new about the 2013 Air is hidden away inside the laptop. While no one thing will convince 2011 or 2012 Air users to upgrade, the year-to-year improvements are still impressive when taken as a whole.<br \/>\nFor the bulk of this review, we&#8217;ll be comparing the entry-level 13-inch 2013 MacBook Air to the equivalent 2012 MacBook Air. Both laptops&#8217; 4GB of RAM have been upgraded to 8GB of RAM\u2014$100 is a bit steep for this sort of upgrade, but since the MacBook Air&#8217;s RAM is soldered to the motherboard, this is an upgrade most of you will probably want to make. The 11-inch MacBook Air shares all of the same internal specs as the 13-inch model (with the exception of the battery), so most of the observations here will also apply to the smaller model.<br \/>\nThis also serves as our first hands-on look at Intel&#8217;s new Haswell CPUs, the new integrated Intel HD 5000 GPU, and 802.11ac (aka Gigabit Wi-Fi), so it will be a bit more benchmark-heavy than some of our other laptop reviews. We&#8217;ll leave no stone unturned, because many of the upgraded technologies in this year&#8217;s Air will be making it out to most other Ultrabooks as the year rolls on.<br \/>\nFull Story: <a href=\"http:\/\/arstechnica.com\/apple\/2013\/06\/same-wrapper-all-new-candy-center-the-2013-macbook-air-reviewed\/\" target=\"_blank\">Same wrapper, all-new candy center: The 2013 MacBook Air reviewed | Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While many PC makers introduce new or tweaked laptop designs just about every year, Apple tends to stick with the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[642],"class_list":["post-2793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apple","category-hardware","tag-macbook"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-J3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7889,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/03\/25\/review-the-2015-macbook-airs-once-trailblazing-design-is-showing-its-age\/","url_meta":{"origin":2793,"position":0},"title":"Review: The 2015 MacBook Air\u2019s once-trailblazing design is showing its age","author":"NCCT","date":"March 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The current design of the MacBook Air was a big deal when it was unveiled back in 2010. Its construction and design were a major improvement over previous Airs, it was Apple's first Mac to go with solid-state storage across the lineup, and it came with a price drop that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC00306-980x653.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC00306-980x653.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC00306-980x653.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC00306-980x653.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7852,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/03\/20\/13-inch-broadwell-macbook-showdown-should-you-go-pro-or-get-an-air\/","url_meta":{"origin":2793,"position":1},"title":"13-inch Broadwell MacBook showdown: Should you go Pro or get an Air?","author":"NCCT","date":"March 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The 13-inch MacBook Pro and the 13-inch MacBook Air were once very different computers that served very different needs. One was bulkier but pretty fast and user-serviceable, while the other was thin-and-light to a fault, arriving with anemic low-power CPUs and GPUs, slow hard drives, and no easy means to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/dsc00299-980x653.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/dsc00299-980x653.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/dsc00299-980x653.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/dsc00299-980x653.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9940,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2025\/05\/16\/the-blue-and-the-gray-m4-macbook-air-m4-max-mac-studio-apple-intelligence\/","url_meta":{"origin":2793,"position":2},"title":"The Blue and the Gray &#8211; M4 MacBook Air, M4 Max Mac Studio, Apple Intelligence","author":"NCCT","date":"May 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/e_K-4_7i08k Is Apple's 'Sky Blue' really blue? Apple is delaying its 'more personalized Siri' Apple Intelligence features. Is anyone excited about RollerCoaster Tycoon coming to Apple Arcade? And Dropbox now supports Live Photos! ... after ten years. \u2022 Sky (blue)\u2019s the limit: M4 MacBook Air offers lower price, improved camera,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/e_K-4_7i08k\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9812,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2024\/11\/08\/slow-and-steady-m4-macbook-pro-apple-q424-pixelmator\/","url_meta":{"origin":2793,"position":3},"title":"Slow and Steady &#8211; M4 MacBook Pro, Apple Q424, Pixelmator","author":"NCCT","date":"November 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/etW5-oInyGA As expected following the end of last week's MacBreak Weekly, Apple announced the new M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max MacBook Pros. Jason recaps the results of Apple's Q424. And Apple acquires Pixelmator. \u2022 Early Apple M4 Pro and M4 Max benchmarks hint at a massive performance boost. \u2022\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/etW5-oInyGA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9383,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2018\/07\/22\/the-new-screen-savers-166-new-i9-macbook-pro-cant-take-the-heat\/","url_meta":{"origin":2793,"position":4},"title":"The New Screen Savers 166: New i9 MacBook Pro Can&#8217;t Take the Heat?","author":"NCCT","date":"July 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/quOpSX1xFpc 2018 MacBook Pro throttled, Nuraphone's headphones tuned for you, Moto Z3 Play review, and more. 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Leo and Patrick push its new i9 Intel chip to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/quOpSX1xFpc\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9186,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2017\/06\/09\/this-week-in-computer-hardware-418-homepod-and-macbooks-and-threadripper-oh-my\/","url_meta":{"origin":2793,"position":5},"title":"This Week in Computer Hardware 418: HomePod and MacBooks, and Threadripper, Oh My!","author":"NCCT","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OLHybkWTHuE HomePod, the 5K iMac Pro... ain't that expensive, MacBook update, where's Threadripper...and an 8K UltraSharp Monitor from DELL. All that and more coming up on This Week In Computer Hardware!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/OLHybkWTHuE\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}