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Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06 Notebook Review Update

Heart transplant. The new Apple MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 is once again an evolution instead of a revolution, because there are not many differences compared to the last version. We focus on the inner values. A new Intel Core i5-4260U Haswell CPU clocked at 1.4 GHz in combination with 4 GB RAM and a large 256 GB SSD. Sounds appealing.

For the original German review, see here.

Every year we get an Apple update – at least sort of. The previously reviewed MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013 once again got an update that focuses on the hardware. Nothing changed in terms of design since the first MacBook Air back in 2008, except for the keyboard background illumination introduced in 2010.

Because there have not been big changes, we will focus on some key aspects in this review update, all other information is available in our in-depth review of the Apple MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013 MD760D/A and apply for our review unit as well.

The MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 MD761D/B now uses the latest Haswell processor technology from Intel; more precisely a Core i5-4260U clocked at 1.4 GHz in combination with 4 GB RAM and 256 GB flash storage. Everything stays the same concerning the display, the port variety and the design. However, there is a difference, Apple charges around 1,200 Euros (~$1638) for our review version, which is 100 Euros (~$136) less than last year. The configurable top version with a faster i7 CPU and twice the amount of memory and flash storage retails for 1,749 Euros (~$2387).

Rivals for the MacBook Air are the Asus Zenbook-series, Dell's XPS 13Sony's Vaio Pro 13 and Duo 13, the Samsung Ativ Book 9-series as well as Apple's own MacBook Pro 13.

Display

Apple still uses a glossy 16:10 display with a resolution of 1440x900 pixels for the new MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 – there is no alternative display option. This means you get more screen workspace compared to the popular 1366x768 displays that are used by many competitors. However, some rivals already use Full HD displays, and Apple users cannot use a touchscreen, either.

270
cd/m²
280
cd/m²
262
cd/m²
276
cd/m²
280
cd/m²
261
cd/m²
255
cd/m²
250
cd/m²
235
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
LP133WP1-TJA7, APP9CDF tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 280 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 263.2 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 84 %
Center on Battery: 280 cd/m²
Contrast: 875:1 (Black: 0.32 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 1.91 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 2 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
Gamma: 2.26

Compared to the immediate predecessor MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013, our review sample offers around 14 cd/m² less with an average luminance of 263.2 cd/m², and the maximum brightness in the center is 280 cd/m² (MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013: 295 cd/m²). The brightness distribution is also reduced by five points to 84%. Both configurations use the same panel, so we are dealing with production tolerances, which is not unusual. More information about the display can be found in the review of the MacBook Air Mid 2013.

The MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 can, however, score with a high contrast of 875:1 (predecessor: 655:1), and the black value of 0.32 cd/m² is also decent. Picture contents can subjectively convince us with rich colors and good black values.

Our CalMAN measurements once again show accurate colors out of the box for the current version. The same applies for the grayscale presentation, which is supported by a low DeltaE deviation of 2 and a comparatively accurate color temperature of 6,724 K. You cannot see any grayscale deviations with the human eye. A calibration only slightly improves the color accuracy, grayscale and saturation.

The deficits in terms of color production are much more noticeable under Bootcamp Windows; blue colors in particular are too strong. The grayscale performance on the other hand is also reasonably good without calibration.

ColorChecker MacOS
ColorChecker MacOS
ColorChecker calibrated
ColorChecker calibrated
Grayscale MacOS
Grayscale MacOS
Grayscale calibrated
Grayscale calibrated
Saturation Sweeps MacOS
Saturation Sweeps MacOS
CalMAN ColorChecker Windows
CalMAN ColorChecker Windows
CalMAN Grayscale Windows
CalMAN Grayscale Windows
Luminance Sweeps Windows
Luminance Sweeps Windows
Saturation Sweeps Windows
Saturation Sweeps Windows
Spectral Measurement Windows
Spectral Measurement Windows

The viewing angle stability is actually not bad for a TN panel. Vertical angles can be pretty big before we notice inverting colors and a brightness reduction. The picture with the viewing angles also shows a slight blue or yellow cast depending on the angle, however, the camera amplifies the effect and it is not a big issue in practice.

Reflections outdoors...
Reflections outdoors...
...can be a small or big issue, depending on the viewing angle.
...can be a small or big issue, depending on the viewing angle.
Viewing angles
Viewing angles

Performance

Just like the predecessor, the current MacBook Air 13 uses the latest version of Intel's Haswell CPU generation. The performance advantage will not be huge since the new processor only has a slightly raised clock. Otherwise, nothing changed compared to the MacBook Air Mid 2013.

System information Apple MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 MD761D/B
System information Apple MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 MD761D/B

Processor

The new 2014 Intel Haswell CPU, the Intel Core i5-4260U, now runs with 1.4 GHz instead of 1.3 GHz, and the Turbo Boost was slightly raised to 2.7 GHz. The Thermal Design Power is once again at 15 Watts; the chipset is mostly integrated into the CPU and saves power as well as space.

As expected, the benchmarks (MacOS) do not show big performance improvements because of the slightly increased clock. Cinebench R11.5 64-bit gets 5% more points, the R10 version 5% less, which can be measurement uncertainties. This means there is no perceptible performance improvement. Our review unit only occasionally utilizes the Turbo potential of 2.7 GHz, just like the predecessor, and the CPU usually runs with up to 2.4 GHz.

In terms of performance difference between Windows and MacOS X Mavericks, we can repeat our results from the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013 review, so we recommend our in-depth test for more details. In short: The native operating system can use the components much more efficiently.

The stress test under Windows 8.1 with FurMark and Prime95, which stresses the components, quickly shows a throttling of the processor to 800 - 900 MHz. There is no performance difference between battery and mains power.

Cinebench R11.5
CPU Single 64Bit (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
1.2 Points
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch 2013-10
1.27 Points +6%
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
1.13 Points -6%
CPU Multi 64Bit (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
2.63 Points
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch 2013-10
3.15 Points +20%
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
2.5 Points -5%
Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
105 Points
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch 2013-10
113 Points +8%
CPU Multi 64Bit (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
239 Points
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch 2013-10
291 Points +22%

Legend

 
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06 Intel Core i5-4260U, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Apple SSD SD0256F
 
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch 2013-10 Intel Core i5-4258U, Intel Iris Graphics 5100, Apple SSD SM0256F
 
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch 2013-10 Intel Core i5-4258U, Intel Iris Graphics 5100, Apple SSD SM0256F
 
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A Intel Core i5-4250U, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Apple SSD SM0128F
Cinebench R10 Shading 64Bit
5135 Points
Cinebench R10 Rendering Multiple CPUs 64Bit
10033 Points
Cinebench R10 Rendering Single CPUs 64Bit
5186 Points
Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit
5143
Cinebench R10 Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit
7913
Cinebench R10 Rendering Single 32Bit
3951
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Single 64Bit
1.2 Points
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Multi 64Bit
2.63 Points
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64Bit
16.51 fps
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64Bit
24.15 fps
Cinebench R15 Ref. Match 64Bit
98 %
Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit
239 Points
Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit
105 Points
Help

System Performance

The benchmark results of PCMark 7 show a performance advantage of 14% with 5,012 points compared to the predecessor. The system memory once again works in a dual-channel configuration and the flash storage is very fast as well. This means you have more than sufficient resources in practice.

PCMark 7 Score
5012 points
PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated
2584 points
Help

Storage Devices

The analysis of the flash storage with the AS SSD benchmark leaves mixed impressions compared to the predecessor MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013. Some tests like the 4K Write or the Sequential Read sometimes show a big performance gain, the 4K-64 Read and the 4K-64 Write of our review unit, on the other hand, fall behind. Access times and the copy tests of the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 are once again better than the predecessor.

However, these results are hardly noticeable in practice. Compared to notebooks with conventional hard drives the performance is definitely convincing.

Apple SSD SD0256F
Sequential Read: 642MB/s
Sequential Write: 516MB/s
4K Read: 14.34MB/s
4K Write: 19.25MB/s
4K-64 Read: 463.6MB/s
4K-64 Write: 201.4MB/s
Access Time Read: 0.237ms
Access Time Write: 0.184ms
Copy ISO: 271MB/s
Copy Program: 143.8MB/s
Copy Game: 229.5MB/s
Score Read: 542Points
Score Write: 272Points
Score Total: 1086Points
AS SSD
Seq Read (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
642 MB/s
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
689 MB/s +7%
Seq Write (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
516 MB/s
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
428.5 MB/s -17%
4K Read (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
14.34 MB/s
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
13.46 MB/s -6%
4K Write (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
19.25 MB/s
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
29.03 MB/s +51%
4K-64 Read (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
463.6 MB/s
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
191.1 MB/s -59%
4K-64 Write (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
201.4 MB/s
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
136.1 MB/s -32%
Access Time Read (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
0.237 ms *
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
0.176 ms * +26%
Access Time Write (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
0.184 ms *
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
0.127 ms * +31%
Copy ISO MB/s (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
271 MB/s
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
293.1 MB/s +8%
Copy Program MB/s (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
143.8 MB/s
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
174.5 MB/s +21%
Copy Game MB/s (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
229.5 MB/s
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
240.1 MB/s +5%

Legend

 
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06 Intel Core i5-4260U, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Apple SSD SD0256F
 
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A Intel Core i5-4250U, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Apple SSD SM0128F

* ... smaller is better

Graphics

Similar to the predecessor, the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 uses the Intel HD 5000 (GT3) graphics card, which is integrated into the Intel Core i5-4260U processor. The GPU in our review unit works with a clock between 200 up to 950 MHz. The GPU and the CPU have to share the Thermal Design Power of 15 Watts.

The MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 is on the expected level in our graphics benchmarks and similar to the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013. 3DMark 11 (under Windows) results in 1,134 points for our review unit, which is just slightly faster than the 1,131 points of the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013. Cinebench R11.5 in Mac OS X shows a good result of 22.41 fps and is once again slightly ahead of the old model (22.07 fps). Overall, the GPU is powerful, but cannot compete with dedicated mainstream GPUs.

More details on the GPU can be found in the review of the predecessor MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013

3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
1134 Points
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
1134 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
1131 Points 0%
Cinebench R11.5 - OpenGL 64Bit (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
16.51 fps
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
16.81 fps +2%

Legend

 
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06 Intel Core i5-4260U, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Apple SSD SD0256F
 
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A Intel Core i5-4250U, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Apple SSD SM0128F
3DMark 06 1280x800 Score
6675 points
3DMark 11 Performance
1134 points
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score
4894 points
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme Score
352 points
Help

Gaming Performance

Complex 3D games are not really the strong suit of the MacBook Air 13. Only some older PC games run smoothly with low resolutions and graphic details.

The brand-new hacker-adventure Watch Dogs does not run smoothly, not even with the lowest settings. Other examples can be found in the review of the predecessor.

low med. high ultra
Tomb Raider (2013) 54.3 28.3 17.5
Watch Dogs (2014) 18.1 11.6

Emissions

System Noise

Just like the predecessor, the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 is pretty restrained in terms of system noise, both with Windows as well as Mac OS. It is often completely silent in practice, for example, during playback of Full HD or 4K videos. Our measurement device only shows a very quiet 28.5 dB(A) during idle. Demanding tasks like gaming will increase noise. We can measure between 40.5 and 43.7 dB(A) for the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 under maximum load. However, you can only reach this level in practice with continuous load, like excessive multitasking.

Noise characteristics (dark green: 1200 rpm/1.4 Sone - Idle, red: 2500 rpm/ 1.5 Sone, green: 3500 rpm/1.8 Sone, brown: 4500 rpm/2.6 Sone, purple: 5500 rpm/2.6 Sone, blue: 6500 rpm/5.4 Sone)
Noise characteristics (dark green: 1200 rpm/1.4 Sone - Idle, red: 2500 rpm/ 1.5 Sone, green: 3500 rpm/1.8 Sone, brown: 4500 rpm/2.6 Sone, purple: 5500 rpm/2.6 Sone, blue: 6500 rpm/5.4 Sone)

Noise Level

Idle
28 / 28 / 28 dB(A)
Load
40.5 / 43.7 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light   Voltcraft sl-300 (15 cm distance)

Temperature

The surface temperatures are always very low during idle with up to 26 °C (78.8 °F). Using the notebook on your lap is therefore no problem. Under load, the case of the MacBook Air warms up to 43 °C (109.4 °F), measured over the left side of the keyboard. The sensitive spot at the palm rest on the other hand is always comfortable, but the bottom also warms up to 40 °C (104 °F) under continuous maximum load.

Max. Load
 43 °C
109 F
40 °C
104 F
32 °C
90 F
 
 36 °C
97 F
34 °C
93 F
28 °C
82 F
 
 30 °C
86 F
27 °C
81 F
28 °C
82 F
 
Maximum: 43 °C = 109 F
Average: 33.1 °C = 92 F
40 °C
104 F
36 °C
97 F
29 °C
84 F
36 °C
97 F
36 °C
97 F
32 °C
90 F
32 °C
90 F
30 °C
86 F
29 °C
84 F
Maximum: 40 °C = 104 F
Average: 33.3 °C = 92 F
Power Supply (max.)  45 °C = 113 F | Room Temperature 22 °C = 72 F | Raytek Raynger ST
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 33.1 °C / 92 F, compared to the average of 30.7 °C / 87 F for the devices in the class Subnotebook.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 43 °C / 109 F, compared to the average of 35.9 °C / 97 F, ranging from 21.4 to 59 °C for the class Subnotebook.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 40 °C / 104 F, compared to the average of 39.4 °C / 103 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 24.9 °C / 77 F, compared to the device average of 30.7 °C / 87 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 30 °C / 86 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.3 °C / 82.9 F (-1.7 °C / -3.1 F).

Speakers

Since the speakers are identical to the predecessor, we once again want to recommend the review of the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013. Short verdict: The sound is good when you consider the compact construction, but it lacks bass.

Pink Noise (50%, 75%, 100% Volume)
Pink Noise (50%, 75%, 100% Volume)
White Noise (50%, 75%, 100% Volume)
White Noise (50%, 75%, 100% Volume)

Energy Management

Power Consumption

Similar to the predecessor, the power consumption heavily depends on the operating system. The idle consumption is between 5.4 and 10.1 Watts with Windows. The review unit is much more frugal with Mac OS, where we can measure 3.4 up to 5.8 Watts. The results fluctuate a bit under load, which is probably caused by the changing clocks of the CPU-GPU combination. Still, the maximum consumption is much lower compared to the predecessor. A test with extreme load with a loop of the benchmark Cinebench R15 and the Unigine Benchmark in the background results in moderate 32.2 Watts after two hours. The 45-Watt power adaptor is therefore more than sufficient in all scenarios.

Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0 / 0 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 3.4 / 4 / 5.8 Watt
Load midlight 32.4 / 32.2 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Voltcraft VC 940
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

Battery Runtime

The non-removable lithium-polymer battery of the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 has a capacity of 54 Wh. As always, we ran some battery tests under Windows with the tool Battery Eater. The Battery Eater Reader's Test with the activated energy-saving profile, minimum display brightness and deactivated wireless modules resulted in 10:48 hours, which is surprisingly 2.5 hours shorter compared to the predecessor. The load scenario with the Battery Eater Classic Test finished after 1 hour and 54 minutes, which is longer than the MacBook Air 13 Mid 2013.

The more practical WLAN Test (display brightness at 152 cd/m², wireless on, energy-saving profile, script in a loop) ran for 8 hours and 35 minutes. The predecessor managed a longer runtime.

Battery Runtime - WiFi (sort by value)
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06
515 min
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A
623 min
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch 2013-10
569 min
Dell XPS 13-9333
465 min
Samsung ATIV Book 9 900X3G-K01
343 min
Sony Vaio Pro 13 SVP-1321C5ER
316 min
Asus Zenbook UX301
385 min

Legend

 
Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06 Intel Core i5-4260U, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Apple SSD SD0256F
 
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch 2013 MD760D/A Intel Core i5-4250U, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Apple SSD SM0128F
 
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch 2013-10 Intel Core i5-4258U, Intel Iris Graphics 5100, Apple SSD SM0256F
 
Dell XPS 13-9333 Intel Core i5-4200U, Intel HD Graphics 4400, Liteonit LMT-128M6M
 
Samsung ATIV Book 9 900X3G-K01 Intel Core i5-4200U, Intel HD Graphics 4400, Samsung PM851 Series MZMTE256HMHP
 
Sony Vaio Pro 13 SVP-1321C5ER Intel Core i7-4500U, Intel HD Graphics 4400, Toshiba HG5d THNSNH512GDNT
 
Asus Zenbook UX301 Intel Core i7-4558U, Intel Iris Graphics 5100, 2x Sandisk X110 SD6SP1M-128G RAID 0
Battery Runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)
10h 48min
WiFi Surfing
8h 35min
Load (maximum brightness)
1h 54min

Verdict

Apple MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014
Apple MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014

Apple might have a polarizing effect, the MacBook Air 13 can still inspire with its timeless design and the compact Unibody chassis. This impression is supported by the great build quality. The notebook can also convince us with a hardly audible system noise and acceptably low surface temperatures.

Fast data transfers are provided by a fast wireless module with support for the WLAN standard 802.11ac and two USB 3.0 ports. LTE/4G for the Internet on the road is unfortunately still not available as an option. The internal Solid State Drive is also fast. The performance of the frugal Haswell ULV CPU is usually more than sufficient for most scenarios and offers sufficient GPU performance for standard applications. The standard warranty period of just one year is a bit meager, but can be extended for an additional charge. Drawbacks that are more serious are the glossy display and the non-existent maintainability. Meager is also the correct term – typical for Apple – for the scope of delivery. The necessary adaptor for the Thunderbolt/Mini-DisplayPort has to be purchased, just like the Ethernet adaptor. However, Apple offers the current MacBook Air 13 for 100 Euros (~$136) less than the equal predecessor. This means you will get a very competitive subnotebook with the current MacBook Air 13 if you can live with the mentioned drawbacks.

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In Review: Apple MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 MD761D/B
In Review: Apple MacBook Air 13 Mid 2014 MD761D/B

Specifications

Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06 (MacBook Air Series)
Processor
Intel Core i5-4260U 2 x 1.4 - 2.7 GHz, Haswell
Graphics adapter
Intel HD Graphics 5000, Core: 900 MHz, Memory: 800 MHz MHz, shared memory, 10.18.10.3496
Memory
4 GB 
, 2x 2GB LPDDR3 SDRAM @ 1600 MHz
Display
13.30 inch 16:10, 1440 x 900 pixel, LP133WP1-TJA7, APP9CDF, TN LED, glossy: yes
Mainboard
Intel Lynx Point-LP
Storage
Apple SSD SD0256F, 256 GB 
, 251 GB free
Connections
2 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 1 Thunderbolt, 1 DisplayPort, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm stereo jack, Card Reader: SDXC card reader, Sensors: Ambient light sensor, Brightness sensor
Networking
Broadcom 802.11ac (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 4.0
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 17 x 325 x 227 ( = 0.67 x 12.8 x 8.94 in)
Battery
54 Wh Lithium-Polymer, Battery runtime (according to manufacturer): 12 h
Operating System
Apple OS X 10.9 Mavericks
Camera
Webcam: FaceTime HD Camera 720p
Additional features
Speakers: Cirrus Logic, Keyboard: Apple Keyboard, 79 ISO-keys, Keyboard Light: yes, OS X, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, 12 Months Warranty
Weight
1.4 kg ( = 49.38 oz / 3.09 pounds) ( = 0 oz / 0 pounds)
Price
1199 Euro

 

MacBook Air: Looks pretty much the same since 2008.
MacBook Air: Looks pretty much the same since 2008.
4K videos only need a few resources and run smoothly.
4K videos only need a few resources and run smoothly.
Not many ports: Magsafe, USB 3.0, combined stereo jack...
Not many ports: Magsafe, USB 3.0, combined stereo jack...
...as well as card reader, USB 3.0 and Mini-DisplayPort/Thunderbolt.
...as well as card reader, USB 3.0 and Mini-DisplayPort/Thunderbolt.

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Links

Compare Prices

Pros

+Very good build quality
+Light and thin
+Very good keyboard with illumination
+Silent with light workloads
+Good system performance
+Fast storage solution
+Good battery runtimes
+Thunderbolt with a wider variety of extensions
+Port layout
 

Cons

-Partly sharp edges at the case
-No mobile broadband available
-Non-removable battery
-No internal upgradeability
-Glossy display
-No adaptor for DisplayPort in the box
-Small gaps between the ports
-Loud under load
-Short warranty period

Shortcut

What we like

The timeless design and the great build quality. Also the good application performance and the very good keyboard.

What we'd like to see

Options for an anti-reflective display as well as an integrated broadband modem (LTE/4G).

What surprises us

That we still get the same aged resolution and that Apple does not introduce any real innovations that we know from the iPads.

The competition

Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 Late 2013

Review Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 Late 2013 NotebookAsus Zenbook Prime UX31A-C4027H

Dell XPS 13

Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus 940X3G

Samsung ATIV Book 9 900X3G-K01DE

Sony Vaio Pro 13

Sony Vaio Duo 13 Convertible

Rating

Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06 - 06/23/2014 v4(old)
Michael Moser

Chassis
88 /  98 → 90%
Keyboard
89%
Pointing Device
95%
Connectivity
56 / 80 → 70%
Weight
70 / 35-78 → 81%
Battery
90%
Display
81%
Games Performance
70 / 68 → 100%
Application Performance
80 / 87 → 92%
Temperature
90 / 91 → 99%
Noise
90%
Audio
77 / 91 → 85%
Camera
63 / 85 → 74%
Average
80%
86%
Subnotebook - Weighted Average
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Archive of our own reviews > Apple MacBook Air 13 MD761D/B 2014-06 Notebook Review Update
Michael Moser, 2014-06-28 (Update: 2018-05-15)