Apple MacBook Air 1.8Ghz - TechRadar UK

There's no denying that Apple has caused something of a stir with its MacBook Air (£2028 inc. VAT), the thinnest laptop ever made. Measuring 325 x 221 x 20mm, it's impressively stylish and will certainly turn a fair few heads.

Our test unit was the high-end model, consisting of Intel's new 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and 64GB SSD (Solid State Drive). There is a cheaper version on offer but, as this laptop is a style statement, this is the version to opt for.

High-quality finish

Made from aluminium, it has the same high-quality finish as the MacBook Pro and weighs just 1.4kg. Open the lid and you'll find a 13.3-inch Super-TFT screen that uses LED technology to make colours vibrant. There's also a near full-sized keyboard that's a real pleasure to use.

The touchpad is larger than we're accustomed to, so as to make use of Apple's multi-touch technology. First used on the iPhone, it allows you to spin and zoom in on supported documents with the touchpad. This works fine, but beyond the novelty aspect it doesn't improve usability.

This laptop may be thin, but for a regular traveller it simply isn't small enough. The screen is great to use, but smaller would have been more portable, as you're still forced to use a large carry case.

Wireless focus

It's the MacBook Air's thinness that causes problems. This isn't a laptop for people to use every day, but a design statement to be pulled out by those who need to make an instant impression.

The reason for this feeling is twofold: the lack of connectivity and the sealed unit. Its hardware connections are all hidden away under a flap on the side of the unit, and consist of a single USB 2.0 port, a DVI-out connector and audio jack.

When it comes to staying in touch, wireless is the aim. So, there is 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0 + ERD to keep you connected.

Limited battery life

The sealed unit approach means the battery is an integral part of the machine and there's no clear path for upgrading the memory or hard drive. This may work for an MP3 player, which isn't critical to your work, however, for a machine to be used for business, can you really afford to send it back to Apple when it needs updating?

In field tests, where we actually took the MacBook Air out and used it until the battery died, we found it lasted for 153 minutes, which is fine for the morning commute, but isn't going to see you through a day's work.

When connected to a wireless network, this dropped to 137 minutes to reflect the chipsets further power drain.

The Apple MacBook Air is a fantastic looking laptop and a joy to use, but there are simply too many sacrifices.