苹果最新款MacBook Air实测

    3年前，我购买了第一代11英寸MacBook Air笔记本。从那时候起，我心头就萦绕着两大愿望：更强的性能、更给力的电池。

    苹果（Apple）对性能问题相当关注。2011年，MacBook Air改用性能更强的英特尔（Intel）处理器和速度更快的Flash固态闪存。提升效果显著，应用程序的启动和运行可谓健步如飞。不过，续航时间仍然遭到许多人诟病。苹果官方宣称Air的续航时间可以长达5个小时。但在实际使用中，如果你打开WiFi，同时把屏幕亮度调至最高，续航时间会明显缩水，可能只要3小时就不得不关机。如果打算在旅途中使用笔记本，那Air甚至还撑不过从旧金山飞到纽约的一次跨州旅行。（当然，大家可以选择将屏幕调至最暗，同时关闭WiFi以获得更长的续航时间。不过这样一来，屏幕会乌黑一片。更重要的是，我们为什么要这么干？）

    如今，新的MacBook Air登台亮相了。外表几乎没有什么变化——仍然是纤薄的铝合金外壳，但苹果承诺，这一次将满足旅行家们长久以来的心愿：全天候续航。13英寸版的续航时间长达12小时，而11英寸版也有9小时之久，比上一代产品足足多了4个小时。如果一切属实，那新款Air将轻松满足用户朝九晚五的需求，而且还有不少富余。

    苹果称，11英寸和13英寸版Air的电池尺寸没有变化。提升续航能力的新部件是英特尔最新的Haswell处理器芯片，这个芯片也是本次硬件升级中最重大的一个变化。Air使用了超低功率版Haswell（又称ULT），型号包括1.3GHz双核i5和1.7GHz双核i7等。得益于新技术，Air在保证性能的前提下极大地提升了续航时间。（确实，由于新的Flash闪存提速高达45%，用户至少在性能方面不会觉得比上代Air差。）

    我亲自评测了一把。这是一台售价1,199美元的MacBook Air，配备1.3GHz双核i5处理器、4G内存和256GB闪存。目前一切和苹果的宣传相当吻合。应用程序启动、窗口切换、高清视频播放都比上一代产品快了少许。在打开WiFi，屏幕调至最亮，开启键盘背光灯和运行了Spotify、Evernote等若干应用的情况下，MacBook Air的电池指示器显示还有8.5小时续航时间。如果将屏幕亮度调至3/4，则显示还有9.5小时。当然，如果我们继续使用，该设备显示的续航时间可能会减少。但在实际使用中，只要MacBook Air的续航时间与上述数字相去不是太远，对苹果粉丝们而言，这款超薄笔记本电脑几乎可谓是旅途中的完美装备。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    Ever since buying the first-generation 11-inch MacBook Air three years ago, my wish has been two-fold: make it faster and make it last longer between charges.

    Apple (AAPL) took care of the performance issues in 2011, when it switched to a faster Intel processor. Paired with flash-based storage, apps launched briskly and zipped along. It was fast enough. Still, battery life remained a sore point for reviewers and critics. The company claimed the Air could get 5 hours in-between charges. In reality, with features like Wi-Fi turned on and brightness near maximum, battery life sometimes fell short, running for as little as 3 hours before having to shut down. For a notebook intended as a travel companion, that's not even juice for a cross-country flight from San Francisco to New York. (And sure, you could seriously dial down the brightness and turn off the Wi-Fi to eke out more time, but doing so meant staring at a pretty dark screen. More importantly, why should users have to do that?)

    With the 2013 11-inch MacBook Air, little has changed on the outside -- it's still the same svelte aluminum body -- but Apple now promises what road warriors have wanted all along: all-day battery life. The 13-inch model is rated at 12 hours, and the 11-incher at 9. That's 4-plus hours more than the previous Airs, which if true, means users could use one of these, unplugged, from 9 to 5 and still have juice to spare.

    According to Apple, the size of the battery on both the 11-inch and 13-inch Air remains the same. The new energy-saving component, and really the biggest change in an otherwise minor hardware upgrade, is Intel's (INTC) newest Haswell processor chip. The Air uses an ultra low-power version of Haswell, ranging from a 1.3 GHz dual-core i5 to an optional 1.7 GHz dual-core i7, called "ULT." In doing so, battery life supposedly gets a major boost without performance taking a hit. (Indeed, thanks to flash storage that's up to 45% faster, users should expect performance at least on par, if not faster than last year.)

    I'm sussing out those claims for myself. My review unit is a $1,199 11-inch MacBook Air with 1.3GHz dual-core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of flash storage. So far? It's running like advertised. Apps launch, windows churn, and high-definition video all run a bit noticeably faster. With Wi-Fi on, the display's brightness cranked all the way up, keyboard illuminated, and a few apps open like Spotify and Evernote, the MacBook Air's battery indicator read 8.5 hours of charge left; with brightness ratcheted down to 3/4, the Air predicted 9.5 hours. Chances are those numbers will dip as we continue to put the Air through its paces, but if real-world use ends up anywhere near that, Mac aficionados may have a near-ideal travel companion to consider with this pint-sized notebook.