The 13-inch MacBook Air doesn't have a high-density Retina display or a Force Touch trackpad, but what it does have is 2x USB, 2x Thunderbolt, MagSafe, SD card, and 3.5mm headphone jack, and up to 2.2 GHz, 8 GB of DDR3 memory, and 512 GB of solid state storage, all in an ultra-light package that won't break the bank. In fact, starting at just $999 and weighing in at only 2.96 lbs, it's literally the ultralight laptop that every other manufacturer has spent the last few years figuring out how to copy.

Download gimp for mac yosemite. I carried a 13-inch MacBook Air for years and when someone in my family recently headed to college, it's the Mac I had him go with. Starts at $999. Bottom-line: The 13-inch MacBook Air has been the go-to for tech writers for years, and for good reason. If you don't need the power or the Retina pixels, go with the portability. Why the 13-inch MacBook Air is the best The best less-expensive Mac ever. Powerpoint for mac users.

The MacBook Air packs all the power most people need from a computer into a thin, light, strong aluminum wedge that's incredibly easy to carry around, and a cinch to use on your desk in class or on your lap on the couch. Because of its size — or lack thereof — the MacBook Air takes up minimal space in your bag or even tucked under your arm. Because it's a unibody, it also stands up to the wear and tear of life on the go. It also comes with a slew of ports, unlike Apple's latest ultra-light, the new MacBook.

That means you can easily plug in all the peripherals you need, all at the same time. Mark Spoonauer likes the 13-inch MacBook Air as well, writing for. The 13-inch MacBook Air is balanced. It offers great performance and battery life, the latest chips and ports, an unbeatable keyboard and trackpad—both things that other companies are still struggling to produce—an amazingly solid aluminum-unibody chassis, and a lack of outstanding flaws.

It doesn't have a high-resolution Retina display, making the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro ever more appealing for people with more-demanding needs, and it's missing the very latest ports (USB-C and Thunderbolt 3), but we think those trade-offs are okay for most people, given everything the Air does right. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is a serious computer for serious studies — everything from computer science to advanced 3D modeling. It can currently be maxed out with a 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7 'Kabylake' processor and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650, 16GB of 2133MHz memory, and up to 1TB of solid state storage. It includes a 13.3-inch 2560 x 1600 Retina display, which means the pixels are so dense they disappear at normal viewing distances, and Apple's new Force Touch trackpad, which simulates both standard trackpad clicks, and also enables secondary Force Clicks and pressure sensitive drawing. There's also an option for Touch Bar and Touch ID, the latter of which is incredibly convenient for everything from logging in to authenticating Apple Pay. Thanks to Kaby Lake, it can also hardware accelerate next-generation HEVC (H.265) video. Also now available in silver and space gray.