Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive MB397

411 reviews

May, 2013

Positive
Performance (25)
Build quality (14)
Portability (13)
Size (8)
Keyboard (3)

Negative
Value for money (3)
Reliability (1)
Battery (1)

General overview
Price comparison
Product Specifications

alaTest has collected and analyzed 411 reviews from magazines and websites. Reviewers are impressed by the keyboard and size. The portability and build quality are also appreciated. There are some negative reviews about the reliability and battery.

performance, build quality, portability, size, keyboard

value for money, battery, reliability

We analyzed user and expert ratings, product age and more factors. Compared to other Laptops the Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive MB397 is awarded an overall alaScore™ of 89/100 = Very good quality.

See all Apple Laptops

Review analysis

(Based on 411 reviews)

Expert Reviews

User Reviews

Review Ratings

(46% of reviews)
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Features

Performance
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Build quality
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Size
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Showing 249 review(s)

Expert Reviews User Reviews

Showing 1 - 10 of 249 Show Reviews: in English | in other languages (174)

Expert review by: Will Smith (maximumpc.com)

Apple MacBook Air

Without a doubt, the MacBook Air is one of the niftiest-looking laptops we've ever tested. But he smallest notebook we've ever tested comes with sacrifices - the MacBook Air makes serious compromises to maintain its petite profile.

Amazingly small; killer design; 802.11n support. Decently-powered

Only one USB port; no mic, no PC Card, no modem, no Ethernet, no optical drive

With an Ethernet port and a couple more USB ports, this would be a killer laptop.

Jun, 2008

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Expert review by: Hatim Kantawalla (tech2.in.com)

Apple MacBook Air

The Apple MacBook Air is a powerful, ultraportable notebook with a regal attitude, a considerable personality, and an egotistical price — the model we reviewed retails for as much as Rs. 67,900.

So should you buy it? If you need a slick ultraportable for light to medium duty, if design and aesthetics weigh heavily on your mind and price is not a concern, then this one’s a no brainer. Of course, if you’re like the vast majority of the notebook...

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Editor's Choice!

Expert review by: Scott Stein (cnet.com)

Apple MacBook Air

Not too long ago, the MacBook Air practically stood alone in the computer landscape with its unique blend of design, size, and performance, an improvement on the thin laptop with low-voltage CPU. The MacBook Air, in turn, influenced the arrival of the...

The 13-inch MacBook Air has new Intel CPUs, better battery life, and an improved 720p Webcam, and finally adds USB 3.0 ports, while shaving $100 off the price from last year's models

The design, while strong, stays largely the same: there's no Ethernet port, and the base SSD storage option of 128GB is smaller than a standard hard drive, though common for ultrabooks

This year's MacBook Air opts for gradual improvements rather than anything revolutionary, but lowered prices continue to make it the go-to mainstream recommendation for any MacBook owner-to-be.

Jun, 2012

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Expert review by: Erik Malinowski (wired.com)

MacBook Air

It's real, and it's spectacular.

Thunderbolt port, Sandy Bridge CPU provide unprecedented zip. Backlit keyboard a welcome re-addition. Unsoldered Flash chips make storage upgrade easy

Optical drive RIP. No SD card slot on 11-inch model. Extreme lightness causes frequent tip-backs when opening closed lid. You’ll have to be careful you don't accidentally throw yours out with the recycling

Jul, 2011

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Expert review by: Darren Gladstone (pcworld.com)

Macbook Air

The MacBook Air is a super-slim ultraportable laptop computer that you can slip into very thin spaces. Like anything else that Apple crafts, the Air's industrial design is phenomenal. But its beauty is little more than skin deep.

Sleek, sexy, spartan design Fantastic keyboard

So slim, there's little room for inputs Poor battery life

Ultimately, though, the Air is a victory of industrial design and single-minded purpose. It has decent performance for an ultraportable, but few standout features to speak of beyond the superficial. And yet, I still can't help wanting to stop and touch it

Mar, 2008

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Expert review by: Kevin O'Brien (NotebookReview.com)

Apple MacBook Air Review

Apple's latest notebook, the MacBook Air, is being hailed as the world's thinnest. At well under an inch at the thickest point, the Air offers a thin design coupled with an extremely lightweight package for a notebook that has the same basic footprint...

Works out of the box with Windows Vista (even if it does have a few hiccups) ; Thin and lightweight design that manages to stay incredibly strong ; Battery life claims are not far off from being accurate

Belches out heat like nobody's business ; No replaceable battery ; Slow charging speeds ; Almost no ports

Apple is pushing the envelope (cough cough) with the MacBook Air ... in various ways that some people will love and others will hate. On one hand they offer a super thin, lightweight design, but on the other they take away ports and give you a...

Feb, 2008

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Expert review by: Cisco Cheng (pcmag.com)

Apple Macbook Air

The MacBook Air is officially the thinnest laptop, and the lightest of those with a 13-inch screen. But there were compromises that had to be made.

Thinnest laptop on the market. Simply gorgeous. Amazing 13-inch display on a 3-pound chassis. Full-size keyboard. Doesn't load ultra-low-voltage processors. Eco-friendly. Gesture-enabled touchpad. Reasonable prices

Only one USB port, three ports total. No ExpressCard or card-reader option. Battery is not user upgradable. Productivity may take a hit with only 3 hours of battery life running Vista ; Watch the MacBook Air Video Review

Jan, 2008

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Expert review by: Jonathan S. Geller (bgr.com)

Apple MacBook Air review

Apple didn't exactly surprise the tech world with a MacBook Air update at its Back To The Mac event a couple weeks ago. The infamously-thin notebook hadn't been updated in over 500 days, and there were more rumors and leaks on the unannounced product...

All things considered, what the new MacBook Air is, is an advancement of the laptop in ways that no other manufacturer has come close to touching. It’s not the least expensive option out there, though we wouldn’t necessarily call the most expensive...

Oct, 2010

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Expert review by: Ricky (etechreviews.net)

Apple MacBook Air – Thin yet sturdy

We admit it, we were ogling at this laptop for a lot of time when it landed in our labs. How can a laptop be this thin? We first thought it was some kind of a dummy. This laptop, at its thickest point, is just 0.76 inch thick which makes it great for...

Thin and yet sturdy, use full range of new trackpad gestures, can access optical drive remotely with computers with Wi-Fi

Connectivity options are limited, slower as compared to other Macbooks, battery cannot be manually replaced, SSD option is very expensive, bundled hard drive is small

We really liked the design of this laptop but when it comes to performance, we are skeptical since the Air is much slower than other Macbooks. Pick up this laptop if you need a portable laptop and can compromise on speed.

May, 2010

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Expert review by: Zardon (hardwareheaven.com)

Apple MacBook Air

It is not often we review a Macintosh product on DriverHeaven and although we are late to the table we felt it would be an interesting novelty for our readers to have a look at probably the sexiest laptop ever made, the MacBook Air.

Aug, 2008