What are the "pros and cons" of the "Late 2010" and current "Mid-2011" MacBook Air models? Is one the right Apple notebook for my needs?

Like any other purchase, only you can make the decision whether or not a discontinued "Late 2010" or current "Mid-2011" MacBook Air model is the right notebook for you, but you can evaluate the pros and cons of the series to see if your needs are met by one model or the other. EveryMac.com also offers a detailed comparison of these two lines that you may additionally wish to review.

For those most interested in the highlights, this "run down" may be helpful in making a decision:

Pros:

• Very lightweight, beautiful, thin case designs.
• Extremely long "standby" time of an Apple-reported 30 days.
• Both the "Late 2010" and "Mid-2011" models provide respectable speed, often due to flash storage. Can often hold their own compared to 13-Inch MacBook and MacBook Pro models released at the same time.
• LED-backlit widescreen displays that are high-resolution for the physical dimensions (1440x900 for the 13-Inch model).
• Essentially full-size keyboards despite compact system dimensions.
• Full featured "inertial" multi-touch trackpad.
• Both the "Late 2010" and "Mid-2011" models provide generally excellent battery life.
• Two USB 2.0 ports.
• SD Card reader (13-Inch models only).
• Backlit keyboard ("Mid-2011" models only)
• Thunderbolt port provides the option of high speed peripherals as well as external display connectivity ("Mid-2011" models only).
• Relatively affordable -- the 11-Inch models start at US$999.

Cons:

• Woefully inadequate 2 GB of RAM by default in all "Late 2010" models and the entry-level MC968LL/A configuration of the current MacBook Air "Core i5" 1.6 11-Inch (Mid-2011) as well. RAM cannot be upgraded after purchase (either model can be upgraded to 4 GB of RAM at the time of purchase only).
• Modest internal storage that is not intended to be upgraded by an end user.
• Battery is not easy to access or replace and is not intended to be replaced by an end user.
• Keyboard is not backlit (Late 2010 models only, the Mid-2011 models have a backlit keyboard).
• No internal Ethernet (a 10/100Base-T Ethernet adapter is available, but no Gigabit Ethernet connectivity is possible).
• No Firewire port.
• No remote (IR) support.
• No internal optical drive (external option available).
• Upgrades (additional RAM and storage) and accessories (optical drive) can make the MacBook Air more expensive than alternatives should a user need these additions.

Basically, if you are looking for a beautiful, lightweight notebook Mac and have fairly modest performance needs (although the current "Mid-2011" models are quite competitive with the MacBook Pro models for many tasks), as well as limited expansion and connectivity needs -- then the MacBook Air might be the perfect system for you.

If you do not do demanding tasks while on the go (video editing and encoding, for example), then a MacBook Air could be a great choice. In general, the 11-Inch display -- although high-resolution for its physical size -- still is rather limiting and most who do more than basic multitasking likely would prefer a 13-Inch model as the difference between the two in size and weight is unlikely to be enough to be critical for most. The 13-Inch models also can be faster, have longer runtime and an SD card slot as well.

For those who only do fairly simple tasks on the go -- word processing, e-mail, web browsing, listening to music, and basic photo editing, for example -- or who are looking for a lightweight "companion" notebook to complement a desktop Mac, the 11-Inch model could be perfect. If price is important, then the 11-Inch model is less expensive as well (although a used MacBook or MacBook Air would be cheaper, still).

If performance, connectivity and expansion are high priorities -- but size and weight are lower priorities -- a MacBook Pro would be a better choice. If price is a high priority, a used MacBook also could be a worthwhile option.

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