New MacBook Air passes the studio test

Our busy design studio has been using the new 2012 MacBook Air ever since Apple refreshed it’s laptop line up back in July this year. Read on to discover our opinion on how our new MBA compares, and most importantly performs, in a professional design studio environment.

Weighing it up

Our studio desperately needed a new laptop to replace a 15″ MacBook Pro which fried it’s logic board back in May. What to do – grab a replacement straight away or sit tight and wait 2 months for the hotly anticipated MBP WWDC product release? We decided to wait out a purchase to see what goodies Apple would reveal…

Admittedly, we were a little underwhelmed when we saw the 2012 Retina Pro. It seemed that Apple had created a sophisticated device that had all the brawn but not much brains. Envisage was looking for a replacement laptop that had to do a number of things and the new retina model did not tick enough boxes. Strange really, as the MBP range was always a ‘no brainer’ model for a design studio environment.

A bit of history

Envisage first began using Apple laptops back in 1994. In fact, our very first studio asset was a mono screen’Duo’ laptop that we docked with a 21″ CRTV screen, so outrageously huge that it could have stopped a semi. We took a break from laptops while our studio grew, harnessing Apple’s desktop computing power. Since 2004 we have been through three 15″ MacBook Pros. They grew old, struggling under constant OSX updates and simply died.

A new dawn

It’s near-on 2013. Our studio is becoming more nimble in it’s approach to creative production. We now travel to client locations with our studio under our arm – literally.  We want instant on. We want lightweight power. We want speed and precision.

We chose the new 2012 MacBook Air with a full custom spec; maxed out RAM, fasted logic board available.

Can it run CS6 – yes it can!

Are we happy – yes we are!

We love our new Macbook Air.