Latest MacBook could use some fresh Air

When evaluating any piece of tech, time has a funny way of warping your perspective. Laptops, especially, tend to advance so quickly that laptops from a few years ago quickly feel stale and dated.

And yet, almost nothing has changed with the new 2015 Apple 13-inch MacBook Air (MSRP $999, $1,449 as tested). It's a dead ringer for last year's model, with an all-aluminum unibody construction that weighs less than 2.5 lbs and is just 17mm at its thickest point.

When Apple debuted the MacBook Air back in 2008, it was a bold move toward portability. A 2010 refresh slimmed things even further, and the MacBook Air has been widely touted as the best ultrabook on the market ever since. It's been such a successful design that Apple has barely changed a thing, even after several years.

It might not be as fresh a design as it once was—especially compared to the new, practically bezel-free Dell XPS 13—but it's still handsome, functional, and very portable.

On the outside of the Air you'll still find the usual complement of ports like the Magsafe 2 for power, a new Thunderbolt 2, and USB 3.0, along with support for 802.11ac (aka 5G) WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a FaceTime HD camera.

While there isn't much new here, there wasn't all that much that we felt needed an update. The one major exception to that is the display. While 1440x900 displays still qualify as "HD," Apple's been using the same screen since 2010. It's fine for most tasks, but with competing laptops offering 1080p and higher displays, the Air's feels notably left behind.

Luckily, the rest of the package is improved enough to make up for the lackluster display, starting with the new 5th-gen Intel Core processor. It feels much faster than last year's, and it showed in our performance testing. The new Air screams through daily tasks like word processing, web browsing, and photo editing without so much as a hiccup. And the Air handily outpaces the new MacBook Pro for battery life, as it eked out 5 hours of running time during our highly intensive test.

Graphically tough tasks are also faster thanks to the new Intel HD 6000 GPU. Running apps like Adobe's Photoshop Creative Cloud and Lightroom are no sweat, but you'll still struggle to play technologically demanding games.

It's still not inordinately powerful, but it is lightweight, responsive, and has just about everything you'd need for all but select niche tasks. Moreover, Apple's ability to marry software and hardware is still second to none.

This is most evident with the touchpad — no ultraportable laptop on the market has a touchpad that can match Apple's. Unlike with many Windows-based laptops, the touchpad doesn't lag behind or lose sensitivity.

The keyboard is also quite good, with excellent travel and spacing, while the backlight is adjustable and comes in handy when you need to type in a dim environment. While touchscreen support is missing, OS X largely makes up for it with touchpad gesture support.

With the advent of the new 12-inch MacBook—yes, just "MacBook"—and the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, it's easy to overlook the relatively humble MacBook Air. Starting at just $899 ($999 for the 13-inch), the Air lacks a Retina display and the fancy new "Force Touch" touchpad, and it hasn't seen a true design update in years.

And yet, this is easily the best value among Apple's MacBook lineup. The new 12-inch MacBook may get more attention, but the more affordable 13-inch Air is nearly as small, has a far more powerful 5th-gen Intel Core processor, and the battery life is still superb. The display is badly overdue for an update, but it's sufficient for most tasks up to and including photo editing.

Where the Air falls flat is when you look beyond Apple's borders. With Dell's nearly bezel-free XPS 13, for example, you can get a 1080p display and an i3 processor for just $799.

If you do go with the Air, you'll still be rewarded with a laptop that's surprisingly powerful and as reliable as anything Apple makes. And while there are better ultraportable values if you're willing to consider Windows, this is still priced within reason.

The 2015 MacBook Air may not feel as cutting-edge as it did four or five years ago, but we have to say: it looks pretty good for its age.