Today was my first flight since I got the new MacBook Air. Although I’ve owned Apple’s mini for nearly two years, I had forgotton just how well tailored it is to the typical airline tray. Sitting here, somewhere over Albania, I can set the Air on the tray and open the screen to a comfortable reading angle.
I tried to imagine the dimensions of a larger laptop and I realised that the screen would have to be angled forward to the point where it would be almost unusable. Unless you are travelling first or business class on a long-haul flight, the Air is definitely the computer of choice. Even in Economy, the Air is about the only laptop you can keep open when the passenger in front goes into sleep mode.
Internal flights in Europe, even on a four-hour longhaul from London to Athens, tend to be operated by narrow bodied Airbus A320s or similar. Even travellers in business class have no more legroom, nor tray space, than economy passengers.
Yet another reason to travel with the littlest Air.