Notes transfer between iPhone / iCloud & MacBook Air

Iphone 4Si & Macbook Air (5th generation) both with latest software updates installed. My problem is that i can not get my notes (new or revised) on my laptop to sync with iCloud since last software update. I have no problems with my iPhone in this regard. Extensive trouble shooting revels the following -

WI-FI & Bluetooth connected on both devises !

When I edit an existing note or create a new one on my iPhone, the change is also made in notes on my iCloud account & is almost instantaneous but NO change occurs on laptop. Alternately, when i create or edit a note on my iCloud account, the changes register on my iPhone but not on laptop.

I have gone through my system preferences on laptop to confirm that notes is checked for iCloud. Also have sync my phone with laptop using wi-fi, blotch & USB but still no results.

And yes, the notes are all set in iCloud & not on my device.

I was once told by Apple rep. that notes sync through iTunes ? If this is the case then why did Apple even include Notes in iCloud system preferences. Makes no sense to me. If this is true, does iPhoto affect notes transfer in any way ? I currently have all photo sharing & library deactivated for iCloud (only have 16GB iPhone & takes up to much memory so I edit photos manually when I sync devices using USB).

Does time machine have anything to do with this ????? i currently do not have it configured yet.