| Apple introduces MacBook Air |
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| Written by Philip Roy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, 16 January 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"We've built the world's thinnest notebook—without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "When you first see MacBook Air, it's hard to believe it's a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is." MacBook Air has a vibrant 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display that is energy efficient, and its spacious trackpad offers multi-touch gesture support for pinch, rotate and swipe, making it more intuitive than ever to browse and rotate photos or zoom into web pages in Safari. MacBook Air features a full-size keyboard design in a sleek and durable aluminum enclosure. The backlit keyboard makes it ideal for dimly lit environments such as airplanes, studios or conference halls, and a built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the keys as well as the display brightness for optimal visibility. MacBook Air delivers up to five hours of battery life for wireless productivity and includes AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, which delivers up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g*. Apple's Migration Assistant software now enables users to quickly transfer files, applications and preferences from your old Mac to MacBook Air right over your wireless network. MacBook Air users can buy the companion MacBook Air SuperDrive, a compact external drive designed for MacBook Air, for just NZ$159 inc GST. The MacBook Air SuperDrive is powered by MacBook Air's USB port, eliminating the need to carry a separate power adapter. Many MacBook Air users will not find a need for an optical drive now that they can wirelessly rent movies from the iTunes Store, wirelessly backup files with Time Capsule and access the optical drives on remote PCs or Macs to wirelessly install software applications on MacBook Air. MacBook Air is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors running at 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz, and includes as standard 2GB of memory and an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive. An optional 64GB solid state drive contains no moving parts for added durability. Every MacBook Air includes a micro-DVI port so users can connect to Apple's gorgeous 20-inch or 23-inch Cinema Displays to extend their desktop or connect to projectors and other displays via DVI, VGA, Composite and S-video adapters. MacBook Air includes USB 2.0 for plugging in peripherals or charging an iPod or iPhone, a headphone jack and Apple's acclaimed MagSafe Power Adapter designed especially for mobile users. Every MacBook Air comes with iLife ‘08, the most significant update ever to Apple's award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto and a completely reinvented iMovie, both seamlessly integrated with the new .Mac Web Gallery for online photo and video sharing. The new MacBook Air also comes with Leopard, the sixth major release of the world's most advanced operating system. Leopard introduces Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; and major enhancements to Mail and iChat. .Mac members can use the new Back to My Mac feature to browse and access files on their home computer from a MacBook Air over the Internet while out on the road. The new MacBook Air embodies Apple's continuing environmental progress with its aluminum enclosure, a material highly desired by recyclers; Apple's first mercury-free LCD display with arsenic-free glass; and brominated flame retardant-free material for the majority of circuit boards as well as PVC-free internal cables. In addition, MacBook Air consumes the least amount of power of any Mac, and its retail box, made primarily from 100 percent post-consumer recycled material, is 56 percent smaller by volume than the previously smallest MacBook packaging.
Pricing & Availability
Build-to-order options and accessories include the ability to upgrade to a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor; 64GB solid state drive, MacBook Air SuperDrive, Apple USB Ethernet Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple Remote and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Additional build-to-order options also include pre-installed copies of iWork ‘08, Logic Express 8, Final Cut Express 4 and Aperture 1.5. *Battery life depends on configuration and use. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information. AirPort Extreme is based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification. Actual performance will vary based on range, connection rate, site conditions, size of network and other factors.
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Comments (14)
lowededwookie
said:
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Apple today unveiled MacBook Air, the world's thinnest notebook. MacBook Air measures an unprecedented 0.16-inches (0.4 centimetres) at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches (1.9 centimetres) is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. MacBook Air has a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe.
MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1.
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I am so getting one of these. It's perfect for my needs. It is so worth the exploding highlighter to the face... long story.  Did you notice all the Environmental Status Report details? Energy Star... blah blah blah. http://www.apple.com/nz/macbookair/specs.html |
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Gimli
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t is so worth the exploding highlighter to the face... long story. That's what blogs are for!!  Back on topic. I need to come up with a waterproof business case for my boss to get me one of these!!  |
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whitty
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looks great but when will it be available in New Zealand? I Be keen to get one if its a good price without horrific prices |
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Philip Roy
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I'll post the official prices and NZ availability info as soon as it comes out. I tend to like to wait to hear from the PR people. |
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lowededwookie
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For anyone interested in how the MacBook Air and an exploding highlighter are inexplicably linked click the Home button on any of my forum posts and read the post "Everyone needs a statistically improbable day". I'm not going to do a direct link to the article on account of some objectionable content but it was amazingly funny what happened. |
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Philip Roy
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Non swappable battery and RAM according to Macworld podcast. As they say...it's the laptop equivalent of an iPod. Phil |
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lowededwookie
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I kind of don't see that as a problem. The battery will last longer anyway, more so if you splash out for the SSD drive. Don't forget that there's not much of a draw of power from things like the screen as opposed to the others on account of using LEDs Considering most people do a 2 to 3 year cycle on laptops anyway the length of a cared for battery is kind of around the same time anyway. |
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digitAL
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Other than being thin it doesn't offer anything "flash" like a 3GHz quad processor. I reckon it's just a stop gap for something new later. It's only $500 bucks cheaper than my beloved Macbook Pro with internal drive, speaker out, FW800 blaa blaa blaa. Not really a serious "workin" machine for us media types. Would suit the "suits" when they sit down for a paper shuffle and coffee! Then its complete over kill :-) Keep it comin Apple - just get the prices in line with a PC. |
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Gimli
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I think the 'suits' is exactly the demographic they are aiming at. Unlike the 12" G4 PB, which was pushed toward pro digital photographers in the field. As to price, well when Toshiba's best competition which is lighter, bulkier and with more features is $1k-$2k more expensive, I think the MBA's price point is pretty good. |
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celtickiwi
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The hard drive will stop me buying one the 4200 rpm & the the 80 gb size I don't think 80 GB cuts it, but I may forgive that, also having experience with 4200 rpm drives, I have come to loath any computer with them. Other than that it's pretty cool. |
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lowededwookie
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4200rpm might not be an issue. You have to remember that these drives are 1.8" not 2.5" as such the physical distance is less. On economies of scale it probably means that a 4200rpm drive is equivalent to at least a 5200rpm drive. |
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digitAL
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Its all about sustained data transfer rate not the size (although some people think size matters! ) No serious data cruncher would use a wee toy like this to do a big boy's job, so it's all a little academic really. It probably does just fine for its target market. Just makes more options for the not so sure operator to get confused by. And the idea that the Toshiba opposition offers "more features" is kinda funny. It aint a MAC, how can it possibly offer more features Geez I might be a bit one sided! Virus? whats a virus? |
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celtickiwi
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digitAL is correct, If I can explain this correctly. The data on a full 80gb 1.8 inch platter is taking up the same space roughly as any larger 2.4, or 3.5 drive with 80gb of data on it. The additional surface area is the reason why we see larger desktop drives than laptop drives. A 3.5 has more physical space an extra 1/2 inch on the outside of the platter over a 2.4 and more of them. As I understand the workings of reading or writing data, as the platter spins is doesn't read sector after sector in a stream, it can only read one sector in any single rotation of a platter. So to read three sectors in a row which are placed directly one after the other on the platter, the platter needs to make three rotations. Bottom line rotational speed is just about everything, with a little bit of cache on the side. My original Mac Mini had a 80gb 4200rpm drive and was pretty slugish, but replacing that with a 60gb 7200rpm drive and then the little thing hummed. |
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lowededwookie
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You seem to be forgetting basic mechanics. The smaller the cog the faster the rotation. In theory it should be the same for the smaller platters of the 1.8" drives as opposed to 2.5" or 3.5" drives. If the larger drives have the same amount of space but on larger platters then they HAVE to spin faster to read and write at the same rate as a smaller drive. Because the smaller drive has less distance to travel it doesn't need to spin as fast which in turn saves power thus making it perfect for these sorts of devices. The smaller you go on the outside the smaller you go on the inside. Ever seen a "laptop" that has a 3.5" drive? Makes Godzilla look like an infant. The 1.8" PATA drive actually only has a 2.5ms difference in seek time that of 15ms as opposed to the 12.5ms of the drive in my Mac Mini which is a 2.5" SATA. That sort of difference is negligible really. Also don't forget a hard drive reads from the outside in not like CDs and DVDs that read inside out thus each successive spin is less than the previous. |
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