Apple updates 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air with Broadwell

Apple brings Intel Broadwell processors to its MacBook Air

Both laptops also got improved Thunderbolt 2 and the 13-inch Air now comes with twice as fast SSD storage.

Andrey Konstantinov, Published 03/10/2015

Despite releasing a new 12-inch MacBook, Apple will continue to offer its popular 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models and has refreshed both with Intel's Broadwell-U (15 W) processors. Neither Apple's new Force Touch trackpad nor the butterfly-switch keyboard featured in the fanless MacBook are installed, though. The TN screens (1366x768 pixels for the 11-inch Air, 1440x900 for the 13-inch) apparently have not changed either, but both laptops received an updated Thunderbolt 2 port. The 13-inch Air additionally received upgraded flash storage, which is two times faster than in the previous model.

The Broadwell CPUs offered in both laptops are identified as Core i5-5250U (standard for both Airs) and Core Core i7-5650U ($150 upgrade). 4 GB of 1600 MHz LPDDR3 RAM is installed by default, but it can be increased to 8 GB for an additional $100. SSD storage is fixed at 128 GB (non-upgradeable) for the $900 Air 11 and the $1000 Air 13 and 256 GB (upgradeable to 512 GB for extra $300) for the $1100 Air 11 and the $1200 Air 13. As usual, various adapters and other optional accessories are also offered.

All updated MacBook Air configurations are already available for purchase through Apple's website.

It is unfortunate that both the Airs' screens...

Source(s)

Apple Store (US)

+ Show Press Release

Press release

Apple Updates 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display & MacBook Air

SAN FRANCISCO―March 9, 2015―Apple® today updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro® with Retina® display with the all-new Force Touch trackpad, fifth generation Intel Core processors and Intel Iris Graphics 6100, two times faster flash and longer battery life, bringing even more performance and capabilities to our pro customers.* Apple also today updated the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air® with fifth generation Intel Core processors, Intel HD Graphics 6000, and Thunderbolt 2, and added up to two times faster flash to the 13-inch MacBook Air, making the perfect everyday notebooks even better.

“Today the popular 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, 11-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Air all received significant upgrades,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The 13-inch MacBook Pro has been updated with the latest processors, more powerful graphics, faster flash, longer battery life and the all-new Force Touch trackpad. We’re also bringing the latest processors and graphics, and faster Thunderbolt 2 to the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air, as well as up to two times faster flash to the 13-inch MacBook Air.”

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display features the all-new Force Touch trackpad that brings a new dimension of interactivity to the Mac®. The new trackpad features built-in force sensors that allow you to click anywhere and haptic feedback that provides a responsive and uniform feel. You can even customize the feel of the trackpad by changing the amount of pressure needed to register each click. The Force Touch trackpad also enables a new gesture called Force Click, a click followed by a deeper press, for tasks like pulling up the definition of a word, quickly seeing a map or glancing at a preview of a file.

The updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display also features fifth generation Intel Core processors up to 3.1 GHz, with Turbo Boost Speeds up to 3.4 GHz, faster integrated Intel Iris Graphics 6100, and flash storage that is up to two times faster, with throughput up to 1.6GBps.* In addition, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display now delivers up to 10 hours of battery life and up to 12 hours of iTunes® movie playback.**

The updated 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air now feature fifth generation Intel Core processors up to 2.2 GHz, with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.2 GHz, integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000, and Thunderbolt 2, delivering up to 20Gbps, twice the bandwidth of the previous generation. The 13-inch MacBook Air also features faster flash storage that is up to two times faster than the previous generation.***

Every new Mac comes with OS X® Yosemite, a powerful new version of OS X, redesigned and refined with a fresh, modern look, powerful new apps and amazing Continuity features that make working across your Mac and iOS devices more fluid than ever.

iMovie®, GarageBand®, iPhoto®, and Pages®, Numbers® and Keynote® come free with every new Mac. iMovie lets you easily create beautiful movies, you can use GarageBand to make new music or learn to play piano or guitar and you can edit and share your best shots with iPhoto. Pages, Numbers and Keynote, make it easy to create, edit and share stunning documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Pages, Numbers and Keynote for iCloud® let you create a document on iPhone® or iPad®, edit it on your Mac and collaborate with friends, even if they are on a PC. The new Photos for OS X app keeps your growing photo and video collection automatically organized and easy to navigate and will be included in an OS X Yosemite update this spring.

Pricing & Availability
The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available today through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers with a 2.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 8GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage starting at $1,299 (US); with a 2.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage starting at $1,499 (US); and with a 2.9 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz, 8GB of memory and 512GB of flash storage starting at $1,799 (US). Configure-to-order options include a faster dual-core Intel Core i7 processor up to 3.1 GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.4 GHz, up to 16GB of memory and flash storage up to 1TB. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at www.apple.com/macbook-pro.

MacBook Air is available today through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. The 11-inch MacBook Air comes with a 1.6 GHz processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.7 GHz, 4GB of memory and is available with 128GB of flash storage starting at $899 (US), and 256GB of flash storage starting at $1,099 (US). The 13-inch MacBook Air comes with a 1.6 GHz processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.7 GHz, 4GB of memory and is available with 128GB of flash storage starting at $999 (US), and 256GB of flash storage starting at $1,199 (US). Configure-to-order options include a 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.2 GHz, up to 8GB of memory and up to 512GB flash storage. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at www.apple.com/macbook-air.

*Testing conducted by Apple in March 2015 using preproduction MacBook Pro with Retina display configurations. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbook-pro/features-retina/.
**The Wireless Web protocol testing was conducted by Apple in March 2015 using preproduction MacBook Pro with Retina display configurations. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbook-pro.
***Testing conducted by Apple in March 2015 using preproduction MacBook Air configurations. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbook-air/features.html.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, MacBook Pro, Retina, MacBook Air, iTunes, OS X, iMovie, GarageBand, iPhoto, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iCloud, iPhone and iPad are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.