Notebookcheck Logo

Two new MacBook Air available

Teaser
Apple just announced two new unibody laptops with 11-inch and 13-inch displays ranging from $999 to $1.599.

MacBook Air 11-inch

The 11.6-inch 1366x768 model is the smallest Mac Os X based laptop weighting only 2.3 pounds (1.06 kg). As Apple isn't too fond of the current Intel integrated graphics, it still features a Core 2 Duo processor (ULV 1.4 GHz SU9400 or 1.6 GHz SU9600) combined with the Nvidia Geforce 320M chipset-graphics card. Therefore, the laptop should feature plenty of graphics power for the size but still not more CPU power than the previous generation. Compared to the previous generation, the user now alse gets a second USB 2.0 port and the glas trackpad of the current MacBook Pro line-up. Futhermore, the 1.8" disk drive of the old MB Air is now replaced with a on board SSD with 64 - 128 GB. The battery runtime should be about 5h wireless productivity and up to 30 days standby time according to Apple (usually close to reality). Another novelty is the Software Reinstall Drive, a little USB drive with Mac OS X on it to reinstall (a good choice due to the missing DVD drive). The small MacBook Air starts at $999 for 1.4 GHz and 64 GB SSD (+ $200 for the 128 GB SSD).

MacBook Air 13-inch

The 13.3-inch model is a bit larger and heavier (2.9 pounds - 1.32 kg) and features a higher resolution of 1440x900 pixels, a SD card slot, a faster 1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo SL9400 and a larger battery. Optional you can also order the 2.13 Core 2 Duo SL9600 for $100 more. Therefore, the battery runtime goes up to 7h of wireless productivity according to Apple. Furthermore, you get 256 GB flash storage (SSD) in the top model (128 GB in the entry level) and the fun starts at $1299.

Both models include 2 GB DDR3 memory that can be upgraded to 4 GB for $100 (not user replaceable) and are available from now on.

Source(s)

Please share our article, every link counts!
Klaus Hinum, 2010-10-20 (Update: 2012-05-26)