Today (Wednesday 20th July) saw Apple announce its new line-up of MacBook Air portable computers. Both the 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air now feature the latest generation of Intel processors, the Core i5 and i7. With speeds up to 1.8GHz and faster memory, the new MacBook Air gains up to 2.5x the processing performance over the previous generation.
The new MacBook Air also features the Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor, which includes an on-chip engine for video encoding and decoding. It also comes with the new Thunderbolt port, transferring data up to 12 times faster than FireWire 800 and up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0. You can also use it to connect the new Apple Thunderbolt Display.The new display (more of that later) offers over 4 million eye-popping pixels while coming with the following features:
- Gigabit Ethernet,
- FireWire 800,
- an additional Thunderbolt port,
- three USB ports,
- a FaceTime HD camera,
- 2.1 stereo sound and
- a built-in microphone.
Instead of a traditional hard drive the MacBook Air is now all Flash memory storage (64GB, 128GB or 256GB), offering reliability, speed and efficiency, as well as up to 30 days on stand-by. It also comes with a full-size keyboard that is backlit, as well as a Multi-Touch Trackpad, making use of the new Multi-Touch gestures in Lion (also released today and available only on the App Store).
The display of the MacBook Air measures a mere 4.86 millimetres (0.19 inch) thin, yet the resolution is so high, you’ll feel like you’re looking at a much larger screen. The 11-inch MacBook Air features a resolution equal to that of your typical 13-inch notebook, while the 13-inch MacBook Air wows with a resolution equivalent to a typical 15-inch notebook.
Supported resolutions:
11.6-inch (diagonal) model:
- 1366×768 (native),
- 1344×756 and 1280×720 pixels at 16:9 aspect ratio;
- 1152×720 and 1024×640 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio;
- 1024×768 and 800×600 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio
113.3-inch (diagonal) model:
- 1440×900 (native),
- 1280×800, 1152×720 and 1024×640 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio;
- 1024×768, 800×600 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio
The new range is available now and ships with Lion OS X. UK pricing is as follows:
- 11.6-inch model, 64GB Flash Storage – £849.00
- 11.6-inch model, 128GB Flash Storage – £999.00
- 13.3-inch model, 128GB Flash Storage – £1,099.00
- 13.3-inch model, 256GB Flash Storage – £1,349.00
The UK Apple Store is quoting 24 hours free delivery.
Related articles
- Apple adds Core i5, Thunderbolt to MacBook Air (macworld.com)
- The MacBook Is Dead. Love Live The (New) MacBook Air. (techcrunch.com)
- Apple updates MacBook Air with faster processors, Thunderbolt support and backlit keyboard (thenextweb.com)
- Apple’s faster 13.3 inch and 11.6 inch MacBook Airs revealed (9to5mac.com)
- Apple Store Down, OS X Lion and New MacBook Air On the Way? (mashable.com)
- Apple updates MacBook Air, Mac Mini (news.cnet.com)
- Apple brings Thunderbolt to its 27-inch display (macworld.com)
- White MacBook killed off in favor of Air (slashgear.com)
- Apple MacBook Air updated (slashgear.com)
- The New Apple Thunderbolt Display Is An IPS Monitor And Thunderbolt Hub (techcrunch.com)
