October 21, 2010: Apple has announced a new range of MacBook Air notebooks, starting at $1199 (RRP), which ‘will replace mechanical hard disks and optical drives with Internet services and solid state flash storage’ according to the company.
Apple claims the new notebooks are:
- faster – solid state flash storage is up to twice as fast as hard drive storage;
- more reliable – hard drive crashes are eliminated;
- lighter and smaller – solid state flash storage is up to 90 percent smaller and lighter than hard drives.
Available in 11-inch and 13-inch models and weighing as little as 1.06 kilograms, the new MacBook Air is Apple’s lightest and most portable notebook ever. MacBook Air uses the same solid state storage technology as iPad to deliver instant-on responsiveness, up to seven hours of battery life and up to 30 days of standby time.
With a significant proportion of pro photographers and graphic designers preferring Mac technoogy, these new portable devices should prove popular within ‘on the run’ imaging professionals.
‘MacBook Air is the first of a new generation of notebooks that leaves behind mechanical rotating storage in favour of solid state flash storage,’ said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. ‘We’ve taken what we have learned with the iPad — solid state storage, instant-on, amazing battery standby time, miniaturisation and lightweight construction, to create the new MacBook Air. With its amazing responsiveness and mobility, it will change the way we think about notebooks.”
With its precision aluminium casing, the new MacBook Air measures just 0.3 centimetres at its thinnest point and 1.7 centimetres at its thickest, and weighs just 1.06 kilograms for the 11-inch model and 1.3 kilograms for the 13-inch. Like iPad, MacBook Air was designed from the ground up to use flash storage exclusively. Apple’s custom-designed flash storage is 90 percent smaller and lighter than a conventional notebook hard drive, contributing to MacBook Air’s mobile, featherweight design. MacBook Air’s flash storage also provides faster data access and is more reliable than notebook hard drives due to its solid state design.
MacBook Air features a full-sized keyboard for typing comfort and productivity, as well as the highly acclaimed glass Multi-Touch trackpad found on Apple’s MacBook Pro, so you can scroll through web sites, flip through photos, and resize or rotate images all from the trackpad. The built-in FaceTime camera, mic and stereo speakers are perfect for video calls with iPhone 4, iPod touch and other Macs.
Flash storage combined with power-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo processors and NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics delivers an ideal balance of mobility, battery life and performance. MacBook Air features an 11.6-inch or 13.3-inch high-resolution LED-backlit display and Mini DisplayPort to connect your 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, projector or HD TV. Ultra-fast 802.11n Wi-Fi networking allows you to download music and movies from iTunes, back up data to Time Capsule and store or share files with MobileMe and iDisk. MacBook Air includes Bluetooth 2.1+EDR for wireless peripherals and two USB ports making it easy to sync and charge an iPad, iPhone or iPod while using another device. The 13-inch MacBook Air also includes an SD card slot.
Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminium and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, PVC-free internal components and are constructed of recyclable materials.
Apple uses advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging technology to create a MacBook Air battery that delivers up to seven hours of wireless productivity on a single charge and up to 1,000 recharges. The built-in battery design results in less waste, and depleted MacBook Air batteries can be replaced for RRP $179 inc GST, which includes installation and disposal of your old battery in an environmentally responsible manner.
Every Mac comes with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife, Apple’s innovative suite of applications for creating and sharing great photos, movies and music. Snow Leopard builds on more than a decade of innovation and includes multiple features for portable computing such as Multi-Touch navigation, advanced wireless networking, easy file sharing, automated data backup and intelligent power management. The new iLife ’11 features iPhoto with stunning full screen views for browsing, editing and sharing photos; iMovie with powerful easy-to-use tools to transform home videos into fun theatrical trailers; and GarageBand with new ways to improve your playing and create great sounding songs.
The 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air are immediately available through the Apple Store (www.apple.com/au), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers. Prices range from $1199 for the 1.4 GHz 11-inch MacBook Air with 2GB of memory and 64GB of flash storage, through to $1949 for the 13-inch, 1.86 GHz 13-inch model with 2GB of memory and 256GB flash storage.
Configure-to-order options and accessories include faster processors, 4GB of memory, MacBook Air SuperDrive and a USB Ethernet Adapter.
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