Apple has announced the much-awaited refresh for the MacBook Air range. The new MacBook Air gets the latest gen Sandy Bridge ultra-low voltage processors, Thunderbolt I/O technology, backlit keyboard and the new OS X Lion straight out of the box. The display sizes of 11-inch and 13-inch have been retained. However, the dual core Sandy Bridge Intel Core i5 (1.6GHz and 1.7GHz versions) and Intel Core i7 (1.8GHz) processors now power these slim machines.
The Air will use Intel’s HD 3000 graphics, in the absence of any dedicated graphics chip. Flash storage remains the distinguishing factor, with 3 storage capacity options offered- 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. The lowest spec 11-inch version comes with 2GB of RAM, but all versions above that, both in 11-inch and 13-inch, come with 4GB of RAM. We assume the second-gen Core i5 processors onboard are the 1.6GHz Core i5 2467M processor (2 cores, 4 threads, 3MB cache, Turbo up to 2.3GHz), and the 1.7GHz Core i5-2557M processor (2 cores, 4 threads, 3MB cache, Turbo up to 2.7GHz) with TDPs of just 17W enabling it to deliver the astounding battery life expected from the MacBook Air. A 1.8GHz Core i7 processor can be chosen if the laptop is built to order.
The MacBook Air also gets the Thunderbolt I/O technology, which has been introduced in the MacBook Pro in the previous refresh. In terms of usability, the introduction of the backlit keyboard is more than welcome! This particular feature wasn’t available with the previous generation Air.
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Apple claims that the 11-inch version will offer about 5 hours of battery life, and the 13-inch version offers about 7 hours of battery life. The other features of the MacBook Air include FaceTime capabilities, 2 USB ports, Glass track pad with multi-touch gestures and a unibody design made of highly recyclable aluminum.
“Portable, affordable and powerful, MacBook Air is the ultimate everyday notebook,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “MacBook Air features our most advanced technology and is an ideal match for Lion, especially with its new Multi-Touch gestures, full-screen apps, Mission Control and Mac App Store.”
And yes, the new MacBook Air will ship with the new OSX Lion straight out of the box. No need for any updates later.
Prices of the new MacBook Air
MacBook Air 11 (Intel Core i5 1.6GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 64GB flash storage): Rs. 56,900
MacBook Air 11 (Intel Core i5 1.6GHz processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB flash storage): Rs. 67,900
MacBook Air 13 (Intel Core i5 1.6GHz processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB flash storage): Rs. 73,900
MacBook Air 13 (Intel Core i5 1.6GHz processor, 4GB RAM, 256GB flash storage): Rs. 89,900
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