On October 20, 2010, Apple unveiled its newly designed MacBook Air. From its inception, the MacBook Air has been pitched as the thinnest laptop in the world by Apple and the company remained true to its words. The new MacBook Air models are thinner, lighter, packs more ports, and comes at a price tag which makes it an ideal device to use for general purpose.
Design:
The new MacBooks have aluminum unibody and are 0.68 inches on the thickest side and 0.11 inches on the other. The smaller Air measures 11.8 inches in length and 7.56 inches in width and the bigger one measures 12.8 inches in length and 8.94 inches in width. Both the machines have full size keyboards and multi-touch track pad and palm rest. Apple Insider says:
For a very portable notebook, which is the intended role of the Air, the 11 inch model shaves off a little weight and significant size while retaining a full sized keyboard and trackpad. It does give up some display area, and the subtraction is most obvious in the vertical axis. So much so that you may want to reposition the Dock on the side or configure it to hide in order to have enough vertical room to work on your documents.
Here is a video clip of MacBook Air:
Here is another video clip:
Inside MacBook Air:
The iFixit teardown revealed that Apple use four 16GB flash chips from Toshiba including a Toshiba SSD controller and Micron DDR DRAM cache chip. It has six individual lithium-polymer cells. The rigidity of the display of the machines has also been improved highly and they are the most expensive component of the machine. The screen of the 11.6 inch MacBook Air costs $180.
According to Brian Marshall, analyst, Gleacher & Co., the estimated bill of materials for MacBook Air is $718 allowing Apple to have a profit margin of 28 percent to 37 percent which is approximately 20 percent higher compared to the margins of the company’s notebook line and makes it more profitable than other Apple laptops. This has happened mainly Apple’s ability to drive profit using flash drives in all its devices.
The 64GB SSD used in the entry-level 11.6 inch MacBook Air costs $80. The SSD memory along with the Intel Core 2 Duo processor is the second-most expensive component of the device after the screen. The margin for the 64GB MacBook Air is at 28.1 percent which becomes 34 percent with 128GB version. For using more powerful flash storage, Apple spends only $73.60 but charges customers $200 more for the larger flash.
For the 13.3 inch MacBook Air, the 128GB SSD costs Apple $154 resulting into a profit margin of 33 percent. However, 256GB version yields a profit margin of 37 percent as Apple spends only $141 and charges customers extra $300.
Display:
The new MacBook Air models come with LED-backlit screens that have higher resolution compared to older and existing Mac laptop models. The smaller version has a resolution of 1366 x 768p which is almost equal to the existing 13inch MacBook and MacBook Pro’s 1280 x 800p resolution. On the other hand, the 13inch MacBook has a resolution of 1440x900 which is same as the older 15 inch MacBook Pro. There are VGA cameras fitted on the bezels to support FaceTime video calling.
CPU, storage, GPU and memory:
The 11-inch Air has two CPU options- 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB on-chip shared L2 cache or 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache. Both the processors have 800 MHz FSB. The 13inch Air also has two CPU options- 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB on-chip shared L2 cache or 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache. The processors contain 1066MHz FSB.
Mac products are known for their capability of handling HD photos and videos. The iLife suite of Apple is well known for its ability to create, edit and organize music, images and videos.
The biggest challenge for Apple was to fit in equipments in the smaller and thinner compartment of MacBook Air that would provide high graphics performance to users. For this reason, Apple used an on old Intel Core 2 Duo processor and NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor and made a trade off for processing power to graphics performance. Forbes.com says:
The twist: Nvidia’s GPU brings more than just better gaming. Apple’s OS X Snow Leopard operating system uses an Apple-backed technology called OpenCL to tap into some of the GPU’s unique capabilities to speed up certain tasks, Brookwood explains. There’s a real chance they’re the kind of tasks that make iLife on a Mac fly through the sorts of multi-media tasks that other computers choke on.
The models come with 2GB built-in memory which can be further increased to 4GB but you would not be able to upgrade the memory on purchase for they are soldered into the logic board. It would be better if you directly go for the 4GB upgrade.
The MacBook Airs never had any optical drives and this time Apple also shaded off the HDD and fitted them with smaller SSDs (64GB/128GB for the smaller version and 128GB/256GB for the larger version). This provides the MacBook Air lower storage capacity but there is also an advantage. The MacBook Air would take less time to start up.
I/O ports:
Compared to the old models the new Airs have more ports but they do not have Firewire. The 11-inch has one mini display port while the larger version has one microSD card slot. Both have 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 MagSafe adapter port and one microphone and headphone jack.
Wireless communication:
The Air models have AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.
Accessories:
You will have software reinstall drive which is actually a USB dongle containing Mac OS X installer and iLife 11. CNET.com says:
When plugged into the computer, holding down the "C" key as you boot up treats the USB stick just like an optical disc, letting you run system diagnostics, or do a clean re-installation of OS X. Apple has long included the same tools on CDs, and later DVDs, but given the Air's reliance on external disc drives, this proves to be a much more user-friendly option for those without.
Is this pack-in a sign of things to come from the hardware and software maker? It very well could be a future option of bringing upgrades, like the upcoming 10.7 Lion to the Air when it arrives next summer. Either that, or through the Mac App Store, which Apple said will be coming to computers running Snow Leopard (10.6) in the next 90 days.
Here is a video clip of unboxing MacBook Air:
Battery life:
Compared to their predecessors, the new MacBook Air models have higher battery life. The 11inch Air has 5hour battery back up while the 13inch has 7 hour battery backup. Both have 30 days standby time.
Instant on Windows vs. MacBook Air:
Apple took lots of cues from Apple iPad while creating the new MacBook Air. One of the features is the “Instant On” that is very popular on iPhone and iPad. The new MacBook Air has Instant On feature which makes it very enjoyable to use.
Price:
11" MacBook Air with 1.40GHz CPU and 64GB SSD: $999.00
11" MacBook Air with 1.40GHz CPU and 128GB SSD: $1,199.00
13" MacBook Air with 1.86GHz CPU and 128GB SSD: $1,299.00
13" MacBook Air with 1.86GHz CPU and 256GB SSD: $1,599.00
With the entry-level MacBook Air priced at $999, the MacBook Air becomes very much competitive. Customers will have a hard time choosing between MacBook Air, Pro and MacBook laptops. Apple Insider reported that most of the buyers are going for the smaller version.
In conclusion, the MacBook Air with its slim built, I/O ports and longer battery life can be a great alternative for iPad but you can not use it like the iPad. You would have to do everything in the landscape mode.
For more information about the products visit:
http://www.apple.com/macbookair/specs.html
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