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Apple unveils redesigned MacBook Air

by Pete Mason on 21 October 2010, 10:06

Tags: MacBook Air, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

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iPad + MacBook = ?

The first of Apple's major new innovations in the design is found in the hard-drive - or should we say, lack thereof. To cut down on space - and taking a page out of the iPad's playbook - flash memory will be built directly onto the logic boards, which Steve Jobs claimed makes the SSD 90 per cent smaller than a normal drive.

This obviously left more space for the battery, which takes up the majority of the room under the keyboard. This allows for seven hours of normal usage on the 13in model and five hours for the 11in model. Both can also enter a new 'standby' mode which will allow them to sleep for up to a month without giving out. Thanks to the speedy SSDs, Jobs promised an almost instant recovery from this mode - again, taking cues from the iPad - and initial hands-on experiences suggest that it's a pretty accurate description.

Of course, it's the stunning looks that will catch most customers - and gadget fans - eyes. Using the same unibody aluminium construction and glass multitouch-trackpad as the full-fat Macbooks, the new Airs manage to shave both inches and weight off of the previous design. Both models measure only 1.7cm at the back and 0.3cm at the front and while the 13in laptop weighs in at 1.32kg, its smaller brother tips the scales at a mere 1.06kg.

The redesigned Airs are utterly lust-worthy and once again show Apple's ability to innovate in hardware design. While we would have loved to see a slightly newer CPU, the latest members of the Macbook family are still absolutely stunning laptops.

Both notebooks are available now from Apple, with an 11in 64GB model shipping for £849 and a 128GB model costing £999. The 13in Air will come in 128GB and 256GB variants which will cost £1,099 and £1,349, respectively.



HEXUS Forums :: 40 Comments

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Wow, just wow. Whatever people say about Apple they do know how to hit the mark aesthetically. Finally something that matches my Samsung Q30. The bar has been raised, which manufacturer will step up to the plate and try and match this?
It pains me to say this, but the 11.6in one is almost tempting.

Now if it was all black, or even red on the outside and ice white inside (like my Lenovo S10e) I would be making a trip to the Apple store. But I don't think I could use the silver with black keys combo in real life.

I know it's just aesthetic nonsense, but it matters to me. Oh and I'm not a fan of chicklet keys that apple use, i prefer a more traditional keyboard style.
I must say, if it wern't for the non user removable battery, I'd buy one of these.

Price point is high, but not that bad for the protability and battery life (when compared against a Z series for instance).

But the non removable battery…. why!?!
I have just got a refurb Dell machine for £175 and the specs are more or less the same but it has a bigger screen + DVD-RW…

…but its not as pretty
Still seems expensive for the specs to me…
Good looking but expensive, just like the missus!

:clapping: