Macbook Air is out

by Nigel Yap

Apple has announced that the MacBook Air, which is purportedly the world’s thinnest notebook, is now shipping. MacBook Air measures at 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. MacBook Air has a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe. MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1. We’ve built the world’s thinnest notebook—without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “When you first see MacBook Air, it’s hard to believe it’s a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is.” Although the official availability of the MacBook Air in Malaysia isn't until sometime at the end of this month, that doesn't mean you can't do an early booking for it. So stay tuned for the availablity and pricing of the MacBoook air. Meanwhile you can read on for the specifications of the MacBook Air. MacBook Air delivers up to five hours of battery life for wireless productivity and includes AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, which delivers up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g. Apple’s Migration Assistant software now enables users to quickly transfer files, applications and preferences from your old Mac to MacBook Air right over your wireless network. Every MacBook Air comes with iLife ‘08, the most significant update ever to Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto and a completely reinvented iMovie, both seamlessly integrated with the new .Mac Web Gallery for online photo and video sharing. The new MacBook Air also comes with Leopard, the sixth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Leopard introduces Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; and major enhancements to Mail and iChat. .Mac members can use the new Back to My Mac feature to browse and access files on their home computer from a MacBook Air over the Internet while out on the road. MacBook Air Specifications 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with 1280x800 resolution; 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache; 800 MHz front-side bus; 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 80GB hard disk drive with Sudden Motion Sensor; Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100; Micro-DVI port (includes Micro-DVI to VGA and Micro-DVI to DVI Adapters); built-in iSight video camera; built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; one USB 2.0 port; one headphone port; multi-touch TrackPad with support for advanced multi-touch gestures including tap, scroll, pinch, rotate and swipe; and 45 Watt MagSafe® Power Adapter.