I realize that most of the discussion around is based on 1.1.3, but Steve also introduced the new
MacBook Air at the Keynote today.
The new MacBook focuses on being very lightweight and completely wireless. It has a 3.3 inch display at the same resolution as other Macs with a full-sixe, backlighted keyboard.
The trackpad features the same multi-touch technology on the iPhone nd iPod Touch. With it you can pinch, swipe, or rotate to zoom in on taxt, flick through photos, or adjust an image.
It has only 4 ports; a USB 2.0 port, a headphone jack, a micro-DVI port, and the magnetic power cord port. It comes with 2MB of RAM and an 80 gig Hard Drive, with the option to update to a 64 gig solid-state Hard Drive. Just like the other current Macs, the Air has the Intel Core 2 Duo processor. It also has a built-in iSight camera.
The Air is entirely wireless. It has the 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR built in. The disc drive has been wiped from the Air; movies can be rented from iTunes and files can be backed up via the new Time Capsule. When software needs to be installed, a new feature, Remote Disc, lets you access discs in other computers. Migration from other Macs is also done through Remote Disc.
The 13-inch 1.6 GHz MacBook Air can now be pre-ordered for $1,799, and the 13-inch 1.8 GHz can be pre-ordered for $3,098. Alternatively, you can get the
MacBook Pro, at 17 inches with a 2.4 GHz processor and a 160 gig HD for only $2,799. I recommend it over the Air.
- John