Apple reinvents the notebook with new MacBook Air

Apple today unveiled an all new MacBook Air, the first of a next generation of notebooks which will replace mechanical hard disks and optical drives with Internet services and solid state flash storage making them faster, more reliable and not to mention lighter and smaller.

Available in 11-inch and 13-inch models and weighing as little as 2.3 pounds, the new MacBook Air is Apple’s lightest and most portable notebook ever. MacBook Air uses the same solid state storage technology as iPad to deliver instant-on responsiveness, up to seven hours of battery life and up to 30 days of standby time.

Starting at R8999, the affordable MacBook Air defines the next generation of MacBooks.

‚MacBook Air is the first of a new generation of notebooks that leaves behind mechanical rotating storage in favor of solid state flash storage,‚ said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. ‚We’ve taken what we have learned with the iPad‚Äîsolid state storage, instant-on, amazing battery standby time, miniaturisation and lightweight construction, to create the new MacBook Air. With its amazing responsiveness and mobility, it will change the way we think about notebooks.‚

With its precision aluminium unibody enclosure, the new MacBook Air measures an incredibly thin 0.11-inches at its thinnest point and 0.68-inches at its thickest, and weighs just 2.3 pounds for the 11-inch model and 2.9 pounds for the 13-inch. Like iPad, MacBook Air was designed from the ground up to use flash storage exclusively. Apple’s custom-designed flash storage is 90 percent smaller and lighter than a conventional notebook hard drive, contributing to MacBook Air’s mobile, featherweight design. MacBook Air’s flash storage also provides faster data access and is more reliable than notebook hard drives due to its solid state design.

MacBook Air features a full-sized keyboard for typing comfort and productivity, as well as the glass Multi-Touch trackpad found on Apple’s MacBook Pro, so you can scroll through web

sites, flip through photos, and resize or rotate images all from the trackpad. The built-in FaceTime camera, mic and stereo speakers are perfect for video calls with iPhone 4, iPod touch and other Macs.

Flash storage combined with power-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo processors and NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics delivers an ideal balance of mobility, battery life and performance. MacBook Air features an 11.6-inch or 13.3-inch high-resolution LED-backlit display and Mini DisplayPort to connect your 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, projector or HD TV. Ultra-fast 802.11n Wi-Fi networking allows you to, back up data to Time.

Capsule and store or share files with MobileMe and iDisk. MacBook Air includes Bluetooth 2.1+EDR for wireless peripherals and two USB ports making it easy to sync and charge an iPad, iPhone or iPod while using another device. The 13-inch MacBook Air also includes an SD card slot. Apple makes the industry’s greenest notebooks and the MacBook Air is the latest Mac notebook to achieve EPEAT Gold status and meet Energy Star 5.0 requirements. Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, are PVC-free and are constructed of recyclable materials.

Apple uses advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging technology to create a MacBook Air battery that delivers up to seven hours of wireless productivity on a single charge and up to 1,000 recharges. The built-in battery design results in less waste.

Every Mac comes with Mac OS X Snow Leopard iLife, Apple’s suite of applications for creating and sharing great photos, movies and music.

Pricing & Availability

The 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air will be available early November, from www.zastore.co.za, Apple Premium Resellers and Apple Authorised Resellers. The 1.4 GHz 11-inch MacBook Air with 2GB of memory and 64GB of flash storage starts at a suggested retail price of R8999 with a 128GB model for R11 499.

The 1.86 GHz 13-inch MacBook Air with 2GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage starts at a suggested retail price of R12 999 with a 256GB model for R14 999. Configure-to-order options and accessories include faster processors, 4GB of memory, MacBook Air SuperDrive® and a USB Ethernet Adapter.

Additional technical specifications and configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at www.apple.com/macbookair.