It's one of the most overlooked
product refreshes of the day, but the
MacBook Air still deserves some credit. Not only did the Air get a drastic price drop (specifically with the SSD model), but it also gained a few specs. The base MacBook Air now starts at $1499US with a 1.86 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, 120GB SATA drive (runs at 4200 rpm), and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card. The second model, which adds a 2.13 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor and 128GB SSD drive will only run you $1799US. That's a huge difference considering the last SSD model cost $2499 -- a difference of $700!
It is also worth noting that the MBAir now comes with a USB Ethernet Adapter in the box. You can also choose a keyboard format in either: English, Western Spanish, French, or Japanese. If you have been wanting a MacBook Air, but let the price hold you back, then there's no reason for you to complain any longer.
You can see all of the specs on the new MacBook Air models by visiting either the
product page or the
Apple online store.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Marcos said 10:17PM on 6-08-2009
It's great about the price drop, but they REALLY need to update the screen bezel and the trackpad to match the rest of the line.
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senatorcongressman said 7:15AM on 6-09-2009
I wonder why no glass trackpad????
eMax said 10:19PM on 6-08-2009
yeah... i knew this... and now i want one...
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LH said 11:00PM on 6-08-2009
I think Juaquin is dead on. As much as cracking may upset users and developers (as evidenced by all these replies), the fact is that the jailbreak population is tiny -- I've seen estimates of around 300,000 phones. Compare that to the 10 million+ iPhone owners out there who are potential AppStore customers, most of whom have no idea what a cracked app is let alone that a jailbreak exists. I don't see how any developer could be hurting due to cracked app usage. If you are, you either priced your app WAY too high, or designed it for the wrong audience.
I'm not defending cracking or software piracy here, but it's just a fact of life in the software business. You can spend a lot of money trying to stop it, but look how well that's worked for others; it's just not worth it. 1 illegal download does not equal 1 sale lost. The RIAA has spent millions convincing Americans that copying music is taking money out of the artists' wallets, while every *objective* study on the subject finds no evidence that piracy has any measurable effect on sales. Developers, don't buy their propaganda and get over it.
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lh said 11:06PM on 6-08-2009
This is great, but I'm still waiting for USB 3.0 before I buy an Air. All that portability and no way to get data in or out at a reasonable rate...
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jpcx00 said 11:09PM on 6-08-2009
I need more RAM!
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Bob said 2:25AM on 6-09-2009
Agreed. Who can live with 2Gb in this day and age? I'd buy one this very second if they offered a 4Gb option upgrade.
Tom said 11:32AM on 6-09-2009
If they had put 4GB in the Air, I would have had my credit card out and dialing my reseller yesterday afternoon.
I've had 2GB in my laptop for a bit over 3 years now. I need more RAM if I'm going to upgrade, even if it is a thinner system.
Pancho said 10:11PM on 6-09-2009
Another vote for more RAM. Even 4GB seem puny for Snow Leopard, but I'd bitten if that had been offered it on the Air.
Crabs said 12:32AM on 6-09-2009
Ugh, I really wish they'd make a 15" Air. I know most people think that sounds like the most pointless thing in the world, but within certain limitations, length/width aren't really dimensions that matter to me. I mean, a 7" screen computer won't fit in my pocket either, so I'm going to be carrying it in a bag anyway.
It's why I've never understood netbooks aside from price consideration. What do I care that it's smaller than a 13" notebook? The screen's tiny, the keyboard's tiny, and it still can't fit in my pocket. But anyway, with REAL notebooks, it's the thickness and the weight that are important to me. But I absolutely cannot stand 13" screens. Nothing seems to fit on them properly. I like a nice 15" screen.
So, despite the fact that I'm sure they'd never make it, because there are (I'm assuming) very few people like me who would buy it, I just have say I wish they would.
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Blake Luttrell said 2:08AM on 6-09-2009
Another step in bringing the Air's status down from expensive toy to viable, stylish netbook. Good.
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SiR0 said 10:52AM on 6-09-2009
Glass is heavy, so they're probably avoiding it to keep the weight at 1,36 kg.
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Mac Diva said 11:02AM on 6-09-2009
I just want to say the Air is fine, come on in. I upgraded to the second iteration of the MacBook Air in February and have been quite satisfied since. The graphics chip has meant smooth sailing with video, which wasn't true with my original MacBook Air. The larger hard drive (up to 120 GB from 80 GB) provides enough space that I've put some multimedia files on this computer as well as on my MacBook Pro. I use the Air for just about everything other than really intensive music and photography projects, and Hulu. It is the computer I carry around. The Pro has become a homebody.
The trackpad and bezel are just fine the way they are.
I particularly want to encourage women to consider the Air. Losing half the weight of a regular laptop really makes a difference for one's shoulder and back. The Air can be slipped into a tote or very thin computer bag and virtually forgotten until you need it. And, you will get a slightly faster processor than I have. All for $300 less.
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kurt.tappe said 11:16AM on 6-09-2009
It's not just the RAM but the HD size too. 120Gb is pretty restrictive in this age of files that routinely approach 1Gb. Give me a model with 4Gb RAM and 250Gb HD, and then you'll have my attention.
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Noah said 12:25PM on 6-09-2009
I bought an Air about 30 days ago... and now the SSD version is $700 cheaper. Is there any recourse? An exchange perhaps? Bleh...
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THJ said 2:34PM on 6-09-2009
eBay/Craigslist. The store return policy is only 14 days if I remember correctly .
levar said 5:03PM on 6-09-2009
Yeah you are pretty much screwed for the return. But give apple corporate a call. Maybe they will have a soft heart. Now the MBA is right in my price range, but i use aperture 2. If the MBA is beefy enough for that... The MBA seems to match the minimum req for both lightroom and aperture.
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ywamer said 5:51PM on 6-09-2009
Personally, I wouldn't touch the Air if they putthe over-glossy glass bezel on it.
I was actually just in the market for a Macbook or MB Pro a few months ago, but the glare on the screens -even while IN the Apple Store- turned me off. Instead I bought an iMac and iPhone. And I'm looking at an Air because of the non-glass screen.
I'm shocked Apple doesn't offer a matte screen any more. I'm angry. I might even buy a PC. Not really. Or maybe so. I'm so confused...
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yonatron said 9:17PM on 6-09-2009
For Pete's sake, if you're going to say it got a spec bump, you should tell what it was bumped _from_. Why get this news from you when it leaves out almost all the relevant facts?
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