With the MacBook Air, Apple has created the world's thinnest
laptop--measuring an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point (and 0.76
inches thick overall). Apple brings its vaunted multi-touch technology, found on
the iPhone, to its laptops with the MacBook Air, enabling you to pinch, swipe,
or rotate to zoom in on text, advance through a photo album, or adjust an image
via the oversized trackpad. And the MacBook Air embodies Apple's continuing
environmental progress with its aluminum enclosure, a material highly desired by
recyclers, a mercury-free LCD display with arsenic-free glass, and brominated
flame retardant-free material for the majority of circuit boards as well as
PVC-free internal cables.
Despite the its slender shell, the MacBook Air doesn't skimp on the
specifications. It includes a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display,
full-size and backlit keyboard, and a built-in iSight video camera for video
conferencing. This MacBook Air (model MC234LL/A) is loaded with a 128 GB
solid-state drive, which has no moving parts for enhanced durability. It's
powered by a custom-built 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which provides an
optimized, multithreaded architecture for improved multitasking performance. And
it features the integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor, which
delivers outstanding 3D game play with up to five times faster graphics
performance than the previous generation. Other features include 2 GB of RAM,
Wi-Fi connectivity via 802.11a/b/g/n standards, Mini DisplayPort video output
(for DVI and VGA connections), and up to a 5-hour battery life.
Amazingly thin at just 0.16 inches at its thinnest
and 0.76 inches at its thickest point, the MacBook Air weighs just 3
pounds.
It comes pre-loaded with Apple's Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard operating
system--an operating system custom-designed for the advanced technology
inside--and it also comes with the iLife '09 suite of applications, including
iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband, and iTunes.
With the trackpad's Multi-Touch technology, you can
pinch, swipe, or rotate to adjust an image, zoom in on text, or advance
through a photo album.
The MacBook Air includes a vibrant 13.3-inch
LED-backlit display and a full-sized keyboard.
Design
The thinness of MacBook Air is impressive, but even more impressive is that fact
that there's a full-size notebook encased in the 0.16 to 0.76 inch of sleek,
sturdy anodized aluminum. This svelte, 3-pound laptop has a vibrant, energy
efficient 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, and its spacious
trackpad offers multi-touch gesture support for pinch, rotate and swipe--making
it more intuitive than ever to browse and rotate photos or zoom into web pages
in Safari. It also features a full-size keyboard that's backlit, making it ideal
for dimly lit environments such as airplanes, studios or conference halls. It
includes a built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of
the keys as well as the display brightness for optimal visibility.
One of Apple's most celebrated innovations is the MagSafe power adapter
connector, which offers a magnetic connection instead of a physical one. So, if
you happen to trip over a power cord, you won't send the MacBook Air flying off
a table or desk--the cord simply disconnects, without damage to either the cord
or the system.
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
Custom-built to fit within the compact dimensions of the laptop, the MacBook Air
is powered by a 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a super-fast 1066 MHz
front-side bus (FSB), and an enormous 6 MB of Smart Cache, an L2 cache that can
be shared between the cores as needed. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily
stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance.
The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will
deliver better overall performance.)
The Intel Core 2 Duo's 128-bit SSE3 vector engine handles 128-bit
computations in a single clock cycle, accelerating data manipulation by
simultaneously applying a single instruction to multiple data. And its two
execution cores are designed to share resources and conserve power, helping it
to achieve higher levels of performance since it uses fewer watts. And with 4MB
of shared L2 cache, the MacBook Air is a multi-tasking monster. With such
substantial L2 cache, data and instructions can be kept close to the two
processor cores, greatly increasing performance and allowing the entire system
to work more efficiently. And, because the processor cores share the L2 cache,
either can use the entire amount if the other happens to be idle.
Video Processing & Output
Whether you're working on a Keynote presentation or watching a movie before you
catch a flight, every document, video, and photo on your MacBook Air will look
sharp on the glossy 13.3-inch widescreen display. With the new NVIDIA GeForce
9400M integrated graphics processor, the MacBook Air changes the game and just
about everything you do with it. The 9400M provides up to an amazing 4x
performance boost over the original MacBook Air. Photos appear in iPhoto
quickly, transitions in Keynote are seamless, games play more smoothly, and
movie and video playback is better than ever before. The 9400M graphics
processor shares 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM with main memory.
The MacBook Air now includes a next generation Mini DisplayPort, which
delivers a pure digital signal that can drive up to a 30-inch widescreen
display. The Mini DisplayPort is ultra-compact at just 10 percent the size of a
full DVI connector, and is compatible with Apple's 24-inch Cinema Display.
Adapters are also available for using VGA, DVI/HDMI and Dual-Link DVI displays
Hard Drive and Memory
For storage, this MacBook Air comes with a 128 GB solid-state hard drive. Faster
and more reliable, solid memory provides a rapid boot-up and quicker access to
applications while improving battery life. It's also more reliable than a hard
disk drive because there are no moving parts. Since data is written to
stationary memory instead of a spinning hard disk, you have less risk of
hardware problems with the hard disk when you're on the move. The 2 GB of
PC3-8500 DDR3 RAM (two SO-DIMMs of 1024 MB) has an industry-leading 1066 MHz
speed, and it maximizes the capacity for this laptop.
Optical Drive
Because of the amazingly thin design of the MacBook Air, an optical (DVD/CD)
drive was not included. To install software from a disc, you can wirelessly use
or "borrow" optical drives on remote PCs or Macs using the Remote Disk feature.
This allows you full access to an optical drive without having to haul one
around. If you want to have an optical drive for burning CDs and DVDs, you can
purchase the optional MacBook Air SuperDrive (sold separately). This
multi-format CD/DVD read/write drive is powered by the MacBook Air's USB port,
eliminating the need to carry a separate power adapter.
Networking
The MacBook Air doesn't include wired Ethernet networking, and instead relies
solely on Wi-Fi to connect to your home network as well as wireless hotspots.
The built-in 802.11n wireless networking provides up to five times the
performance and twice the range of 802.11g, but it's also backward-compatible
with 802.11a/b/g routers, enabling you to communicate with the a wide variety of
Wi-Fi resources. It works seamlessly with the optional AirPort Extreme base
station as well as Apple's Time Capsule Wi-Fi base station/hard drive--both of
which include 802.11n capabilities. If you don't have access to a wireless
network, you can use an optional USB Ethernet Adapter (sold separately)
Use the built-in Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology
to connect to your PDA or cell phone, synchronize addresses, or download
pictures from your cell phone. You can also use a wireless headset for iChat
audio chats and VoIP calls as well as quickly share files with a colleague.
Video Conferencing with Built-in iSight
Artfully placed in the display bezel is an iSight camera, which enables easy
video conferencing as well as allows you to snap pictures of yourself and create
video podcasts. Using the iChat AV application, video conferencing is integrated
into your iChat buddy list, so initiating a video conference is a breeze. iChat
also lets you hold audio chats with up to 10 people and provides high-quality
audio compression and full-duplex sound so conversation can flow naturally. For
video podcasting, you can record a short clip using the iSight camera, then use
iWeb to create a video blog entry or post your GarageBand-recorded podcast.
Other Features
- Mini DisplayPort compatible with DVI, VGA, and dual-link DVI connectors
(all optional)
- Analog audio output/headphone out (minijack)
- Built-in mono speaker and omnidirectional microphone
- Integrated 37-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery provides up to 5 hours
of battery life
- Built-in full-size keyboard with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys, including
12 function keys, 4 arrow keys (inverted "T" arrangement), and embedded
numeric keypad
- SSupported resolutions: 1280 by 800 (native), 1152 by 720, 1024 by 768,
800 by 600, 800 by 500, 720 by 480, and 640 by 480 pixels at 16:10 aspect
ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio;
720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio
Designed with the Environment in Mind
Apple has worked hard to eliminate many of the toxins that are a common part of
computer manufacturing. Apple engineers removed the majority of brominated flame
retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from circuit boards, internal
cables, connectors, insulators, adhesives, and more in the MacBook Air.
Because Apple makes both the hardware and the software for the MacBook,
they're designed to work together to produce a smarter product that uses less
electricity. For instance, to reduce energy consumption, the hard drive spins
down automatically when inactive. MacBook Air also decides which processor--CPU
or GPU--is best suited to efficiently perform a task. The processor even
throttles down to save power between keystrokes as you type. The LED-backlit
display in MacBook Air is another feature that plays an important part in
conserving energy, consuming 30 percent less power than conventional LCD
displays. And the display is designed to dim when you enter a darkened room.
The MacBook Air meets the stringent low power requirements set by the EPA,
giving it ENERGY STAR certification. MacBook also meets the latest efficiency
requirements of ENERGY STAR Version 5.0 Specification for Computers before its
July 2009 effective date.
The MacBook Air has also earned the highest rating of EPEAT Gold. The
Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT, evaluates the
environmental impact of a product based on how recyclable it is, how much energy
it uses, and how it's designed and manufactured.
Pre-Loaded with Mac OS X Snow Leopard and iLife '09
Every Mac comes with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the world's most advanced operating
system, and iLife, Apple's innovative suite of applications for managing photos,
making movies and creating and learning to play music. Snow Leopard builds on a
decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core
technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. iLife features
iPhoto, to easily organize and manage photos; iMovie with powerful easy-to-use
new features such as Precision Editor, video stabilization and advanced drag and
drop; and GarageBand which introduces a whole new way to help you learn to play
piano and guitar.
Installed software
- Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard (includes Time Machine, Quick Look, Spaces,
Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal,
DVD Player, Photo Booth, Front Row, Xcode Developer Tools)
- iLife '09 (includes iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, iDVD)
What's in the Box
MacBook Air, 45W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, Apple USB
Ethernet Adapter, cleaning/polishing cloth, install/restore DVDs, printed
documentation
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