Apple unveils new MacBook Air models

By on Oct 20, 2010 at 2:22 PM
Breaking October 20, 2010


It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but Apple today announced a long-awaited refresh of its MacBook Air notebook line. Apple’s airy laptops haven’t been its most popular series by any means, but there is no question that the company’s remarkably thin notebooks struck a chord among jet-setters and young urbanites with expendable income. The sleek, lightweight machines were perfect for travel and even better for being seen in a local Starbucks. As time moved on however, the meager specs began showing their age and even a price drop couldn’t keep MacBook Air sales inflated.

Today, Apple looks to rekindle the public’s interest in its slender MacBook Air line with a reworked case, beefed up specs and a new smaller option.

Long story short, thin is in.

Hit the jump for more information on specs, pricing and availability.

MacBook Air 13.3-inch

  • 13.3-inch LED backlit display, 1440 x 900 pixels
  • 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processor
  • NVidia GeForce 320M GPU
  • SD card reader, 2 USB ports, a Mini DisplayPort, a 3.5mm audio jack and a straight MagSafe port
  • Instant-on
  • Multitouch glass trackpad
  • Full aluminum unibody construction
  • 128GB or 256GB SSD
  • 802.11n Wi-Fi
  • FaceTime camera
  • 0.68-inches thin at its thickest point, 0.11-inches at its thinnest
  • 2.9 lbs
  • Battery life: 7 hours usage, 30 days standby

MacBook Air 11.6-inch

  • 11.6-inch LED backlit display, 1366 x 768 pixels
  • 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor
  • NVidia GeForce 320M GPU
  • 2 USB ports, a Mini DisplayPort and a straight MagSafe port
  • Instant-on
  • Multitouch glass trackpad
  • Full aluminum unibody construction
  • 64GB or 128GB SSD
  • 802.11n Wi-Fi
  • FaceTime camera
  • 0.68-inches thin at its thickest point, 0.11-inches at its thinnest
  • 2.3 lbs
  • Battery life: 5 hours usage, 30 days standby

The new MacBook Air models are available immediately online and Apple stores should be getting inventory soon. Pricing starts at $999 for the 11.6-inch model with a 64GB SSD ($1,199 for 128GB SSD), and tops out at $1,599 for the 13-inch model with a 256GB SSD ($1,399 for 128GB SSD).

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  • serpentor

    Great so they removed the webcam and gave us a facetime cam instead.

    What Jobs giveth he also taketh away.

    • mark boyce

      isight is still there!

  • Cmor

    What nobody seems to mention about the price of Mac products is that they have a resale value if you take care of them. I paid $1599 for my 06 Macbook Pro, and sold it in 2009 for $800, so it cost me $700, and still made a PC convert happy getting it used, and still ran like a top, so let’s look beyond the price tag. So many people buy on price, and nobody looks at value anymore. Let’s not forget either that your throw away Windows machines still have to have all of your data transferred, and that is time consuming as well, so you can buy 3 PC’s for the price of a Mac, and have nothing in the end but frustration, where as I have a great computer to pass on to someone on a budget. Macbook Air, is perfect for who they designed it for, and anyone ripping it apart is obviously not the market they were shooting for.

  • Mike Tyson

    Apple haters are a bunch of homos. If you don’t like it just shut up about it and get over it. Nobody cares. You sound like a bunch of b*tches with all the complaining. Go buy a netbook NO ONE CARES. And get off Steve’s nutsack. If you hate him so much stop reading about him or his products. You’re all a bunch of loser douche bags. Get a life.

    • Shaddap, betch

      So sayeth the internet tough guy “Mike Tyson” from BGR…. normally known as Caleb-Kyle Dweeble of Upchuck, Oklahoma. He recently finished 20th in his area school district’s Paint By Numbers Challenge 2010.

      He turns 37 yrs old next week.

  • superonyx

    Listen people you are not the Target so stop complaining. Our Target is dumb people and dumb girls who are stupid enough to buy a 1k dollar netbook. And our targets are stupid enough to justify their purchase in dumb ways.

    -steve jobs

    • boyg

      The MBA clearly beats out Dell’s Adamo, their only comparable machine.

      Nobody wants to hear your rants about $400 Atom powered plastic machines with Intel GMA graphics and screens from a portable DVD player.

      The MBA is a high quality thin and light with plenty of power and storage for 90% of users that is priced very competitively if not cheaper then comparable PCs

  • Yiannis

    Which Core 2 Duos are we talking about?

  • EndlessCT9A

    As a life long PC user, the new Macbook Air looks more interesting and attractive than any notebook in the market. I’m actively shopping for an ultra lightweight notebook and thought I’d throw my 2 cents in:

    Pros for MBA
    - Weight
    - Very nice screen
    - User friendly
    - Integrated ecosystem with other devices (more and more devices on a daily basis, it seems)

    Cons for MBA
    - Relatively weaker processor
    - Incompatibility with / no availability of applications I use regularly (Microsoft Visio and Project to be specific)
    - No mobile broadband option
    - Little or no user-implemented upgrades (like RAM; if I recall correctly, the last gen MBA had its RAM integrated into the motherboard)
    - High cost of migration: I have an assortment of software that I have, incl. MS Office 2010, Adobe CS5, etc. Would have to purchase all these again (of course, this only applies to those who are current PC users)

    When compared against the Lenovo X201 I’m considering, it’s a tough call. There’s a certain sizzle with the packaging of the MBA which you honestly can’t get anywhere else. But in the X201, I can get a Core i5-560M or even a Core i7, up to 8GB of RAM, upgrade things myself and save money, etc. Sure, some might say I’m not comparing apples to apples but the X201 and MBA are the two closest things in terms of price point and so forth. There’s the now outdated Adamo (wouldn’t buy a Dell if hell froze over), HP Envy 13 (but HPs suck, IMHO) and the Sony (which are probably the most outrageously priced computers on the market ).

    So which path do I take? Hmmm….

    • GoogleGuy

      I would get the x201 if you concern about your Windows programmes.

      I would never get the Dell, unless you don’t want to leave your house, its battery only lasts 2 hours from word processing and web surfing.

      • EndlessCT9A

        Yeah, I’m pretty much set on the X201 at this point. I have a work Dell E6400 with a 6-cell that barely lasts 2.5 hours with power settings optimized for unplugged use. That’s with a slower processor than my trusty almost 2-year old Thinkpad T500, yet the Thinkpad runs almost 1.5 hours longer. Dells are crap for the most part.

        Considering the new MBA was entertaining but after getting all the details, I can get a faster X201 with an Intel SSD and 8GB or RAM for about the same money.

    • NuShrike

      If you compare Sony Z vs MBP, Sony is less expensive and lighter with more features. So would fit right in the middle between MBA and MBP if you’re going to step up.

  • Jeff

    Are these aluminum or made out of their liquid metal technology?

    • EndlessCT9A

      Aluminum.

  • nefan65

    @Shaddap, betch,

    y’all? Ok, you’re either from the south, black, or both. That says it all…go to your mailbox and wait for your welfare check.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: South Berwick Americas

    • Drew

      WTF do you know about the South…or being black?? You live in a hundred and twenty yr old house with bare ass trees and Moose in your front yard. STFU and go shovel some snow…

    • Ghop

      So all black people or people who live in the south collect welfare checks? Hmmm… Such ignorance is not a good look.

  • http://the-reviewer.com TheReviewer

    I have a Dell. It is the biggest pos. It never worked and it cost more than the new Mac I’m using. They really saw me coming and piled a ton of unusable stuff into it. What can I do, but glare at it? 0_0

  • Don

    I thought these were supposed to have decent sized processors. What happened to that?

  • Thomas

    Am I reading this correctly, Core 2 Duo processor?? What year is this?

  • Joe

    Why would anyone pay $999-$1599 for a laptop that doesn’t even have an optical drive?….

    Oh yeah there’s an Apple logo on the back, my bad *rolls eyes*

  • Anthony

    man these are anything but practical. 64gb for $999? thats a really really expensive ipod classic. better off with a macbook pro. at least you’re getting the most out of it for the money

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