At the ongoing MacWorld show in San Francisco, Apple showcased what it claims to be the world’s thinnest notebook. Known as the MacBook Air, this laptop sports a 13.3-inch Led-backlit widescreen display and yet measures a mere 0.16-inches and is just 0.76-inches in height!
The MacBook Air notebook also features a full-size, backlit keyboard and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support, allowing users to pinch, rotate and wipe with ease. Other than this, the world’s thinnest notebook also comes with a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing.
The 13.2-inch LED-backlit widescreen is a glossy one that is not only glossy but also energy efficient too. Moreover, the since notebook’s trackpad offers multi-touch gesture support, it makes it even more intuitive when browsing and rotating images and when zooming into pages using the Safari interface.
Apple’s head honcho Steve Jobs commented on the launch of the MacBook Air saying, “When you first see MacBook Air, it’s hard to believe it’s a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is.”
Powered by a 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, the MacBook Air notebook also includes 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1 as standard features.
The full-size keyboard is encased in a sleek and durable aluminum enclosure. Since it is backlit, the keyboard is perfect when working in dimly lit rooms. Further, the built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the keys as well as the display brightness.
The MacBook Air notebook delivers up to five hours of battery life and includes AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, which delivers up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g.
Further, the pre-installed Migration Assistant software enables users to speedily transfer files, applications and preferences from the user’s old Mac to the MacBook Air over a wireless network.
Users of the MacBook Air will also be able to connect the notebook to Apple’s 20-inch or 23-inch Cinema Displays using a micro-DVI port, extending their desktop experience or even to connect to projectors and other displays via DVI, VGA, Composite and S-video adapters.
All of the newly launched MacBook Air notebooks come pre-loaded with iLife ’08, iMovie, Time Machine, Quick Look and iChat.
Following a spate of accusations surrounding Apple and its use of toxic materials, it is a pleasant surprise to know that the MacBook Air has been made with aluminum, a material highly desired by recyclers and the notebook’s display claims to be a mercury-free one with arsenic-free glass.
The new MacBook Air notebook is scheduled to begin shipping in the next fortnight and will carry a price of $1,799.