Macworld 08: MacBook Air Is Apple's Long-Awaited Ultraportable

The rumors were true: Apple has announced an ultraportable laptop, the MacBook Air, will be added to their range.  Measuring just .75-inches at its thickest point and an amazing .16-inches at its thinnest, the MacBook Air has an LED-backlit 13.3-inch display, full-sized keyboard with ambient light sensor and built-in iSight webcam, and storms the shelves as the World's thinnest notebook.

Apple has given the Air a large trackpad which, like the iPhone's screen, can respond to gestures.  You can pan, rotate, move entire windows and move between photos, all with simple gestures, and it will also recognise the pinching and spreading zoom in/out movements too. 

Using a 1.8-inch drive has kept weight down, and will be offered in either 80GB traditional (as standard) or an optional solid-state 64GB SSD; the motherboard, even with all the necessary electronics, is only slightly longer than a pencil.  A 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM is standard, with 1.8GHz an option.

Connectivity includes WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, USB 2.0 and micro-DVI, and although there is no internal optical drive Apple will be offering a bus-powered accessory drive for $99.  Alternatively, you'll be able to easily share the drive from another Mac.

Battery life is quoted as five hours full use and with all wireless features turned on.  Of particular interest to anyone who cares about the environment is the mercury-free screen and full aluminium construction, the bromide and PVC-free circuitboards and the fact that the packaging is 56-percent smaller.  

The new MacBook Air will ship in two weeks, and is available to pre-order now starting at $1799