Apple release new MacBook Air, packs quite a punch

Apple have released their long awaited MacBook Air, based around the Sandybridge platform. There has been much talk about the new superportable machine before it was released.

The new MacBook Air computers ship with Core i5 and Core i7 processors and start at £849.00 inc vat in the UK. The top end 13 inch model can be upgraded to a Core i7 1.8ghz dual core processor which adds only £100 to the overall price. Performance is said to be 2.5x faster than the previous model.

All of the new laptops ship with OSX Lion, the latest Macintosh operating system which has received a facelift and some new features to make the switch over from iOS more simple for current and new customers.

The 11 inch version weighs only 1.08kg and the 13 inch version 1.35kg, so they are both very portable indeed.

One of the first reviews of the range is over at Laptopmag, and the author says “You really have to look at the 11-inch MacBook Air in two ways to evaluate it: First as an ultraportable and next as the most affordable laptop Apple offers. As an ultraportable, the Air is superior in almost every way. It offers a bright display with wide viewing angles, good sound, a comfy backlit keyboard, a large and intuitive touchpad, and a processor that's fast enough to handle most tasks. And while we wish there were more Thunderbolt peripherals on the market, having that port on board future-proofs your purchase.”

Sadly, battery life of the 11 inch version doesnt appear to be that impressive, scoring half an hour less than the previous version at under 5 hours. They say “The one sticking point of the 11-inch Air is its battery life; a little less than 5 hours is decent, but that's a half hour less than its predecessor and not nearly as long as other laptops in this class. ”

Kitguru says: Are you in line for one of the new models? Dispatch time is only 24 hours, so no ‘iPad syndrome' to deal with.

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