It was as many had predicted when Steve Jobs announced the new MacBook Air, but what no one saw coming was the $1,799 price tag that met with mixed reviews from the Macworld crowd poised for El Jobso to blow their minds. The Mac faithful in attendance were not sent away disappointed by the thinnest notebook in the world, though plenty of iPhone fanatics left deflated with only a 1.1.3 update to revel in. The MacBook Air is set ship in two weeks and is now featured in detail on the Apple website. Pre-order yours starting today. Apple online is giving an estimated ship date of two to three weeks plus ship time added which points to the end of January or first week of February for delivery.
The Macbook Air represents a significant improvement on Apple's
already popular MacBook weighing in at only 3 pounds with features that
innovate far past traditional MacBooks. Five hours of battery life, only 3 pounds, has a 13.3-inch full size display, full keyboard,
multi-touch
gestures, 0.16-inch thickness, iSight on board... 1.6GHz C2D, 2GB RAM
standard,
80GB drive, 64GB SSD option, 802.11n standard Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. All
these features and more in the thinnest notebook in the world priced at
$1799. But when you opt in for the sweet 64GB solid-state hard drive and 1.8 GHz model you're in for $3,098 which is no chump change. The MBA uses an Intel Core 2 Duo chipset, a USB 2.0 port, Micro-DVI, and a headphone jack. No optical drive. One buzz kill is the fact that both the battery and ram are sealed up inside the MacBook Air, making flexibility a tad restrictive.
iPhone news for 2008 was a bit lack luster when Jobs announced a
1.1.3 update which allow users to to customize their home screen, use
maps with location, SMS to multiple people, create up to 9 home screens
and move between them with a flick of a finger. Update is available
immediately. Beyond that news iPhone did not hold the same super-star
status as some expected. MacBook Air, the new kid in town grabbed the
spotlight leaving iPhone fanatics gasping for oxygen.
Jobs
announced iTunes Movie Rentals as expected with participation from
Touchstone, MGM, Miramax,Lions Gate, Fox, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney,
Paramount, Universal and Sony. It launches today! Free software update
for iTunes, iPods, iPhones to support rentals in US. Library titles
will cost $2.99 and new releases will be $3.99 for just a dollar more
you can rent them in HD at $3.99 and $4.99 with over 100 titles
available today. You can transfer films to another device, to your iPod
to watch when traveling.
Here's what you can do with Apple TV: rent movies directly on widescreen TV with Apple TV. Rent them in DVD quality, rent them in HD with 5.1. Also stream photos from Flickr and enjoy the new ATV price of just $229. The free ATV software upgrade will be available to existing owners along with the new $229 Apple TV in two weeks.
An iPod Touch update was not predicted, but Touch now has five new apps added. Mail, maps, stocks, notes, and weather. That's the good news, the bad news is the iPod Touch update is not free but will cost $20 for existing users. New Touch devices will ship with the updated apps without spending the twenty clams.
Jobs gave no word on an iPhone Canada or iPhone Japan launch nor did he even hint at a release date for a 3G or 16GB iPhone as many had speculated he would do. Macworld 2008 left Apple faithful with a new toy to ponder including a ship date that will not require an unreasonable wait. Will Apple TV sales start to pick up? Will movie rentals via iTunes be the new standard for Apple-ites? Is MacBook Air the next big thing? Yet to be seen.
It's probably a good time to step outside the Moscone Center to get some Air. Expensive, thin and rarefied Air, but Air none the less.
iPhone 1.1.3 Video MacBook Air Tour MacBook Air Tech Specs Fortune
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