If your MacBook Air has a catastrophic problem and you need to reinstall Mac OS X, you can even do that via a Remote Disc. Click on a computer and one of two things will happen-either you’ll just take control of the drive, or (optionally) the user of the other computer will be prompted to allow you to take control. When you click on the new Remote Disc item in the Finder’s sidebar on the MacBook Air, you’ll see a list of all the computers on your local Bonjour network that have Remote Disc installed.
That’s why it’s included the new Remote Disc software with MacBook Air.Īfter you’ve installed Remote Disc on any Mac or PC with a CD or DVD drive, the MacBook Air can connect to that computer and read the disc in the drive as if it were its own.
No optical drive? How am I supposed to watch movies or install software?Īpple’s guess is that you’ll have another computer in your house or office with a built-in optical drive. And the battery isn’t removable, which allowed Apple to save a lot of space by omitting a battery-access compartment. Apple even had to call in Intel to create a special, smaller version of the Core 2 Duo processor. There appear to be no accessible RAM slots. Its main circuit board is remarkably small-Apple took a photo of it next to a pencil for comparison purposes-and packed with electronics. (Most of that extra cost comes from one particular hard drive option-more on that shortly).Ī combination of factors went into the MacBook Air’s design. Or you can go wild and configure yourself an ultimate MacBook Air for $3,098-almost $300 more than the 2.8GHz 8-core Mac Pro. How much does it cost?Īlthough you can configure some additional options, the base 1.6GHz model costs $1,799, $300 more than the top-of-the-line 2.2 GHz black MacBook, and $200 less than the low-end 2.2GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro. If you carry a laptop everywhere you go, but don’t need all the power and ports of a full-sized laptop, it’s worth serious consideration. People who want the smallest, lightest laptop possible and are willing to sacrifice other features to get it, have probably already placed their orders for the MacBook Air. Unlike the MacBook and MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air isn’t designed to be a general-purpose computer it has, by design, limitations that will be unacceptable for many people. The MacBook Air doesn’t offer a docking station like the PowerBook Duo… at least, not yet. The 2400c, which was designed for the Japanese market, never made a huge splash in the U.S.
The Duo models were unique for being dockable-you could insert them into a docking station, where they’d gain ports, connection to an external display, keyboard and mouse, and even access to a faster processor. The PowerBook Duo series and the PowerBook 2400c were previous Apple forays into the subnotebook market. You could even think of it as a really big iPod nano.ĭidn’t Apple try this a long time ago with the PowerBook Duo?
Its looks owe a lot to the MacBook Pro and previous silver Mac laptop models, but its curved edges and tapered shape are unlike anything we’ve seen on a Mac laptop in a long time, if ever. At the risk of sounding obvious, the MacBook Air is incredibly light and tiny.
It’s Apple’s entry into the lightweight portable computer market known as the subnotebook, often used by business travelers and popularized by companies such as Toshiba and Sony. So what exactly is the MacBook Air? Meet the MacBook Air, the newest entry to Apple’s laptop line. Here’s what we’ve been able to find out about the MacBook Air while waiting for our models to arrive.
You likely have questions about this latest laptop from Apple. What makes the MacBook Air different is that, in typical fashion, Apple has chosen to make different compromises than those found in most other subnotebooks. Most also cost more than a comparably-featured larger model.
For the reduction in size and weight, many small PC laptops trade off such attributes as the size of the display and keyboard, processor speed, battery life, and included features. 16-to-.76-inch-thick laptop, Apple had to make compromises. With the introduction of the MacBook Air, Mac users now have a three-pound laptop to call their own.īut in making this three-pound. Ever since the MacBook and MacBook Pro arrived in 2006 and brought about the end of the cult-favorite 12-inch PowerBook G4 model, fans of small, light laptops have been hoping that Apple would come out with a Mac that was smaller than the 13-inch MacBook.