Sneak peek at the new MacBook Air (11 and 13-inch models)



Left: the 11-inch model; Right: the 13-inch model.

Xeni's at Apple headquarters in Cupertino today liveblogging today's hardware and software announcements. In this post, an early look at the new, thinner, lighter MacBook Airs. Her snapshots follow, and details on the devices here. (Update: view the snapper in action in photo #11 of this AP photo series.)

The 13-inch model is unibody aluminum housing, and weighs 2.9 lbs. At its thickest point, it's .68 inches; at its thinnest, .11 inches. A 13.3-inch LED backlit display offers 1440 x 900 resolution. No optical hard drive: flash, with virtually instant power-on, speeds said to be up to 2X faster. Battery life 7 hours on with wireless internet on, and a standby duration of 30 days. Two USB ports (prior models had only one), and an SD card reader.

As Steve Jobs said, it has "a little brother"—the new, smaller 11.6-inch model MacBook Air offers 1366 x 768 resolution, weighs 2.3 lbs, and also has two USB ports , but lacks an SD reader.

Pricing: the lowest end of the spectrum is $999 for an 11-inch with 64GB of storage. At the highest end, $1,599 for the 13.3-inch model with 256GB. Both sizes, at various configurations of storage and processor speed, are available today for online orders. Boing Boing's Rob Beschizza attempted to purchase one at an Apple store in person, and was told they wouldn't be available at that Apple location for a few weeks. Your mileage may vary.

The smaller of the two new Airs, stacked on top of the larger of the two models.

Left: the 11-inch model; Right: the 13-inch model.

Detail, showing the narrower edge of both Airs. The 11-inch is stacked on top of the 13-inch.

The smaller of the two new Airs, stacked on top of the larger of the two models.


Left: The 13-inch. Right: the 11-inch.



The 11-inch, in profile.

Both models, side by side.



11-inch Air, showing reflective (non-matte) screen.


13-inch Air, open to the new version of iPhoto.