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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,351


Today at WWDC, Apple announced major changes to their laptop line. Amongst these, Apple has updated the MacBook Air and discounted the entry level price significantly.


153105-air.jpg


Apple today also updated the incredibly thin and light MacBook Air, making it more powerful and more affordable. Measuring just 0.16 to 0.76-inches thin and weighing just three pounds, the MacBook Air is available in two models starting with the new entry price of $1,499 for a 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 120GB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, and a 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 128GB solid state drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics for $1,799.
The $1499 entry level price represents a $300 drop from before, while the $1799 model represents a $700 drop in price for the high end model. Meanwhile, the clock speeds have increased from 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz to 1.86GHz and 2.13GHz respectively.

Article Link: Apple Updates MacBook Air and Drops Price to $1499
 

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
The affordable, ultralight market is starting to heat up now. It's good to see a price drop on the Air.

They're one of the few shows in town with a decent IGP. You have to go AMD to get a 690G or soon a 780G.
 

nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
For a while, a refurb Air was the cheapest full-warranty Mac laptop you could get!

I think it's the ideal laptop for most people (cost aside) so it's good to see it cheaper.

It certainly meets 99% of my varied computing needs (pretty much all but 3D games and big-screen home movie viewing).
 

macbook123

macrumors 68000
Feb 11, 2006
1,869
85
I just wish they had decreased the humongous bezel size and increased the screen resolution. But oh well, ordered one anyway. At that price...
 

bananas

macrumors 6502
Aug 1, 2007
293
23
This is great. Now I'm pretty certain that I'm getting another MBA. Possibly with SSD this time.
 

Scottsdale

Suspended
Sep 19, 2008
4,473
283
U.S.A.
I wonder if the price drop is the "last chance" for the MBA to live on its own and get the power updates we want to RAM, battery, and larger SSD? If it starts to sell better, maybe Apple will progress and improve it. If not, maybe the form factor will be used for future designs of the MBPs! Apple again turned down Blu Ray, so it's showing its willingness to possibly rid future Mac notebooks of optical drives... which would open the door for MBPs to look more like current MBAs!

Either way, I will take a 2.13 GHz MBA for $1799 with SSD! It's incredibly fast and fun with the SSD, and now everyone can afford it. I highly recommend the extra $300 for anyone considering the MBA, as the SSD is worth every penny... and you get a 2.13 GHz CPU which overcomes the 2 GHz barrier required for HD video playback like some apps such as iTunes demand.

I am happy about the price, but I was hopeful for a RAM upgrade too... at a minimum. But this price drop of $700, and the added CPU power is extremely welcomed in these economic times... ESPECIALLY after my rev B MBA was stolen a little over a month ago.
 

QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Mar 20, 2003
12,028
6,036
Bay Area
Either way, I will take a 2.13 GHz MBA for $1799 with SSD! It's incredibly fast and fun with the SSD, and now everyone can afford it. I highly recommend the extra $300 for anyone considering the MBA, as the SSD is worth every penny... and you get a 2.13 GHz CPU which overcomes the 2 GHz barrier required for HD video playback like some apps such as iTunes demand.

I've heard that the SSDs apple uses are not really that great of performers though (compared to say, the intel SSDs). True?
 

LAS.mac

macrumors 6502
May 6, 2009
363
0
Mexico
Wow!
Now it starts to be really close to my wallet!
However, more troubles arises: they increased the performances of the MB 13" (now MBP 13", sorry), to 4 Gb ram, a huge battery. Including an SD card slot that I use quite often...

Question: did the MBA battery got updated? I mean, Apple claims that the battery on the new MBA has 5 hrs of power. Is this the same as they had, say, yesterday, in the rev B MBA?
 

badmac78

macrumors 6502
Jan 15, 2008
250
0
Atlanta
This looks like a direct smack to the M$ commercial about finding a laptop under $1500 that is thin and powerful. Guess it's not just about Aestetics!
 

ericinboston

macrumors 68010
Jan 13, 2008
2,004
476
Nice price drop...but...

it's still $1500 for essentially a 13" netbook. Sure, I don't expect Apple to release a $449 Netbook like all the PC vendors, but $1500 is a whopper for this unit.

Sell it for $799 and then I would think about it.

It will be a shame and ironic that (IMO) Apple started the Netbook market by introducing the MBA in January 2008 (1.5 years ago) and has been getting crushed by the Netbook (PC vendors obviously) market for at least the past 6-8 months.
 

phatcat

macrumors regular
Feb 10, 2008
193
0
As tempting as the Air is, you just get so much more with the 13" macbook pro for much less with the only drawback being an extra 1.5 lbs.

No brainer for me.
 

Jimmetry

macrumors member
Feb 11, 2009
56
0
it's still $1500 for essentially a 13" netbook. Sure, I don't expect Apple to release a $449 Netbook like all the PC vendors, but $1500 is a whopper for this unit.

Sell it for $799 and then I would think about it.

It will be a shame and ironic that (IMO) Apple started the Netbook market by introducing the MBA in January 2008 (1.5 years ago) and has been getting crushed by the Netbook (PC vendors obviously) market for at least the past 6-8 months.

You're dreaming. The MBA is in no way a netbook, other than the missing optical drive. And to be honest, I've used my MacBook drive ONCE -- to install Leopard. It's a fully capable machine... netbooks are junk.
 
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