Apple produces a new product, kills the old
Apple has announced their new MacBook Air to great tech analyst fanfare, but in the announcement, it has been noted that the MacBook is no longer going to be in the Apple lineup. Additionally, the MacBook Pro was announced.
Apple confirmed to Engadget that the MacBook has been discontinued. It is unclear if it is because of sales or simply that they are moving on to bigger and better things.
MacBook Air Specifications:
According to AnandTech.com, the new MacBook air has some pretty amazing specs:
| 2011 MacBook Air Lineup | ||||||
| 11.6-inch | 11.6-inch (high-end) | 13.3-inch | 13.3-inch (high-end) | |||
| Dimensions | H: 0.11-0.68″ (0.3-1.7cm) W: 11.8″ (30cm) D: 7.56″ (19.2cm) | H: 0.11-0.68″ (0.3-1.7cm) W: 12.8″ (32.5cm) D: 8.94″ (22.7cm) | ||||
| Weight | 2.38 lbs (1.08kg) | 2.96 lbs (1.35kg) | ||||
| Cores/Threads | 1.6GHz dual-core Core i5 | 1.7GHz dual-core Core i5 | ||||
| Base Clock Speed | Intel HD 3000 | |||||
| RAM | 2GB DDR3-1333 | 4GB DDR3-1333 | 4GB DDR3-1333 | 4GB DDR3-1333 | ||
| SSD | 64GB SSD | 128GB SSD | 128GB SSD | 256GB SSD | ||
| Display Resolution | 1366 x 768 | 1440 x 900 | ||||
| Ports | Thunderbolt, 2x USB 2.0, composite audio in/out jack | Thunderbolt, 2x USB 2.0, SDHC slot, composite audio in/out jack | ||||
| Price | $999 | $1199 | $1299 | $1599 | ||
AnandTech’s Andrew Cunningham notes, “The Sandy Bridge upgrade makes the Air lineup a reasonable alternative to the white MacBook or 13″ MacBook Pro, especially if weight is more important than processor speed This is particularly true of the in the 13″ model, where the speed of the SSD and the higher screen resolution might actually make it better suited for some production work. The Thunderbolt port can also (either through dongles or dedicated Thunderbolt devices) make up for the Air’s lack of FireWire and other high-speed connectivity.”
“If you were on the fence about the Air before, this healthy speed bump should make the thin-and-light laptops that much more palatable. If the lack of optical drive, FireWire, Ethernet, or hard drive space still put you off, though, this upgrade isn’t likely to change your mind,” said Cunningham.
Is this a good news or bad news scenario or is this really just Apple changing their lineup as a part of evolution?
