MacBook Air

The MacBook Air is a thin, lightweight, Apple Macintosh MacBook notebook computer featuring an optional solid-state hard drive. The Air has a 13.3-inch, widescreen LED backlit display, with 1280 x 800 screen resolution. The Air weighs 3.0 pounds (1.36 kg), and is 0.76 inches (1.93 cm) at its thickest point and 0.16 inches (0.4 cm) at its thinnest.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the MacBook Air at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 15, 2008. Apple describes it as the "world's thinnest notebook", although there have been thinner models in the past and newer, thinner, laptops have been announced.


Overview
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To reduce the computer's size and weight, Apple omitted certain features long standard on its laptops. It is Apple's first notebook since the PowerBook 2400c without a built-in removable media drive. Users may purchase an external USB SuperDrive, or use bundled Remote Disc software to access the optical drive of another computer, but only for installing software. It is the first subcompact laptop offered by Apple since the full-featured 12" PowerBook G4 was discontinued in 2006.

Similarly to the PowerBook Duo series which preceded it, it lacks many features of the larger MacBooks, including a security slot and an Ethernet port, (although a USB-to-Ethernet adapter may be purchased separately). The MacBook Air offers a single USB port and, unlike the Duo, it provides for no other means of expansion or port replication. Like the entry-level MacBook, The MacBook Air lacks Cardbus and ExpressCard slots, both standard features in older and newer laptops. The device lacks a FireWire port, and as such OS X 10.5 Leopard does not require a FireWire port.

The Air is Apple's first laptop computer to be offered with an optional solid-state hard drive. ArsTechnica found "moderate" performance improvements of the 64 GB solid-state drive over the standard 80 GB hard drive in tests. The Air comes with 2 GB RAM memory as standard.

The CPU is an Intel Core 2 Duo chip, which was specially redesigned for the MacBook Air, reducing the physical chip packaging's size by 60 percent. While the processor is unique, it has been criticized for being under-powered and older-generation technology.

The laptop has the magnetic latch system of the MacBook and an aluminum casing like the MacBook Pro. The oversized trackpad offers iPhone-like Multi-Touch gestures, an improvement over previous MacBook trackpads. Among the gestures are pinching, swiping, and rotating.

The MacBook Air is pre-loaded with Mac OS X v10.5 and iLife '08.

Remote Disc

The MacBook Air can wirelessly access the optical drive of another Mac or Windows PC that has the Remote Disc program installed, allowing the installation of applications from a CD or DVD. It can also reinstall the system software from the included installation DVD. Remote Disc supports netbooting, so the MacBook Air can boot from its installation DVD in another computer's drive.

User-serviceability
Unlike the rest of the MacBook family, the MacBook Air has no directly user-replaceable parts. Its hard drive, memory, and battery are enclosed within the casing, with memory soldered directly to the motherboard. The MacBook Air's battery is not easily replaceable, enclosed in a manner similar to the iPod and related Apple product lines. The hard drive is not soldered and can be replaced through a non-trivial disassembly procedure. Relatively expensive solid-state drives (SSDs) are commercially available. As part of out-of-warranty service, Apple offers to replace the battery for a fee. It may be possible for the end user to replace the battery, though it is unclear whether this process would void the notebook's warranty. Users looking to replace batteries through third-party vendors will need to wait until replacement batteries are made available for this model.

Environmental impact
The MacBook Air has an all-aluminum case, a mercury- and arsenic-free LCD glass substrate, PVC-free internal cables, and the majority of circuit boards free of brominated flame retardants. Greenpeace, which had previously criticized Apple for its ecological practices, stated that the "greener" MacBook Air is a step towards what it considers necessary improvements.

Concerns about overheating and CPU-lockup

Several MacBook Air users since the release of the first generation product have complained of problems with severe overheating, causing CPU lockup. This effect appears to be exacerbated in warmer climates, such as northern Australia. A software update released by Apple in early March which attempted to fix the problem had mixed results. The problem seems to appear when undergoing system-intensive tasks such as video playback, video chatting, or playing games.

Turning the integrated fans to full speed by using third-party software or using USB-powered cool-pads does not cool down the notebook sufficiently to prevent core-shutdowns; undervolting the CPU however solves the MacBook Air's problems with overheating and CPU-lockups in most cases.

Criticism
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The MacBook Air has been criticized by Ryan Block of Engadget for its high price compared to other notebooks of similar specification, with him suggesting that a premium is being paid for its form factor.

The Macbook Air has also been criticized for the difficulty in accessing the headphone and USB port. Because of tight clearance, some devices, including some headphone jacks and 3G USB cellular modems will not fit, requiring users to purchase either a powered USB hub or an extension cable in order to use their devices.

As seen in the specification section, the Macbook Air lacks a Firewire port. It does not support Target Disk Mode of any kind, which would have enabled it to be used as an external hard drive for quick data transfers.