New MacBook Air has higher res than MacBook Pro
Posted Thursday, July 21, 2011 at 7:41 am by Jason Cartwright
Overnight Apple made a number of new releases, one of the more interesting is the release of a new MacBook Air. The new faster MacBook Air now features Core i5 processors, solid state drives and Thunderbolt connectors. The 11-inch model starts at a new low price of A$1,099 with a 64GB drive. This now replaces the entry-level white MacBook.
If your after absolutely small and portable (something the Air is designed for) then 11-inch is great, but if you want screen resolution, then 13-inch is likely your real option. One massive draw card for the new 13-inch has 1440×900 resolution, higher than the 13-inch Macbook Pro with 1280×800. Sure, there’s a price premium for the thin and light form factor of the Air, but the higher res probably justifies the extra $100. The new 13-inch Macbook Air starts at A$1,449.
The new MacBook Air ships with OSX Lion.
More @ Apple.com.au
New Macbook Air vs Macbook Pro
Posted Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 9:54 pm by Jason CartwrightWhile Steve Jobs spent a considerable amount of this morning’s press conference talking iLife 11, the most interesting addition is the new MacBook Air. Now available in 11 and 13” versions, there’s been some questions raised about the validity of continuing to carry around the extra weight of a MacBook Pro.
MG Siegler of TechCrunch has a great run comparison after a day of use with the new Air. His thoughts and discussion are particularly insightful and well worth a read. Personally I have a Early 2009 Aluminium Macbook and an iPad, so I can definitely relate to his summaries. So question is, when it comes to update.. is a Macbook Air a realistic option ?
Image credit: TechCrunch
In Australia the price for the 11-inch MacBook Air is A$1,199 / A$1,449 or A$1,599 / A$1,949. The MacBook Air in all variety has one key selling point.. lightness. For that lightness you are most certainly paying a premium and cop a speed hit. Despite Apple still shipping Core 2 processors in all 13-inch models, rather than the newer i3, i5 or i7 chips, for most people’s needs, Core 2 is fine. In the latest revision Apple have worked some battery magic to strangle 7 hours out of the uber-thin shell. If your budget can stretch I’d suggest the 13-inch model, given it has the higher resolution 1440×900 up from the 1280×800 of the 11-inch. Also the 13-inch version has an SD slot and basically $1200 for a netbook sized computer is a pretty difficult sell.
So will you continue to cart around a laptop or can you stretch the budget and finally go ultra-mobile ?
More @ http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/21/new-macbook-air-review/
Where are the updated Macbooks ?
Posted Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 9:26 pm by Jason Cartwright 
While Apple usually manages to get the latest processor chips in products and to market before other manufacturers, they’ve really missed the ball on Intel’s new 2010 line of Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. Consumers have been expecting them for months now, the Apple event in January being the most likely announcement date. However that date came and went with an iPad announcement, but still no Macbook refresh.
Earlier this month the Apple store went down worldwide, which made expectations rise, but turns out it was for iPad pre-orders in the US. Competitors like Dell, HP and many others have already added the 2010 Core i3, i5 and i7 chips in their mobile products, given this, Apple is falling behind in the mobile performance.
One possibility was that the delay was caused by the wait for Nvidia’s new Optimus Technology which seamlessly switched between integrated and dedicated graphics to improve battery life. It turns out that wasn’t it either, with a number of devices now hitting the market that use this technology.
Currently Macbook Pro owners need to reboot to access one or the other. If you want to know more about Nvidia’s Optimus Technology, check out the writeup over at PC Perspective.
So what’s the hold up Apple ? The fastest processor you can get in a Macbook pro today is a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo, whilst this was a great processor last year, it’s certainly behind the game by today’s standards. The MacBook Air has remained largely untouched since it’s launch in January 2008.
As much as see rumours fly around online, ultimately we’ll only know when Apple confirms the new models.
Bootcamp 3.1 drivers kick ass !!
Posted Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 5:35 pm by Jason Cartwright
Whilst only a mild .1 update, Apple’s latest Bootcamp drivers make a massive difference to your Windows on Mac hardware experience. One of my biggest issues with my Macbook was the screen brightness could only be dropped to around half of what it was in Snow Leopard. Not only overly bright in a dark environment, this also meant the screen was sucking loads of power, killing battery life.
The news gets even better when it comes to your Windows rating. With Bootcamp 3.0 drivers, the Macbook scored 3.7, after updating to Bootcamp 3.1 drivers, that score now sits at 5.2. An impressive increase. The update should also fix reported track pad issues.
This also means Windows 7 is now officially supported by Apple. My advice, get the update now.
