Thin as Air

Yesterday evening, I got an email that I just couldn't ignore for more than a day. Apple has released a new notebook computer, the MacBook Air.

Quite the impressive design, weighing in at under three pounds and no more than an three-quarters of an inch thick at its widest point, it is by far the smallest full-sized laptop ever released by Apple, and perhaps the smallest the IT industry has seen yet.

The unit still retains many features of the every-day MacBook, complete with the built in iSight camera and microphone, as well as the 13.3" screen. But it does come with some differences one may want to consider before buying the unit.

For one thing, the unit only has one USB 2.0 port and no firewire port. It has a single headphone jack, but no audio in (beware podcasters!) The unit also has no Ethernet (although, a USB adapter is available, for an additional charge).

The Mag-Safe adapter is a common feature, but it's not the same adapter that the previous MacBooks have used, so don't expect to have a spare power adapter from that ol' MacBook Core Duo.

There are some nifty features of the unit that aren't as highly publicized.

For one thing, the screen is lit using LEDs instead of a CCFL tube, which makes for less energy consumption, which is quite handy. And for those of us on the plane frequently, or in dark college dorm rooms, a back-lit keybaord may come in handy, especially when trying to finish up that term-paper at 4 AM.

One of the more astonishing aspects of the laptop is that if you are willing to be an early-adopter of the new "mobile computing concepts," you could get the $3,000 version of the Air that comes with a solid-state drive instead of the usual thin PATA that the less expensive ($1800) version comes with.

Personally, this is something I'd buy in a heartbeat...
...If I were rich.

PS: Check out Air's web site to watch the promo, guided tour, and if you have the navigation skills to stumble accross it, even the Steve Jobs keynote, presenting the new unit.

Enjoy.