Apple Also Updates the MacBook Air

[Sin]

The MacBook Air products received the expected hardware update and are currently shipping (in the US) with Haswell ULT processors. While the performance gains on the CPU side should be fairly marginal, the IGP upgrade is supposed to offer a considerable boost to graphic performance (a 40% gain was mentioned, though no measurement criteria was given to justify or explain the value). Another important effect of the hardware upgrade is a noticeably extended battery life, translated into 9 hours for the 11" MacBook Air and 12 hours for the 13" version, or what Apple called "all day battery life." WiFi was also upgraded to the 802.11ac standard. Both MacBook Air versions suffered downward price adjustments, with pricing for the 11" model starting at $999 while the 13" saw a $100 price cut, now starting at $1099.



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[xvi]

It seems like an 11" MacBook Air would end up in competition with the 10" tablet market for many shoppers. The only benefit being a built-in keyboard and, of course, the processor architecture, assuming you're going to do more than check Facebook with it.

 

[Darksaber]

I just ordered the 13 inch, decked out version with 8GB and fast CPU. Stuck to the 256GB SSD, as I do not need more than that.

Will replace my nearly 3 year old Late 2010 Macbook Air 3.2.

I am sure Apple will eventually introduce a Retina Air, but what the hell...odds are it will be much more expensive anyways.