During the WWDC 2013 keynote, Apple announced a number of new things, one of which was a brand new Macbook Air. Still available in 11 and 13 inches, they now come in 128GB and 256GB options, but can be configured as high as 512GB of storage.
As I write this post on an aging 13” Macbook Air, I’ll focus on that model for all the specs. If you’re an 11” person, you can head to Apple.com.au for details. The new Macbook Air has a screen resolution of 1440 by 900 pixels, the same as the current model, so it’s not the retina display some of us were hoping for.
Probably the biggest feature is the new processor inside, Intel’s 4th generation Haswell processor is now delivering up to 12 hours of battery life. On a form factor this thin and light, even a real 10 hours is impressive and nearly doubles my model.
If you have an external monitor connected, the new HD 5000 graphics can drive screens with up to 2560 by 1600 resolutions (sorry no 4k support yet). It’s an impressive tweak to what I consider the ‘one to have’ in Apple’s lineup, especially if you travel. Looking under the hood you will find that WiFi spec has been bumped to the new 802.11AC standard as well.
Now to the most important question of price.. The 11” model of the Air starts at A$1,099 and goes up to A$1,449 for the 256GB 13” model. You can of course trick it right out with a Core i7 and 512GB SSD and 8GB of RAM in exchange for your credit card. Just expect a bill of A$2,099, which all things considered, is actually decent pricing.
