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Pros

  • Greatly improved graphics power
  • Full-size keyboard
  • Weighs three pounds
  • Bright display

Cons

  • Single USB port
  • No video adapters in box
  • Slower than much more affordable Apple laptops
  • Unswappable battery

At A Glance

Apple's follow-up to the early 2008 debut of the ultraportable features faster RAM, more storage (a 120GB Serial ATA drive compared to the 80GB Parallel ATA drive in the original), and improved graphics. Instead of an integrated Intel GMA X3100, the Air now features an Nvidia GeForce 9400 graphics processor (though it still shares memory with the system RAM).

Manufacturer’s Description

MacBook Air is nearly as thin as your index finger. Yet it has a 13.3-inch LED-backlit display, a full-size keyboard, and a large Multi-Touch trackpad. It?s incomparably portable ? without the ultra-portable screen and keyboard compromises. The nVidia GeForce 9400M graphics brings amazing, high-speed graphics to MacBook Air. With up to a 4x graphics performance boost, graphics-intensive applications now run faster. Movie and video playback is now richer.

The Specs

Pricing
Part Number MB543LLA
Processor
Processor type Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile
Processor speed 1600.0 MHz
Cache size 6.0 KB
Bus speed 1066.0 MHz
Memory
Memory type DDR3
Memory max 2.0 GB
Display
Display size 13.3 inches
Display type Glossy LCD with LED Backlight
Aspect ratio 16:10
Resolution 1280 x 800 pixels
Graphics
Primary Graphics Chipset NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Storage
Drive size 120.0 GB
Battery
Vendor Rated Battery life 4.5 hours
Green
Energy Star compliant 1.0
Dimensions
Width 12.8 inches
Depth 8.94 inches
Height 0.76 inches
Weight 3.0 pounds
Included Software
Operating System Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Other Features
Devices Built-In Webcam
Input devices
  • Keyboard
  • Touchpad
Ports and Connections
Ethernet Type
  • Wireless Ethernet - 300 Mbps IEEE802.11 Draft N
  • Wireless Ethernet - 54 Mbps IEEE802.11a
  • Wireless Ethernet - 11 Mbps IEEE802.11b
  • Wireless Ethernet - 54 Mbps IEEE802.11g
Available Interfaces
  • Audio - Line Out (1/8" Mini)
  • Bluetooth
  • USB - Universal Serial Bus 2.0
Warranty
Warranty information 1 Year Limited Warranty

Performance

Macworld Labs
Quake 4 26fps  fps
Cinema 4D XL 10.5 1:23  min
Photoshop CS3 1:27  min
Tested Configuration Mac OS X 10.5.6 with 2GB of RAM
iTunes 7.7 1:32
Compressor 2:46
Speedmark 5 Score 153
iMovie HD6 1:04