Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The New MacBook Air Comes Packing Intel's Awesome New Processor

Today's golden children may be iOS 7 and all things software, but that doesn't mean the actual machines running that software are being tossed to the wayside. Confirming recent rumors and stock shortages, we are officially seeing Apple's super skinny MacBook Air get a much deserved refresh.

Perhaps most exciting, all MacBook Airs will now come packing Intel's kickass new Haswell processors. And that means better battery life, which has become a major issue these days. So instead of 6 hours of HD video playback, for instance, you can get away with a full 9. With just regular use, though, your laptop should supposedly last up to 50 percent longer, although we'll soon see if Intel's claim actually holds up.

Matching its more power-hungry, Pro brother, the Air has also been updated with a dual built-in microphone design. And considering it's built for maximum portability, we're happy to see a Wi-Fi boost with 802.11ac along with new AirPort Extremes and Time Capsule updates to support the faster speeds.

Considering that MacBook Airs run almost entirely on Flash, the fact that the drive will be running up to 40% faster is huge. And the price ain't bad. The 11-inch model comes at $1000 for the 128 GB and $1200 for the 256 GB. The 13-inch will set you back up $1100 for the 128 GB version and $1300 for the 256 GB. They start shipping out today.

Image courtesy of Engadget

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