In a few weeks, Apple will unveil the next generation iPad, John Packowski of AllThingsD confirms today. If history (and carrier code) is any indication, it should go on sale shortly after that. Maybe even just a few days later. And that’s interesting because it doesn’t give developers a lot of time to prepare. And they’ll want to prepare for the higher resolution “Retina” display that the device will pack.

The situation is similar to the Summer of 2010. That year at WWDC, Apple unveiled the iPhone 4, the first device to feature a Retina display. That conference took place on June 7. The iPhone 4 first went on sale on June 24 — two and a half weeks later. That timeframe allowed some developers to get their apps Retina-ready, but for many it took quite a bit longer. Again, this year, the window may be even more condensed.

But as Steve Jobs noted at the iPhone 4 unveiling, the Retina display made existing apps “look even better”. One reason for this is that the version of iOS that shipped with the device automatically rendered text to be optimized for the new display. Expect the same for the Retina iPad. But Jobs also noted that apps which updated to higher-resolution artwork would look “stunning”. “We suggest that you do that,” he said at the time.

And that will undoubtedly be the suggestion again. Luckily, because the Retina display iPad has been rumored for a long time and because many developers remember the initial Retina transition, some developers have jumped the gun and prepared the graphics in their iPad apps to be Retina-ready as well.

The first two iPads had a resolution of 1024 x 768 — which actually isn’t all that far from the Retina display iPhone resolution of 960 x 640. The new iPad will have a resolution of 2048 x 1536. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Apple was now requiring developers to submit Retina-level screenshots of their apps to the App Store (for new apps, at least). Some assumed this was related to the gradual fade out of the iPhone 3GS. But it may also be related to this new iPad. Because Apple allows the iPad to run iPhone/iPod touch apps with the option to scale them up 2x, non-Retina iPhone apps (480 × 320) will undoubtedly look pretty bad on the Retina iPad.

Given how many visually-focused apps there are for the iPad, some developers are worried how their apps will look on the new device. Apple, of course, isn’t talking yet. While there may be a handful of larger developers that will get an early peek at (or a heads up on) the Retina iPad, most will get to see the thing the same time the rest of us do — on stage in early March.

Some aren’t just worried about the iPad either. Rumors have been circulating for a few months that Apple may also be on the verge of launching high-resolution Mac displays. It’s looking increasingly likely that Apple will do a one-two high-resolution punch with high-res Macs (probably MacBook Pros or maybe even a new MacBook Air) and Retina iPads in the coming weeks.

Recent code changes in OS X with added HiDPI support suggest the former may be coming very soon.

If you think a 2048 x 1536 iPad sounds great, think about a 2880×1800 MacBook. Unlike resolution changes in the past, elements on the screen wouldn’t get smaller, they’d just get crisper. But to take advantage of all those pixels, Mac developers will also have their work cut out for them updating all the graphical elements in their apps.

My suggestion is that developers get ready. The future is looking crisp.

This Kickstarter project has been kicking around the Internet a bit but it’s pretty cool. This is a handsome dock for your 11- or 13-inch air and includes 4 USB ports, an ethernet port, a DisplayPort, Kensington lock port, and power supply. To use it simply lock your MacBook into the LandingZone’s snug confines and start working.

As a doofus who just set up a standing desk, this would be a livesaver. First it improves the Air’s USB situation immensely and the ease of use would shave, at worst, a few seconds off of my start-up time and probably improve air circulation around the Air.

The entry-level pledge is $159 and that gets you an 11- or 13-inch model. You can get two for $299. I’d be wary given the upcoming changes we expect to the MacBook Air in the next few months, but not much in terms of port placement should change.

Kitae Kwon, an engineer in Cupertino, created the dock and has been working on it for eight months. He’s set up a product page here. The product has 31 more days to reach $50,000 in funding. Considering it’s at $30,000 now, it shouldn’t be too hard.

Total of 4 USB 2.0 ports; no need to attach a separate USB hub
Built in 10/100T Ethernet port; no more dongles for the Ethernet or fumbling with the cable
Built in Mini DisplayPort capable of driving resolution up to 2560×1440
Built in locking port compatible with all the Kensington Locks; now you can secure your MacBook Air
Two models to support either the 11″ or 13″ version of the MacBook Air (2010 or later)
Beautifully designed and engineered for simplicity, elegance, reliability and functionality (patent pending)
Comes with US power adapter which accepts wide range of input voltage (100~240 Vac)

We’ve heard rumors of a sort of MacBook Pro/MacBook Air convergence for the past few months and it seems Digitimes may be confirming the arrival of a larger, ultrabook-like 15-inch MacBook Air.

The source believes that Apple is working on updated 11.6-inch, 13.3-inch and 15-inch models. This will be distinct from the Pro line.

Analysts believe this move will drive down current MBA prices as Apple tries to head off the coming flood of Windows-based ultrabooks – 30-50 at CES alone, according to some estimates. This partially confirms rumors that Apple’s next 15-inchers will be thinner and lighter than the current MacBook Pro line-up.

Apple has updated its MacBook Pro offering on the Apple Store, reports This Is My Next, after 9to5Mac earlier leaked details of the notebook product line-up refresh.

Don’t expect to see spectacular changes, as the tweaks are relatively minor. They include faster processors, more storage and a number of small graphics updates.

Confirming earlier leaks of the new line-up, the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro now comes with a 2.4 GHz dual-core processor (before: 2.3 GHz) and a 500 GB hard drive (before: 320 GB).

The basic 15-inch MacBook Pro now sports a 2.2 GHz quad-core processor (before: 2.0 GHz), while the 17-inch MacBook Pro has been upgraded with a 2.4 GHz quad-core processor (before: 2.2 GHz).

Both the 15-inch and the 17-inch machines have been given some graphics upgrades as well (the change: from AMD Radeon HD 6750M to HD 6770M – learn more here).

The prices of the slightly upgraded models have not been changed.

“At this point, I’m thinking Apple should just replace the standard MacBook with the Air.”

Yes, I just quoted myself. But I have a good reason. I wrote that on October 21 of last year, after one day of playing with the just-released new MacBook Air. Today, 9 months later, Apple is listening. The MacBook is dead. Long live the MacBook Air.

The fact of the matter is that this was inevitable. The MacBook started at $999. The MacBook Air started at $999. I just couldn’t see who would choose the MacBook over the Air. Unless you wanted an optical drive — but the optical disc had just been killed. As I wrote in my full review of the Air a few days later, it even replaced my brand-new MacBook Pro as my main computer. It was that good. And today, it gets even better.

Apple is revamping the MacBook Air lineup, upgrading the device with the new Thunderbolt port, new Intel Core i5 chips, and yes, even a backlit keyboard — finally. The new systems will also be the first built from the ground up to run the new OS X Lion operating system, which is also launching today.

I’ve had the chance to use one of the new systems for the past few days, and it screams. Even the people who thought I was crazy last year to replace my MacBook Pro with the Air may have second thoughts now. Apple is saying the updated devices offer roughly twice the performance of their predecessors in various regular use cases (technically, the 11-inch models should be about 2.5 times faster, while the 13-inch models should be just under 2 times faster). All I know is what I see — it’s really fast and it handles OS X Lion extremely well.

The model I’ve been testing out is a 13.3-inch 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5. It also has an Intel HD Graphics 3000 chip with 384MB of video memory, and a hefty 256GB Flash storage drive. This is the top-of-the-line stock model. But there will also be an option to swap in a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 chip (which has 4MB of L3 cache instead of 3MB).

Everything I loved about the last iteration of the Air holds true here as well. The battery life is excellent. Apple says the 13-inch model should last 7 hours during regular web usage, I’ve been seeing just shy of that after heavy usage. (The 11-inch model is said to get the same 5-hour battery life as the previous iteration.) Thanks to the Flash storage drive, the machine boots up in roughly 12 seconds. And it awakens from sleep instantly. Standby mode is still up to 30 days with this battery.

I have not been able to test the Thunderbolt port yet because there simply aren’t enough devices out there on the market yet. But it’s a great addition to have when those peripherals do come. Thunderbolt is 20 times faster than USB 2.0, and it’s even significantly faster than FireWire and USB 3.0. For now, the port works just fine with existing Mini DisplayPort devices.

The dimensions height, width, and depth-wise are the exact same as the last iteration, but the devices are ever-so-slightly heavier. We’re talking 2.96 pounds versus 2.9 ponds for the 13-inch. And 2.38 pounds versus 2.3 pounds for the 11-inch. It’s a difference so small that obviously it’s not noticeable at all.

In fact, the only really noticeable difference externally will be the backlit keyboard at night. This is one feature that many users complained was missing in last year’s revamp. That’s because it was previously available on older Air models, and it was the only MacBook model period without the feature.

Those with sharp eyes will notice that not only is the Thunderbolt port now in the place of the Mini DisplayPort, but also that the keyboard itself is ever-so-slightly different. With the move to OS X Lion, gone are the Expose and Dashboard keys, in their place are two new keys for Mission Control and Launchpad, two new OS X Lion features. To the right of those keys, you’ll also find the backlit keyboard brightness keys on the Air now.

The 13-inch model retains the SD card reader slot, while the 11-inch model still does not have it. Both models have two USB 2.0 ports as well.

With this latest iteration, Apple has also given some extra consideration to the high-end range of the 11-inch models, for users interested in that form factor who want more power. For the first time, there will be an option to get up to 256GB of Flash storage. And it too can be upgraded to the 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 chip. The higher end of the 11-inch model also now comes with 4GB of RAM standard (the only model that doesn’t is the $999 low-end 11-inch model, which has 2GB).

For the past 9 months, the Air has been the computer I take with me everywhere. I previously didn’t like the Air line because I felt it was underpowered and overpriced — both of those things changed with last year’s revamp. Today’s upgrades should make it even more attractive to would-be purchasers. With just the right combination of portability and power, it is hands-down the best computer I’ve ever owned.

But I recognize that some people do need more power. That’s why Apple still makes the MacBook Pro. But for everyone else, the Air is now the entry-level notebook from Apple. It began outselling the MacBook almost immediately, so this move just made sense. Apple will still sell older MacBooks to K-12 institutions, I’m told. But consumers will no longer be able to buy it.

During their earnings call yesterday, Apple COO Tim Cook noted that two of the reasons why Mac growth was down a bit last quarter (while still up overall) was because consumers were waiting to buy until OS X Lion came out, and because Apple didn’t release a new notebook during the quarter. It looks like they just killed two birds with one stone for next quarter with this device.

The new MacBook Air will be on sale on Apple’s website today, and should be in Apple Stores tomorrow. The price-points will be the same: the two 11-inch models will be $999 and $1199, respectively (the more expensive one has more RAM, more Flash storage, and more video memory). The two 13-inch models will be $1299 and $1599, respectively (the more expensive one has more Flash storage).

Apple has determined that under certain circumstances the rubber surface on some MacBooks may separate from the bottom case of the system. MacBooks shipped between October 2009 and April 2011 may experience this issue. Apple will replace the bottom case of any affected MacBook, free of charge, that exhibits the issue.

Best of all, they will issue a refund if you paid to have this fixed in the past two years.

via 9to5 via hardmac

As you’re undoubtedly aware by now, tomorrow (in just a few hours, really), Apple is expected to unveil their latest line of laptops. News has already started to trickle out about what’s getting upgraded and what’s changing. Noticeably absent in this talk is the MacBook itself. And that begs the question: is it the end of the line for the product?

Simply put: it should be.

Given last year’s significant upgrades to the MacBook Air, the MacBook is now a lame duck. It’s not the smallest Apple laptop, it’s not the most powerful Apple laptop, and it’s not even the cheapest Apple laptop anymore (the 11-inch Air has tied it at $999). And given the specs leaking out about the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which someone would buy a regular MacBook anymore. Well, unless they’re really into white plastic.

Sure enough, one report has the white MacBook going away. And the truth is that Apple has seemingly been slowly phasing it out for sometime now.

It used to be that the MacBook was a flagship product. It was one that sold extremely well to students and first-time Mac buyers since it was introduced in 2006 to succeed the iBook. In 2008, it even got the aluminum unibody upgrade that enticed some MacBook Pro users (like myself) to get one. It really seemed as if it was more of a “Pro” machine — a natural successor to the old, popular 12-inch PowerBook G4.

And as such, by mid 2009, Apple essentially decided to elevate the 13-inch unibody MacBook into a MacBook Pro. That left the 13-inch white plastic model as the only remaining MacBook. Apple gave it a small makeover and continued to give it spec upgrades, but it clearly only existed to satisfy the bottom of market (well, the bottom of Apple’s market) — it existed so that Apple could say that had a laptop for under $1,000.

But again, the new MacBook Air models changed the situation. The 11-inch model was far more portable for the same $999 entry-level price. And the 13-inch model was just as powerful and also much more portable. These are now the low price-point models. But they don’t exist just to be cheap. Apple has effectively killed off that option while maintaining the “cheap” price point. It’s now a price point tied to arguably the best laptops Apple has ever made.

With the MacBook Pros now about to gain faster Intel chips and new technology like Thunderbolt (the Intel-created high speed port formerly known as “Light Peak”), but maintaining elements such as large (but slower) traditional hard drives and optical drives, they’re more clearly differentiated from the Air line.

At the same time, the 13-inch Pro model will likely keep the $1,199 price point (thanks to less powerful graphics options, among other things) and it will allow those who really want something like an optical drive, a chance to get one for relatively cheap. And again, it will be much more powerful than the 13-inch MacBook.

Just about the only reason Apple would have for keeping the MacBook alive at this point is if they wanted to offer a really affordable laptop. The MacBook only makes sense as at a price point around $700 at this point, in my mind. But Apple has been reluctant to go that low in the past; I doubt they will now.

And so we may be left with a MacBook line without an actual MacBook.

Update: Well the new MacBook Pros are out and sure enough, the MacBook wasn’t touched. It’s still available to buy for now, but it would seem that the writing is indeed on the wall.

Twelve South makes cool, if simple, laptop gear. We’ve covered their BookArc before and this is an improved permutation of the version for the latest MacBook Air. It costs $39.99 and allows you to stand your laptop up next to a monitor and control the cabling so everything is in its right place.

From the product description:

Like previous versions of BookArc, the MacBook Air model is fashioned from heavy gauge steel for stylish looks and a sturdy footprint. One convenient addition is built-in cable management. Since MacBook Air has inputs on both sides, the BookArc cable housing routes power, external display, USB and other cables behind the MacBook for a clean workspace. These cables stay tethered to the stand so you can easily get your Mac in and out quicker than ever.

Product Page

There is no confirmation of this other than a vague email from a charming New Zealandee to his customers, but it seems that someone let slip that new MacBooks with SSD “hard drives” and Sandy Trail chipsets are in the offing in the next 20-25 days. Considering the guy who sent this presumably sells MacBooks in New Zealand, his advice to “place your order on hold, but also advise us of your plans so we can place you on our wait list” is pretty bold, pointing to either generally reduced stock or a real belief this rumor is real.

I always say if you’re in the market for cameras or Apple gear, buy what’s available and don’t wait for some nebulous possible upgrade, but this email points to a fairly solid change in hardware so I’d advise listening to this kiwi.

Read his note after the jump.

We have received notice that it is very likely that new MacBook models will be announced in the next 20-25 days. FYI: All Apple announcements occur on a Wednesday morning NZ time.

They are likely to be based on the new Intel chip series and have other upgrades like SSD hard drives available.

As usual, there will be very limited quantities of base model units immediately available. We are currently preparing a wait list as demand will be very high for the first month or two. There is also likely to be a 2-3 week delay following product announcement to ship date.

If you are thinking of purchasing any Apple laptops in the next few weeks, we would recommend you place your order on hold, but also advise us of your plans so we can place you on our wait list. We will then be able to jump the queue and source your laptop ASAP.

Probably not, but a girl can dream. Why does it look fairly convincing? Well, as 9to5mac points out, Intel has leaked future MacBooks before and there is some evidence of new MacBooks in the pipe for Best Buy and others.

However, from the pixels and having seen a few Photoshops in my day, I suspect this is a placeholder laptop. The Air-like styling and black case are two huge red flags for me – they probably wouldn’t dump the styling during a routine update – and Intel couldn’t be that stupid, could they?

via 9to5

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced he was taking another medical leave of absence earlier this year, the talk immediately started. “But what happens when Apple has to release a new product?” “Will it suck?” The truth, of course, is that Apple has a pipeline of products that likely spans years — all based on calls made while Jobs was in charge. And many of those are already in various levels of late-stage development. But what if a new products slips through the cracks? What if interim Apple head Tim Cook greenlights something awful? The Onion explores this possibility today.

Say hello to the new “grotesque” MacBook.

“Cook presented the bizarre, malformed new product to stunned silence during a media event at Apple headquarters, revealing a device that, while vaguely similar to a computer in certain respects, appeared to be encased in a thick, flesh-like coating that was visibly moist and engorged,” notes The Onion.

Ahhhh!

“Shocked audience members claimed the appalling laptop, which seemed to many onlookers to have functioning digestive, muscular, and urinary systems, was “hard to look at” and easily the most repellent product yet manufactured by Apple,” The Onion continues.

Ewwwww!

But, the silver lining:

“As of press time, 3.2 million loyal customers were lining up overnight outside of Apple stores across the country for the chance to buy the slick new abomination.“

Making fun of irrational fears and fanboys at the same time. Nicely done again, Onion.

“Was there any cannibalization? Honestly, I don’t know for sure. But yes, I think there is some cannibalization,” Apple COO Tim Cook (who is the acting head of Apple while Steve Jobs is on medical leave) said in response. This echoes the thoughts Jobs had last quarter when asked the same basic question. “The iPad is clearly going to affect notebook computers,” Jobs said at the time.

But Cook also said that he thought there was a “halo effect” as well. That is, just as is thought to have happened with the iPod and the iPhone, certain Apple products are helping the company sell other products. So Cook believes that while the iPad may be eating into some of the would-be Mac sales, it’s also fueling other new Mac sales.

He also noted that it’s likely that the iPad is not only cannibalizing Mac sales, but also sales for the larger PC industry. Cook pointed out that Apple still has a relatively small share of the overall market. “So the other guys lose a lot more,” he noted.

He said that internally, Apple doesn’t worry about cannibalization or even think about it. “The iPad team works on making their product the best. Same with the Mac team. Both teams think they can continue to grow,” he said.

“If this is cannibalization, it feels pretty good,” he quipped.

• 13.3-inch backlit screen
• Ultra-slim design uses no hard drive, weighs 2.8 lbs
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
• NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 RAM
• MSRP: $1299 base ($1799 as tested)

Pros:

• Amazingly thin and light
• Sharp screen
• Solid battery life

Cons:

• Underpowered for some tasks
• No Optical Drive
• Only two USB ports, few of the major I/O ports

You Can Never Be Too Thin Or Too Rich

Although we’ve already covered the MacBook Air on our sister site (oops, this is the link), I thought it would be fair to assess its merits in a more objective fashion. As it stands, anyone you show the new Air will agree that it is a handsome piece of kit. It works very well, as we know, and it contains no mechanical storage, which means everything excepting the small internal fan is completely silent. The solid-state drives (SSDs) inside allow this computer to boot in about ten seconds, or thirty on a bad day. Access to the filesystem is almost instantaneous although, in absolute truth, there is little performance difference between a standard laptop and this model especially considering the 1.86GHz processor. What you make up for in access speed makes the lack of processor speed seem less important.

In real terms, a bog standard MacBook Pro 13-inch hits about 3655 on GeekBench while the Air hits 3003. An above average 15-inch MBP with 4GB and 2.66GHz processor can top out at 5695 and a Sony gaming laptop with 4GB memory and a 1.73 GHz processor can hit 4978. One of my favorite laptops, the Envy 14, hits 4463. So we can be absolutely accurate in stating that the MacBook Air is quite low in terms of overall performance.

Battery life is about 4 hours in real terms and six in loosey goosey terms. I used the laptop for about four hours this morning and it hit about 10% before I recharged. Expect this to work on a long NY to LA flight but not on an LA to China flight. The wireless problems that plagued some old MacBook Airs are gone here and I was very impressed with the wireless speed and performance which has as much to do with the cache speed than the actual radio.

The real draw here is size and weight. This is probably the thinnest laptop you have ever seen. I’ve shown it to multiple people and they’re all amazed.

However, that thinness comes with a price. For example, you only have two USB ports, one on each side, which is a slight improvement over the original Air’s single USB port. You also have a Mini DisplayPort Adapter, but there is no Ethernet port — a problem if you end up in a hotel with Ethernet-only connectivity. No FireWire, of course. It has a headphone jack but no line-in. There is a webcam in the bezel and an omnidirectional microphone.

There is, most importantly, no optical drive. This could be an immediate dealbreaker for many people but I would recommend the DVD-lovers out there to start ripping, because optical drives, at least in the thin and light category, have been going the way of the Dodo for some time.

Don’t Call It a Netbook
Think of the MacBook Air as the distillation of everything that makes a MacBook great. It runs OS X, it is very handsome, and it runs almost everything you can throw at it with aplomb. Barring large video editing you’re not going to slow this thing down. However, the $1,199 model of the 11-inch Air comes with 64GB of storage, an amount that is laughably small. Even the 128GB on the $1299 13-inch model is going to be insufficient. If you’re going to be surfing the Internet and maybe watching kitten videos on the Air, than this should be fine. If you’re going to get any work done, then you have a problem.

Therein lies the problem with the Air. On the low end you risk running out of drive space and with 2GB of memory you face a potential shortage when performing larger tasks. Bump things up to usable numbers – 4GB and 250GB – and you’re talking $1,800 out the door. So much for the $999 price point.

So here you see my issue with this laptop. If I’m an average consumer who wants a Mac I’m going to get a MacBook Pro or MacBook with lots of space, ports, and size. If I’m a viewing the Internet on my couch I’m going to get a tablet or netbook. If I’m a pretentious Appletard who has to have the latest and greatest (guilty as charged) I have to spend 2 grand on this thing just to up the specs to acceptable levels.

But Who Is This For
This is for Mac lovers who want to travel with a light notebook. This isn’t a “coffee-table netbook” that should be relegated to browsing while on the can or couch. There are perfectly acceptable netbooks out there for much less than a grand, to say nothing of two grand.

Can it replace a MacBook Pro, as MG suggests? Sure if you use only a few major programs like iPhoto and iMovie. Final Cut is definitely a stretch on this and realtime weather simulations required multiple petaflops of power is right now. Luckily 90% of the audience interested in the Air is probably not running anything more processor intensive than Keynote.

I personally laid out $1,800 for my model with 4GB memory and 256GB of hard drive space. That’s quite a lot. Considering the Sony I mentioned above, the VPCF136FM/B, costs $1,299 and blows the pants off this machine and an EEE PC can be had for about $300, I’m hard-pressed to recommend this as either a full-bore laptop or a netbook. It is a special creature, like one of those plankton that live in the deepest, coldest parts of the ocean. Like the plankton, the MacBook Air serves a very specific purpose in a very specific ecosystem but, also like the plankton, the price of living within that ecosystem is very high.

I have yet to test it on the road but from what I can tell it will be useful. I do quite a bit of image and video editing but I’m not Ansel Scorcese so I don’t need to open huge RAW files or edit HD video for PAL and NTSC.

Bottom Line
Can I whole-heartedly recommend this laptop? No. Here are my caveats:

If you are a MacBook Pro user who is tired of lugging around a 6lb notebook then this is the laptop for you. It offers most of the functionality of an MBP (though only a part of the actual power) without the weight or size. In fact, it could even feasibly replace your MBP if you rarely run anything worse than Microsoft Excel. Unfortunately, you won’t want to pay $1,199 for the lowest-end model. You’ll want to upgrade and that will cost you.

If you’re looking at a netbook, don’t spend $1,199 (or even $999 for the 11-inch) on this. This isn’t an entry-level MacBook, this is a device specifically oriented towards a certain type of consumer.

If you’re looking at a standard notebook, don’t look here. This isn’t for you. Get an original MacBook or a Windows PC of your choosing.

Users are all different and if you have the cash and the impetus to buy a very slim MacBook, then you should look into the Air. Otherwise, steer clear.

Product Page

Last Wednesday, I got my hands on one of the new MacBook Airs. I haven’t touched my MacBook Pro since. It’s six months old. RIP.

I know that sounds outrageous. Or like hyperbole. But it’s not. When I wrote up my initial thoughts, it was after only a few hours of usage. I hadn’t even used it outside the house yet. But now I have. I’ve used it almost everywhere I’ve been for just about a week now. There’s no question in my mind that this has replaced my MacBook Pro as my go-to machine.

But here’s the really crazy thing. It’s not just the size of the thing that I love so much (I have the 13-inch model) — which is amazing — it’s the speed. This thing boots up in less than 15 seconds, ready to go. My i7 iMac with 8 GB of RAM takes something like 2 minutes. My i7 MacBook Pro takes at least 30-45 seconds, and it has an SSD drive.

Applications seem to load quicker. Files transfer quicker. The thing shuts down in about 3 seconds. Macworld has the initial benchmarks. They don’t lie. It just screams.

And by speed, I also mean “power”. Remarkably, for the first time that I’ve used one, this MacBook Air doesn’t feel underpowered. At all. Again, for the past 6 months I’ve been using a combination of an i7 iMac and an i7 MacBook Pro. Judging from processor, clock speed, and amount of RAM, both should be significantly faster than this Air. For certain tasks, they undoubtedly are. But for pretty much everything I’ve done this past week — basically, my regular work and play habits — I really can’t say I notice a difference. This definitely surprised me.

Again, Macworld’s initial benchmark numbers seem to at least partially back up such a crazy claim. I have the baseline 13-inch MacBook Air with a 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, and a 128 GB flash storage hard drive. Their tests have this thing performing better than the 13-inch MacBook Pro with a faster Core 2 Duo processor and double the RAM. And it’s not that far off from the i5 Pro model.

They largely credit the flash storage hard drive. And that’s undoubtedly a huge part of the performance. But another part is likely that previous MacBook Airs have run underclocked to deal with heat issues. That doesn’t appear to be happening with these models. So they can purr along at full speed. And it shows.

Earlier tonight, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber wrote a post wondering where this new Air fits into Apple’s MacBook lineup? It is a good question considering the base model is the same $999 price as the base MacBook model. He thinks it might fit in as a secondary computer. I agree — for now.

There is one thing holding back the Air: storage space. Thanks largely to Apple themselves, we live in a world where we have digital music, photos, movies, and TV shows that take up dozens, if not hundreds of gigabytes of storage. Because of this, a 128 GB hard drive isn’t enough for many people these days if they’re going to be using the Air as their primary machine. Increasingly, even 256 GB isn’t enough. Hell, I’m nearing 1 TB of media on my iMac.

But. We all know that Apple has aspirations to move all of this media to the cloud. If they can do that and cut the chains around these machines, they’re going to fly. Off the shelves. In a hurry.

Here’s how I see it: if storage didn’t matter, I think this 13-inch MacBook Air would almost immediately be Apple’s best-selling Mac. It’s that good.

I can’t speak to the 11-inch model, as I haven’t used it, but it’s getting rave reviews as well. The 13-inch model I’m talking about here is the base model which is $1,299. The 11-inch models start at $999.

It’s funny that I haven’t really even talked about the size of the machine yet — that’s the glittering lure that ropes people in. But the Air has always had that. What it didn’t have previously was a great price and killer performance. Now it does. Just in the past six days, five people that I’ve showed this thing to have already bought one. That’s the stuff iPhones and iPads are made of. It has the “wow” factor.

And regardless of if storage capabilities hold it back or not, I have no doubt that the Air does point to the future of the MacBook lineup. They’re soon all going to lose their optical drives, gain flash storage drives, and work for hours on end. In fact, the only machine I can think of that I might enjoy more than this one is one that lasts even longer. To get that, I’d accept a model that’s slightly larger (15-inches), slightly heavier (maybe 3.3 pounds), but had 10 hours of battery life. That’s the future MacBook Pro right there.

Speaking of battery life, again, this thing shines pretty nicely in that category as well. Apple says it will get 7-hours, and based on my usage, that’s close. I’m usually seeing between 5 and 6 hours depending on what I’m doing and screen brightness. A couple times I have gotten about 7 hours.

As for the supposed 30 days of standby time? It’s hard to imagine me not using this thing for 30 days at a time, but I will say that I’ve gone to bed with it at 50 percent power and woken up several hours later with it at 49 percent power. And yes, the thing wakes up from sleep instantaneously. The only thing you have to wait for is for your WiFi to connect.

As for the screen? Again, I thought it would be an issue switching from a 15-inch MacBook Pro to this, but it’s really not. This thing has the same 1440-by-900 resolution as the standard 15-inch MacBook Pro screen, so, there you go.

People also can’t seem to believe when I tell them it doesn’t run hot. But it doesn’t. The only times I’ve felt it getting a little bit warm is when I’ve run — surprise, surprise — multiple Flash movies. But the heat doesn’t come close to my MacBook Pro. That doesn’t come close to my old MacBook Pro which was an upside down stove at points.

It’s hard to know what else to say. This is the computer I’ve been waiting for. It makes me feel foolish for spending almost three grand on a brand new souped-up MacBook Pro six months ago. I just can’t think of a time I’ll ever want to or need to turn it on again.

Goodbye, MacBook Pro. Your candle burned out long before your hard drive ever did.

Apple’s consumer strategy has always been centered around clear, concise choices. The new, less expensive MacBook Air seems to change that. The line between consumer and pro, between entry level and top-tier is gone and it means that something is going to change in the Apple line-up sooner than later.

Let’s look at the pricing. The new MacBook Air starts out at just $999. That’s the same entry level price as the white MacBook, ostensibly Apple’s “cheap” computer. Sure, the specs are slightly different with the MacBook blowing away nearly all of the base-level MacBook Air’s specs. But it’s a mere $300 jump up to the least expensive 13-inch MacBook Air and things level out a bit more. The MacBook still beats it in raw processing power and storage space, but Apple has never been about hardware specs anyway. It’s about the entire experience and the MacBook Air will quickly overtake the MacBook in this department.

For the longest time Apple had two computer lines: consumer and pro. Students would buy MacBooks and iMacs while professionals and wannabes would drain their funds for MacBook Pros and Mac Pros. This is the way it’s been for years. There were just a few products with a distinct line separating their target demographic.

That line is nearly gone at least regarding Apple’s three notebook groupings. Now, there’s a 13-inch notebook option at $999, $1,199, and $1,299. That move takes a page out of HP’s playbook, a company notorious for flooding the the market with lots of options with similar prices. There’s the $999 MacBook with a 10-hour battery life, Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB of RAM and 250GB hard drive followed up by the nearly identical Macbook Pro with 4GB of RAM and unibody construction MacBook Pro. Lastly, there’s the mid-level MacBook Air with a 7-hour battery, slightly slower Core 2 Duo CPU and 128GB flash storage.

That’s a lot of options at nearly the same price point. And something’s gotta give. I think someone is getting cut from the team.

The MacBook is classic Apple. It’s everything Apple was about, but nearly overnight, Apple went from the hipster computer company to mainstream. Apple doesn’t seem to want to go back to the old days, either. Even the once-quirky iMac is now a straight-laced business type. Maybe Apple wants to totally shed its old image and cutting the MacBook would quickly do that.

But then there’s the somewhat new 13-inch MacBook Pro. It’s almost the same thing as the $999 MacBook, but costs $200 more for the aluminum body and 4GB of RAM. They both have the same 10-hour battery rating, Core 2 Duo CPU, and screen. It’s existence has somewhat always been a puzzle. A few years back, Apple was selling a 12-inch iBook G4 and 12-inch PowerBook G4. This thing, called the TiBook, was canned when the equally powerful MacBook was introduced. Even the updated, unibody 13-inch MacBook could hit the chopping block again if Apple wants to strengthen the line between product classes.

Clearly the MacBook Air isn’t going to get canceled. However, its future might be the most unpredictable. Steve Jobs made a rather big deal about it yesterday at Apple’s Back To The Mac Event and even pulled out his iconic “one more thing” line for its announcement. He went on for a few minutes about how Apple feels that the Air is what would happen if the iPad was made into notebook form. That alone says a lot about the MacBook Air in that it’s truly part of Apple’s strategy moving forward. In fact, it’s more Apple per se than even the classic-white MacBook.

The iPhone 4 is tiny. The iMac is surprisingly slender. Even the Mac Mini hit the gym. Apple is about sleek product and sharp lines, not white plastic anymore. But that’s not what defines Apple anymore. Nope, Apple’s manufacturing process is its secret sauce and the MacBook Air is just the latest in a long line of products that share hard parts and manufacturing techniques to squeak extra revenue.

Look at the new MacBook Air: there’s nothing to it hardware-wise. The components are generations old. The original Core 2 Duo processors were introduced way back in 2006.  Even the 128GB and the 256GB SSD options aren’t exactly top-of-the-line options in late 2010. Apple simply improved on the motherboard design that was introduced with the original Air.

This is what Apple does best though. They build ecosystems — and user experiences – around products that generate revenue. Chances are when iSuppli breaks down the new MacBook Air, it will report some crazy-low number that, while it probably doesn’t take into account the R&D cost of the thin unibody construction, will show that the MacBook Air could be Apple’s entry level machine replacing the MacBook altogether and still make Apple some money.

Even still, it’s hard to say that the classic MacBook’s days are numbered. It’s still a great entry-level Mac, offering modest computing performance in a compact package and it shares a lot of the same internal components as its 13-inch MBP counterpart, making it attractive to the bean counters. However, the MacBook Air’s value will only improve as SSD’s drop in cost and CPU chips increase in efficiency. Perhaps Apple is leaving it up to the market.  If the Air eats up MacBook sales — or the 13-inch MacBook Pro comes in third — it only makes sense to cut the underperforming option and replace it with the fan favorite. Besides, more sales means margins that can support a lower price.

Apple’s notebook line will be trimmed. There’s no question about that. Apple’s not about to change course after years of profitable tactics. However, it might take some time to see how the market reacts to the Air and the cost of supplies drop. But don’t put it above Apple to replace a more-power machine such as the MacBook with the MacBook Air. It’s a no-brainer if the overall experience is superior.

I’ve done it. I’ve worn the battery completely down on one of the new MacBook Airs. As such, I thought I’d post some initial thoughts about the machine. This isn’t a huge all-encompassing review — I haven’t even used it outside of my apartment yet — but rather my initial thoughts for those of you thinking about rushing out to buy one.

All day, I’ve been testing out the 13.3-inch model. After playing around with the 11.6-inch model in the demo area after Apple’s event today, I decided that while it is freakishly, insanely small, I’d rather carry the extra .5 pounds and get the extra 2 hours of battery life that the slightly larger model offers. And I think that was the right choice, I’ve been using it all day and the battery just wore out.

The iPad has spoiled me. I often look at my 5.6 pound MacBook Pro with dread now. It’s simply too bulky. And considering I have never used the optical drive on the thing, I can’t figure out why I need some of that bulk. This new MacBook Air eliminates it.

Bottom line: so far, I love this thing.

In my initial view, the MacBook Air is a killer product both literally and figuratively. The optical disc is now all but dead at its hands for the reasons I laid out here. But the Air is also a killer product because I think it’s the type of computer that a lot of people are looking for. Namely, an ultra-portable Mac that’s affordable.

Some people will point to the fact that the original Air wasn’t a huge success as a reason why this won’t be either. But while they may look similar, the two are really two different machines. The original MacBook Air was underpowered and overpriced. This new MacBook Air definitely has enough power for most consumers and with prices starting at $999, it is priced to move (this model costs $1,299).

After using it pretty much non-stop for the past 7 hours or so, I’m happy to report that I couldn’t find one task in my regular routine that the Air wasn’t able to handle with ease. I did some work, I did some regular browsing, I edited some pictures, I played some videos, etc.

To be honest, it makes me feel a little silly. Why on Earth have I been lugging around a machine that’s twice as heavy if I didn’t need it? I’m not sure. The lure of the 2.8 GHz i7 chip, 8GB of RAM, and dual graphics cards got to me, I guess. But I really don’t need that. And I’m sure most people don’t either.

Of course some people will. And that’s why Apple sells the various MacBook Pro models. But at this point, I’m thinking Apple should just replace the standard MacBook with the Air. It’s better in pretty much every way. Unless you’re an optical disc aficionado, I’m not sure what the reason is to buy one.

The 13-inch Air’s 1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo with the standard 2 GB of RAM and single NVIDIA 320M graphics chip seems to hum along. I keep thinking I should look into the model that has been upgraded to the 2.13 GHz chip with 4 GB of RAM, but again, all day this configuration has been just fine.

In fact, the only thing that ever seemed to stress the system out a little bit was, what else, Flash. But that only meant that a few times when I had a couple YouTube windows open, the machine started to heat up a bit. When I closed those windows, it cooled right back down. Humorously, Apple doesn’t include Flash in its pre-installed software on the Air, so you’ll have to download it on your own if you want to use it (or download Chrome, like I did, which has it built-in).

Speaking of heating issues, Flash heat-ups aside, the Air sits noticeably cooler in the lap than the MacBook Pro does. And the thing runs absolutely silently. Even when I had Flash blaring, there was just heat, no noise.

As promised, the boot up time of the machine is awesome. I find that from power-on to computing takes about 10 to 15 seconds — significantly faster than any of my other Macs, by far. This, of course, is due to the machine’s new flash (not to be confused with Flash) memory. This also allows the device to go to sleep and wake up instantly as advertised. In fact, the only thing you have to wait for is for your WiFi to reconnect.

The keyboard and trackpad are both rock solid. If I didn’t happen to be sitting here with 2.5 pounds less of machine on my lap, it would seem just as if I’m typing on my MacBook Pro.

And the most surprising thing about the 13-inch Air may be the screen. At 1440-by-900, the screen basically matches the one on a standard 15-inch MacBook Pro. I even opted for the higher-resolution screen on my MacBook Pro, and this smaller screen still seems to suit me just fine. I was pretty surprised by that. I thought I’d miss the extra real estate, but I barely notice it’s gone.

One thing I will say is that because there is no glass in front of the screen as there is on other MacBooks, the Air does feel slightly cheaper if you touch the screen. Of course, that lack of glass also helps keep the weight down and eliminates a lot with the glare problems that the other MacBooks with glossy screens have.

The 13-inch Air also comes with an SD card reader built in to the side. This is a nice perk over the 11-inch and I’ve used it a few times already — that’s how I pulled in the images for this post.

Basically, after one day, this new MacBook Air seems to be the exact laptop I was looking for. At least in my daily workflow, it’s just like using my MacBook Pro, but much, much lighter. It’s hard to exaggerate just how light it really is. I already can’t see myself going back to the MacBook Pro.

We’ll see how I feel in a week. Maybe I’ll feel cramped by then. Maybe I’ll feel the need for more horsepower. Maybe I’ll really want a way to play that old Gin Blossoms CD. But I doubt it.

More: Goodbye, MacBook Pro. The New MacBook Air Is That Good.

The new MacBook is quite a deal, really. It’s nearly the same computer sans the unibody construction and 2GB of RAM as the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Except this model starts out at $999, which is why it has always been a favorite among budget-minded buyers. We would have still like to see Apple opt for a Core i3 CPU, but once again, Apple choose battery life over computing power and it’s hard to argue against a 10-hour runtime.

Looks like we get a peek at an unannounced update to the MacBook a little bit early. The update (showing up on the label as MacBook7,1) has the same CPU and GPU as the entry level MacBook Pro, but assuming Apple keeps the pricing the same, it should be available for $999. Check out the unboxing video after the jump.

So what’s going on in this update? Well, the MacBook will still be called model A1342, but it’ll have a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, and the NVIDIA GeForce 320M with 256mb of DDR3. Great news for someone who wants a cheaper MacBook with some horsepower. Of course since it’s a leak, we have no idea for sure when it’ll be announced, how much it will cost, or even if this is a hoax or not.

[Tinhte via Engadget]