Hasta La Gadget!

There comes a time when that giant, corporate-issued laptop stops fitting into your lifestyle. When dragging around a Kensington roller case just won’t do. When you start to hear the siren lilt of something thinner, lighter, and maybe a bit more alluring. For years the MacBook Air has been that svelte temptress hollering your name, but it’s always been a bit too slow — all show and no go. It didn’t have the power and the longevity to make it a serious contender for your serious affections.

No more. With its latest refresh, Apple has taken what was once a manilla-clad curiosity and turned it into a legitimate machine, not just a sultry looker. Good thing, too, because the death of the plastic-clad MacBook means the Air is now Apple’s entry-level portable. Weary traveler looking for a laptop that will lighten your load and, it must be said, your wallet too? This might just be it.

Continue reading MacBook Air review (mid 2011)

MacBook Air review (mid 2011) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here at Engadget, and here on the Engadget Podcast in particular, we’re all about customer service. OK, maybe not all about customer service, but on this episode we’ve dedicated twenty percent of our breath to answering your questions! If you happen to enjoy a bunch of Apple news too — which we heard you do you — then we’re at about fifty percent on-track to serving you completely. If you like Apple news, having your questions answered, and a healthy dose of other up-to-the-minute information in the spacecraft, e-reader, and digital camera realms…well, let’s just say we got this.

Host: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater
Guests: Dana Wollman
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Paradise City

02:44 – Apple Mac OS X Lion available now in the App Store
06:00 – Apple refreshes MacBook Air with Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt, and backlit keyboards
08:35 – Apple OS X Lion (10.7) review
17:32 – The MacBook drops from Apple’s Store (update: confirmed)
22:37 – Apple updates Mac mini: Core i5 and i7, Thunderbolt, AMD Radeon HD, no SuperDrive
22:55 – Apple rolls out 27-inch Thunderbolt Display with FaceTime HD camera, built-in speakers
23:45 – Apple’s Q3 earnings exceed estimates: $28.57 billion revenue, $7.31 billion profit, 20 million iPhones sold
25:13 – Apple outpaces Nokia in global smartphone shipments
28:00 – Nokia Q2 2011: ‘clearly disappointing’ results as challenges prove ‘greater than expected’
32:35 – Motorola Droid 3 review
37:35 – Sony Alpha NEX-C3 review
42:55 – iRiver Story HD review
49:51 – Space Shuttle Atlantis touches down in Florida, won’t be going back up again
50:44 – Google ‘winding down’ Labs, likely due to meddling older sister
51:40 – Listener questions

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Filed under: Podcasts

Engadget Podcast 249 – 07.22.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple stopped loving the MacBook a long time ago. It was obvious to everyone, perhaps, but the MacBook. And now Apple’s decided to stop even pretending. The plastic MacBook is gone. More »

They say Apple updates its products like clockwork, releasing something new at the same time in the same place every year. Not so with MacBook Airs anyway. The outfit’s gone and freshened up its 13-inch and 11-inch ultraportables — the second such update in nine months. Although the industrial design hasn’t changed much since the last generation, both models step up to Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors, Thunderbolt ports, backlit keyboards, and, of course, OS X Lion.

The 11.6-inch flavor starts at $999 with 64GB of solid-state storage, 2GB of memory and a 1.6GHz Core i5 processor. The higher-end of the two configurations costs $1,199, with the extra two hundred dollars doubling your RAM and storage. The 13-inch Air, meanwhile, starts at $1,299, with a 128GB SSD, 4GB of RAM, and a 1.7GHz Core i5 CPU. Step up to the $1,599 model and you’ll get a 256GB SSD instead. Regardless, you’re looking at Intel HD 3000 graphics across the board, along with FaceTime webcams, two USB ports (plus an SD slot on the 13-inch version), 802.11n WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0. The two differ when it comes to resolution and battery life: the 11-incher has a 1366 x 768 panel and is rated for up to five hours of battery life, whereas the 13-inch model has a 1440 x 900 screen and promises up to seven hours of juice. As for that 1.8GHz Core i7 CPU, it’ll set you back an extra $100 on the 13-inch version, and $150 for the 11-inch version. Whichever size you choose, it’s only an option for the higher-end configuration. Hit the source link to peep the specs and buy one, if you’re so inclined.

Continue reading Apple refreshes MacBook Air with Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt, and backlit keyboards

Apple refreshes MacBook Air with Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt, and backlit keyboards originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aluminum Keyboard Buddy Case cloaks your iPad 2 in a MacBook Air duvet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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