MacBook Air: Ultra Thin, Ultra Portable

Apple seems to have a habit of introducing innovative products at the Macworld Conference & Expo, which is held every year.. 2006 saw the fast Intel-based iMacs introduced, and last year the world got excited at the unveiling of the long-awaited iPhone, arguably the most innovative cellphone ever created.

This year was no different. There had been calls for an ultra-portable Apple laptop by the Mac faithful beforehand, but when Apple's CEO Steve Jobs introduced the MacBook Air, all expectations were very much exceeded.

It's been an eagerly-long wait since its January introduction for the MacBook Air to reach our Bruneian shores, but when AV Electronics finally launched it last Monday, it was indeed definitely worth it.

MacBook Air Ad


The MacBook Air is unbelievably thin (fits in an office envelope!), and yet surprisingly tough and sturdy. Its design is without doubt revolutionary, and will definitely make you want one. Seeing photos of this amazing device will already make you crave for one, but you really have to see and hold it in your hands to really appreciate how great a gadget it really is. Even having the notebook on your lap is a surreal experience at first because of the lightness of the device, it's just very hard to believe that they managed to fit a computer into such a small piece of aluminium!

Thinness, design, and weight aspects aside, the MacBook Air is also packed with great features, and powerful performance.

The glossy, 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display is a joy to look at, giving you vibrant images and rich colours at full brightness the moment you turn it on.

Apple has also incorporated a full-sized, full-featured keyboard, just like the ones on a MacBook, onto the MacBook Air, but went a step further by adding backlit key illumination.

A built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the keyboard and display when you move into places of different brightness, making the keyboard light up and reducing the display's brightness making it easier on the eyes.

Apple has also incorporated a track pad with brilliant multi-touch technology, made popular by the iPhone and iPod Touch. Not only can you use the track pad to move the cursor around, but you now can even pinch, swipe, or rotate to zoom in on text, advance through a photo album, or adjust an image with ease.

Performance-wise, the MacBook Air features a more-than-generous 2GB of RAM, twice more than the standard built-in to most current laptops. It's also packed with a 1.6GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, all of which makes working with your favorite applications a breeze. With up to 5 hours of battery-life, this gadget will be a sure hit with frequent travelers and businessmen.

This gorgeous device sports an 80GB hard drive, and you even have the option to upgrade it to a pricey, but technology-advanced 64GB solid-state drive, which gives you super-fast data access.

The thinness of the MacBook Air, however, means that it had to compromise on some usually-built-in features, an Optical DVD/CD drive. But with Apple's innovativeness, we never really thought that this was much of a problem. Other than having the option to purchase an external SuperDrive, which connects via USB, Apple has introduced a cool feature called Remote Disc. For those few times when you need to install software on your notebook from a CD or DVD, Remote Disc lets you wirelessly use or “borrow” the optical drive of a Mac or PC in the vicinity, so you can have full access to its optical drive.

There are a lot more features packed into this stunning device, like its built-in iSight camera, 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, and the tons of creative and productive Apple software bundled into it, making us crave more and more for it!

A guided tour to the MacBook Air


The Apple MacBook Air is available at AV Electronics in Kiulap for B$2,988.00.

Apple's new MacBook Pro: Stunning beauty and powerful performance, all in one package

Apple introduced the newest model in their professional performance laptop range last week, sporting new Santa Rosa chips and power-efficient LED-backlit displays.

The new MacBook Pro range, which still comes in either 15- or 17-inch models, boasts Intel Core 2 Duo processors which deliver higher performance in 2D and 3D graphics, video editing and music encoding. The MacBook Pro sports a new Graphical Processing Unit in the form of NVIDIA's brand new GeForce 8600M GT Graphics Controller, which delivers serious processing power.

Surprisingly, with the amount of performance packed into these anodized aluminium notebooks, they're still only one inch thin and 5.4 and 6.8 pounds, for the 15- and 17-inch models respectively, and are among the thinnest and lightest notebooks in their display class.

The new MacBook Pro features built-in Airport Extreme, which allows 802.11n wireless connectivity, with speeds up to five times faster and up to twice the range compared to the previous 802.11g standard. The new Airport Extreme is also compatible with Wi-Fi certified 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g technology, giving it the flexibility to work with a variety of Wi-Fi access points.

Battery life on high-powered laptops are usually dismal, but the MacBook Pro seems to have overcome the problems, with the new Santa Rosa platform, NVIDIA chips, and LED backlighting all touted as being more power efficient and better on the battery.

Putting all performance-related features aside, The MacBook Pro also incorporates cool features on its notebook such as its backlit keyboard, which uses a built-in ambient light sensor that adjusts the keyboard and display brightness for optimal visibility.

The MacBook Pro's built-in iSight camera makes it easy for you to have video chats, make movies and take high quality photos with special effects, using Apple's iChat AV, iMovie HD and Photo Booth software, all of which are bundled with the notebook.

The sudden motion sensors help protect your data if it detects a fall, by parking the hard drive head during fast changes in orientation.

Apple's innovative scrolling trackpad lets you scroll through documents or web browsers by simply dragging your two fingers up or down the trackpad.

Perhaps one of the more practical features of the MacBook Pro is its power adapter with MagSafe connector, which uses a magnetic connection instead of a physical one. So, if you happen to trip over the power cord, the MacBook Pro won't fly off the table, the cord simply disconnects, with no damage to either cord or notebook.

All in all, the new MacBook Pro is excellent, and without doubt an excellent choice for anyone looking to purchase a performance notebook/laptop.

For a more detailed list of its features and technical specifications, please visit the Apple website here.

The MacBook Pro is available online at the QQeStore with the absolute lowest price in Brunei guaranteed!* For more information on the current prices of the 15- and 17-inch models, please click here.