Apple Updates The MacBook Air Alongside OS X Lion

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It seems as if today has quickly become an Apple day. Or at the very least, a morning filled with Apple related news in the form of new software and new hardware. Of course, we already mentioned the release of Lion, however it seems Apple has rolled out an updated line up MacBook Air notebooks.

The good news here, the new MacBook Air is currently available and perhaps more important, currently showing an estimated shipping time of within 24 hours.

Apple today updated the MacBook Air with next generation processors, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology, a backlit keyboard and Mac OS X Lion, the world’s most advanced operating system. With up to twice the performance of the previous generation, flash storage for instant-on responsiveness and a compact design so portable you can take it everywhere, the MacBook Air starts at $999 (US) and is available for order today and in stores tomorrow.

The online Apple Store product listing is showing four default configurations, two of which are 11 inch models and two of which are 13 in models. The pre-configured MacBook Air models break down as follows;

• 11.6 inch display
• Dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor
• 2GB RAM
• 64GB flash storage
• $999

• 11.6 inch display
• Dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor
• 4GB RAM
• 128GB flash storage
• $1,199

• 13.3 inch display
• Dual-core 1.7GHz Intel Core i5 processor
• 4GB RAM
• 128GB flash storage
• $1,299

• 13.3 inch display
• Dual-core 1.7GHz Intel Core i5 processor
• 4GB RAM
• 256GB flash storage
• $1,599

Otherwise, the 11.6 inch model features a native resolution of 1366 x 768 while the 13.3 inch model offers 1440 x 900. All models offer Intel HD Graphics 3000, FaceTime cameras, two USB 2.0 ports, a Thunderbolt port, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, speakers, headphone port and support for dual display and video mirroring. In addition, the 13.3 inch model is also touting an SD card slot.

As for size, the 11 inch model measures in at 0.11-0.68 (H) x 11.8 (W) x 7.56 (D) inches and weighs in at 2.38 pounds. The 13 inch model measures in at 0.11-0.68 (H) x 12.8 (W) x 8.94 (D) inches and weighs in at 2.96 pounds.

And lastly, battery life. The 11 inch model touts the “wireless web” time as being up to 5 hours while the 13 inch model has a slightly better 7 hours. Both models offer up to 30 days in terms of standby time.