Last year at Macworld, the expectation about what was going to be announced was at fever pitch. As is typically the case with Apple, there were no 'leaked' images prior to Steve Jobs' famous keynote presentation. At Macworld '07, the U.S.'s biggest consumer electronics show (CES), Jobs stole the thunder of Michael Dell with the iPhone unveiling.
The mood was much calmer this time around with many pundits doubting whether last year could be topped with another amazing innovation. Even with the blogs and rumour sites awash with ultra-thin-nano-book stories and fauz photoshop mock-ups, not many would have expected an announcement as dramatic or industry shaking as the iPhone. Yet here it is —the thinnest laptop in the world.
"We've built the world's thinnest notebook—without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display," said Steve Jobs.
With quietly dramatic aplomb and huge applause Steve Job's pulled the new MacBook Air from a manilla envelope: "It fits inside the envelope, it's that small. This is what it looks like, isn't that incredible? The world's thinnest notebook. Magnetic latch, 13.3-inch widescreen display."
"This is the new Macbook Air, you can get a feel for how thin it is. There it is. Unreal, that's almost invisible from the side.'
Apple's ultra-thin laptop boasts an impressive array of features and state-of-the-art multi-touch technology gleamed from it's other recently successful innovation the iPhone. This allows the user to pan, rotate and zoom into photos by just using the generously-sized trackpad as you would on the iPhone. An innovation that will surely raise the bar for other laptop manufacturers.
Much emphasis is being put on the 'no-compromise' approach to the laptop with Jobs' gushing: "Amazing product here, full size keyboard, full size keyboard, full-size display. Isn't that amazing?".
With all the full-size features of a Macbook including an iSight webcam and a back-lit keyboard to boot there's little left to wish for, except perhaps an optical drive which has to be bought as extra.
There is something for everyone including the greenies as the display is Apple's first mercury-free LCD display with arsenic-free glass and a 50 per cent reduction in packaging.
None of this comes cheap, with 2 models available in the UK in two to three weeks—one with an 80GB PATA hard drive and one with a 64GB solid state drive (SSD)—£1,199 and £2,028 respectively. Pricey or not this is bound to be another hot-selling Apple classic.
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