Apple launches Intel Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt powered MacBook Airs

Apple has rolled out the revamped lineup of its thin-and-light MacBook Airs laptops on Wednesday, July 20, 2011. The upgraded MacBook Airs, as predicted by rumor mills, sports Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge processors, Thunderbolt ports, backlit keyboards and plays on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. The new models of MacBook Airs are ready for pre-ordering on Apple online store.

MacBook Air

Thanks to Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors, MacBook Airs offer twice the speed of its previous models. Tech geeks have been really looking forward for the arrival of Intel’s latest processors on MacBook Air since many of its rivals started to slot in the enhanced processors. Samsung Series 9 and Asus UX21 have already received Intel Sandy Bridge processors.

Intel itself is about to unveil a line of ‘Ultrabooks’ with the processors. Intel’s Thunderbolt ports make MacBook Airs transfer data 22 times faster than USB 2.0 ports. The Backlit keyboard has finally returned to MacBook Airs. Apple had removed the feature from its slim laptops in its 2010 upgrade.

But MacBook users have been requesting Apple to reinstate the particular feature and guess what, Apple just obliged all of them. The devices also highlight Intel HD Graphics 3000. As everybody can guess, Apple has pre-installed Mac OS X Lion, the latest Mac OS update, on its flagship laptops. However, Apple has not introduced any change in the storage options and price range of its new MacBook Airs.

The 11-inch MacBook has two storage options; 64GB and 128GB. The 13-inch model comes up in 128GB and 256GB. The 11-inch Air has been slimmed down to 2.38 pounds with 5-hour battery life. The 13-inch model only weighs at 2.96 pounds after the upgrade. The model offers 7 hours battery life. The revamped MacBook Airs come up with unchanged prices that range between $999.00 and $1,599.00.

Via AppleInsider