RIP MacBook Air – Apple Upgrades the Beloved MacBook Before Its Imminent Demise

The original MacBook Air was introduced in January of 2008, and when it was introduced, it was the world’s thinnest notebook, a title that it maintained with every new iteration. The MacBook Air is currently Apple’s most popular computer, but its time may soon be coming to an end.

During a special event this morning, titled “Hello Again,” Apple introduced a trio of new laptops. New 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros were the highlight of the event, featuring a thinner and lighter design, completely upgraded internals – 6.8 billion times faster than Apple’s first laptop, a brighter, more colorful display, and the rumored Touch Bar – a “Multi-Touch enabled strip of glass built into the keyboard for instant access to the tools you want, right when you want them.” In addition to the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros with the Touch Bar, however, Apple introduced a 13-inch MacBook Pro model without the Touch Bar, with the traditional function keys and only two Thunderbolt ports.

Designed for “customers that would traditionally pick a MacBook Air,” the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is 12% thinner, with 13% less volume, and weighs the same as the MacBook Air. Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller was quick to call the new MacBook Pro “better in every way” than the MacBook Air, featuring a 13.3-inch Retina display, a 6th-generation dual-core processor, faster memory, storage, and graphics, as well as a Force Touch trackpad, and a keyboard featuring the 2nd-generation butterfly mechanism keys.

So, does that mean we should say goodbye to the MacBook Air? Not exactly. Although Apple quietly pulled the 11-inch MacBook Air from the lineup on the Apple Store during the press event (RIP), the 13-inch MacBook Air is still available – with double the RAM. The pricing for the entry-level model still stands at $999, and really all of the specs are pretty much the same, as well – with the exception of the RAM: the 13-inch MacBook Air now has 8GB of RAM instead of 4GB. There’s still a $1,199 model as well, also with 8GB of RAM, but featuring double the storage at 256GB.

What does this mean for consumers? Well, with the entry-level (slightly) upgraded MacBook Air, retailing at $999, budget-friendly buyers can still get a hold of an Apple laptop for under $1,000. However, the pricing jumps up from there – the 12-inch MacBook starts at $1,299, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar starts at $1,499, and the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros featuring the Touch Bar start at $1,799 and $2,399, respectively.

Want a FREE iPhone 7? Click here to enter our monthly contest for a chance!

Follow us on Apple News by pressing the (+) button at the top of our channel

from iDrop News http://ift.tt/2dQF1KM
via IFTTT