246 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
246 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
technology
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apple
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8081658
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-----
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# Macbook Air review: Apple's new supercomputer
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## Apple's walking on Air with the latest version of its new ultra-slim,
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lightweight laptop
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![Apple's new Macbook Air is just 17mm thin][1]
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Apple's new Macbook Air is just 17mm thin
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By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor 8:00AM BST 23 Oct 2010
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[Comments][2]
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On Wednesday night, Steve Jobs [launched][3] [Apple][4]'s latest uber-gadget.
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But the world's most famous chief executive brandished not an iPhone or an
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iPad - instead it was a laptop that took the "one last thing" slot in which
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Jobs always announces his company's flagship products.
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The new Macbook Air, however, is no ordinary laptop - it seeks to apply the
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lessons Apple has learnt from its iPad to more traditional computing, and the
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result is as exceptional in its appearance as it is in its performance.
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So the Air offers a battery that lasts for up to 30 days in standby mode, and
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runs for up to seven hours. Waking it from that standby mode is instant, and
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booting up from cold takes just 12 seconds.
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All of this is in a package that, for the smaller 11-inch model weighs hardly
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a kilogram, is never more than 17mm thick and costs from a surprisingly
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reasonable £849. It may not quite be a computer for austerity Britain, but it
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shows Apple offering its genuinely premium experience at prices less than many
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equivalent Sony models.
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That standard of service is about more than the little things, such as the Air
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coming fully charged - what makes the Air innovative is its combination of
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tiny size, low-weight and high performance. According to repairs website
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iFixit, inside the new Air is a previously unseen connector that makes very
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slim hard drives more possible than before. That means smaller, lighter
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computers, incorporating "solid-state" hard drives that are both faster and
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more reliable.
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## Related Articles
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* [Apple launches Mac App Store][5]
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20 Oct 2010
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This is not to say that the MacBook Air is perfect - indeed, iFixit observed
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that its paltry 2gb of memory was so small as to require upgrading on the
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point of purchase. And a computer with all Apple's trademark shininess demands
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a case to keep it pristine. But these are very small points, and the memory
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certainly doesn't feel inadequate on use. In fact, perhaps even more so than
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with the iPad, owning and using the new Air feels both luxurious and
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productive.
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At the same keynote speech, Jobs also announced updates to the popular iPhoto
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and iMovie programmes that help users store and manipulate pictures and video.
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Photos, for instance, can now be automatically turned into a slideshow that
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scrolls rapidly across the globe, identifying where pictures were taken and
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when.
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Integration with Facebook, too, demonstrates that Apple is keen to make its
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products work with others. Physical photobooks and cards can be ordered in
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increasing numbers of configurations; all of them feel like products that just
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a few years ago would have been prohibitively expensive.
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Movies and sound can now be more easily tweaked in iMovie, which even has a
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tongue-in-cheek trailer template that can turn the dullest footage into an
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advert for a blockbuster.
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The cumulative effect of this is not to make other laptops or photo websites
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redundant - but it is to emphasise that Apple's expertise ranges far beyond
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one phone and tablet computer.
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Small wonder their profits are spiralling ever upwards - in an increasingly
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crowded market, Apple is still holding its own.
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Telegraph rating: 5/5
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**TELEGRAPH RECOMMENDED PRODUCT **
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[**Buy the Apple MacBook Air from the Apple store (UK)![][6]**][7]
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[**Pre-order the Apple MacBook Air 13.3-Inch from Amazon.com
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(US)![][6]**][8]**![][9]**
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][11]
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* Share: [Share][10] [ ][12] [ ][13]
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[Tweet][14]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8081658/Macbook-Air-review-Apples-
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new-supercomputer.html
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Telegraph
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## [Apple][4]
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* ### [Technology »][15]
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* ### [Technology Reviews »][16]
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* ### [Technology News »][17]
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* ### [Steve Jobs »][18]
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* ### [Laptop Reviews »][19]
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In technology
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[![Apple iPad 2: Steve Jobs makes surprise launch appearance][20] ][21]
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### [Apple iPad 2: hands on][21]
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[![Apple's new family of MacBook Pros][22] ][23]
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### [Apple updates MacBook Pro][23]
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[![Apple's Steve Jobs launches iPad2][24]][25]
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### [Investment advice: The Steve Jobs effect][25]
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[![Graphical User Interface (from Mac 128 or Apple Lisa)][26] ][27]
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### [Steve Jobs: career in gadgets][27]
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][11]
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Share:
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* [ ][10]
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* [ ][12]
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* [ ][13]
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* [Tweet][14]
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* Advertisement
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![][28]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][29] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][30]
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[![Follow The Telegraph on social media][31]][32]
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Advertisement
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sponsored features
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Loading
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Technology Most Viewed
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* TODAY
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* PAST WEEK
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* PAST MONTH
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1. [Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, slaughters his own food][33]
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2. [Mark Zuckerberg: children should be allowed to use Facebook][34]
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3. [US develop software to analyse metaphors][35]
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4. [Stuxnet virus: US refuses to deny involvement][36]
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5. [Nook ereader impresses the US but might never come to Britain][37]
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1. [Reiss website crashes as shoppers rush to buy Kate's dress][38]
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2. [Newspaper publishes name of footballer with gagging order][39]
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3. [Tweets about super-injunction footballer spike after attempts to gag
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Twitter][40]
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4. [Max Clifford: Ryan Giggs 'affair' may never have come out without
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injunction][41]
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5. [Ryan Giggs unmasked as gagging order footballer][42]
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1. [Mr Men Google doodles celebrate 76th birthday of creator Roger
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Hargreaves][43]
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2. [Meet the woman allergic to electricity][44]
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3. [Jeremy Clarkson texts Jemima Khan over 'nightmare' super-injunction
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claims on Twitter][45]
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4. [Wikipedia users name celebrities with gagging orders][46]
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5. [Alarm over EU 'Great Firewall' proposal][47]
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[EDITOR'S CHOICE »][48]
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### [Gil Scott-Heron: 'A voice for Shakespeare'][49]
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[![Gil Scott-Heron][50]][49]
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Composer, musician, poet and author whose writing provided a vivid commentary
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on the black American experience.
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### [Beekeeping diary: the new colonies arrive][51]
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### [Spectacular light show dazzles Sydney][52]
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### [WS Gilbert: a knight for our times][53]
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### [The Telegraph's Matt is Hay Festival star][54]
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Advertisement
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Classified Advertising
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* [Cars][55]
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* [IT Jobs][56]
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* [Events][57]
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