Apple release new MacBook Airs

As expected, Apple today updated their MacBook Air lineup with Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O ports, and quite possibly one of the most requested features by users – backlit keyboards! The new models, which all feature Intel 3000 graphics, range in price from £849 ($999) to £1349 ($1599), and are available to order today.

From Apple’s press release:

“Portable, affordable and powerful, MacBook Air is the ultimate everyday notebook,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “MacBook Air features our most advanced technology and is an ideal match for Lion, especially with its new Multi-Touch gestures, full-screen apps, Mission Control and Mac App Store.”

Specifications & prices:

11-inch: 64GB – 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 2GB memory, 64GB flash storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000 = £849 ($999).

11-inch: 128GB – 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB memory, 128GB flash storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000 = £999 ($1199).

13-inch: 128GB – 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB memory, 128GB flash storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000 = £1099 ($1299).

13-inch: 256GB – 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB memory, 256GB flash storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000 = £1349 ($1599).

Configuration options:

For those who want a little extra speed – the 11-inch 128GB & 13-inch 256GB models can be configured to include a faster 1.8GHz Dual Core i7 processor.

The flash storage of the 11-inch 128GB & 13-inch 128GB can be doubled to 256GB.

The cheapest 11-inch 64GB Air only has one configurable option – you can double the default 2GB of RAM to 4GB.

What do you think about the new Airs? Let us know by leaving a comment below.