5 Minutes With: the Multi-Touch MacBook Air

´Five Minutes With´ is a new series, edited by Tom Baker, and contributed to by the TB Tech team.
Sometimes it takes a while for us to be eligible to receive a particularly popular new product for review, so we´ll hit the stores and spend some time with a revolutionary new device.

This weekend it was the Apple MacBook Air - another Apple wonder or just another ultraportable?

The first thing you notice is the thinness. It is thin - I was somewhat skeptical at first as to how thin a notebook can actually be. It is like the new Apple keyboards; they sit flat on the floor. It is as if nothing is supporting the touchpad and keyboard of the Air - it is truly amazing.

Using it is very comfortable; the full-size keyboard is very easy on the fingers and the split design leaves only the MacBook Pro with the old-style Apple board. Of course, the keyboard is backlit, but we didn´t get a chance to see how accurate the ambient light sensor is.

The touchpad is far larger than the version on the MacBook or MacBook Pro; it accommodates Apple´s Multi-Touch control which makes zooming, rotating and panning a real pleasure.

The multi-touch really works. In iPhoto rotating images is amazing; you just take two fingers on the pad and turn them clockwise or anticlockwise. Zooming in documents and images works really well, as does skipping through slideshows with the new three-finger swipe.

Other than these new distractions, the Air is much of the same. Itś a well-built, light, thin and stylish Apple machine; there are obvious shortcomings - one USB port won´t satisy most users, no FireWire port is an annoyance, and anywhere out of the U.S. (where WiFi is bountiful) the lack of Ethernet is unacceptable.

However, I´m left without no doubt that the Air will appeal to thousands; if you are looking for an ultraportable with Mac usability and style, and you have a good wireless setup at home and at work, you won´t miss the missing features at all.

So then, our first impressions of the Apple MacBook Air are good. We will delve deeper into this model when we are able to secure a review machine sometime in the next few months.

Apple refreshes MacBook/MacBook Pro range

Although the majority of Apple-lovers were anticipating an exciting and comprehensive update of the two mainstream Mac notebooks, the MacBook and MacBook Pro, it´s only a processor, hard drive and graphics update this time.

All MacBooks (including Pros) were updated overnight with new, faster Intel Core 2 Duo 'Penryn' CPUs and bigger hard drives.

The MacBook can now be configured with processors ranging from 2.1 to 2.4 GHz and with hard drives ranging from 120 to 250 GB.

The 15" MacBook Pro can be built with a 2.4 or 2.5 GHz processor. The 2.4 GHz model is teamed to a 200gb drive whilst the 2.5 GHz variant uses a 250gb drive.

The 17" model now includes standard 2.5 GHz processor and can optionally be built with a Full-HD LED-backlit display.

All models come with 2gb of RAM standard except the baseline 2.1 GHz MacBook.

The Apple Remote, which was previously included on all notebooks from Apple is now an A$29 extra.

The MacBook now starts from A$1499 for the 2.1 GHz model while the MacBook Pro 15" 2.4 GHz starts at A$2699.

Read: Apple Store Australia

MacBook Air in US stores Tuesday, but already in stock

If you live in America, like the MacBook Air and have a spare A$2,499, then go ahead and rock up to your local, reputable Apple Store on Tuesday, as word on Engadget is that they're already in stock - yet not quite for sale.

Apparently, today (Monday) is the day that Apple Geniuses will receive their Air training... and the slivers themselves will be on sale to the public tomorrow. We can't confirm that they will actually be ready and waiting for the tens, or possibly hundreds of customers in each state, but we'll wait and see.

If they are in stock already, perhaps they're hidden as interoffice mail?

Read: Engadget [source]

MacBook Air unboxed @ Apple's Japan press event

The Flickr user 'akwada', a visitor to Apple's Japanese press event covering the new MacBook Air, had the opportunity to unbox one of these little beasts while there.

In his/her Flickr photostream, akwada's photos reveal an extremely minimal package for the Air, with no foam protector as seen in the MacBook and MacBook Pro boxes; there is only a tray just deep enough to fit the device.

Also in the packaging is a tab-based system which you pull to reveal the documentation, cables and DVDs.

Also featuring in the images is a depth comparison with Sony's VAIO SZ series, which in itself is (or was) quite a thin notebook in comparison to other offers out there.

Read: 'akwada's Flickr Photostream

Next-gen MacBook Pros to like multi-touch

AppleInsider, one of the hundreds of sites dedicated to sifting through the constant rumour-mill associated with the Cupertino-based corporation, has apparently 'learned' that Apple's next-gen MacBook Pros will gain the multi-touch trackpad ability of the recently-announced MacBook Air notebook.

Although this rumour is highly safe, as it wouldn't have been long anyway until Apple installed the latest 'thing' into its premium tier of notebooks, AppleInsider is offering that the 'Pros could be updated in the coming weeks.

Also posed in the article is the fact that Apple meant to release the updated MacBook Pros at, or around, the Macworld 2008 expo, but too much time needed to be allocated to the Air to make this possible.

The source also states that the new MacBook Pros would be the first Apple notebooks to feature Intel's new Penryn-based Intel Core 2 Duo processors, as well as featuring the oversize, multi-touch trackpad as featured on the new baby Mac notebook.

The new processors are slated to be clocked at around 2.5 to 2.6GHz, with 6mb of Level 2 cache.

An improved battery would also be likely, with one test published in the publication AnandTech seeing a 2.6GHz Penryn-based Pro lasting an extra 55 minutes over a similarly-configured 2.6GHz Meron-based system. That's an almost 16.5% increase.

Read: AppleInsider - "Next-gen Apple MacBook Pros to gain multi-touch trackpad"

Image courtesy of Apple.