Both versions have WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, along with stereo speakers, an omnidirectional microphone and a FaceTime webcam. The 13.3-inch MacBook Air has an SD card reader as well. Standard connectivity consists of two USB 2.0 ports – one on each side – along with a MagSafe charging port, headphone socket and Thunderbolt (more on which later). Both sizes come with Intel HD Graphics 3000, sharing either 256MB or 384MB (model depending) of the main RAM. The $1,599 version has 256GB of storage, and can be upgraded to the same dual-core 1.8GHz Core i7 of the smaller Air. The 13.3-inch MacBook Air, meanwhile, starts at $1,299 with a 1.7GHz dual-core Core i5, 128GB of flash storage and 4GB of RAM.
It can also be upgraded to 256GB as well as boosting the processor to a dual-core 1.8GHz Core i7 and the RAM up to 4GB. The lowest price Air has 64GB of flash storage and 2GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, while the $1,199 higher-spec version keeps the 11.6-inch display but increases storage to 128GB of flash.
Apple still offers two sizes – an 11.6-inch with a 1366 x 768 display and a 13.3-inch with a 1440 x 900 display – starting from $999, but the entry-level processor is now Intel’s 1.6 GHz dual-core Core i5 rather than the older Core 2 Duo. Outwardly, there’s little to differentiate this year’s MacBook Air from its predecessor.
