It’s an Apple product, folks. If you’re a hater of the most close-minded and close-sourced manufacturer in the industry, read something else on LaptopMemo. If you’ve realized that Apple has been leading the market in design and innovation for mobile products (read: iPad and iPhone), then continue reading, because you’re smart enough to see things as they truly are. Moving on.

The Macbook Air 11.6-inch is in my favorite category of smaller laptops: thin, decently powerful, and designed brilliantly. The screen size is no doubt something that I’ve loved in machines of this age: personally, this is the coolest screen-size for an ultraportable. You can say differently, that’s fine, because there’s a 13.3-inch Macbook Air too, but I’ve received the smaller model from Apple as a review unit, so that’s what I’m testing (and typing on now).

Price as Reviewed: $1,199

Available at the Apple Store

Full disclosure: Provided by Apple for review.

Specs:

• 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB L2 cache
• 2GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM
• 128GB flash storage
• NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics (256MB shared memory with RAM)
• 11.6-inch 1366×768 LED backlit screen
• 802.11n/b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• 2.3 pounds or 1.06 kg

Design: It’s All About It.

The only reason the Macbook Air is worth considering for anything is its size. It’s thin. Really, really thin. And light. And this model (price seen above, configuration in the next section) is a perfect match for the size. Apple’s Macbook Air borrows the usual unibody design they’ve been producing for years now, and while it may be getting old, it still has the better looks. The keyboard, for example? Barely any smaller than the 13, 15, and 17-inch Macbook Pros. The speakers? It’s average, but for a computer of its size, is loud enough and has just the smallest quip of bass that you’d listen to any song or video without having to shove your ears into the speakers.

And heat? Thanks to the design (again) there’s hardly such a thing. Of course, near the fan you’ll sense that there is actual heat emerging from the system, but when wearing jeans (and shorts), I’ve yet to ever feel the need to remove it, and place it on a table.

However, nothing is perfect. For example, there are many excuses for the lack of many ports, but attribute that to design which again is the only reason you’d buy a Macbook Air. You want something like an iPad 2, but you want an actual computer. This is close to your desire in a such a situation.

Simply put, you get the bare essentials (which is what you need, duh): 2 USB 2.0 ports (a Thunderbolt port in a future iteration would be genius), a Display Port, 3.5mm headset jack, and 45W Magsafe power port. The 13-inch model adds the SD card, something on the 11.6-inch model that I wish Jonathan Ive could have magically squeezed in, but it’s not there, so that’s that.

And let’s not forget it doesn’t have the classic back-lit keyboard. In testing, I would have preferred if it had one.

Performance

Pretty design or not, the Macbook Air uses much older processor technology: a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor, an Nvidia Geforce 320M, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and a blazing quick 128GB SSD (solid state drive). On a normal Windows mahine, this would deliver netbook-like speeds, slow gaming, and everything dreadful compared to a market of 2GHz+ Core i3/i5/i7 processors (however the Macbook Air runs Windows quite well, a trait mysteriously attributed to Macs).

By default, it uses Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and the optimizations are everywhere. Want to play Minecraft on full settings? Expect a decent 27 to 35 FPS (in Minecraft’s case, Notch has yet to make the Mac version as stable as the Windows version, so future updates should rectify this below-average performance). Counter Strike: Source and Team Fortress 2 also have similar performance due to using the same game engine, and can be played on high settings at an average of 35 FPS, 29 at the minimum, and 40 at the max. A Geekbench benchmark is available for analyzing below.

Snow Leopard On A 1.4GHz CPU

OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 doesn’t have any major slowdowns running on this hardware. It’s awesome. Cold startups usually take no more than 15-25 seconds. OS X’s famously fast shutdowns, standbys, and hibernations are all zippy, with help because of the SSD.  And of course, the golden question is whether or not the Macbook Air multitask with a full-blown OS running. The answer is: it’s okay. It’s impossible to throw what you would on a Core i5 processor at the Air without some occasional slowdown, but a Photoshop file, OmmWriter, Chrome 12 dev and iTunes playing music in the background is an everyday day at work for it. A great little machine, but is not to be used to play Crysis. And here is the self-explanatory software reinstall drive for Mac OS X, in the form of a USB thumb drive for the Macbook Air.

Battery Life

Normal web browsing should last you around 5 hours. However, which is unfortunately the case with Macs, Flash is a battery life-killer: disable Adobe Flash and the amount of time you have surfing the web is increased by 20-30 minutes. Heavy tasks (such as playing games, quite obviously) reduces battery life time to a less impressive 3 1/2 hours.

Compared To An iPad 2

I recently purchased an iPad 2 as my main tablet. A 16GB, WiFi model in white was all I needed, and since it will play host in its own review, I’ll simply say I am enjoying it quite a bit. But in this review, the iPad 2 will simply be a companion to the Macbook Air, since it is essentially an iPad 2 with a built-in keyboard, ports and OS X, right?

iPad 2 vs. Macbook Air

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The Conclusion

Apple’s Macbook Air late-2010 edition. Is it worth your the money? To answer that question instead of a simple “yes” or “no” (or if that’s how you roll, “yay or “nay”) depends on what you are looking for. A lightweight laptop with such a brilliant design and operating system that are both heavily intergrated makes everything feel natural, meaning that it’s worth every penny of the $1,199 that this particular unit costs (the entry-level model starts at $999). Needless to say as well, I’d buy a Macbook Air anytime, anyday. And you should too, if it’s portability, and functionality in that portablity that you’re looking for. Although I wish it at least had a back-lit keyboard.

Quick Glance Of Macbook Air in 720p HD

Better Email

Global Mail and threading, allowing you to have all of your email in only one app – Mail. Multiple Microsoft Exchange 2010 account support, mobile device management, wireless ad-hoc app distribution, and SSL VPN support (all for enterprise security).

iBooks for iPhone

That’s right, iBooks is now iPhone-friendly. It works the same, is the same, and does the same things (note: read eBooks). Oh, and you get a free copy of Winnie the Pooh. Sweet.

GameCenter

This is in the ranks of the Playstation Network and XBOX Live. Essentially, you’ll be able to have access to leaderboards, game achievements, and make/keep sights on your friends. And if you don’t have an ideal amount of friends, GameCenter will scan for players that are in your playing level, allowing for fair play. Also sweet.

Introducing: iAd

iAd. That’s the message Apple has just set to Google. iPhone users can have up to 1 billion impressions a daay from searches. And that’s a great place to make some profit. iAd will recongize what you’re doing on your iphone and will provide apps that would please you. Say you were looking at online news (preferably LM), then you’d be presented with CNN for example. Boring? Heck, no! Most of these ads would deliver you to interactive games all built in HTML 5 (insert Adobe Flash joke here). Revenue is 60% to the developer, 40% to Apple’s trees.

Folders

Yeah, Folders. Basically it’s very simple: you’ll be able to make folders of apps that you like and use, with a maximum of 2160 apps per folder.

Homescreen Wallpapers

It’s about time. Same as the iPad, you’ll have wallpapers now.

Multitasking:

It’s downright simple: double tap your familiar Home button then – bam! A tray of all running apps appear, and you can just tap on one to use it. But in another way this isn’t real multitasking as you would find on a laptop. No, it isn’t. It special. This sort of “multitasking” is more like pausing the app you were using before, so that lets say you were in Foursquare, going to another app will simply pause what you were doing, then you could go back again.

An important note for iPhone EDGE and 3G users:

Multitasking will be exclusive to iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3rd-generation models (32GB and 64GB), and iPhone OS 4.0 is completely cut off for iPhone EDGE users. Sorry!

What Does The New iPhone OS 4.o Mean To Me?

it means that now, the iPhone OS 4.0 is everything you could possibly want, only better and more refined. The iPhone is largely used by the not-so-smart-about-tech crowd, but now the awesome feeling of being a techy will be implemented into the solid feeling of a downright easy to understand OS. It’s a win/win for Apple here, and a warning/waring to Google, Symbian, and RIM. More like an “iDead” moment actually.

Yet another operating system in development, Samsung Bada has gotten its first screenshots, of which display a dialer, Twitter app, music player, and a homescreen, which bears resemblance to Google’s Android, as well as a couple of other stuff. Besides that, it looks pretty neat so far, and the details are tiny, so you should expect more info soon. BTW, is it just me, or does Bada look like a fusion of different operating systems like Symbian and Android?

[Via Engadget Germany, Unwired View]

As you may have heard, Nokia is going to release a new Symbian UI in 2010. But no, somehow they couldn’t wait to show off the screens, which is fine with me, and is why the concept shots are showing up here.

Nokia’s head in devices, Kai Öistämö, says that they plan to see Symbian OS as an interface, and not the problem. And they say they will:

“Use a new optimized graphic architecture with a focus on graphics and responsiveness, showcased beautifully on a large capacitive screen. Later in the year, a completely new visual architecture re-working of the UI will drastically reduce the complexity throughout and bring fresh appeal. We will execute here.”

Not a bad gameplan at all Mister Kai. Also, everything in Symbian 2010 is easier to use and do. Creating an email account takes 2 steps, not four, and it takes 2 taps to get your video and music, not 8. The web browser will also be more efficient.

“The interface will be over three times faster than our current high-end devices in many areas…Scrolling will move up to over 60fps compared to 15fps on our current high-end devices.”

So truly, in essence, the new Symbinan OS is more practical, easier to use, and better looking. So it qualifies as a major improvement. [Via Nokia]

This is something we’ve all been waiting for a while now; to know what exactly the Google Chrome OS does and how it will affect the worlds of Windows and Mac, and everything else. Here’s the run down, so click the link for the full explanation.

What is Chrome OS?

It’s an operating system, built like a browser. Your email, contacts, photos, etc. are all stored in cloud format, and the SSD that’s in your netbook will not hold any of your data on it. There will be no such thing as updating the OS, and no maintenance. Any sort of programs you have will not be called programs; they’re web apps that are built-in the browser that allow you to do more things with Chrome OS, and just to be on a clear note, these aren’t tiny web apps that are on Firefox;  no, they’re useful stuff. Also, there will be no ability to do any sort of Photoshopping, 3D rendering, or anything like that. It’s the Internet, and you, alone, with apps to extend the native abilities of Chrome.

Speed

According to Google, Chrome OS is supposed to launch like a TV does. As of now, the amount of time it takes to launch Chrome OS is 7 seconds, and 3 seconds to type in your user info, so that’s 10 seconds.

Security

Chrome OS is a solid brick. Only SSDs can be used with Chrome OS, no more regular hard drives. And here’s how that’s done:

Your SSD is divided into 3 partitions; one for Chrome OS itself, another for user data (which is always encrypted), and the last is a swap partition of sorts. If Chrome OS is booted on your computer, the cloud format will check to see if Chrome OS is genuine, and if it’s not, a fresh copy will be downloaded from the servers. All by itself. No user input. And to make things clear again, the OS can be reinstalled time and time again, because all of your personal data is “stateless”. Basically it’s floating like a cloud on the Internet in a secured server.

Here’s more video so you can take a look for yourself at the fundamentals of Google Chrome OS.