OS X Lion
Mac OS X Lion is finally released, it cost USD$29.99 in the Mac AppStore. I was downloading this at 11MB/s (megabytes not megabits) yesterday night! If you have a slower Internet connection, Lion will be made available on a USB thumb drive through the Apple Store (Singapore) for SGD$88. Mac OS X Lion is the eighth major release of Mac OS. It has more than 250 new features such as new Multi-Touch gestures, system-wide support for full screen apps, Mission Control, Mac AppStore, Launchpad and a new re-designed Mail app.

It seems that Xcode 4.1 (AppStore link) is free (usual USD$4.99) for OS X Lion only and FaceTime is included in OS X Lion (AppStore Link) (usual USD$0.99).

Website: Apple (Singapore) – Mac OS X Lion
Mac AppStore: Mac OS X Lion

MacBook Air
MacBook Air now includes the Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5/i7 processor, Thunderbolt I/O and backlit keyboard. It also seems that the white MacBook is phrased out in favor of the lowest end MacBook Air which starts at SGD$1,288. MacBook Air supports Bluetooth 4.0 with Bluetooth Low Energy.

• 11-inch: 64GB – SGD$1,288
  • 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
  • 2GB memory
  • 64GB flash storage
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 11-inch: 128GB – SGD$1,588
  • 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
  • 4GB memory
  • 128GB flash storage
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 13-inch: 128GB – SGD$1,688
  • 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
  • 4GB memory
  • 128GB flash storage
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 13-inch: 256GB – SGD$2,088
  • 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
  • 4GB memory
  • 256GB flash storage
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000

Website: Apple (Singapore) – MacBook Air
Shop: Apple Store (Singapore) – MacBook Air

Mac Mini
Similar with the MacBook Air, the Mac mini also receives the updated Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5/i7 processor and Thunderbolt I/O treatment and it seems that the optical drive got ditched by Mac mini. The death of CD is sooner than you think! Also Mac mini supports Bluetooth 4.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy. In the higher end Mac mini (SGD$1,088) discrete graphics (AMD Radeon HD 6630M) is being supported for the first time.

• 2.3GHz: 500GB – SGD$788
  • 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
  • 2GB memory
  • 500GB hard drive
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 2.5GHz: 500GB – SGD$1,088
  • 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
  • 4GB memory
  • 500GB hard drive
  • AMD Radeon HD 6630M
• 2.0GHz: Dual 500GB – SGD$1,348
  • 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
  • 4GB memory
  • Dual 500GB 7200-rpm hard drives
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
  • OS X Lion Server

Website: Apple (Singapore) – MacBook Air
Shop: Apple Store (Singapore) – MacBook Air

Thunderbolt Display
Looks like Apple rebranded Cinema Display to Thunderbolt Display. It now supports Thunderbolt and acts as a docking station for MacBook Pro/Air with a Thunderbolt cable and MagSafe connector. It is a 27″ monitor (16:9 – 2560px x 1440px) with LED backlight and IPS panel. It has built-in FaceTime HD camera and microphone to make video calls and ambient light sensor to adjusts your screen brightness accordingly. It is going for SGD$1,348!

Website: Apple (Singapore) – Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)
Shop: Apple Store (Singapore) – Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)

Li Xiang got me the Crumpler Herbas (L) Wide as one of my birthday presents! Thanks Dear!

The bag is very lightweight, slim and compact and fits nicely an 11″ MacBook Air! Personally I am using it as my iPad bag till I get a MacBook Air next year or so!

Front View

Back View

iPad In It

My boss got the Apple MacBook Air 11.6″ from the US for one of our business partner . It is the 11.6″ with 64GB of SSD. Apple Singapore is selling it for SGD$1,488 while the US is selling for USD$999.

MacBook Air 11.6″ Box

As the the MacBook Air does not belong to me, I did not power it on, only compared the size and weight of it to my iPad, Macbook Pro and my Asus EEE 1000HE.

iPad Weight

MacBook Air Weight

Comparing With iPad

Thickest End Of The MacBook Air

Thinest End Of The MacBook Air

My first impression of it is extremely small, thin and light. I took my iPad out to compare the size and the width of the iPad matches the width of the MacBook Air almost exactly. The MacBook Air is obviously longer because of the 2″ difference in screen size. In terms of weight, I weigh the iPad and it weighs 694g vs the weight of the MacBook Air which weights 1,020g.

I would say the MacBook Air is the netbook (in terms of size and lower specs than its elder brothers) from Apple because it is in-between the iPad and the MacBook Pro 13″. I would not say the MacBook Air is an iPad replacement because you will not bring out a MacBook Pro and use it while standing up or walking around with it because the posture is just weird.

MacBook Air 11.6″ Specifications

Comparing With Asus EEE 1000HE

In terms of processing, it is only a Intel Core 2 Duo with a 1.4GHz or a 1.6GHz (for 11.6″ variant) which does not really gives you that much of a processing power if you compare the price range with the MacBook Pro. If you compare it with the market prices of netbooks, the MacBook Air easily twice the price of a mid range netbook by offering much faster processor and RAM (DDR3) and of course SSD storage.

If you were to get the Macbook Air, I would say go for the 11.6″ instead as it is smaller and slightly lighter.

If you are going to get the 13″ variant, I rather you go for the MacBook Pro 13″ which offer better processing power and more RAM and it is SGD$600 cheaper than the highest end MacBook Air 13.3″. Do we need SSD at this point in time? I would say it is good to have but not a must have.

PS: One of the benefit for working at mig33 is that our boss travels to the US pretty often and he buys back the latest gadgets to Singapore and we get our hands on it!

MacBook Pro

• Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
  • 15-inch widescreen
  • 2GB DDR3 Memory
  • 250GB hard drive
  • NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB
  • SGD$3,188.00
• Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz
  • 15-inch widescreen
  • 4GB DDR3 Memory
  • 320GB hard drive
  • NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB
  • SGD$3,988.00

Website: Apple (Singapore) – MacBook Pro
Shop: Apple Store (Singapore) – MacBook Pro

MacBook Air

• Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz
  • 2GB DDR3 Memory
  • 128GB SATA hard drive
  • NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
  • SGD$2,888.00
• Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz
  • 2GB DDR3 Memory
  • 128GB solid state drive
  • NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
  • SGD$3,988.00

Website: Apple (Singapore) – MacBook Air
Shop: Apple Store (Singapore) – MacBook Air

MacBook

• Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
  • 2GB DDR3 Memory
  • 160GB hard drive
  • NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
  • SGD$2,088.00
• Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
  • 2GB DDR3 Memory
  • 250GB hard drive
  • NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
  • SGD$2,588.00
• Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz
  • 1GB DDR2 Memory
  • 120GB hard drive
  • Intel GMA X3100 graphics
  • SGD$1,588.00

Website: Apple (Singapore) – MacBook
Shop: Apple Store (Singapore) – MacBook