Macworld Expo For once the rumour mill was right. "There's something in the air," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. And then he hit us with the MacBook Air. It’s aluminium, has black keys, is super, super thin, and Steve held it easily with his fingertips.

Apple has taken a completely different approach to ultralight notbook computers with the MacBook Air. Where others use small screens, shrunken keyboards, and underpowered CPUs, Apple has gone very, very thin so the MacBook Air can have a 13.3" LED backlit display, a full-sized keyboard, and a 1.6 GHz Core2 Duo CPU - along with up to 5 hours of battery life without turning off AirPort. (You can upgrade to a 1.8 GHz CPU for US$300 additional.)....

The MacBook Air has the same footprint as the MacBook, but it's 2.2 lb. lighter and clad in aluminum, just like the MacBook Pro models. There is no built-in optical drive, but you can add an external USB 2.0 SuperDrive for US$99.

A few things are missing. This is the first Mac since 1999 without a FireWire port, and you only get one USB port. There is no option to upgrade RAM from the 2 GB built into the computer. There's no ethernet port; this is a wireless-only machine when it comes to networking.

I'm getting a number of questions about the new processor in the MacBook Air, so here's my quick take on what this processor may be.

The first question that has to be answered about the CPU is which process is it made on. There's a possibility that it could be made on Intel's new 45nm process. Intel just launched 16 new 45nm desktop and server processors last week, and the company is set to launch the mobile portion of its 45nm line on January 20th. Given that the MacBook Air will be available in two weeks, it's possible that this it could sport a Penryn mobile processor.

Having taken some stick for allegedly poor environmental practices (though that was as much about communication as actual performance), Apple has played up the green aspects of its latest model.

The company has drawn attention to the fact that the new MacBook Air lightweight notebook is fitted with a screen that uses LED backlighting. Traditional panels have fluorescent backlights, which contain small amounts of mercury. LED lamps also use less power, and Apple boasts that the MacBook Air uses less power than any other Mac.

There were widespread predictions of a lightweight notebook announcement at Macworld Expo, but did anybody say it was going to be this slim?

The MacBook Air measures just 0.76in/1.94cm near the hinge, tapering to 0.16in/0.4cm at the thinnest point. That makes it the world's slimmest notebook according to Apple.

In terms of features, just about everything you expect from a Mac is there with the exception of an optical drive....

However, there's only one USB port on the MacBook Air, so if you plan to use more than one peripheral you will need to be prepared for a lot of plugging and unplugging, or to carry a hub....

Before we leave the topic of storage, the 80G hard drive or optional 64G flash drive are on the small side. 320G and even 500G notebook drives are offered by major disk vendors, but the MacBook Air uses a 1.8in drive - the sort previously associated with iPods and other portable media players.....

.... MacBook Air is the first Mac portable in recent history to lack a user-replaceable battery. Replacing the battery outside of warranty requires service from Apple, which will be priced as follows:
United States: $129
Canada: CA$159
Europe: £139 inc. VAT
Japan: ¥15,800
Asia Pacific: AU$199 inc. taxes

The MacBook Air is an amazing piece of hardware. It's iPod sexy, but there's an iPod catch. Because just like an iPod, you can't just crack it open to replace the hard drive, memory or even battery....

It looks like there’s a mini backlash brewing against the beautiful but pricey MacBook Air — online at least....

Yes, Mac fans like the Air’s thin profile, but there’s a lot of bitching about its limitations — the price, soldered ram, non-replaceable battery, and paying extra for an ethernet port or DVD drive.

....Apple today introduced a new standard in 'slim computing', adding iPhone features to the new MacBook Air.

With fashion laptops becoming all the rage in the world of business and when status means having the smallest sleekest laptop of all Apple give the business elite a new totem.....

The MacBook Air comes with its own collection of bling. Get it all for a modest $5536.90. For that pocket change you get a 1.8Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo engine, a 64GB solid state drive, the MBA 'SuperDrive', a 23 inch high definition Cinema Display, the MagSafe airline adapter, a USB Ethernet adapter, a USB modem, Apple Remote, iWork, Final Cut ('Express' not 'Pro') preinstalled, Aperture, Logic Express, a printer, .Mac for a year, a basic 'accessory kit', and the AppleCare 'protection plan'....

The keyboard comes in black; after years promoting single colour and white Apple are back with the ugly black/silver combo from the Wintel market. But as always when Apple says it's cool it becomes cool. This will also provide a smoother transition for those Madison Avenue types who are used to ugly.

....The MacBook Air is an attempt to fill a gap, and with the iPhone now having reportedly sold 4 million units by Apple's numbers, that gap is smaller now than ever before.

The gap is this perceived empty space of form and functionality that manufacturers continue to believe exists between the smart phone and the small PC.....

Although from certain angles it's certainly beautiful, from a practical perspective, the MacBook Air may not be that much of a standout. It has some classic elements of Apple innovation, including a touch pad that recognizes gestures similar to what the iPhone recognizes, and a mere 3 pounds of weight. But for the type of applications that define a Macintosh as opposed to a mere iPhone, an 80 GB hard drive will not be enough. And its Remote Drive concept -- which borrows the machine's built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi link to connect with another nearby device, including a Windows PC, for borrowing its optical disc -- runs the risk of turning the Air into an $1800 peripheral.

First, let me just say that the Air is an extremely impressive piece of technology. The miniaturization, the optimization of space, the blatant disregard for current standards — it’s everything a revolutionary machine should be. Except it isn’t one. It’s a flight of Apple vanity that is completely impractical for anyone who needs to do more than the most basic functions with their computer. Find out why....... right now this computer looks like a bit of a lemon. A sexy lemon, though.

Apple's new MacBook Air is svelte-as-can-be, but the device's limitations and lack of traditional components raise some interesting troubleshooting/general questions:

What happens when the battery loses capacity or runs out?....

How do you perform an emergency boot?...

How will you apply major Mac OS X updates?....

How will you use target disk mode?....

How will you NetBoot?...

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