Apple releases it’s newest and slimmest MacBook to date, the Apple MacBook Air 2011. Starting at $999, it features high-speed Thunderbolt technology, next generation processors, a backlit keyboard and comes complete with the most recent Mac OS X Lion. Available now at Apple, be sure to check out the official press release below for further details:

Apple Updates MacBook Air With Next Generation Processors, Thunderbolt I/O & Backlit Keyboard
CUPERTINO, California—July 20, 2011—Apple® today updated the MacBook Air® with next generation processors, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology, a backlit keyboard and Mac OS® X Lion, the world’s most advanced operating system. With up to twice the performance of the previous generation, flash storage for instant-on responsiveness and a compact design so portable you can take it everywhere,* the MacBook Air starts at $999 (US) and is available for order today and in stores tomorrow.

“Portable, affordable and powerful, MacBook Air is the ultimate everyday notebook,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “MacBook Air features our most advanced technology and is an ideal match for Lion, especially with its new Multi-Touch gestures, full-screen apps, Mission Control and Mac App Store.”

MacBook Air is available in 11-inch and 13-inch models that easily slip into a briefcase, purse or bag. The MacBook Air’s durable aluminum unibody enclosure measures an incredibly thin 0.11-inches at its thinnest point and 0.68-inches at its thickest. Flash storage allows MacBook Air to turn on instantly and deliver fast data access, improved reliability and incredible energy efficiency. The 11-inch model weighs 2.38 pounds and provides up to 5 hours of battery life, while the 13-inch weighs 2.96 pounds and provides up to 7 hours of battery life.**

With the latest Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors, the new MacBook Air is up to twice as fast as the previous generation and has all the power you need for editing photos and movies, making FaceTime® calls, playing games, and working with documents and presentations. MacBook Air also features Intel HD Graphics 3000 and offers up to 4GB of faster 1333 MHz memory.

Thunderbolt I/O technology provides expansion possibilities never before available to MacBook Air users. Through a single cable, users can connect to high performance peripherals and the new Apple Thunderbolt Display, the ultimate docking station for your Mac® notebook. Thunderbolt can easily be adapted to support legacy connections such as FireWire® and Gigabit Ethernet.

MacBook Air comes with a full size backlit keyboard and an innovative glass Multi-Touch™ trackpad. Designed for comfort and ease of typing, the backlit keyboard uses a sensor to automatically detect a change in ambient lighting and adjusts the keyboard brightness for any environment. The Multi-Touch trackpad supports Lion’s new Multi-Touch gestures such as momentum scrolling, tapping or pinching your fingers to zoom in on a web page or image, and swiping left or right to turn a page or switch between full screen apps.

MacBook Air also features a brilliant, high resolution LED backlit display that is amazingly thin yet has the resolution of a much larger, bulkier screen. With ultra-fast Wi-Fi, you can wirelessly download apps from the Mac App Store™, get music and movies from iTunes®, back up data to Time Capsule® and quickly and easily share files using AirDrop. MacBook Air includes Bluetooth for wireless peripherals and two USB ports for easy connectivity for the wired and wireless devices you use every day.

Apple makes the industry’s greenest notebook lineup and the new MacBook Air meets Energy Star 5.2 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold status.*** Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, are PVC-free and are constructed of recyclable materials.

Every new MacBook Air comes with Mac OS X Lion, the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife apps for creating and sharing great photos, movies and music. Lion introduces more than 250 new features to the Mac, including Multi-Touch gestures; system-wide support for full screen apps; Mission Control, an innovative view of everything running on your Mac; the Mac App Store, the best place to find and explore great software, built right into the OS; Launchpad, a new home for all your apps; and a completely redesigned Mail app.

Pricing & Availability
The 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air are available for order on the Apple Store® (www.apple.com) today and in Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers starting July 21. The 1.6 GHz 11-inch MacBook Air is available in two models, one with 2GB of memory and 64GB of flash storage for a suggested retail price of $999 (US), and one with 4GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage for $1,199 (US). The 1.7 GHz 13-inch MacBook Air comes in two configurations, one with 4GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US), and one with 4GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage for $1,599 (US). Configure-to-order options and accessories include a 1.8 GHz Core i7 processor, additional flash storage, MacBook Air SuperDrive® and a USB Ethernet Adapter.

Additional technical specifications and configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at www.apple.com/macbookair.

*Testing conducted by Apple in July 2011 using preproduction MacBook Air configurations. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html.

**The new Wireless Web protocol testing was conducted by Apple in July 2011 using preproduction MacBook Air configurations. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html.

***EPEAT is an independent organization that helps customers compare the environmental performance of notebooks and desktops. For more information visit www.epeat.net.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Several sources indicate that the company plans to uncrate the eagerly anticipated updates to its MacBook Air line late next week. “The rumor sites are off by a week,” one source said.

The new MacBook Airs are reported to include a Thunderbolt port, backlit keyboards, and 128GB and 256GB storage options. Although, Apple will have to release OS X Lion first or before the new hardware releases so the unveiling of the new OS X Lion should be around next week as well.

New MacBook Airs Coming Next Week

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AppleNApps states: Sources have indicated to AppleNApps that Apple has an internal launch date of July 19th for Mac OS X Lion and a refresh of the MacBook Airs. This is the target date under which the company is currently operating, though both sources are indicating that things can change. Our sources have just seen indications, and can’t be entirely certain, but if everything goes according to plan there will be a new MacBook Air shipping with Lion starting July 19th.

So the only reason it’s not being released now is due to the new Mac OS X Lion.

New MacBook Airs - Coming in Mid-July

Also, the laptop features an extended battery life with up to 7 hours from the standard pack and up to 14 hours with the addition of the sheet battery. A backlit keyboard is also added with your choice of having a DVD or Blu-ray drive configured. This model is on pre-sale now through Sony UK selling for approximately $2,286 USD.

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This typically means that supplies are so constrained that they have to focus their remaining inventory on their popular physical retail stores. BestBuy.com does not provide a date for when they will be shipping the notebooks again, but these types of things are usually indicative of a product refresh.

Rumors have been floating around the past few weeks about a refresh for the Macbook Air line since the release of the new Sandybridge processors by Intel.

BestBuy Runs Out of MacBook Airs - Refresh Nearing

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We’re guessing Dell isn’t including the 15″ MacBook Pro in the “PC” category as Apple’s laptop measures in at .95″, while the XPS 15z is .97″. Either way, it’s super-slim, and very well-designed. The body is crafted out of anodized aluminum and features a backlit keyboard.

Under the aluminum, Dell packs in second-gen Intel Core i5 and i7 processors that range from 2.0 GHz to 3.4 GHz. Video and graphics duties are handled by NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 525M that can switch to power-saving mode when all the grunt is not needed.

Memory starts at 4 GB and is expandable to 8 GB. Outputs include: HDMI 1.4, a mini display port, a nine-in-one card reader, and 2 USB 3.0 ports. Battery life is estimated to be around eight hours.

How much will all this cost you? Not too much, actually—the XPS 15z line starts at $999 and is available now from the Dell online store.

[via Crunch Gear]

Why didn’t anyone think of this before? What strikes me most about the Playing By Heart (quite a fascinating name for a laptop!) concept is the simplistic way it tries to achieve its set goals. The goals being: portability, smooth looks, multi-level elevation, cooling & sleek form. All it takes is a handle on the back-end of the laptop, steel or aluminum finish for the cover and you have a rocking Laptop Briefcase in your hands! Think about it…no more laptop covers or sleeves either!

via yanko