Description
The MacBook Air “Core 2 Duo” 1.8 13″ (Original) technically is a “build-to-order” configuration of the MacBook Air “Core 2 Duo” 1.6 13″, but also is documented as a separate model for reader convenience. Other than processor and storage (this model is equipped with an SSD rather than a hard drive), these two models are identical.
The MacBook Air “Core 2 Duo” 1.8 13″ (Original) is powered by a customized 1.8 GHz Intel “Core 2 Duo” processor (P7700) in a miniaturized packaging design with two independent processor “cores” on a single chip with a 4 MB on-chip shared level 2 cache running on an 800 MHz frontside bus.
It features 2 GB of onboard 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, a 64 GB PATA SSD (Solid State Drive), an Intel GMA X3100 integrated “graphics processor with 144 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory”, an integrated iSight video camera, a “MacBook-style” full-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor, and a 13.3″ widescreen TFT LED backlit active-matrix “glossy” display (1280×800 native resolution) in a razor thin (0.16-0.76 inch), three pound, aluminum case.
Connectivity includes AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a single USB 2.0 port, analog audio out, and video out capabilities (micro-DVI) that support an external 24″ display. It lacks Ethernet (an external adapter is available), Firewire, and optical audio in/out.
Like all subnotebooks, it is important to recognize that Apple made some compromises on performance, expansion, connectivity, and affordability in favor of size and weight. Although the system has an impressively large — for a subnotebook — 13.3″ display, full-size keyboard and a trackpad that supports “multi-touch gesturing” (two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate, swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag), it uses slower processors than the stock MacBook models available at the same time, the memory cannot be upgraded beyond the onboard 2 GB, there is not an internal optical drive, and the battery is not designed to be removable.
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