In an event today, Apple introduced a number of new products to their lineup including two Macbook Air models that are thinner and lighter than any notebook Apple has produced before. The larger version features a 13.3 inch screen at $1,299 while the smaller version has an 11.6 inch screen at $999.
Many are already making comparisons to netbooks produced by other companies, and others are recalling Steve Jobs’ previous statements that Apple would not release any kind of netbook in the near future. The Macbook Air separates itself from the netbooks of other manufacturers however, as it has a more powerful processor and a more robust feature set than these machines.
All of this is good news for Mac fans and especially for Mac poker players who like to take their Mac with them for playing on the go. At around 2 pounds, it is the most portable notebook in Apple’s line, with nearly the portability of the iPad. Since the iPad does not currently support playing on most poker sites, the Macbook Air is currently the most portable option for poker players.
In addition to the Macbook Air introduction, the main focus of the event was to introduce iLife ’11, the newest revision of Apple’s iLife suite of software. The new version sports a number of great features such as full-screen views, better audio editing in iMovie, and more.
The other major introduction was an early look at Mac OS X Lion, which will be the next major operating system release for the Mac, expected for Summer 2011. Included in this presentation was a look at Apple’s App Store for the Mac, which will follow the same process and guidelines that the iPhone and iPad stores currently employ. This could potentially be bad news for poker players, as Apple has a strict policy against gambling in their app approval process, but for now, this will not be the only way to install apps on a Mac.