Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

OWC: Get the Right Memory / Ram for your Mac. Top Quality, Competitive Prices, Lifetime Warranty. Expert Support and Video Installation Guidies too! 4.0GB Matched Sets from $87.99, Options up to 32GB. Click here

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Musings

The June 2009 MacBook Air Value Equation

Dan Knight - 2009.06.11 - Tip Jar

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter. Also follow our blogs: LEMblog and Low End Mac Services.

Popularity: LEMLEMLEMLEM

Short link: http://bit.ly/XiLib

In addition to introducing a 13" MacBook Pro (replacing the Unibody MacBook) and updated 15" and 17" MacBook Pro models, Apple also improved MacBook Air performance - while at the same time slashing its price.

The new MacBook Air comes in two base models: 1.86 GHz with a 120 GB hard drive for US$1,499 and 2.13 GHz with a 128 GB solid state drive (SSD) for US$1,799. Other than CPU speed, specs appear to be identical to the models introduced in October 2008.

The MacBook Air gains the same powerful GeForce 9400M graphics processor as the MacBook White and the MacBook Pro line. It also adds a video port and has more storage - 120 GB on the hard drive version, 128 GB for the solid state drive (SSD).

Here are new and close-out prices from today's MacBook Air price tracker:

  • 1.6 GHz, 80 GB HD, $1,049 shipped
  • 1.6 GHz, 120 GB HD, $1,349 shipped
  • 1.86 GHz, 120 GB HD, $1,439 shipped
  • 1.86 GHz, 128 GB SSD, $1,649 shipped
  • 2.13 GHz, 128 GB SSD, $1,729 shipped

If you have minimal storage needs, the 1.6 GHz model with the 80 GB hard drive is the way to go. Graphics aren't up to snuff compared with GeForce 9400M, but adequate for most field work.

For more demanding work, the 120 GB hard drive models are the way to go, as they have GeForce graphics. The new model is about 16% faster than the older one, and with a less than 7% difference in price, I'd suggest that the new 1.86 GHz model is the way to go.

If you really feel the need for SSD, which is more rugged but doesn't appear to be significantly faster at present, the reduced prices on the SSD models make them far more attractive than before. The 2.13 GHz model is approximately 14.5% faster than the 1.86 GHz one, yet the difference in price is less than 5%.

New vs. Refurbished

Apple has a few refurbished MacBook Air models listed today:

  • 1.6 GHz 120 GB, $1,199, Apple
  • 1.8 GHz 64 GB SSD, $1,299, Apple
  • 1.86 GHz 128 SSD, $1,449, Apple

At these prices, the 1.6 GHz hard drive model is hot - $150 less than close-out pricing and $240 less than the new 1.86 GHz model. I would hesitate to recommend the 1.8 GHz MBA with the 64 GB SSD primarly because it's an older technology drive. The 1.86 GHz with SSD can save you $200 over close-out pricing and is within a few dollars of the price of the new 1.86 GHz hard drive model - probably the best way to get a MacBook Air with SSD. LEM

Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Mac Musings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.

�