How Apple?s new entry-level laptop runs circles around more serious MacBooks (Yahoo! News)

MacBook Air

Yesterday Apple released its new lineup of ultralight MacBook Air notebooks,?killing off the white MacBook that's been in the family since 2006 while they were at it. The funny thing? According to many tests, the new "starter Mac" is actually brawnier than its more serious counterpart, the?latest MacBook Pro.?If that sounds counterintuitive, that's because it is. To understand how that's even possible means taking a look at what makes the MacBook Air particularly unique ? and particularly future-proof.

Last year, Apple introduced a version of the MacBook Air that made serious waves for one main reason other than its super-slim silhouette. Rather than storing data on a traditional hard drive, the late 2010 Airs introduced a new technology to the Mac kingdom: the SSD, or solid-state drive, which stores data on microchips rather than on spinning discs.

While SSD sounds like just another chunk of tech jargon to get tossed around amid a sea of technical acronyms, it really is a game-changing technology. Since it doesn't rely on mechanical, moving parts, an SSD allows a computer to read and write data extremely quickly, making your programs, downloads, and boot-ups incredibly smooth sailing. Of course, a boost in RAM ? the muscle behind your machine ? also doesn't hurt

Last year's model of MacBook Air surprised many skeptics with its impressive speed and power, largely thanks to the inclusion of the SSD, but this year, reviewers are stunned. Thanks to some other upgrades ? particularly swapping in Intel Core i5 and i7 processors for the last model's relatively outdated Core 2 Duo ? this wave of Apple's featherweight computers blows its own records out of the water ? not to mention those set by the MacBook Pro.

If you hadn't considered a MacBook Air as anything more than an ultraportable but wimpy laptop (or an iPad with a keyboard) it could be time to take a look at what's under the hood. Maybe you'll even adopt Apple's lightest laptop as your primary window to the web.

Laptop via ElectricPig

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/techblog/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20110722/tc_yblog_technews/how-apples-new-entry-level-laptop-runs-circles-around-more-serious-macbooks

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