Apple released
its 13.3" MacBook Air sub-notebook in January to much fanfare. The
notebook weighed in at relatively light three pounds and measured just
0.76" at its thickest point. Because of the slim profile and light weight,
the MacBook Air launched with a rather hefty price tag.
The MacBook Air started at $1,799 in its base 1.6GHz
configuration and ballooned to $3,098 when equipped with a 1.8GHz processor
and a 64GB solid state disk (SSD). With SSD prices now taking a nose dive,
Apple is now passing those savings along to the consumer.
While the base 1.6GHz system with an 80GB HDD still rings in
at $1,799, the pre-configured 1.8GHz system with a 64GB SSD now only costs
$2,598 -- this represents a $500 price cut for consumers. In addition, Apple
also cut the price of upgrading from a 1.6GHz processor to a 1.8GHz processor
on the base machine from $300 to $200.
Despite the $500 price drop, the 64GB SSD still represents a
$599 option and one that many potential customers may have trouble swallowing.
This becomes even more apparent given the recent
announcement from OCZ concerning low-cost, high-performance SSDs.
OCZ's new 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB SATA-II SSDs ring in at
$169, $259, and $479 respectively and will be available shortly. The 64GB and
128GB models will
be out on July 11, while the 32GB models will saunter in during the third
week of July.
But the availability of OCZ's new low-cost new SSDs may be
of little comfort for current MacBook Air owners -- the MacBook Air features a
PATA interface which is incompatible with most new SSDs being released these
days. Hopefully Jobs and company will switch over to a SATA interface when the
MacBook Air gets its inevitable refresh.