Cupertino - UPI
Apple released Tuesday its updated versions of the Macbook Air line, making them faster and dropping $100 off the price of all four models. The price drop puts the 11-inch Macbook Air at $899, making it the first time that Apple has sold a notebook to the public for less than $900. The price cuts in all four models represent a 7.7 percent to 10 percent discount depending on the model. The refresh centers around Intel's Haswell CPU, with the 11-inch base model MacBook Air getting a speed bump thanks to a 1.4GHz Core i5 processor. For an extra $ 150, buyers can opt for the 1.7GHz Core i7 processor. The new processor, along with the power saving features of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, gives the Macbook Air all-day battery power with the 13-inch MacBook Air capable of lasting 12 hours. Apple has upgraded the storage on the notebooks as well with the faster PCI-e storage replacing the mSATA-based SSD found in previous models.