gadget GYAN

Apple cuts MacBook Air prices

Written by Niraj Saturday, 05 July 2008 16:47

NEW YORK: Apple Inc, the maker of Macintosh computers, sliced $500 off the price of its most expensive MacBook Air model, the ultra-thin notebook introduced by Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs in January.

The costliest version, which has a 64GB solid-state hard drive and an Intel Corp. Core 2 Duo chip running at 1.8 gigahertz, now sells for $2,598, spokesman Bill Evans said in an interview.

That's 16 per cent less than the original price. The starting price for the Air with a 1.6-GHz chip remains $1,799.

Notebooks are Apple's most popular computers, accounting for 63 per cent of all Macs sold in the latest reported quarter. The Air is its thinnest model, at less than 1 inch thick. Apple cut the price of the higher-speed chip option to $200 from $300 and is offering the solid-state drive for $599, down from $999.

“The options to upgrade a MacBook Air to a faster Core 2 Duo processor and a 64-GB solid-state drive are now more affordable,'' Evans said. He declined to elaborate.

A solid-state drive has no moving parts, making it more durable than other hard drive technologies.