Apple Pushes Out New Macs Along With OS X Lion

The future is discless.

As rumored, Apple has refreshed its MacBook Air and Mac mini lineup with the release of Mac OS X Lion.

2011 MacBook Air

On the outside, the MacBook Air looks much like the razer-themed one that was introduced in the fall of 2010. The major upgrade, of course, was the ditching of the Core 2 Duo and the upgrade to Sandy Bridge-based Core i5 and i7 chips. Gone are the Nvidia GeForce 320M chipset, though, and now the graphics come from the integrated Intel HD 3000.

Coming in line with the MacBook Pros, the new Airs also get its Mini DisplayPort upgraded to a Thunderbolt port. And finally, backlit keyboards are back on the Air.

The 1.6 GHz 11-inch MacBook Air is available in two models, one with 2GB of memory and 64GB of flash storage for a suggested retail price of $999 (US), and one with 4GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage for $1,199 (US). The 1.7 GHz 13-inch MacBook Air comes in two configurations, one with 4GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US), and one with 4GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage for $1,599 (US). Configure-to-order options and accessories include a 1.8 GHz Core i7 processor, additional flash storage, MacBook Air SuperDrive and a USB Ethernet Adapter.

2011 Mac mini

In keeping with the optical drive-less theme, the new Mac mini does away with the SuperDrive, moving to an all-flash media future.

The Mac mini goes Sandy Bridge with new discrete graphics, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology and Lion. At just 7.7-inches square and 1.4-inches thin, the new Mac mini maintains its compact aluminum design with the latest dual-core Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7 processors, AMD Radeon HD 6630M discrete graphics, or a quad-core Intel Core i7 powered server configuration. Configure-to-order options include up to 8 GBs of memory, a faster 7200 RPM hard drive and a 256GB solid state drive.

The 2.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 Mac mini with 2GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive starts at a suggested retail price of $599 (US), with options to add memory up to 8GB and a 750GB hard drive.

The 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 Mac mini with 4GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive starts at a suggested retail price of $799 (US), with options to upgrade to a 2.7GHz dual-core Core i7 processor, up to 8GB of memory, and a 750GB hard drive with an option to add or replace with a 256GB solid state drive.

The 2.0 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 Mac mini with Lion Server, 4GB of memory and dual 500GB hard drives starts at a suggested retail price of $999 (US). Options include adding memory up to 8GB, two 750GB hard drives, or up to two 256GB solid state drives.