Thinnest Laptop: Fits Into Manila Envelope

At Macworld, Steve Jobs announces iTunes movie rentals, thin notebook.

ByABC News
February 9, 2009, 3:09 PM

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2008 — -- People who thought Apple CEO Steve Jobs couldn't top last year's iPhone for innovation might have judged the company too soon. At Macworld Tuesday, Jobs may have done it again, introducing the world's thinnest laptop, the MacBook Air.

The MacBook Air has the potential to reshape the laptop industry. The laptop fits inside a standard office manila envelope, which is how Jobs presented it as the showstopper of this year's conference of all things Apple.

The MacBook Air weighs 3 pounds. Shaped like an elegant wedge, it is just 0.16 inches at its thinnest end and .76 inches at its thickest. Aside from its airy thinness, there is nothing miniature about the laptop. The screen is 13.3 inches wide with an LED backlit display, while the keyboard is full-size and is also backlit.

Its trackpad is generous in size, multifunctional and practical. It's instantly responsive to quick-touch commands. Users can rotate photos, page rapidly through a photo slideshow, rearrange items on the desktop with ease and precision and creativity. The computer can also zoom in and out with a gentle "pinching" motion on the screen.

The Intel processor Core 2 Duo chip that the laptop uses is 60 percent smaller than other chips and, according to Jobs, works very fast.

"We didn't think it was possible to create this," Intel CEO Paul Otellini told the audience. "It's the width of a dime and thickness of a nickel."

The wireless MacBook Air also has five hours of battery life, versus 1.5 hours for many laptops, without using a giant, heavy extended battery.

The whole machine is simple and seamless, so beautiful in its design it could go in the Museum of Modern Art. At $1,799, the laptop will start shipping in two weeks.

The laptop is environmentally-friendly.

"It's the first display that's mercury-free and uses arsenic-free glass," Jobs said. "Its circuit boards are BFR-free and PVC-free also. Its aluminum case is fully recyclable."