Apple’s MacBook Air envelope advert is probably one of the most iconic pieces of ultraportable branding from the past few years, and it set a bar that new notebooks love to take pot-shots at. Given the striking similarity between the Air and MSI’s X-Slim X340, it seems all too appropriate that the 13-inch notebook should try an envelope test of its own.
Video after the cut
Buyers will have to wait until March 26th to see their Dell Adamo, but CNET have managed to score Dell’s latest ultraportable early and, knowing what most of us are interested in seeing, have set up a shoot between it and the Apple MacBook Air. Both are competitors for the “thinnest laptop in the world” title; on paper the Adamo clinches it, at 0.65-inches, but in the metal the non-tapered chassis looks chunkier than the curved Air.
From one Air-a-like to another; MSI have announced the next in their X-Slim series of ultraportable notebooks. The MSI X-Slim X600 is the 15.6-inch big brother to the X-Slim X360 which we saw back at CES 2009 in January, complete with Intel’s Centrino 2 platform, 16:9 widescreen display and a weight of around 2kg.
If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then Apple must be one of the most flattered company’s to date. Latest to “borrow” some of the Cupertino industrial design is Korean firm Hanuribiz, whose nurian X40 may only be an electronic dictionary and part-time PMP, but does it all in a slick little MacBook Air suit.
Apple have removed the NVIDIA driver update posted to their support site at the start of the week, and are yet to explain its disappearance. The software was intended to fix ongoing performance issues with the new Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter required by its latest unibody MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops if they are to work with large-scale monitors. It also promised improvements in HD video performance. However early feedback from some Apple users suggests that the update actually made things worse rather than better.
Apple have released an update for its latest MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models that use the Mini DisplayPort, which claims to “improve cursor movement” when the notebooks are used with the company’s Dual-Link DVI adapter. The new software also addresses high-definition video playback on Mac systems that use NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT or GeForce 9600M graphics.
It’s always good to start off the week with an Apple rumor, and today’s should hit close to our own Vincent’s heart. According to Chinese-language blog Apple.pro, the company is working on a larger version of the MacBook Air, with a 15-inch display rather than the current model’s 13.3-inches.
The MSI X-Slim X320 is, as many have observed, surprisingly similar in design to Apple’s MacBook Air. Coincidentally, SlashGear brought Apple’s second-gen Air to CES today, so we can bring you this exclusive comparison gallery. 1.98cm thick X320 or 1.94cm Air – despite the design overlap there’s plenty of difference if you look closely.
Apple have released a new driver for the multitouch trackpad on the late-2008 MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. The software attempts to address the poor responsiveness and general performance experienced when running Windows XP and Vista via Boot Camp, where users found dragging and clicking to be erratic. However initial reports suggest that while the update has addressed some aspects of the problem, it has shifted problems onto other areas of Windows functionality.
Today Apple released a number of new updates for their new “Late 2008” MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. For those of you who are wondering this firmware update comes in two pieces, an EFI update and an SMC update.
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