Though the original Apple MacBook Air released in 2008 came with an optional solid-state hard drive for a lot more money, Jobs says flash-based, or solid-state drives are the future of the laptop.
At Apple’s presentation on Wednesday, Steve Jobs presented 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models which he toted as the future of MacBooks. The thinner (.11 inch at its smallest height), and lighter (under 3 pound) hard-drive free MacBook Air models would use flash-based memory instead. Lack of optical drive and hard-drive enclosures allow the MacBook to be so thin and lightweight.
Jobs made reference to the ease of use of the flash-based iPad, which has quicker access time to applications and data. He talked about how the iPad runs so quiet, unlike spinning hard-drives which require fans to cool down. He also said flash memory is less susceptible to breaking if the laptop were to be dropped.
However, SSD drives cost more. The new 13-inch 256GB MacBook Air will cost $1,600. That’s $400 more than the 13″ MacBook Pro.
