"MacBook Air" screenshot debunked

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Jordan Golson

01/14/08 01:59PM

Filed to: rumormonger

This image was lost some time after publication.

There's not even a product yet, but already the rumored "MacBook Air" has a blog. Its authors claim to have taken a screenshot of a page from the Apple Store website with customization options for a new "MacBook Air." We think it's bogus, because the tech specs make no sense. Here's why.

This image was lost some time after publication, but you can still view it here.

First, the specs don't check out. Solid state drives — the no-moving-parts flash-memory hard drive rumored to be in an upcoming notebook — don't come in 60 and 80 GB sizes. Currently available models are 32, 64 and 128 GB.

Second, the picture lists the mini-DVI port on the MacBook Air as being able to support the 30" Apple Cinema Display and a new, unannounced, 40" display. Both of these displays would require some serious graphics power that the current MacBooks simply don't have. If Apple is trying to shrink this laptop, they wouldn't include that sort of graphics card, which is big and generates a lot of heat.

A decent Photoshop job, in other words, but we call shenanigans.

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domtarOpaque Jordan Golson 01/14/08 04:49PM

Even the blog screams fake. Not only is there somehow a "reader comment" despite the fact that you can not post comments on the blog, but the username even uses the same style as the blogger;

- blogger : Veronika x0x

- "reader": Nick dP

Note that both begin with a properly capitalized Real name, followed by a space, followed by a few mixed letters of numbers to make the name unique, both of which start with a lowercase letter.

sadfadfs Jordan Golson 01/14/08 05:38PM

I agree that this is almost certainly a fake, but the arguments in this post don't make too much sense. There's no natural law that says that SSDs can't have 60 or 80 GB. A SSD is just a bunch of Flash chips with a controller, and a big manufacturer like Apple certainly wouldn't have to use a off-the-shelf SSD, it could be directly on the board or on a mini pci express card or something like that. And you don't need a powerful graphics card for a high resolution, it just makes the DVI hardware a bit more expensive.

fredsmith8 Jordan Golson 01/21/08 03:46PM

THe blog maybe fake, but the arguements for are total rubbish. The 80 gig stated drive is not SSD, it is SATA, that comes with the standard Air for $1700. The 64gig SSD drive is an option that costs a further $999.

Running a 40 inch screen does not require any additional power than it does to run a 20 inch screen, at the same resolution. The only thing that would take more power is if the screen was at a higher res.

tang0r Jordan Golson 01/31/08 01:06PM

For all of those interested in the MacBook Air (or plan to purchase one in the future), there's an online community and message board forming here: MacBook Air Lounge & Forum ([www.macbooklounge.com]). It looks like it will have a mods & hacks section when the product starts to get tweaked.