Introducing Apples MacBook Air

The MacBook Air measures 0.16 to 0.76 inches thick by 12.8 inches wide by 8.94 inches deep, and weighs 3 pounds. During his keynote, Apple CEO Steve Jobs slipped the machine into a manila envelope to demonstrate its small size.

The miniature new MacBook model runs full-size Mac OS X.

The MacBook Air sports a full-size backlit keyboard, beneath which lies a new Intel Core Duo chip that’s 60 percent smaller than previous Core Duos.

In a nod toward greener computing, the MacBook Air boasts an aluminum shell and a mercury-free display with arsenic-free glass.

The MacBook Air comes with an enlarged touch-pad, equipped with an iPhone-like multitouch interface.

The MacBook Air does away with an optical drive and ships with USB 2.0, Micro DVI and audio out ports, alongside Apple’s MagSafe power connector. Optional dongle adapters add Ethernet support through the USB port, or S-Video and VGA output through the DVI port. The unit sports 802.11n and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.

The MacBook Air starts at $1,799, but the base model ships with a pokey 4,200-rpm hard drive. There’s an optional 64GB solid-state drive, but it adds $999 to the cost.