New MacBook Air powers up with Ivy Bridge processors and a 512GB SSD

As expected, Apple has announced a refresh for its popular MacBook Air thin-and-light laptop, with the new model pumped up with higher CPU power and larger hard drive. The announcement took place at WWDC 2012.

[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":471720,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"mobile,","session":"D"}']

The last MacBook Air was already a striking and powerful machine. Now it will include the option to add a 3.2-GHz Intel Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor and a 512GB flash-based hard drive. It will also add in USB 3.0 slot, which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0.. Graphics will be 60 percent faster than before.

The 13-inch MacBook Air models will cost $1199 and $1499, while 11-inch models will run $999 and $1099.

Unfortunately, the new MacBook Air does not feature a high-density Retina display. If you want that, you’ll have to look at the MacBook Pro with Retina display, which starts at $2200.

Take a look at the 11-inch MacBook Air model specs below:

And here’s a look at the 13-inch MacBook Air specs:

Developing post. Refresh for updates.

[aditude-amp id="medium1" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":471720,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"mobile,","session":"D"}']

Top photos: Heather Kelly/VentureBeat, Bottom photo: The Verge

[vb_gallery id=471781]