The notebook is tapered into a wedge shape that is narrower near the front and thicker at the rear. The new MacBook Air doesn't deviate from the design of previous models, which certainly isn't a bad thing. The system on our test bench is the base 13-inch MacBook Air which ships with a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor that Turbo Boosts up to 2.8GHz, 4GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM, 128GB of flash storage and integrated Intel graphics. The smaller 11-inch system retains the same $999 entry price, however. The 13-inch system also received a $100 price cut, now starting at $1,199. New for the 2012 MacBook Air is the Intel Ivy Bridge processor sporting HD 4000 graphics, higher capacity storage and memory options, as well as an improved 720p Facetime HD camera, and support for USB 3.0. PC makers have struggled to match the Air's extremely thin and simplistic design, prompting Intel to announce the ultrabook initiative at Computex in 2011.

Steve Jobs unveiled the first MacBook Air in early 2008 to mixed reviews, but a series of redesigns and hardware refreshes through the years have resulted in a product line that has had a huge impact on the industry.

As most expected, the standard MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air were refreshed for 2012, the latter of which we will be looking at today. Analysts and users alike are still talking about the new MacBook Pro with Retina display that was introduced last month during Apple's keynote at the annual WWDC, but that wasn't the only new system that Cupertino ousted at the event.

2012 macbook pro graphics card