Apple boots HDD--completely out of the new MacBook Air notebooks. SSD is the only option

Claiming that the move unifies Apple’s product line, Steve Jobs yesterday announced two new lightweight MacBook Air notebook computers. Significantly, neither HDD nor optical disk storage is an internal option for these two new laptops. SSD is the only storage on offer, with capacities from 64 to 256 Gbytes. Although Jobs claims that Apple placed the SSD “right on the motherboard,” the images he showed were of a small circuit board (clearly NOT a standard SSD board format) that plugged into the motherboard. Elements of the announcement that make the new MacBook Airs more resemble an iPad include multi-touch gestures on a generous touchpad below the full-size keyboard, a Mac-specific app store, an app home screen, full screen apps, auto save, and apps that resume when launched.

Here’s more coverage at MSNBC.com’s Techblog: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/10/20/5322959-live-coverage-apple-reveals-macbook-air-mac-os-x-lion-ilife-11-and-more