We start out with the MacBook Air. MacMall is offering the 13.3-inch MBA , powered by a 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processor with 2GB or RAM and a 120GB hard drive for just $939 – down from the usual $1,499. Also in the spotlight is the latest crop of iPad app price drops, along with some more iPhone app freebies, including “Etch-a-Sketch.”

We’ll also take a look at cases for your iPad, speakers for your iPod and software for your Mac. Like always, details on these and many other products can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Although it pays off in compactness, the MacBook Air’s locked down, proprietary construction makes it one of the least self-serviceable or upgradeable computers out there. Heck, you can’t even upgrade the RAM: it’s soldered onto the motherboard.

If you’re brave enough to crack open your Air, about the only thing that will actually prove replaceable to most mortals will be the Toshiba SSD drives, which is what prompted Taiwanese company Photofast to start selling 256GB SSD modules that offered a 30% boost to your Air’s read and write speeds.

Unfortunately, it looks like Photofast’s MacBook Air SSD business has been shut down by Apple, who apparently threatened the company’s >a jref=”https://www.9to5mac.com/38937/apple-makes-photofast-stop-sales-of-speedy-256-gb-macbook-air-ssds?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+9To5Mac-MacAllDay+(9+to+5+Mac+-+Apple+Intelligence)”>standing as a member of Apple’s own MFi program, which allows them to make officially licensed Apple accessories.

It’s sucky, especially if you wanted to double your 11-inch Air’s for cheap (as I did), but in all honesty, my butter fingers are probably better off not cracking open my Air’s guts. Apple’s probably done me a favor here.

I feel pretty good about being a 13-inch MacBook Air owner, but as the computer becomes more popular I’m no longer unique. My MacBook Air looks just like all the other ones out there, but it doesn’t have to thanks to Colorware.

Is the new 11.6-inch MacBook Air a netbook? Steve Jobs would become apoplectic if you called it one, and he’s right. Sure, the 11.6-inch MacBook Air has about the same form factor as a 12-inch netbook, but without any of the latter’s compromised build quality or lousy performance… even when running a netbook’s go-to operating system, Windows 7.

Apple released a support document yesterday titled MacBook Air (Late 2010): Video anomalies after waking from sleep, wherein Apple says that if you are experiencing these symptoms, “After waking from sleep, your MacBook Air display may flicker or fade from light to dark repeatedly.”

The solution is to: “Download and apply the Mac OS X v10.6.5 update to resolve this issue.”

Apple never mentioned this in the Mac OS X 10.6.5 release notes. I’m not surprised by that, but I’m happy that Apple has a solution to the problem that plagued early MacBook Air adopters – including myself and other staffers at Cult of Mac.

Have you seen any more video anomalies after applying the Mac OS X 10.6.5 update on your MacBook Air? Let us know if it worked for you or not by leaving a comment.

Although Steve Jobs’ Thoughts on Flash was a devastating opening salvo against Adobe’s bloated, buggy and insecure browser plugin, perhaps the most brutal attack in the war between Apple and Flash was Cupertino’s decision to exclude it from the software shipping on the MacBook Air… a move that has notably saved the Air two hours in battery life while simultaneously making Adobe look like a bunch of inept chumps.

Now Adobe CEO Shantau Narayan is commenting on the matter at this week’s Web 2.0 summit. Asked by Engadget about the MacBook Air’s battery life improvement without Flash installed, Narayan responded: “When we have access to hardware acceleration, we’ve proven that Flash has equal or better performance on every platform.”

Which is, of course, a besides-the-point response. Performance isn’t the issue: energy efficiency is.

However, it does seem like Adobe is ready to admit there may actually be an issue they can address, because Narayen followed that comment with an admission that Adobe was working in the labs to optimize a beta for the new Air. Not that you’d catch me dead installing it at this point, but your mileage may well vary.

We start off with another deal on the MacBook Air, including a 1.4GHz version with a 12-inch screen for $969. Also, the Apple Store is offering several factory refurbished tablets, including a 16GB Wi-Fi model for just $449. We also have the latest crop of App Store freebies for your iPhone or iPod touch, including “Bear vs. Penguins,” a new take on the tower defense game.

Along the way, we’ll also check out some accessories for your iPad, some cases for your iPhone (as well as a deal on a iPhone 3GS), along with software for your Mac. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

We start off another week with a mix of bargains for the Mac fan. First up are several factory-refurbished Apple MacBook Air laptops from the Apple Store, starting at $849 for a1.86GHz Core 2 Duo unit with 13.3-inch screen. Also, Handhelditems has a 77 percent discount on various cases for the iPod touch. Finally, AT&T Wireless has several refurbished iPhone 4 handsets, such as a 32GB model.

Along the way, we’ll also check out the latest batch of iPhone app price cuts, including “Harry Potter: Spells.” Additionally, we’ll take a look at another sale on 160GB Apple TV units, iPhone applications and Mac software. As always, details on these and many more items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Wondering just how capable the new MacBook Air is with pro-level applications? The boys over at Anandtech ran the 11.6 and 13-inch MacBook Airs through their paces running Adobe PhotoShop CS4.

The results are about what you expect: max out your new MacBook Air and you’ll see a 10-20% performance increase at the expense of about 9% of its optimal battery life… but having that gut instinct arrayed out in benchmark numerics certainly makes the decision to drop a couple hundred extra on your Air seem more objective.

The new 11.6-inch MacBook Air is extremely netbook-like in dimensions, if not in specs or price, but if that $999 tag doesn’t do it for you, the gadget sweatshops of China would be happy to sell you a Hackintoshable MacBook Air clone for just $260, right down to the official Apple logo.