Apple Releases

Lion
OS X 10.7... Lion was the expected release today. This is a significant release because it's the first step at meshing OS X with iOS. You'll really only experience this if you have one of the laptops or the standalone touchpad. The strange thing about this version is there's no DVD media. You can only get it by downloading from the App Store. If you're already using Snow Leopard, it'll cost you the standard $29. Anything else and you'll get ripped off because you have to buy Snow Leopard first and then Lion... $58.

Air
Apple never releases one product at a time, so if you're following the release cycles, you know that the Macbook, Macbook air and Mac mini are overdue. They decided to get rid of the regular Macbook since the Air was getting powered up with a Core i5 this round... no need to have a laptop and then another similar, but heavier version. The i5 was long overdue and the best part is the prices stayed the same.

Mini
The Mac mini also got a long overdue i5/i7 upgrade. It also got the useless Thunderbolt and lost its optical drive. It's still a great machine and the most affordable Mac, but if the point of this line was supposed to lure PC users over, it lost several steps in the ease of doing so. Because it's HDMI and Thunderbolt only, you have to buy a $29 adapter if you want to use a 3rd party monitor. There's no DVD drive, so you have to buy and expensive external (be careful... not all are fully compatible with OS X). It's a powerful system that's good enough for gaming, but be aware of the potential extra costs as you shop and compare.