Apple opts for speed as laptop lightens, MacBook and iPad 'hook up'

APPLE'S iPhone and iPads have been such hits that the company is now looking for ways to bring some of their cachet to its laptops and desktops.

Offering glimpses overnight in the US of an updated Mac operating system, called Mac OS X Lion, Apple CEO Steve Jobs drew laughs when he introduced the new models by saying: "We asked ourselves: What would happen if a MacBook and an iPad hooked up?"

The company highlighted features that borrow from the lighter-weight iOS that runs on its mobile gadgets and unveiled two new versions of its MacBook Air ultralight laptops.

Lion - Apple uses names of big cats to differentiate between versions - is expected to arrive mid-2011.

It will include a built-in store selling Mac software, similar to the iTunes store that sells apps for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Those devices have been successful in part because of the tens of thousands of games and other programs available as free or paid downloads in the app store.

Apple may be looking to a Mac app store to boost interest in its computers, which make up a tiny but growing percentage of the personal computer market.

In the second quarter, Macs accounted for about four per cent of PC shipments worldwide, according to the research group IDC.

Apple plans to vet Mac programs before they'll be sold in the store.

Software developers will be able to submit apps for review starting in November and the Mac store will be open for business in the next 90 days.

Lion also mimics the iPhone and iPad user interface in a few ways.

Mac users will be able to move from the main desktop to a "dashboard," or screen with a clock, weather report, calculator and other widgets, by swiping a multitouch mouse or trackpad.

People will also be able to drag one program icon on top of another to create a new folder, which smartly names itself based on the type of applications that are inside.

Before the event, rumors swirled that Apple would add a touch screen to its Mac laptops.

But the company stuck to its stated belief that it doesn't make ergonomic sense to make people reach out and touch a vertical surface.

Apple's new MacBook Air laptops have something else in common with iPhones and iPads, however - they store all their information in flash memory.

Apple did away with a CD and DVD drive in its first MacBook Air, and it ditches the hard disk drive in this edition, too. That will speed up the time it takes to boot up the laptops or wake them from a sleep state.