Apple today announced that MacBook Air is now shipping.

Apple also announced that the new Apple TV software update, which lets you rent high definition movies directly from your widescreen TV, is not quite finished. Apple now plans to make the free software download available in another week or two.

The update to Apple TV repositions the device from being an iTunes peripheral into being an independent multimedia computer. The update will let you rent movies on the iTunes Store directly and let you browse and subscribe to podcasts and video podcasts.

Pricing & Availability

The new MacBook Air is now shipping and will be available through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), and includes:

• 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with 1280×800 resolution;
• 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache;
• 800 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM;
• 80GB hard disk drive with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100;
• Micro-DVI port (includes Micro-DVI to VGA and Micro-DVI to DVI Adapters);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• one USB 2.0 port;
• one headphone port;
• multi-touch TrackPad with support for advanced multi-touch gestures including tap, scroll, pinch, rotate and swipe; and
• 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options and accessories for MacBook Air include the ability to upgrade to a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor; 64GB solid state drive, MacBook Air SuperDrive, Apple USB Ethernet Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple Remote and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Additional build-to-order options also include pre-installed copies of iWork ‘08, Logic Express 8, Final Cut Express 4 and Aperture 1.5.

The new Apple TV software will be available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers within two weeks. Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, is available from the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $229 (US) for the 40GB model and $329 (US) for the 160GB model (US and Canada). Apple TV requires an 802.11g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. iPod games will not play on Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only.

*Movie rentals work on iPod classic, iPod nano with video and iPod touch.