Apple unveils ultrathin laptop, iTunes movie rentals

SAN FRANCISCO -- With an ultra-slim notebook computer and online movie rental service unveiled Tuesday, Apple Inc. is building on rising Macintosh sales and doubling its bet on delivering video to portable devices and televisions over the Internet.

Apple's foray into the online movie rental business was widely expected, but Chief Executive Steve Jobs surprised some by pulling off alliances with all six major movie studios.

Users can watch films instantly over a broadband Internet connection or download and keep them for 30 days. They just have to finish watching the movie within 24 hours after starting.

Films will be available through iTunes within 30 days after they're released on DVD. They will cost $2.99 for older movies, $3.99 for new ones, plus $1 more for high-definition versions. The service launched Tuesday in the U.S.

Speaking at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco Tuesday, Jobs acknowledged Apple's first attempt to deliver movies to living rooms did not meet expectations. The Apple TV set-top box always could wirelessly stream videos and other multimedia from a user's computer to a TV. But it is now possible to rent or purchase content directly on a TV through the set-top box, -- now $229, down from $299 -- with no computer involved.

Also Tuesday, Jobs took the wraps off the MacBook Air laptop and touted it as "the world's thinnest notebook." It's less than an inch thick and is just .16 inches thick at its thinnest point. It weighs 3 pounds and comes with an 80-gigabyte hard drive. An optional 64GB flash-based solid state drive costs $1,000 extra.

The machine does not have an optical drive built in for reading CDs and DVDs. Jobs says users can download movies and music over the Internet and access the optical drives on other PCs and Macs to install new software. Or, an external drive for that purpose will retail for $99.

The laptop will cost $1,799. It goes on sale in two weeks.