CNET Networks' TechRepublic runs a regular series called "Cracking Open" in which it takes a look inside a variety of gadgets. CNET.com.au is publishing this excerpt.

The Apple MacBook Air is thin, light, and a testament to what good engineering and design can accomplish in a notebook personal computer.

For the sake of full disclosure: our Apple MacBook Air is in working condition before we crack it open.

Caption text by Mark Kaelin.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin

To get an idea of how thin the Apple MacBook Air really is, we placed it next to a pad of notebook paper, a Visual Studio magazine, and a copy of the book Hacking Windows Exposed.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin

The MacBook Air's three ports are a mini-DVI out, a USB 2.0 connection, and an audio headphone jack. The microphone and camera are located on the lid above the LCD display.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin

To get inside the MacBook Air, we have to remove 10 screws, which enables us to remove the back plate. This process proves to be much easier than with the various iPods we have cracked open.

Here, we reveal the inside of the MacBook Air. Panning around the insides, we can see the main circuit board, where we will surely find the RAM, CPU, and graphics chip. On the other side, we have the housing for the hard drive.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin

Over here is the chipset for the Wi-Fi in our MacBook Air. It's from Broadcom.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin

The most obvious thing to remove next is the battery. Unlike many of the Apple products we have cracked open in the past, the Air has a battery configuration that could actually be replaced, if necessary.

The battery is thin and is really a very large version of the batteries we see in iPods.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin

The Apple MacBook Air is laid out cleanly. The connecting apparatus of choice is the ribbon cable, which we find all over the place inside the MacBook Air. Of course, that fits with the thin profile of the notebook.

After removing a few screws, we can lift the hard drive right out. It is wrapped in rubber and foam to reduce shock to the drive.

Because of space restrictions, the hard-drive size is limited to 80GB, and the RPMs are limited to 4,200. The Air doesn't exactly provide high-performance storage technology.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin

After removing a few screws and prying at the thermal paste, we reveal the Intel Core2 Duo CPU and the Intel North Bridge graphics chips.

There are two sets of eight chips making up the 2GB of RAM.

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Other than the eight RAM chips, you can see the chips that make up the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) system.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin

There's not much to the sound board. You can see the round speaker. However, this small setup produces quite a bit of sound.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin

Common to many notebooks these days, the sound is produced by a Realtek ALC885 audio codec chip, located on the flip side of the board.

Credit: CNET Networks/Mark Kaelin