In early March, Southern Lehigh High School students learned that all freshmen, sophomores, and juniors would be receiving new MacBook Air laptops to replace their current MacBook Pros at the end of the month.

In the 2012-2013 school year, Southern Lehigh began the 1:1 laptop program. This plan assigns every student a laptop to use for school. In order to make this project the most financially responsible, the district decided to do a “lease to buy” agreement. The school leases the computers for four years and makes payments over that time, with an option to buy them for one dollar at the end of the term.

“We are getting new laptops because it was an excellent financial opportunity,” assistant principal Mr. Jason Lilly said. “The district was actually able to save money by doing the exchange ahead of our four year refresh cycle.”

The technology department looked into several companies to find the best price possible.

The biggest problems with the laptops that have been used for nearly three years is their poor battery life. By switching to the MacBook Airs this will no longer be a problem. According to Apple.com, the Macbook Pro only has seven hours of battery life compared to the Macbook Air which has nine.

“I think this is going to be really great,” math teacher Mr. Greenawald said. “If they are thinner, lighter, and faster then it’s a win win win.”

Students are reminded that this will be a direct exchange. Make sure to bring your laptop and charger on the day of the exchange. Since the new laptops are a different size, they will need a different charger. Also, students must back up any files on the hard drive to SpartanDocs to make sure they will not lose any work.

“I don’t mind the laptops we have now,” sophomore Brian Smith said, “but it will be a lot nicer not having to charge my laptop every other period.”