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First Look at the MacBook Air
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I think there's a lot of companies, Apple included, who missed that memo. Then again, there's a lot of everyday folks who seem to think it won't apply to them as well.
And, let's be honest, the foundation of American capitalism is market expansion damn the consequences. We're a debt-financed society, and the subprime housing market collapse is the tip of this iceburg. Folks will do what they will do - I think Apple's position as a company is, if you're gonna put $2K on your Visa for a laptop, make it ours and not our competitors. Which, is responsible behavior for any company. It always makes me laugh to see folks so invested in Apple that they honestly believe Apple cares about them, as a person, individual and human being. Apple cares about being a business, and I think the MBA was a great business move. 2008 is going to be the year when a lot of chickens come home to roost, but hey, if Apple breaks 10% market share then they won't be Apple's chickens.
I am inclined to agree with you, but it does look awesome. Wont be buying though, as my MacBook is better for my purposes (I travel a lot internationally, and as a seismologist, I also need a reasonably big hard disk). Shame about the screen bezel though - if this were smaller, the footprint would be smaller and I might be tempted...
how can a site devoted to mac computers have soooo many people on complaining about an awesome new technology that we've just been introduced to??
so it's not YOUR perfect machine for everything YOU want to do. get over yourselves.
it's thin, it's fun, and it's revolutionary.
lets just enjoy it!
instead of a dumb/blind ++ I would say that being an Apple devotee doesn't mean that you have to take whatever crap Apple might throw at you!
Apple is great, much better than the rest but it goofs up a fair share as well, if YOU have a right to praise Apple, then the rest have equal right to complain or criticize, stop moaning you are not only making a mockery of freedom of speech, but you are also stopping potential constructive criticism that CAN result in a better Apple product.
I was really looking forward to spending my hard earned money in coming days ... but uh .... I'll definitely definitely pass ...
*and I hug my late 2006 macbook*
As much as I criticize Macbook air, it would sell so much...whether people complain or not, they are still morally tied to the apple brand, and would buy any "big" release like this. Trust me, apple knows what they are doing, they wouldn't make such a decision if they didn't know it would function...we all live in a world were appearance is first priority, and sadly people would buy this for its looks, to make a fashion statement, and get admired rather then its productivity. Fortunately, and rarely, I am not one of those people, and unfortunately I can't change the way others think, but in the end it is what it is.
I agree with you that Apple is pushing it in terms of the markup. But this machine is for a very different market than the MacBook. It is ALL in the marketing.
Not to the road warriors. I just realized that the battery is built in....
Anyone who is a road warrior knows by now that the max charge on a battery starts to decay after even half a year. Replacing this thing every year and a half. Congrats Apple. Anyone who does real work has just blown this thing off as a gimmick. Everything else. Even the NIC dongle could be overlooked. This...you will get the noobs who don't know any better. Everyone else will laugh and move on. Again this comes back to Jobs's fetish for thin. I've been waiting for it to bite Apple in the butt one of these days. This may be it.
I completely agree.
My main issue is they managed to decrease the battery life, it's the lowest of the MacBook series.
Battery Life:
MacBook - 6 hrs
MacBook Pro (15") - 6 hrs
MacBook Pro (17") - 5.75 hrs
MacBook Air - 5 hrs
It's like Jobs went into the Apple design studio and said, "Make me a laptop as thin and you can, but I want the full size MacBook keyboard and it can't weigh any more than 3 lbs".
Not to the road warriors. I just realized that the battery is built in....
Anyone who is a road warrior knows by now that the charge on a battery starts to decay after even half a year. Replacing this thing every year and a half. Congrats Apple. Anyone who does real work has just blown this thing off as a gimmick. Everything else. Even the NIC dongle could be overlooked. This...you will get the noobs who don't know any better. Everyone else will laugh and move on. Again this comes back to Jobs's fetish for thin.
You know, I'm actually surprised that they didn't include a chrome back on the darn thing!
Yes a lot of people here are the "geeks" or "nerds" of the computer world, but you also forget that a lot of us are diploma carrying marketing grads, or people in the marketing field itself. I am one to give Apple the benefit of the doubt a lot of the time believing that i can see where they're coming from, and having faith that their products will deliver. However in this case, no matter what angle i try to come from, i just don't get it. I have sales experience in computers and i keep thinking to myself, "how would i market this to someone?" You know what i'd say? Buy a different laptop. Want something small? Buy a Dell x1350, or a macbook. Hell you can get a secondhand Dell 300m or x300 for 1/5th the price. If you want a mac, i just fail to see how you'd want to go for a Macbook Air above the "ohh it's pretty" factor.
I don't work for Apple's marketing department, but one thing that i CAN say coming from a person working as a marketing associate for one of the largest companies in the world is that you need to remember that a pretty product will sell, but to KEEP a customer happy it's gotta perform decent as well. People who pay for a premium expect a premium service, and if i were to tell a customer "yeah this is an amazingly light laptop, super thin, but you cant upgrade the ram, and if your battery dies it has to be serviced" they'll ask, "then why do i have to pay $700 more for this than a macbook?"
Everyone saying how this laptop isnt for the "computer geek" REALLY think that people knowingly will be shelling out $600-700 more for a laptop that sacrifices a ton of utility for the thin and light they've given us? I think the initial "wow" factor will sell it, but i don't think it will make for a happy customer in the end. Again this is just my opinion.
Yes i know the thin and light market fetches a premium while thinning down the laptop. But NORMALLY these factors are integrated video, lack of internal optical drive, and battery life. The Macbook air sacrifices most all of these already (real world battery life remains to be seen). PLUS you DON'T get the reduced footprint, nor more USB ports, or Firewire, or a flash drive reader, or a line in, or internal ethernet.
I hate to keep comparing it to my Dell x300, but it has a modem, ethernet, 4-pin firewire, mic, headphone, SD card reader, infrared, VGA, 2xUSB ports, AND a reduced footprint, and removable battery, and upgradeable ram, and a 1.2 Ghz processor.
You ask us "what do you want for that form factor and price?" You know what i want? I want a Dell x300 form factor with backlit keys, core 2 duo processor, 80 GB hard drive, LED backlit screen, webcam, magsafe power plug, and the ability to install Mac OSX. The x300 can be obtained used for about $400... you REALLY think that i cant get these additional features for $1300 more???? Is that REALLY too much to ask? You cant tell me that these few additional features are worth more than $1300, if even that. If you ever get the chance to pick up and hold an X300, tell me that isn't a sexy combo of form factor and performance.
If Apple had simply upgraded the 12 inch powerbook line, so many more people would be first in line to shell out the $1800 for this laptop, sadly that's not what they did, they cut out 50% of the size, 75% of the features, and increased the cost 30%. This to me doesn't add up to a smart decision. But what do I know? Time will be the only way to show if this was a smart or poor decision on Apple's part.
I don't work for Apple's marketing department, but one thing that i CAN say coming from a person working as a marketing associate for one of the largest companies in the world is that you need to remember that a pretty product will sell, but to KEEP a customer happy it's gotta perform decent as well. People who pay for a premium expect a premium service, and if i were to tell a customer "yeah this is an amazingly light laptop, super thin, but you cant upgrade the ram, and if your battery dies it has to be serviced" they'll ask, "then why do i have to pay $700 more for this than a macbook?"
Everyone saying how this laptop isnt for the "computer geek" REALLY think that people knowingly will be shelling out $600-700 more for a laptop that sacrifices a ton of utility for the thin and light they've given us? I think the initial "wow" factor will sell it, but i don't think it will make for a happy customer in the end. Again this is just my opinion.
Yes i know the thin and light market fetches a premium while thinning down the laptop. But NORMALLY these factors are integrated video, lack of internal optical drive, and battery life. The Macbook air sacrifices most all of these already (real world battery life remains to be seen). PLUS you DON'T get the reduced footprint, nor more USB ports, or Firewire, or a flash drive reader, or a line in, or internal ethernet.
I hate to keep comparing it to my Dell x300, but it has a modem, ethernet, 4-pin firewire, mic, headphone, SD card reader, infrared, VGA, 2xUSB ports, AND a reduced footprint, and removable battery, and upgradeable ram, and a 1.2 Ghz processor.
You ask us "what do you want for that form factor and price?" You know what i want? I want a Dell x300 form factor with backlit keys, core 2 duo processor, 80 GB hard drive, LED backlit screen, webcam, magsafe power plug, and the ability to install Mac OSX. The x300 can be obtained used for about $400... you REALLY think that i cant get these additional features for $1300 more???? Is that REALLY too much to ask? You cant tell me that these few additional features are worth more than $1300, if even that. If you ever get the chance to pick up and hold an X300, tell me that isn't a sexy combo of form factor and performance.
If Apple had simply upgraded the 12 inch powerbook line, so many more people would be first in line to shell out the $1800 for this laptop, sadly that's not what they did, they cut out 50% of the size, 75% of the features, and increased the cost 30%. This to me doesn't add up to a smart decision. But what do I know? Time will be the only way to show if this was a smart or poor decision on Apple's part.
Everyone in the world who has internet knows what an ethernet cable looks like
Yes I know I sound like a broken record but I do not get the point of this thing. I mean all you can really do is surf the web and do documents. So why spend so much cash on such a huge machine when I can get a macbook that does all of that and more. People really want one laptop for home and one for the road. This one is neither it offers the features you would see in something that should be much smaller and portable in a home size. Drop the screen size down a couple notches and it will sell like hot cakes.
The whining in here is un-believeable!!! (as Steve Jobs would say).
People are complaining that the price is too high. Yet the same people are complaining that the specs are too low! Higher specs would mean an even higher price, fools!
WAH WAH WAH!!!!
processor is too slow
WAAH WAAH WAAH!!!
mono speaker
no upgradeable RAM
WAAH WAAH WAAH!!!!
hard drive is too small
no optical drive
WAAH WAAH I have no understanding of business decisions, consumer behavior and design trade-offs WAAH WAAH!!!
Do you idiots (excuse my language!) really think this machine could have been as thin as it is and as cheap as it is if they added in all that stuff? If they did, it would be the same as a Macbook Pro, you morons, which already exists!
And for all those who think the SSD option is too expensive, go and price out a Dell Latitude D630 and tell me how much the 64 GB SSD option costs. That's right $1000, the exact same as Apple's SSD option on the 1.6 GHz Air!!
Grow the *** up! I can't believe the level if ignorance being spouted here.
People are complaining that the price is too high. Yet the same people are complaining that the specs are too low! Higher specs would mean an even higher price, fools!
WAH WAH WAH!!!!
processor is too slow
WAAH WAAH WAAH!!!
mono speaker
no upgradeable RAM
WAAH WAAH WAAH!!!!
hard drive is too small
no optical drive
WAAH WAAH I have no understanding of business decisions, consumer behavior and design trade-offs WAAH WAAH!!!
Do you idiots (excuse my language!) really think this machine could have been as thin as it is and as cheap as it is if they added in all that stuff? If they did, it would be the same as a Macbook Pro, you morons, which already exists!
And for all those who think the SSD option is too expensive, go and price out a Dell Latitude D630 and tell me how much the 64 GB SSD option costs. That's right $1000, the exact same as Apple's SSD option on the 1.6 GHz Air!!
Grow the *** up! I can't believe the level if ignorance being spouted here.
I really expected Apple to go 2 ways.. a big "air" and a small "air".
1) MacBook Air - (as spec'd - 13", 80GB, MacOSX, regular apps) - $1800
+
2) iBook Air - (9", 16GB, iPod Touch OSX, iPhone apps + iWork) - $700
I was wrong!
There is a reason they didn't just upgrade the 12inch PB - it was Apple's lowest selling laptop. I was one of the few people who bought one of them. They just didn't sell. Sad, but true.
I don't see it selling that well. It's a niche market luxury item. Outside of weight and multi-touch it doesn't bring anything to the table to warrant it's price. Like the guy above said, the trendy types will buy it but that's it. Look for a re-design or major drop in price over the next 12 months.
Can you honestly sit there and tell me all the miniaturization work and specialized engineering that went into putting so much into such a small package, should carry no additional cost??
Are you really telling me that ultra-portability carries no value to the consumer??
Oh really???? I'm glad you don't work for Apple then!
No ethernet, just 1 USB and no Firewire.
Everything else is ok. But I can't live without ethernet and just 1USB (I move a lot and I need to connect to a lot of networks)
I find it interesting that most who are complaining are providing honest reasoning and being quite civil and respectful.
On the other hand... many of those who are shocked that people could provide constructive criticism are being arrogant, rude, and extremely offensive. Way to show class.
I knew the question would come. I don't know, it is not a scientific opinion. However, after I wrote my piece I read some post about someone's wife who liked it and wanted a MacBook Air. At the end it's just a hunch. The same way there are Hollywood films that attract either men or women, I have the feeling that this laptop is going to be more popular with women, just a hunch.