First Look at the MacBook Air

[uNext]

People keep on talking about how wireless this device is blah blah.
I take it to the airport and connect rent a movie through itunes blah blah.
Have some of you forgotten how slow and unreliable wifi can be?
You guys make it sound like this macbook air have some high end new wifi technology that guarantees instant connection wherever you are.
Point blank is far from a all wireless device and far from being productive.

I know people wil ldefend anything apple. But anything apple is not perfect and cost effective and this is a perfect example.

No wwan? come on apple stop cheating your fans already if lenovo can offer a built in option for 30 bucks why cant you?
stop releasing beta products and putting stuff onm the 2nd gen that should have been on the 1st gen that lil game is getting old.

 

[Zadillo]

People keep on talking about how wireless this device is blah blah.
I take it to the airport and connect rent a movie through itunes blah blah.
Have some of you forgotten how slow and unreliable wifi can be?
You guys make it sound like this macbook air have some high end new wifi technology that guarantees instant connection wherever you are.
Point blank is far from a all wireless device and far from being productive.

I know people wil ldefend anything apple. But anything apple is not perfect and cost effective and this is a perfect example.

No wwan? come on apple stop cheating your fans already

So you start off complaining about how unreliable wifi is, but then complain about no WWAN (which in my experience can be plenty unreliable or simply unavailable itself)?

 

[chewietobbacca]

People keep on talking about how wireless this device is blah blah.
I take it to the airport and connect rent a movie through itunes blah blah.
Have some of you forgotten how slow and unreliable wifi can be?
You guys make it sound like this macbook air have some high end new wifi technology that guarantees instant connection wherever you are.
Point blank is far from a all wireless device and far from being productive.

Yep, i'm always amazed at people these days thinking wi-fi is the be all end all...

 

[freebooter]

-sir we don't have a space for firewire
-"no problem"
-sir we don't have a place for wired network
-"skip it"
-sir we have a problem with the battery
-"put it inside"
-sir can't let people get into the ram
-"..they don't need to"
-sir the optical drive is too big
-"excellent..they will buy an external one"
-sir we have only a space for one usb
-"mmm..I think its more then enough"
-sir we run out of silver keys
-"put black...no one will notice"

-sir, the bezel has to be quite large
-"bezel schmezel...you can stuff that attitude in this envelope [angrily removes MBA, denting the wafer thin aluminum case] and mail it to Bill Gates...and include your CV while you're at it! I love this thin beauty [hugs MBA angrily, cracking sound as screen gives way inside] and hate you! You're fired and fat!"
-sir, you can't fire me. I'm your wife.
-"Madge! Get Legal on line one, Stat!"

 

[Fast Shadow]

Personally, I guess I am not the right person for this laptop.

Me-College student who wants to do some photo work along with web browsing, emails, aim , etc.

Really now, $1799? MBP please. I do not want to sound blah about such a revolutionary new Apple Item, but that price hurts. Macbooks are pretty portable as it is and they are likely to become more portable at next revision. For me, I respect the step Apple engineers are taking, and I believe when the price goes down this will be great, but for me, I will go with the Macbook Pro.

Why would you spend all of that money on an MBP over an MB if all you're doing is "some" photo work and web browsing? I do a lot more than that on a regular MB without coming close to pushing its capabilities.

 

[C-Dubs]

Agreed. In November I bought a MacBook for $1500.
Here are the specs...
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
120GB Serial ATA @ 5400rpm
SuperDrive 8x DL
5.0 pounds

So... BETTER than the MacBook Air, cheaper than the MacBook Air, slightly heavier than the MacBook Air.. oh and I get over 3.5+ hours of battery life with the backlight on the monitor turned down.

A MacBook is by FAR a better deal. It doesnt have the "cool" factor, but it's still better than most other notebooks out there.

I have a better setup on my black MB and I paid just under 2 grand. But you miss the point of the MBA and the beauty of the MBA. Stop comparing a MBA to a MB or a MBP- compare it to a Sony TZ or other "ultra portable" PC out there and THEN you'll realize what it's meant to be! Heck watch the stupid keynote; steve said they took the Ultra-Portables from other companies and tried to make them better.

It's CHEAPER than the Sony TZ. It's about the same weight. It's THINNER than a Sony TZ. It's FASTER than a Sony TZ.

Maybe NOW you see what the MBA is supposed to be?

 

[badNameErr]

Have some of you forgotten how slow and unreliable wifi can be?

Then just plug it into the 'net via the USB>Ethernet adaptor. Easy.

 

[One Ohm]

It's a step in the right direction....


Digital Optical Combo Audio Output ???

 

[uNext]

So you start off complaining about how unreliable wifi is, but then complain about no WWAN (which in my experience can be plenty unreliable or simply unavailable itself)?

I dont know about you but when i travel to california and new york and chicago
for business my lenovo never drops tghe signal. I also have a mbp with a hsdpa expresscard and have no problems.

But if apple is touting this envelope fitiing portable you will ever need
why not just go the hwole 100 yards and make it that.

I really dont see how anybody that demand high productivity from their computer can even think about the macbook air.

How would go about installing boo camp on it if you dont have the external drive ohh you have to buy it because the remote function will not work so there goes apple forcing a sale of something that other companies include with a portable purchase for free.


people are wasting some much resources in defending it that some very important questions are not being asked.

 

[plasmid]

It's €1745 here in Denmark, which renders it a no-go. Especially considering $1799 is €1209 at the current exchange rate.

$1799/1209eur doesnt include tax
1745eur does

anyway - blame the exchange rate on the forward thinking FED
+ the very very conservative thinking ECB

 

[macenforcer]

as many have said the macbook air is targeted as a SECOND computer..

Yeah, its only good enough for a second computer because it sucks too much to be a first computer.

 

[chewietobbacca]

It's a step in the right direction....


Digital Optical Combo Audio Output ???

HDMI?

 

[thinkband]

You're missing the point. MacBook AIR. AIR. Its as lights as a feather (not really). Portability and lightness are it's strengths- and it can do everything a MB can. It's not meant for the average college student. It's meant for the Harvard University Legal Grad Student who has to haul his laptop everywhere he goes... or something like that. It's aimed at those people to whom portability of their mac takes presedence over functionality- a MBA is just a fairly beautiful balance of both, considering it's a brand-new device.

Your dissappointment is that what was announced wasn't what you expected. You expected a revised MBP. Instead Steve announced a whole new MBA.

That is not exactly it. I knew nothing would happen to the MBP but I am always interested in New Apple toys. (Just bought a Ipod Touch in the last month). This just was not that awe-strucking.

Yeah fine, as I said in posts in the past days, there may be a market for this, only time will tell. I just think that for $1700, they could have not tried to make it into a macbook. It seems to me that Macbook people are pretty happy. They should have brought the price to around 1300-1400 and made it so it specifically is a picture slideshow device, word processing device, and basic applications device (internet). Right now it is an expensive Macbook with less features and people are not giving it a fair comparison.

If I was a Harvard Law student who needed to carry his laptop everywhere he went, I still would not be satisfied, because I would not need a 13 inch screen nor would I need all these extra features the macbook air has. And if I was putting down 40k a year to go to college, I doubt I would have enough money left over for a 1800 toy.

 

[C-Dubs]

I know people wil ldefend anything apple. But anything apple is not perfect and cost effective and this is a perfect example.

No wwan? come on apple stop cheating your fans already if lenovo can offer a built in option for 30 bucks why cant you?
stop releasing beta products and putting stuff onm the 2nd gen that should have been on the 1st gen that lil game is getting old.

I do like Lenovo. A great hardware company thats stuck with a crappy OS company.

If Microsoft didnt always want to charge me two weeks worth of pay for their OS UPGRADE that's full of bugs and I had to wait 5 years for I might hate them a little less. Trust me, I don't love Apple- but I sure as hell would rather spend $129 for a OS Update than $399 for a new set of headaches.

I agree that Apple has a long way to go to really make me happy- things like more options on my computer and more competitive pricing of the actual machines would deffinetly make me think about a Apple tattoo... but I think that won't happen for... well, maybe never. So Of the two evils, I shall choose apple (for now)

 

[Fast Shadow]

Macbook "Air" where's the Nike Logo? where's the trademark attribution? I could easily confuse this with an over-hyped pair of their $200 running shoes... Oh I get it, the air is the void in buyers wallets after they buy a portable that doesn't even have an optical drive included - great for the "executive" that likes aluminum and mashup chicklets keyboards market; that never ever watches a movie on a flight or receives corporate data on dvd... but who'd want to watch it on a 13" crappy screen anyway? Does the "share drive" work for PC's so I can bogart a movie or some home porn from a fellow traveller? Apple gets lamer with every release first the aluminum iJunk now this. Design and marketing rule, not a bad thing but function has gone the way of the Amelio 8500... Steve, where for are though function?

That's a huge no-no in many corporations, due to the number of incidents where sensitive data has been lost or stolen. The less corporate data retained on laptops, the better. And optical media w/ sensitive data is even more frowned upon. There are initiatives in many corps to do away with optical drives, entirely. Not to mention disabling USB flash drives.

Business people on the move? Sure, it sounds good, until you realize that people in business often need MS Exchange and good battery life / replaceable batteries, which hurts this big.

Outlook is on the way out. Outlook Web Access is eventually going to become the de facto client for Exchange. The current version of OWA is practically indistinguishable from Outlook, already.

The lack of user replaceable RAM and battery are the only legit beefs I've yet to see brought up regarding the MBAir.

 

[jshapnyc]

Not really. The processor/memory are about 2-8x faster but the graphics card in the Air sucks. I would take the G4's Geforce, firewire, optical drive, etc over any of the "features" of the Air.

I mean, are you kidding me? I had a 12" G4 867 and I loved the hell out of that little computer but it was slower than death from smoking cigarettes. It took years to open Safari, let alone run Photoshop. The G4 I feel was historically Apple's worst performing processor and while I loved the form factor, the machine was almost unusable.

 

[One Ohm]

If it had Digital I/O an Silver Keys, I'd have to buy it....but it don't, so I don't have to buy it....fhew!

What is the Video Card?

 

[C-Dubs]

If I was a Harvard Law student who needed to carry his laptop everywhere he went, I still would not be satisfied, because I would not need a 13 inch screen nor would I need all these extra features the macbook air has. And if I was putting down 40k a year to go to college, I doubt I would have enough money left over for a 1800 toy.

The 13.3" screen I think is just using a MB format to cut costs (or keep supply flexible). As said in the keynote, the MBA isnt a soup-up or more portable MB... it's more apple's answer to the ultra-portables out there. There are actually less features in a MBA than a MB, hence the reason some people are saying it's step backwards- but they miss the portability point.

And if I was having to put down 40k a year for college, and my MB was always at my side, I would consider a MBA if I thought it would make my life easier and not break my shoulder.

If it had Digital I/O an Silver Keys, I'd have to buy it....but it don't, so I don't have to buy it....fhew!

What is the Video Card?

same graphics chip as the MB according to apple's specs.

 

[JAT]

You probably are. Lenovo has it right. I have a T61 right now and it has everything except the DVI port. Oh, I paid $1000 for it new from Lenovo thank you. Corporate discount with additional holiday savings.

T61
- 15" 1680x1050 screen
- 2.2ghz C2D
- Best keyboard in the world
- Upgradeable battery
- Superdrive (removable bay) I have 2 hard drives in there now.
- Docking port
- Multiple options for navigation like trackpad and trackpoint
- SD SLOT
- PCMCIA and ExpressCard slots
- 3 usb ports
- Firewire port
- Fan NEVER comes on
- Fingerprint reader
- Modem, Ethernet
- 802.11n
- Bluetooth
- Carbon shell, very strong
- Keyboard light

- OH AND UPGRADEABLE CPU BABY.




Optional stuff I didn't get...

Higher rez screen, cellular, faster video cards, camera, faster cpu.


Apple needs and attitude adjustment. If my thinkpad had OS X running it would be the best laptop EVER.

This is either the stupidest or most confused post in this thread. Why didn't you just compare the MBA to other things that are completely different?

Here are just a few more things that the MBA is not:
racehorse
apple (you know, the kind you eat)
sock
space station
run-flat tire
open-air football stadium
contact lens

Please, feel free to use these to rant some more about one product available for you to purchase. If you want to. (esp the stadium, it's way too thin to be one! damn Apple)

Oh and, I'm pretty sure Lenovo has never put a Firewire port in a computer. You may want to look up iLink.

 

[plumosa]

This is exactly what I'm looking for in a laptop. I already have nice desktop and I can't bring myself to buy a MBP that is nearly the exact version of my iMac in portable form. Its overkill. I just need a laptop for traveling and an AirMac is super light and thin with a very decent battery.

BUT the price... Its a bit much. I think a 1599 would be much more reasonable.


I have 5 months before my next big trip, so I'm definitely going to hold out until at least then.

 

[Mr. Pippin]

That's a huge no-no in many corporations, due to the number of incidents where sensitive data has been lost or stolen. The less corporate data retained on laptops, the better. And optical media w/ sensitive data is even more frowned upon. There are initiatives in many corps to do away with optical drives, entirely. Not to mention disabling USB flash drives.



Outlook is on the way out. Outlook Web Access is eventually going to become the de facto client for Exchange. The current version of OWA is practically indistinguishable from Outlook, already.

The lack of user replaceable RAM and battery are the only legit beefs I've yet to see brought up regarding the MBAir.

Agreed, three big deals I see with this.

1. No replaceable battery.

Many will find it unacceptable to send the whole laptop in. Especially if you can't swap the hard drive if they send you a replacement.

2. 2gig of RAM, period. Serious business users use over 2gig of RAM today with apps on travel assignments.

3. No ExpressCard slot. That's the primary way to get 3G wireless access, which is now also a big deal in business environments.

I doubt this product will do that well.

 

[organic bond]

This thing is DEFINITELY very portable. If you are in the market for a portable laptop, this should definitely be in consideration. I think the price is fair for the amount of engineering that went into it and the fact that it contains custom parts.

Indeed! The previouos ones are SOOO HEAVY.

 

[chewietobbacca]

That's a huge no-no in many corporations, due to the number of incidents where sensitive data has been lost or stolen. The less corporate data retained on laptops, the better. And optical media w/ sensitive data is even more frowned upon. There are initiatives in many corps to do away with optical drives, entirely. Not to mention disabling USB flash drives.



Outlook is on the way out. Outlook Web Access is eventually going to become the de facto client for Exchange. The current version of OWA is practically indistinguishable from Outlook, already.

The lack of user replaceable RAM and battery are the only legit beefs I've yet to see brought up regarding the MBAir.

Yes and sending the computer in to get a replaceable battery is a HUGE no for a business-use laptop. Think about the litigation and issues from stolen data...

Oh and OWA still rqeuires Exchange client/server, so you're going to use Windows, and with the limited HD space on these babies, you won't store a whole lot else!

 

[jshapnyc]

Two words: Build quality. The build quality of this is much higher than that of the MacBook.

I haven't seen one yet but the Al case is what sold me, hands down. My MacBook feels cheap. The plastic flexes on the sides, around the screen, etc. I hated the plastic of my iBook and went to a 12" G4 and missing the gorgeous Al case kept me up after I sold it and went on to the MacBook.

 

[Kallikinos]

I love the looks of the MBA but as many others do, I don't like the fact that you can't upgrade RAM or replace the battery (yourself at least).

The price is a little out of my range too. $1299-$1599 would have been more reasonable, anyway when I do get a laptop it will probably be a Macbook. I'm one of those old fashioned people that still needs an Ethernet port