First Look at the MacBook Air

[LizKat]

To note: The version with the 64GB SSD Drive starts at $3,089.00

...just to let you know

Yeah that's my idea of a good price for a car. But i went for the SSD anyway and a few of the externals and only thing ticked me off was the sales tax but I'll get over it.

Another really great thing about this book: looks like it has wonderful aerodynamic properties in the event it really annoys me sometime.

Anyone call Waterfield yet to find out what Gary thinks about casing it?

 

[darngooddesign]

I'm actually very interested in the air but uncertain how to manage such low storage space.

Is there an easy way to sync all my email from mail (not just the .mac)

Have it check all the accounts you are interested in, but not delete mail from the server of your work computer's email.

Also is there a way to keep certain songs on the air like an ipod but keep the main library on the Mac Pro?

Just put the songs you want on it on it, and just listen to your MacPro as a shared library.

That's how I do it. There might be more efficient methods.

 

[C-Dubs]

Why? Look at that bezel around the screen - they could lose an inch off that easily.

I hope not. I like having a slight bezel around the screen, at least then when I open it I'm not always grabbing onto the screen, just the bezel.

And if you can show me a laptop with one inch less around the bezel, then yes, you'd have a precedent to show that they wasted space. Otherwise, maybe they NEED a bezel around a LED- Backlight LCD display. Come to think of it, they should really shave off an inch from the back of the display too

 

[darngooddesign]

Why? Look at that bezel around the screen - they could lose an inch off that easily.

They have to have room for the ports so they would have to shrink down the keyboard to make room for the decreased width.

 

[C-Dubs]

I'm actually very interested in the air but uncertain how to manage such low storage space.

Is there an easy way to sync all my email from mail (not just the .mac)

Also is there a way to keep certain songs on the air like an ipod but keep the main library on the Mac Pro?

Same questions for the iphoto album...

If you are using IMAP servers for your email, and they have sufficient storage space, then you can have it host all your email- that's how I have my Fusemail account and .Mac accounts set up- both my iMac and MB can always access the emails on either account. Just set them up not to delete any emails after downloading (so you have to delete them manually) and have the servers save all sent emails, if you need to save what you've sent. Another option is to access your email through web clients on your portable and then only access through Mail with your desktop.

About your music library, well, if you have all your music downloaded from iTunes, burn music CD's of the content and rip it to your MBA. I've found that transferring music files directly through iTunes to other computers isnt as easy as I hoped. Hopefully DRM free music will change that.

 

[topscorer]

MBA vs Sony VGN-TZ

The MBA is nice though completely superfluous as we really needed a sub-notebook...

In any case, it is silly and unfair to compare it to the Sony, which has:
- a DVD-writer,
- a modem,
- LAN,
- FireWire,
- memory expansion slot,
- microphone jack,
- ExpressCard-Slot.

Nice try, Apple, but next time try harder!

AND where is the long overdue iMac (mainly choice of gfx cards) and Mac mini (X3100, draft n, etc.) update???????????????????????

 

[diabolic]

Why? Look at that bezel around the screen - they could lose an inch there easily.

But then they'd also have to shrink the keyboard, which would be really bad.

You could have easily have bough a cheaper car (MacBook) for less money that was faster and had more cup holders (ports), but your Boxster (AirBook) fits your needs and you don't need all those extra cupholders, and what your car does offer to you meets your needs perfectly. Simple reasoning really, but its amazing how its lost on people.

Seems like people believe that every new Mac product has to top the last in every spec. That's not really the case if it fits a need. It may not be everyone's need, but that's OK.

All the people feeling smarter than everyone else because they figured out you can buy a different, more powerful laptop for the same money are completely missing the point. For a lot of people, the price isn't a primary factor in their decisions. That's not a good thing or a bad thing, it's just the way it is.

 

[C-Dubs]

Okay I am not going to even read your post after I read business center. Go to the home center where everyone including people for business shop because they have the best deal and you will see that default price. It is 1499. The dell is a better deal even if it was 2200. That is why dell owns the market share for computers. IT WILL BE LIKE THAT FOR A LONG LONG TIME! People are just not going to wake up and say wow, I really want a MBA with no cd drive, no speakers, no upgradeable battery that will lose have its charge in less than a year, soldered ram. Apple has gone to far. Expect big, and I mean Expect big criticism from every computer mag and no one will ever buy this. Unless if you are a MAC FAN BOY!!!! OMG i must have this....grow up please what are you 14? anyway I have a life I have to go run with my "real" friends! And I am not anti-mac and pc pro. I own a pc and I own a apple 30inch LCD waiting to be hooked up with a notebook. I am not some fan boy that goes and glorifies anyone unless you are extrempley honest and sucessful and there have been only three people to this date 1. President Turman 2 Carnegie 3 President Lincoln Steve jobs is no where near this list. He made this product, so you can use all of the other apple products, any dam moron with brains can figure this out, but you cant because you are a MAC FAN BOY! Get over your self! Yes I have high expectations, that is why I am a lawyer who makes a good salary and has supportive people around me. If I said well apple this is really good then my expectations wouldnt be so high now would it. SO FAR MAC PRO (WASTE OF MONEY GPU TOTALLY OUTDATED) NOW (MAC BOOK AIR PIECE OF GARBAGE) This wont be such as good year for apple

You're a Windows Fan Boy huh. The arguments you place are just as ridiculous and extreme as people who are saying the MacBook Air is the MOST AMZING THING EVER and OMG STEVE JOBS I WANT TO HAVE YOUR CHILDREN etc etc etc... Dell is the most popular PC maker to date? Yes, this is true. Why? Because they have a remarkable corporate program. Their PC's are cheaper, their tech-support for corporations is great, and in some cases, their design astetics are great for PCs. But they run Windows, and I think more and more customers are getting fed up with Microsoft's inability to really deliver a polished product after 5 years and still charge what most people pay for in a TV set just to upgrade.

I stopped reading the rest of your rant after the "dell will be huge for a long long time" because you stopped writing coherent sentences.

 

[Ryan5505]

Business Traveler

to tell you the truth i dont think it is going to sell. Many college students these day and many average people, which the world is made up of is not going to spend 3 grand on a notebook that is 10 years old of tech. I think you are right apple has the right ideas but they are way way way ahead of themselves right here. It is like the ipod! When it was first introduced it sucked because it was ahead of its time, the hardrives were too big and the ipod was clunk however, it became popular with the nano. I think as technology improves this machine will be perfected. I would highly recomend not to buy this machines, unless your rich, but I think it wont sell well not until a few years. It certianly will not top in any shape and form the macbook sales. I think apples problem is that they need to focus on the products that make them money, and there is only four currently! Iphone, Ipod, macbook and imac.

This machine is NOT target for College, home-user,or pro-user. This is targeted to a travel campion or business traveler. Why would a college student want a hard drive of only 80 gigs, when they are going to listen to music and watch videos, same for the average home user. The processing power for a pro user is definitely not there.
We pre-ordered two @ my office b/c these machines are perfect. We can sync what we need from our server, throw it in a brief case and go. When you are given a presentation, with powerpoint or keynote there is a illuminated keyboard. Small enough to pull out in an airplane. I think a lot of people are missing the point and expected to replace a macbook pro with this device. The macbook is a great replacement at the moment from a powerbook 12 inch in the fact you can upgrade the ram to 4 gigs and rather cheaply by going here

 

[mudaudio]

Ooouch...

... lots of opinions turning into what someone else described as 'rabid responses'.

I am a freelance writer, and an audio producer.

At this time, a MacBook is right for me. It's portable enough that I can travel around without too much weight, but functional enough for live audio recording and most of my post production needs.

If however I should give up my audio production and focus on writing, I'd buy a MacBook Air in a second. The lack of power, ports, expandability and everything other criticism would be irrelevant. I would and could do everything I need to. It scares me that I can't change the hard drive, but then again, it scares me more that I'll lose my data - and the ability to swap a hard drive isn't going to help me with that. Whatever its limitations, I personally feel a MacBook Air would be fun and functional for me to work with as a travelling writer.

That said, if I get a huge contract to score a film I'll likely be buying an army of pro towers and notebooks.

It amazes me whenever I read an argument that goes something like 'I use a macbook pro so I'm better than you' / 'No, if you use a macbook pro you're obviously a geek and you have no life', etc etc.

We are what we are. We need what we need. We choose what we choose. We have our own opinions. We are entitled to voice them.... But really.... why so much animosity for the 'different'? We are all different.

rant over.

 

[dooker777]

MBA niche: Female Professionals?

I wonder how popular the MBA will be with female professionals. Lots of folks here are saying it's just a slower, lighter version of the MB. But for many people who have a desktop and need something light for travel (in particular for female professionals who are concerned about weight), the MBA fits in perfectly. Travel for work usually it about presentations, office, checking email, and web programs. The MBA is a nice looking machine that will help in the overall goal of impressing clients/colleagues. The MBP is overkill and the MB is heavier and not as "professional" looking.

 

[CallsignBaron]

Overpriced

I like the concept and the form factor but think it's overpriced by at least $200, if you compare the $1799 Air to a $1999 MBP. You get a whole lot more in the MBP for $200. Faster processor, upgradeable RAM and larger screen with an anti-glare option just to name a few.

PLUS... you have to pay an extra hundred bucks for the external superdrive WTF is up with that??? And, am I gonna have to ship it out to tech just to change the battery??

 

[C-Dubs]

The MBA is nice though completely superfluous as we really needed a sub-notebook...

In any case, it is silly and unfair to compare it to the Sony, which has:
- a DVD-writer,
- a modem,
- LAN,
- FireWire,
- memory expansion slot,
- microphone jack,
- ExpressCard-Slot.

Nice try, Apple, but next time try harder!

The MBA is half the size of the aforementioned Sony. Try fitting all of the features above in a form factor half the size.

Why you do NEED a Mic Jack, a ExpressCard slot, a FireWire port, A MODEM??, or even a LAN jack in something meant to be a ultra-portable?

Btw it's not a sub-notebook. Its considered a "Ultra-Portable". MBA fits THAT description nicely.

 

[rhpenguin]

how is 10.5 running on the Eee ? (i guess you did some ram upgrade)

It's fairly average. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a lot of patience and time to play. I have the high end model that came with 1GB of RAM and the 8GB hdd. Mac OS thinks the machine is faster than it really is and has some timing issues im working out but once that's done its really gonna be slick.

I've really stripped down the OS removing any .kext files that were not needed, limiting what services actually run, removing language packs etc.. Base OS install is about 1.5gb and not all hardware works (yet). I bought this machine as a toy and its really fun to play with.

However, on my T40, everything works, even sleep. Best $50 I ever spent.

 

[C-Dubs]

I like the concept and the form factor but think it's overpriced by at least $200, if you compare the $1799 Air to a $1999 MBP. You get a whole lot more in the MBP for $200. Faster processor, upgradeable RAM and larger screen with an anti-glare option just to name a few.

PLUS... you have to pay an extra hundred bucks for the external superdrive WTF is up with that??? And, am I gonna have to ship it out to tech just to change the battery??

Dont buy it then. Just stare at the guy sitting next to you on the plane and drool as you see him work with a self-levitating MBA.

If you watched the keynote, the optical drive can be borrowed from a desktop (WIN and MAC). So you dont have to pay $99 for it.

 

[topscorer]

The MBA is half the size of the aforementioned Sony. Try fitting all of the features above in a form factor half the size.

Why you do NEED a Mic Jack, a ExpressCard slot, a FireWire port, A MODEM??, or even a LAN jack in something meant to be a ultra-portable?

Btw it's not a sub-notebook. Its considered a "Ultra-Portable". MBA fits THAT description nicely.

Indeed, that's why the comparison with the Sony stinks, they are not comparable... and I know it's not a sub-notebook, but that's what was missing from Apple's line-up...

 

[VespR]

I'm sure this has been said many times over, I'm only up to page 14 reading through all this.

The general gist seems to be, "this isn't aimed at you, it's aimed at the frequent traveller... blah blah blah".

That's fine. Everyone also likes to tout that it's so portable, light and "thin". Is it? Really?

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObj...co=7B723663&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObj...B72367C&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook_air

That's the MacBook and MBA. The MacBook is advertised as a "sleek 2.75CM thin design". The MBA is advertised as being "ultra thin at 1.94CM.."

I mean come on guys, we are arguing over 1 measly CM difference. And that's when you take into account it costs a lot more, and features a lot less. This thing will still take up the exact amount of space in a bag as the macbook. Nothing less, and certainly nothing more. It is also only "thin" at the edges. Which really just gives you the illusion.

Don't get me wrong, it's a feat of engineering, and is clearly the shape of things to come down the line, I can accept that. But more money than sense has never been more true with regards to this product. And you'll be more than making up the space in your bag with the power brick, usb hubs and dongles that will eventually filter there way BACK into your lives.

My first mac was a 12" 1.33Ghz G4 powerbook. Now that was a portable, yet powerful machine for it's time, and everything was dedicated (I've got my own nvidia graphics card) and user replaceable. Apple, seriously what happened?

 

[nxent]

an impressive device, indeed. althoughi can't help but imagine the screen rotating 180 degrees and folding back on the keyboard to allow a full touchscreen interface. that would be hot. and i hope someone with clout in apple sees this as i do-
--------------
edit; that lack of a removeable battery may come back to haunt them. yes, i know... the battery is designed into the casing to preserve such an elegantly thin form factor. but still...

 

[7racer]

If you are using IMAP servers for your email, and they have sufficient storage space, then you can have it host all your email- that's how I have my Fusemail account and .Mac accounts set up- both my iMac and MB can always access the emails on either account. Just set them up not to delete any emails after downloading (so you have to delete them manually) and have the servers save all sent emails, if you need to save what you've sent. Another option is to access your email through web clients on your portable and then only access through Mail with your desktop.

About your music library, well, if you have all your music downloaded from iTunes, burn music CD's of the content and rip it to your MBA. I've found that transferring music files directly through iTunes to other computers isnt as easy as I hoped. Hopefully DRM free music will change that.

About the email. I just send and receive email from 4 different accounts. Only two are IMAP. It would just be nice to be able to have the same "sent" folder that I would see in the MBA as well as the MacPro. I frequently search old emails for info.

In regards to the sharing of the iTunes, I was hoping there would be something easy like an iPod mode to "shuffle" certain songs, and keep them on when I leave the confines of the home (which sharing won't allow). I had forgotten about the CD burning route but that might make the most sense.

 

[VespR]

which is why this isn't made for the average computer user. it's made for people who need something small and would be willing to pay for it. for people who sacrifice power for portability.

It's not small. It will take up the same size in your bag as a MacBook. Like someone said before, buy a MacBook and just remove the DVD drive, you just made it lighter.

 

[matthewHUB]

Can somebody please answer a couple of questions for me?

1) How much faster is the SSD than the HDD? What will be the most noticeable differences? (i know boot time for one)

2) Is this machine capable of handling HD home video through iMovie? If i bought a Canon HV20 or whatever it is, can i import and do some BASIC editing (cuts etc.) and then save to external drive? Is it powerful enough for that?

3) Is the HDD replaceable? i.e. can one buy the 80gb and then one day upgrade to SSD when it's cheap enough?

 

[wildmac]

Why? Look at that bezel around the screen - they could lose an inch there easily.

That's likely where the wirless antenna is.. and you need room for wires too...

 

[C-Dubs]

The "Upgradeable Ram Issue"

I know that the people who SHOULD read this WON'T... but here it goes.

Many users here keep on arguing that the MBA will be a failure because of the lack of Upgradeable RAM. Somehow, it's 2GB of Standard RAM is not enough for them, and these same peeps keep bringing up that a MB has upgradeable RAM and hence is a "better deal".

News Flash: My MB only holds 2GB of RAM. So even though I have these two slots in my computer, I won't be able to fit more RAM into my MB anyway. The MBA solves the "add memory" problem by simply MAXING OUT it's Memory capabilities in it's standard configuration. And while maybe it won't be able to run Mac OS XI, It'll be a pleasure to use for years to come with just 2 GB of RAM.

Another "fatal flaw" that know-it-alls will bring up is that the MBA doesn't have a changeable battery, hence it will certainly be only for those who are idiots (because it goes against the know-it-all's logic).

News Flash: The Battery, according to the graphic shown at the Keynote, takes up whatever space is left over after the HD and system boards... so it's not a brick that's changeable like in the MB and MBP, but an integral part of the the actual machine. Others on the boards have correctly pointed out that when this laptop hits the market a after-marked battery that plugs into the MBA will deffinetly become a need, and with a power requirement of only 45W, the MBA will not require much of an external battery to operate. The laptop also uses LED backlight and low-power consumption HDD's from the iPod line, so if you are working with the screen turned down low and maybe even the wireless turned off (say, on a plane) you could get a good 5-7 hours out of a single charge. Usually Apple's power claims are conservative (unlike the EPA's mileage estimates) so a little power management on the part of the user could see much longer uptime.

The big problem with a potential external power pack is the MagSafe adapter- Apple still holds the patent, and seems to be very, VERY much against someone else having it. That's one of the reasons we still don't have a car-port MagSafe adapter for all those MB's and MBP's, or other sources for power supplies for our portable Macs. So either Apple needs to step up and provide this to consumers, or find a partner to make these peripherals a reality. We all know Apple isn't the best at making the best peripherals, so in my opinion they really should try to find someone they trust to do it.

 

[CallsignBaron]

Dont buy it then. Just stare at the guy sitting next to you on the plane and drool as you see him work with a self-levitating MBA.

If you watched the keynote, the optical drive can be borrowed from a desktop (WIN and MAC). So you dont have to pay $99 for it.

I did see the keynote and think the ability to use the drive from another PC or Mac is pretty slick. That's all well and good if I am at home and can use my iMac's drive. If, however, I am on the road and should need a drive it would be nice to be able to pull it out of the bag since I am not going to ask my client if I may install some software on his PC in order to have use of a drive. That, in my opinion would be unprofessional and make me seem unprepared so I am going to have to shell out that extra hundred dollars for something I feel should have been included. I don't consider it to be an "accessory:.

I somehow must have missed the "self-levitation" feature introduced during the keynote, please forgive me. I was not aware that that extra 2.5 pounds was what was keeping my MBP from defeating the bounds of gravity. I suppose that could justify the $1799 price tag.

 

[diamond.g]

1) How much faster is the SSD than the HDD? What will be the most noticeable differences? (i know boot time for one)

SSD is waaaay faster than the 1.8" 4200 RPM drive in the base model.

2) Is this machine capable of handling HD home video through iMovie? If i bought a Canon HV20 or whatever it is, can i import and do some BASIC editing (cuts etc.) and then save to external drive? Is it powerful enough for that?

Dunno how you are to get the video off the camcorder (assuming that requires a FW port). I am not sure if the drive is fast enough for HD video though. The CPU would be fine albeit a bit on the slow side, but if waiting isn't an issue the CPU shouldn't be a problem.

3) Is the HDD replaceable? i.e. can one buy the 80gb and then one day upgrade to SSD when it's cheap enough?

Not if you want to keep your warranty. You have to buy what you want from the get go as it isn't user replaceable like the MB.