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First Look at the MacBook Air

WTF were you expecting?

What *exactly* were you some of you expecting?

It is the thinnest laptop on Earth, it has a faster processor than any comparable Vaio, and costs much *less* than any comparable Vaio.

The criticisms you guys are fielding sound as if you expected a MacBook Pro in a MacBook Air form factor at a MacBook price.

Apple is filled with great designers and engineers, not magicians. Sorry if you thought otherwise.
 
Mmm... a CubeBook. Overpriced and underpowered. More bragging rights.

I'm beginning to think Apple's new motto is "Incredibly designed, poorly-engineered."
 
coolfactor said:
You've missed the point of this laptop. It's not meant to be a MacBook or MacBook Pro replacement. It's meant to sit in the middle, offering half the weight, and ultraportability. If you don't need those two benefits, then it's not the laptop for you. Duh.
Click to expand...

I agree, MBA is designed to be a "second" laptop. Not the primary laptop, it just is too expensive as a "second" laptop.

However, I don't agree its "ultraportable", for that big size, not that portable at all.
 
coolfactor said:
You've missed the point of this laptop. It's not meant to be a MacBook or MacBook Pro replacement. It's meant to sit in the middle, offering half the weight, and ultraportability. If you don't need those two benefits, then it's not the laptop for you. Duh.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with you if the MacBook wasn't already thin and light. But I just don't see this as providing any significant difference, and certainly not worth the price premium IMO
 
Thinkpad X60 or this?!

Hi all, first post here. I must say I have never wanted a laptop as badly as this after seeing the MacBook Air got introduced.

However, I'm struggling to choose between a Thinkpad X60 or this as my next computer. I will mainly use it for college, where I will use it to take notes and stuff. As far as I can see: X60 has much better connectivity, while the Macbook air just has that "wow" factor as well as functionality. This is not a PC vs Mac issue; I just want your opinion as to which is would be more suited for my use?

Any comment is appreciated.
 
CoreWeb said:
Actually, it looks as if many stocks are going down, not just Apple's...
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WIll see how their earnings gonna come out..not sure if they are going to meet their expectation since he announced that itune sales didnt meet their expectations..
As for the MBP im pretty sure he is gona announce it at WWDC with the 3g iphone..
 
imwoblin said:
These questions were posted on Macfixit..

MacBook Air raises troubleshooting questions

Apple's new MacBook Air is svelte-as-can-be, but the device's limitations and lack of traditional components raise some interesting troubleshooting/general questions:

What happens when the battery loses capacity or runs out? The battery is apparently not user-replaceable. This means you can't swap out batteries to extend operating life, and you'll likely need to seek authorized service to get the battery replaced when it inevitably loses capacity or fails altogether.
How do you perform an emergency boot? What if you can't startup from the built-in drive and need to boot from a separate volume? The MacBook Air lacks an optical drive, meaning you can't boot from an inserted DVD like the Mac OS X Leopard install disc unless you purchase the $100 optional, external SuperDrive. It's not yet clear whether the MacBook Air can boot from an optical drive in another Mac via the "Remote Disc" function, but we doubt it.
How will you apply major Mac OS X updates? If you can't boot from an installer disc, how will you be able to install the next major iteration of Mac OS X? Traditionally, Mac OS X installers have required the system to boot from the disc.
How will you use target disk mode? The MacBook Air lacks a FireWire port. This means you can't use FireWire target disk mode -- an invaluable troubleshooting tool.
How will you NetBoot? The MacBook Air lacks a built-in Ethernet port, so NetBoots won't be possible by default, precluding yet another option for emergency boots. You'll need to purchase the $20 USB Ethernet adapter.
Click to expand...


The battery and the lack of FW are holding me back from purchasing this sleek machine. Lack of an audio in also troubles me.

I use my Macs so much that I am bound to have problems and as you say what trouble shooting options will really be available apart from giving it to Apple to fix.
 
coolfactor said:
You've missed the point of this laptop. It's not meant to be a MacBook or MacBook Pro replacement. It's meant to sit in the middle, offering half the weight, and ultraportability. If you don't need those two benefits, then it's not the laptop for you. Duh.
Click to expand...

I dunno, I wouldn't say something like this is "ultraportable". If they'd kept the width and depth to a minimum more then I'd be a lot more impressed.

It's ok, the new MBPs might suit.
 
No firewire, how would I upload my movies? I'm assuming an adapter won't be expensive. I mean with all the extra adapters to suit my needs, I would be carrying so much that it wouldn't seem so portable. I mean the laptop is great for college students but not for me. I thought 1,799 was reasonable but if you make it top notch, with taxes it comes out to about $3,700, having the 1.8 GHZ and solid state hardrive (which is small in memory), I don't really think its worth it, its like having a huge itouch. Very dissapointed in the price, with that much money you can get a top notch mac book pro that wouldn't limit so much, and I think its portable enough. This is more for making fashion statement.
 
coolfactor said:
Another thing that is obvious about this laptop is that Apple designed with the intention that buyers are using it to supplement another computer. That means, it could be sent in without the user being computerless. They just wouldn't have their ultra-portability for a few days.
Click to expand...

Oh, right. So I'll have to carry my MacBook pro with me in addition to the MacBook Air, just in case that it runs out of battery :D
 
I think it's still too early to give it the "cube" moniker but IMO it's overpriced -- There's no doubt that it's an engineering marvel but that's to be expected coming from Apple....

I was expecting this machine to be sub 1,200 -- if that were the case I would be heavily tempted to purchase it

Kudos to those who have or are willing to pay for it
 
numbsafari said:
What firewire device would you honestly want to plug into this thing? A camera? Sounds like you need a MacBook Pro. FireWire is a high performance need, not a portability one.

This thing doesn't have a fire wire for the same reason as an iPod. Let's face it, this is an iPod Laptop. A very nice one.

I just don't know if I like the price.
Click to expand...

Well, way back in, oh, this morning, when the Macbook Air was just a rumour and a twinkle in Steve's eye, I was all like, yeah, if it has decent graphics, I could plug something like a Firelite drive into the FW port and maybe get away with some light video editing on airplanes and at the cottage.
Now I always knew I was asking too much in imagining a dedicated graphics card, (which is why I never mentioned it on a forum) but I never in my wildest dreams expected to see a Mac without Firewire...

So yeah, this machine is beautiful and has its market, and I'm not in its market, and I realized that as soon as I noticed it didn't have FW. So I can peacefully go back to scraping together the last couple hundred for a MBP now.
I'd buy one if I had the luxury of having two computers though. in a second.
 
weg said:
The ethernet jack is too large, it probably didn't fit in.
Click to expand...

So instead you have to lug around the dongle which takes up more space. Throw in the USB hub (and possibly it's power adapter if your devices are powered) and it's even more crap to carry with you.

I know one of the groups this thing is geared towards is travelers. But I know that several of the hotels I've stayed in lately were wired internet only. Of course, if you spend a lot of times on planes, you'll have an iPod and you'll want to charge it. So you have the hub and power adapter on top of the dongle. Seems like not having built in ethernet may be a huge problem for some.
 
law guy said:
Without wireless broadband, this very pretty machine seems to be a non-starter for a lot of business users - myself included. Apple makes no mention of an adapter on their site so sadly it looks like any adaptors will be third party add-ons for the time being. Has anyone heard of any Apple plans for one?
Click to expand...

The ATT 3G USB adapter is available for about $100 and works great with a MBP, it should work with the AIR as well.
 
mhouse said:
What *exactly* were you some of you expecting?

It is the thinnest laptop on Earth, it has a faster processor than any comparable Vaio, and costs much *less* than any comparable Vaio.

The criticisms you guys are fielding sound as if you expected a MacBook Pro in a MacBook Air form factor at a MacBook price.

Apple is filled with great designers and engineers, not magicians. Sorry if you thought otherwise.
Click to expand...

..I was expecting this (thin and MB sized) but really hoping for something ultraportable - the powerbook 12" is more ultraportable than this when it comes to throwing it in my bag.
 
I really don't see how this is a coherent product. it's only 0.25 inches thinner than the macbook, its missing a lot of ports, has a slower chip, and an embarassingly godawful default hard drive. (and how can they legitimately market the solid state drive as having "greater durability"???? I thought solid state was *less* durable--and then why sell the fancy thing with a 'not durable' hard drive by default?). and it's wireless only, backed by tons of marketing telling you that wireless is the trendy thing to do and totally reliable for day-to-day tasks. and it's true you can't upgrade the RAM? thank goodness it has a DVI port... by a utilitarian's assessment this thing is a failure--why does it get the industrial metal look then? it should get the toy plastic look. the super touch pad and potential of the solid state drive are very cool, and would make it a very cool *toy*, but who is supposed to buy these things?


maybe it's a big gamble? so let's say apple really is 1337 at marketing in light of the success of the iphone. and let's assume that apple marketing has perhaps found that the "thin-freak" sector of their laptop fanboys is full of mavens (e.g. mavens as in Gladwell's _The Tipping Point_). Could Apple be trying to seed something in order to build a market for a bigger product? like a tablet (a big yay in my book!) or some sort of super ipod--the future of the TV?
 
Great for mom's birthday laptop.

Nice laptop but this thing is no where near feature-rich compact Sony TZ. Lack of features. No replaceable RAM and battery. Only one USB. Definitely not a Pro model. Geared toward casual user. There's no reason for me to replace my MBP. So, maybe it's an excellent present for my mom's birthday. LUCKY FOR HER. ;)

Release 12" Macbook Pro that succeeds 12" Powerbook already...
 
mhouse said:
What *exactly* were you some of you expecting?

It is the thinnest laptop on Earth, it has a faster processor than any comparable Vaio, and costs much *less* than any comparable Vaio.

The criticisms you guys are fielding sound as if you expected a MacBook Pro in a MacBook Air form factor at a MacBook price.

Apple is filled with great designers and engineers, not magicians. Sorry if you thought otherwise.
Click to expand...

You are right, but the price is way too expensive...its more design and brand name that we would pay for instead of the performance. And I think for this price you would think performance is out of this world. Vaio computers have their negative aspects, starting that its a PC, but their most expensive models promise ultimate performance, which this new laptop lacks. I think its great, but its a tad expensive.
 
some12b said:
However, I'm struggling to choose between a Thinkpad X60 or this as my next computer. I will mainly use it for college, where I will use it to take notes and stuff. As far as I can see: X60 has much better connectivity, while the Macbook air just has that "wow" factor as well as functionality. This is not a PC vs Mac issue; I just want your opinion as to which is would be more suited for my use?
Click to expand...

Yes it is a PC vs. Mac thing. and ONLY reason to spend the $$ on Apple equipment is so you can run Mac OS X. If you don't care about that buy a PC and install Ubuntu Linux on it and almost the same thing.

As for which Macbook will be best for you. The low-end macbook would work fine and you can save like $800.
 
PATA HDD 4200RPM - No thanks

The VAIO VGN-CR220E has a 200Gb SATA HDD, bigger screen, built-in ethernet, replaceable battery (people report 5hr battery life), dual layer DVD burner and lower price. Apple surely could have done better.

The slow and tiny hard drive is a deal breaker for me - I need to dual boot between Vista and OSX and I can't imagine how slow Vista or anything that does more than Web/Email would be on this laptop.

Sure it looks good but IMHO the disadvantages are far too many especially with that sort of price. (My Macbook Pro battery has died 2 times so far in past 1 year - I hate to think what would happen if the battery in the Air dies.)
 
maccuser said:
They probably gonna announce new design for the MBP and the MB together with the 3G iphone..No wonder the apple stock is going down like crazy...
Click to expand...

Don't be dense, Citigroup just announced almost $10 Billion loss (more than 99.9% of us will see in 10 lifetimes), a large dividend cut and layoffs abound. Retail sales unexpectedly dropped for the first time since 2002. Apple's stock is not trading in a bubble, it's falling because of this news and not the product announcement.

The Macbook air is trash... so let me get this straight, I pay an 80% premium for a 40% reduction in processor speed, 50% reduction in processor cache, 20% reduction in Hard drive speed, so I can add a gig of ram, shave a quarter of an inch in width and 2 lbs? Not to mention the fact that I need to pay extra for an ethernet jack. Still need a laptop case since it's still too wide.

1 USB jack. What if I need to use the wired ethernet, CD drive, USB key and sync my ipod at the same time? I can't? Kind of defeats the point of dual core, multiprocessing power doesn't it? An external USB hub dongle kind of defeats the point of the portability aspects especially since some devices will require a powered hub...

Wireless USB would be nice... oh wait, not there either.

Here's what they should have done... Take the Powerbook 12". Take the DVD drive out. Add 1.33 Ghz ULV core 2 duo, 2 GB ram, 80 gig HD w/ SSD option and an express card slot. Probably could shrink the case .1" or so. Still charge $1799.

The Airport Extreme refresh looks great, ipod touch enhancements are awsome, Apple TV w/ movie rentals should do well (may put blockbuster out of business in 5 years, not netflix).

Macbook Air freakin' blows.
 
Nuh-uh.

I was hoping to retire my 12" PB G4 with this one, but it looks like my geriatric baby will be asked to continue service for as long as possible.

Where is the 12", small footprint, Macbook Pro? Apple, I think you over engineered this one.
 
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