How would you change the Macbook Air 11"?

[Hallivand]

Tibooks.....

Although with the mentions of the Titanium Powerbooks, I cannot see why with todays technology they couldn't implement that absolutely stunning bezel from the TiBook to the Macbook Air.

For every laptop I've seen, nothing has beaten that incredible thinness of the screen and the bezel. Almost like its an entity on its own...(I regret selling my pristine condition one ) alas the Air could easily have this from a machined piece of aluminium re enforced with some exotic metal Apple can conjure up.

They did it nearly 10 years ago, they can do it again

 

[nick9191]

Nothing really.

Oodles faster than my old SR 2007 MacBook even at 1.4Ghz. Don't need backlit keyboard, love glossy screens, never seen the point of a matte screen on a laptop besides personal preference (the old whitebook screen and the new MBA screen is like night and day as well), battery life suits me fine, don't need FW or SD.

Perfect laptop for me, bar none.

 

[nick9191]

Although with the mentions of the Titanium Powerbooks, I cannot see why with todays technology they couldn't implement that absolutely stunning bezel from the TiBook to the Macbook Air.

For every laptop I've seen, nothing has beaten that incredible thinness of the screen and the bezel. Almost like its an entity on its own...(I regret selling my pristine condition one ) alas the Air could easily have this from a machined piece of aluminium re enforced with some exotic metal Apple can conjure up.

They did it nearly 10 years ago, they can do it again

It's all about appeal. It's more appealing to the eye to have a laptop that's long and wide, but extremely thin, than a thicker shorter one. You could say Apple could just utilize the bezel for a bigger screen in the same size package, but Apple would just add on the bezel making the laptop longer and wider so they could either make it thinner or stick in a better battery.

Basically the bezel makes the laptop bigger, giving the impression that it's thinner than it actually is. Plus the bezel gives them more room TO make it thinner.

 

[jimboutilier]

I love my 11.6 1.6/4/128 but would be pleased to see:
- better battery life even a the cost of a bit of size and weight
- larger SSD option (seems owc may have already done this)
- backlit keyboard or higher contrast keys

 

[iRun26.2]

I love my 11.6 1.6/4/128 but would be pleased to see:
- better battery life even a the cost of a bit of size and weight
- larger SSD option (seems owc may have already done this)
- backlit keyboard or higher contrast keys

Give me a bigger SSD and bring back the backlit keyboard and I will upgrade to a new model

Please don't make the battery life longer at the expense of making heavier! I love how much lighter (and less bulky) it is than the 13.3" model. I also can get 7 hours of battery life if the screen isn't too bright (not watching video). That is just perfect for me!

 

[ChristianVirtual]

as many other: I miss the backlit keyboard from my MBP. Would be nice to have.

Everything else: quite happy with the 11.6"/4/128.

Ah, maybe a 3G interface would be nice; though a MiFi/Mobile WiFi might be the smarter solution.

 

[jimboutilier]

Give me a bigger SSD and bring back the backlit keyboard and I will upgrade to a new model

Please don't make the battery life longer at the expense of making heavier! I love how much lighter (and less bulky) it is than the 13.3" model. I also can get 7 hours of battery life if the screen isn't too bright (not watching video). That is just perfect for me!

While convincing the powers that be to let me work fewer hours is clearly the preferable solution, I can't get through a full business day without a recharge on the AIR so hopefully Apple can find a way to extend battery life without changing weight significantly to make us both happier ;-)

I'm optimistic apple can do it using some of the technologies they put into the iPad given how it sips from it's battery and how often we need faster computing power vs idle time.

 

[iRun26.2]

While convincing the powers that be to let me work fewer hours is clearly the preferable solution, I can't get through a full business day without a recharge on the AIR so hopefully Apple can find a way to extend battery life without changing weight significantly to make us both happier ;-)

I'm optimistic apple can do it using some of the technologies they put into the iPad given how it sips from it's battery and how often we need faster computing power vs idle time.

I think a Sandy Bridge (or Ivy Bridge) CPU/GPU addition will be the most likely update that could extend batter life.

 

[Hellhammer]

Please don't make the battery life longer at the expense of making heavier! I love how much lighter (and less bulky) it is than the 13.3" model. I also can get 7 hours of battery life if the screen isn't too bright (not watching video). That is just perfect for me!

Sandy Bridge seems to provide enormous battery life, see this. That is a quad core CPU but it still get better battery life than the 13" MBP! Dual core and LV/ULV parts are even more power efficient.

Apple updated the battery from 5 to 7 hours in last update without making it heavier, actually they made it 0.1lb lighter

 

[greytmom]

I'm sure that I'm repeating what a thousand others have said, but the only thing keeping me from purchasing a MBA rather than MBP is the size of the hard drive.

 

[jamesryanbell]

I'm sure that I'm repeating what a thousand others have said, but the only thing keeping me from purchasing a MBA rather than MBP is the size of the hard drive.

Keep your media on a 64GB thumb drive or external 1TB platter drive or something, and you'll be fine. You really shouldn't be storing all of your media on the same drive anyway. Junks it up. Especially SSD.

 

[Ronnoco]

Backlit keyboard. FireWire port. Slightly faster CPU. Otherwise I love it.

+1...I absolutely LOVE the 16:9 display and form factor...
Might I add the black bezel?

 

[neko girl]

I think the one thing I've noticed about it at the store is that the screen does not tilt back fully. I would think this would force a strange sitting angle if it's in your lap, or cause you to sit really low when you're at a table (because of how short the screen is).

I don't really know a solution, but it seems like the laptop would be awkward to use sometimes (on your neck), even if the weight is very good.

 

[Ronnoco]

Keep your media on a 64GB thumb drive or external 1TB platter drive or something, and you'll be fine. You really shouldn't be storing all of your media on the same drive anyway. Junks it up. Especially SSD.

I have the 11" Ultimate and I keep my media (70+gb iTunes library and about 100gb of movies) on a Seagate Momentus XT 500GB hybrid that I purchased and put in a small external enclosure...it keeps the programs I want to use the most (iTunes) in it's 4GB flash memory for nearly instantaneous use...it takes one bounce of the iTunes icon on the dock for it to open and be fully indexed with over 12,000 songs (and several tv shows and apps)...It is almost like having an external SSD for $120.00

 

[63dot]

With the multiple-billion net profit Apple made last year, I totally think the Air should come down to this price.

I don't think Apple could come down that to that low ($700 dollars), but coming down $50 to $100 bucks from a grand is possible.

I think what hurt the Air when it first came out was the price being too high. People saw what was out there and what the Air offered and the public said no way.

I think with their good price now, a slight price drop, and also with Sandy Bridge, possibly LV or Ultra LV processor, can be great for Apple. Apple is so far ahead of everybody else and they can widen their lead.

I have to admit I have seen some nice Sonys that put a lot into a small case. Apple is still thinner though but battery time is what the sub-notebook market is all about. I won't say that Apple can challenge the netbooks quite yet, but the 11" MBA is a happy medium between affordable PC netbook and very capable MBP.

 

[firewood]

With the multiple-billion net profit Apple made last year, I totally think the Air should come down to this price.

Apples large profits are probably related to their product pricing. If you owned or ran a small company, would you promote a manager who priced stuff that reduced your overall profitability? As for it being a big company, most shareholders don't own that much of it and are counting on their small chunk of Apple to help their retirement saving (or college tuition, etc.)

 

[63dot]

Apples large profits are probably related to their product pricing. If you owned or ran a small company, would you promote a manager who priced stuff that reduced your overall profitability? As for it being a big company, most shareholders don't own that much of it and are counting on their small chunk of Apple to help their retirement saving (or college tuition, etc.)

With pricing, there is a sweet spot. If you charge too much, the product dies on the vine. If you charge too little, there's not enough profit. I think Apple can come down a little on the entry level MBA.

As a trend, Apple introduces a product just a little high, then comes down a little and gets the product going well (most times) and then go way down and then get a second wind on sales. It's worked well for them even though some don't like the early adopters high pricing. I thought the initial price of the MBA and it's very high price was going to kill the product. Why get such a small, limited laptop when you could get a nice MBP which doesn't weigh that much to begin with?

Apple got smart and lowered the price a couple of notches. But now they are facing recession era pricing from other companies and a thousand dollars for the entry level MBA and what you get may not be attractive to many buyers in the future. Some PC side netbooks (or the ultraportables one class above) are really starting to beef up their stats and for those on the fence, it may not serve Apple to have a thin and ultralight be starting as high as $999. Let $999 be the midrange and have a couple of higher end ones from there.