I won't get a MBA until Apple ships with 4GB memory as standard and..

[sparkie7]

Don't get me wrong. I think the MBA Rev B is an incredible achievement by Apple. And for many users out there it will be perfect. And seamlessly adequate.

For me I will wait. And Apple will release an upgraded memory version along with better CPU/GPU, more efficient heat sinking etc.. I can't wait for Rev C

I'm not in anyway trying to shoot down MBA owners or Apple

 

[iomatic]

yes, at a reduced USB speed. Nice.

Not.

Reduced so much it matters, since it's storage, not my scratch disk. Wow, matters... Not.

What exactly, are you trying to accomplish here?

You're missing the point. I'm currently busy using it, you, simply, are not using one at all. Whine on.

 

[sparkie7]

Reduced so much it matters, since it's storage, not my scratch disk. Wow, matters... Not.

What exactly, are you trying to accomplish here?

You're missing the point. I'm currently busy using it, you, simply, are not using one at all. Whine on.

I really don't care what you're doing with yours to be honest

Having a compromise is, well, a compromise. In the mean-time I'm happily using my MBP17 with full FW 800 through put. Your needs may differ.

And thats where the road separates

 

[xparaparafreakx]

Wow, you would think as a "pro" you would want more then that firewire 800?

How about a express card slot so you can hook up Pro Tools HD to your air?

As for target disk mode, yea it is annoying but I stop using target disk mode for restoreing computer and use netboot to restore machines.

I love the air for simple IT work, it is small and light for doing simple things as Apple Remote Desktop, Server Admin and Workgroup Manager. I don't even need to boot up windows, just use MS Remote Desktop Connection to connect to the Windows Servers here.

So for some pros, the air is just fine and I have a Rev 1 machine.

 

[sparkie7]

Wow, you would think as a "pro" you would want more then that firewire 800?

How about a express card slot so you can hook up Pro Tools HD to your air?

yeh, i really want fibre channel actually. eSata drives 2nd choice. FW800 takes up less port space that an express card slot. So its more feasible

But give me fibre channel any day

 

[HLdan]

False... anyone who ever runs Parallels or VMWare can use 4GB RAM. I think that is probably a majority of serious Mac users -- the people who are going to spend $1800-$2500 on an ultraportable instead of buying a cheap netbook.

Um no! Any "Serious" Mac user as you put it won't be running Windows on their Mac. I've been a Mac user for 15 years and never used Windows on my Mac. The Intel switch came just over 2 years ago. What do you think the "Serious" Mac users were doing before Parallels or VMware Mr. Know it All? Say what you want but most people use their computers for web surfing and creating documents.

 

[sparkie7]

i used Virtual PC before the Intel Macs came out. And it SUCKED. It used up a lot of CPU and HD scratch space

Designers, esp. web designers can now use their macs to preview websites without having to go to a PeeCee to view it like 90% of the world. So I guess the Intel Macs have their advantages.

I shudder at that thought of running MS OS on my mac, but its nice to have the option. But you need all the RAM you can get so it runs smooth

 

[buddhahacker]

Dribble

FW800 port.

Unless of course they release a MBP12" or 13" with matte screen

Anyone think the same?

Who cares. Are you also going to wait until they come out with a pink model?
Another in a long list of stupid post which only exist to take up space or attempt to get a rise out of someone.

 

[dal20402]

I use Windows in bootcamp because I was not even going to try a VM with the Air specs. I ended up having all kinds of issues in boot camp which is very frustrating, but at least it "works".

Nothing about the Air except the inadequate amount of RAM would cause the slightest problem in running a VM.

 

[sparkie7]

Who cares. Are you also going to wait until they come out with a pink model?
Another in a long list of stupid post which only exist to take up space or attempt to get a rise out of someone.

Pink's not my colour. And I do care what the next MBA revision is going to be.

And no, my intention wasn't to get a rise out of anyone. Seems to have touched some raw nerves though. How F sensitive people are. Get a grip

 

[chocolaterabbit]

no i think people are pissed off because you're not exactly the first one to complain about a lack of ports or not enough RAM. they've heard enough about it already. also, venting on a forum won't get you heard at apple, if you want something to happen, go straight to the core.

 

[dal20402]

Another in a long list of stupid post which only exist to take up space

Is the internet full?

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

I have owned an iBook G4 (don't blow up just yet) and the plastic MacBook. I can tell you that it's almost the same size. The MBA should suit your needs perfectly, because no "pro" would use laptop anyways. "pros" use Mac Pro (see how the the word pro comes in?). If you are really a "pro", you won't be asking for more portability. You would be asking for a FW 400 port on the MB since the graphics have been updated.

If you really want to *wish* for a 12" MBP, be my guest. But I doubt it will happen. One, graphics. Graphics technology is much more advanced and the gpus run at higher temperatures than before due to much faster speeds. Two, cpus. *read above.* and three, what kind of pro would uses a laptop for their professional work? They would use Mac Pros with 30" ACD. And maybe have a lightweight laptop with good graphics for on-the-go, such as the MBP or MB or even the MBA. Why would you need 4GB? That's another story...

The MBA is supposed to be a WIRELESS machine. That's why it has only three ports. Audio for listening to music, USB for flash drives or the super drive and display port (the newer ones) for giving presentations. Apple thought it all out. You don't need more for a ultra portable machine.

Having everything high tech into one product will distract people's attention to buy that one machine that has it all. That's what previous people meant by cannibalizing the lineup. There should be a balance, so MB for average users, MBA for ultra portability light weight usage, MBP for high end users with two graphic cards. iMac for home desktop, Mac Mini for average users, Mac Pro for heavy duty usage and tons of raw processing power.

 

[iomatic]

I really don't care what you're doing with yours to be honest

Having a compromise is, well, a compromise. In the mean-time I'm happily using my MBP17 with full FW 800 through put. Your needs may differ.

And thats where the road separates

Sweet; so why the bitching? If anything, it seems you're the one trying to get a rise out of every one.

 

[xparaparafreakx]

I have owned an iBook G4 (don't blow up just yet) and the plastic MacBook. I can tell you that it's almost the same size. The MBA should suit your needs perfectly, because no "pro" would use laptop anyways. "pros" use Mac Pro (see how the the word pro comes in?). If you are really a "pro", you won't be asking for more portability. You would be asking for a FW 400 port on the MB since the graphics have been updated.

If you really want to *wish* for a 12" MBP, be my guest. But I doubt it will happen. One, graphics. Graphics technology is much more advanced and the gpus run at higher temperatures than before due to much faster speeds. Two, cpus. *read above.* and three, what kind of pro would uses a laptop for their professional work? They would use Mac Pros with 30" ACD. And maybe have a lightweight laptop with good graphics for on-the-go, such as the MBP or MB or even the MBA. Why would you need 4GB? That's another story...

The MBA is supposed to be a WIRELESS machine. That's why it has only three ports. Audio for listening to music, USB for flash drives or the super drive and display port (the newer ones) for giving presentations. Apple thought it all out. You don't need more for a ultra portable machine.

Having everything high tech into one product will distract people's attention to buy that one machine that has it all. That's what previous people meant by cannibalizing the lineup. There should be a balance, so MB for average users, MBA for ultra portability light weight usage, MBP for high end users with two graphic cards. iMac for home desktop, Mac Mini for average users, Mac Pro for heavy duty usage and tons of raw processing power.

Thank you so much for saying that. It annoys me that people do not get it.

 

[jbrenn]

FW800 port.

Unless of course they release a MBP12" or 13" with matte screen

Anyone think the same?

This will never happen apple is making firewire a pro feature. And people have been waiting for a 12" or 13" mbp for 3 or 4 years. just face it the mbp will not ever be less than 15" ever again.

 

[TheReef]

I have owned an iBook G4 (don't blow up just yet) and the plastic MacBook. I can tell you that it's almost the same size.

I went to the store yesterday the new Macbook is quite a bit larger than my PowerBook G4 12", but does look very classy, I must admit.

The MBA is supposed to be a WIRELESS machine. That's why it has only three ports. Audio for listening to music, USB for flash drives or the super drive and display port (the newer ones) for giving presentations. Apple thought it all out. You don't need more for a ultra portable machine.

Having everything high tech into one product will distract people's attention to buy that one machine that has it all. That's what previous people meant by cannibalizing the lineup. There should be a balance, so MB for average users, MBA for ultra portability light weight usage, MBP for high end users with two graphic cards. iMac for home desktop, Mac Mini for average users, Mac Pro for heavy duty usage and tons of raw processing power.

In all fairness, most Macs since the original G3 PowerBooks have been WIRELESS machines, it's just marketing to distract and make up for what is missing. As a regular FireWire user I can still understand how they removed the port from the Air (but not the Macbook, wait……why not the mini FireWire port? ) but they definitely should have included 2 USB ports on the Air. That port is going to get a lot more use and ware from constant swapping. Move them to the other side if there's no space on the right, maybe even that mini FireWire port… I can't comment on how convenient hubs are in practice, but it's another thing to buy on an already expensive machine.

The current Macbooks (for what they are priced) should have included FireWire, an Express Card slot branded along the lines of mini professional notebooks, whilst Apple should have released the basic Macbooks (what they are now) at much lower prices.

What is interesting is the MBAs graphics and the noted improvements in video playback, which may just compensate for lack of RAM. I know I'm tempted.

 

[aleni]

the op is a power user who loves the thinness of macbook air. maybe in 2020 when more powerful with much thinner laptops can be built. when all slots like USB and others become much thinner too. you know, just like the vga, dvi and becomes display port.

 

[DJY]

...I think the MBA Rev B is an incredible achievement by Apple...
...For me I will wait...
...I can't wait for Rev C

I'm not in anyway trying to shoot down MBA owners or Apple

So I guess you WILL wait.
I guess the MBA isn't for you yet...

I'm hoping to pick one up this week!

 

[dal20402]

Why would you need 4GB? That's another story...

Because 2GB isn't enough. I keep explaining this, and no one seems to listen.

Unlike more ports or faster processors, there is NO reason why Apple couldn't install 4GB in an Air. It would just require them to substitute 256MB RAM chips for the current 128MB ones.

And the lack of RAM is the ONLY thing about the Air that keeps me from being able to use it. 2GB is not enough to run Windows and OS X side by side without horrible swapping. I need to do that for work.

 

[Abbas]

I would love 4GB on the Air as well. I have Gen 1 MBA and though I'm mostly satisfied, I miss running Windows in the background like I did with my MBP for Office applications.

@

Because 2GB isn't enough. I keep explaining this, and no one seems to listen.

Unlike more ports or faster processors, there is NO reason why Apple couldn't install 4GB in an Air. It would just require them to substitute 256MB RAM chips for the current 128MB ones.

And the lack of RAM is the ONLY thing about the Air that keeps me from being able to use it. 2GB is not enough to run Windows and OS X side by side without horrible swapping. I need to do that for work.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Because 2GB isn't enough. I keep explaining this, and no one seems to listen.

Unlike more ports or faster processors, there is NO reason why Apple couldn't install 4GB in an Air. It would just require them to substitute 256MB RAM chips for the current 128MB ones.

And the lack of RAM is the ONLY thing about the Air that keeps me from being able to use it. 2GB is not enough to run Windows and OS X side by side without horrible swapping. I need to do that for work.

I agree and disagree (it would be weird for me not to disagree).
I bought the most recent MB and immediately went to 4GB ram. Then I returned it for an Air and hesitated due to the 2GB limit. I agree, 4GB would have been easy, would not have required much more space, doesn't cause much more heat to generate, and just makes sense. Why didn't they do this? Who the hell knows. However, I disagree that you cannot run windows. I know a good number of people have spoken about running Windows on their Rev A Airs without issue. I think overall what happens though is you max out the ram and you have to start cleaning up your tasks. Should we have to work this way? Nope. But the 2GB max on the Air is sufficient for every day computing in many cases. I think 4GB would have catered to the people who want to run parallels and such, but such is life.

Apple really should have upgraded the Ram but what can you do? I suspect in another 9 months give or take we'll see 4GB, a 1.86ghz standard (the 1.6 will go away), and the SSD may very well increase in size as the prices will begin to drop. The 120 HDD will increase for sure, perhaps to 160 or higher and I'm hoping they move away from the 4200 rpm and at least step it up to a 5400 rpm.

I'm just sayin' ...

 

[iomatic]

…
Unlike more ports or faster processors, there is NO reason why Apple couldn't install 4GB in an Air. It would just require them to substitute 256MB RAM chips for the current 128MB ones.

…

Oh really? Could you explain which RAM chips from which supplier you'd have to spec to replace these?

 

[Abbas]

Almost every single manufacturer would have this. Replacing 2GB with 4GB would have probably added about $20 to Apple's costs and the only reason I can think of that they didnt want to do this is to cannibalize MBP sales. I dont think many people decide between a standard MacBook and a MacBook Air, but a lot of people do decided between the Pro and the Air (myself incuded)

@

Oh really? Could you explain which RAM chips from which supplier you'd have to spec to replace these?

 

[dal20402]

Oh really? Could you explain which RAM chips from which supplier you'd have to spec to replace these?

Whatever chips from whatever supplier are on 4GB SODIMMs. It's not like a 256MB RAM chip is an exotic animal.

It would have been more difficult when the Air first came out, but there was no excuse for not upgrading to 4GB for at least some configurations of the Rev. B. It's a joke that a $2500 laptop with a quite fast CPU and GPU doesn't have enough RAM to be usable for more than the most trivial of tasks.