Intel releases new 17-watt 2.13GHz SL9600

[drjsway]

As for saying you might defect to Sony PC kit, take a long hard look in the mirror, then slap yourself in the face....hard.....repeatedly....until you come to your senses.

What would be my other choices?

MacBook = Screen not good enough for my needs.
MacBook Pro = Hard to go back to a much heavier laptop after MBA.
This new 10" MacTablet they're supposedly making = Not enough power.

I would definitely buy a MacBook if they offered a higher quality screen as a $200 upgrade. I can live with the extra 1.5 pounds, thickness, and optical drive.

 

[tubbymac]

I'm not talking about the number of cells in the battery or the size of the actual battery, just the feature focus.

A bigger battery give you longer battery life than a smaller battery, and the biggest laptop gets the biggest battery.

How is this hard to understand?

Scroll up. I already addressed the obvious a few posts on the same page before you even repeated the obvious.

 

[Veinticinco]

Hey, Veinticinco, I don't know if you saw the recent thread about the scam email some folks received with a photo of a black Air? I posted a comment where I basically said that I thought it would be a fabulous idea and that perhaps it could be a limited edition(although perhaps being put into production for a set period would work better), and I even playfully suggested that they could then call it the MacBook Rare!

Fun to let one's thoughts run away with themselves every now and again!

As to a black anodised finish showing white(or 'bare')metal underneath, I don't know anything about the actual processes involved, but I have a black iPod classic 160 and the lovely front(anodised?)panel of black metal was recently slightly damaged when I dropped in onto concrete. The corner of the black metal was 'dinked', so that it looks as though the metal edge has been flattened a little, kinda 'stretched' out a millimetre or so. However, it is still only black metal, even though the finish has obviously been far more badly damaged than anything a mere scratch could accomplish.
So, maybe a black finish wouldn't be a problem in that respect.

Anyway, pie in the sky I suspect. There's about as much chance of seeing a black MacBook (R!)Air as there is of seeing a 30" iMac, a matte cinema display or the MacBook Pro specified to match Tallest Skil's wish-list!

One thing superbly illustrated by this thread is the passion that we all share for the Air. It really is a breed apart.

Ha, no Carl I didn't see that - great minds eh? The "MacBook (R)Are" I like it..... Alternatively a black MBA would be akin to a Stealth MBA or what Darth Vader uses to autoCAD his next Death Star construction project.

But then aside from the rumoured new iPhone finish (dumping the plastic backs) the 'black' (more like anthracite grey) anodized Alu is already used in the 'black' nano and new shuffle and looks good and is, I'm told, pretty scratch-resistant. Think of it more as a 'stain' treatment actually penetrating the metal than a 'paint' which just coats it.

As for limited editions, i've never understood why Apple doesn't do them. Most other high-end technology and luxury goods companies (e.g. Nokia Omega, etc. etc.) do - premium prices for a niche market, improves the brand value. However, I see Apple as slowly but surely departing away from that pro/zealot sector and focusing on the pile-it-high, sell-it-for-much-more-than-the-competition consumer market. It's in evidence wherever you look (I noticed it when the 'unboxing' experience became increasingly mundane and lacking in goodies and nice little touches), not surprising given the sales model is based primarily on the commercial 'wildest dreams' success of the iPod.

 

[Veinticinco]

What would be my other choices?

MacBook = Screen not good enough for my needs.
MacBook Pro = Hard to go back to a much heavier laptop after MBA.
This new 10" MacTablet they're supposedly making = Not enough power.

I would definitely buy a MacBook if they offered a higher quality screen as a $200 upgrade. I can live with the extra 1.5 pounds, thickness, and optical drive.

I do see your point, but one thing's for sure, they'll never offer an improved screen as a BTO - the inference that the standard spec is somehow less than optimal would send out the wrong message. Apple seems to be getting arse-kicked over the whole screen thing right now, if it isn't us picky malcontent MBA owners seeing 'lines' everywhere, it's someone else moaning about the crappy resolution not being improved in line with technology, to the burning torch and pitchfork brigade with the crusade against the evil that is the glossy screen.

But I think your MBA rev.B (or C) will keep you happy long enough for this supposed tablet to evolve to a point where it is, like the rev.B MBA is now, a very powerful yet portable machine.

 

[drjsway]

A bigger battery give you longer battery life than a smaller battery, and the biggest laptop gets the biggest battery.

How is this hard to understand?

The 17" has a bigger battery but it sucks more power too. The last generation 17" didn't have longer battery life than the MB and 15" MBP.

If all the notebooks converted to the new battery (flattening all the cells and making it non-removable), the battery life would be:

MB: up to 8 hours.
white MB: up to 7.5 hours
15" MBP: up to 8 hours
MBA: up to 5.5 hours. Possibly 6.

The MBA won't receive as big of a bump as the others because a large part of the increased battery life comes from making the battery non-removable (which the MBA already is). MBA will only benefit from the flattening of the cells.

 

[drjsway]

But I think your MBA rev.B (or C) will keep you happy long enough for this supposed tablet to evolve to a point where it is, like the rev.B MBA is now, a very powerful yet portable machine.

I'll be happy with my rev.B for at least another two years. We'll see what options there are after that. At this point, are you sure we'll even see a rev.C?

As far as the MB screen, they can bump the resolution up to 1400x900. That way, they're selling a higher resolution for people who want it. They're not saying their standard screen is inferior.

 

[Veinticinco]

I'll be happy with my rev.B for at least another two years. We'll see what options there are after that. At this point, are you sure we'll even see a rev.C?

As far as the MB screen, they can bump the resolution up to 1400x900. That way, they're selling a higher resolution for people who want it. They're not saying their standard screen is inferior.

Yeah I'm sure the rev.C is coming. Would I stake my mortgage on it? Hmmm. Ok yes I would. Why? Because it wouldn't make sense to mothball it at this point when there's nothing in a similarly svelte form factor to take its place. The tablet is still a while off (at least in anything other than a concept form), so why create a gap in the market you are unable to fill? No, if and when the MBA is dropped, it'll be retired quietly out the back door without much fuss.

No way in hell will the consumer-only MB get the option of a hi-res display anytime soon, it'll be a MBP and (hopefully) a MBA thing only - premium options for their premium products. My guess is that we'll not see any screen res upgrades until we see QT-BluRay compatibility under Snow Leopard, possibly around the end of the year/early 2010. That'll be the 'hook' from a marketing perspective.

 

[tubbymac]

MacBook = Screen not good enough for my needs.
MacBook Pro = Hard to go back to a much heavier laptop after MBA.
This new 10" MacTablet they're supposedly making = Not enough power.

I would definitely buy a MacBook if they offered a higher quality screen as a $200 upgrade. I can live with the extra 1.5 pounds, thickness, and optical drive.

That's roughly my situation as well. I don't think Apple will ever put a high quality screen in the Macbook though. If they did they would lose one of the key differentiation points (other than the firewire) between the Macbook and the Pro/Air. It would be against their trend of limiting the consumer end so that they can upsell the higher end, higher margin stuff. They are in this to make the most amount of money, and making the consumer notebook a better choice than the Pro or the Air wouldn't be in their best interest at all.

The way I see it, whichever comes first between the Air rev C or the MacTablet will get my money. If the rev C comes first I'll likely move towards a single computer setup for the most part. The disadvantage being constantly plugging and unplugging the cables when I move it from my desktop and take it to go. If the MacTablet comes first I'll probably sell everything and go with a dual computer setup. MacTablet for on the go and a Macbook Pro or a Mac Pro for the desktop. I won't have to deal with unplugging cables all the time but I'll have the disadvantage of keeping two computers in sync.

I don't see either option as better or worse than the other. I don't particularly care either way. Whichever comes first I'll buy and then I'll ignore the other option when it comes later.

 

[Veinticinco]

I don't see either option as better or worse than the other. I don't particularly care either way. Whichever comes first I'll buy and then I'll ignore the other option when it comes later.

Ignore? If you're like me you'll happily take delivery of your new rev.C soon, but then go through continuous cold turkey to avoid temptation re. the tablet, instead 'promising' yourself you'll snap one up the minute it goes to rev.B and all the main teething problems are resolved. Am I right?

 

[tubbymac]

Ignore? If you're like me you'll happily take delivery of your new rev.C soon, but then go through continuous cold turkey to avoid temptation re. the tablet, instead 'promising' yourself you'll snap one up the minute it goes to rev.B and all the main teething problems are resolved. Am I right?

Hah. Yeah you read me like a book there. Guilty as charged. I should say that I'd TRY to ignore whichever machine came second. Probably wouldn't succeed at it, but would convince myself I gave it my best effort before I went down to the Apple Store and bought the latest shiny gadget

 

[iMacmatician]

The tablet is still a while off (at least in anything other than a concept form), so why create a gap in the market you are unable to fill? No, if and when the MBA is dropped, it'll be retired quietly out the back door without much fuss.

If and when a tablet appears I bet it'll take many cues from the Air's design.

 

[darngooddesign]

If and when a tablet appears I bet it'll take many cues from the Air's design.

I doubt that, a tablet taking cues from a laptop doesn't make sense when they have an existing design language in place for that kind of form factor. It will prob resemble the next gen iPhone that should be out in a few months, but with a flat back if the new one has the same back as the 3G.

 

[tubbymac]

I doubt that, a tablet taking cues from a laptop doesn't make sense when they have an existing design language in place for that kind of form factor. It will prob resemble the next gen iPhone that should be out in a few months, but with a flat back if the new one has the same back as the 3G.

Agreed. It'd be far easier for Apple to make a bigger iPhone than for them to make a smaller Air. Any MacTablet would be easier to evolve from an iPhone, including from the iPhone software, than from an Air with the full blown OSX.

 

[iMacmatician]

Agreed. It'd be far easier for Apple to make a bigger iPhone than for them to make a smaller Air. Any MacTablet would be easier to evolve from an iPhone, including from the iPhone software, than from an Air with the full blown OSX.

I thought the tablet was a Mac OS X tablet.