MacBook Air First Impressions and Notes

[Catch]

Its as wide as any other notebook and when you open it and use it, the thinness isn't noticeable at all. Imagine the only time you would notice how thin it is, is when you put it in a bag.

My conclusion is just to wait for the design elements to be put in a MBP.

I hope you have a chance to reflect upon the first paragraph. Portability is the whole point.

The day they can make the MBP as portable as the MBA I will be the first to upgrade...

Regards,

C

 

[Coconutsport]

What I wasn't impressed with though is it's selling point. It wasn't a compact notebook at all. Yes it is thin, but i found myself not caring about that after using it. Its as wide as any other notebook and when you open it and use it, the thinness isn't noticeable at all. Imagine the only time you would notice how thin it is, is when you put it in a bag.

My conclusion is just to wait for the design elements to be put in a MBP.

Is this really a complaint? Isn't when you carry an ultraportable the only time you want it to "seem" small? I would consider it to be excellent design when you forget its an ultraportable when you use it. I saw it in person today, and am trying to figure out financing one to purchase.. Good job Apple!!

 

[rvjames]

Mine arrived yesterday

I bought a 1.6 mhz. 80 gigabyte drive MacBook Air and it arrived yesterday.

I used the migration assistant to transfer files and applications from my MacBook Pro using the wireless utility. That took about 8 hours (20 gigs. of data). I then used the wireless disk utility to create a disk image of Windows and OSX to mount to Parallels so I could run windows on my machine. The windows virtual machine was set at 25 gigs.

After removing some unneeded files I had 30 gigs of free space.

The machine is quiet, extremely light, and I like the keyboard better than my MacBook Pro.

All in all it is a great 3 lb. Mac.... and oh so cool looking.


BJ

 

[dexpot]

Could you record the fan noise? Would be a great contribution to the community.

 

[thesdx]

I just got back from the Apple store. It's MUCH MUCH thinner than I thought it would be! The pictures on Apple.com don't do it any justice. The SSD version was very fast, and the screen seemed to be really bright. I brought a manila envelope with me, and it fits perfectly. Some guy was trying to get it in, and set off the alarm. Multi-touch works surprisingly well, especially the scrolling and rotating. I made a video showing a size comparison to the iPod touch, the manila envelope, and multi-touch gestures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehxv3S8Pejg

 

[iViking]

I don't like it, personally

I was lucky enough to snag a 1.6/HHD in a store yesterday, and quite frankly I'm amazed. The MacBook Air really has to be experienced. It has a feel unlike any other computer--light but solid, like a precision instrument rather than a hunk of plastic. The rounded taper of the closed unit makes it wonderfully comfortable to carry. And its thinness really can't be conveyed by pictures. It's as thin as the lid of my old iBook G4--at its thickest point. The tapering makes one perceive it as even thinner, and introduces an organic warmness to counterbalance the aluminum. Quite honestly, the MBA doesn't feel like a flashy design statement. It feels like it's designed to be used ubiquitously, to be picked up and casually carried everywhere, like a magazine.

I'm a writer, and I need two things: a usably-sized, high-contrast screen and a responsive full-sized keyboard. The MBA knocks both out of the park. The backlit LED display is extremely eye-friendly, and the keyboard has a healthy degree of "travel" (depth of key depression) for ease of touch-typing. It's chiclet-style like all Apple keyboards these days, but the keys sit a tad higher than on the desktop keyboards. The black keys, which I didn't like when I saw the MBA in photos, seem just right in person.

Technosnobs can complain all they want about how the MBA can't, say, edit video on the fly. I don't care. Other machines can't do what I want to do, which is to be able to write and research productively anytime, anyplace. I can't emphasize enough how much the form factor and weight puts this computer into an entirely differently category.

A few observations:

1.) The click bar is a little small. I'm used to thumping it with my thumb, and this one requires more aiming than I'm used to. But the great workaround is to enable single-touch-as-click in the trackpad, which makes the whole trackpad into a click bar.

2.) The multitouch is more convenient than I had expected. I'm already loving the ease of moving between and within pages with simple swipes. It's different than on the iPhone, but easily mastered.

3.) The thin edge is a little too thin, as far as my forearms are concerned. I'm used to resting them on the free space of the keyboard side, but with the MBA that means you're scraping them on the edge. It's a minor irritation, and my ergonomics are probably better served by lifting them anyway.

4.) One thing I haven't heard commented on before: the MacBook Air really floats! At least, that's the impression one gets. Because of the tapering, when it sits on a surface you don't see the point of contact, so it looks like it's levitating.

All in all, I couldn't be more pleased. If you haven't snagged yours yet, know that it's worth the wait.

I tried one out at the Apple store last night and did not like it, ultimately. The screen seems a little brighter/better than the Macbook, but as for typing, (especially if you're a writer and will do so a lot), it doesn't seem good at all.

For example, I agree that the click bar is tiny. I mean it's a tiny little strip. I couldn't even click it with my thumb very well. I had to look down and poke it with my index finger. That alone would interrupt my writing, big time.

And then the design itself. The moulded carved away diminutive size thing is nice looking with the parts that slope thin outward and slope thicker toward the bulk of the computer, but the whole computer rocked forward when I put too much weight at the front of it.

Yes, it looks small and cool, but if you try to open the lid the whole thing rocks back. It didn't feel as stable or solid, physically, as your average rectangle brick laptop.

I don't see it working for full-time writers, frankly, as well as the Macbook.

It seems to me to be the computer, as others have stated, for stock traders and CEOs who want to glance over their powerpoint presentation on the airplane before landing.

 

[NC MacGuy]

So now that all the stores have them i just went by my local apple store to finally check one out. So I thought i'd give me two cents. Overall, an I'm speaking objectively here, I wasn't that impressed. I liked the trackpad after i got used to it. The only thing that bothered me was the one click, I like that feature a lot, but i found that it would often execute when i didn't want it to. Worked to well I guess.

The other thing i like alot was the design. The screen is bright, the aluminum looks like its a little lighter in shade than what is traditionally used. So it looks bright. I liked the keyboard, and mostly i like the way it looked and felt when you were using it (ie open). Bright fresh, and clean. And the magnetic latch made it open effortlessly and smoothly.

What I wasn't impressed with though is it's selling point. It wasn't a compact notebook at all. Yes it is thin, but i found myself not caring about that after using it. Its as wide as any other notebook and when you open it and use it, the thinness isn't noticeable at all. Imagine the only time you would notice how thin it is, is when you put it in a bag.

My conclusion is just to wait for the design elements to be put in a MBP.

They aren't for everybody - that's why there's the MB & MBP. I'll keep my MBP and an Imac for home & office use. The MBAir is perfect for 90% of my needs much to my surprise. Travel a lot, mainly use office app.'s, mail and safari and am getting older. The 13" screen is easy to see. I'm getting woefully weak and needed the cut in weight. I rarely used the optical except for loading software, the ethernet barely, usb a bunch, firewire only for migration and large file transfers and never a modem. It will hit its target market nicely. It will be a pleasure to slide it in and out of my bag as I go through airline security this Monday, Thursday and Friday. That 2lbs wt. savings will really show as I'm trying to juggle the laptop into its bag, putting on shoes and grabbing my coat simultaneously.

 

[NC MacGuy]

I was lucky enough to snag a 1.6/HHD in a store yesterday, and quite frankly I'm amazed. The MacBook Air really has to be experienced. It has a feel unlike any other computer--light but solid, like a precision instrument rather than a hunk of plastic. The rounded taper of the closed unit makes it wonderfully comfortable to carry. And its thinness really can't be conveyed by pictures. It's as thin as the lid of my old iBook G4--at its thickest point. The tapering makes one perceive it as even thinner, and introduces an organic warmness to counterbalance the aluminum. Quite honestly, the MBA doesn't feel like a flashy design statement. It feels like it's designed to be used ubiquitously, to be picked up and casually carried everywhere, like a magazine.

I'm a writer, and I need two things: a usably-sized, high-contrast screen and a responsive full-sized keyboard. The MBA knocks both out of the park. The backlit LED display is extremely eye-friendly, and the keyboard has a healthy degree of "travel" (depth of key depression) for ease of touch-typing. It's chiclet-style like all Apple keyboards these days, but the keys sit a tad higher than on the desktop keyboards. The black keys, which I didn't like when I saw the MBA in photos, seem just right in person.

Technosnobs can complain all they want about how the MBA can't, say, edit video on the fly. I don't care. Other machines can't do what I want to do, which is to be able to write and research productively anytime, anyplace. I can't emphasize enough how much the form factor and weight puts this computer into an entirely differently category.

A few observations:

1.) The click bar is a little small. I'm used to thumping it with my thumb, and this one requires more aiming than I'm used to. But the great workaround is to enable single-touch-as-click in the trackpad, which makes the whole trackpad into a click bar.

2.) The multitouch is more convenient than I had expected. I'm already loving the ease of moving between and within pages with simple swipes. It's different than on the iPhone, but easily mastered.

3.) The thin edge is a little too thin, as far as my forearms are concerned. I'm used to resting them on the free space of the keyboard side, but with the MBA that means you're scraping them on the edge. It's a minor irritation, and my ergonomics are probably better served by lifting them anyway.

4.) One thing I haven't heard commented on before: the MacBook Air really floats! At least, that's the impression one gets. Because of the tapering, when it sits on a surface you don't see the point of contact, so it looks like it's levitating.

All in all, I couldn't be more pleased. If you haven't snagged yours yet, know that it's worth the wait.

My sentiments exactly!

 

[blouis79]

[...]
The day they can make the MBP as portable as the MBA I will be the first to upgrade...
[...]

Won't be far off. I presume the only thing missing is a larger screen. MBA Xbench benchmarks quoted earlier are fairly similar to my MBP15 2GHz. SSD drive is nearly twice as fast.

OpenGL graphics scores extremely low 18 for MBA vs 143 MBP.

Battery life is quoted to be way better than MBP (which is back in wintel territory at realistic 2+ hours. I used to love the 4-5 hours battery life on iBook PPC.

I'm sold on form factor and battery life.

Can someone post on real world battery life for MBA and photos of MBA external optical drive?

 

[eric55lv]

I did not buy it but I saw it at the Apple store yeasterday and is really really thin thinner than I thought it would be

 

[kiko10]

i have a question for you guys.

i want to buy a mba but here's the thing. its my first mac and i would hve to put windows on it. can it be done on the 64ssd one???? i want an ultra portable laptop and i dont want another pc. so im buying a mac either way.
ill only use it for surfing, watching tv series some music and some video converting for my ps3

and also can i buy the time capsule thing for storage or is it only for backup??
thanks

 

[desenso]

So the biggest emerging annoyance that I have with this thing is now the fan. It runs at 5000 to 6000rpm almost all the time, even when the temps are otherwise low and there's little to no load on the computer. And for such a slight computer, this thing can put out some serious fan noise.

 

[blackgmc]

So the biggest emerging annoyance that I have with this thing is now the fan. It runs at 5000 to 6000rpm almost all the time, even when the temps are otherwise low and there's little to no load on the computer. And for such a slight computer, this thing can put out some serious fan noise.

I only hear the fan noise is when its plug in and charging. other wise the fans run at 2500 RPM's.

 

[Cybergypsy]

So the biggest emerging annoyance that I have with this thing is now the fan. It runs at 5000 to 6000rpm almost all the time, even when the temps are otherwise low and there's little to no load on the computer. And for such a slight computer, this thing can put out some serious fan noise.

I also had a macbook like that drove me nuts, get it check, there was something wrong with my macbook

 

[mich73]

Fan

So the biggest emerging annoyance that I have with this thing is now the fan. It runs at 5000 to 6000rpm almost all the time, even when the temps are otherwise low and there's little to no load on the computer. And for such a slight computer, this thing can put out some serious fan noise.

I've had mine plugged in for the last 2 hrs and the fan hasn't turned on once. I have it placed on a flat surface (table). I wonder if anyone is having the same problems you are?

I remember when I first got my MacBook, I had issues with the fan (the infamous moo problem). Mine was fixed with a software update.

 

[blackgmc]

I've had mine plugged in for the last 2 hrs and the fan hasn't turned on once. I have it placed on a flat surface (table). I wonder if anyone is having the same problems you are?

I remember when I first got my MacBook, I had issues with the fan (the infamous moo problem). Mine was fixed with a software update.

Did you battery have at least a 50% charge when you you plug it in for 2 hours?

 

[NC MacGuy]

I'm not sure if this is a bug or me deleting something in my library to save space that I shouldn't have but I can't run the disk utility 'verify permissions' or 'repair permissions.' Anyone else try? Mine hangs w. 1 minute remaining and fan kicks on high until I restart. 1.6 - 80

 

[NC MacGuy]

So the biggest emerging annoyance that I have with this thing is now the fan. It runs at 5000 to 6000rpm almost all the time, even when the temps are otherwise low and there's little to no load on the computer. And for such a slight computer, this thing can put out some serious fan noise.

That's pretty weird. Mine hardly turned on at all until I tried running disk utilities than it cranked until restart.

 

[bxs]

Don't worry about this too much

I'm not sure if this is a bug or me deleting something in my library to save space that I shouldn't have but I can't run the disk utility 'verify permissions' or 'repair permissions.' Anyone else try? Mine hangs w. 1 minute remaining and fan kicks on high until I restart. 1.6 - 80

The DU does take a while compared to Tiger. It will stick at the "1 min to go" mark for several minutes and then take off. Is it a bug? Maybe from a progress point of view but DU will finish doing the permission check if you give it some time.

 

[NC MacGuy]

The DU does take a while compared to Tiger. It will stick at the "1 min to go" mark for several minutes and then take off. Is it a bug? Maybe from a progress point of view but DU will finish doing the permission check if you give it some time.

Thanks, I shall try it again. Last time it hung for about 10-15 minutes before I cancelled.

 

[desenso]

I really think my fan issue is software. A restart will generally make the fan go away, until they start up again. I wouldn't be surprised of we get an Air-specific software update in a few weeks.

 

[jameskohn]

Won't be far off. I presume the only thing missing is a larger screen. MBA Xbench benchmarks quoted earlier are fairly similar to my MBP15 2GHz. SSD drive is nearly twice as fast.

OpenGL graphics scores extremely low 18 for MBA vs 143 MBP.

Battery life is quoted to be way better than MBP (which is back in wintel territory at realistic 2+ hours. I used to love the 4-5 hours battery life on iBook PPC.

I'm sold on form factor and battery life.

Can someone post on real world battery life for MBA and photos of MBA external optical drive?

I've had my 1.8 SSD for almost 24 hours now. The battery just doesn't seem to budge: web surfing, email, etc for well over an hour now and it still indicates 4:53 remaining.

The external optical drive was one of the big surprises. It's smaller than I expected. Picture 2 CD jewel cases on top of each other, and that's the size of it. It's elegant looking, quiet, and weighs nothing. It fits very nicely and easily in a side pouch on my carry bag. For $99, it would be crazy not to get it, even if it never leaves your desk.

Keyboard is a real joy.

 

[v-ault]

Saw it at the apple store today. It looks nice, but the thinness didn't really stick out to me.

The keyboard's pretty nice, as is the trackpad. The magnetic latch on it is pretty nice- opens really easy.

It's not slow at all and it's decent, but I think it lacks longevity. It's a nice looking laptop, but besides the looks, I honestly wasn't very impressed by it. Happy with the blackbook I got instead.

 

[Cybergypsy]

Saw it at the apple store today. It looks nice, but the thinness didn't really stick out to me.

The keyboard's pretty nice, as is the trackpad. The magnetic latch on it is pretty nice- opens really easy.

It's not slow at all and it's decent, but I think it lacks longevity. It's a nice looking laptop, but besides the looks, I honestly wasn't very impressed by it. Happy with the blackbook I got instead.

Funny i was never impressed by the black macbook

 

[n0de]

I really haven't stopped drooling on mine yet (1.6/80gb).

After I finished installing Office '08, Contribute CS3 and my iTunes library I installed Onyx and cleaned everything up. A warning here - on the 4200 rpm HD "repair permissions" takes forever!!

My does not have any of the reported problems with being unlevel or the hinge squeeking.

I am pleasantly surprised at the speed and the build surpassed my already inflated expectations.

The front edge is a little sharp, my wrists are actually getting a little chaffed.

Just surfing, it barely gets warm, but when I was loading my iTunes library (20GB) it did get quite warm.

I am completely happy with this purchase.

The one odd design item is that the vents on the underside are located in a way that if you are sitting with it on your lap they are more than 50% covered.

The only negative item I noticed performance wise is the fact that the menu animation in Office '08 is a little slow. All of the core OSX animation is fine as well as any video I have run so far (including streaming 720P quicktime video which was perfect).

Will right more later.