More MacBook Air Details and Notes

[plinkoman]

all that MacBook Pro comparison does for me is make me appreciate how small the MacBook Pro is. not to mention how much better the design looks (no stupid taper ), how much more powerful it can be, and how it has firewire, gigabit ethernet, expresscard, superdrive etc..., and how they're virtually the same price depending on configurations.

as it stands, I absolutely would never be remotely interested in the MacBook Air. and since when is a MacBook/MacBook Pro considered not thin? cool, the MacBook Air can fit in an envelope..., now show me something useful.

 

[manu chao]

We don't have Apple stores in Sweden. And my previous MacBook have had the battery replaced two times in one year. My MB Pro is fairly new and the battery lives so far.

But my previous experience is that the batterys are not to be trusted. But maybe I have had bad luck.

I can't take the chance.

Of what? Of not being able to use your computer for a couple of days if for some reason your battery becomes faulty? But you can take the chance of any other part in your computer failing that requires sending it in?

I've owned four laptops over the last eight years. None of my batteries failed. I had one replaced in one of the safety exchanges. Only for my first laptop did I buy a second battery but I never used both batteries on one trip. Only a few weeks before I sold, did I swap them and placed the old battery in my desk.

 

[jragosta]

And then wait for 5 days when you have a presentation to do that day? Riiiight.

Batteries generally fail gradually. If you notice your battery life getting shorter, why would you wait until you need to do a presentation to worry about your battery life?

And how often do you do a presentation where there are no electrical sockets?

For me, the *real* reason why I'm upset about the MBA not having a replaceable battery is b/c it (possibly) gives a hint about the future of the other notebooks. Sure, right now you could always get a MB Pro or the MB, but if the *entire* line doesn't offer replaceable batteries? This is what I'm worried about.

Why don't you worry about it if and when it happens? I don't think it's likely in the MBP. Maybe the MB, but I doubt if very many MB users would care.

 

[bmorris]

http://www.geocities.com/thefeza/macbookair.jpg

for all of us that have to stare carry around out our fat pudgy counterparts.

look at you, youre so fat... u disgust me. why cant you be like macbook air? super thin and sexy? would it kill you to shed a few peripherals?!

 

[NC MacGuy]

I can't wait until the motherboard works its way into a computer for the masses. Imagine the possibilities. If they had shaved an inch off the L & W I'd have already placed an order. I would even have lived with the battery issue.

 

[manu chao]

all that MacBook Pro comparison does for me is make me appreciate how small the MacBook Pro is. not to mention how much better the design looks (no stupid taper ), how much more powerful it can be, and how it has firewire, gigabit ethernet, expresscard, superdrive etc..., and how they're virtually the same price depending on configurations.

as it stands, I absolutely would never be remotely interested in the MacBook Air.

If you had both a MBP and a MBA on your desk and you had to go somewhere where you did not need Firewire, nor a really fast processor, nor more than 2 GB of RAM, nor an ExpressCard, nor an optical drive, nor a 15" display or nor an ethernet port, which one would you take with you?

When do people get it? The MBA is not meant to be anybody's primary computer (except for those with small needs and a big budget, a small group, usually the 'needs' grow with the budget). It's a secondary computer.

 

[barijazz]

That MBA is pretty damn thin I'll give them that. But who really needs a computer that thin? I have a 15" MBP and it is almost as thin as I would ever really want. The thin design is cool and all, but not something I would trade for the power and expandability of the MBP or the MB.

If you had both a MBP and a MBA on your desk and you had to go somewhere where you did not need Firewire, a really fast processor, more than 2 GB of RAM, an ExpressCard, an optical drive, a 15" display or an ethernet port, which one would you take with you?

When do people get it? The MBA is not meant to be anybody's primary computer (except for those with small needs and a big budget, a small group, usually the 'needs' grow with the budget). It's a secondary computer.

It's obviously a companion product, and with back to my mac the tiny HDD doesn't affect you. It does appeal to a small market. But I hope apple isn't expecting everyone and their mother to go buy one.

 

[jackifus]

SSD performance boost?

Anyone have a thought to what kind of performance boost the solid state drive will grant?

I imagine it will be dramatic ...
anyone have thoughts there?

thx

 

[uNext]

still a piece of steve jobs bowel movement.

 

[villainx]

The simple solution for the travel battery is to have an external battery pack that connects via the mag port. The extra battery can also be charged with the same charger. It's right there for Apple or a third party so it should happen, right?

It's still inexcusable that the battery can't be replaced. Or where the computing experience leads to inconvenience every year or two that sucks big time. I've had problems with the batteries before. So it's not simply relying on faith that the MacAir will be issue free for many, and at the same time, it'll probably be costly for Apple too.

 

[Flobber88]

I really like the look of the new airbook, and although it is amazingly thin, I would have much rather preferred to see it have a smaller footprint than its thinness, everytime i see it I just see a macbook that lost a few pounds, lost a bit of weight and in the process lost a bit of functionality.

A 12inch display or smaller with about the same thinness imho would have been killer, and by reading these forums, the majority would have preferred smaller footprint over the thin factor. Though you can't read too much into these forum posts!

Also the cost really doesn't seem too much, Apple is in a competitive market and realize that they will lose costumers if they charge too much.

 

[compuguy1088]

Do we know if this thing has a FAN inside? With the SSD option would it be completely silent?

If you watche the keynote during the part where he showed the inside of the MBA, there is a fan. Most of the surface space is for the battery.

 

[plinkoman]

If you had both a MBP and a MBA on your desk and you had to go somewhere where you did not need Firewire, nor a really fast processor, nor more than 2 GB of RAM, nor an ExpressCard, nor an optical drive, nor a 15" display or nor an ethernet port, which one would you take with you?

That's an unrealistic scenario unless I purchased both, and that would be an excessive waste of money. And the answer to that specific question has no bearing on which is the better computer to purchase.

When do people get it? The MBA is not meant to be anybody's primary computer ... It's a secondary computer.

you completely missed my point. for virtually the same price, my secondary computer can be very powerful, and extremely versatile, yet realistically, still quite portable. why would I want to sacrifice all the additional usability for something not a hell of a lot smaller?

for a primary computer, a MBP is obviously the better choice for the money, but so is it for a secondary computer. MBP's are still quite thin, light, and small for their screen size; by no means are they not portable enough for anyone. and then there's the regular MacBook. smaller and lighter than the MBP, and considerably cheaper(a good consideration for a second computer) than either the Air or the Pro, while still having added power and features over the Air.

I cannot think of a circumstance where I would ever consider the Air as the better alternative to Apples other portables.

 

[Rendwich]

The Cube II

It does appeal to a small market. But I hope apple isn't expecting everyone and their mother to go buy one.

The Cube was a truly awesome Mac. A totally silent desktop computer is a thing of wonder. Yet it bombed. You couldn't expand it in any meaningful way, and if you set a book on top of it, it burned up.

It turns out that the market for unexpandable desktop computers which burn up if you set something on top of them is too small. So The Cube is no more.

But afte a LONG hiatus of useable, justifiable, sustainable products, APPLE IS BACK and it's back with with a vengance: Macbook Air!

Design Point 1: Thinness

Thinness is good with a your supermodels, your credit cards (credit blocks never caught on), your mints in Monty Python's *The Meaning of Life*. Thinness is good for laptops, too. TO A POINT. The real question is not "2D or 3D?" The real question is "How THICK can this be before I won't buy it?". For me, the answer to that question is "about 1.5 in/3.3 cm". That's the question Apple COMPLETELY MISSED. They made a wreck of a computer, but it's really, really thin.

Design: Point 2: Width and Height

Calling this an "ultraportable" is a joke. It has a 13.3" screen which is hardly "ultraportable". They have large, noticeable gaps between the keys which makes the keyboard bigger than any "ultraportable". It's 9in x 13in with a HUGE screen bezel and *significant* border on both sides of the keyboard. Despite being stupidly thin, it's not stupidly portable. So they blew it, plain and simple. You can't buy this if you need a small computer.

Design Point 3: Portless for Her Pleasure

Anyone, and I mean ANYONE who buys a computer with NO ETHERNET JACK for EIGHTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS in 2008 is a total and complete tool. The first time you have to do ANYTHING with a CD or DVD through your USB port, you are going to cry a river of regretful tears. It will literally take 7 hours to put 80GB of data through a USB 2.0 port. Don't believe me? Try it. That means putting a 760MB CD onto your Macbook Air will take... wait for it... wait for it... 4 minutes!! HA HA HA!

Design Point 4: Assault on Battery

For a mere work-week of your life, and 7 percent of the cost of the computer, Apple will replace your battery. Don't try this at home, kids. You'll void your warrantee and you can't find the battery anywhere else, either.

Design Point 5: Size Matters

The HD is 80 GB, which is a good size for an iPod. It's NOT A GOOD SIZE for a computer in 2008! It's a joke. So you want to add more storage? Great, you'll be doing it through.. wait for it... wait for... USB! HA HA HA (see above)!! The SSD is awesome and sexy and it adds a mere FOURTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS to the price. You can get a 32 GB flash drive for about $400, so you do the math. Hint: It's overpriced by SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS.

Design Point 6: Battering RAM

They soldered the RAM to the motherboard and there are no expansion slots. This is 2008 not 1988. To take a bigger step backward, they'd have to re-release the Mac Portable.

Design Point 7: The Short Bus

The processor is hugely underwhelming, probably for heat reasons. It's not easy being thin! If Macbook Air is a thin supermodel, the custom CPU is the slimming, heat-free methamphetamine.

Design Point 8: The Name's the Thing

Worst ever. The company is called "Apple", did they forget that?

Design Point 9: Black and Silver is Good

For the Oakland Raiders. It's not good for a Dell, an HP, or a MAC. So industrial and bland and ovelookable, it could have easily been designed by a Microsoft employee. When I heard that Johnathan Ives signed off on this, I realized that all good things must come to an end.

Conclusions (1-9)

TOO THIN. TOO WIDE. TOO ISOLATED. TOO LOCKED. TOO SMALL. TOO FORGETFUL. TOO STUPID. TOO MISNAMED. TOO UGLY.

This is the first MAJOR misstep for Apple in many years - and after so many shoddy business practices, I am truly enjoying seeing them jump the shark. I had a Mac 128K (!) and they've made a lot of great computers since then. This might be the worst.

 

[manu chao]

That's an unrealistic scenario unless I purchased both, and that would be an excessive waste of money. And the answer to that specific question has no bearing on which is the better computer to purchase.

Well, that completely unrealistic scenario is exactly what I am considering, getting an Air in addition to my MBP.

you completely missed my point. for virtually the same price, my secondary computer can be very powerful, and extremely versatile, yet realistically, still quite portable. why would I want to sacrifice all the additional usability for something not a hell of a lot smaller?

You give out the impression that Apple is forcing you to buy the Air instead of the MB.

and then there's the regular MacBook. smaller and lighter than the MBP, and considerably cheaper(a good consideration for a second computer) than either the Air or the Pro, while still having added power and features over the Air.

And the Air is for all those, for whom the MB is too heavy (and clunky).

I cannot think of a circumstance where I would ever consider the Air as the better alternative to Apples other portables.

Can you consider a reason why anybody would prefer the MB over the MBP other than monetary ones?

 

[prestowk]

SSD write performance?

What is the write performance of the SSD disk in the MacBook Air? Is it comparable to the platter disk, or worse? I'm concerned as writing many small files, such as during compilation in development, is one of my main use cases. That is supposed to be up to three times slower on some SSD disks, than on traditional platter based disks.

 

[uNext]

whats so wireless about it?

O.k it has wifi and bluetooth..so does that 399.99 computer i just saw
@ best buy.

Apple is trying to blind people with the remote disc feature..pla ya scenraio using
the remote feature when your not home but in a business trip.
You still have to shell out for the superdrive which is priced reasonably well.

Now if it really stood for the future with features like the following wireless connectvities then this would have been a hit.

wireless usb
wwan
wireless internet
bluetooth



4 out of 2 i dont even think it should be called @air@ more like crapbook bare?

 

[MacTO]

Once again. They've done it again. I really want to buy one.

But there's no need. That's the dilemma.

Cheers.

 

[badNameErr]

I cannot think of a circumstance where I would ever consider the Air as the better alternative to Apples other portables.

How about if you already have a desktop mac and want a lightweight laptop?

Easy.

 

[TheMacPotato]

I'm getting a bit bored of all these 'ooooh it's so thin' comments. Yes its so thin because there is bugger all in it.

No optical Drive
No expandable memory
Just 1 USB port
No Firewire
Slow small HD
Slow Processor
No removable battery
No video card

Plus, it's not that thin. The curvy, pointy profile of it creates an optical illusion that it is thinner than it actually is. At 0.76 inch thick it is only marginally thinner than a MacBook Pro (1 inch).

Seems to me you have to sacrifice an awful lot in order to have a MacBook that is a bit thinner. I'd pay £100 more and get a MacBook Pro any day of the week.

I'm sure plenty of fools will buy it though.

 

[badNameErr]

I'm getting a bit bored of all these 'ooooh it's so thin' comments. Yes its so thin because there is bugger all in it.

No optical Drive
No expandable memory
Just 1 USB port
No Firewire
Slow small HD
Slow Processor
No removable battery
No video card

Plus, it's not that thin. The curvy, pointy profile of it creates an optical illusion that it is thinner than it actually is. At 0.76 inch thick it is only marginally thinner than a MacBook Pro (1 inch).

Seems to me you have to sacrifice an awful lot in order to have a MacBook that is a bit thinner. I'd pay £100 more and get a MacBook Pro any day of the week.

I'm sure plenty of fools will buy it though.

The fact that it is thin isn't important. The fact that it is Apples lightest portable is.

 

[Rendwich]

You Asked

I like the portability of a smaller laptop but do like my built in optical drive and removable battery. Because of that I will probably stick with my nice little black MacBook. Does that mean that because I prefer those things that the MacBook Air is going to fail or is a piece of #*$&?

Yes, that's exactly what it means on both counts.

 

[TheMacPotato]

The fact that it is thin isn't important. The fact that it is Apples lightest portable is.

What the old MacBook was too heavy to carry?? Jeez go do some weights!

 

[Rendwich]

At Least It's A Step

i think what needs to be underscored in all the macbook air discussion is how this is a revolutionary step forward in the design of apple's laptops.

Let's see - RAM soldered to the board, weakest CPU in the lineup, no optical drive, no user-accessible battery, no ethernet jack. But it's light! It's not an ultraportable or even particularly small. But it's thin!

The REMOVED things outweigh the tiny advantages by so much, maybe you meant to type "backward" instead of "forward"?

 

[badNameErr]

What the old MacBook was too heavy to carry?? Jeez go do some weights!

Don't be so tetchy!

I'm just pointing out the goal of the product was to create something lightweight - not a fully featured laptop. If you need a fully feature laptop get a MB or a MBP. The Air is for people who already have a desktop mac and want a lightweight portable. End of story.