Potential bad news on new MBA's

[gwsat]

Absolutely. The pound and a half difference between the MBA and the MBP is tremendous, at least for my 54 year old back walking several miles a day. And I know: I carried the latter until last summer when I got smart and bought the Air.

Absolutely! The older you get the more important that 1.5 pounds saved by having an MBA instead of a 13 inch MBP is going to seem. Not to put too fine a point on it, that weight savings would mean even more to my aging body than it does to yours. That was why I eliminated the 13 inch MBP from consideration when I was researching 13 inch laptops. The 13 inch MBP's 4.5 pounds I would have to lug around seemed just too close to the 6.6 pounds weight of the 17 inch MBP I was already lugging.

Back to the iPad for a moment. Like you, it seems to me that the iPad has limited utility but, also like you, if further developments show that it does well the things I need done well, I will buy one without hesitation. In the meantime, I'm waiting for the MBA to be refreshed.

 

[Scottsdale]

Absolutely! The older you get the more important that 1.5 pounds saved by having an MBA instead of a 13 inch MBP is going to seem. Not to put too fine a point on it, that weight savings would mean even more to my aging body than it does to yours. That was why I eliminated the 13 inch MBP from consideration when I was researching 13 inch laptops. The 13 inch MBP's 4.5 pounds I would have to lug around seemed just too close to the 6.6 pounds weight of the 17 inch MBP I was already lugging.

Back to the iPad for a moment. Like you, it seems to me that the iPad has limited utility but, also like you, if further developments show that it does well the things I need done well, I will buy one without hesitation. In the meantime, I'm waiting for the MBA to be refreshed.

Or the weight savings means you could carry both an MBA and an iPad OR just a 13" MBP. I would prefer just one product unless this is the consideration. With both an MBA and an iPad we could use the one that fits us best for the situation at a site... if twittering, the iPad would work best... if typing a report for a client, the MBA would work best.

Apps will drive demand for the iPad. People will think the iPad isn't really for them initially, until they see/read/hear of a friend who has an iPad with an app that does... and they will instantly change their mind. Apple's real win with the iPad is the starting price. At $499, a lot of people will give it a real chance.

 

[potdude]

Bs!

I have not read all of the posts on this thread, but I know enough that I know that a low level employee of a company, who may be known as a "genius" to their customers, is not a genius in real life or they'd have higher paying jobs.

If a low level Apple Store "Genius" gives you their opinion, that is all it is, and it shouldn't be taken for a grain of salt. These "Geniuses" aren't in the board room meetings and have no idea what is really going on within the company.

 

[gwsat]

Or the weight savings means you could carry both an MBA and an iPad OR just a 13" MBP. I would prefer just one product unless this is the consideration. With both an MBA and an iPad we could use the one that fits us best for the situation at a site... if twittering, the iPad would work best... if typing a report for a client, the MBA would work best.

Apps will drive demand for the iPad. People will think the iPad isn't really for them initially, until they see/read/hear of a friend who has an iPad with an app that does... and they will instantly change their mind. Apple's real win with the iPad is the starting price. At $499, a lot of people will give it a real chance.

Your idea of carrying both an MBA and an iPad so you can use the one that works for the job at hand makes sense. It hadn't occurred to me that the combined weight of the two is the same as that of a single 13 inch MBP. For reasons stated in earlier posts, I am not interested in an iPad at the moment but, depending on future developments, that could change. The iPad's inability to multitask, coupled with the challenge of typing on one are difficulties I just can't overcome right now. Nevertheless, the iPad's $499 is, literally, exponentially cheaper than a Macbook, which goes for $999.

 

[gglockner]

Your idea of carrying both an MBA and an iPad so you can use the one that works for the job at hand makes sense. It hadn't occurred to me that the combined weight of the two is the same as that of a single 13 inch MBP.... Nevertheless, the iPad's $499 is, literally, exponentially cheaper than a Macbook, which goes for $999.

As a mathematician, I need to nitpick: the iPad is linearly cheaper than a MacBook. Or let's just say that it's about half the cost...

That said, I'm not sure I want to carry an iPad and a MBA. For me, the reason that I (just) purchased a MacBook Air is to reduce the weight of things I need to carry. I'm having a very hard time understanding what an iPad gives me when I already carry a MacBook Air and an iPhone.

While I'm on this tangent, I'm considering getting an iPad for my wife to replace her Kindle. However, the Kindle 2 is much smaller than an iPad, so it fits great in her purse. An iPad would not.

 

[gwsat]

As a mathematician, I need to nitpick: the iPad is linearly cheaper than a MacBook. Or let's just say that it's about half the cost...

That said, I'm not sure I want to carry an iPad and a MBA. For me, the reason that I (just) purchased a MacBook Air is to reduce the weight of things I need to carry. I'm having a very hard time understanding what an iPad gives me when I already carry a MacBook Air and an iPhone.

While I'm on this tangent, I'm considering getting an iPad for my wife to replace her Kindle. However, the Kindle 2 is much smaller than an iPad, so it fits great in her purse. An iPad would not.

First, I defer to your expertise as a mathematician. After seeing your correction, I now realize that I inaccurately said that the iPad was "exponentially cheaper than the 13 inch MBP." It isn't, although I believe I could have correctly said that the 13 inch MBP is exponentially more expensive than the iPad.

I wouldn't ever want to carry both a MBA and an iPad at the same time, mostly because, for the moment at least, I don't want to carry an iPad at all. As noted in earlier posts, I really want a MBA if Apple will just up the RAM enough to allow me to conveniently run OS X and Windows apps concurrently.

 

[godslabrat]

I think it's obvious that the iPad is the most revolutionary device ever, and since its capabilities are unlimited, Apple will not only drop their MBA, but also the iMac and MBP, and sell only iPads.

 

[zunairryk]

Made my day

LOL oops

 

[gglockner]

I really want a MBA if Apple will just up the RAM enough to allow me to conveniently run OS X and Windows apps concurrently.

I agree that 2GB is really not enough RAM to virtualize Windows, particularly Windows 7. However, as a new owner of an SSD MacBook Air, it boots so incredibly fast that a dual-boot (aka Boot Camp) install could be a viable alternative.

I would prefer to have a 4GB MBA but I got to the point where I couldn't wait any longer for the new models to be released. You can thank me for hastening that day.

 

[gwsat]

I agree that 2GB is really not enough RAM to virtualize Windows, particularly Windows 7. However, as a new owner of an SSD MacBook Air, it boots so incredibly fast that a dual-boot (aka Boot Camp) install could be a viable alternative.

I would prefer to have a 4GB MBA but I got to the point where I couldn't wait any longer for the new models to be released. You can thank me for hastening that day.

When I first got my MBP, 2 years ago, I ran Windows in Boot Camp at first and was driven crazy by it. Shifting to Fusion was a big improvement, although Windows apps running in a Fusion virtual machine with only 1Gb of RAM were slow and, often, unstable. Still, that beat Boot Camp. I am sure that being able to boot from a SSD would speed up shifting to Windows from OS X and back again but I don't want to go that route. I just hope that 4Gb of RAM will be enough if, as I suspect, that's the only choice Apple gives us in the next MBA upgrade.

 

[gglockner]

Don't forget that if you're planning to work when you have internet access, you can setup Windows on another machine (either virtualized or on a dedicated box), then access that via Remote Desktop. If you only need it occasionally, you could even consider running a Windows box on the cloud, like with Amazon S3 or with GoGrid. But this won't work if you don't have reliable high-speed network access.

 

[gwsat]

Don't forget that if you're planning to work when you have internet access, you can setup Windows on another machine (either virtualized or on a dedicated box), then access that via Remote Desktop. If you only need it occasionally, you could even consider running a Windows box on the cloud, like with Amazon S3 or with GoGrid. But this won't work if you don't have reliable high-speed network access.

Although what you suggest would no doubt work, I have become spoiled by being able to run Fusion in Unity mode, which allows me to keep several Windows apps and several OS X apps open on the OS X desktop at all times. That way I can - tab from any one of them to any other. The only way I could replicate this experience on a Macbook Air would be for the MBA to have enough RAM to let me do it. Too bad but there it is.

Remote Desktop works but even with a reliable network, which I have, it is slow. For that reason I don't use it any more and won't.

The foregoing not withstanding, I appreciated your thoughtful suggestions.

 

[Scottsdale]

Don't forget that if you're planning to work when you have internet access, you can setup Windows on another machine (either virtualized or on a dedicated box), then access that via Remote Desktop. If you only need it occasionally, you could even consider running a Windows box on the cloud, like with Amazon S3 or with GoGrid. But this won't work if you don't have reliable high-speed network access.

Nice idea... but probably not realistic for most. At one point I didn't want to waste my MBA's drive space with Windows, so I took two computers with me on a business trip. I needed Windows for a client's app. It was the last time I ever carried two computers anywhere, as it eliminated the whole purpose of the MBA. I then installed Windows 7 in Boot Camp.

I really love Windows 7 on my MBA, but I don't want to deny myself OS X while running it. The MBA simply doesn't do virtual machine of Windows 7 right now without more RAM. I would love to run Windows 7 virtually in the MBA but am STUCK with BootCamp which is sad given the low cost of RAM. Why in the world didn't Apple stick 4 GB of RAM in the MBA last June? I would bet sales would have been double, as RAM is the number one reason reported by those who would have bought an MBA but...

For all those that have to run Windows and OS X at the same time, a 13" MBP is truly a better alternative. Until Apple straightens out this huge problem with lack of RAM in the MBA, the MBA just isn't the tool for the dual OS computer.

 

[gwsat]

I really love Windows 7 on my MBA, but I don't want to deny myself OS X while running it. The MBA simply doesn't do virtual machine of Windows 7 right now without more RAM. I would love to run Windows 7 virtually in the MBA but am STUCK with BootCamp which is sad given the low cost of RAM. Why in the world didn't Apple stick 4 GB of RAM in the MBA last June? I would bet sales would have been double, as RAM is the number one reason reported by those who would have bought an MBA but...

For all those that have to run Windows and OS X at the same time, a 13" MBP is truly a better alternative. Until Apple straightens out this huge problem with lack of RAM in the MBA, the MBA just isn't the tool for the dual OS computer.

Scottsdale -- The inability to add RAM to the MBA is the sole reason I don't already have one. I simply won't buy another Macbook of any kind until I can get one that is both very light weight and can accept enough RAM to allow me to run Fusion in Unity mode and Windows 7. Alas, that eliminates both the current MBA, because of its 2Gb of RAM limitation, and the 13 inch MBP, because it weighs 4.5 pounds.

In another thread, a poster claimed that he routinely runs Parallels in coherence mode with Windows on an MBA, which he uses to run his business. If he is right about this, it's the first time I have heard about it. I had assumed that Parallels, although currently faster than Fusion, was just as big a memory hog as Fusion.

 

[beebler]

My friend at Apple R&D maintains that brand new Macbook Airs are aimed at the end of the year. He also said that 15" Airs will be released next year sometime, after the initial ones are released.

 

[tflournoy95]

maybe apple plans to drop the mba and make a fully featured osx version of the ipad.(c2d, upgradable storage/memory)
think that this would be really cool. the osx version could also hae a 13.3 in screen too.

 

[tflournoy95]

My friend at Apple R&D maintains that brand new Macbook Airs are aimed at the end of the year. He also said that 15" Airs will be released next year sometime, after the initial ones are released.

you mean your imaginery friend? yeah i was talking to him too