The best part of today's MBA update is... and the worst part is...

[Jobsian]

For me, the best parts were SB and the 256GB SSD.

The worst parts were the battery (very disappointing personally speaking as I always zero the battery) and the HD 3000 - even though I don't push the GPU much I have inclinations to install GPU-hungry software, but that decision's taken away from me. I agree with you completely that it's not good to see (though not surprising) the GPU chipset and USB 3.0 'tactics' let's say.

I have to say I don't ACD, yet anyway (instead preferring MD-HDMI with a large TV display) so Thunderbolt is a neutral upgrade for me.

 

[Jobsian]

Scotts what about your plans for this round?

And Hellhammer?

 

[TSE]

Best Part - The new CPUs are much more powerful.

Neutral - Thunderbolt port. This could turn into the best part if a decent, economical, external GPU comes out.

Worst Part - no increase of battery life, in fact, a small DECREASE in battery life. WTF?

 

[codehead]

Also, I wanted to mention how while taking over three years, the MBA has completely redefined the Mac and computing. I was an early adopter, and I had bought the first four models. For the first three versions, people scoffed at the MBA. Talked about how it was incapable, how they needed optical disks, how it needed more drive space, how it needed RAM slots, how it needed (insert here). Now, it is the basis of the MacBook itself.

For those of you who have been here in the MBA section of the forum, isn't it amazing how people's attitudes and perceptions on what a Mac should be are changing?

Amen brother. Remember when people wanted the MBA forum to be deleted?From ridiculed to setting the standard. The MBA is finally getting its due.

 

[stevenpa]

Guys, there are no ULV Sandy Bridge processors. The chips in the 2011 MBAs are LV versions.

The Chips Scottsdale was talking about in the OP are REGULAR versions - the same ones in the 13" MBP.

In C2D there were 10W ULV, 17W LV, 25-35W Regular versions.

In Sandy Bridge there are 17W LV and 25-45W Regular Versions.

Back on topic - Best Part, IMHO is the Backlit Keyboard coming back. And to all those who said it wouldn't fit, etc... the truth is coming out. As expected, Apple just removed it so they could fit under the $999 ceiling last time. And so they could prominently "feature" it this time. Just like the headphone jack in the Original iPhone and the FW port in the late-2008 Unibody MacBooks.

I'm pretty sure these chips are ULV?

 

[cambookpro]

Best: Backlit keyboard, Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt

Worst: No FaceTime HD, no 8GB RAM option.

 

[tbobmccoy]

Best: Backlit keyboard, Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt

Worst: No FaceTime HD, no 8GB RAM option.

Exactly my list... I'd also add that the SD card isn't an SDXC... Which I thought they'd upgrade to since everything else has it

 

[KasperH]

Best:

Backlit keyboard, i7 CPU option,
I guess the HD3000 Graphics could be a plus as well, since it's pretty good on a 3.4ghz i7 SB, so i'm not expecting it to suck too much in the MBA, and i think it' will be a good deal faster than the Nvidia GT 330M in my 2010 MBP....at least i hope so....is it not?

Worst:

It's crazy that i have to pay a difference of 570$ (live in heavily taxed Denmark) to upgrade from the base 13" i5 to the i7 when 128GB is more than enough storage locally for me. I DONT want to pay for a 256GB SSD to get more CPU power

No option for 8GB memory

Apple Cinema Display:

I'm definetly NOT getting the ACD. I have returned four 27" 2011 iMac's because of panel clouding/shadowning and yellowing, and i'm not going to try my luck with the ACD's similar backlight technology anytime soon. I'm getting a Dell U2711 instead.

I have a i7 2010 MBP with SSD and maybe it's silly to "upgrade" to the 2011 MBA.....but it's just SOOOO nice

 

[cleric]

The ACD does make thunderbolt a lot more useful and the dock solution is pretty nice. Can we daisy chain two of them together? Dual-head monitors and MBA would be a pretty sweet!

 

[Jobsian]

Also, I wanted to mention how while taking over three years, the MBA has completely redefined the Mac and computing. I was an early adopter, and I had bought the first four models. For the first three versions, people scoffed at the MBA. Talked about how it was incapable, how they needed optical disks, how it needed more drive space, how it needed RAM slots, how it needed (insert here). Now, it is the basis of the MacBook itself.

For those of you who have been here in the MBA section of the forum, isn't it amazing how people's attitudes and perceptions on what a Mac should be are changing?

Ah yes, I remember the days when people thought the MBA was going to die muahaha, feels damn good. Jobs always had this vision and now he's refined the MBA into, imo, the most impeccable ultraportable ever crafted. It is beautiful beyond all else and tremendously functional.

An ugly, elitist part of me doesn't want it to be too mainstream, there was always something nice about having a unique product. My iPhone is far from unique these days and the MBA is heading that way too, thankfully for AAPL shareholders I guess

 

[alpinadvl]

Scott,

I always appreciate your comments and agree with your assessment thoroughly about the pros/cons of the recent release and the direction apple is going (looking at the MBA as a model of that).

I am happy to see the backlighting included again... at the very least all those threads can "die down" now.

For me, the MBA is a computer i consider a "necessity" - and every improvement on the platform is something I can thoroughly take advantage of - therefore, I consider my upgrade path to be timed with almost every release.

I am really curious of how the new MBA performs with graphic (semi-intensive) tasks.

I am also curious how people can justify an ipad vs a MBA 11" ?.... it seems to eliminate any cost benefit of an ipad.... (even though i have and enjoy using an ipad)

 

[KPOM]

An ugly, elitist part of me doesn't want it to be too mainstream, there was always something nice about having a unique product. My iPhone is far from unique these days and the MBA is heading that way too, thankfully for AAPL shareholders I guess

True. I had the Rev A (the first Mac I ever purchased for myself), and then purchased the Rev B with the SSD (which, while slow by today's standards was quicker than any hard drive I had ever used). That 1.86GHz Rev B with the 128GB SSD was $2499 less than 3 years ago, and now a 1.8GHz Core i7 Rev E with 128GB SSD is $1349.

That Rev A, while slow, set the tone with its form factor and early generation multi-touch touchpad. The nice part with the Rev E is that for the first time, we don't need to choose between performance and portability (apart from gaming performance).

 

[reputationZed]

Worst part: ... no second thunderbolt port.

I agree, not being able to purchase two $50 cables for non existent peripherals is a major down side.

 

[reputationZed]

Best part - pretty much inline with expectations
Worts part - pretty much inline with expectations, that and my complete lack of will power in the face of Apple's reality distortion field continues to erode my savings.

 

[DaveOZ]

I love the new display and I'm glad I held off buying the old one. I'm still using a old 23" ACD and look forward to all the new features.

I just wish they had fitted an SD and CF reader slot on the side like Dell and other do. This would make life easier and surly it would have been a cheap addition.

 

[Kendo]

Excellent post on the Apple Cinema Display but it shouldn't have been wasted on a subject about "the best and worst part of the MacBook Air update" because most replies to your informative post will be regarding the actual MacBook Air and not the updated display!

I have never considered purchasing an Apple Cinema Display and always thought having an iMac and a separate laptop truly gave the best of both worlds (portability on the road and performance at home). But with the new display update, I think there will come a time where I may finally invest in solely a notebook and a display as the "main computer."

It won't happen with this update but possibly the next refresh, especially if the next MacBook Pro has an updated design and USB 3.0 is included in the next Apple display.

 

[FluJunkie]

Best: Badass processors. Finally out so I can finally finish up this grant proposal budget.

Neutral: Thunderbolt. I just can't be bothered to care.

Worst: 4GB of RAM at maximum means I'm probably looking at a MBP.

 

[Scottsdale]

Guys, there are no ULV Sandy Bridge processors. The chips in the 2011 MBAs are LV versions.

The Chips Scottsdale was talking about in the OP are REGULAR versions - the same ones in the 13" MBP.

In C2D there were 10W ULV, 17W LV, 25-35W Regular versions.

In Sandy Bridge there are 17W LV and 25-45W Regular Versions.

Back on topic - Best Part, IMHO is the Backlit Keyboard coming back. And to all those who said it wouldn't fit, etc... the truth is coming out. As expected, Apple just removed it so they could fit under the $999 ceiling last time. And so they could prominently "feature" it this time. Just like the headphone jack in the Original iPhone and the FW port in the late-2008 Unibody MacBooks.

NO, these are ULV CPUs NOT LV CPUs. Go read Intel's specs on the chips. Although they're a higher voltage than before, the 17W ULV includes the IGP and chipset. That is why you're confused.

You do realize that the Thunderbolt ACD will only work with the Thunderbolt MBA. Not the 320m MacBook Air. And I agree, the Gigabit Ethernet and FW800 will make excellent additions to a "home docking station".

I'm also sincerely impressed that you're pumped for a setup involving the MBA attached Thunderbolt 27" Display despite you saying in the past that LV Sandy Bridge chips wouldn't be used 'cause they couldn't even push the 1440x900 resolution of the 13" MBA screen, and saying the Intel HD 3000 limited the resolution of the 13" 2011 MBP.

Hopefully the Intel HD 3000 will prove it's not as crummy as many on these forums thought it was... (except for 3D gaming - I'm sure it'll be bunk at 3D gaming).

OBVIOUSLY, the HD 3000 can drive the MBA's display PLUS a 27" ACD. My point has been the stats on the numbers and how to market such. When using a higher resolution, with the drivers/OS version that originally shipped with the 13" MBP, it seems obvious that it wouldn't look like as big of a drop in performance IF they didn't use a higher resolution display.

Please do not misconstrue my words, and read them as they're advised and written as I have made amply clear that the HD 3000 can drive a 27" ACD, albeit with some serious reservations vs. the Nvidia 320m. Granted, my use was with a 13" MBP when it was released, but it was OBVIOUS as soon as we connected my friend's MBP to my ACD that it simply couldn't drive it without noticeable lag. It was obvious when touching the trackpad specifically, as it slowed down vs when the ACD was not connected. I have NEVER felt such from an MBA with a 320m GPU. However, my words were not meant as the IGP cannot drive the 27" ACD nor even a 1440x900 native display but were rather intended to say that the "numbers/benchmarks" would have shown a serious negative with the 13" MBP coming from 1280x800 to 1440x900, and why else wouldn't a "Pro" caliber MacBook have such a display when the consumer grade MBA does???

 

[deadlystriker]

Best: 256gb on 11" and return of the backlit keyboard

Worst: they can only run lion

 

[xraydoc]

Just ordered a fully decked out 11" MBA. Hope it doesn't take too long to arrive.

Best part: Core i7, 256GB SSD and backlit keyboard.

Neutral: Thunderbolt. I, personally, will probably never make use of the TB capability (though I do appreciate the mini-DP compatibility).

Worst: Would have liked a 6GB or 8GB RAM option (so multiple Mac apps plus a virtual machine can all be running without being RAM-starved), but I'll probably be OK on 4GB given the speed of the SSD.

 

[ShiftClick]

Ordered 11" 1.8 128 wanted the 256 but couldn't justify the extra $300 +tax

Best: Finally out! exactly what we all knew though.

Worst: no 21.5" Thunderbolt Display and No snow leopard.

 

[BubbaMc]

Neutral Part: Thunderbolt (who cares?)

I, and many others care. See the first post.

 

[PDFierro]

The best part is most certainly the 256GB SSD on the 11-inch and matching the other specs of the 13-inch. This upgrade was better than I expected it to be.