The new MacBook Air 11.6" vs the iPad

[tintincub]

i own 17" unibody with maxed out 8GB ram for working with big PSD (4000x4000px 300dpi), and it's so heavy to bring it everyday from home to office, and when i use it on my bed it's really a hassle coz it's so big.

so when ipad is released, it's like going to heaven. it's so portable, battery life is good. i bought the 32Gb, it was alot of fun to play games and browsing on bed.

but after a while, i didn't play games anymore, the novelty of playing touch screen games was lost. it was just an euphoria. i rarely played games before i got the ipad, now it's back to normal me, just casual computing, browsing, downloading movies and watching movies.

it sucks to download movies and convert it to m4v, sync it with itunes, and i can't download movies anymore since i leave my mbp at my office.

so i think im gonna ditch my ipad for a base $999 11" macbook air.

just my thought and experience, hope it will help you make a good decision.

Amen.

The shine wears off really fast with the iPad. It just becomes a PITA that even for doing basic stuff you got to download a zillion apps. It doesn't have a central file system, very very hard to type with the virtual keyboard, heavy for holding with even two hands for extended periods etc etc. All these shortcomings are perfectly acceptable for the iPhone but become very irritating with a tablet like the iPad. You cannot even upload stuff on mobile Safari. It is not a very good e-reader with the LCD screen and forget about reading on it in sunlight.

The one good thing going for the iPad is it's battery and thats about it.

I have a 15" MBP, 64 GB WiFi+3G iPad and I am abou to receive my new 11" MacBook Air. I am sure that my iPad will collect dust once my MacBook Air arrives. I think if you already own an iPhone then the iPad is not going to do much for you except for the bigger display. Touch typing is much easier on the iPhone than on the iPad.

I think MacBook Air especially with the upcoming Mac App Store completely owns the iPad. It runs full OSX and Lion is just going to be awesome on it.

People will still continue to buy the iPad but when MacBook Air gets a 10 hour battery then the iPad will loose its relevance. But Apple might very well know this and will make the iPad more powerful to keep up.

 

[mark28]

Not in the same category. I got the ipad mostly for the 3G capability, and IF the air had 3g I might have something to consider ... in the future.

Get a USB 3G?

 

[Drag'nGT]

I think this is the first time in a long while that Apple has put three products so closely priced together. All seem to accomplish a different goal.

$ to performance I'd go with a Macbook/MBP. Not the current line up since it's obvious that 13" screen will be on the new 13" models early this next year. So don't shoot yourself in the foot by buying it now.

I'd also wait on the next iPad as well. If you get the high end iPad + keyboard you're about $230 away from the 11.6" Air. The new Air is worth the extra money from a productivity standpoint. But that brings us back to the price on the 13" MB/MBP....

It's a really tough call for anyone other than the customer. For me, the iPad is easier to use and enjoy than my Air. So I just sold my Air before the new ones drove the price down too far. As long as the new iPad gets a retina display I will be upgrading on launch day. I'd like to see the capacity and battery life increase as well.

 

[ArmCortexA8]

With the announcement and pricing of the new MacBook Air 11" 128GB and 13" 128GB, it makes the Ipad 64GB $AU1,049 price tag seem too high as the MBA is a full mac system just without the optical drive,etc, yet its only AU$200 more expensive than an iPad. The MBA runs a full MAC OS, has USB ports and a larger screen, all of which the iPad lacks. Plus I already own a MacBook Pro 13" (2010) model.

Therefore, I have taken the liberty to sell of my iPad 64GB on Ebay. The of the MBA / iPad is so close, that I think the MacBook Air sales will be more than the iPad as you get a lot more for you dollars.

 

[Full of Win]

I'd take the iPad 3G over the low end MBA 11 incher anyday

I just wish they would have added a SIM card port and antenna. That would have been perfect, 3G on the 11 inch MacBook Air. I guess there is always Handy Light...until that breaks. Still though, that would have been awesome.

 

[biosci]

I'm with you on that one Squid!!

It almost seems as if Apple is entering the Netbook category. I have an iPhone that is always with me, an iPad I have most times for casual browsing, a MacBook Pro for powerful things, yet portable, and an iMac for very powerful things. However, I also have a NetBook that is often times kept in my car for the portable need of a keyboard, now I want this MacBook Air to replace that. My wallet already hates me, i have a feeling its screaming right now.

 

[Night Spring]

People will still continue to buy the iPad but when MacBook Air gets a 10 hour battery then the iPad will loose its relevance. But Apple might very well know this and will make the iPad more powerful to keep up.

I guess you must have missed my post on the previous page. Some of us want a device without a keyboard, which can be cumbersome in certain situations. Until the Air comes with a swivel screen or removal keyboard so it turns into a tablet, and weighs no more than the current iPad, the iPad wouldn't lose any relevance for me.

And I think it's very possible that we will eventually get a device from Apple that is a convertible notebook / tablet. Lion seems to point toward a hybrid iOS/OSX, and Jobs seem enamoured with the idea of having iPads and Macs breed "offspring." In which case, neither iPad nor Air would lose relevance, they'll just merge into one.

 

[AAPLaday]

The iMac and iPad is the perfect combination for me. I feel out of all of Apples machines that the iMac is the best value for money. I don't need os x to browse the web, listen to music, read the news, play a game, get the latest issue of a magazine, email, take piano lessons or edit a photo whilst away from my desk. Considering the base Air is double the price of the base iPad I will stick to my pad. Media which I don't have on my iPad can easily be streamed to it and i use it as a remote to control my Sony Blu-Ray player and iMac.

Let's not forget that this is a first gen product as well. Let's see where Apple takes it in future generations.

I think of the iPad more of a complimentary product rather than a standalone one. There will be people who bought one to act as a main computer and while some can achieve this through light needs, the Air would be better in this regard. I however never liked using laptops on my bed as you always had to be careful not to block the vents etc. Using one on your lap for extended periods can lead to hot toasty legs. It is much more practical to use an iPad in these situations.

Saying this however i always was a massive fan of the Air and have said many times in the past that it is the best laptop Apple have ever made. These updates are long overdue and more than welcome. I might pick one up next gen if they restore the backlit keys and push the processing power even further

 

[greygray]

I would prefer the new 11" MBA over the iPad. The price point's pretty attractive too!

 

[Ichneumon]

If either my Ipad 64g 3g or 15" macbook pro dies I'll certainly buy a macbook air, not sure yet if I'd go for the 13" or 11". I'd poanned to go for 13, but having after seen the 11" in an Apple store... i'm moving more and more towards 11".

 

[netdog]

This is like pitting a keychain against a flower pot.

 

[lozpop]

I think that when the iPad 2 will be announced in Spring, we will have a better comparison.

 

[KandyKane]

Is it safe to use a MBA sideways? Or would it block something and blow up?
Right now I'm lying on my side in bed and if I was using a laptop in this angle the screen would be at 90 degrees...
Uggg i also love using the iPad for text books.

 

[drjsway]

I still don't really see the reasoning behind the MBA..... 13" MBP does everything the MBA (but better/faster) for an extra pound.

Not true. Even the $999 MBA is WAY faster than a MBP for basic tasks. Why do people get obsessed over processor speed (which you'll only notice 5% of the time during very CPU intensive tasks) over SSD/HDD speed (which you'll notice 95% of the time)?

By the way, the new MBA is 2.3 pounds. The MBP is over 2 pounds heavier. That said, the MBA is not a replacement for the iPad. Nothing replaces the joy and ease of a touch web browsing experience.

 

[billysea]

I don't own both devices, so I am not bias toward either one.

Having tried MBA today at the Apple Store, while it feels small and could find its audience, the experience of using a MBA and iPad are totally different.

iPad is really about media consumption. Using it is an 'experience'. Having it put right in front of your face to surf the web or watch videos are just different than watching it on a small laptop. The iPad feels much more personal.

MBA is more like a portable laptop. If you already have a computer at home or another laptop, I don't recommend buying it just for the portability (unless you are rich of course). If you are a very light computer user that only need one computer and want to bring it with you everywhere, than MBA is for you. But as an extra companion, I suggest the iPad, as it really does alter your way of consuming media that you could not get elsewhere, while MBA is only a small computer that doesn't break much ground.

 

[clyde2801]

It's a matter of personal preference between the two machines, considering the top of the line ipad with bt kb costs the same as the base mba.

If you need full fledged OSX, or are primarily going to be writing or typing on the machine, get the mba. Apple finally came up with a worthy replacement for the 12" powerbook. The usb slot would be nice for a cricket aircard and some cheap all you can eat mobile internet access. I suspect the c2d will smoke the ipad speedwise in pulling up anything but basic websites.

But if you'd rather have a tablet form factor, or consume a lot of media, can get your needs met by existing apps, or need the longer battery life, it's the air.

The ipad is a great multipurpose device. I listen to podcasts and music in the car and check my email, etc., etc., while out of the office. Omnifocus for ipad is superb on the ipad, better than the mac version that costs twice as much. I've got the bt kb and spare battys in my computer bag for occasions where I'll have to do some real typing on the road, but admittedly that hasn't happened yet.

The ipad has made me realize how unbelievably convenient it is to have computing power and internet at any time and any place. It has been a lifesaver on more than a few occasions already.

And I've undergone a paradigm shift on the mba. Before it was a overpriced, underpowered toy and ceo status symbol. Now if my ipad or home based macbook decides to die outside of applecare, I'll seriously consider buying the base model.

 

[Hooksta]

I see there is still a lot of hype and support for the iTouch XL....sorry iPad.

Doesn't the iTouch have a camera and FaceTime now? I guess there wasn't enough room in that little ole iPad for a camera.

 

[Night Spring]

Doesn't the iTouch have a camera and FaceTime now? I guess there wasn't enough room in that little ole iPad for a camera.

Touch was released in September, iPad in April. That's what, 5 months? So of course it has a tech or two that didn't make it into the iPad. No problem, the iPad still wins in screen real estate. Right now I have both an iPad and a touch, but if I had to pick just one, it's a no-brainer, it'd be the iPad any day.

 

[anthonymoody]

Not everyone. I, for one, wanted the iPad to be Apple's tablet, and it is.

The thing I use the iPad the most for is reading -- websites, ebooks, newspaper/magazines. When reading, you DON'T WANT a keyboard. Even the smallest keyboard on the tiniest netbook gets in the way. And you want to be able to hold the device in either portrait or landscape, to best fit the material you happen to be reading. The new Air is a very attractive machine, and I'm seriously coveting one, but it will never replace the iPad for me.

I posted about this in my blog. I use a 64GB + 3G iPad and have since day 1 as my primary machine. For me there is no going back from a touchscreen. And i am remarkably proficient as a typist on the onscreen keyboard in landscape mode. The new small Air is drool worthy, but until OSX 10.8 (which will undoubtedly offer much greater touch/gestures than Lion), I wouldnt even consider moving away from my iPad.

With the announcement and pricing of the new MacBook Air 11" 128GB and 13" 128GB, it makes the Ipad 64GB $AU1,049 price tag seem too high as the MBA is a full mac system just without the optical drive,etc, yet its only AU$200 more expensive than an iPad. The MBA runs a full MAC OS, has USB ports and a larger screen, all of which the iPad lacks. Plus I already own a MacBook Pro 13" (2010) model.

Therefore, I have taken the liberty to sell of my iPad 64GB on Ebay. The of the MBA / iPad is so close, that I think the MacBook Air sales will be more than the iPad as you get a lot more for you dollars.

Sorry dude. NFW. Might it sell more than the 64GB+ 3G? Possibly though extremely doubtful. More than all ipads? NFW.

 

[numbertwelve]

I see there is still a lot of hype and support for the iTouch XL....sorry iPad.

Doesn't the iTouch have a camera and FaceTime now? I guess there wasn't enough room in that little ole iPad for a camera.

Well, personally;

- I don't do video chat, and I don't need my iPad to take pictures. So I don't personally need a camera. If I do, I can use my MacBook.
- The size is the point. The iPad is brilliant for watching video and reading books - I can't fault it. I wouldn't like to use an iTouch as a reader. My apps run on this gloriously big screen. It's brilliant for my internet use - I can use it as a replacement for a laptop in many areas; I wouldn't use an iTouch or iPhone for internet for more than a little bit.

Honestly, I don't understand this iTouch v iPad argument. They're both very different devices. I use them both for different purposes. And I'm a very happy owner of both (not the latest iTouch, but you get the point).

 

[Ayria]

Hmm

Well i for one am selling my 64GB iPad and getting the 11" Air. Yay!

It just suits my end user needs more fully!

 

[Ayria]

yes!

Amen.

The shine wears off really fast with the iPad. It just becomes a PITA that even for doing basic stuff you got to download a zillion apps. It doesn't have a central file system, very very hard to type with the virtual keyboard, heavy for holding with even two hands for extended periods etc etc. All these shortcomings are perfectly acceptable for the iPhone but become very irritating with a tablet like the iPad. You cannot even upload stuff on mobile Safari. It is not a very good e-reader with the LCD screen and forget about reading on it in sunlight.

The one good thing going for the iPad is it's battery and thats about it.

I have a 15" MBP, 64 GB WiFi+3G iPad and I am abou to receive my new 11" MacBook Air. I am sure that my iPad will collect dust once my MacBook Air arrives. I think if you already own an iPhone then the iPad is not going to do much for you except for the bigger display. Touch typing is much easier on the iPhone than on the iPad.

I think MacBook Air especially with the upcoming Mac App Store completely owns the iPad. It runs full OSX and Lion is just going to be awesome on it.

People will still continue to buy the iPad but when MacBook Air gets a 10 hour battery then the iPad will loose its relevance. But Apple might very well know this and will make the iPad more powerful to keep up.

Agree. The shine does ware off. But for some they are happy with the iPad. and no doubt i have so enjoyed it, but i just need that little something extra that the air now provides.

Recently i was on a business trip with both my MBP 17" and my iPad. If i had an air i would only need that and my IP4 - so much easier!

 

[Toddph]

Macbook air Vs Ipad

let me just say one word FLASH!
I love my ipad but HATE, HATE HATE that it can't run flash.
Huge limitation, I am always lugging my Macbook pro along on business with my ipad. That is just stupid.

OK 4 words 11" Macbook air Ipad killer!

 

[foiden]

iOS is a different paradigm, altogether. It's an entire OS based on touch. It's true for all the applications running on it, from business to gaming. It also has one major function that laptops (including the Air) can't pull off. A vertical screen. I already adopted some irreplaceable usage patterns on the iPad upon using the vertical orientation for some projects.

But then again, I have some very important things for my laptop as well. The Air is still pretty nice being a fully functional Macbook. I also think it is getting closer to what Jobs is saying about it being the next generation of Macbooks. (Not Macbook Pros, mind you). That is, as the pricepoint gets better, and the specs increase, it may start to overlap the Macbook a bit. Consumer priced more casual computing. Those of us wanting to do the more advanced stuff in which we need the ports like the Macbook Pros do, are Macbook Pro users.

The 11 inch's pricepoint is definitely a step up. And people could also make the same kind of (limiting) arguments about the price between Macbook Air 11 inch cheapest option compared to the Macbook Pro cheapest option. It's only a $200 difference, but it's still a rather large leap of spec not to mention, the user-upgradable aspects of the Macbook Pro also are a factor. Every Macbook Pro out there not only allows you to upgrade the memory and internal drive; the instructions are printed right in the manuals for them.

It would be nice to also see the 11" model eventually drop in price by a little going forward. True, it still destroys the performance specs, resolution, and screen real-estate of the netbooks priced half the amount; and comes with the iLife suite.

Still, the iPad's battery life is still a major factor in terms of a lot of things I can do, for which I often choose to use that instead of my laptop.

 

[garethjs]

The so much more u get with the air than the ipad (and for basically the same cost) nullifies the "inconvenience" of having a physical keyboard.

I'm selling my ipad 3g 64GB immediately.