Though we’ve all ranted and raved about the MacBook Air since Tuesday’s launch at MacWorld, i think we’re not getting any closer to a final decision. Many people see this incredibly thin machine as an ideal travel laptop, while I think Apple got so caught up in its focus on thinness that sacrificed far too many other features. Some argue that this is a typical Apple move to kill off unnecessary features ahead of the rest of the industry, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. There’s a lot on my mind, but I’ll use some reader comments to get into it.
Brendan West: But if they had a super-thin bezel, the edges of the computer could not reach that mythical 0.16″³, you see. The thinning of the shell means the still-pretty-bulky-for-its-size-LCD screen has to stop at a certain thickness.
With the MacBook, the bezel was so thick (I think) because of the emerging magnetic latch tech. With the MBA, it’s because (I think) they just couldn’t do it, cap’n.
That’s all true, but why does going down to 0.16″ matter? Any laptop is going to take up as much space as its thickest component. Apple couldn’t have gotten 0.25″ and gotten a better-looking bezel and bigger screen in the process?
Anon: “It’s still bigger than a 12″³ Powerbook.” And not just a little bigger. It’s two inches wider. I just measured, it won’t fit in the laptop bag that totes around my four year old Powerbook. I agree with all the Air’s compromises (speed, ports, I can even live with the integrated battery.) But the huge footprint is probably a dealbreaker. It means the Air’s thickness and weight is more about looks then portability. I’ve had one Powerbook after another for the last 15 years, but I’m worried: I don’t see my next machine in Apple’s lineup.
You and me both.
Bone: Hey, Pete”¦
When you get that masters in product design / mechanical and electrical engineering maybe you can explain to Apple’s designers/engineers how to fit an 8mm thick 1.8 HD where a 5MM thick version probably barely fits and keep the thing just as thin. Same goes with the bezel.
So long as they can tell me why shaving off that 3mm is more important than providing an $1800 laptop that would have as much storage as a $349 portable media player, I’m ready to have that conversation. Three millimeters is 0.11 inches. Oh noes! The MacBook Air might be 0.76″ in more places than its hinge! Call the cops!
Ian: I also looked at my kids needs. We have wi-fi at home and they mostly use their Mac now for iPod and Thumb drive. The last time my kids listened to a CD or watched a movie on the Macbook was an age ago. They don’t know what a Firewire cable is and so will not miss it. So I think this is a great product for students as well. It is targeted at a different market”¦
An interesting perspective. I can’t say I disagree.
Greg Baines: It is no doubt a beautiful machine. But I was just looking at the Hong Kong apple site, and I worked out for around the same price as the air I could buy an iMac, Apple TV, and an iPod touch.
If I really needed a portable and walked intot he Hong Kong store with the money for an air, I could by an iBook, an iPod touch, an iPod classic, and an Apple TV for the price of an air.
I’d love to buy one, but it just costs too much. What a shame. With all these really decent low cost machiens coming out (but poorly designed), why couldn’t apple also bring something simple and beautifuly designed that people actually need? What about the education market?
Maybe we should all boycott the Macbook Air- it is no doubt the most beautiful computer ever made, but why do we get pushed overpriced products all the time?
That’s a bit extreme, but I agree in part. What about the education market?
Finally, I wanted to take quotes from two celebrity commentators on the MacBook Air: Wil Shipley, founder of Delicious Monster, and Steve Jobs himself. They’re both fans.
Shipley: I don’t buy a laptop because I want to replace its drive in a year. I buy it because it seems great and meets my needs today. If my needs magically morph over the coming year, I guess I’ll sell it on eBay. Or pay Apple to throw in a different drive, or something. Honestly, I think we need to admit that just because machines get faster every year, doesn’t mean that the majority of people need faster machines.
In two weeks I’ll be writing Delicious Library 2 on a MacBook Air, every day. Because it’s simple and beautiful, and I crave those things.
Well, obviously, Wil, but my 12″ Powerbook G4 is nearly five years old, and I don’t think Apple is interested in putting it back on the market as an executive laptop. Besides, people do constantly need more data storage as video editing, photo editing, podcasting and other kinds of creativity got democratized — mostly thanks to Apple’s iLife suite. I have a really hard time believing that your Air isn’t going to spend most of its time at home hooked up with either a server or NAS, Wil. Right now, 80 gigs isn’t enough for anyone really interested in maintaining a big iTunes library and adding TV and movies into the mix, as well. It just isn’t. There’s no getting around this issue. And ordinary people don’t have external hard drives, home servers or other such solutions.
Jobs: “I’m going to be the first one in line to buy one of these,” he said. “I’ve been lusting after this.”
Yep. Just as I suspected. Steve made a machine for himself, as ever. It’s just a shame that this time his view of the world was so vastly different from the realities most of us have to deal with. He lives in Palo Alto, where WiFi is ubiquitous, so forget about a 3G modem on the Air. He has a million external data storage options and more powerful computers at his disposal, so keep the hard drive tiny. He won’t buy the one with a regular hard drive, so throw in a slow, unreliable iPod hard drive instead of a real one. The rich people like Steve will all buy the one with the SSD in it, so who cares about the low end?
At the end of the day, this is my take on the MacBook Air: Gorgeous design solving a questionable goal of ultimate thinness. The model with the SSD is a dream secondary computer for the rich and famous. The other one is going to be unsatisfying to a lot of people. Most importantly, it’s just not small enough. Who decided that thin was the only way to go about making a full-featured laptop that doesn’t weigh much? And the 12″ Powerbook still hasn’t been topped as a design triumph at Apple. Period.
46 responses to “MacBook Air – The Final Word. At Least For Now.”
Pete, that limb you’re out on is going to start feeling pretty lonely very soon. I completely agree with your decision not to buy an MBA. It isn’t the machine that you want. You made that very clear the moment you first saw the thing, and it’s coloured your view on it ever since.
This is a first for Apple and the industry. In two years time, the ‘Air’ will come with large SSDs as standard, quite possible an optical drive, and removable/replaceable everything. But for now, they’re ‘Thinking Different’, creating something new in a way only Apple can do.
The bottom line is, Apple has created an object of lust. Despite the MBAs shortcomings, it is a machine that a lot of people are going to buy, and one that many people, in my opinion, will be very satisfied with.
I think a bit of objectivity will help you see what an amazing feat has been achieved with the MBA, whether you want one or not.
By the way, I won’t be buying one either. I love my MBP too much.
I have waited months for this rumored computer from Apple. I was hoping it would be the key to my minimal educational needs. Light, cheap, and tiny, I expected. However, in ways expectations for me were not met. Apple made a geek toy that I can drool over, but the fact is I will have to get a $1099 low-end Macbook that I could have used months ago. I have thought about it, and there is no practical market for this computer, except for wealthy geeks with already productive machines at their disposal. Considering the already awesome options of Macbooks (and especially the price for students), I would think Apple would cater to the educational market once more and create a minimal and small (like my old 12″) computer that students would surf, type papers and fill their iTunes library with. But then again… Can they really do a better student computer than their curent low-end Macbook? For having THREE lines of awesome laptops for every situation, I can’t really complain that Apple decided to expand horizons with this model, because I can’t find a Mac that doesn’t fit any situation already. Although, a cheaper minimalist computer for writing papers and taking notes on would be nice, considering I have a powerful iMac waiting for me at home (you know… For the fun stuff).
Here’s what I don’t understand. Is the Macbook Air the only laptop Apple is going to sell going forward? Because everyone is acting like it. Every single gripe is coming from people who would be better suited getting a Macbook or a Macbook Pro. Educational market? Last time I checked the Macbook was doing pretty well for them. Why would Apple make a cheaper device and undercut their own sales? Want your laptop to be your only computer? Then Macbook Pro it is. Does anyone really not see that Apple’s current laptops already satisfy the needs of the vast majority of people? And gee, now that we’ve seen the Air, what are the chances that some of the advances made will work their way into the entire lineup before WWDC?
Look, I loved my 12″ Powerbook. It was by far the best laptop they ever made IMHO. But I don’t see them repeating that anytime in the near future. People seem to think it would be easy to make a machine smaller than a Macbook, but with Pro level features. Oh and it should cost less than a current Macbook. That’s a pie in the sky dream. Instead, how about we just wait for new Macbooks and Macbook Pros to lose a pound of weight and gain the multitouch trackpads. Maybe then everyone will shut the hell up.
BTW, as an iMac owner, the AIR is as near perfect as they could get for what I need a laptop for. I will be buying one.
I won’t be buying one, but:
1) It’s not aimed to be a deskop replacement machine – that’s the Macbook Pro.
2) It’s aimed at the top-end of the market – people who will pay for style and portability. Yes, I guess it’s Apple returning back to making computers for those who aren’t that bothered about the price i.e. the pricing is such that you could make a business case to your company based on the price of Sony Vaio etc. computers.
3) And therefore it’s meant to be used in the sort of environment that the business elite occupy – business departure lounges, international hotels etc. etc. all of which have wi-fi – and power – on tap.
Again, I’m not about to buy one of these things – I can’t afford it and if I get a new computer it’s going to be my main and only one – but I think that the criticisms of the air are really off the mark.
It’s just not meant to be a ‘Macbook Pro Air’ but a niche product aimed at those fairly wealthy individuals who travel a lot on business and who aren’t doing any thing ‘pro’ i.e. video/audio/image editing.
So in that respect, the product seems to be doing a great job fulfilling the niche market that it’s aimed at.
Patience all – in 2-3 years the Macbook Pro will look something like that – let the business elite enjoy their new toy and don’t get too envious now…
All of the above criticisms being true and applicable, I would buy one when the time comes, because:
1) I do not need to store all the data I have on my laptop,
2) The Time Capsule would give me an opportunity to avoid the desktop computer use,
3) The music is to be stored on my iPod or on the backup drive (when not listened to),
4) 80 Gb is just OK to store the documents and stuff.
But I am sure not to be alone, as:
1) The ones that would need to edit video, would either use their desktops, or their MBP’s, OR try to work on the MBA, as well as MB.
2) The people, who use the MBP’s, would hardly give their functionality (FW800, PCI ex, etc.) up, if they need to edit video, etc. Otherwise, they will no doubt go wireless.
3) > 100 mln ipods sold means we will hardly listen to the music on our laptops,(or need to store it there) while a difference of $100 between the nano and classic would hardly scare one, who spent money on a 80+GB music library.
4) The combination of light weight and nearly normal performance (expected) makes it theoretically have sense.
5) Finally, it is $200 cheaper than MBP and lighter than it => if you used an MBP and hate the MB, why not transfer? If you need FW800, etc., then you just need to carry too much with you, or don’t need a laptop (anyway, the FW 800 devices are pricy enough to buy an MBP when buying one).
Which leads me into a conclusion, that
While the ones who would like to replace their PB 12, are among those, who would lose in functionality in many ways, there must be people, rationally needing the MBA. And, though I can’t personally afford it now, the way tha MBA is meant to be used, fits my life much better, than my PB G4 15, even though I expected the MBA to be released as a mass product(as the nano is).
I’m with you, Pete. It’s a nice looking product, but there are too many unnecessary compromises just for the sake of making it ultra-thin. I’m also not paying $3000 for ANY laptop. For $3000 it should be gold plated, be able to make my coffee for me in the morning, drive me to work, and, be able to automatically write my work reports for me while I do something else more interesting instead.
I agree, this isn’t the replacement for my 12-inch Powerbook that I’ve been looking for since they discontinued it. I travel way too much , and there are three things I want out of a laptop. I want a small form factor, long battery life and low weight.
With it’s 13.3-inch screen the Macbook Air is actually 0.01 inches wider than the Macbook. Okay, so it’s thin. Thin can mean small, but generally it just means thin. Making it thinner crucially doesn’t make it smaller. It doesn’t make it any easier to open in confined spaces like an economy (or lets face it even a business) class seat on a trans-atlantic hop.
With it’s 5 hours of battery life the Macbook Air actually has less battery than many of it’s competitors, most of those boast 8 hours. Why aren’t they advertising the increased battery life of the Air with an SSD? Surely it last longer, and if not, why not?
At 3lbs the Macbook Air is actually 0.5lbs heavier than my wife’s Dell Latitude X1. They’re kidding right?
This isn’t a sub-notebook, and its definitely not a replacement for my 12-inch Powerbook.
My T-Series Sony Vaio just died, so I am in the market for a new subcompact. I am not so bothered about the size (I carry it in a rucksack and weight is the big thing). Compared to other subcompacts (eg the Sony Vaios) the price of the Macbook Air is not too bad. (I can afford it), and it is powerful enough. (The CPUs used in most subcompacts top out at 1.2GHz. Getting Intel to produce something special may actually be the big deal of the MBA, although we will see what sort of battery life it gets).
The two things that possibly mean I won’t buy this are both mentioned above. Firstly, the hard drive. Many subcompacts use a 1.8 inch hard drive, and performance does suffer, but it’s a sacrifice you make. I can live with it, particularly given that OSX is faster to startup than Vista. However, the 80Gb max hard drive is lame. 160Gb would have been great, but clearly Jobs screamed “Make it thinner” so many times in the development of this thing that two platter drives were sacrificed. I would have been prepared to accept it being 3mm thicker in the middle for this.
Secondly, the lack of a 3G modem. With the Sony I had a 3G modem in the PC Card slot. As there is no slot in the Macbook, my only choice is a USB 3G modem, which is much clumsier and is inelegant. The 3G modem should be internal.
The lack of these two things is a shame, because I would have ordered one of these already if they were available as options. I don’t really want a new Sony TZ because it comes with Vista and doesn’t really have the power to support it. So I still may buy the Apple. I am sure it will get gasps from other customers in the coffee shop, but it just could have been a good deal better.
Of course, what I actually want to put on the larger hard drive is my music, photo and (to a lesser extent) video collections, so that I can use them and also sync my iPod while I am on the road. One way of solving this problem would be to allow me to plug the iPod into the laptop by USB, and have the iPod drive mount and for iTunes to use the copies of all these things on the iPod as its library directly, without having to sync with another copy on the hard disc. However, Apple won’t allow this either.
Peter, you’re bang on!
This was suppose to be Apple’s launch of a ‘more portable’, portable laptop.
We’ve already got the Macbook. That’s a 13.3″ screen. It occupies a set footprint.
This supposedly ‘more portable’ laptop – occupies exactly the same footprint. WTF?!!
Great, it’s thinner! Who cares? I’m not using it to shave!
Portability is not so much about thickness – it’s about weight and size, or the amount of space something takes up and effort that is required to carry it around.
The Macbook Air will take up the same amount of space as a regular Macbook in my bag.
This is a huge failure for Apple… I’ve been using my 12″ Powerbook now for over three years… and I was hoping this new machine would be my replacement… I was hoping Apple would be releasing something in size comparable to the Sony Vaio TZ series with 11″ screens…
THAT IS PORTABILITY.
Wouldn’t it also make sense to round off your laptop (portable) lineup with an 11″ option on the smaller side and the 17″ option on the larger side? This should have been a Macbook form factor upgrade applied accross the entire line… but not their most portable option.
Im trying so hard to stay a portable Mac user (i will always use the Mac OS at home)… but it’s becoming difficult. The Windows realm just offers up truly better portable products in terms of size and features…
My powerbook is great – the VAIO TZ will be better… As for the Macbook Air… it’s all sizzle, no steak…
RME
Toronto, Canada
A fundamental complaint that you bring, Pete, is that this is not a replacement for the 12in Powerbook. I think that is the end of that argument, because that is the case and really there is little doubt that Apple did not aim to replace that machine for the ones that need a “professional” small laptop.
So, really, the discussions on this machine should be just like when the iPod was launched: will it succeed? what is the market?
What are the typical silicon valley mistakes, or at least the most glaring ones? The worst is the “build it and they will come,” which still goes on to this day. The other is to design an engineering beauty that nobody else will care to use — Microsoft is all over that one, as far as I am concerned. I am not sure that the MBAir is in the former, at least not 100%. I have my doubts that it will succeed, but there is really clamoring among the casual computer users for a machine that the MBAir provides: (1) light and small (though I think that compromises over a few millimeters is really lame, and perhaps engineering/marketing gone crazy); (2) OS X operation to avoid virus and many Vista/MS-OS problems; (3) long battery life. I think MBAir does this very well.
So, it comes down to price… and that is for everyone to value themselves, and really an endless discussion that goes nowhere.
As to the HD size… yes, we can philosophically agree that a few more “mm”s and a bigger disk would have fit. Most people’s music libraries are small, and they could be stored here, but I think that most people already have an iPod with all of their music, and perhaps movies, so the iPod gets plugged into the MBAir when plugged into power, otherwise, it is a bit silly to drain the battery with music — well, at least that is how I see many others using their laptops when unplugged: drain the iPod and not the laptop.
This is not a machine that seems destined to hardcore development or processing (i.e., Photoshop). So, if iLife and iWork applications do well with this machine, then that remains highly functional with the amount of RAM that is provided. Again, the megastorage requirements are photos, movies and music that most likely are stored on an iPod. (Let’s not assume that the user has a desktop and Terabytes of storage elsewhere, as that can be foolish.)
I think these casual users, or whatever they are termed, need to be reeled in with marketing hype, and MBAir is going to have it in spades. I know that the “supercomputer” slogan with the desktop a while back caught my attention, so claims of “light and thin” will bring in the customers. I would also not be surprised, in the age of releasing buggy software and underperforming hardware (computers, wireless standards, etc), that this machine, if not selling well (e.g., Apple TV), will get its revisions to address those issues. It seems that there is enough of a market for first-generation products from Apple to subsidize the completion of the development cycle.
Perhaps lesson learned from the next year of MBAir sales (or lack thereof) will bring a 12in Powerbook replacements. However, I am beginning to doubt it. Obviously, many developers have told Apple that they are willing to haul around the 15in, and complaints to make it a little smaller may not be cost effective endeavor — they might just wait for the MacBooks to come to professional spec.
Small 11″ ultaportable machines with less specs from Asus, Sony and Toshiba cost more than an Air. Compares with the direct competition and the same targeted audience, it is in fact cheaper.
The pain is that there isn’t a 13″ or 12″ power machine in Apple’s line-up anymore, that is the ommision. The Air is certainly not targeted as a replacement of the 12″ Powerbook, Apple just magically decided not make a replacement anymore.
College kids love the MacBook Air. It’s that simple. We all already have external hard drives, so we don’t care about that. We don’t want anything less than a 13″ screen (too hard to watch movies). And we famously love beautiful designs (why else do college students own 50% macs?). Plus, college student’s don’t really need 3G – we’re always around WiFi. This product really isn’t for bloggers or professionals – it’s for college students. It will own the market.
Pete, I think you’re missing the concept here. Pardon the pun, but I believe we’re looking at the thin end of a wedge with the MBAir. The key elements are what’s not there – 3G modem, CD/DVD/Superdrive, ethernet etc. For a reason.
Apple is a hardware company, that’s where the bucks are. Jobs’ statement notwithstanding. And it’s an experimental hardware company. Recall the horror when the original iMac omitted the floppy drive? This time, the optical drive is gone. Jobs & Co use the hockey metaphor – skate to where the puck will be, not where it is now. And this time, they are skating towards total wireless.
For backups, for software installation, you name it. They are betting the world will catch up, and you know what? It will. Wireless is well on the way to becoming ubiquitous. And free. Not yet, not nearly everywhere. But coming soon to a community near you.
Jobs is staying ahead of the curve, as usual. All your complaints are valid. Now. But the puck is moving. Apple’s genius is placing huge bets on where the puck is going. iPod? Not the first personal MP3, but the first to capitalize on the convergence of a website marketplace, tiny hard drives and personal choice. iPod is a system based on very profitable hardware, but enabled by legalizing a social trend of downloaded music. The puck was moving, and Apple / Jobs nailed it.
iPhone? The story’s still emerging, but early adopters love the thing. More convergence – e-mail, maps, stocks, weather, notes, music and more to come. Plus a telephone. The name of the game is “systems,” if only you buy Apple’s profitable hardware.
MBAir is a move in the same direction. I suspect there is another “system” lurking here. And I suspect it will tie into .mac. One important corollary to Apple’s notorious secrecy (and Jobs’ RDZ) has been “there’s more than meets the eye.” This laptop is a fine fashion accessory, compleat with the glowing logo on the back side of the cover. Form followed function in its design, and I fully understand this was the laptop Steve always wanted, so he made ’em – after 100 iterations – get it right.
As for price, Apple uses the Tiffany model. Saw it in early iPhones. You will kill for it? Pay a huge premium instead. MPAir – because it is an experiment – must pay off. Early adopters will pay the “Apple surcharge” to be the first on the block; prices will come down, and eventually we’ll all use flash memory storage, laptop or desktop.
Frankly I’m pleased to see Apple take the lead. The carping about price and HD capacity and battery swapping – it’s real. But once again Apple steps boldly ahead of the drones with a fashionable package that does what it’s supposed to do. Much too expensive for me, as my 12″ G-4 meets my needs. But MBAir is the thin edge of a wedge of where Jobs believes we’re all headed. And I think he’s right. s/Stan Zimmerman in Sarasota, FL
I’m a 14(narly 15) year old student, a closet geek. I read my tech blog feeds at home but still sorry about my clothes and popularity as much as the next girl. So despite being much more in the tech know-how than friends, I think I represent a market, the teen market, pretty well.
It’s becoming more and more common for kids my age to have their own computers, and I would estimate as much as 50% of people my age in my middle-class community do. I don’t – my parents see how addicted I am to the computer, and both to save money and so they can more easily monitor my computer use they only let me use my mom’s work laptop – and if I did want one (also true for many of my friends) I’d have to pay for it out of that hard-earned around $4-6 an hour babysitting cash. Did I mention that I also have to buy all my own clothes, too? No allowance, either. So I’ve been saving for years, and I’ve only got about $600-800 to spend. and as the geek I am, of course I want a mac. But I know I’ll end up having to buy a windows machine. Why? Because macs are just to expensive and not enough of the things I want to use are linux-compatible, both hardware and software. But when I do buy it, it won’t be vista. You can be sure of that. XP all the way.
To me the Air reminds me of nothing so much as the Cube. Remember that? Beautiful, technically advanced enclosure — but too expensive and too comprimised. I precict the Air will end up being flat tire. How many years has Apple ignored the Japanese markets demand for a small machine? since the demise of the 1400 really and the Air sure isn’t going to fill that hole. Personally Size is not a big issue for me, I lug around a 17″ and wouldn’t trade it, and in fact at this moment am reloading it’s newly installed 250GB hard drive. 80G ha ha my itunes and iphoto folders are bigger than that. The missing piece to the puzzle as I see it to make the Air useable for more people is a better syncing program that could keep the Air FULLY SYNCED with another desktop. When are we going to get itunes syncing and iphoto synching as well as other folders and documents?
I think it will be a great success. There is a segment of the professional market that needs mobility and not power.
The macBook is nice but the “look and feel†is not professional at all.
The macBook pro is fantastic but way to powerful for every day use (Spreads sheets, emails etc..).
The macBook Air goes riht in the middle – a great machine, simply design and perfect AND with the mobility that some of us need.
For sales will be simply just amazing… they might not remember you after the presentation but they will remember the macBook. :-)
I have been looking for an ultralight for travel. I’m a photographer and generate gigabytes of hi-res images daily. At first I dismissed the Air but comparing the AIR with SSD to the Carbon Fiber Sony with SSD disc I was surprised to find it actually comes out ahead performance and price wise.
The SSD disc makes for a very secure storage to offload images to be transfered later to desktop. I’d imagine with an SSD disc Photoshop would perform more then OK for on the road edits. I could see were there could be lot’s of markets for the AIR’s spartan design although as an only computer the 80G HD is a bit to stingy the ultra-small PC’s all have 200 or 250.
The old forgeys who keep complaining about the MBA not being a 12″ powerbook replacement will do well to remember that in its day, the 12″ Powerbook was really being complained over and over again that it is only a slightly modified 12″ iBook, which was a lot cheaper, tougher and only slightly bigger. The 12″ PB also lack normal PB features such as the backlit keyboard, 2 Ram slots, etc.
Look at the new MacBook keyboard, it’s obvious that they will no longer fit on a 12″ 4:3 screen, and with Apple’s decision to go all 16:9, it is quite impossible for them to make a 12″ screen without making a smaller keyboard.
Have you ever seen a less than full size keyboard on ANY of apple’s laptops ever since the beginning of the new world Macs?
If all of you really hate the new 13.3. inch 16:9 screens, then I think it’s time you all switch over to the other side. There are already way too many people complaining that the 13.3 inch screen of the MacBook is too small, and there are actually people who want smaller screens. Small screens suck, as apparent from my own experience with a Sony and a Eeepc, both of which I have bought to try to run OS X on them.
A few things that bother me:
Apple took too many shortcuts on this – that’s not usually the “Apple Way.” My impression has been that Apple starts with high-end technology, and filters it down. You had to buy a PowerBook to get a G4 and a SuperDrive. You still can’t get an iMac with dual (Quad?) processors. Only the MBP comes with an LED screen. Heck, you can’t even get a black MacBook without buying the higher-end model.
The MBA is clearly the low-end of the Apple line. Maybe even less powerful than AppleTV? I’ve always discounted the Mac haters’ claims about style over substance, but this is clearly a bona fide case. The only reason for the beveled case is for the visual effect. How many cubic inches did they lose for this optical illusion? It’s pretty obvious they lost the DVD to it. They may have lost a 15″ screen (and MBPro name?). They definitely lost the connectors. What M.B.A. is going to buy an MBA without an RJ-45 connection? Even if you happen to have a wireless office connection – which is very questionable, you’re going to be stuck with 802.11g at best, and you’re not getting an upgrade for another year or two.
And what’s the deal with FireWire? Not only does Apple skip the FW400 connector, they don’t include FW800! What better way to pimp Apple’s FW technology than putting it on your (supposed) leading-edge system? Especially if you don’t have the internal DVD. But they already dropped that ball with the iPhone and iTouch.
Computer sales models have always been simple: you get the power users and technology leaders to buy your newest models. Once they have one, the boss gets one, because if a subordinate has one, they must need it, too. After that it’s easy for everyone else to justify having one.
No one is going to trade their MacBook pro for the Air. Since MacBook buyers probably make their choice based on price and performance, they’re not going to spend the price of a pro to save 2 pounds.
The MBA is DOA. They’ll sell a few to bleeding edge technology whores – much like the currently overpriced iTouch, but the rest of the world will wait for a MBP version. And that will have the screen, connectors, and DVD that users who pay 2 grand for a computer expect.
Mac Book Air is cost way to much for what you get. I saw site selling 250gb 1.8 inch leas than $400.00 dollars. There is a 160gb 1.8 drive in the ipod classic’s and they cost $400 dollars. So only put in a 80gb drive and charging $1799 and if you got to flash hard drive, $3099 and you drop to 64gb hard on top of it. No wonder Apples profits are so high they are totally rip of there customer on this one. Oh and if this makes you think I am a pc fan boy only computers in my house IMAC 2.4 gh and Mac Pro 1.83 dual core. I hope the sales on the Air are terrible maybe Steve will realize we are all not rich. But i don’t think so given his track record on how he treats fan’s at SF late week at the expo.
I travel all the time for work and to me light weight and, to a lesser extent, thinness are the key. I have used Sony’s ultra portable offering and found the screen and keyboard too small for my taste. The MBA is certainly light and seems to solve my problem by combining low weight with usability. I’m not an expert but of strikes me that the Macbook Air I’d not really meant to be a primary computer, rather it is targeted at people like me who already have a desktop at the office/home and are looking for a laptop to take with them when they are on the road. As for the other limitations such as the lack of an optical drive and ports they are not something the average traveller will miss. My only real concern is the speed of the hard drive, though 3G would have been nice (not sure what Apple’s hang up is with3G).
In the end I’m going towait with great interest to see how this thing does in the wild but it is certainly on my buy list as I can’t stand my Sony and the Macbook I’m currently using is getting old and is not the most professional looking laptop I’ve ever owned.
I think all of you miss the point here. It is clear the direction Apple is taking their products. The basic philosphy is that a computer should not be a data storage device and vice versa. They serve two seperate functions in life. In reality neither is a computer a human interface device. The paradigm you are all stuck in is based on the computer as a trinity, computer, storage and human interface (keyboard and display). It is obvious that already Apple is disturbing that paradigm by attempting to split the storage functionality away from the computer to a separate stand alone entity. Ideally a computer (particularly a portable one) does not need any more memory than is needed to run software, everything else is just clutter. Imagine that in future storage exists one of three places for things like pictures, documents, movies etc. One being the internet where individuals might have an online account with Apple or Google for storage. A second might be a device like the new Apple Time Capsule for things we feel concerned about putting out on the net or don’t want to pay monthly for storage of. Finally of course are the portable devices (Ipods) for carrying around our most relevant (at any particular time) data. It is also intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that Apple (Jobs) really want to move in this direction rapidly. The difficulty that they face is demonstrated significantly by reading the comments to this site. The vast majority of people become so stuck within their paradigms that they are very resistant to change and have difficulty even comprehending it when it confronts them. I guess this is the reason for the things that most of you see as compromises in this machine. Steve is trying to bring you along with baby steps towards his ultimate and most visionary goal. The hard drive is only there because you are not ready (to accept or pay the price required) yet for a computer without one. Imagine the naysayers if he had left that off in addition to the optical drive. I tended to agree with many of the statements I have read about changing batteries in the Iphone and now the MBA until I started thinking about my approach to portable devices. A few years ago I carried around a spare battery for my laptop. I quickly realized that was no way to travel and ditched the thing. I do have a spare battery for my cell, but realized last week that I haven’t seen it for over a year. Hmm, so maybe Steve has done his market research and realized that the vast majority of us think we need to change batteries when in fact we don’t. As for my internet connection, I have come to be extremely unhappy when I am forced to connect my laptop to a cable. Why the heck do I own a portable device that needs to be hooked to something? Get your heads out of the past guys and look with anticipation where Mr. Jobs and a few other visionaries are asking you to go.
Jim
Stan, of course Apple skates to where the puck will be — it’s a philosophy I really believe in. But Apple isn’t actually previewing a world where everything is wireless. If that were the case, they would either have a 3G radio or WiMax in this. And they don’t. The only thing forward-looking about this is the recognition that technology will eventually be small enough to make this form-factor viable. It isn’t yet.