Mac OS X Lion and 11.6" MacBook Air

Same way people have been installing the Mac OS on MacBook Airs since 2008 - external superdrive or remote disk with another computer.

AWeber3030 said:

Does anybody have an idea for how we are going to be able to instal Lion after its released onto the 11.6" MacBook Air?

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Mac store maybe. Or they will give it on those thumb drives like they do with leopard now.

Funkymonk said:

Mac store maybe. Or they will give it on those thumb drives like they do with leopard now.

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I'd expect the USB drives. Downloading a full OS upgrade would be somewhat challenging and possibly unreliable. Also, whenever I reinstall Snow Leopard on any machine, I use a USB drive I made from my SL retail disc. USB is way faster than discs.

axu539 said:

Downloading a full OS upgrade would be somewhat challenging and possibly unreliable.

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I don't think Apple will do this (and if they do, it wouldn't be the only option) but why would it be challenging or unreliable? They have the new NC server farm, and ~6 GB isn't that bad to download. Steam handles game downloads much larger than that just fine.

Cougarcat said:

I don't think Apple will do this (and if they do, it wouldn't be the only option) but why would it be challenging or unreliable? They have the new NC server farm, and ~6 GB isn't that bad to download. Steam handles game downloads much larger than that just fine.

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Your internet connection sounds wonderful. However, the wifi at my school is incredibly unreliable (cuts out every couple minutes), and the MBA does not have an ethernet port. Apple could easily use the same kind of USB drive they already do for the MBA reinstall drive (cheap and not rewritable) for Lion.

I think with USB drives will be better

I've heard they may be distributing the software on sd cards in the future.

brian2001nd said:

I've heard they may be distributing the software on sd cards in the future.

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Then they will have to put SD card slot in 11.6 MBA

It may not have a built-in ethernet port, but the USB Ethernet adaptor does work when needed. But yeah, I wish that was included in the packaging instead of having to buy it separately.

Is there any reason they couldn't do USB across the board now? Don't all the Intel Macs that will be supported by Lion allow you to boot from USB?

^ Yes I imagine they will package Lion on USB stick in the same way as it packaged 10.6 restore for the new MBA revisions.

I think it would be too costly to manufacture & package separate DVD & USB versions, so therefore they'll probably opt just for the one format.

topmounter said:

Is there any reason they couldn't do USB across the board now? Don't all the Intel Macs that will be supported by Lion allow you to boot from USB?

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I agree. They’ve already indicated how it will be done by supplying the USB backup with the Air.

I fully expect Mac OS Lion to be distributed from Mac app store or release them on USB.

I will install it from mac apps store if they make it cheaper. If they give it to me on DVDs, o well. I will use my MBP with it.