Unboxing Video of MacBook Air, More Notes

[MacRumors]

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Unboxing Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUaI2_zkfKA)
- MacRumors forum member desenso posts a complete unboxing video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUaI2_zkfKA) of the new MacBook Air.
- Macworld posts (http://www.macworld.com/article/131864/2008/01/macbookair.html) their review of the MacBook Air and makes an interesting point about the seemingly small weight difference that makes the MacBook Air appealing:One reason I loved the 12-inch PowerBook G4 was that it crossed some hard-to-define weight barrier, one I hadn’t even been aware of until I started using a laptop that crossed it. The 12-inch PowerBook was so small and light that carrying my laptop around with me became an afterthought. Instead of lugging a 15-inch PowerBook from place to place, I could idly hold the 12-inch model in one hand. The MacBook Air takes that easy feeling to an extreme
- The MacBook Airs were reportedly pulled from the 5th Avenue NYC Apple Store for now. They will likely return on Friday which is the official retail launch of the MacBook Air. Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKqQtkLQlmA) of MacBook Airs[/url] at 5th Ave store.
- For those who are need to fit their applications into their 64GB or 80GB MacBook Air might find some use in the Xslimmer (http://www.xslimmer.com/) application that was recently included in a recent software bundle (http://www.macrumors.com/2007/12/11/december-macupdate-software-bundle-sale/). Xslimmer strips down applications to reduce file size but does not impact functionality.
- The custom Intel CPU that powers the MacBook Air may be coming to PCs (http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=11994&pn=1).
- Gizmodo reposted (http://gizmodo.com/348769/macbook-air-tear-down-sexy-on-the-inside-too/) the MacBook Air tear down photos and video.

Ongoing discussion in our MacBook Air forum (http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=122).



Article Link (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/31/unboxing-video-of-macbook-air-more-notes/)

[mangis]

I want one , I want one!!!

[NAG]

So is there any official word about them being in stock on Friday or are we all still guessing?

[NewSc2]

Me like, me want.

[arn]

So is there any official word about them being in stock on Friday or are we all still guessing?

Well... its clear they will be on display on Fri at most stores. Not clear if they will have stock however.

[dezeinstein]

That video is more effective than Ambien.

I still want one.

[Sabenth]

i am still of two minds of this thing yes looks stunning lacks features i would need. Wirless is fine but i dont fancy mucking around with other computers to install stuff ...

[MarkMS]

That's it! I've had enough ...

I'm going to the Apple Store to test drive one of these babies. Hopefully, I can get rid of my C2D MBP for one of these.

[iToaster]

Cool as that is, it doesn't suit my needs or my price range, but I would buy one in a heartbeat if I had the money and the powerful computer to make up for it's deficiencies.

[Akira1980]

I have new MBP... but after watching that video, I still want one!! Even though I have no use for it. Damn you Apple! :)

[scrambledwonder]

MacBook Air pron! Sexaay!

[R.Youden]

If you watch the video the bloke taking the laptop apart suddenly grows an extra pair of hands.

If thats what a MacBook Air does I don't think I want one!

[hhaeschen]

- The MacBook Airs were reportedly pulled from the 5th Avenue NYC Apple Store for now. They will likely return on Friday which is the official retail launch of the MacBook Air.

Now if that isn't a strange thing to do... :rolleyes:

[johny5]

Wooooaaaaaah! is that guy a surgeon??? did you see the size of his scissors and the speed that he zipped open the wrapping :eek:

[Manic Mouse]

The MBA does look the sex, it's undeniable. So we all think the new MBP will get the same keyboard, yes?

[NAG]

Well... its clear they will be on display on Fri at most stores. Not clear if they will have stock however.

Well at least I hope I'll get to play with one in the store. lol

[TRYAMANA]

Dose anyone know when Amazon ship a MBA?

[encro]

For those who haven't purchased the MacUpdate software bundle there is also Trimmit (http://lipidity.com/software/trimmit/) for removing unnecesary files and reducing file size of Applications.

Personally I believe this to be a much better application than Xslimmer and you can verify what its actually doing behind the scenes by looking at the shell script inside the bundle.

[elppa]

:eek: when it was pulled out of the box for the first time.

Wow. I can't wait to take a look. Say what you like about features, the engineering is top draw.

Best looking laptop in the range by a good distance. Very minimal.

[Prof.]

Dammit! Now I want one:(

[chr1s60]

I need to stop watching new Apple product unboxing videos. Every time I watch one, I end up wanting the product. Now I really want a MacBook Air, but I don't even need one.

[MacTO]

When it was pulled out of the box, the MacBook Air looked so small as in like flat... :eek: Man, it looks really thin. Gosh... :D

Cheers! :apple:

[ravenvii]

Man, that video made me really want the MacBook Air. It looks so sexy.

But I just had to remind myself ot the hardware under that beautiful shell, and I'm happy with my MacBook Pro again.

Not saying the hardware sucks, just that the hardware in the MBP suits me better. (Yes, gaming. :D)

[skyrider007]

despite all the negativities, i want one too!

[Music_Producer]

So bloody typical. All the whiners always complain everytime some Apple product comes out.. but the minute the suckers see it in person.. they want it. :D

[macam]

I have to say that I have no need for a MBA... I know not having a superdrive will annoy me. I know I am going to need something faster. I know I'm going to need a bigger hard drive. The list goes on and on...

So why oh why do I want one so very badly ??????

just looking at that vid.... just compounded my confusion

Thank you and Damn you at the same time!;):D

Macam

[pale9]

i dont think anybody will get off by watching you taking off the freaking wrapping paper.

[twoodcc]

can't wait to get my hands on one of these in the store. of course, it's just going to make me want one more

[SteveSparks]

[
- The MacBook Airs were reportedly pulled from the 5th Avenue NYC Apple Store for now. They will likely return on Friday which is the official retail launch of the MacBook Air.

Everyone I talk to from Apple denies and says they don't know when they will be getting Macbook Airs. They tell me not likely on friday.

This is very frustrating...

[desenso]

i dont think anybody will get off by watching you taking off the freaking wrapping paper.

Shrug... I didn't submit this as a news item to Macrumors.. I just posted the video because people were desperately asking for it in the huge Air thread here... And believe it or not, people do want to know what kind of a box the Air comes in – there were actually questions about it.

Unboxing videos / pics, much like the Air, have a target market. They're not exactly the most exciting videos on earth ;)

[daneoni]

Overall package looks amazing but i just cant justify buying one in any way.

[gcmexico]

My MBA order finally says prepared for shipping!!! anyone know how quickly that changes to shipped?? The video was off the hook, I want mine now:D

[tothelimit]

seems silly that they would pull it off the floor at the 5th ave store.

were people really having a hissy fit that people in new york could play with them a day early?

[sanford]

"One reason I loved the 12-inch PowerBook G4 was that it crossed some hard-to-define weight barrier, one I hadn’t even been aware of until I started using a laptop that crossed it. The 12-inch PowerBook was so small and light that carrying my laptop around with me became an afterthought. "

I does this even make sense? Say in comparison to a MacBook. The MB Air has the same footprint as the MacBook. The 12-inch PowerBook was smaller, but it weighed 4.6 pounds, perceptively the same as the MacBook at 5.2 pounds over a larger footprint.

Why, by implication, is carrying a 12-inch PowerBook G4 an afterthought, and carrying an MB Air is afterthought, but carrying a MacBook is not? Why wouldn't have the standard MacBook created the same sense for the user?

Whatever you may think about the MB Air, you have to admit it's Apple's paramount achievement in using design to create an illusion for consumers. It should be canonized in the annals of consumer-product industrial design, for that alone.

[MrT8064]

Wow! that box is just amazing, i love the totally square nature of it, very iPhone or, dare i say, Apple 2.0

[FPCat]

Am I the only person disappointed it didn't come wrapped in an inter office envelope? :)

[NAG]

"One reason I loved the 12-inch PowerBook G4 was that it crossed some hard-to-define weight barrier, one I hadn’t even been aware of until I started using a laptop that crossed it. The 12-inch PowerBook was so small and light that carrying my laptop around with me became an afterthought. "

I does this even make sense? Say in comparison to a MacBook. The MB Air has the same footprint as the MacBook. The 12-inch PowerBook was smaller, but it weighed 4.6 pounds, perceptively the same as the MacBook at 5.2 pounds over a larger footprint.

Why, by implication, is carrying a 12-inch PowerBook G4 an afterthought, and carrying an MB Air is afterthought, but carrying a MacBook is not? Why wouldn't have the standard MacBook created the same sense for the user?

Whatever you may think about the MB Air, you have to admit it's Apple's paramount achievement in using design to create an illusion for consumers. It should be canonized in the annals of consumer-product industrial design, for that alone.

Say it with me, the Macbook Air was not, is not, and will not be intended for all people. I am not Apple's only priority.

[sanford]

Say it with me, the Macbook Air was not, is not, and will not be intended for all people. I am not Apple's only priority.

I'm not saying it is. I'm not saying I expect it to be. I'm saying even the people for whom it was intended have, beyond "the new new thing" and pure aesthetics of a particular kind, far better options available in Apple's own portable line.

I'm saying the MacBook Air is intended to "compel" -- emotionally -- people to buy for a minimum of $1,800 a computer they don't need, of if they do need a new portable, or a portable upgrade, they can do far better with another Mac model.

It's marketing genius: selling a portable computer with half the practical use at 150% the price, with very, very, very little beyond aesthetics, again of a particular kind, to recommend it.

It's working it seems, locally, among MacRumors forum regulars. I'd love to see how it plays to the bulk of Mac buyers. If Apple pulls it off, it will be quite the feat. With iPod, there were other, cheaper digital music players, but iPod was better. With iPhone there were other, arguably cheaper, "smart-phones", but iPhone was better. With MB Air, there are other, cheaper, better, portable computers, designed by Apple themselves, readily available. If they sell MB Airs over those they will have succeeded in selling design for design's sake alone, form far ahead of function, which has not been Apple's stated mission in the past decade, certainly -- which opens up a whole new market for them.

[sanford]

ISo why oh why do I want one so very badly ??????

Because Apple has always been good at selling people a new iPod every six months or so, bearing in mind the new ones may have had little if any practical superiority over the most recent one they bought. Because Apple is outstanding at using their design and engineering skills to make you desperate to own something that is attractive but will not suit you in practice at all.

You like Van Gogh? Monet? Manet? Leonardo? Any classics of fine art hanging in the walls of the world's best museums? You can't have those, I'm afraid. Not without putting yourself to horrible risk. You don't need the MB Air. In fact, you profess that it's terribly unsuitable for you. Use the same philosophy as with a masterwork of art not for sale: Look, appreciate, keep walking; don't tear it off the wall, cut it from its frame, stuff in your bag and make a mad dash for the nearest exit.

[ltldrummerboy]

Is it just me, or did he start unpacking a lot faster once he got the the computer?

[elppa]

Why, by implication, is carrying a 12-inch PowerBook G4 an afterthought, and carrying an MB Air is afterthought, but carrying a MacBook is not? Why wouldn't have the standard MacBook created the same sense for the user?

Because it's fairly heavy! The MacBook is heaver than the 12" iBook by quite a big margin! Never handled the PB G4, but I imagine the small footprint created the illusion of “lightness” of something…

Am I the only person disappointed it didn't come wrapped in an inter office envelope? :)

No.

[synth3tik]

MacBook Air pron! Sexaay!

NO! The porn comes with the disassembly when we get to see the insides:D

[paola105]

Oh wow. I have a sudden urge to whip out my credit card and buy one of these beauties. Gotta hold back tho.

[MattyMac]

I am very jealous.

[tirerim]

"One reason I loved the 12-inch PowerBook G4 was that it crossed some hard-to-define weight barrier, one I hadn’t even been aware of until I started using a laptop that crossed it. The 12-inch PowerBook was so small and light that carrying my laptop around with me became an afterthought. "

I does this even make sense? Say in comparison to a MacBook. The MB Air has the same footprint as the MacBook. The 12-inch PowerBook was smaller, but it weighed 4.6 pounds, perceptively the same as the MacBook at 5.2 pounds over a larger footprint.

Why, by implication, is carrying a 12-inch PowerBook G4 an afterthought, and carrying an MB Air is afterthought, but carrying a MacBook is not? Why wouldn't have the standard MacBook created the same sense for the user?

Whatever you may think about the MB Air, you have to admit it's Apple's paramount achievement in using design to create an illusion for consumers. It should be canonized in the annals of consumer-product industrial design, for that alone.

Half a pound can be significant, especially so if your computer is increasing in weight because you're used to a 12" PB. The main thing for me is that I often carry a lot of crap around besides my computer, and having a computer that's more than a pound and a half lighter than my current one (and two pounds lighter than anything else I could get from Apple now) means that with an MBA I could carry a computer and all the crap in the same weight that my computer alone used to take up. (I'm not actually getting one now, because I can't justify the expense and my PB still works, but when it's finally time to replace it you can bet that it will be with an MBA.)

[tirerim]

I'm not saying it is. I'm not saying I expect it to be. I'm saying even the people for whom it was intended have, beyond "the new new thing" and pure aesthetics of a particular kind, far better options available in Apple's own portable line.

I'm saying the MacBook Air is intended to "compel" -- emotionally -- people to buy for a minimum of $1,800 a computer they don't need, of if they do need a new portable, or a portable upgrade, they can do far better with another Mac model.

It's marketing genius: selling a portable computer with half the practical use at 150% the price, with very, very, very little beyond aesthetics, again of a particular kind, to recommend it.

It's working it seems, locally, among MacRumors forum regulars. I'd love to see how it plays to the bulk of Mac buyers. If Apple pulls it off, it will be quite the feat. With iPod, there were other, cheaper digital music players, but iPod was better. With iPhone there were other, arguably cheaper, "smart-phones", but iPhone was better. With MB Air, there are other, cheaper, better, portable computers, designed by Apple themselves, readily available. If they sell MB Airs over those they will have succeeded in selling design for design's sake alone, form far ahead of function, which has not been Apple's stated mission in the past decade, certainly -- which opens up a whole new market for them.

Why do you think that you know what options are better for me better than I do? Why do you think that your definition of "better" is the only one? Yeah, the aesthetic is nice, but the aesthetic of a MacBook is fine too. I don't care. What I do care about is the weight, and if Apple hadn't come out with something of this sort, the next laptop I bought would have been from another manufacturer. I like OS X, but it's not enough better than Ubuntu to make it worth lugging around an extra two pounds of computer all the time.

[justflie]

They did one HECK of a job with the packaging. Beautiful and very tiny.

[MattyP]

The little wireless card made me want to hug a kitten... It's so little and so cute! And amazingly easy to access everything! The only thing I wasn't sure if I saw or not was the ram. I think it sits next to the fan... and if so it looks like there is a tiny lever as if it could be unseated. For replacement. Or perhaps upgrade? Could it not be soldered in? In fact the hard drive also seems an easy swap when higher capacity 1.8mm drives become available, or dare I say it, higher capacity and less expensive flash drives. Hmm, I wonder if the flash and non flash drives are pin compatable?

[tothelimit]

Over at 9to5mac there is a video of the MBAs in the 5th ave store. (see it here (http://www.9to5mac.com/Video-MacBook-Air-2345563)) and someone picked up on what appears to be a pass through USB lock keeping them attached to the table.
Was anyone there to witness these? Do they look like they work well? Do you think Apple will be selling them?

[RedTomato]

Nice to see Apple cutting down on their packaging.

When I got my PB 15'', it came in a MASSIVE box, about the same size as the current iMac 20'' box.

My new macbook came in a much smaller box, and now I see the MB Air comes in a box only just larger than the laptop itself.

Hopefully other companies will follow their lead, and see that quality and luxury doesn't mean massive overpackaging.

[rikahlberg]

Wow! that box is just amazing, i love the totally square nature of it, very iPhone or, dare i say, Apple 2.0

Mine arrived yesterday (I'm writing this from it) and the box itself is quite a change from the typical MacBook box. First, there's no handle. Second, it opens like the iPhone box. Finally, the construction is much more like the iPhone box in its sturdiness. It seems a shame to recycle it, so I'll keep it around for a while. And the entire computer is wrapped in clear plastic like an iPhone or iPod; no more foam sleeve.

[duke49er]

Who Cares???

[abrooks]

Over at 9to5mac there is a video of the MBAs in the 5th ave store. (see it here (http://www.9to5mac.com/Video-MacBook-Air-2345563)) and someone picked up on what appears to be a pass through USB lock keeping them attached to the table.
Was anyone there to witness these? Do they look like they work well? Do you think Apple will be selling them?

It appears to me that it is an ethernet adapter. Apple uses ethernet cables on all their notebooks in stores, when it is unplugged the alarm goes off.

[tothelimit]

It appears to me that it is an ethernet adapter. Apple uses ethernet cables on all their notebooks in stores, when it is unplugged the alarm goes off.

i watched the video again and i'm relatively positive that its not an ethernet adapter. you can see that it still has a USB port on the pass through end. and as further evidence that it is not an ethernet adapter... there is no ethernet cable connected to it.

Edit: this was confirmed in another thread. its a USB alarm. apparently when its removed from the USB slot it makes an awful loud noise. this may become more annoying for apple employees than having to delete thousands of photobooth pictures of eleventeen year old girls making kissy faces every night. :D

[macam]

Look, appreciate, keep walking; don't tear it off the wall, cut it from its frame, stuff in your bag and make a mad dash for the nearest exit.

Sanford - you're so right... I am using logic and I am not going to buy one... But man - it's so pretty... :)

Hopefully the nextgen Macbook Pro's will have the larger trackpad with multi-touch input... Now that would make the MBP a more suitable option for me... and I would think a lot of people out there... If they could improve the form factor too then that would be something that would make the MBP a VERY exciting proposition and my next Mac.

macam.

[milo]

So bloody typical. All the whiners always complain everytime some Apple product comes out.. but the minute the suckers see it in person.. they want it. :D

Absolutely. Reminds me of apple's last turkey, the "fatty" nano.
:rolleyes:

[mojopixel]

wow, stunning! :cool:

[surgedc5]

tempted to order one :D

[Richie Ni]

Cool!!
I want one!!!:D