MacBook Airs On Display at Apple Stores, Disassembly Photos

MacRumors · Feb 1, 2008

We've had reports of several Apple Stores setting up their MacBook Air displays overnight, confirming that today (Friday) is the retail launch of the MacBook Air.

Overnight: Michigan Ave. Chicago
New York City's 5th Avenue store is open 24 hours and they had their MacBook Airs back on display as of midnight. They were not yet selling MacBook Airs, however.

5th Avenue. NYC
Individual store availability may vary, so readers should contact their local stores for availability.

Meanwhile, iFixit provides a detailed disassembly of the MacBook Air. The breakdown takes the MacBook Air down to its components, and shows off how to remove the internal hard drive.

A few interesting notes:

- A hard drive swap is definitely possible, but it's no longer a trivial procedure as in the MacBook.
- iFixit expects that 3rd party replacement batteries will be available soon.
- Same multi-touch controller chip as the iPhone and iPod touch.

Article Link

Zwhaler · Feb 1, 2008

I'm going to the one in Tokyo (Ginza) tomorrow, hopefully they'll have it.

FatMax · Feb 1, 2008

So maybe we´ll have the chance to turn our photos around on the iphone in a future firmware update ? Interesting..

timsutcliffe · Feb 1, 2008

England?

That's nice for you guys in the States. Hopefully we'll see them over here at some point.

alec · Feb 1, 2008

What's the point of being able to swap out the hard drive though right now? Isn't 80 GB the biggest SSD right now?

Viddrumr32 · Feb 1, 2008

i hope so. i guess we'll see in a few weeks when they finally release the SDK

arn · Feb 1, 2008

alec said:
What's the point of being able to swap out the hard drive though right now? Isn't 80 GB the biggest SSD right now?

64GB SSD and 80GB HDD are the options now. But people might want to replace their HDD to an SSD down the line when SSD becomes cheaper.

arn

gcmexico · Feb 1, 2008

Excellent

I hope those MBA haters will now shut their mouths...in the future I will be able to replace my hard drive and battery...great news!!!

shamino · Feb 1, 2008

MacRumors said:
- A hard drive swap is definitely possible, but it's no longer a trivial procedure like in the MacBook.

It still looks easier than in my iBook. Looks easier than the procedure in PowerBooks and MacBook Pros as well.

alec said:
What's the point of being able to swap out the hard drive though right now? Isn't 80 GB the biggest SSD right now?

What if the drive breaks? If the repair isn't covered by warranty (and even if it is, if you don't trust Apple with the data on the bad drive's platters) you may want to replace it yourself.

And larger-capacity drives fitting the space will certainly be available in the future.

aricher · Feb 1, 2008

Who took the Michigan Ave. pic? Brave soul, the weather here in Chicago is truly awful right now, blustery snow piling up everywhere.

Sbrocket · Feb 1, 2008

MacRumors said:
- Same multi-touch controller chip as the iPhone and iPod touch.

People take note: When the same multi-touch capabilities aren't retroactively rolled out over past generations of MacBooks and MacBook Pros once they get the new multi-touch trackpads, this is why. It isn't the same hardware as the trackpads right now.

Just a note, I'm sure we'll get complaints anyway.

Completely unrelated: Why must Mail.app be so slow in updating my RSS feeds?

IDANNY · Feb 1, 2008

would the 80gb and the 64 ssd have the drives in the same place ?

NC MacGuy · Feb 1, 2008

IDANNY said:
would the 80gb and the 64 ssd have the drives in the same place ?

Looking at the disassembly pic's it doesn't seem like there's anywhere else with space it can go.

nagromme · Feb 1, 2008

IDANNY said:
would the 80gb and the 64 ssd have the drives in the same place ?

Yes.

I'm wondering if that foam is glued to the drive, or if you can re-use it?

(Most people who swap will be replacing with SSD and not care about cushioning though.)

wordmunger · Feb 1, 2008

Can anyone tell from the disassembly pictures if it's really necessary to have such a wide bezel. I'm just wondering if it would have been possible to create this machine with a slightly smaller footprint.

nagromme · Feb 1, 2008

wordmunger said:
Can anyone tell from the disassembly pictures if it's really necessary to have such a wide bezel. I'm just wondering if it would have been possible to create this machine with a slightly smaller footprint.

I'm guessing the reasons are:

* The ports--they need the full space and have to be beside the keyboard rather than below it, to maintain the thinness

* Ditto for the Magsafe connector?

* Width of the unit allows a bit larger, longer-lasting battery than a smaller machine would have

I don't think the screen itself requires that width (except for the cam/mic/light sensor), I think it's the bottom half that does.

PS, does the Air have a sudden motion sensor? Keynote summaries said so, but I've seen nothing from Apple to suggest that.

brad.c · Feb 1, 2008

Hmm. How are they securing the MBA from theft without the security slot?
Suction cups?

nagromme · Feb 1, 2008

binky2033 said:
Hmm. How are they securing the MBA from theft without the security slot?
Suction cups?

I don't think they use the lock slot on other machines, so much as electronic devices. In this case, via the USB port apparently.

tothelimit · Feb 1, 2008

when someone gets a chance to check them out at the store today can you comment on how the MBAs are being tied-down to the display tables. in that video from the 5th ave store it looks like a pass through USB lock - but i'm interested to hear if that is actually the case, and if apple plans of selling these (how much?) etc...

please let me know.

thanks

sys0p · Feb 1, 2008

Just phoned the Apple store at 5th Avenue (NY) and they won't sell them today ... just on display ... weird ...

justflie · Feb 1, 2008

The battery swap looks pretty easy to me, according to Gizmodo's video. Doesn't get toooo much easier than a screwdriver.

thx1138 · Feb 1, 2008

security ?

I wonder how they're securing these. I've done merchandising for Apple and they usually use a security cable in the ethernet port. Even with the adapter the USB port won't work for security.

kuwisdelu · Feb 1, 2008

tothelimit said:
when someone gets a chance to check them out at the store today can you comment on how the MBAs are being tied-down to the display tables. in that video from the 5th ave store it looks like a pass through USB lock - but i'm interested to hear if that is actually the case, and if apple plans of selling these (how much?) etc...

please let me know.

thanks

I heard from another thread that it is indeed something like that, but instead of being a true lock, a (very, very) loud alarm goes off should it be disconnected. Don't know if that's true, though.

Sandy Santra · Feb 1, 2008

MBA @ 5th Avenue Store--security answer and stock

To answer the security question first: two white cables fastened together for most of their length come up through a hole in the display table(s) behind each MBA. One is the power cable, the other is a dongle that not only plugs into the USB port (for theft protection) it allows for a device to be plugged into it. (Sorry no picture for you!) It's the same sort of alarm system for other products there, except it triggers when the cable is removed from the USB port.

As far as stock goes, they have 4 of them at 5th Avenue NYC. They have NONE for sale (either sold out already, or just don't have the units yet).

matthewHUB · Feb 1, 2008

thx1138 said:
I wonder how they're securing these. I've done merchandising for Apple and they usually use a security cable in the ethernet port. Even with the adapter the USB port won't work for security.

looks like they're using USB alarms. unplug it and you'll know about it. you can get them if you do a search.

MacBook Airs On Display at Apple Stores, Disassembly Photos

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