There are stark disadvantages. The organic components wear out much more quickly. They've improved the situation substantially, but the screen will only last a few years in the best case scenario.
Bri
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11" MBA Means New MBP Line?
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There are stark disadvantages. The organic components wear out much more quickly. They've improved the situation substantially, but the screen will only last a few years in the best case scenario.
Bri
I agree.
When the MBA was first being discussed, it was to fill the ultraportable gap in the apple product line. Ultraportables on the market at that point were similar to the IBM X Series (12"), so when Apple came to the table with a 13.3" widescreen laptop I was disappointed.
In hindsight, I think it did well and hasn't been as big of a burden as I thought. I opted out of the MBA at the time and went with a 13.3 Unibody Macbook (before they became the Pro) later on. Just recently sold it for a late 2009 MBA 2.13 / 128ssd. Love it, definitely not the big burden I thought it would be back during the initial debates.
Back then I would've killed for an 11" machine. Today, I'll likely still buy -- after I sell my current MBA. But I'm not holding my breath.
That's what she said.
That was my signature about a year ago... but meant more with sarcasm.
It'd be hilarious if they actually end up using it--the joke would be on me
Perhaps Apple is going to reposition the Air as an iPad alternative for those who need a full OS?
As the 13" MBP evolves it will inevitably squeeze out the Air, so making it a bit smaller (and focusing on portability over performance) might be the way Apple is going with this.
As the 13" MBP evolves it will inevitably squeeze out the Air, so making it a bit smaller (and focusing on portability over performance) might be the way Apple is going with this.
Sounds reasonable. I would buy an 11.6" MacBook Air in addition to my 13" MacBook Pro in a heartbeat.
Only reason I have the 11in Vaio TT is becase in my mind it was and in many ways still is the best 11in on the market. Now if Apple still made a 12in or 11in machine I would have had that instead(most likely).
11 or 10 inch
As much as I would love an 11.6 inch as the rumors say, I'd still like to see Apple go smaller. Why not. The MBA is a travel mac. A High End netbook. Smaller doesn't have to mean cheaper (material and worth). If we wanted a bigger screen, we can always get a MB or MBP or a Monitor. I'm hoping for a 10 inch with quality specs. I think people will pay for the performance and the premium of it being more portable.
The MBA is for Business Travellers, Writers (that go to cafés), students that can afford it and don't need raw power (like gaming or video editing), and anyone doing number crunching for home business (since most corporate business IT dept will probably buy a less expensive desktop or MB).
Smaller shouldn't mean cheaper specs. I hope you're reading this Apple. It should be better than a MB and sold at a premium (as it already is). We'll pay for the nano technology to make it powerful and small. Just make it equal to a MBP to be a contender. Smaller, Thinner, Quality specs, and something new like USB3 or 3G. Keep the price low and you'll have a mass market for this item that differs from the MB/P, and iPad offerings.
As much as I would love an 11.6 inch as the rumors say, I'd still like to see Apple go smaller. Why not. The MBA is a travel mac. A High End netbook. Smaller doesn't have to mean cheaper (material and worth). If we wanted a bigger screen, we can always get a MB or MBP or a Monitor. I'm hoping for a 10 inch with quality specs. I think people will pay for the performance and the premium of it being more portable.
The MBA is for Business Travellers, Writers (that go to cafés), students that can afford it and don't need raw power (like gaming or video editing), and anyone doing number crunching for home business (since most corporate business IT dept will probably buy a less expensive desktop or MB).
Smaller shouldn't mean cheaper specs. I hope you're reading this Apple. It should be better than a MB and sold at a premium (as it already is). We'll pay for the nano technology to make it powerful and small. Just make it equal to a MBP to be a contender. Smaller, Thinner, Quality specs, and something new like USB3 or 3G. Keep the price low and you'll have a mass market for this item that differs from the MB/P, and iPad offerings.
No. No. You can't carry around an external monitor on an airplane, and you can't be productive on a 10" screen. I question whether you could be productive on an 11.6" screen. It has been said before that 13.3" is pretty much already at the outer limits for productivity. If you want a high end netbook, a 10" travel mac, buy an iPad. The MBA is an ultraportable productivity Mac. If we want an MBA, we don't want a 13" MBP. We don't want the extra weight of the purposeless optical drive or the brick, zillion-hour battery. We want the productivity and power of a 13" MBP in the weight and form-factor of an MBA. We just want a better MBA. A 10" MBA? Are you kidding me? God, I have such a headache.
Well many of us were fairly productive on a 12in screen(i.e. iBook and Powerbook) for years. And 11.6 isn't that much different specially since screens are now brighter, crisper, and higher resolution(debatable if it's an improvement).
Maybe you should stop throwing around words like "productive" or "productivity" as if it means the same to everyone,.. it's laughable. What you are implying is that a server-admin cannot be productive on a 11,6" screen. You are implying that writing code on a 11,6" screen is impossible. You are implying that you cannot convert/render or in any other way process files. I could go on for hours..
If you work in graphics design, you may need as much screen real estate (is that a legit composition?
) as you can get, but do to some adjustments etc on the go, that's not productive? To run commands on the terminal to determine the potential cause of a crash, that's not productive? Make the last changes to your presentation in the train/backseat of a car/wherever, that's not productivity?In one word: what you are implying or questioning is nonsense, period. No offense though..
That's actually not what I was saying. I was saying you can't be productive on a 10" screen. What I meant to say was that I define productivity as anything more than light computer use (i.e. email and web surfing), and the majority of computer users (as opposed to netbook or iPad users) could not be productive on a 10" screen a majority of the time, that is, using a 10" notebook as their primary machine for work. I question how productive, in that sense, the majority of users could be on an 11.6" screen a majority of the time, but I am not saying that no one could. I was ultimately saying to Moodikar that I didn't think the majority of MBA users and want-to-be MBA users could ever find much use for a 10" MBA. I think you knew that's what I was trying to say.
Are there any graphic designers or design engineers such as myself out there who would like a notebook smaller than 13.3" for their primary machine? I think some users can be productive some of the time on an iPad. My company uses them as sales tools. But, most users aren't going to use an iPad or a 10" MBA to create spreadsheets, to write manuscripts, or to design logos on a daily basis. They may be good tools some of the time, but they are not tools we will use to do the majority of our work. I think reasonable people can agree on definitions of words even as vague as productivity, and I think I can speak for the majority of MBA users and want-to-be MBA users when I say that we all want an MBA that we can use as our primary computer.
Just for reference, a 13.3" screen has about 79.5 square inches of screen area. An 11.6" screen would have about 60.5 square inches, and a 9.7" screen like the iPad or the 10" MBA that Moodikar was asking for would have only about 42 square inches of screen area. An 11.6" would have 19 square inches less screen real estate. That may not sound like much, but that is 24% less workspace. A 9.7" screen would have 37.5 fewer square inches of screen real estate than the 13.3". That's 47% less workspace. Are there any current MBA users who would prefer to give up that extra real estate (without even mentioning giving up the full-size keyboard)? I don't think we need to take a poll. I don't think any MBA users or prospective MBA users out there want to give up 47% of their screen real estate, the full-size keyboard, and processing power to have an MBA netbook with the same screen area, weight, and processing power of the iPad. As I said to Moodikar, if you want a 10" MBA, buy an iPad. And, yes, I question whether they could be as productive on a machine with 24% less screen real estate and probably less processing power as they would find on the rumored 11.6" MBA. I don't think a majority of users can be productive a majority of the time, even now, on the MBA. We will see what an update brings, but 24% less screen real estate is not going to add to anyone's productivity. Is that really nonsense, Jayomat? Does anyone else think what I'm implying is unreasonable? If I'm in some way impaired in my reasoning skills, I would like to know.
I highlighted the parts which I think indicate that what you said and what you meant to say actually differs, and you obviously know it (now?).
Actually I did not know that you meant this. And please excuse me if I did not put enough effort into figuring out what you really wanted to say. But this is a forum, we're only communicating based on written text, and as you did not seem to be using sarcasm or irony, I took your word for granted.
You stated you cannot be productive on a 10" screen (as some kind of fact, which may be true for your group of people (graphics designer or design engineer who want to use the MBA as their primary computer)) and then went on to apply your fact/conclusion to screen sizes bigger than that. MOST professional graphic designers I know would not remotely think about doing actual work on a 13,3" laptop. If they really want to be productive (and we obviously agree about what it means to us..
) they would not use a 13,3" laptop. If you are working with big or complex images with multiple layers etc. (photoshop etc.) the MBA does not meet the hardware you want to work on (maybe it even does for PS). Especially if you are an ENGINEER (CAD, simulation etc, creating, designing and constructing), you would do some fairly intensive work.So a MBA may work for you as a primary machine, but I strongly doubt that it does for everyone in your branch.
You have your main projects on your work machine at work I guess? I don't know exactly what you are doing, but somehow I cannot imagine that you transfer your project's current status to your MBA after work (daily, and over WiFi I guess, as your MBA has no ethernet or firewire ports.. of course there is your USB port, but isn't it a hassle to connect your work machine to an external drive, transfer the data, unplug it, plug it in your MBA and transfer the data?) and then keep on working on it through out the day(s).. If I'm incorrect, please care to elaborate.
And this is the point where a definition for "productive" or "productivity" would come in handy.
Here is a quick definition from apple's dictionary for productive:
and this is for productivity:
He does not want a device which runs only specifically designed apps. He wants a computer with a smaller footprint (which should be considerably lighter). Telling him to buy an iPad is nonsense. If you want to do some light programming or [insert your activity] on the go, do you think it's productive to use the notes app to write code in there? No? I kind of thought. And that is the whole point. Just because you define productivity or productive for your specific group of users or needs, you cannot state that it's the same for everyone.
To the point:
Light use can refer to the processing power, or to the amount of complexity in user input needed to get the job done. If you work in customer support, your whole work may only include answering emails, supporting forums etc. A 11,6" laptop can house a full-size keyboard. What more than a full-size keyboard and a half decent screen do you need to get the job done, get the desired result? Is that light usage? Concerning processing power, yes, but not concerning the needed user input. Remember we are still talking about someone who does most of his work in the office or wherever (as you do?), and uses his, in most cases max. 400€ netbook (smaller laptop) on the go. Of course you want a MBA to be your primary computer, but this wish does, to a certain extend, arise from the fact that it's so expensive. You don't want to buy a 1500€ computer and only use it for 1 hour a day. You would feel bad, unless you are a rich *****
Many students have netbooks, I would estimate between 50 and 75%. Imagine you are at university working on an assignment (the subject does not matter) and need to look up a definition in a pdf (maybe on you HDD?) or in the internet. Can we agree that the process of working on that assignment can be defined as being productive? If that little netbook can help you to get it done, did it improve your productivity? Did it help you in the process of being productive? A computer's usefulness is not defined by hardware specifications, but by what it can do for [insert yourself].
As light use can mean totally different things, being "productive" can mean completely different things. As I said, can the people described above be productive on a 11,6" screen (even smaller, of course not infinitely...
)? Certainly. Can a graphical engineer be productive on a 11,6" screen? Maybe not, but don't neglect the fact that your sole needs are not the one's for everyone. And just because someone wants a MBA with a smaller footprint, it does not, by any means, conclude he should get an iPad, period.
So to answer your question: Yes, I still do not agree with what you said
and my opinions on the highlighted statements remain the same (no offense my friend)n2arkitectur: 11.6" screen can coexist with current Air keyboard.
2.) All computer screens I've seen are mediocre, compared with a nicely designed and printed book. There is much room for screen improvement. (A 17" Air with e-paper screen and ergonomically split keyboard? Just a thought, to upset the faithful )
3.) Software has room for improvement, too, in relatiion to legibility.
4.) Back to screens. I didn't see the big diff. in "Retina" screens, but that may have been because -- on a tiny screen things were already pretty sharp in the previous phone... and Apple didn't display before and after side by side for comparison... and some of the software wasn't yet upgraded to take advantage of the new 4G's resolution. But in an aging population, there are a lot of aging eyes, and don't think it can't happen to you... lutein supplements or not. An 11.6" Retina type display, on an Air, could be truly revolutionary.
2.) All computer screens I've seen are mediocre, compared with a nicely designed and printed book. There is much room for screen improvement. (A 17" Air with e-paper screen and ergonomically split keyboard? Just a thought, to upset the faithful
)3.) Software has room for improvement, too, in relatiion to legibility.
4.) Back to screens. I didn't see the big diff. in "Retina" screens, but that may have been because -- on a tiny screen things were already pretty sharp in the previous phone... and Apple didn't display before and after side by side for comparison... and some of the software wasn't yet upgraded to take advantage of the new 4G's resolution. But in an aging population, there are a lot of aging eyes, and don't think it can't happen to you... lutein supplements or not. An 11.6" Retina type display, on an Air, could be truly revolutionary.
I actually was having a pointless argument with Jayomat about a suggestion Moodikar had made that a 10" MBA would be even better than an 11.6", as if you can make a notebook infinitely small without losing functionality. If that were true, lets give it the same size as the iPhone screen, and since we can't rig a full-size keyboard onto a 4" screen, we'll add an IR projector that will sense our finger movements, so we can type and interface with it that way. You won't get eyestrain looking at a 4" screen 8 hours a day. If we're suspending the laws of physics and ergonomics, let's add an ion drive, so the 4" MBA can fly us through outer space!
I bristle at the notion of an 11.6" MBA. I know that I could not be as productive on an 11" screen as I am on a 13". I am beside myself at the suggestion of a 10" MBA. You are correct, though, an 11.6" MBA could very well have a full-size keyboard. A 9.7" MBA could not.
So to answer your question: Yes, I still do not agree with what you said
Ja, bitte. Tschuess.
Switching to German doesn't help but the best would be if they offer both a 13 as well as an 11 inch MBA and let the user decide which one he/she wants
So und plotzlich habe ich das problem geloest
The only upgrade that matters for the MacBook Air is a price that makes sense. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Air is easily the MOST overpriced Apple computer next to some of the Mac Pros. Given it uses inferior components to the white MacBook how in the world can it possibly be justified at any higher than $700? Really?
10 inch productivity
Think of the original Mac at 10 inch. We were pretty productive. Think of the powerbook Duo, ibooks, and even the 12inch Al powerbook. They had small screens but we still could do great stuff with them. Desktop publishing, photoshop, gaming can be done on smaller screens (especially when you need to be portable rather than screen size). Obviously hooking up to a large monitor is important and of coarse you wouldn't travel with it. Then again, remember when you could buy a bag for your SE 30? Sure if you needed something more powerful to do video editing and 3D animation rendering or hard gaming, you'd choose a Macbook Pro right?! The Air is not a Pro. It wasn't designed to be (at least not yet).
Resolution on screens are getting better. We're not in the old days of 600 x 800. A 10 inch screen with a full size keyboard can easily be as useful as a 11 or 13 inch screen with a full size keyboard. Hell, the resolution might even surpass that of the current screens.
Absolutely a bigger screen would be better for productivity but when you have to travel and all your doing is powerpoint, a 10 inch is gonna be lighter than an 11 inch. As long as the resolution still decent (and the rest of the computer has strong horse power), who's to say that you can't be just as productive on a 10 inch.
Again folks, we're not talking about Macbook Pros here. That's what you get if you need to be more productive AND portable. We're talking about being what the ipad isn't (same thing, at least not yet). A portable MAC OS.
Something light. Something to do more than surf or apps. Something for that can be strong enough as our primary computer using the MAC OS We are talking portable and light. Stylish and powerful. Hopefully we are talking about new technology like 3G or USB3 that again does what the uni-body did for with the original air to the others.
10 inch option is for those on the subway (as wifi grows), on airplanes, in board meetings (that can pull out a laptop without it taking over their view).
I look back to the old Duo days when you have a hub of everything else on your desk at work/home. When you're out, it's the bare essentials.
So, if you are rooting for an 11inch, fine. I still think you might enjoy a 10inch version just as much (as long as it doesn't sacrifice power, functionality, and full keyboard). That's what I'm hoping for. Choice.
Think of the original Mac at 10 inch. We were pretty productive. Think of the powerbook Duo, ibooks, and even the 12inch Al powerbook. They had small screens but we still could do great stuff with them. Desktop publishing, photoshop, gaming can be done on smaller screens (especially when you need to be portable rather than screen size). Obviously hooking up to a large monitor is important and of coarse you wouldn't travel with it. Then again, remember when you could buy a bag for your SE 30? Sure if you needed something more powerful to do video editing and 3D animation rendering or hard gaming, you'd choose a Macbook Pro right?! The Air is not a Pro. It wasn't designed to be (at least not yet).
Resolution on screens are getting better. We're not in the old days of 600 x 800. A 10 inch screen with a full size keyboard can easily be as useful as a 11 or 13 inch screen with a full size keyboard. Hell, the resolution might even surpass that of the current screens.
Absolutely a bigger screen would be better for productivity but when you have to travel and all your doing is powerpoint, a 10 inch is gonna be lighter than an 11 inch. As long as the resolution still decent (and the rest of the computer has strong horse power), who's to say that you can't be just as productive on a 10 inch.
Again folks, we're not talking about Macbook Pros here. That's what you get if you need to be more productive AND portable. We're talking about being what the ipad isn't (same thing, at least not yet). A portable MAC OS.
Something light. Something to do more than surf or apps. Something for that can be strong enough as our primary computer using the MAC OS We are talking portable and light. Stylish and powerful. Hopefully we are talking about new technology like 3G or USB3 that again does what the uni-body did for with the original air to the others.
10 inch option is for those on the subway (as wifi grows), on airplanes, in board meetings (that can pull out a laptop without it taking over their view).
I look back to the old Duo days when you have a hub of everything else on your desk at work/home. When you're out, it's the bare essentials.
So, if you are rooting for an 11inch, fine. I still think you might enjoy a 10inch version just as much (as long as it doesn't sacrifice power, functionality, and full keyboard). That's what I'm hoping for. Choice.
But more resolution can make software prompts smaller.
If we did nothing but look at photos, more resolution would be better. But some things can get worse with more resolution.
I read a few years ago that when an operating system is improved to be "scalable", then more resolution won't have any neccessary connection to making any typefaces or tabs or system icons smaller. The article said that Windows would one day be scalable; I don't know if that ever happened.
But there are loads of other ways screen quality can be measured. And all of them have lots of room for improvement.
Why not an optional black and white e-paper screen for the Air, for those who need legibility first? The demographics of ageing eyes in the U.S.: The fastest growing age segment is - those over 100 y/o. The 2nd fastest growing age segment is those between 90-100. The 3rd fastest growing segment is those 80-90. The 4th fastest growing age segment is those from 70-80 years old. 5th: 60-70. So, the screen-making industry would do well to wake up and smell the demographic coffee. Time for some innovative R&D to push screen readibility "to the next level".
If we did nothing but look at photos, more resolution would be better. But some things can get worse with more resolution.
I read a few years ago that when an operating system is improved to be "scalable", then more resolution won't have any neccessary connection to making any typefaces or tabs or system icons smaller. The article said that Windows would one day be scalable; I don't know if that ever happened.
But there are loads of other ways screen quality can be measured. And all of them have lots of room for improvement.
Why not an optional black and white e-paper screen for the Air, for those who need legibility first? The demographics of ageing eyes in the U.S.: The fastest growing age segment is - those over 100 y/o. The 2nd fastest growing age segment is those between 90-100. The 3rd fastest growing segment is those 80-90. The 4th fastest growing age segment is those from 70-80 years old. 5th: 60-70. So, the screen-making industry would do well to wake up and smell the demographic coffee. Time for some innovative R&D to push screen readibility "to the next level".
Probably another baseless rumor, but I heard iCar is supposed to be released in mid 2011.