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Analyst Predicts MacBook Air Sales of 700,000 Units This Quarter

Just a little tidbit for those who think it is underpowered.

I'm an Art Director for a large advertising operation in the southeast. I use photoshop, indesign, illustrator, C4D and xcode on a daily basis for major projects.

A few months ago my Macbook Pro 15 inch died and had to be sent away for repair. While it was gone I was using a Dell Mini 9 Hackintosh with a 1.6 Ghz Atom and a 16gb SSD. I found that the Mini 9 could handle Photoshop, Indesign and even Cinema 4D great! you see for content creation you really don't need a super powerful machine.. if i'm going to be rending out a scene that task is offloaded onto my Quad Core i5 desktop and I continue working on whatever it is that I need to.

Same thing with xCode... if I need to compile a project I just have it in my Dropbox folder open it on my desktop machine with VNC from anywhere in the world, compile and bam I have the finished product downloaded into my Dropbox folder on my Laptop. The whole process is a few clicks and I go back to working on something else.

If you think you need to Edit a full length motion picture on your laptop GREAT go ahead and get a 17inch Macbook Pro.

If you need a portable machine that can handle basic content creation in photoshop, indesign etc... the Macbook Air is perfect for you.

Really most people are behind... the paradigm is shifting to cloud computing and Apple sees that. The majority of people buy more computer than they will every really use... the whole "my harddrive is bigger than your harddrive" thing.

I laugh when some I talk to normal consumers and they tell me that they have 12 gigs of ram in their machine running a 32 bit operating system running 32 bit programs... they really are that clueless that only 1/3 of that is really being used and the rest was just a waste of money. Even CS5 is not completely 64 Bit on the Mac.

My 15inch Macbook Pro is on its way to eBay and I just ordered an 11.6 inch Macbook Air.
 
KnightWRX said:
... Overall, the C2D vs Core i3 debate is wrongly framed. It's an Intel Graphics vs nVidia Graphics debate.
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I completely agree... the i3 vs C2D, I care less about than being stuck with Intel video, which I care more about.

P.
 
entatlrg said:
A half dozen of my employee's are wanting it bad. I'm not parting with it until my 11 and 13" arrive and I've spent a week with them.

I LOVE my Z, adjusted to everything well, win7 was doable, extra ports where nice, (trackpad not so sure, but 'logitec anywhere mouse' made up for it).

But all my other machines run OSX so I'd rather keep everything under one roof if I could.
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I've never seen one in person but it looks like a great laptop going from the specs/website. If i was on windows i would look at that and the Hp envy
 
dgree03 said:
Viao X is thinner than the MBA over all. Comes with an Extra extended batter bringing the overall battery life better than that of the 11.6 MB AIR.
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Vaio X standard battery life is 3 hours.

Improvements which cost extra, well, cost extra.
 
dgree03 said:
Viao X is thinner than the MBA over all. Comes with an Extra extended batter bringing the overall battery life better than that of the 11.6 MB AIR. It is also lighter 1.6lb vs 2.3

Viao Z i5 alone is worth the 400 dollar premium over MBA 13 in. ALso Viao Z has a 1600x900 LED screen.

Where do YOU get your facts from?
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This is the Sony Viao X with the extended battery. I gaurantee you it isn't thinner anymore. It also ups the weight to 2.2 pounds, similar to the MBA. Without the extended battery, it gets a miserable 3 hours of battery life. None of this changes the fact that it is running a netbook processor and costs more than the MBA.

sony-x-with-extended-battery.jpg


Whether or not the advantages of the Viao Z are worth the extra cost is up to the individual, but the fact is that you said the MBA is overpriced compared to anything Vaio. As I've shown, that is quite far from the truth.

For the record, the Vaio Z is thicker than a MBP and much thicker than a MBA. I had left that out, but since you want to sweat the details, I'll mention it. I'd have compared a thinner 13" Vaio if they had one, but they don't. So it costs more and it's chunkier.
 
One thing makes me skip these new, beautiful Airs (those 11.6" inches are hot):

Only 2GB of RAM.
I'm a strong believer in 4.
Damn.
 
I would probibly buy a MBA over an Ipad, for the simple reason that I like having a phisical keyboard to type on. I know you can get a key board for the Ipad, but IMO, it is a cleaner setup to have the keyboard built in.
 
hamlin said:
For the specs...they seem kind of expensive. Why wouldn't you just buy a macbook for $999? Better specs and very portable...No one really neeeds that thin of a computer, other than image.
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For the simple reason that for 99-percent of us, and 99-percent of what we do with laptops, that increase in 'power' that the macbook offers is irrelevant. We reached a curve a few years ago where the power offered by modern processors way outruns what we need them to do. All that 'power' just sits there ... unused. So what's the point?

What's more, in many cases, even the bottom level Air feels faster than most notebooks, because of it's blazing fast flash drive.

So, I'll take a laptop that in many ways 'feels' faster than a Macbook (or 13" Macbook Pro for that matter) and that I can hold with two fingers and fits in even the most cramped airline seat ... over a big clunky laptop that has extra power I never use.

Too many people (you?) have their heads buried in the spec sheet, without ever asking 'does it really matter?'
 
paul4339 said:
I completely agree... the i3 vs C2D, I care less about than being stuck with Intel video, which I care more about.

P.
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Exactly... Intel Graphics are some of the worst I have ever seen... They can barely display simple OSX core animations let alone actual games.

The 320m is actually a pretty strong GPU for being integrated. On the Macbook it can play Left 4 Dead 2 at 30 to 60 FPS.

I don't know how much of a hit it will take with the ULV processors but why would you be playing a 3d intensive game on a Laptop anyway?

Link for Proof - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rJMAxAGbnI
 
alakazzam said:
I'll believe it when I see it. Personally I'm not all that blown away by the MBA.
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Why would I go and do something stupid like that you may ask?

I have been waiting for a year to get a MBA, I travel 2-3 weeks a month and even though I have an iPad (which I love BTW......it holds it's own in the household and like a pet has it's own special place....normally beside me)
Unfortunatly I am seriously restricted to what I can do on the iPad, it does try hard but in all honestly, it is not a REAL computer. Hey, I got my kindle, my Netflix, my email & a bazillion apps and all this is great stuff but the inability to do anything beyond the basics like play a game, surf the net and try to make a word document really bugs me. (this paragraph should be in another forum sorry)

I digress.

So I also have a MBP & it is bulky, when you have 8 kg hand luggage restriction, that extra KG means a lot.

So why buy a MBA?

1. Functionally - full blown OSX, camera, USB etc
2. Weight - both 11&13" models will be a hit with small people!
3. Form - no one yet has said it is ugly and as uncle Steve said, it is the future of laptops so don't be surprised when a 15 and 17" version appear)
4. The iPad dosent cut the "Computer" mustard (for me at least)

Yes along with the rest of you, I am disappointed with the new MBA spec's but it isn't the end of the world, (unless you purchase the 1.4ghz!!!!)

We all know the previous MBA has issues with video cards and processors and heat dissipation but hells bells Steve, a upwards tweak of the processor in the new model would have been nice..... I kinda think this was lazy of apple not to do this.

I pity the poor person that buys the 1.4ghz, there will defiantly be some complaints over that one but maybe with the new hard drive it will be a different benchmark of speed?.......Probably not especially with the shared video card memory.

I have bought the MBA 13.3/2.16/4/256 and with these specs I am sure it will last me a few years.

And then there is price, that grand old argument, "just get a MBP" we constantly hear people grumbling on these forums.....

Well I can't answer that one because there is no right answer, if you are prepared to pay more money for functionality form & weight (or lack thereof) then at the end of the day that is your decision.
If you want to spend the same or even less money for raw power but lose the mobility, again that is your decision,

Its called opportunity cost.

Do I think I got good value for money for my top of the line MBA?

Yes and No

I think uncle steve is rubbing his hands together with glee and sitting in his castle counting all his money because yes I did pay top dollar for a old processor but I now have something that is perfect for me, it's extremely mobile, its better than the old model, I can plug stuff into it, I can edit my photos, amend my website and all the usual stuff and more importantly it will last.

But all arguments to one side, I am sure there is one thing we all can agree on, ITS AN APPLE!!! Hurraagh! But no backlit keyboard, damn

Oh on a side note, would all you whiney windows supporters can kindly wander off to your own operating system forums and talk about your sony's Z's and Hp's whatevers over there???

thanks very much!
 
Full of Win said:
Seems to me you were talking about the Viao X
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He was talking about both the X and the Z, because I compared the X to the 11.6" MBA and the Z to the 13.3" MBA. His point on the screen resolution was referring to the Z and was correct for what it's worth (not much).
 
BC2009 said:
The MBA looks cool. The idea of having SSD speeds without the expense of the enclosure is nice. If I got one of these machines as a gift I would be jumping up and down with excitement.

However, I can't say that if I was spending my money I could bring myself to purchase the MBA over the MBP-13. Given the choice I would opt to spend my money on 8GB ram on the MBP-13 over its SSD option and still get much more (albeit slower) storage than an MBA.

MBA looks really nice and has a lot of "wow" factor, but I don't predict record sales here when folks look at the trade-off. However, the prediction that the low-end model will sell better seems dead-on.

For the price, the small MBA offers a whole lot of cool features that are hard to stack against the MacBook or MBP-13 (its a comparison of apples to oranges -- no pun intended). The MBA-11 is quite a bit smaller and has fast startup using solid state storage. The MBA-11 will target those who might want an iPad but intend to do alot of typing (like writers).

If you are essentially looking for a Mac "netbook" without the 3G, the small MBA differentiates itself well from the rest of the Apple product lineup.

The higher-end MBA's in my opinion start to lose that differentiation and are going to be contending more with the MacBook and MacBook Pro lineup.

At least that is my opinion based on my day-to-day needs. I use my iPad for ultra-portability, so if I was going to get a macbook I would likely sacrifice some portability for things like FireWire, 8GB RAM, backlit keyboard, and a faster processor.

If you don't own an iPad, I think you are more likely to prefer the MBA's portability.
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I will tell you what I think will happen. Women are going to make this a blockbuster. Sure, the facts you put in your post are quite logical.. but sometimes cute wins out over logic.

Before, when a woman would go into an Apple store, they would usually look at a MacBook Air, Macbook and 13 inch MacBook Pro. At least this has been my observation when in Apple stores and when shopping with others. However, for the price difference, they could buy some really cute clothing and a purse...thereby driving them toward the MB or MBP 13.

Now.... things are different. They can get the maximum cuteness for minimum money. Its a perfect combination when you think about it.


As to the other points, well cute wins over them for most women. I know this may sound sexist, but you have to call them how you see them. Most women do not care about the speed of the Bus on the CPU, the transfer speed they can get over FireWire, or the amount of RAM they have. For them its 1. is it cure ? 2. is it cheap ? and 3. gimmie gimmie gimmie !!!!!!!


For them, its GTG if it can access FaceBook, YouTube and Lifetime.
 
When the original MBA came out, I thought it was absolutely terrible. Who wanted an overpriced, under-specced computer just for the novelty of being able to pull it out of a manila envelope?

I have a top of the line 15" MBP, a Mac Mini Server, and an aging Power Mac. I am a network systems engineer and do a lot of on site service, remote management and office style work. I got ahold of a used original MBA at a great price. Needed a little fixing up and I must say it is now my favorite computer that I own.

It is silent, rugged, and immune to motion damage as it has no moving parts (aside from the fan). It has no firewire port or ethernet port. However I can use the USB-Ethernet adapter, and the only real downside is duplexity and lack of bonjour support. Bonjour still works over airport, and I don't need bonjour anyway. I'm not too concerned about IO on it as a primarily monitoring device.

I can wirelessly boot the machine to a netboot environment. I installed an operating system on my MBA over wi-fi while sitting on my couch with nothing whatsoever plugged into it. Sure I could have grabbed my USB drive, but I was already sitting down when I decided to re-install and didn't want to get up.

I can hold it easily in one hand and walk around with it without worrying about torquing the casing from it's own weight, or dropping it. When I travel with it, it's hardly noticeable.

Unless I plan on booting into Windows 7 to play some online 3D game with my buddies (which is rare), I always reach for my MacBook Air instead of my MacBook Pro if they are sitting next to each other. Unless I want some acceptable speakers or plan on doing some serious media rendering or Photoshop work (which I also do rarely), my MBP is really only useful for IO speeds and display size. If I'm at home, I use airtunes for audio anyway or my Apple TV for video. If I'm not at home, I'm in public and no one wants to hear my tunes anyway. Headphones.

If I didn't already have my MBA, I'd buy the 11" MBA today. Either way I'm tempted to sell mine and apply that to a new baby MBA.

I would recommend the MBA to consumer buyers looking to buy their first Mac as a laptop and don't need to do much with it other than common tasks, or power users looking for a second remote management machine, or travelers looking for ultraportability.

As far as performance, my 1.6 Ghz C2D on my 2008 MBA is only noticeable if I try to do more with it than I really should such as watch 2 1080p movies at once. Most of the time my limitation is the IO speed of the SSD media.
 
Izlib said:
I have a top of the line 15" MBP, a Mac Mini Server, and an aging Power Mac. I am a network systems engineer and do a lot of on site service, remote management and office style work.
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So you don't really need any of that computing power. I'm a Unix sysadmin and an amateur code monkey. The work I do today I did back in the day on a Pentium II and it was pretty snappy then. Running Xcode 3.2 doesn't even require anything close to a Core 2 Duo. Neither does running ssh under Terminal.app.

Not to mention Illustrator CS5 works flawlessly when I need to draw up something for my website currently on a 2.0 GHZ MB unibody. A 1.86 ghz MBA is not going to be worse in this regard.

Let's face it, people grossly over-estimate their computing power needs. It's fine to have spec-envy, but to turn that around and claim that specs are required when they are obviously not is not doing yourself any favors.

Another point people are forgetting : Form Factor is a feature. Personally, no optical drive, flash storage and higher res screen is what sold me. I ordered my 13.3" MBA, it's going to replace my MB, and it's going to be my main machine.

And contrary to the myths being spread here, it'll run Adobe CS5 fine, it'll run Virtual Box for my VMs fine, it'll work for Coding, Unix administration and all the other non-consumer stuff I do on my computer.
 
SilentCrs said:
This is replacing a MacBook Pro monster. There's no reason to buy the MacBook Pro anymore. No one with any sense is actually do video editing with a laptop anymore.
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Then there must be a *lot* of professionals without any sense out there...
 
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