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Apple Announces MacBook Air

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Watching the live coverage, I was amazed at how small the MacBook Air was.

However, while I think there is certainly a crowd it caters to, with a very slow (4200 RPM) hard drive, or a very expensive ($1000 more) and small SSD drive, I think this is a machine for traveling CEOs and those that can afford the luxury, but not the mainstream.

I placed an order recently for a ModBook and will stick with that for now (if I ever get it - LOL). A 200 GB 7200 RPM hard drive in a pressure sensitive tablet-driven machine fits my needs much more. But I'm not the mainstream either.

I'll enjoy seeing the Air in person at my local Apple store when they come in, but there won't be one under my arm anytime soon. I was much more excited about the new Apple TV software and Time Capsule. Now there's a handy little gadget!
 
sharpeiboy said:
I don't like the OPTINOAL optical... seems sort of junky, and NECESSARY (for me at least):

1. How would I install new software?
2. I travel and watch DVDs on my current laptop all the time.
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In such a case, the MacBook Air is not the right choice for you, and you should buy (or keep) your MacBook [Pro].
 
What a bunch of pessimists!

Man, you guys sure are grumpy. The MacBook Air is beautiful and pretty much just what everybody expected. Oh, and it doesn't look anything like a Dell. You're just wrong.
 
MacBook is a dumb ****ing name as well. Don't like it, just remove the print from the screen bezel with a solvent.

The keyboard is just the right size because when Apple used smaller keyboards people bitched abouth those as well.

Want Ethernet, buy a $30 adapter or spend twice that on a refurb airport base.
 
I need to find out one key thing before I buy: Can the regular HD be swapped for a SSD? Or is the interface different? If I can swap it, then I'll buy the 80GB and pop a SSD in when I can find one for a good price.

I do the same with memory in my MBPs -- buy it with the minimum, rather than paying Apple $700 for an upgrade to 4GB, and then buy 4GB from Crucial or OWC for $170.

We'll see... I love the form-factor of the MBA, and the screen and keyboard look great.
 
Paying $1000 for the thinness is just rediculous.
If I want a ultra-portable, this is not it. This is even 13.3, huge...

I suddenly find Asus EEE to be a great thing. It is even cheaper than iPod touch 16G.
 
Well, its odd alright.
Its actually BIGGER than the MacBook, which seems a bit foolish to me.

So its simply very skinny, with less facility, for more cash.
Same screen.
Same size.
Less power.
More money.
Smaller HD.
No dramatic battery life increase.

I am trying (hate to be negative about Apple), but I am not getting it.

Why not dump the borders and edge bezel thing?

I think we all wanted SMALLER. not SKINNY.

Skinny doesnt really do much.

Oh well, I have my iPhone, so I can do without Mr. Tall and Skinny.

I am sad that Apple seem to have got this wrong. I hate it when they get tunnel vision, because I like them so much.

No Canadian iPhone either........
 
For me the worst part of this announcement is that it will inevitably delay the next revision to the Macbook Pro. :(

I'm waiting on the next model before I replace my ageing PowerBook. The fact that this has multi-touch will mean that the Macbook Pro must have it too, but there's no way they're going to release that until the Air has been released and that's a whole 'nother 2 weeks away. I was already expecting the revision to be the week after expo but now it could be a month or more away.
 
the only thing it has going for it is the slim factor u can get a base MB and it is faster the solid sate drive is cool, but the price tag is steep i predict a price drop in a few months
 
Swapable HDs?

Anyone know if the HDs are interchangeable?

For instance, if I get the 80G now, but when SSDs are cheaper and bigger in a year-or-so, I can change it out?
 
Umm.. Has anyone looked at the pricing structure of the new MBA?
it weighs in at $1700... and you have to pay extra for the companion SuperDrive!!

Just think... for an extra $300, you can buy a faster system, with a real graphics card, upgradeable memory, larger screen, have more ports and a standard size DVI... Oh wait, that's called a MBP $1999..

Er.. OK, which sucker gonna be buying a MBA and dismantling it????
 
redrabbit said:
Is it really an integrated battery? Isn't the whole point of a subnotebook for the ease of traveling? What's the point if you can't carry a spare battery. Looks like my next laptop will be a 12" Dell with extra battery and Ubuntu.
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The specs page seems to indicate it can be replaced, but I don't know if that means by the user:

"Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. "
 
A couple of things are bugging me from a technical point of view

1. No firewire means no firewire target mode, which is useful for fixing hard drive crashes - otherwise you are going to have to cart your install dvd around wherever you go, just in case. It has fixed problems where I could not even boot from dvd.

2. Only one usb port means no burning dvds without recourse to a power brick. One usb port is sufficient to read dvds, but you need 2 to power the burning facility of the standard portable dvd burner.

Both of these mitigate partly against the whole portability factor of the MBA.
 
xVeinx said:
To all the naysayers:

This is designed for a specific market. This is for people who need basic functionality from a computer but need it to be light and small. The keyboard and size are a big improvement over previous subnotebooks!
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It fails at that. The weight is there, but the thickness is irrelevant and the footprint is too big. I am in that specific market and this is not the right computer for that market.
 
Unfortunately, Apple realizes this computer will sell. Form over function is the motto of our society, and people can't wait to get their hands on the newest, sexiest piece of technology.

Give me something useful, please? If I wanted a thin, portable device to browse the web, listen to music, watch movies, and type documents, I'd buy an iPod touch. :mad:
 
leenoble said:
For me the worst part of this announcement is that it will inevitably delay the next revision to the Macbook Pro. :(
Click to expand...

I imagine Intel's announcement that they are running behind shipping mobile Penryn CPUs will delay the next revision of the MacBook Pro far more then the launch of the MacBook Air will... :(
 
Bloody hell the SSD is a £639 option!
Steve wasnt kidding when he said they were pricey!

Looks nice and i want one but not at that price. No thanks!

Awesome tho. That remot drive idea is really clever!
 
I've always believed that laptops should be companions to desktops, which is sort of why it's interesting to me that the paradigm has obviously moved against this. People want one machine to do it all (iPhone, anyone?), and laptops are used as primary machines by so many folks, in the consumer sector and in the pro sector, which is kind of weird but whatever. I have a MBP and an MP for my work, but I let the MP do nearly all of the heavy lifting and just ssh into it. The MBP is largely overkill for this purpose. Enter the utility for something that can just connect to the internet and my VPN, run my simulations, and do all those little other things computers do. This is what a laptop is for, to me.

I lament the loss of firewire as well, for the record, but it was sort of a given for all of the stated reasons.

macsrsocool said:
It is so small it will break easily. You watch. This forum will be flooded with "I broke my MBA and I only opened it slowly!" threads.
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Well in regard to torque, I think that breaking will be more of a non-issue, independent of how people handle their computers (which is generally badly, I think). The MBP and the MB are too heavy and flex under the weight when the only balance point is one hand - this bends laptops! Anyway, these MBAs won't bend significantly when handled with one hand (I hope).

Lord Blackadder said:
Love the form factor & overall design - beyond the state of the art in that regard.

In fact the whole machine is a little bit ahead of its time. The SSD drive is just on the edge of becoming mainstream, but isn't quite cheap enough or big enough yet. That will change in time, and I applaud Apple for offering it.

Not happy about the GMA graphics but it isn't at all unexpected. People who care only about paper specs and price will go for a MacBook or MacBook Pro, but I think the Air will be a popular product - I suspect it's going to be amazing in the flesh.

I don't understand why people are nitpicking this Mac based on specs and price - this is clearly NOT a machine for the hardware freak, overclocker, gamer or skinflint bargain hunter. PCs still rule the roost for those people.
Click to expand...

I agree that they're ahead of their time. Just like DVD and AirPort in the Pismo. Whose price was right around 2799 base. How far we've come!!
 
scrambledwonder said:
Man, you guys sure are grumpy. The MacBook Air is beautiful and pretty much just what everybody expected. Oh, and it doesn't look anything like a Dell. You're just wrong.
Click to expand...

lol, its thinner, slower, shorter life span, less port, expensive

over all, i would advise ppl to wait for another 3 month, price will drop significantly
 
Ok.

I get the removal of the DVD drive, really.

I get the use of a 1.8" drive which is slow as hell@4200RPM.

I can even live with the removal of a line-in.

But come on. 1 USB port? You ARE kidding right? What on earth can I do with a single USB port? :).

Cool device, but way too much sacrifices for the sake of thinness. I'd stick with a laptop that is a "whopping" 0.25 inch thicker, but has tons of other stuff for less money.

Just me, no bashing here, it does look like a cool device, but it is probably meant for a very niche market.
 
wrightc23 said:
When buyers go into an Apple store and look at these two machines next to each other, both with the lid open, will they even notice the difference?
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People pick up the laptops they are considering buying, because, well small laptops are meant to be carried. They will immediately notice the reduced weight and thickness.
 
crap

The MacBook Air only has a mono speaker. Still, it's a viable machine for what I need--portability. I am still going to wait 6-months to a year to buy one.

All you guys complaining about the price/lack of features crack me up! Apple is still producing the MacBook and MacBook Pro for those who still need FireWire ports and an optical drive. The multiple line of notebooks are all targeted to different consumers with different needs.
 
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