Apple Announces MacBook Air

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I think I'll have to wait until they put multi-touch on the screen as that was really what I was hoping for. SSD prices will need to drop too, there's no way I could deal with a 4200rpm hard drive since I wanted the laptop for performing live. I kind of wish Apple would've used a 2.5" hard drive with SATA interface so that the disk would be a little easier to upgrade and cheaper too, but I guess that wouldn't have made it the thinnest laptop in the world. Oh well, here's to waiting for 1.8" SSD's to get to reasonable prices and capacities!

$1799 is a very good price point for a small laptop, but $3098 for a decent hard drive isn't.
 
Who agrees with me???

You can't downgrade a product and introduce it as a new product. I'm so unbelievably disappointed that Apple actually had the balls to introduce this piece of crap laptop as their main new product to launch 2008; especially after last years incredible iPhone.

All they had to do was stay on the iPhone path completely and introduce a whole new and revised MacBook family. All multi-touch/360 degree swivel screens. All slimmer and lighter than before. All much higher than 80gb storage. All newest technology processors. All much less frame size around screen. All double-sided cameras. WiMax. Bluetooth. GPS. Etc.

But no, they take a step sideways or even possibly backwards. I am shocked at Apple. They always seem to have their **** together. Today, they tried to fake that they did. You could even tell Steve Jobs wasn't at all excited about it.
 
What a crock of poop the macbook air is...

It's an underpowered, super expensive (but thinner) macbook. I think the most appealing feature is the 5 hour battery. I wonder what the demographic for this junk would be, since the Sony TX series pee's all over this easily. The price is just ludicrously expensive for what it is :-/

People, just max out a regular macbook, and you'll essentially have something way better forgiving aesthetics.
 
11800506 said:
<snip> Apple feels that aesthetics are more important than function <snip>
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It's possible that this machine's functionality lacks some of what you require. That doesn't mean that Apple has sacrificed functionality for aesthetics. It just means that Apple hasn't yet built what you happen to need into a form that you happen to want at a price you're willing to pay. Why extrapolate that into a broad generalization about how Apple views form and function?

I am lucky today. I think the machine looks great and, after some hard thinking for an hour or so, I decided it meets my actual requirements for this type of machine. So, I ordered the high end one. It doesn't mean I think Apple made a perfect machine. It doesn't meet my dream specs. It doesn't mean I'm happy paying what I paid. It means I am willing to part with the money for what Apple offers in this product at this time.

In my book, that makes me a satisfied customer EVEN IF THE MACHINE ISN'T WHAT I WANTED IN MY WILDEST DREAMS. And it makes Apple (and you too, Intel) a satisfactory manufacturer.
 
So does Apple own Intel now?

Apple: Hey Intel, shrink that Core 2 Duo chip 60%.
Intel: Say wha...
Apple: Do it now!
 
I actually ordered one earlier today but thought better of it tonight and canceled. Slower processor and slower hard drive being the two main factors. The lack of an optical drive and ports really don't make a difference to me. But it doesn't even offer the same computing experience as a regular ol' MacBook? Bleh... It is a shame that multitouch hasn't been brought to both MacBook and MacBook Pro but I guess they have to differentiate the Air somehow.

Now I'll likely wait until the next round of MacBook Pro updates to get a laptop. Ah well.
 
:d:d

I dont know why people are so angry at this product, as if this was intended to replace the other mac laptops. This is just a very light portable notebook. It is not meant to be replacement for a macbook pro.

I particularly dont care for heavy laptops and I don't edit movies or burn files in my laptop(I have a desktop for that). My laptop use is mostly web browsing and email/chatting. I prefer the lightest laptop I can buy. This notebook fits my needs exactly and it complements my mac desktop perfectly. I'll be ordering mine pretty soon :D:D:D:D:D
 
Arkbargle said:
Could be either a restore partition on the hard drive, or OS X on a USB stick. Network booting has been possible for decades too...
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This immediately bothered me too. In a corporate environment where the IT staff has extra NetRestore servers and whatnot handy this is a minor issue. But two of my key troubleshooting methods (boot from optical or target mode) are AWOL on the MBA and I can't endorse it at my shop till we answer the question about how to deal with it when it misbehaves...

It's tough to imagine it booting from a disc hosted on another computer nearby. It's also odd that it comes with restore discs and nothing to put them in. The USB SuperDrive might be an obligatory accessory if you ever want to restore from DVD.

Apple has not posted the user's manual for the MBA yet, so I'll have to wait and see how they get around the missing optical drive.
 
macenforcer said:
Yeah ok. Your argument is lame. I wouldn't call firewire, upgradeable ram and a faster hard drive worthless.
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Yes, well, I think your obsession with a two button mouse is lame (apparently you have no idea how to use that second finger on your hand?). And besides, his point wasn't about firewire, upgradeable ram or a faster HD (see my previous post about the HD spindle speed myth, hint it has something to do with 2pi*r). His point was solely based on the USB ports...
 
Pukey said:
Apple's MacBook Air is cool, but I actually liked Wired's mockup design better (except for the apparent lack of iSight).

Now, more importantly...where's my Penryn MacBook Pro?!?!?!! Oh well, maybe later this year.
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GAA - I HATE PLASTIC LAPTOPS! Yuck, eww, eww, eww. For 1799 there was absolutely NO WAY they were going to make it plastic. Plastic really wouldn't be a feasible solution for an ultra-thin laptop because it lacks in structural integrity and can't handle loads (under books, or even dropped, which I did to my 12" PB a few months ago onto concrete...) like metal can. There's a reason they don't make cars, planes, trains, etc out of plastic...
 
Iroganai said:
Do you remember how the reaction was when the G4 cube was introduced ?
I was using Windows back then.

Will MacBook Air be the new Cube ? or the new iPod ? that is the problem ...
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Bad example to use with me. I love the Cube. Is it the best bang for the buck? Of course not. But it is a fantastic (and very influential) piece of industrial design and still looks beautiful today. It wasn't about value for money or all-out performance.

Like the Cube, I see the MacBook as a second computer for someone who already owns a primary use computer. People who are hung up on the specs or pricing complaints are missing the point IMHO.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I see the MacBook as a second computer for someone who already owns a primary use computer. People who are hung up on the specs or pricing complaints are missing the point IMHO.
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For me, it's a third computer and fits my own personal niche very nicely. It's obviously not a MBP replacement, nor is it intended to be.

EDIT: Guess I should have multiquoted instead of posting twice...sorry.
 
Overall, I love it!

Starting with the negatives, I really wanted this laptop to have a next-generation 45nm Penryn with SSE4. It would have shrunken the actual processor die not just the casing, saved alot of power, increased battery life, increased motherboard speed, increased cache size, allowed faster chip, etc.
I knew they probably wouldn't be ready for another quarter, but I bet these chips find their way into this model in the future:

check out the specs for the future 'Penryn' Core 2 Duo "SP9400" line:
- 45 nm, small die size
- "small form factor" package size: 22mm ^2
- 17W TDP "medium-voltage"
- 1.60ghz and 1.86 ghz
- 6MB L2 cache
- 1066mhz FSB
- SSE4.1

Despite the 65nm "merom" core 2 duo, This machine is still amazing!.
I LOVE the beautiful thin design, full backlit keyboard, LED backlighting
and the fact that they used a "standard" 1.6-1.8 core2 duo chip versus using a core2 Duo 1.06 ultra low voltage. This makes the laptop alot faster.

Pricing isn't too bad either, especially for Apple.
The closest comparison model I could find on the market is :

Panasonic Y7
Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 1.60GHz - L7700 1.80GHz (low voltage)
14.1" screen 1400x1050 pixels
HDD 160GB, DVD-RAM
14.1" (W) x 9.6" (L) x 1.3 - 1.8"
Weight: 3.3 lbs / 1.5 kg
http://www.dynamism.com/Y7/main.shtml
starts at $2300+

-----------------------------


------ other somewhat similar models -------
Sony Vaio TZ90
2.26lbs / 10.9 x 7.8 x 0.89"
11.1" 1366x768 *LED backlighting*
Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7600 1.2 GHz/1GB RAM/100GB hdd/945GMS Express/Wifi/Blue2/Lan
8-9hrs battery
notes: carbon fiber case/DVD-R super-multi/express card/Gigabit-LAN/firewire/8-in-1/webcam/ optional 32GB SSD
http://www.dynamism.com/tz90/main.shtml
$2400+

Panasonic T5 subnotebook
2.26-2.77 lbs / 10.55 x 8.27 x 1.25"
12.1" 1024x768
Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7500 1.06ghz /1GB RAM/80GB+/945GMS Express/Wifi/Lan
7-10 hrs battery
http://www.dynamism.com/t5/main.shtml
$2200+
 
Oh, and when the thing breaks, good luck transferring your data in FW target disk mode. What is the target market for it, I wonder. I could understand if it were like an oversized iPod that has to be synced to the main computer, but standalone it is kind of silly.

As it is, what makes it better than the Macbook except its backlit keyboard and that it is "perdy"?

It is a niche product, just like Apple TV, and it is a bummer that it took the center stage today.
 
I bet my shares of Apple that Steve and Co. are better at judging corporate need and what fits where better then me.... and you.
 
vansouza said:
I bet my shares of Apple that Steve and Co. are better at judging corporate need and what fits where better then me.... and you.
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I don't see a lot of corporate people escaping the fact that MS Exchange and other things are quite crucial to conducting global business.

In fact, if they're banking on MacBook Air to be popular with traveling business people and buying this for its portability over the business functions of a PC based computer, I think they'll be horribly mistaken...
 
chewietobbacca said:
I don't see a lot of corporate people escaping the fact that MS Exchange and other things are quite crucial to conducting global business.

In fact, if they're banking on MacBook Air to be popular with traveling business people and buying this for its portability over the business functions of a PC based computer, I think they'll be horribly mistaken...
Click to expand...

I have contracted for almost every major corporation and I have only seen one manager use a macbook. If it doesn't have a docking port it will never get integrated into corporate america period.
 
Slip said:
It's official
Allow the hatred of the name to follow ;)
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Well, name aside I still don't think the storage allows it to be much more then something whose purpose fills that of the casual computer user. 80GB of storage max is hardly anything these days, perhaps this computer will be good for schools but beyond that I'm not sure of the viability of this laptop... Just because it looks good doesn't mean it actually has viable usage....
 
macenforcer said:
I have contracted for almost every major corporation and I have only seen one manager use a macbook. If it doesn't have a docking port it will never get integrated into corporate america period.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Come on Jobs, I know you have this love for form over function, but reality is reality, and corporate America will not switch if it doesn't have what they *really* want!
 
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