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Apple Announces New 13.3-Inch and 11.6-Inch MacBook Air Models with Flash Storage
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I understand that. I wasn't confusing the two. I was pointing out that it's useless to balk at how much it is to upgrade to that on the MBP when the cost of 128 GB of NAND is built into the cost of the MBA.
Sorry if this is already asked,
256GB SSD configuration adds $750 to MBP, but 256GB Flash storage already in $1599 MBA configuration.
What gives?
Why 256GB Flash memory is cheap in MBA but in the form of SSD?
The first reason is because the storage in the MBA is soldered onto the mainboard, not a discrete SSD device. That reduces manufacturing costs.
The second reason is because Apple only revise pricing when the release new models.
All other Macs have faster connectors.
MBA has only usb, so it's much more critical than usb in others.
Also usb3 has gone mainstream only after the other macs were updated.
(Not counting MP, which can take usb3-pci-card cheaply and easily.)
Apple has to follow the technology sometimes.
This would have been the right time for MBA.
Sadly, I think you are right.
Funnily, Intel now has additional usb3-chip in their reference boards...
I don't see the logic here. The iPad is nowhere near capable enough to be the only device you need, and it really does no better a job (and in many ways worse) at delivering content than a small laptop or netbook.
You don't "need" an iPad for anything. It's a toy.
i quiet like the 11.6 inch MacBook Air , and i honestly was about to order one until i went on the apple.uk site and got a shock , my name is not bill gates
its just too expensive
i would agree to $999 but here its starts at £849 which are $1332 for the basic model !!!!
so i made up my mind ,no new apple products for me , i dont like to get ripped off , i stick to my old Mac's as long as they last , if i need something new i get a realistic priced product and put linux on
its just too expensive
i would agree to $999 but here its starts at £849 which are $1332 for the basic model !!!!
so i made up my mind ,no new apple products for me , i dont like to get ripped off , i stick to my old Mac's as long as they last , if i need something new i get a realistic priced product and put linux on
It's going to be 10 million folks primary internet experience of the day very soon.
One man's "toy" is another man's "appliance".
Let's be clear. Some folks have very "dumbed down" or "crippled" "needs".
Rocketman
LOL, in Germany its 999 which is 1.392$... Hell yea "real" 999$ would be awesome
I wouldn't even use these strong words. Most people nowadays don't need a "computer" for anything but Web surfing, Mail, (maybe) Letters, Social interactivity, Music, Movies, Games - and that's it. This usage profile probably fits 90% of all people. Maybe even more... The actual number of people doing more than that is low, and that doesn't mean that those people's activities are to be rated at higher value or something - it's just different. Of course all content creators of any kind are in that (non iPad) group. But those people aren't too many.
I would not be surprised if devices like the iPad ruled the market in a few years and actual versatile computers would be used far less than they are now.
How do you figure that ?
Indeed. Like my mother. However, an iPad is not suitable for her as an only device for numerous reasons:
- Utterly reliant on something else running iTunes for long term use (this affects everyone)
- No Flash
- No printing
- No webcam
- No iPhoto (or equivalent)
- Not enough storage (it's just insulting that the iPad doesn't have an SDHC slot)
- No expandability
- No multitasking
- Very limited video output
- Onscreen keyboard is painful for any sort of serious data input (anything more than about a page of text), or anything with non-trivial use of numbers and symbols
- Copy and paste capabilities are barely adequate
Why 1366x768 instead of 1280x800 (which would maintain the 16:10 standard)? So that when this is inevitably released:
- iPad's big brother
- 11.6" 1366x768
- $799 for 32GB, $899 for 64GB
You have no idea on pricing do you?
UK pricing EVERY TIME have to state this
US Prices excludes LOCAL SALES TAXES
UK RETAIL PRICES BY LAW HAVE TO INCLUDE VAT in advertised prices
PLUS WHAT IS ALWAYS missed in simple quick and dirty calculations are import duties at 6.5% to be added to US price plus VAT currently at 17.5% on the combined price and yes thats AFTER the import duty is added.
With current currency risks Apple like many others also add around 7% protection against rapid fluctuations in exchange rate
Basic calculation $999 = £630.00
Duty 6.5% =£40.95
VAT 17.5% =£117.41
Currency risk 7% =£59.33 - This could be waved really
TOTAL UK retail price =£847.69 simple marketing round up to £849.00
Rightly or wrongly anything less would impair Apple profit margins in the UK
AS can be seen the biggest thief in the UK is the the UK taxman
The iTunes reliance is a problem that Apple has to learn first. It worked for iPhones and iPods but it's not a great solution for the iPad. They will eventually figure it out. Give it time, the thing isn't even a year old!
Flash is dying and will not be required anymore soon.
No Printing is fixed in November.
No Webcam will be fixed next April.
What do you mean with iPhoto? Organization? Cause there are tons of editing apps out there...
Storage will improve with the next versions.
No Expandability - that is the point of this device...
No Multitasking - fixed in November.
Limited Video Output - fixed with Apple TV in November.
Onscreen keyboard: You can use bluetooth keyboards or the keyboard dock.
Copy and paste: what else do you want??!
I'm sorry but the things you put down here are really quite high already and I can tell you that this is far more than 90% of my clients would ever use
And if Apple only gets 90% of them, it will be more than enough
I kinda have to agree with you, Rocketman. Personally, as I stated in my original post, I want ONE machine. I love the concept that is the iPad but then I'd also need another computer to feed my vast collection of music into it, as well as my photos & videos. That is why I'm opting to get the new MBA and I will just sell my current 13" MBP. I felt that 13" MBP + iPad was just a little redundant since they're both such portable devices. Love the iPad's portability, but I need a little more wiggle room than what iOS brings to the table and I feel that for a Safari-To-Go experience my iPhone does a GREAT job. iPhone + iPad also feels redundant for me. This new MBA gives me the ultra portability I've been wanting + full-blown OS X. All I really do is download music, do light photo/video editing, read websites, and chat with friends, so this more than suits my needs.
My mother, however, doesn't download a single song and is not proficient on a computer. All she ever does is her emails, Facebook, reads gossip sites, and plays an occasional game of Sudoku. The iPad is her only machine and it's basically a dream come true for her. (lucky for her, I do her app updates anytime I go over to her house)
What many fail to understand here is that everyone's uses/needs are so different, and I like that Apple is giving us all these options.
ok i got the figure wrong you are nearly right $999 is £636 but not all us states charge sales tax , you can blame the taxman but i blame apple £849 is just to much for a netbook , and despite a core2duo 1.4 ghz its just a netbook , really gorgeous looking but looks is not everything
Amen to that.
I have a question though. How large is your music collection? Cause I'm honestly running into huge problems. I also wanna go with the Air, but the space is just too limited. Right now I have iPhoto on my MBP, and iTunes on a Server in the LAN. How exactly does Apple think I will be able to have those things on my computer plus several Apps and crap... We haven't even started with movies yet... My iTunes is Lossless only, so it's quite big, I think 400 GB and my iPhoto Library is 10 GB, but my parents have a photo collection of 200 GB for example... iPhoto doesn't support network drives, so it's not useable at all for them. It just won't fit anywhere... Do they want us to hook up external drives to everything and then have the machines be useless without them?
no they want your mum if she needs more space for photos to buy the iMac with 2 TB drive and only using the iPad or new MacBook air for storing the 50 photos done on a holiday and when back at home transfer them onto the iMac..simple or? no catch , not external drives
Yeah, I guess my 'vast' collection comes nowhere close to yours. Between music, home videos (I don't own a single movie), and pictures, I'm right about @ 170GB, so the 128GB 11-incher is what I'm going with (too bad 256 isn't an option on that size). I've just had to come to an understanding that sacrifice will have to be made. Do I intend to drag an external drive everywhere I go? HELL NO. I feel it defeats the whole purpose of the MBA, plus an external drive constantly attached to my MBA would be as unattractive as a dialysis bag on a human. (no offense to anyone) Obviously, a ton of my home videos, pictures, and mp3's will have to be quarantined in my external drive and if I ever needed them, I know I can fetch them later. I mean, seriously, do I really need to carry 150+ Christmas songs with me 24/7? Or pictures and videos of Uncle Tony's 50th bday, from 4 years ago? Probably not. I'm content carrying the things I know I'll want me with at all times.
Besides, let us not forget the greatness from 'up above'. MobileMe and/or Dropbox are AMAZING sidekicks and offer that extra room.
I don't like that solution, it would mean the photo viewing is restricted to one stationary computer, or at least it would only be possible at home via sharing and the iMac would have to be on...
I agree that you don't need that stuff all around with you 24/7 but those Apps like iTunes or iPhoto don't exactly give you the possibility to leave stuff in one place and take the rest with you... It always means manually fiddling around, dragging out photos to a hard drive, later dragging them back in, etc etc... It just not an optimal solution. I wish Apple would give us more tools in that area...
You're right. Space is is the only thing I feel we're lacking here. I'm actually a little surprised that a 64GB model is even an option in TODAY'S world. Are you serious? Movies alone can be anywhere from 1-2GB. I've got songs that are about 20MB. I'm sure that if someone's shelling out $999+ on one of these things, chances are they've got quite a bit of media they'd like to store in them. I think that the 64GB/$999 combo is nothing more than bait.
The only reason I'm okay with leaving much of my content sitting in an external drive is because, honestly, I don't use it. Ever. I have it on my MBP right now just because I can. But I can pick about 2,000+ songs that I never listen to (Christmas stuff, movie/show soundtracks, Ace Of Base
, etc), and there are dozens of photo albums I never look at. They're just there because I like to keep them for the future, as I'm sure I'll want to revisit some of that stuff, so letting it sit untouched in a drive doesn't bother me. I'm sure in years to come, storage won't be an issue for anyone. It'll be a thing of an archaic past.
I hope you're right
I've been waiting for laptop drives to get where they are now, and now I'm switching to SSD and I don't have space anymore - once again ;D