Agreed. It was even more necessary back when they only provided one USB. A business targeted light laptop needs 3G. But the usual apologists said that all was needed was a USB hub...
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Apple Customer Survey Suggests Interest in 3G-Enabled MacBook Air
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Agreed. It was even more necessary back when they only provided one USB. A business targeted light laptop needs 3G. But the usual apologists said that all was needed was a USB hub...
Why would it be slow to download? 3G is perfectly adequate for web browsing and downloading sensibly sized files when working remotely.
hard to believe but some people don't have to come in to the office to work. my wife works out of her parent's house and starbucks a few days a week on a lenovo and a verizon 3G card. Citrix and VPN are nice
my department had a 3G card we used to share but no one used it since we all have broadband at home
Steve won't be too happy after hearing Tim has been directing their non-existent "customer research" team. 
With the cell networks being more congested than ever, 3G feels about as fast as Dial-Up. I'll pass.
My thoughts as well.
My ThinkPad has had this since 2007 and it is OLD!
Just Do It for the Air now.
Just get it over with Apple and make the AirPad. Get rid of the keyboard and make it a touch sensitive screen. Get rid of the bezel, chop off the mini display port, trim to one USB mini, change the mag safe to something thinner, add the 3G. Perfect. Well under 2 lbs., a tablet running full OSX.
Yeah this should be in the airs long ago when they had only one usb port...
IMHO in the MBP could use this... I know I would use it...
IMHO in the MBP could use this... I know I would use it...
No
We don't want a 3G MBA.. we want a 3G iPad that can replace a laptop for more uses than it can now. A good start would be cutting the cord with desktop iTunes!
We don't want a 3G MBA.. we want a 3G iPad that can replace a laptop for more uses than it can now. A good start would be cutting the cord with desktop iTunes!
Maybe you want that... A physical keyboard is something that is a much for me and tablets don't have that.
this is an awesome idea! However I wouldnt like having a data plan for my laptop when i have one in my phone and would rather just use the tethering option...
They should have. But as far as 3G goes, I prefer to tether with my iPhone anyway. Thus, I will have one less sim-card to pay for.
Steve Jobs must be really sick to let this madness happen!
Steve Jobs Spotted At Apple HQ With A Big Smile, And A Spring In His Step (AAPL)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artic...der-seve-jobs-seen-at-apple-campus-2011-2.DTL
Great, BUT.
The problem is many of us own many devices with 3G, soon to be 4G, but we have to pay individually for each device. I really like the idea of MiFi, but it shouldn't come down to that. In addition, I pay MiFi fees and two other account fees as it is, and I am using three devices that don't have 3G on the MiFi too (iPod Touch, MBA, and iPad - I would have bought 3G if I had a universal 3G Internet connection account).
Companies like Verizon and AT&T should sell service to connect all devices for one price. It could even be expensive, or charge tiers, but it has to be less expensive and problematic than opening five accounts.
Apple should include a 3G/4G card in every Mac and iOS device it sells. It doesn't cost $129 for each card as Apple would have us believe. They could do it for probably a few dollars per device, and I am sure wireless carriers would pick up the tab if they had access to sell Internet coverage accounts. Have them in iPod Touches too (every device with OS X or iOS). This could be a huge advantage, and with dual GSM/CDMA cards available, any customer could have all of their Apple products on one Internet account.
My idea on price.
$39.99 unlimited (5GB) for first device.
$4.99 for each additional device to share the data connection plan... (throttle after 5GB or charge $2.99 per each additional GB)
iPhone is first device
iPad is second device
MBA is third device
MBP is fourth device
iPod Touch is fifth device
If I had this setup and all five devices had 3G/4G cards, I would pay $59.99 plus $2.99 for each additional GB over 5GB if I wouldn't accept throttling after 5GB. Right now of course those devices don't all have 3G/4G but they should.
Right now, I pay $40 on MiFi to Virgin Mobile. I pay $30 to Verizon for my iPhone 4 just for its data. I pay $25 for a Virgin Mobile phone that has unlimited 3G Internet, email, texting, and 300 minutes too. It is a pain to carry around my MiFi to use with my iPod Touch, MBA, and iPad, and I would prefer something easier.
I really think it's crazy that no company like Verizon has stepped up and offered this as a convenience and competitive advantage. In addition, one would think that Apple would be on top of making something like this happen so every device it sold could connect to the Internet.
Customers would see value in having Internet on all devices without hassle of separate accounts and separate bills each month, and without paying ridiculous sums if they only use 5GB or less on all devices anyways. Apple would have a huge advantage as its customers would buy the MBA too because the Internet account they have would just work with it. If only Apple was doing it, consider the added sales as people would buy the Mac over PC, iPod Touch over Zune, iPad over Xoom, and iPhone over Android. The power of having the Internet at your fingertips with every device you own, and having one simple bill per month instead of five would be a gigantic competitive advantage.
The problem is many of us own many devices with 3G, soon to be 4G, but we have to pay individually for each device. I really like the idea of MiFi, but it shouldn't come down to that. In addition, I pay MiFi fees and two other account fees as it is, and I am using three devices that don't have 3G on the MiFi too (iPod Touch, MBA, and iPad - I would have bought 3G if I had a universal 3G Internet connection account).
Companies like Verizon and AT&T should sell service to connect all devices for one price. It could even be expensive, or charge tiers, but it has to be less expensive and problematic than opening five accounts.
Apple should include a 3G/4G card in every Mac and iOS device it sells. It doesn't cost $129 for each card as Apple would have us believe. They could do it for probably a few dollars per device, and I am sure wireless carriers would pick up the tab if they had access to sell Internet coverage accounts. Have them in iPod Touches too (every device with OS X or iOS). This could be a huge advantage, and with dual GSM/CDMA cards available, any customer could have all of their Apple products on one Internet account.
My idea on price.
$39.99 unlimited (5GB) for first device.
$4.99 for each additional device to share the data connection plan... (throttle after 5GB or charge $2.99 per each additional GB)
iPhone is first device
iPad is second device
MBA is third device
MBP is fourth device
iPod Touch is fifth device
If I had this setup and all five devices had 3G/4G cards, I would pay $59.99 plus $2.99 for each additional GB over 5GB if I wouldn't accept throttling after 5GB. Right now of course those devices don't all have 3G/4G but they should.
Right now, I pay $40 on MiFi to Virgin Mobile. I pay $30 to Verizon for my iPhone 4 just for its data. I pay $25 for a Virgin Mobile phone that has unlimited 3G Internet, email, texting, and 300 minutes too. It is a pain to carry around my MiFi to use with my iPod Touch, MBA, and iPad, and I would prefer something easier.
I really think it's crazy that no company like Verizon has stepped up and offered this as a convenience and competitive advantage. In addition, one would think that Apple would be on top of making something like this happen so every device it sold could connect to the Internet.
Customers would see value in having Internet on all devices without hassle of separate accounts and separate bills each month, and without paying ridiculous sums if they only use 5GB or less on all devices anyways. Apple would have a huge advantage as its customers would buy the MBA too because the Internet account they have would just work with it. If only Apple was doing it, consider the added sales as people would buy the Mac over PC, iPod Touch over Zune, iPad over Xoom, and iPhone over Android. The power of having the Internet at your fingertips with every device you own, and having one simple bill per month instead of five would be a gigantic competitive advantage.