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Apple to Introduce 11.6-Inch MacBook Air With 'SSD Card' Integrated Storage Next Week?

Will it run iOS though? That's the real question. The Flash based storage, low cost etc. give a reason to think it's going to sport A4 @ 1.2Ghz - sort of like the iPad but with Keyboard, a gesture pad and a slightly bigger screen.

This could be the iPad content creators are looking for :p
 
jafd said:
Please note that a lot of us use Emacs on the daily basis. Emacs is a useful piece of software, but using it without keyboard is a pain in the butt. I would happily shell out a couple hundred bucks on the thing which would let me work with my daily tools, have a long battery life, and most important thing, stay quiet and cool in the temperature sense.
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A LOT of you? A few of you.

A keyboard dock would work. Such a pad would be just as useful as a desktop-laptop-mobile platform. The laptop function would wear away, so you would need a keyboard to jam onto it or use with it if you sit around doing serious text entry.

There are solutions. Might not be exactly what you might need or want for your particular use of the device, but there would be alternatives that work.
 
parapup said:
Will it run iOS though? That's the real question. The Flash based storage, low cost etc. give a reason to think it's going to sport A4 @ 1.2Ghz - sort of like the iPad but with Keyboard, a gesture pad and a slightly bigger screen.

This could be the iPad content creators are looking for :p
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No way. It will be a regular notebook.
Content creators are usually sitting in front of one or two 24-30" monitors and could care less about iPads and Macbook Airs for doing work.
 
Moodikar said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Why does everyone keep comparing a Mac to an iPad!! They are different. Even if apple sold both at the same size, they won't truly take away from eachother cause they offer different features. A 11 inch MacBook air is not going to be the same as an 11 inch iPad. Yea you can do some thing similar but it's not the same. The lack of keyboard alone makes it different. It's like the finger and the pen. I can draw with my finger but try writing an essay. Remember the game "operation"? Instead of tweezers, how about using you finger. They are tools for certain things. Until they merge, they're isn't worry of competing with each other.
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Two reasons come to mind:

1. Mobility - both the iPad and an 11 inch MBA are about the same size, and probably will not be that much different in weight.

2. Disposable income - people looking for that next gadget can't buy both.

Personally, I don't need another laptop (I have the Black macbook and a 2009 MBP). However, if I needed something that was easier to carry then I would have a hard choice. I think an 11 inch MBA's target market will overlap with that of the iPad's target market.
 
I do video, and I write. My current mid-2010 17" MBP is the perfect system for portable video needs, and provides plenty of screen space for writing as well.

However, there's times when all I want to do is go someplace and write, check email, and surf the 'Net, and I've been considering an iPad for this - but the iOS is a real drawback, as well as the virtual keyboard (tapping out email is one thing, book chapters, quite another). Lugging the whole 17" MBP on my bike to a park or coffeehouse just for writing, despite looking really keen when I open it up, is just plain *heavy*

It would have to have enough space on the SSD to hold at least a few movies and a substantial amount of music, 4GB of RAM, and be really light. I could put real software on it (not "Apps") for writing (e.g. Word, Visual Thesaurus, Scrivener, etc.), and have a decent keyboard/trackpad combo.

Depending on price and features, this could be my dream "iPad running OS X." I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a "Lite" version of the PowerBook 12" now with Intel inside. Though I bet it will cost the same or only slightly less than the standard MacBook.

Given how iOS/iToy Apple has been of late, it's nice to finally see them throw a bone to actual, you know, Mac users.
 
At last, a small laptop from Apple (since the G4 12" at least). This makes sense since Apple eventually needed to address the popularity of NetBooks and the like. The SSD thing is just logical. Why put what is essentially a few chips into a large and bulky 2.5" HD form factor when it's not required? They are dropping to make more space.

The critical issue now is if they skimp on performance. If it's underpowered it will disappoint and Jobs is on record saying he will not make an underpowered "NetBook" style computer, so we live in hope.

As for people going on about it running iOS: please, stop embarrassing yourselves. iOS is just OS X trimmed down with a touchscreen interface. Why would you use that on a laptop with a keyboard and trackpad? Even if the laptop had a touchscreen it would be gimmicky and of limited use and at best have some extra support in OS X for the touchscreen as an input device. But even that eventuality has just about 0% possibility on Wed.
 
nutjob said:
As for people going on about it running iOS: please, stop embarrassing yourselves. iOS is just OS X trimmed down with a touchscreen interface.
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That's true, however, despite sharing a common source, the UI experience, versatility, and DRM locking (the Apple vertical market) experience of both are substantially different.

nutjob said:
Why would you use that on a laptop with a keyboard and trackpad? Even if the laptop had a touchscreen it would be gimmicky and of limited use and at best have some extra support in OS X for the touchscreen as an input device.
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I hope this continues to remain true as Apple moves forward. There are a substantial number of us disappointed with Apple's relentless, although profitable, focus on iOS and iToys since they ceased to exist as "Apple Computer." However, given that iOS is a significant revenue stream for the company, and Steve periodically says some crazyness about traditional computers/laptops being "dead" (not a direct quote), it wouldn't surprise me to see the OS X and iOS forks re-merged at some future point, for better and for worse.
 
I'm not personally keen on non-user replaceable storage (in fact I would love the iOS devices to have miniSD card slots, the iPad at least), but a smaller Air makes sense. Looks like this could be the start of the convergence of Macs and iOS hardware which I think could be a great thing as long as they don't cripple OS X in the process.
 
tigres said:
I have had my MBA SSD for 2 years now, patiently waiting for the new 4gb version to appear, then strike.

I use mine as my sole business and personal machine, and use it daily- it really is a work horse, and has never let me down. I am a lover of this machine, and use it more than any other mac product I own.

If this is true w/ the 11" screen, I may be a bit befuddled. 13.3 is perfect for travel, at home and the like. At work I connect it to a 23" display so it matters not on size.

I don't know about this, I will have to see. I just hope Steve doesn't pull it out of a postage "a sized" envelope this time (instead of a commercial/manilla one.):eek:
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I agree with you, i was actually looking at the Vaio Z12, which has a 13.1" screen (slightly smaller than the Air) and I immediately noticed it and didn't like it.
an 11" screen is a joke....
 
Is Apple trying to copy Sony VAIO X?

So far, the rumors seems to suggest just that. I suspect that Apple might come close but with their love for aluminum they will not be able to match the weight.
 
lilo777 said:
Is Apple trying to copy Sony VAIO X? So far, the rumors seems to suggest just that. I suspect that Apple might come close but with their love for aluminum they will not be able to match the weight.
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No, Apple is again setting the bar higher so that Sony can again try to copy it, like they did with the original Macbook Air. And if you mind looking at the specs of the Vaio X, you might notice that its complete crap.
 
entatlrg said:
This may mark the end of the 13.3" MacBook Air. So sad.

11" screen for getting any real work done is a joke.

So GLAD I ordered my beloved Sony Z ... 3 pounds of ports, power and pleasure.
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I think a 11.4" screen would be surprisingly useful for real work for many people if Apple goes with a high resolution/high contrast, IPS screen a(s seen on the iPhone 4).
 
PsyD4Me said:
I agree with you, i was actually looking at the Vaio Z12, which has a 13.1" screen (slightly smaller than the Air) and I immediately noticed it and didn't like it.
an 11" screen is a joke....
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If it's a joke, why do you have several screens smaller than that in your collection?

11" or 11.6" is fine, as long as they keep the 1280 x 800 resolution which shouldn't be a problem.
 
diddl14 said:
No, Apple is again setting the bar higher so that Sony can again try to copy it, like they did with the original Macbook Air. And if you mind looking at the specs of the Vaio X, you might notice that its complete crap.
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Which part exactly is higher? 11" screen, ULV processor, flash memory - X has it all (and had for quite a while).
 
MacRumors said:
This approach would be less expensive than a standard package intended to fit the shape of conventional HD devices, allowing the company to drive down costs and pass the savings on to the consumer.
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What a novel idea! "...and pass the savings on to the consumer."
 
headfuzz said:
Plenty of people got work done just fine on the 12" Powerbook G4 at 1024x768, myself included. :)
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So did I, but there's no point going backwards. But yeah, people are silly, they draw an arbitrary line at 13" or whatever and declare it's impossible to work with anything else.
 
ptysell said:
An 11.6" screen is way too small.
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For years I used a snow white 10" MB and loved it. It was a perfect size to pick up in one hand and the screen size was enough to enjoy spread sheets and Word documents. Of course I started with a 9" 128K Mac so I learned early that small is not as big of an issue that it can't be overcome by the Mac OS.
 
nutjob said:
The critical issue now is if they skimp on performance. If it's underpowered it will disappoint and Jobs is on record saying he will not make an underpowered "NetBook" style computer, so we live in hope.
Click to expand...

I don't see the new Air as being underpowered in the sense of being made to hit a price point, but I think, like the current model, it will not be a graphics powerhouse in order to serve up a long battery life between charges.
 
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