Introducing the MacBook Air?

[Ibjr]

Nice but can we get some hardware with real Pro features Apple? I was eyeballing an HP laptop that could hold TWO HARD DRIVES in the case as well as a bunch of ports and what not.

Come on Apple. Make the MacBook Pro into a real PRO laptop.

How on earth is that a real pro machine? Apple doesn't make balky desktop replacements that needlessly drain power with a second HD.

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

Nice but can we get some hardware with real Pro features Apple? I was eyeballing an HP laptop that could hold TWO HARD DRIVES in the case as well as a bunch of ports and what not.

Come on Apple. Make the MacBook Pro into a real PRO laptop.

Seriously with HDD capacity on the rise, and your requirement for some RAID solution onboard a notebook is just scary, what happens if you lose or your notebook gets stolen, scary thought.

Better solution is to have a back-up on an external HDD at home, and kept in a safe place.

A Flash drive and HDD combo solution would be best.

For frig sake why not just keep it simple and call it AirBook or even MacBook Lite. MacBook Air, sounds like a laptop that farts.

Meh...people are gonna end up calling it the AirBook anyway

The dream for having a full-sized computing device has always been a dream, since we already have handheld lite computing devices (iPhone/Touch/PDA/SmartPhone) the dream will be reality in a day+.

 

[peharri]

Hey, isn't it nice to have a Mac show where the major rumour is about a Mac, not a phone, an iPod, a TV set-top box, or anything else that isn't a Mac?

 

[nagromme]

I like that name much better than MacBook Nano, MacBook Mini, MacBook Slim, MacBook Thin, MacBook Small, or 13" MacBook Pro.

But it;s just a name. I care a lot more about getting something as thin/small as possible that still has the power I need. 13" is the biggest I could be happy with. X3100 (once better drivers are out) is the minimum graphics power. For the processor, dual-core-anything would blow away my old PBG4.

I'm not hoping for a tablet: tablets are neat, but a compromise. Keyboards have a reason for existing. If I'm going to compromise, give me some benefit: make the device REALLY small/portable. Full-size (even 13") with no keyboard? What's the benefit? Too little to be worth it unless your job requires both a full screen AND standing up. We already have really small/portable tablets: iPhone and iPod Touch. They just need February's SDK.

 

[AoWolf]

Macbook air works just fine for me. Every time apple makes the slightest change in image people freak out.

In any case I wouldn't consider this very credible evidence.

 

[MrCrowbar]

Damn, someone already put an unpacking video up. This is it, rumor confirmed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H85WFa7TgMk

Gotcha, right?
Here's the real unpacking video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU[/url]

 

[Tallest Skil]

Macbook Sparkles.

MacBook Sparkles: best name ever. I'm not buying another Apple laptop until they release one with that name.

But I don't want it to have any actual sparkles on it. Too feminine. Make it the most kick-awesomely designed thing ever: Glossy black, .1" thick, fluorescent blue outline multi-touch interface area...

You could name it Big McLargeHuge for all I care. That design would rock.

But MacBook Sparkles all the way.

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

How on earth is that a real pro machine? Apple doesn't make balky desktop replacements that needlessly drain power with a second HD.

The user you quoted is just misinformed in his statement, as he is looking for a "wow" or "stand-out" factor from other laptops. I am sure this person does not even use a MBP for mobile work situations and might have a laptop for the brags.

Require a second HDD get an external that way you do not have the hassle of having it stolen, lost, carrying extra weight when you do not require it, or drain your battery power rapidly. Cheaper to buy an external WD Passport HDD.

 

[Ade-iMac-177]

Rofl

I assume that people believe that this is a prototype that is being tested on current software.

Well, No way!

Apple is not that slack as to have a prototype with the same name as the final device.

Sorry.

 

[DMann]

MacBook Nano

Or is that to say that MacBook is the brand but pro is the specificity of the model?



That's an entirely different thing, though. They already have the iPod nano, why not make the MacBook nano. It would be a good usage of what you already have and what people already know.

This is the name they would most likely use. Mini has been used for the original 12" notebook, and Nano, having brand recognition, implies even smaller, perhaps the lightest fully-functioned laptop in the industry. Air?
not unless it has no HD, and relies solely on networking and docking.

 

[2A Batterie]

So if this Macbook Air does come to fruition, will it sacrifice power for portability? I know this is all speculation, but there is no way I'd buy an "Air" if it was less powerful than a MBP.

 

[512ke]

Think about "the elements." Apple was pushing FIRE wire. FIRE is a cool element. Hot. Burning. Powerful. Illuminating. Warming. Dangerous.

AIR is kinda weak. An AIR HEAD is a ditzy person. AEROSOLS have been banned. AIR sounds too much like HAIR. And I'd never buy a MacBook Hair.

AIR also sounds too much like ERR, as in "to make a mistake."

AIR suggests insubstantial. Vaporware. Not solid. Not real.

If there's a product to be announced, it's not "the air." It's "in" the air.

The product won't have the name "air." It will have the name of something "in" the air, such as: A plane, a kite, or a bird.

 

[ntrigue]

I wish I had time to photoshop a Michael Jordan leap onto a MacBook case.

 

[zlinger]

-Those stats are automatically generated from the app. While someone *could* have manually looked through the code/packets and sent them in themselves, it isn't likely.

-The biggest factor is that the MacBookAir entry there appeared before the banners went up.

Looks pretty legit to me...

I bet an Apple engineer accidently connected a prototype MacBook Air to the internet. Once they realized what they did, they ran for the ethernet cable to yank it out.. but damnn... there are no cables and ports -- it's an MBA! Quick...run and unplug the Airport Extreme.. few seconds too late

 

[nagromme]

Damn, someone already put an unpacking video up. This is it, rumor confirmed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H85WFa7TgMk

Gotcha, right?
Here's the real unpacking video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU[/url]

Riiiigth.... with the word "air" crudely gouged (by pencil-holes?) into the foam OFF-center, next to the alreay-centered word "MacBook."

That clue came too early. But we must enjoy the tradition of these attempts

 

[MrCrowbar]

Riiiigth.... with the word "air" crudely gouged (by pencil-holes?) into the foam OFF-center, next to the alreay-centered word "MacBook."

That clue came too early. But we must enjoy the tradition of these attempts

Well, now that you have quoted me, you should see my disguised link to the actual unpacking video.

 

[saxman]

There are lots of misnomers and inconsistency in lots of technology, especially Apple.

• i = originally was for Internet. How many products with 'i' actually connect to Internet directly other than the iMac (or touch or iphone)?
• iPod - until the "touch" when did the iPod directly connect to Internet?
• Mac pro - why is there no "mac" if there is a MB and MBP? (I know the reasons)
• express vs. extreme? Seems like express would be faster, but currently, it's slower.
• iBook vs PowerBook - both used PowerPC chips
• Calling operating systems after big cats? Is a leopard 'newer' than a tiger which is 'newer' than a panther which is 'newer' than a puma?

Lots of inconsistencies and wacky naming conventions. If it is Macbook Air, then it's because professional marketing thought it was a good idea. I still dislike macbook and macbook pro, but it won't preclude me from buying them

 

[DMann]

Sparkles

who cares about the name. You guys know that if the specs are off the wall you would not care if the they called it Macbook Sparkles. You would still be in line at your local apple store trying to get you a Macbook Sparkles.

This is true.......... however, I would be more inclined to buy one immediately if it sported a Flux Capacitor running at 4 GHZ.

 

[MrCrowbar]

I bet an Apple engineer accidently connected a prototype MacBook Air to the internet. Once they realized what they did, they ran for the ethernet cable to yank it out.. but damnn... there are no cables and ports -- it's an MBA! Quick...run and unplug the Airport Extreme.. few seconds too late

Well, Airport is on by default and there's probably a bunch of open networks in that building. But to show up in the logs, the user would have had to either download or use Adium.

...right?

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

There are lots of misnomers and inconsistency in lots of technology, especially Apple.

• i = originally was for Internet. How many products with 'i' actually connect to Internet directly other than the iMac (or touch or iphone)?
• iPod - until the "touch" when did the iPod directly connect to Internet?
• Mac pro - why is there no "mac" if there is a MB and MBP? (I know the reasons)
• express vs. extreme? Seems like express would be faster, but currently, it's slower.
• iBook vs PowerBook - both used PowerPC chips
• Calling operating systems after big cats? Is a leopard 'newer' than a tiger which is 'newer' than a panther which is 'newer' than a puma?

Lots of inconsistencies and wacky naming conventions. If it is Macbook Air, then it's because professional marketing thought it was a good idea. I still dislike macbook and macbook pro, but it won't preclude me from buying them

The name "Power" has more influential stigma than one with a generic one such as "Mac" which basically mean friend.

I would take Power over Friend any day.

 

[DMann]

Firewire

Nice but can we get some hardware with real Pro features Apple? I was eyeballing an HP laptop that could hold TWO HARD DRIVES in the case as well as a bunch of ports and what not.

Come on Apple. Make the MacBook Pro into a real PRO laptop.

Two drives would throw off the portability factor....... then again, a true pro would order a SURFACE table for portability - comes with its own forklift.

 

[Padriac]

Why does everybody assume "Macbook Air" is simply about the weight of it? It could have just as much to do with integrated WiMax or something of that nature. So far Apple has always used "Air" to designate a wireless connection.

Seriously: "Air" is not about the weight of the thing...

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

Well, Airport is on by default and there's probably a bunch of open networks in that building. But to show up in the logs, the user would have had to either download or use Adium.

...right?

What if someone was using iChat to test for a demo that will take place during the keynote?

If that were true they might have been testing various chat networks, or possible accidently logged in using AdiumX.

or

AdiumX is being integrated into iChat.

 

[BobVB]

Its always funny to see people have negative reactions verge on the visceral to a product name. I mean this is going to be a light computer, no one has heard the phrase 'light as air' before?

Now MacBook Sewage - that would be a 'horrible' 'stupid' name. MacBook Air is at worst a 'eh?' one.

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

Its always funny to see people have negative reactions verge on the visceral to a product name. I mean this is going to be a light computer, no one has heard the phrase 'light as air' before?

Now MacBook Sewage - that would be a 'horrible' 'stupid' name. MacBook Air is at worst a 'eh?' one.

Were you not aware that Toxic Green is the colour this year.