Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
'MacBook Air' Design Considerations
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It just occurred to me that MagSafe has been with us for 2 years now! Anyway, they're a good bit smaller than FW400, especially in the direction that matters for an ultraportable
Sounds like this machine is going to be another POS like the iPhone. Hyped up teenagers with a lot of money on their hands will love it. Sensible users that know and remember the type of machines Apple once made in the past that truly competed with other manufacturers will be laughing uncontrollably.
Honestly though... a 1.8" conventional HDD in a laptop. Yeah... like 4200 rpm wasn't slow back in the early days of the iBook, now we are going to make a book with a 3600 rpm drive?
WTFudge would Apple be thinking?
Touch screen and touch keyboards and touch interface..... WTFudge ever my friends. Give it a real keyboard to type on and leave the touch this and touch that to the high school mockup artists that don't do any real work. At least the hype isn't as annoying as the iPhone were people exchanged SSN so they could meet up and talk about how many iPhones they were going to buy.
I hope this slim MacBook is a real contender, and nothing like anyone is saying it is. Just give me a 13" or 12" widescreen slim MacBook Pro with dedicated GFX card, REAL 2.5" HDD or SSD (which I will gladly pay for!) and make the thing with a real keyboard and some kind of trackpad that just works.
Hurry it up Apple so you can start working on my redesigned 17" MacBook Pro.
Honestly though... a 1.8" conventional HDD in a laptop. Yeah... like 4200 rpm wasn't slow back in the early days of the iBook, now we are going to make a book with a 3600 rpm drive?
WTFudge would Apple be thinking?Touch screen and touch keyboards and touch interface..... WTFudge ever my friends. Give it a real keyboard to type on and leave the touch this and touch that to the high school mockup artists that don't do any real work. At least the hype isn't as annoying as the iPhone were people exchanged SSN so they could meet up and talk about how many iPhones they were going to buy.
I hope this slim MacBook is a real contender, and nothing like anyone is saying it is. Just give me a 13" or 12" widescreen slim MacBook Pro with dedicated GFX card, REAL 2.5" HDD or SSD (which I will gladly pay for!) and make the thing with a real keyboard and some kind of trackpad that just works.
Hurry it up Apple so you can start working on my redesigned 17" MacBook Pro.
Dock is likely...
Given the name "Air" I think their intention is to emphasize being wireless and, by and large, that makes sense. I suspect that the thickness of the device is going to be based around the USB ports. Any connector bigger than that will probably not exist (so agreeing that it's USB, maybe HDMI, and basic audio i/o jacks). Then, they can have a dock connector on the back if you need to get wired up.
The thing is, once you've crossed the threshold that you need Ethernet, then it's probably not much of a burden to require a docking station for it. I find myself wondering if they can come up with a kind of magsafe like connector for a docking station. Something where it just slides in without much effort and doesn't cause a lot of wear and tear on the connector. Anyhow, both the laptop and dock would readily fit into a laptop bag. Wireless is so prevalent, that it seems foolish to sacrifice laptop size when you can throw a USB dongle on there or dock it. It's not worth the extra weight.
I've got a MacBook currently and I have to say, if they come out with something crazy small for a reasonable price, I may look to ebay my old laptop and upgrade. I don't need a huge display on my laptop, and the smaller, the better for me. Probably wouldn't even need a dock since I've got 802.11n on my local network.
Given the name "Air" I think their intention is to emphasize being wireless and, by and large, that makes sense. I suspect that the thickness of the device is going to be based around the USB ports. Any connector bigger than that will probably not exist (so agreeing that it's USB, maybe HDMI, and basic audio i/o jacks). Then, they can have a dock connector on the back if you need to get wired up.
The thing is, once you've crossed the threshold that you need Ethernet, then it's probably not much of a burden to require a docking station for it. I find myself wondering if they can come up with a kind of magsafe like connector for a docking station. Something where it just slides in without much effort and doesn't cause a lot of wear and tear on the connector. Anyhow, both the laptop and dock would readily fit into a laptop bag. Wireless is so prevalent, that it seems foolish to sacrifice laptop size when you can throw a USB dongle on there or dock it. It's not worth the extra weight.
I've got a MacBook currently and I have to say, if they come out with something crazy small for a reasonable price, I may look to ebay my old laptop and upgrade. I don't need a huge display on my laptop, and the smaller, the better for me. Probably wouldn't even need a dock since I've got 802.11n on my local network.
This may sound reasonable but it flies in the face of FireWire's history.
Apple basically invented FireWire and has been promoting it ever since in almost every product they make. For them to give up on FireWire would be something they would telegraph to the users for years before it actually happened. They also would not do this without putting a replacement standard into the machines they make for a couple of years so people can change their peripherals and get used to the idea.
Firewire is currently as fast or faster in some situations than USB 2.0. The USB 3.0 spec will not be out for years and FireWire will likely have evolved by then also.
There is also no reason to remove it based on it's connector size. In both it's large and small connector configurations, it's basically the same size as USB. The Ethernet port is the big "stupid port" that needs to be shrunk on a mini laptop and that can be replaced by wireless.
The big question about ports on this hypothetical sub-notebook is not FireWire vs. USB, but whether or not they go with a funky collapsible Ethernet port, or whether they leave it off entirely and go wireless.
You've clearly never owned one. Until you do then your comments look a little silly.
As for the other stuff you say. I think there's two products coming. Macbook Air (if it is that name) which is a dockable tablet and the small MBP that you'd like.
Only time will tell.
The Ethernet port is FAR from obsolete (the need for it on an extreme ultraportable is not what I'm discussing here though). The max speed of the average wifi connection is still 54 Mbit/s. Wireless N (which is still to get final approval - twiddling thumbs takes a long time don't you know lol) only just allows users to go beyond 10/100 Lan - forget about Gigabit Lan for the time being. At the 'office', the ethernet port has never gone from the backbone of data transport from any of the small to very large companies I've worked with. Wireless just doesn't have the security and bandwith that a gigabit lan network provides, and will still be in place for a long time for workstations and dock profiles. In other words - you're just wrong
If you want to transfer multiple gigabytes or even terabytes of data over wireless, even wireless N, then good luck to you - whatever takes your fancy.The collapsable ports is a great idea, an ultra-portable with no visable ports would be dead sexy and very 'Apple'. A dongle you have to carry around is just not very 'Apple' at all. I bet Jobs hates the word 'dongle' just because of the way it sounds. I can't imagine PR saying: "A lovely brushed-aluminium donlge" lol.
Looking forward to this if it comes up, and to see what sort of innovations they come up with.
IT security people with a clue know the problems with wireless security (ie. it doesn't exist!). I have friends who go to all of the conferences on IT security and they have watched people give presentations and hack any wireless connection in minutes. This is why the gov. still doesn't allow much in the way of wireless anywhere near their labs. Wireless connections are still too vulnerable to attacks.
From what I have heard, by people who are seemingly in the know, it will be closer to 1.5 cm thick.
The one thing that the "MacBook Air" needs to be is more iPhone than Palm Foleo - I hope that our memories are not too short to remember that disaster:
The thing about subnotebooks and tablets is that logic dictates they should be desirable to all gadget lovers but the majority of people just don't need one, and this is a major hurdle to adoption. Let's hope that Apple can convince us otherwise by coming up with a solution that opens up a whole new way of doing things.
The thing about subnotebooks and tablets is that logic dictates they should be desirable to all gadget lovers but the majority of people just don't need one, and this is a major hurdle to adoption. Let's hope that Apple can convince us otherwise by coming up with a solution that opens up a whole new way of doing things.
Please don't catch any feelings about my comment. It's what myself and a lot of other Apple users are saying. It has a glossy UI that is wonderful and years ahead of the competition, but it's a POS phone when you look at it for what it's worth. The fact that they don't have copy/paste is just the tip of the iceberg, then when you start going into the lack of phone as modem and AT&T's lack of insurance for the thing the desire to get the phone plummets. Most users are getting Windows Mobile phones, or putting up with the aging Palm OS, but at least those phone have real features.
I don't think there will be two slim devices. What Apple should be doing, and hopefully is going to do, is release an updated, redesigned MacBook Pro along with this slim book. Apple is behind in computer design, and now that PC makers are starting to understand that user don't want ugly black boxes anymore they are going to focus more on design, and they aren't doing a bad job so far.
Hopefully Apple sees this and changes the almost 5 year old design of the MacBook Pro and puts some real hardware in it for the pros, and not the "every man, average Joe" market.
The one thing that the "MacBook Air" needs to be is more iPhone than Palm Foleo - I hope that our memories are not too short to remember that disaster:
The thing about subnotebooks and tablets is that logic dictates they should be desirable to all gadget lovers but the majority of people just don't need one, and this is a major hurdle to adoption. Let's hope that Apple can convince us otherwise by coming up with a solution that opens up a whole new way of doing things.
The words you speak are the truth. It makes me wonder how these CEOs can wake up in the morning and not know what the market they serve needs or desires for the future. The one thing I do like about Jobs is that he can understand that and either serve the market or change the way it's moving. The CEO of Palm wasted time and money on something that wasn't even asked for, and was served by the devices they already made. Instead of working on the Palm UI that is God awful and disgustingly old (even before what we saw in the iPhone) he spent it on making a crippled laptop.
I hope Jobs will produce a product that doesn't fall into the same slot as the Foleo, and isn't a hyped up toy like the iPhone.
Point taken, but in all fairness that was the same keynote that CD burners were added (they were fairly rare at the time), and iTunes was introduced for the first time wasn't it?Yes, because "Flower Power" and "Blue Dalmatian" went above everyone's expectations.
...
It wasn't that boring.
Yes but ....
Even the "big" (powered) FireWire port would fit on an ultra-thin laptop.
The rumoured thickness of the thing is about 50% as thick as the old 12" PowerBook, or approximately 1.5 cm. If you divide that up into something typical like 1cm for the base and .5 cm for the screen, then a regular firewire port could easily exist on the side or the back of the base.
It's not a problem fitting FireWire on the thing at all.
They may choose to leave it off anyway, but there is no reason at all to think that because of size constraints that it would necessarily have to be left off.
Ya, most offices aren't wireless because the IT doesn't have a clue... I am sure it has nothing to do with the need to move massive graphics files around, and wireless is just far too slow. Glad it works for your company. It is not feasible for my company at this point, and many others, I am sure.
I'm starting to suspect that the 'Macbook Air' is not so much a laptop as it is some sort of wireless docking station/pad/mechanism.
And perhaps new Macbook Pro machines will be designed to utilize it.
Or, it could be wishful thinking on my part.
And perhaps new Macbook Pro machines will be designed to utilize it.
Or, it could be wishful thinking on my part.
Point taken, but in all fairness that was the same keynote that CD burners were added (they were fairly rare at the time), and iTunes was introduced for the first time wasn't it?
It wasn't that boring.
Actually i think Apple were very late to the party with CD burners in all machines, especially as standard configuration, and I remember they were heavily criticized for it.
No feelings "caught". There's plenty of real users who took the leap of faith and bought one and realised the whole is a lot more than the sum of the parts (I agree that the raw specs don't look that neat).
Until you've used one as your handheld comms device it's unlikely you'll see what I, and many others, see in the device.
It's like trying to explain why I think OSX is better than Windows. It's a religious thing and no amount of banter between us will change that. However I've actually used both OSs extensively which is why I have that opinion.
Despite our difference of opinion I think I'm on safe ground by saying that only someone wanting a reaction would label the iPhone a POS.
1. I can think of two times when I actually NEEDED copy/paste on my iPhone.
2. One word: AppleCare.
3. iPhone already has more (browser)share, and had more sales than Windows Mobile since it came out, enit?
As far as the multi-touch keyboard, there were stories on this very site about systems meant to raise the touch screen so you could "feel" the buttons, and tactile feedback isn't really a very hard problem either...
I kind of think the "air" might be a throw-off...but I kind of have a feeling they are going to be throwing some tough new 45 nm processors into the MacBooks....drooool (srsly though kids, you heard it here first)
Yah well the great thing is the niche will be pretty deep and think of all the 12" G4 Powerbooks people in that niche may be willing to part with once they get the ultraportable book, no matter what Rev A has on it. In my dreams they keep their 15" MacBook Pros and part with their not that old 12" G4 Powerbooks.
If I really really don't like Rev A of the airhead machine --that's what I'm starting to call it because all the other names suck and so do lots of the imaginary specs for the thing-- then I will scarf up a couple more 12" G4 PBs.
But, I might also buy a Rev A airhead if the thing is close to good (so Apple will do a Rev B). I will have to like it a lot in that case. It needs to be sturdy, not just lightweight and with a 12" or smaller screen. After that I'm easy on the specs. I'll be disappointed if it doesn't have FW but I'll live.
Ethernet more important than FW, even if it requires an adapter. I'm a fan of wireless but there are situations where you want or have to be able to plug in and the alternative is minutes (at best) of tweaking your machine onto some network, even your own, duh.
I know, I know, I am still obsessed by how nearly perfect the 12" G4 Powerbook has been for me. People are saying stuff like "oh it's so old..." It's way more than adequately equipped for what I do, and the actual age of the last refurb I picked up is 8 months.
MacBook Air Tablet with Dock
A 12.1" tablet computer with touch interface (iPod Touch on steroids). Dock creates a more traditional setup, with the docked machine sitting upright, screen exposed, directly in front of the user (very similar to a docked iPod/iPhone, but larger and horizontal?). Dock allows for peripheral device connection (USB, Firewire, Ethernet Ports, Monitor/HDTV) as well as wireless connectivity to devices connected to the dock when the tablet is being used undocked.
Apple TV 2
Now includes an (ultra?) Blu-ray/DVD/CD drive, can be used as an optical drive for other Macs in the house via the network. Also features iTunes rental service (duh).
I really do hope that all this emphasis on SLEEK, LIGHT (as "air"), and PORTABLE form factor means that it's a tablet of some sort. If it's meant to be handled and carried around all the time, it must be a tablet, right? (I hope.) Why else would you go into so much trouble?
Other aspects of the design for your consideration:
In other words - you're just wrong
Me and the 30 other people in the office.
The largest files around here are 10Meg PDF's...
How will you transfer and fit terabytes of data anyways to your 32Gig flash based computer?
Seriously! Nintendo has raided the business world by storm with their exclusion of an ethernet port. Why heck, whenever I have a business presentation to do with my Wii and COD 4...
Oh right, the Wii is a console for gaming, not a platform for business presentations and a mobile office.
Ethernet is not obsolete, but possibly unnecessary on a sub-notebook.
As for air, its about the wireless baby! Who cares what the hell they call this laptop, as long as its amazing. Air, hopefully refers to a multitude of wireless related goodies, like
TV or iPhone/iPods pulling many, many HD movies out of the "air".I will go with my backup hope of an Apple partnership with "Glade Plugins"®. That new MacPro uses the heat sink to warm the effervescent oil and fill your dank computer room with the scents of aromatic meadow flowers and fresh sun dried linens!
a Macbook Air (or whatever) could work with just a 32GB flash drive when you think about having an AirDisk and Back to My Mac working with it. A subnotebook doesn't need to store you itunes library or have the ability to rip/compress DVDs. It would just be an ultra-portable extension of you're existing setup.
I would love to be able to go the Apple ultra-portable route, but my job necessitates a larger screen/more power/more drive space.
I would love to be able to go the Apple ultra-portable route, but my job necessitates a larger screen/more power/more drive space.