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MacBook Air Design

I

iMikeT

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 8, 2006
2,304
1
California
Come on, a wedge-like form factor? This is something I would expect from any other PC manufacturer but from Apple?

As great as it would be to own one of these, I'll wait until these are found in it:

• Multi-touch screen
• Flat form factor
• More than just a USB port for I/O
• Priced below $1200
 
iMikeT said:
Come on, a wedge-like form factor? This is something I would expect from any other PC manufacturer but from Apple?

As great as it would be to own one of these, I'll wait until these are found in it:

• Multi-touch screen
• Flat form factor
• More than just a USB port for I/O
• Priced below $1200
Click to expand...

Maybe WWDC will unveil the Macbook touch and your dreams will come true.
 
I consider myself a very discerning consumer and I am in love with the design. From there I am not so pleased...
 
Again, someone else comparing the wrong things.

This is a completely new area for Apple, and the MBA competes in a new segment of ultra portables. Hence, for on-the-go people. If you aren't always on the road or plane then the lack of multiple USB ports will bother you and this product wasn't made for you.
This also isn't a tablet so get over the multitouch screen, that's for tablets not notebooks, it doesn't make sense.
 
iMikeT said:
Come on, a wedge-like form factor? This is something I would expect from any other PC manufacturer but from Apple?
Click to expand...

I happen to agree with this (to a degree). Somehow this doesn't have "Apple simplicity" written on it.

On the other hand, I'm not quite sure how you can make such a small notebook even smaller (yet), so I'm not complaining too much. If Apple couldn't do it, I doubt it can be done (again, yet).

As great as it would be to own one of these, I'll wait until these are found in it:

• Multi-touch screen
Click to expand...
Not going to happen in a notebook. Tablet maybe, but Apple hasn't yet expressed interest in the tablet market (it is rather limited after all).
• Flat form factor
Click to expand...
I'll go along with this, but I think we might see a "better" form factor as technology catches up to our desires. For the moment I think it's rather impossible to achieve.
• More than just a USB port for I/O
Click to expand...
I don't see the point in this. When on the go, how many ports do you need?
When docked, I can see the need for more, but that's what docks are for.
• Priced below $1200
Click to expand...

Never going to happen. The product is worth the price right now (those who need those types of notebooks are probably happy). Granted I would always like to pay less, but I think your price point is just a bit too demanding.
 
I agree, the teardrop / wedge shape isn’t my taste exactly, i guess it was designed as such, so that the HD could sit above the motherboard. Its still a sleek little design and i love it, but as someone else suggested, its reminiscent of the clamshell iBook from the side. It just doesn’t sit with Apple’s (Ive’s?) current design sensibilities – but perhaps that’s either the new direction they’re taking design in the company, or purely a form-following-function decision.

The bevelling is used a lot in electronics devices, to make the device feel smaller when sat on a flat surface. Case in point: most iPods and even the current macbooks chamfer on the corners.

What i find really funny is that Apple is flat out lying on its website when it shows the device from the front (lid up or down) becasue of the wedge shape, you should either see the base at a shallow angle, or the keyboard at a shallow angle. Apple show neither, to suggest that its total profile is slimmer than it is! :rolleyes:
 
I find that the shape is fine but the thing that almost puts me off is the black keyboard againsed silver aluminum. they should have made the base of the keybard black (ie. where it sinks down to the keyboard)
 
ntrigue said:
I consider myself a very discerning consumer and I am in love with the design. From there I am not so pleased...
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think the whole design (including the keyboard) of the MBA is stunning. But I think too much was lost to compromise. If only they could have included ethernet connection, but that was the point of calling it MacBook AIR.... no wires. Beautiful machine but it does not meet my needs at the present time.
 
Daveway said:
Again, someone else comparing the wrong things.

This is a completely new area for Apple, and the MBA competes in a new segment of ultra portables. Hence, for on-the-go people. If you aren't always on the road or plane then the lack of multiple USB ports will bother you and this product wasn't made for you.
This also isn't a tablet so get over the multitouch screen, that's for tablets not notebooks, it doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...


First of all, you don't know me or my lifestyle. I'm actually on-the-go a lot. I am on the road frequently and could use a product like this.

Second, my complaint about there being only one I/O port stems from scenarios I constantly find myself in. For example, on my current notebook, I am constantly plugging my Firewire hard drive in for data transfers then unplugging as I go. So why not put a Firewire for those of us with Firewire drives?

Lastly, a multi-touch trackpad is not worth $1799 in my opinion. a multi-touch screen definitely would be.

Prometheus101 said:
I find that the shape is fine but the thing that almost puts me off is the black keyboard againsed silver aluminum. they should have made the base of the keybard black (ie. where it sinks down to the keyboard)
Click to expand...


Aside from the wedge design, this is the second thing that puts me off. Black on aluminum is Titanium PowerBook era. What's next, white keys on black MacBook?
 
The form factor is really the only really good thing about it.

As Steve said they went through 100 designs, I just wish they would have done that to the internals.
 
The macbook air isn't meant for the people who want an entry level apple.
If you want entry level get a MacBook. It's messed up when people want a high tech ultra portable to be around the price of a budget laptop. PLEASE..... Same people who wouldn't pay 2k for a laptop
 
I like the design too, but agree on the black keyboard. If maybe the whole top was black it would look better. I think the black keys are needed. I have the Macbook pro and typing right now in the dark and the back-lit keys sometimes get washed out by the light from the screen unless I turn them up to full brightness. The contrast with the back-lit letters on black should show up better.
 
I happen to think the wedge looks awfully nice and slick it's something different and I think that's where apple is headed look at the iPod nano it has the wedge shape as well it's the same thing as the iMac it has the black and aluminum look so does iPhone and MacBook Air. It's just the way apple is headed.
 
iMikeT said:
Come on, a wedge-like form factor? This is something I would expect from any other PC manufacturer but from Apple?

As great as it would be to own one of these, I'll wait until these are found in it:

• Multi-touch screen
• Flat form factor
• More than just a USB port for I/O
• Priced below $1200
Click to expand...

l love the new wedged look but what you want won't exist anytime soon. Maybe you should join Apple's design team.

iMikeT said:
Second, my complaint about there being only one I/O port stems from scenarios I constantly find myself in. For example, on my current notebook, I am constantly plugging my Firewire hard drive in for data transfers then unplugging as I go. So why not put a Firewire for those of us with Firewire drives?
?
Click to expand...

Because dude, that's why it's called the "AIR", it's not meant for grounded use, it's meant for wireless that's why Apple designed it to read optical discs from any computer wirelessly as well as accessing the backup drive and Time Machine, the need for ports on this type of machine is minimal.
 
Looks ok

I didn't really like the wedge look that it has when i first saw it, i'm not sure why they've done it. It must be to make it look thinner, because it doesn't make it look better. Also, the black keyboard is another thing i'd change if i could.

However, i expect when i see one in the flesh, i'll think it looks lovely.
 
I think it just kind of sucks, you have to go into the Apple store to have the battery replaced. :cool:

Plus, if it was really for "on the go" why wouldn't they make it so you can carry extra batteries? Makes no sense.
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
I think it just kind of sucks, you have to go into the Apple store to have the battery replaced. :cool:
Click to expand...

Perhaps, if you live some distance away. But it's going to be a bi-annual thing if not longer, surely. You can probably send it in too if you're under Applecare (inconveniencing you for some days, granted).

This will be the biggest blow to travel users who'll usually carry a spare battery for their machine -[ in fact it seems counter-intuitive given the nature of the MBA to not have a easily user-replaceable battery, really...
 
ahaxton said:
The macbook air isn't meant for the people who want an entry level apple.
If you want entry level get a MacBook. It's messed up when people want a high tech ultra portable to be around the price of a budget laptop. PLEASE..... Same people who wouldn't pay 2k for a laptop
Click to expand...


Like I said to someone else who posted earlier, you don't know me and you don't know my lifestyle.

I wouldn't mind paying 2K+ for a notebook. However, I do mind paying that kind of premium for an underpowered machine.

jamesarm97 said:
I like the design too, but agree on the black keyboard. If maybe the whole top was black it would look better. I think the black keys are needed. I have the Macbook pro and typing right now in the dark and the back-lit keys sometimes get washed out by the light from the screen unless I turn them up to full brightness. The contrast with the back-lit letters on black should show up better.
Click to expand...


Let's just hope that Apple doesn't decide to do what I mentioned earlier, that is white keys on a black MacBook.

HLdan said:
Maybe you should join Apple's design team.
Click to expand...


Wouldn't that be fun? I can already imagine coming up with dozens of new designs that are much more appealing for certain products just to have Steve Jobs (who is still one of my personal heroes) shut down every one of them.:rolleyes:
 
iMikeT said:
I wouldn't mind paying 2K+ for a notebook. However, I do mind paying that kind of premium for an underpowered machine.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's fair to say that the MBA is underpowered. It is an ultra portable after all. ;)

In your OP, you wanted it to be priced below $1200. That isn't the case for any ultra portable, whether Apple or otherwise.
 
iMikeT said:
Like I said to someone else who posted earlier, you don't know me and you don't know my lifestyle.

I wouldn't mind paying 2K+ for a notebook. However, I do mind paying that kind of premium for an underpowered machine.
Click to expand...


Ok so you don't fit that group, plenty do who are bashing the MBA. Theres also people who would rather not get the absolute latest in tech and are plenty satisfied with more power with tech thats been around a little longer at a bigger size.

I don't think its underpowered, neither do many people. I think its a testament to the innovation of Apple with the dramatic changes in the new tech of the MBA. It has plenty of power for me for being a laptop, plus the fact that its a whole new page in mobile computing is what attracted me to it.
 
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