MacBook Air Suitable Montevina Chips Due Later This Year

[jeremyrader]

Since we're talking about how the Air looks... the black keys look fugly to me. I realize some people like the look a lot. I've had a black MacBook and now have a Penryn 2.5Ghz MacBook Pro. The Air looks like it has the black MacBook keys mushed onto a silver Pro like body. It doesn't work.

Apple may have been working in a bit of nostalgia for that. Think about the last ultraportable (for its day) - the 12" PowerBook G4 Titanium.

Apple need to sort out the pricing of the MBA. Sure it's thin, but it's significantly more expensive than the MB (esp in the UK) and is a less capable machine.

Think of it this way: by your reasoning, Mazda needs to rethink their pricing on the RX-8, specifically compared to the CX-7. Let's see what all we get on the CX-7 for less money:

- more seats
- more room per seat
- more storage space
- a spare tire (optional on the RX-8)
- more power
- significantly more torque
- 4 extra cylinders (sorry, couldn't resist)
- a turbocharger
- optional all-wheel drive
- pretty much identical gas mileage

So, obviously, the RX-8 is a less "capable" machine, right?

 

[digitalbiker]

Btw, shouldn't intel os x apps be interoperable with ppc osx apps, aren't the apps written on top of the os and for the os? The bottom layer of the cpu architecture should not matter unless it's some specific cpu app? Why am I wrong?

No. Only universal binary apps are compatible with both PPC and intel.

There are several intel only apps and more are headed that way in the future. It is just too time consuming to develop for both systems. Plus the universal binary code is much bigger and harder to distribute with downloads which is becoming the preferred method of delivery and providing updates for many developers.

Also keep in mind that the primary PPC macs are getting older and older. So a developer of intel and PPC apps must dumb down the PPC version in order for it to still perform optimally on the older machines which make up the bulk of the sales market for PPC.

 

[andiwm2003]

hm, could there be a imac ultrathin? a 20" cinema display with a 1.8GHz, 120GB, 2GB ram? would be a cool machine, a lot slimmer than the imac, no chin, maybe even touchscreen at some point. the computer that's in your hallway, another one in the den, one in the kitchen, a smaller one in the car.

and it runs superfast thanks to snow leopard.

could make sense because the imac itself is a bit too large and too intrusive to hang on the wall in a kitchen.

 

[BryanLyle]

The thing that bugs me more than anything about the Macbook Air is the poor quality iSight camera that they put in there. I can live with the slower processing speed, smaller hard drive and lack of ports.

The iSight quality is so bad, they might as well have left it off.

 

[southerndoc]

Basically all modern cores and chipsets allow for the scaling of voltage, clock rate, and disabling of cores/chipsets or aspects of cores/chipsets when not in use. This all happens when in a power constrained environment (aka battery) and often isn't as aggressively done when attached to wall power.

Can this be done on the fly, or does it stay that way permanently? (i.e., run at full speed, and as soon as you unplug a power source, the CPU drops down to low-voltage mode instead of the standard lower clockspeed mode).

 

[Fonzijr1964]

hm, could there be a imac ultrathin? a 20" cinema display with a 1.8GHz, 120GB, 2GB ram? would be a cool machine, a lot slimmer than the imac, no chin, maybe even touchscreen at some point. the computer that's in your hallway, another one in the den, one in the kitchen, a smaller one in the car.

and it runs superfast thanks to snow leopard.

could make sense because the imac itself is a bit too large and too intrusive to hang on the wall in a kitchen.

ok um this is just dumb. you buy a desk top so you can have the most power. if u want thin and dont mind sacrificing power just get a lap top.




My prediction:
A MBA with the choice of either 64 and 128GB SSD and 1.8 or 2.0Ghz

 

[jackfrost123]

Hey digitalbiker! Thanks for the explanation man!

 

[senna5194]

What I find funny is that people criticize the "brick" shape of the Voodoo, yet in a different post they are asking how to fix their overheating CPU's or lamenting battery life.

Don't get me wrong - I want to appreciate the laptop's looks too. I'd much prefer a nicely designed laptop but had Apple allowed even 0.25" more for a replaceable battery (to say nothing of more battery capacity), for more cooling and for cheaper and larger HDD's - no one would have known differently.

I'm not one of those asking for the kitchen sink to be put back in - I'm happy with a slower CPU, happy with screen size, graphics and ports. But it appears that crucial functions such as cooling and battery life/battery replacement were "left behind" to design, which seems opposite to most stuff Apple does.

 

[SodiumBenzoate]

great post. Very dull and uninsipiring design. And WAIT FOR THAT: the fugly looking vent grilles on the sides and front don't even server a functional purpose, they are there for the NEXT iteration of the voodoo envy, see of course the new intels for better heat dissipation. That is all according to the makers...

They do serve a functional purpose, the one in the front draws in air and the two on the sides blow it out. The reason they said they are for the next iteration is only because they provide more cooling than the current version actually needs. They're still completely functional cooling vents.

I think it's funny how everyone's saying that the VooDoo is "fugly", when it's a very similar design to the MacBook, which is also basically a rectangle. Is the MacBook "fugly"?

Also, the Voodoo is heavier. I am guessing the reason for this is because it looks like it was cut out of sheet metal in a shop class. What's that you say? It's made of plastic? Why would they mold plastic to look like sheet metal?

It's actually carbon fiber, not plastic.. But in any case, I'd rather have a boxy laptop that can actually keep itself cool than a sleek laptop that has core shutdowns when watching YouTube videos.

The gains for the boxiness, aside from better cooling, are a couple ports (USB/eSATA and an ExpressCard slot), a removable battery, and stereo speakers (haha)

 

[solipsism]

I can't agree more, 5 years ago I had a new desktop which had nearly exactly the specs of the MBA, AMD XP 1800+, 80GB, just 512MB, maybe a bit better GPU with ATI 9800, but still, that was a hell of a machine Took it for everything, from simulations, image processing etc.

So I don't get if why a MBA should be "underpowered". But then speed is relative...at least the perception thereof

You don't seem to realize that the MBA is a lot lighter and smaller than the notebook you have 5 years ago. You also seem to think that clock speed equals performance. A 1.8GHz C2D is hella faster than your AMD of yesteryear. As for the GPU, it depends on a few factors. The MBA uses up to 144MB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM. What are the specs on that 5 year old GPU?

What gets me is that there are now 3 machines that are using the SAME CPUs, the SAME integrated GPU, and 2 out of 3 use the same capacity storage (the 3rd has a thicker chassis), and yet people are still complaining that it's too expensive and Apple didn't hard enough, and it won't sell yet they are copying the model and using the same specs and charging more!!!

The argument is like looking at a Mac Pro and saying it doesn't havea built in monitor and a battery and it's too heavy so it makes for a crappy portable machine. If the MBA isn't something you need then you are not the target market. Apple makes other machines, if one doesn't fit then look at another, but putting a machine down because it doesn't fit your needs is asinine.

 

[SodiumBenzoate]

Yep, the MBA absolutely has enough power to do everything it was intended to do. It can't replace a desktop, but it was never meant to.

 

[digitalbiker]

You don't seem to realize that the MBA is a lot lighter and smaller than the notebook you have 5 years ago. You also seem to think that clock speed equals performance. A 1.8GHz C2D is hella faster than your AMD of yesteryear. As for the GPU, it depends on a few factors. The MBA uses up to 144MB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM. What are the specs on that 5 year old GPU?

What gets me is that there are now 3 machines that are using the SAME CPUs, the SAME integrated GPU, and 2 out of 3 use the same capacity storage (the 3rd has a thicker chassis), and yet people are still complaining that it's too expensive and Apple didn't hard enough, and it won't sell yet they are copying the model and using the same specs and charging more!!!

The argument is like looking at a Mac Pro and saying it doesn't havea built in monitor and a battery and it's too heavy so it makes for a crappy portable machine. If the MBA isn't something you need then you are not the target market. Apple makes other machines, if one doesn't fit then look at another, but putting a machine down because it doesn't fit your needs is asinine.

You don't seem to realize that most people read the thread of posts before posting. Because if you had you would see that your post was completely off base. Prometheus2000 was saying that the MBA is more powerful than his "Desktop" of 5 years ago and that in its day his "desktop machine" was considered a powerhouse that he could use for ray tracing, etc.

He wasn't complaining about the MBA, He was praising it. He was also implying that the MBA is useful for a lot more than word processing and browsing the internet.

 

[bobertoq]

The Air is ugly as sin...

Since when was sin beautiful?

 

[thunng8]

The MBA uses up to 144MB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM. What are the specs on that 5 year old GPU?

There's no comparison, that 5 year old GPU would be a lot faster than the MBA integrated graphics.

The 9800 actually came out almost 6 years ago and led graphics performance for quite a while (I had one) and was a great performer. 128mb or 256mb of up to 730Mhz graphics memory running on a 256bit bus with 8 rendering pipelines.

http://ati.amd.com/products/radeon9800/radeon9800pro/compare.html

 

[Tosser]

Since when was sin beautiful?

When wasn't it?

Anyway, the point he was making is that the MBA was _as_ ugly as "sin", hence sin doesn't need to be able to be "beauiful", nor to be conceived as a sliding scale.

 

[John Jacob]

The Voodooo also has a combo ethernet/power port (the ethernet port itself is on the power brick. It sounds a rather nifty innovation, but on reflection it means that you must connect to power to use ethernet. Not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. Probably bad overall as it means that you have to make numerous connections to just connect to a network, but on the other hand your reasons for connecting to the ethernet network probably sucks a lot of juice. Maybe not relevant to the target market for an ultraportable.

I think this is actually a very good idea. Wherever you have an Ethernet port, you would also have a power socket. And the target market for ultraportables is people who travel a lot. But even these people do have to work at their desks (in the home or in the work place) at times, which is when they charge their laptops, and which is when an Ethernet connection is useful.

 

[brogwalkerh]

Not so much

The VooDoo is not exactly pleasing to the eye, if you ask me. On top of that, the comparison neglects to mention that the MBA has a backlit keyboard, built-in iSight, and built-in battery. The question is, does the Voodoo have those things? And let's not forget it weighs nearly a pound more than the MBA.

And when is someone with an UltraPortable going to sit down and use Ethernet anyway? These days, the only time people use Ethernet is at home, the office, or at work (IT people). Call me crazy, but I say the Ethernet port just isn't needed. Just another thing to up the price that much more.

 

[solipsism]

The VooDoo is not exactly pleasing to the eye, if you ask me. On top of that, the comparison neglects to mention that the MBA has a backlit keyboard, built-in iSight, and built-in battery. The question is, does the Voodoo have those things? And let's not forget it weighs nearly a pound more than the MBA.

And when is someone with an UltraPortable going to sit down and use Ethernet anyway? These days, the only time people use Ethernet is at home, the office, or at work (IT people). Call me crazy, but I say the Ethernet port just isn't needed. Just another thing to up the price that much more.

You make valid points but the Ethernet port as a WiFi hub is a clever idea. Their are plenty of hotels that do not have WiFi in the rooms, only Ethernet cables. Oddly, these are usually the more expensive hotels. Also, the more expensive the hotel the more likely they charge outrageous amounts for crappy internet speeds, while cheap places tend to have very fast WiFi (at least in the US).

 

[n1ght]

The VooDoo is not exactly pleasing to the eye, if you ask me. On top of that, the comparison neglects to mention that the MBA has a backlit keyboard, built-in iSight, and built-in battery. The question is, does the Voodoo have those things? And let's not forget it weighs nearly a pound more than the MBA.

The Envy 133 weighs 3.4 lbs with SSD and battery. The MacBook Air weighs 3 lbs. I fail to see how .4 lbs is "nearly a pound more".

The Envy also has an LED-backlit display, an ambient light sensor, a backlit keyboard, and a built-in webcam. In addition, it has 2 USB ports, a removable battery, and a proximity sensor for turning off the trackpad when the keyboard is in use to prevent accidental swipes.

IMO, the keyboard of the Voodoo uses a hideous font, and the whole package is overly glossy (although the Lenovo U110 is even worse). Then again, I haven't seen one in person.

 

[esquared]

I just spent some time with my friend's Air, I am impressed. Installed s/w using Remote Disk, worked great. It's got some pep, but definitely not a primary computer, 2nd or 3rd. Very nice screen. Need more HD storage, and not crazy about A/C plug placement, but good thing it's magnetic or the Air would fly through the room if yanked by the cord. In politics, "It's about the economy, stupid!", in real estate, "Location, Location, Location!", and the Macbook Air is ALL about portability. I will buy the next generation Air with confidence.

 

[SodiumBenzoate]

And when is someone with an UltraPortable going to sit down and use Ethernet anyway? These days, the only time people use Ethernet is at home, the office, or at work (IT people). Call me crazy, but I say the Ethernet port just isn't needed. Just another thing to up the price that much more.

Hotel rooms with Ethernet connections but no WiFi are still common..

IMO, the keyboard of the Voodoo uses a hideous font, and the whole package is overly glossy (although the Lenovo U110 is even worse). Then again, I haven't seen one in person.

They changed the font to something more standard:

http://voodoopc.smugmug.com/photos/314225598_T7S7b-M.jpg

I agree about the glossiness. Smudges everywhere..

 

[jackfrost123]

You make valid points but the Ethernet port as a WiFi hub is a clever idea. Their are plenty of hotels that do not have WiFi in the rooms, only Ethernet cables. Oddly, these are usually the more expensive hotels. Also, the more expensive the hotel the more likely they charge outrageous amounts for crappy internet speeds, while cheap places tend to have very fast WiFi (at least in the US).

Sadly it's the same thing here in Europe...they can charge something close to 15 euros per hour, outrageous stuff, unbelievable....

 

[brogwalkerh]

The Envy 133 weighs 3.4 lbs with SSD and battery. The MacBook Air weighs 3 lbs. I fail to see how .4 lbs is "nearly a pound more".

The Envy also has an LED-backlit display, an ambient light sensor, a backlit keyboard, and a built-in webcam. In addition, it has 2 USB ports, a removable battery, and a proximity sensor for turning off the trackpad when the keyboard is in use to prevent accidental swipes.

IMO, the keyboard of the Voodoo uses a hideous font, and the whole package is overly glossy (although the Lenovo U110 is even worse). Then again, I haven't seen one in person.

Oh. The information that I read said it was 3.78 pounds. Well either way I think that every ounce counts when you are dealing with an ultra-portable.

 

[LizKat]

Since when was sin beautiful?

Since the Garden of Eden, baby

I totally love my Air, just the bodacious way it is. It's a supplemental machine for me but gets used almost every day, plus at night I like to watch rentals on it or shop around in iTunes, although I usually move any music I buy on there to one of my other machines fairly soon afterwards, to keep that SSD tidied up with plenty room left on it...

 

[shawnce]

Can this be done on the fly, or does it stay that way permanently? (i.e., run at full speed, and as soon as you unplug a power source, the CPU drops down to low-voltage mode instead of the standard lower clockspeed mode).

On the fly as they say... some levels of power management can be done at the timing of a few instructions others much longer but all of this is taking place actively.