MacBook Air Supplies Constrained Ahead of Refresh?

[ChrisFaw]

If they bring back the IR Sensor and Backlit Keyboard, I would sell mine and upgrade. Otherwise, the speed bump is not a thing I need currently.

Bring on a refreshed Mini!

SO TRUE! I bought the 11 Air for my business partner with the Apple Remote because i thought that, just like my old 1.86 80gb Air, it had an IR receiver!

I had to give it to my girlfriend who has the 2.2 thunderbolt 15" MBP.

The first alternative i found for it was a Targus bt remote formac, which is similarly priced. I ordered two: one for the 11" Air and one for the 13" im getting in a week.

 

[gri]

It's a battery waste.

No for me its not. And you can always switch it off. Than its like it wouldn't be there and you can work 10 minutes longer!

 

[gri]

A backlit keyboard is one of the most useless "features" on a laptop ever. The light from the screen provides enough illumination to see the keys even with no other light source present. It also drains battery life and adds unnecessary complexity. Finally, learn how to type and you won't need to look at the keys!

Learn to be tolerant towards others and you wouldn't write these stupid comments - learn how to type... Some people have different needs, ever thought of that?

 

[gri]

I disagree. On a late night flight, it can come in handy, particularly if you switch back and forth between multiple computers (e.g. a work PC or a desktop). Remember, function keys, arrow keys, etc. are often arranged slightly differently from model to model.

I remember reading somewhere here that a poster was sitting in a plane with a business lady next to him who used her iPhone to get some light onto the keys of her 11 MBA at a night flight...

 

[ChrisFaw]

This man speaks sense. An ultra portable laptop doesn't need anything more than integrated graphics capable of accelerating the OS functions that require it and nothing more.

as much as i agree, i must say that it doesnt make me happy to see how all the windows move chppily and lag when using something so basic as exposé. This happened on my late 1.86 80gb Air and still happens on a 11" current-gen Air.

 

[GREEN4U]

I second all the opinions to bring back the backlit keyboard. Heck I even have one on my G4 PowerBook! That's just sad.

 

[scottsjack]

If I read one more message about people demanding a backlit keyboard on the new Macbook Air, I'm gonna kill myself!

It's really not that important to anyone who knows how to type!

Learn to type people!!!! The amount of time you will save will be far greater than any gains a backlit keyboard will get you.

Ha Ha. I'm an excellent typist and I wouldn't buy one without backlit keyboard. After using my MBP 15 it's just a must have feature.

 

[eckthroi]

I agree that a backlit keyboard is a must. I will be buying my first mac product via the air after the refresh and I must say I look forward to this as a feature. For those of you who have been so extremely rude as to imply that we who desire a baclit keyboard need to learn to touch type I want to say this: Some of us are not able to fully do this. I have practiced and tried for many years now but cannot get myself to be able to touch type. I can type between 50-60 words per minute, but I must see the keys in order to do this. This is a feature that would be of a great benefit to myself and I am sure also to many others. I understand you wanting it as a feature that can be an upgrade but not a standard feature so that it does not increase the overall cost of the machine. However what I cannot for the life of me understand how some of you can be so egotistically full of yourselves that you would try to assert yourselves as superior to those who do not touch type. To be honest it is just sad, and I truly hope that you are never measured with the same stick you appear to be measuring others with.

 

[gri]

I agree that a backlit keyboard is a must. I will be buying my first mac product via the air after the refresh and I must say I look forward to this as a feature. For those of you who have been so extremely rude as to imply that we who desire a baclit keyboard need to learn to touch type I want to say this: Some of us are not able to fully do this. I have practiced and tried for many years now but cannot get myself to be able to touch type. I can type between 50-60 words per minute, but I must see the keys in order to do this. This is a feature that would be of a great benefit to myself and I am sure also to many others. I understand you wanting it as a feature that can be an upgrade but not a standard feature so that it does not increase the overall cost of the machine. However what I cannot for the life of me understand how some of you can be so egotistically full of yourselves that you would try to assert yourselves as superior to those who do not touch type. To be honest it is just sad, and I truly hope that you are never measured with the same stick you appear to be measuring others with.

Amen to that! +1

 

[iRun26.2]

It's a battery waste.

So are headlights on cars...

 

[macrumorsuser10]

Nope, I didn't. Read my post again.

Better yet, let me again repeat myself : I attributed the current MBA's success to its current design. I said the lack of backlit keyboard was for sure a design compromise Apple had to make, but in light of the success of this design, the compromise was a wise choice on their part.

Apple didn't remove the backlit keyboard to spite anyone. They didn't do it to "bring it back later to force upgrades either". There probably came a time in the design process where it was either scrap it or lose the design. Seeing how successful this design was, it seems to me the guy who decided to scrap the backlights made the right choice in the end, even if a few users missed the feature.

They still sold more than they ever did and it was the best selling Mac for that quarter. So in a sense, maybe preventing a few people from buying it resulted in more people buying it thanks to the new design.

Your assessment is that the lack of backlit keyboard was a result of an engineering or design constraint. There is, of course, another possible explanation: the backlit keyboard could have been easily implemented, but it would have incurred a monetary production cost that would cut Apple's profit margin below their target level.

 

[madhatter61]

Mac Mini and MacBook are also in desperate need of upgrades.

Just my opinion, but I think Macbook is headed for extinction. The upgraded AIR will be replacing them. The Macbook was basically a student or basic notebook, and AIR fills that bill nicely ... is lighter in weight, more than adequate performance, longer battery life, better display and reasonable storage, but fast startup.

 

[madhatter61]

It shows how much focus there is on iPhone's eh?

Of all the upgrades possible this is probably perfect.

• Cloud release for storage of files, music, photos online - for iOS and OSX. Perhaps a new paradigm for computing
• iOS5 showcased with all its new features - converging towards OSX,
• OSX Lion showcased with its new features - converging towards iOS

And then the Air laptop - the Apple hardware that converges an iPad with a MacBook.

Perhaps they'll add touch screen to the MBA.

Have you ever tried using a touch screen with a built in keyboard and no mouse. It is tricky. That is why you won't see touch screen. Doesn't make sense.

 

[madhatter61]

It'll be even slower on your new one when you realise there's no Thunderbolt external drives...

Have you considered that there is thunderbolt in high performance MBP and iMac now. Those harddrives are very available.

 

[lilo777]

I remember reading somewhere here that a poster was sitting in a plane with a business lady next to him who used her iPhone to get some light onto the keys of her 11 MBA at a night flight...

Could not she just turn on the reading light?

 

[leftywamumonkey]

What kills me is that Best Buy lists the Macbook Air as having an 128GB "Hard Drive" =/

 

[bradl]

I agree that a backlit keyboard is a must. I will be buying my first mac product via the air after the refresh and I must say I look forward to this as a feature. For those of you who have been so extremely rude as to imply that we who desire a baclit keyboard need to learn to touch type I want to say this: Some of us are not able to fully do this. I have practiced and tried for many years now but cannot get myself to be able to touch type. I can type between 50-60 words per minute, but I must see the keys in order to do this. This is a feature that would be of a great benefit to myself and I am sure also to many others. I understand you wanting it as a feature that can be an upgrade but not a standard feature so that it does not increase the overall cost of the machine. However what I cannot for the life of me understand how some of you can be so egotistically full of yourselves that you would try to assert yourselves as superior to those who do not touch type. To be honest it is just sad, and I truly hope that you are never measured with the same stick you appear to be measuring others with.

I agree; I can't understand that either. And for the record, I can touch type. But I do know this.

A lot of people here take their eyesight for granted. They think that those who are complaining about the lack of a backlit keyboard should just get over it. I wonder how many of them would also be complaining if they lost their eyesight or had very poor eyesight altogether, making them totally blind, or legally blind. If they had that happen to them, then I would wonder how many of them would be complaining about the lack of a backlit keyboard.

I can tell you now the backlit keyboard, pinch/finger gestures on the trackpad, and built-in text to speech were the biggest incentives for my SO buying her MBP; and yes, she is legally blind.

BL.

 

[mwalsh8]

all were on sale

the Best Buy in my area had other Mac model on sale as well...

 

[AidenShaw]

SSDs are hard drives, but they're not spinning hard drives

What kills me is that Best Buy lists the Macbook Air as having an 128GB "Hard Drive" =/

SSDs look like hard drives to the system (block structured devices on SATA connections). You find them as a category of "hard drive" at Newegg as well.

How many cell phone "lines" does your family have? Do you "dial" your cell phone?

Sometimes the technolgy changes underneath a word or phrase, so that its literal meaning isn't always correct.

"Hard drive" is a random access block storage device on your SATA controller. Usually they have moving parts, sometimes they don't.

 

[gri]

Could not she just turn on the reading light?

Probably but I think the poster mentioned that people left and right were sleeping...

 

[iRun26.2]

I agree that a backlit keyboard is a must. I will be buying my first mac product via the air after the refresh and I must say I look forward to this as a feature. For those of you who have been so extremely rude as to imply that we who desire a baclit keyboard need to learn to touch type I want to say this: Some of us are not able to fully do this. I have practiced and tried for many years now but cannot get myself to be able to touch type. I can type between 50-60 words per minute, but I must see the keys in order to do this. This is a feature that would be of a great benefit to myself and I am sure also to many others. I understand you wanting it as a feature that can be an upgrade but not a standard feature so that it does not increase the overall cost of the machine. However what I cannot for the life of me understand how some of you can be so egotistically full of yourselves that you would try to assert yourselves as superior to those who do not touch type. To be honest it is just sad, and I truly hope that you are never measured with the same stick you appear to be measuring others with.

Thank you so much for saying that! We needed to hear that from someone from your point of view. The level of arrogance seen on these forums demanding that people need to 'Learn to touch-type!' is ridiculous.

It really is sad that people feel the need to insist that their viewpoint is the only valid one. There are clearly lots of us value the backlit keyboard.

 

[Blue Fox]

ALL Mac's are on-sale at Best Buy. The new iMacs, the MacBook Pro's, MacBooks and MacBook air's. Even the Mac mini is on sale. So I don't see how them just picking the MacBook Air out of this bunch as justification for this rumor.

Not to mention, this sale has been going on for the past three weeks at Best Buy on Mac Products.

 

[Yeshto]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Having a touchscreen seems to me the logical steps to fully merge the iPad and notebook line. I was expecting a touch iMac, but the OS X was not ready. With the launch of Lion, a MBA with touch and always on capability seems like a real possibility.

Hoping for the best.

 

[iStig]

Learn to be tolerant towards others and you wouldn't write these stupid comments - learn how to type... Some people have different needs, ever thought of that?

I said at the beginning of my post, and you completely ignored the point, the light from the screen provides sufficient illumination to see the characters on the keys easily. I have the current generation 13" Macbook Air and took it into a room as completely devoid of light save from the screen as possible. As I suspected, the screen threw off more than adequate light to see the keys clearly. So again, the backlit keyboard is more novelty than necessity.

 

[OceanView]

I said at the beginning of my post, and you completely ignored the point, the light from the screen provides sufficient illumination to see the characters on the keys easily. I have the current generation 13" Macbook Air and took it into a room as completely devoid of light save from the screen as possible. As I suspected, the screen threw off more than adequate light to see the keys clearly. So again, the backlit keyboard is more novelty than necessity.

Why don't you try that in the dark with the screen light at the lowest setting and the angle of the screen at more than 90 degrees.
You can't see the keys.