MacBook Air to Update This Week?

[Stately]

I apologize in advance to those who love the air but please, what on earth is it for? I still have no idea exactly where it fits in . . To me it's a device that takes up too much space and doesn't do much but it's light . . IMO the tablet will tear it apart in just another year and a half as far as everything from functionality, to aesthetics. IMO it was clearly a mistake.

 

[jamesryanbell]

I apologize in advance to those who love the air but please, what on earth is it for? I still have no idea exactly where it fits in . . To me it's a device that takes up too much space and doesn't do much but it's light . . IMO the tablet will tear it apart in just another year and a half as far as everything from functionality, to aesthetics. IMO it was clearly a mistake.

I think it's too much to call it a mistake (and I have no product loyalty to the Air...never owned one). Even if it filled a role for two years, then it mattered at that point in time.

Right now I think it's definitely LESS important than it used to be (given that the iPad is out) because a big part of its appeal was that it was aimed at light usage (no heavy video/audio editing, etc....overheating issues abounded even just watching YouTube). A large percentage of that light usage (email, web browsing, Pages, Numbers, etc) can be done by iPad now. I know it's not a full-fledged computer like the Air, but nonetheless, it bites into the market share. It has to. There's no getting around that.

I think there will still be people who want a FULL version of OSX on something ultra portable. ...and the Air is their answer.

 

[entatlrg]

I apologize in advance to those who love the air but please, what on earth is it for? I still have no idea exactly where it fits in . . To me it's a device that takes up too much space and doesn't do much but it's light . . IMO the tablet will tear it apart in just another year and a half as far as everything from functionality, to aesthetics. IMO it was clearly a mistake.

"Please educate yourself." Take a look in the MacBook Air forum, you'll learn what it's for.

 

[rajbonham]

I apologize in advance to those who love the air but please, what on earth is it for? I still have no idea exactly where it fits in . . To me it's a device that takes up too much space and doesn't do much but it's light . . IMO the tablet will tear it apart in just another year and a half as far as everything from functionality, to aesthetics. IMO it was clearly a mistake.

I don't want to be one of those bashing the MacBook Air, but I don't really understand it either. Now, I've never used the MacBook Air, so I really don't know it strengths and weaknesses.

It seems that the Air is targeted towards business travelers who need a lightweight, portable machine. If I needed a portable machine to write some documents, emails, and browse the web, why wouldn't I just get an iPad? I understand the Air is a "complete" computer, but considering that the iPad costs $499 and the entry level Air is $1,499, that's a huge difference.

With the iPad out now, I guess I just don't really see the place in in the market for the MacBook Air. Just my opinion though...

 

[Yinmay]

I apologize in advance to those who love the air but please, what on earth is it for? I still have no idea exactly where it fits in . . To me it's a device that takes up too much space and doesn't do much but it's light . . IMO the tablet will tear it apart in just another year and a half as far as everything from functionality, to aesthetics. IMO it was clearly a mistake.

It's far more useful than the iPad. It's also cheaper when considering the fact I can actually make money with my MBA (ie. do stuff for my work).

It's the same size as the iPad, allow me to explain: in the portable devices world, there are only two sizes: those that fit in your pocket (iPhone) and those that don't. Be it the iPad, MBA or the MBP17 you're going to need a dedicated case, backpack or carry it under your arm.

The MBA is more convenient to carry in a woman purse than the iPad: no need to worry about other items damaging the screen (unless you use the Apple iPad Case, but then it's almost as thick as the MBA).

Since comparative size doesn't matter that much once you're in the "doesn't fit in your pocket" category, the important factor for portability is weight. The MBA is not much heavier than the iPad. Better, its perceived weight is actually lighter because you can put it on your laps and work comfortably all day.

Try spending an 8h flight with an iPad: it gets very heavy if you hold it like a gameboy or very uncomfortable if you put it on the tablet using the Apple case/stand.

 

[ibosie]

The Macbook Air was my favourite Mac - and I have a Macbook Pro, Mac Mini and Mac Pro. I stupidly gifted her away at Christmas believing an update was imminent and have spent the past 5 months missing it! Weight - it's a huge deal for me, the other Macs don't travel but this little gem went everywhere with me just like that envelope in the ads. I just can't wait to get my hands on a new model - bring it on!

And to those who feel the MBA has no use - check this Logic project and see for yourself how much was possible.

 

[Stately]

It's far more useful than the iPad. It's also cheaper when considering the fact I can actually make money with my MBA (ie. do stuff for my work).

It's the same size as the iPad, allow me to explain: in the portable devices world, there are only two sizes: those that fit in your pocket (iPhone) and those that don't. Be it the iPad, MBA or the MBP17 you're going to need a dedicated case, backpack or carry it under your arm.

The MBA is more convenient to carry in a woman purse than the iPad: no need to worry about other items damaging the screen (unless you use the Apple iPad Case, but then it's almost as thick as the MBA).

Since comparative size doesn't matter that much once you're in the "doesn't fit in your pocket" category, the important factor for portability is weight. The MBA is not much heavier than the iPad. Better, its perceived weight is actually lighter because you can put it on your laps and work comfortably all day.

Try spending an 8h flight with an iPad: it gets very heavy if you hold it like a gameboy or very uncomfortable if you put it on the tablet using the Apple case/stand.

But how is it more useful? If Microsoft office is the deciding factor, I'm sure the tablet will soon have the basics like that as well as other basic compatibilities that it lacks now.

 

[Zulu1]

WOW,

Someone posts the Air is coming soon and it turns into a bit-twiddling, WAG Speculating, feeding frenzy of uber-geeks in a death spiral.....Where have I seen this before.....hmmmm.....oh yeah here!, in all the other "It's coming soon" threads.


Geez, let's just see what's announced, then all the haters can nay say it, and all the lovers go get one.

"Good Day,......I said Gooday"

ZuLu1

 

[MacFly123]

This product has really got a battle on it's hands but I think it's important that Apple seek to keep it up to spec.

Hopefully this will be a major update and perhaps a slight repositioning on price.

Yes and yes. The price really needs to drop at least somewhat!

They will probably remove the trackpad button too, it's the only Apple laptop still to ship with a physical button below the trackpad.

Yup! I was actually pretty surprised they didn't do that with that last little tweak as the other laptops already had the buttonless trackpads and they oddly left the MacBook Air out of the party when it was the pioneer of the multi-touch trackpad in the Mac family!

 

[Anuba]

I don't think Macbook Air is designed to handle such heavy work as yours. MBA is made for people who travel frequently.

Yes, but... that's what I said.

 

[calsci]

If they fix the issue with the hinges, then that could be an update in itself.

 

[Yinmay]

But how is it more useful? If Microsoft office is the deciding factor, I'm sure the tablet will soon have the basics like that as well as other basic compatibilities that it lacks now.

The problem isn't availability of the MS Office on the iPad per se. It's the ergonomics. I just couldn't get anything done at a reasonable speed using the touch screen + on screen keyboard on iPad+iWork.
No USB port, and not being able to print is also a huge problem for me. iPad printing is apparently an upcoming feature, but it won't solve all my issues. I also run Win 7 on my MBA for certain PC-only work related applications.

I realize I have very specific needs, and that from a quantitative point of view people like me are not enough to meet strong sales. Most teens/students (which I feel are 99% of Apple's customers nowadays) will prefer the iPad over the MBA just because of the games (and of course the price). With the release of the iPad I was worried about MBA's future, with this news I'm just glad Apple is willing to keep supporting products that are not particularly strong sellers but that certainly meet the needs of certain customers like no other device can.

Couple the MBA with a tethering smartphone and you have an amazingly convenient workstation on the go.

 

[guzhogi]

If the body was stronger and half the cost, the MacBook Air might be good for a school setting. Writing papers, surfing the web, simple stuff like that.

One thing that irks me about it though: the iPod Classic has a bigger hard drive than it. iPod Classic has a 160 GB drive, the MacBook Air has either a 120 GB hard drive or 128 GB ssd. You can even get 240 GB upgrades for the iPod. http://www.rapidrepair.com/news.html

 

[gwsat]

WOW,

Someone posts the Air is coming soon and it turns into a bit-twiddling, WAG Speculating, feeding frenzy of uber-geeks in a death spiral.....Where have I seen this before.....hmmmm.....oh yeah here!, in all the other "It's coming soon" threads.


Geez, let's just see what's announced, then all the haters can nay say it, and all the lovers go get one.

The name of this site is Mac Rumors, which should provide a clue to even the newest of newbie posters that discussing Mac rumors is a good part of what we do. If threads like this one bother you, Mac Rumors almost certainly isn't for you and may even be detrimental to your emotional health.

 

[Stately]

The problem isn't availability of the MS Office on the iPad per se. It's the ergonomics. I just couldn't get anything done at a reasonable speed using the touch screen + on screen keyboard on iPad+iWork.
No USB port, and not being able to print is also a huge problem for me. iPad printing is apparently an upcoming feature, but it won't solve all my issues. I also run Win 7 on my MBA for certain PC-only work related applications.

I realize I have very specific needs, and that from a quantitative point of view people like me are not enough to meet strong sales. Most teens/students (which I feel are 99% of Apple's customers nowadays) will prefer the iPad over the MBA just because of the games (and of course the price). With the release of the iPad I was worried about MBA's future, with this news I'm just glad Apple is willing to keep supporting products that are not particularly strong sellers but that certainly meet the needs of certain customers like no other device can.

Couple the MBA with a tethering smartphone and you have an amazingly convenient workstation on the go.

Some of the very reasons you specify are exact reasons I didn't pick one up. i.e. the usb / printing issue, office etc . . I love the typing. I type just as quickly on an ipad. I can see how some might not like it at first though. I personally would love to be able to use it for graphic design but it's kinda failing in that department right now. . sigh. Soon though I think the ipad will hit directly on all of these things and do them well. If the typing is an issue I understand, but besides that, I think in the near future we will see seriously upgraded ipads.

 

[puffnstuff]

MacBook Air might be good for a school setting. Writing papers, surfing the web, simple stuff like that.

But I could do all those things on an $899 macbook or a $499 ipad if I was concerned about weight.

 

[Jaro65]

I think in the near future we will see seriously upgraded ipads.

I don't think there is any doubt about that.

 

[bniu]

Yawn. Who buys Airs other than pretentious people who think it looks good? Why would anyone spend more money for less power, less functionality and thickness that is 80% of the MacBook Pro at its thickest point, which is the critical benchmark.

Apple should yank the optical drive from the MacBook Pro 13, add another hard drive (large mechanical + smaller SSD is the way to go) and make it a bit thinner with an i5 or i7 and a bigger fan. Now I would pay a premium for that.

i would. The 13" macbook pro is too heavy. I want light in my computers. As long as the new one can play the sims 3 well enough, it'll do everything else I need it to do. Right now, being at home, I don't need one but when I leave, I'd like to have a 512GB SSD along with 8GB of RAM in a MacBook Air

 

[guzhogi]

But I could do all those things on an $899 macbook or a $499 ipad if I was concerned about weight.

Actually, you didn't quote me correctly. I said

If the body was stronger and half the cost, the MacBook Air might be good for a school setting. Writing papers, surfing the web, simple stuff like that.

The school I work at has MacBooks & they work fine. However, a MacBook's lack of optical drive & possibility of a SSD has its advantages.

With iPads, they're inexpensive, and lacks moving parts & has flash memory. However, it does not allow for multiple users, no printing (yet), no video editing.

i would. The 13" macbook pro is too heavy. I want light in my computers. As long as the new one can play the sims 3 well enough, it'll do everything else I need it to do. Right now, being at home, I don't need one but when I leave, I'd like to have a 512GB SSD along with 8GB of RAM in a MacBook Air

Just out of curiosity, how many of you would have an orgasm if there was a computer as thin & light as a piece of paper, but more powerful than a Mac Pro?

 

[Yinmay]

Some of the very reasons you specify are exact reasons I didn't pick one up. i.e. the usb / printing issue, office etc . .

I'm not sure I understand this sentence. You chose not to buy a MBA because it has USB ports, MS Office and printing?

I love the typing. I type just as quickly on an ipad. I can see how some might not like it at first though. I personally would love to be able to use it for graphic design but it's kinda failing in that department right now. . sigh. Soon though I think the ipad will hit directly on all of these things and do them well. If the typing is an issue I understand, but besides that, I think in the near future we will see seriously upgraded ipads.

Unless next generation iPads can read my mind, there is no way the on screen keyboard can be fast/reliable enough.
It's impossible to equal the speed of being able to select with the mouse a portion of text while using keyboard shortcuts with the other hand. It's impossible to write something that requires both letters and digits (e.g. excel) fast enough on an iPad when you constantly have to switch between keyboard modes.

In raw letters-only typing, such as taking notes in a classroom, tweeting, facebooking or posting on a forum, I can definitely imagine customers being satisfied with their iPad typing speed, but again, for any professional use, there is just no comparison.

And that's putting aside such issues as lost screen space, or unhealthy neck and/or wrist position. It's only a matter of time before scientific studies demonstrate how dangerous it is to type for any length of time on an iPad, and why it should be avoided at all cost.
It's not a matter of getting used to it (unless human anatomy significantly changes in the next few years). Any typing with your hands forming anything else than a 170 to 190 angle with your forearms is damaging (situation A). Any typing with your head forming anything else than a 160 to 200 angle with your backbone is damaging (situation B).
Typing using the Apple iPad case (or any other inclined support) puts you in situation A. Typing with the iPad flat puts you in situation B.

 

[gwsat]

But I could do all those things on an $899 macbook or a $499 ipad if I was concerned about weight.

First, the Macbook sells for $999, not $899. I have had an iPad, which I bought shortly after its release. Actually, you can't do most functions such as report writing nearly as conveniently on an iPad as you can on a real computer. The virtual keyboard is far better than the tiny virtual keyboard on the iPhone but is still significantly slower and harder to use than a real computer's full size keyboard. You can't print with an iPad. You can only transfer a document you have prepared on your iPad via email, with all of the formatting glitches that's likely to entail. The iPad is a lot of fun and very good at what it does but in its current iteration it's not capable of doing the kind of serious work we take for granted with any real computer, including the MBA.

I had been waiting for Apple to update the MBA for so long that I recently made a serious comparison between the MBA and the new 13 inch MBP. The 13 inch is far more powerful and capable of being upgraded than the MBA is but it's 50% heavier (the Macbook is even a little heavier still). There is a night and day difference between holding and manipulating the 3 pound, ultra slim MBA, and the 4.5 pound, much thicker, 13 inch MBP. Go to the Apple Store and try it and you will see what I mean.

The bottom line is that despite owning and mostly liking the iPad and the availability of a cheaper and more powerful 13 inch MBP, I am still going to get an MBA whenever its RAM is increased beyond its paltry 2Gb.

 

[Stately]

I'm not sure I understand this sentence. You chose not to buy a MBA because it has USB ports, MS Office and printing?


No I meant, that's why I didn't get an ipad yet.

 

[GodWhomIsMike]

Hi,

The graphics tied in with the i7 is the problem. The 13" Macbook Pro does not have enough room for a dedicated graphics card and the i7 has a low preforming graphics card.

s.

If no upgrade to the CPU front, then what's the point? It's last year's technology with slightly faster graphics. I doubt the Air is used as a graphics machine in the first place, which would make a GPU-only refresh kind of pointless.

 

[gri]

Little side question just in case - who buys in the US (particularly NYC) used (barely though) MBAs?

 

[GodWhomIsMike]

Agreed. At the very best, the MBA will match the 13" MBP specs.

Anyone who is thinking i5 or i7 is foolish. Anyone who even wants an i5 or i7 - assuming that means it comes with the intel IGP - is not going to be happy when they start using that POS.

1) It can't match the 13" MBP. Assuming it will is foolish. The 13" MBP uses 35W CPUs, where the Air uses 17W CPUs. 35W processors would be far too hot for the Air.

2) i5 and i7 (ULV models) make perfect sense to many of us, because they're 18W processors.