I've heard this request from a lot of people on this forum. Is this really a deal breaker for you? the screen isn't bright enough at night to illuminate the keys that you need a separate source of light?
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Production of New Thunderbolt-Equipped MacBook Airs Set for Next Month?
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I've heard this request from a lot of people on this forum. Is this really a deal breaker for you? the screen isn't bright enough at night to illuminate the keys that you need a separate source of light?
uh... They already are included. The graphics processor is on the die and the TDP of the chip is for the CPU and the GPU. So do the Llano CPU.
At least wikipedia it.
Yes it is a deal breaker. I actually spend quite a bit of time in bed after lights out surfing and reading, keeping up with stuff (I am doing it at this moment) with the brightness at the lowest level +1 to not disturb my wife, and its definitely not enough to see the keyboard.
I also like it for taking notes in a dark presentation room. I got the newer air and returned it after a week (and gladly paid the restocking fee) because of this alone. I really liked the reduced weight and bulk, didnt miss the optical drive, but I gotta have that keyboard backlit.
right now I tend to use the ipad when I am just reading, but when I have to type it gets awkward, so I break out a laptop.
Just don't throw away any USB ports for the Thunderbolt port. 2 is little enough. If this is true, it is finally time to get a Mac.
I've had a 360GB SSD on order for my 11" MBA for about two months. At times, I've been told it would ship within 4 days; more recently, i was told it would ship by April 4. I suppose if it becomes available now I'll elect to wait til i can get the improved MBA and put the bigger SSD in it. It sure would be comforting if apple would offer those bigger drives as BTO. And I'd place a high premium on a lighted keyboard. Give me those things, and as you say, then I'd have all i want (for now).
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The 11 inch MBA
The 13 is terrific. I own the 11 inch MBA. Only 2 problems. Battery life is not nearly as good as your 13 (small footprint = small battery). Also, the lack of backlit keys really is a bummer. Typing in bed at night requires some guess work.
All of this is offset by the awesomeness of how easy it is to travel with this machine. Love the size and weight (lack thereof) vs. my 15 inch MBP.
The 13 is terrific. I own the 11 inch MBA. Only 2 problems. Battery life is not nearly as good as your 13 (small footprint = small battery). Also, the lack of backlit keys really is a bummer. Typing in bed at night requires some guess work.
All of this is offset by the awesomeness of how easy it is to travel with this machine. Love the size and weight (lack thereof) vs. my 15 inch MBP.
If it is absolutely deal breaker for you then you might look at Glowing fluorescent keyboard stickers ...
I'd think it's not nearly as good as Apple's backlight (and you can't ramp it up, or turn it off
)For me it would be nice to have KB backlight, but not a big deal
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Thunderbolt uses DisplayPort 1.1a which is not as good as DisplayPort 1.2 already found in some GPUs.
Because people are stupid, that's why.
No one realistically games on a Macbook Air. And the SNB IGP is actually very capable. Their GMA offerings have generally always been crap but the 3000 is quite the opposite.
That said, the main use for the Air is as an ultraportable. And the improved battery life and lowered heat output are major advantages for an ultraportable that only a moron would ignore.
Playing Wow on 11" must be quite an experience. One must be quite an addict in order to want to play Wow on an MBA while on the go, I did hear that game was highly addicting. So, from a point of view, I understand the position of the people you call "stupid". Computer game addiction is a phenomena that is hard to deal with, I used to be a game addict but nowadays no game can attract my concentration for more than a day or a week. Civ4 and Simcity 4 Rush hour are exceptions but they have low requirements anyway so that I will be able to play them "while on the go" on the 11". Otherwise, I am quite content with the cheap stuff found on the App Store.
Thanks for calling me stupid. I play my steam bought games on my nVidia equipped Air. I don't have much choice this being my only computer.
It's still less capable than nVidia's 320M which is what now, 2 years old ? Good job Intel! Always behind by a generation. Keep them graphics coming.
Then I'm a moron. I'd rather have the current 7 hours of battery life and current "heat" (what heat ? My MBA doesn't "heat up" at all, even compared to my old MacBook) than a downgraded GPU.
Drop the name calling. The major advantage of an ultra-portable is size and weight. This is why I bought the Air. If it didn't have a 1440x900 screen or a 320M, I wouldn't have bothered to upgrade the MacBook.
Why assume people want to game on the go ? I don't game on the go with my MBA, I usually use it to VPN to work on the go or to do some hobby programming. However, when home, I plug it into my external monitor and I game there. Why wouldn't people with 11" do the same ? Play some WoW/StarCraft/Civilization/Portal/Whatever at home when "docked", unplug and take the laptop on the Go for other tasks they need to do away from home ?
Are you guys so short sighted you can't see a lot of us don't have 2 computers ? What's the use when the MBA is capable of everything ?
I still don't get why there is still no mention of built-in 3G support. For a device as mobile as the MBA, it's beyond me why it's still missing.
The clunky UMTS USB sticks are difficult to handle on the go, particulary on Rev C and earlier they usually don't even fit without an USB extension cable. :-(
But maybe I'm missing something here
The clunky UMTS USB sticks are difficult to handle on the go, particulary on Rev C and earlier they usually don't even fit without an USB extension cable. :-(
But maybe I'm missing something here
I still don't get why there is still no mention of built-in 3G support. For a device as mobile as the MBA, it's beyond me why it's still missing.
But maybe I'm missing something here
Yes, built-in 3G is more costly to buy, usually locked into a particular carrier (what do you mean I can't switch my 1500$ laptop to a new carrier ?) and with the Rev D's 2nd USB port being next to a display port, the "extension" cable is moot.
So you are quite missing tons of things. The current scheme of "get a stick from your carrier" is the best as far as costs and carrier non-attachment go. I tether to my iPhone using Bluetooth anyhow, making the USB thing even more moot.
Built-in 3G is overrated.
I use mine in dimly lit rooms too, but have not problems because I can type. It's a fantastic machine and not to get one because the keys don't glow in the dark is just plain stupid.
If you read my post more carefully you'll understand I was referring to the people who play games on the 11". As far as I'm concerned, working on a laptop with an external monitor plugged in is an exception (rare) and not something common.
Perhaps you mean it is capable of everything you need it to do. I used to have a laptop as a single computer at my home. It resembled a Christmas tree pretty much - it had an USB optical mouse, a printer, external speakers, a Yamaha keyboard, card reader and power cord plugged in. I was always plugging and unplugging cables whenever I wanted to move it to another place. Thank goodness I did not come to the idea to attach an external monitor to it.
If you build a laptop, you're not forced to lock it to a carrier.
Cellular sticks suck.
At the least, all laptops should have ExpressCard.
Gaming on the go
Some of us principally us the air for what it was designed for computing on the go i.e. travel. When you travel a lot it is nice to be able to kick back and enjoy a game or two. The ultimate 13 in plays all the recent games pretty well and works as a second laptop with my company provided POS.
Some of us principally us the air for what it was designed for computing on the go i.e. travel. When you travel a lot it is nice to be able to kick back and enjoy a game or two. The ultimate 13 in plays all the recent games pretty well and works as a second laptop with my company provided POS.
God why don't people research, unless apple decides to not skip directly to ivy bridge, you will NOT get the same intel sb igp as the mbp 13, instead you will get one that's at least 20-30% slower. Something's had to give to get the 35w tdp on the sb mbp cpus down to the 25w/17w level.
USB keyboard + mouse? Was this from the 90s??? Bluetooth keyboards/mice and WiFi printers are how most people do it nowadays. Apples monitors even have a laptop power cord, speakers and a USB hub built in, so it's 3 cables max to attach. If it takes more than 5 literal seconds to connect/disconnect when you move, you're doing it wrong. And with their patents for doing eveything over one cable, looks like the futures only going to get easier.