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The real point of MacBook Air - and why everyone is missing it.

missed point

I totaly agree, most every body missed the point with this machine, it is not meant to replace or improve on the MB or MBP. If it does not have the features you need (or think you need) it is not for you! get a MB or MBP, Apple still sells them! and will upgrade them soon enough (well maybe not soon enough for some..) This is a new product for road warriors who need a very light and thin computer (think carry on bag only on a 2 week trip!) for basic tasks and have a full featured power machine at home. Wireless is the way of the future! I like this computer a lot and don't need what it does not have (my iMac does), and soon enough the solid state drive prices will drop and size increase and I'll get one! $3088 ouch!
 
The MacBook Air is an awesome piece of kit and fits my requirements perfectly: I am a professional developer and work most of the time on my Mac Pro. However, I need to visit clients on occasion to attend meetings, gather requirements and demonstrate products. I'm currently lugging around an MBP for this but that will soon be getting swapped out for an MBA - every ounce of weight saved is a godsend when tramping across London on the Tube!
Personally, I can't wait
 
As well if you think the price of the AIR is too much, just wait 2-3 months. Then look at the refurb store. With any luck you should be able to find them at anywhere from 15-30% cheaper. That is $1529 - or lower if we are lucky. I know I got my $1499 ibook at $1299 at the time.

Rj
 
Tosser said:
What features? It looks like the trackpad (except for shape) is the same as in the MBP, and all that wifi stuff is software based too.
Click to expand...
It supports multi-touch like gestures for one thing. Has 802.11n + BT2.1 (not unique I realise, but it's still all crammed in there never the less).
The "features" you speak of is "non-features", except for the weight and the optional SSD. They're nonfeatures, because it really isn't anything more than omissions and downgrades in a pretty shelll. Hell, even the screen is exactly the same as in the current MacBook.
You too speak of size, but the computer has the same footprint as the current MacBook, and it really isn't that thin.
Click to expand...
Intel actually shrunk the chip for them, this is pretty significant going forward. The displays are LED backlit, so not the same as the MacBook as you suggest.

How can you say it isn't very thin? I mean really, how? It's *the* thinnest laptop in the world (apparently). To say it isn't thin is just nonsense.

Nice choice of username btw, very apt. :rolleyes:
 
I agree with the OP. Apple's bread and butter is to differentiate their products from the rest of the world. They do that, typically, by better design. This means high quality design of both hardware and software.

Apple takes risks in moving things forward. "Features" such as dropping ethernet, a built-in battery and no optical drive are controvsial and will definetly force some potential customers to walk away from the Air.

Apple is fine with building niche machines (on a niche platform) almost as proof of concepts. We've had the Cube, the mini, and now the Air. These are machines that many view as crippled or missing features but they definetly push the world of design forward.

I hate to say it but they are trying to "think outside the box". Just look at the multi-touch gestures in the Air. This is going to be huge. Every laptop will have this in 5 years.

Steve Jobs has always done this. He was the first to include a re-writeable Magnetic Optical drive way back in the NeXT machines. It was buggy, expensive and many thought he was nuts. He dropped floppy drives in the original iMac. First to ship 802.11. He goes for the next thing before anyone else even thinks that it is the next thing. For that I admire him and Apple.

One more thought on the optical drive....Does Apple have a hidden agenda in reducing the world's reliance (and usage) of phyiscal DVD media? (iTunes, iPod, iPhone anyone?)
 
pa31t said:
I totaly agree, most every body missed the point with this machine, it is not meant to replace or improve on the MB or MBP. If it does not have the features you need (or think you need) it is not for you! get a MB or MBP, Apple still sells them! and will upgrade them soon enough (well maybe not soon enough for some..) This is a new product for road warriors who need a very light and thin computer (think carry on bag only on a 2 week trip!) for basic tasks and have a full featured power machine at home. Wireless is the way of the future! I like this computer a lot and don't need what it does not have (my iMac does), and soon enough the solid state drive prices will drop and size increase and I'll get one! $3088 ouch!
Click to expand...

LOL, I can carry my telephone hybrid (Eela for my cell), my recorder (1,3kgs/2.5 lbs without extra batteries and microphones etc) and my MBP 15" and still have room for what I need on a three or four week trip in my carry-on. In fact, anything more than two weeks, and the time spent doesn't really matter.

I think a night spend on www.onebag.net will do you well :p

Seriously, though, there are better choices out there, if you want to carry-on. This one is actually rather big. No matter how few CC's they say it is, ou will still have to put in something that will shield it, and unless you have some zipper-case, it will have to be as thick as the macbook at it's thickest point.
 
I agree with the first post but I also disagree. I don't think it's a very useful laptop for a whole lot of people and I think some of those who do buy will have buyers remorse in a couple months.

Just a few issues...

- It's thin but not very small
- non replaceable battery.
- no built in wired ethernet
- 1 USB, no firewire

The USB/firewire and the battery replacement is the biggest, I think.
 
edesignuk said:
It supports multi-touch like gestures for one thing. Has 802.11n + BT2.1 (not unique I realise, but it's still all crammed in there never the less).
Intel actually shrunk the chip for them, this is pretty significant going forward. The displays are LED backlit, so not the same as the MacBook as you suggest.

How can you say it isn't very thin? I mean really, how? It's *the* thinnest laptop in the world (apparently). To say it isn't thin is just nonsense.

Nice choice of username btw, very apt. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Well, after having received threats on my life on another forum becuase I was stupid enough to use a nick that was easily deciphered as my real name, I had to come up with something. I like the word in itself. I think you have to be out of reach to try and use that as some sort of let-down.

Anyhoo – as someone else have mentioned, Intel already made a very small prototype to show of as an ultralight example for all the others. Further, I doubt that Apple had to "convince" them. It propably has more to do with Apple having a first go with Intel's new processor (i.e. and the deal includes what journalists call "an exclusive". I seriously doubt that processor is only made because apple wanted to put it into an untested computer selling to an untried (for Apple) segment.

Yes, yes, it's thin, but really - the thinnest ever? Are you sure it's not the G5-fastest-computer-in-the-world over again? What makes the alarm bells ring in relation to that claim is that they felt it necessary to say that the computer is both this thickness and that thickness.

Hm, LED-backlit? Sure. I am no computer-wiz, I prefer to actually do something else. But it seems all laptops are going back-lit, quite a few are already, and for all intents and purposes it's the exact same as in the MacBook: Both are glossy, both are the exact same dimensions, both have the same resolution. And in a month the "LED backlit" will be silently introduced to the MacBook. Not that it matters, because, as I said, for all intents and purposes it's the exact same. It's nothing more than a month's wait or so, and presto, it will be in the Macbook, because that is propably what the screen was intended for: College movie watchers and other people that really like glossy things.

With regards to the multitouch: Yes, it does. My point was, that technically it doesn't look like there would be any problem having the MBP-touchpad do the same. I am well aware that it doesn't as of now. I am saying it looks like the hardware is the same, although shaped a little different. I am saying that if Apple wanted to, they could make the same things possible in an MBP. I don't know if scrolling and so forth is supported on the MBs, but my guess is that it is. and if so, even there, it's just like a thinned and stripped MB. Only Apple chose to not update the MBs and MBPs to do this too: It's all software based.
 
I've been wondering if this is the first Mac that is not aimed primarily at the US market.

Sub-notebooks and ultra-mobile laptops are still new in the US, but they are a big thing in Japan. Apple has a reputation for innovation, but they had a huge hole in their lineup for the Japanese market.

I'm not expecting a repeat of the infamous "Thread #500" which holds Macrumor readers' responses to the iPod ("No one will buy an Apple MP3 player!! The company is going down the tubes!!"). I am expecting the MBA to sell modestly and profitably in the US, maybe as well at the 17" MBP, and start Apple building in Japan.
 
deanbo said:
1. Wireless is slow.
2. Wireless is insecure.
3. It's expensive.
4. For the extra cost you can have half the features.

If you want to see show ponies go buy a horse because this particular machine is way overpriced and way under featured.
Click to expand...

That's not true at all. Did you see the Sony(s) this was designed to compete against? For the market it's in, it's a pretty good deal. It's not like the other offerings in this market area have the features a MBP does, and Apple just put out some crap.

For the market area, it's quite competitive.

Wireless is only insecure when it's incorrectly implemented. And Gigabits per second is slow? Huh? I'll take it over a 100MB ethernet any day of the week.

hagjohn said:
I agree with the first post but I also disagree. I don't think it's a very useful laptop for a whole lot of people and I think some of those who do buy will have buyers remorse in a couple months.

Just a few issues...

- It's thin but not very small
- non replaceable battery.
- no built in wired ethernet
- 1 USB, no firewire

The USB/firewire and the battery replacement is the biggest, I think.
Click to expand...

- An inch less in screen size (which wouldn't exactly be a full inch) wouldn't really make that big of a difference.

- A user can't replace the battery, but it can be replaced.

- $29 and you have an ethernet connection.

- You can get a small USB hub, and cheap. It's not that big of a deal.

-----


Nice post OP. You're getting pretty warm, I think.

For whom this product is targeted, it's a pretty good hit.
 
Tosser said:
I actually never said that - I said "it really isn't _that_ thin", although I didn't emphasize the word "that", it's still quite a big difference.
Click to expand...

So… what exactly is thin in your book?

My iPhone is 11.6mm thick… It is super thin…
This MBA is 4mm to 19mm thick.

OMG :eek::eek: Now that you mention it is f**ng huge! :rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Phil A. said:
The MacBook Air is an awesome piece of kit and fits my requirements perfectly: I am a professional developer and work most of the time on my Mac Pro. However, I need to visit clients on occasion to attend meetings, gather requirements and demonstrate products. I'm currently lugging around an MBP for this but that will soon be getting swapped out for an MBA - every ounce of weight saved is a godsend when tramping across London on the Tube!
Personally, I can't wait
Click to expand...

I completely agree - I run my own design agency with my wife. I use my Mac Pro in the office and then when I am visiting clients I take my Powerbook 12 inch. I am now in need of a replacement and the Macbook Air suits my needs exactly.

I didnt want a macbook as I need to look a little more professional (and not like a student) and the 15 inch MBP is just too damn big.

I never use ethernet, the dvd drive, nor any real peripherals so this should be perfect..

People who complain could just as easily complain that the Mac Pro is too big.. or the mac mini is too small ..? Some people are never happy
 
arkitect said:
So… what exactly is thin in your book?
Click to expand...
Do we have a language barrier here, or what is wrong?

This MBA is 4mm to 19mm thick.
Click to expand...
No it's not. It's 19mm thick. Put it in an room in, say, a desk, with less height than 19mm and you will realise it is 19mm thick. Not less than that.

When they claim it's the thinnest notebook in the world, and they claim that it is 4mm thick _as well_ as being 19mm thick. And they show pictures of it from the best angles possible. And I react to that with "it's not _that_ thin", I am of course referring to the fact, that it's not as thin as they would have you to believe. It's not somewhere in between the two. It is in fact just under 2 cm or 4/5ths of an inch thick. Now if you remember the tibook, that was an inch thick, and they couldn't make it thinner because of the optical drive. This has no optical drive and uses a slim iPod drive, and compared to that, it really isn't _that_ slim.


My iPhone is 11.6mm thick… It is super thin…
Click to expand...

Well, my SGH-X820 is slimmer.

OMG :eek::eek: Now that you mention it is f**ng huge! :rolleyes::rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, we all have language problems from time to time. And in fact, the iPhone is quite cumbersome if thought of as a non-3G phone, which I assume it is, with that name and being non-3G.

I never said the MBA was "huge", I said: It really isn't THAT(!!) thin.
Imagine that. If they had made go from a thickness of, say, 16mm to 16mm (yikes! no taper) it would be thinner –*but they propabl wouldn't be able to claim it to be thinnest ever.
 
Tosser, perhaps the reason someone found your real name in another forum and contacted you might be because the person in your mirror that is the problem. :rolleyes:

Anyway, this is a good article.


For anyone who does not have the budget for such a cutting edge device, read:

"The price is competitive with other laptops in its market segment." [CNN.com]

In addition, the solid state drive costs about $1000 alone in a 2.5" form factor. To have it in 1.8" form factor should be even MORE expensive.
 
Tosser said:
Seriously, though, there are better choices out there, if you want to carry-on. This one is actually rather big. No matter how few CC's they say it is, ou will still have to put in something that will shield it, and unless you have some zipper-case, it will have to be as thick as the macbook at it's thickest point.
Click to expand...

Rather big in comparison to what? An iPod? A magazine? Seriously.

This is in fact the thinnest laptop out there, and that's what matters to most travelers. I'm going to assume that Tosser is refering to the "footprint" of the MBA and how there's not that much difference between the MacBook and this. This has been getting lots of attention here on MR, but from the perspective of many potential buyers, this is plus, not a drawback. Full-size keyboard, reasonable screen size, it feels like a real laptop when open, but when you close it, it's thin. That is what a lot of people are looking for.

Let's think about where people put their laptop when traveling primarlily a backpack or briefcase. With either of these choices, thin is what matters. As someone who traveled with a 12" PowerBook G4 for nearly three years, what you might not know is that the 12" PowerBook (1.18") was actually THICKER than either the 15" or 17" PowerBooks (1.1"). When you're putting your computer vertically in a backpack or briefcase, finding a laptop that is thin is much more desirable than one with a small footprint.

I would be very interested to hear why all of the proponents of a reduced footprint for their laptop are privileging footprint over thinness.
 
arkitect said:
No, Tosser, we do not have a language barrier here.
Click to expand...
Well apparently you don't understand the word "that".

Consultant said:
Tosser, perhaps the reason someone found your real name in another forum and contacted you might be because the person in your mirror that is the problem. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yes, rolleyes indeed. Because if someone disagrees enough with another person it's a-okay to make threats and send letters that say they will come and kill you. What logic. Are you living in the middle ages or something?

In reality you're not only saying the above, you're actually saying it is okay to threaten people to silence if they disagree with you. You guys are the best. I really like your understanding of democracy and freedom of speech and how those two go hand in hand.
 
The MBA is perfect for the mobile professional who needs some power but wants to reduce their carry weight.

A pound here, a pound there, doesn't sound like much but it adds up.

I really like the concept of the MBA. Personally, I am a little disappointed that Apple did not go with a 12 inch display with more of an ultra-portable form factor. But I do see the market that they are going after and think that the MBA will be a smashing success.

And you know, that within a year, we will probably see:
- 160GB HD
- 4GB RAM
- 1.8 to 2.0GHz CPU speeds
...and maybe stereo speakers.
 
No ethernet? No Problem!

Anyone who really needs access to a wired port for the MBA should just buy a $99 AirPort Express. It will synch right in to the MBA and provide not only an ethernet adapter but USB as well.:apple:
 
I am the MacBook Air's primary target. I'm a 46 year old guy that travels on business two or three weeks a month. I'm constantly on the move. I need a highly portable laptop that weighs in at next to nothing. I need it to be able to access the internet from my hotel (going to need to buy the dongle or better yet, a airport express for creating my own wireless network in the hotel). I do not need it for entertainment. I have an ipod touch that works well for that. But, that said, I've ripped a butt-load of DVD's for my touch that I could just move over to the MBA.

The video out feature for hooking up to a powerpoint projector is the other big need. AGain, a dongle is there for that.

My only goal will be to talk my IT guys into putting Parallels on one and then loading up the contact manager software that our corp uses. It's only available for WinXp. That completely blows. But, Parallels should fix that.

And, generally, my demographic has no issue dropping 2 large on a laptop.
 
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