That observation of Mossberg's wasn't meant for people who understand processors and AI - Mossberg would be happy to stay away from people that understand anything at all about computers
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Walt Mossberg Reviews the New MacBook Air
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That observation of Mossberg's wasn't meant for people who understand processors and AI - Mossberg would be happy to stay away from people that understand anything at all about computers
A review without benchmarks is just personal interest fluff.
The 1.4 GHz appears to be terrifying for some users. 6-8 applications open on PowerPC was fine, you just needed the RAM. You still need the RAM and disk drive speed today. 4 GB of RAM was easily standard 3 years ago.
It takes longer for me to type my password than it takes to wake any of my computers.
Which is exactly what Mossberg's audience wants. They want to know how fast it feels, how well the user interprets things going on. They don't care about the actual numbers.
2 GB is sufficient for the air. Anyone insisting on more as standard is asking Apple to consider this a suitable primary replacement when they clearly want you to own more than just this computer.
"Well, as long as the amount of explosives you're packing isn't significant, come on board and enjoy the flight, sir!"
"By the way, take off your shoes and no bottles of liquid over 3 ounces, Osama."
If the next MacBook Pro 13" doesn't have a dedicated GPU, I will be going into the MacBook Air segment if the price point is there.
I would buy this 11" Air if it came stock with 4GB of RAM and larger HD storage for a Grand.
The stock 64GB storage on the 11" is a joke to the smart consumer looking to spend $1000 wisely.
The pricing is so off for many, but Apple sure has a method to their madness. The Apple cult is even stronger with this introduction of a 64GB MacBook Air for $1000.
I would buy this 11" Air if it came stock with 4GB of RAM and larger HD storage for a Grand.
The stock 64GB storage on the 11" is a joke to the smart consumer looking to spend $1000 wisely.
The pricing is so off for many, but Apple sure has a method to their madness. The Apple cult is even stronger with this introduction of a 64GB MacBook Air for $1000.
I'm honestly curious if Walt Mossberg is considered a relevant influence, with regards to purchasing decisions, to any group under retirement age.
I cannot personally think of a single person who has ever cited Walt Mossberg on anything. Whether it be their opinion of a new product, their decision to purchase a new product, their decision not to, etc. Every opinion I seem to hear comes from people who watch various lengthy YouTube reviews or read more qualified and thorough write-ups from places like Anandtech.
I mean christ Walt, it's nice to see what the battery life is at max brightness, zero power saving features turned on and loud music playing, but that's not typical use. At least show the other end of the spectrum so people who use these things to type and listen to music without the screen set to "burn retinas" have an idea what they'll get out of it.
Maybe I'm spoiled with more technical write-ups but all his "reviews" read like fluff with ambiguous testing. Why read crap like that when much better write-ups are available?
I cannot personally think of a single person who has ever cited Walt Mossberg on anything. Whether it be their opinion of a new product, their decision to purchase a new product, their decision not to, etc. Every opinion I seem to hear comes from people who watch various lengthy YouTube reviews or read more qualified and thorough write-ups from places like Anandtech.
I mean christ Walt, it's nice to see what the battery life is at max brightness, zero power saving features turned on and loud music playing, but that's not typical use. At least show the other end of the spectrum so people who use these things to type and listen to music without the screen set to "burn retinas" have an idea what they'll get out of it.
Maybe I'm spoiled with more technical write-ups but all his "reviews" read like fluff with ambiguous testing. Why read crap like that when much better write-ups are available?
Which honestly makes me wonder how other people purchase anything.
I'd like to see how the MacBook and 13.3" MacBook Pro sales fair after this release. Apple's platform is too flat with barely any differentiation beyond this model was just updated vs. a slightly older one.
Thinking makes the brain hurt or why think when someone else does it for me? Gimmie the shiny!
Mossbugger is a tool.
There is NOTHING in common between iPad and Air, except the company making them and that they are computing devices. Fail, Mossberg.
There is NOTHING in common between iPad and Air, except the company making them and that they are computing devices. Fail, Mossberg.
That depends.
A heavy user would be a iMac or MacPro. Then a mobile device would be either an iPad or MBA depending if they required OSX.
Not everyone has an iPad. I still think the battery life sucks. Sub 8 hour just feels wrong in today's laptop..
Today on Security Theatre...
Today on Security Theatre...
The status of the 13-inch MacBook Air remains unclear, however, as the agency is still deciding whether the machine qualifies as a full-fledged notebook computer that would require separate examination or if its thinness and reduced complexity achieved through the lack of an optical drive and traditional hard drive would allow it to slip through as a smaller electronic device.
WILL the MacBook Air 13-inch get the coveted 'non-hassle' status? TUNE IN NEXT WEEK to find out!
Because, hey, it's not like there's any actual threat here. But they have to look like they're doing something, or some of us might forget to be TERRIFIED next time we fly, right?
-fred
Today on Security Theatre...
The status of the 13-inch MacBook Air remains unclear, however, as the agency is still deciding whether the machine qualifies as a full-fledged notebook computer that would require separate examination or if its thinness and reduced complexity achieved through the lack of an optical drive and traditional hard drive would allow it to slip through as a smaller electronic device.
WILL the MacBook Air 13-inch get the coveted 'non-hassle' status? TUNE IN NEXT WEEK to find out!
Because, hey, it's not like there's any actual threat here. But they have to look like they're doing something, or some of us might forget to be TERRIFIED next time we fly, right?
-fred
You can push that 2GB very very quickly with even light photo editing in Photoshop. If it's extremely light use....2GB is probably fine. But if you plan on keeping that thing for more than a year or so, you'd be an absolute fool not to grab the RAM upgrade.
I can't imagine the disparity between the 2GB and 4GB models a year or two from now since it's only available BTO. The resale value differences will probably be quite noticeable.
This wins my 'everyone is exactly the same as me' award. (I have also started calling this my 'libertarian' award.)
I have exactly 0 interest in the benchmarks, and I am a software developer who often runs XCode, VMWare, and two browsers at the same time. Every computer sold in the last two years gets the exact same benchmark score for me: 'fast enough'. (As long as it has at least 4 gigs of RAM.)
I have a lot of interest in: how reliable a machine is, how tough it is, how easy it is to carry around, whether its keyboard is any good, how well its wireless networking does, how good the viewing angle on its LCD is, how long its battery life is, how easy it is to yank out and use while standing up, ... aaaand so on.
So yeah. Believe it or not, the vast majority of people aren't like you, and don't give the faintest hint of a snot about benchmarks. But it's reassuring to people like us that people like you are out there, making sure that all the benchmarks are... y'know... benchmarkier. Than they were before.
-fred
AMEN TO THAT!
The stringent analysis of tech-wizards is the last thing to interest me. A simple review, such as as this one, more than paints the picture I'm interested in. Glad to know I'm not alone.
Funny you should ask that. When I was looking at these at the apple store , every one of their Demo machines was a 128gb although the display card listed them as a 64gb.
Obviously they tank up the software load on the demos so much that they cant use the 64gb ones for display. But when I saw that even the 256gb vsn only had about 40 GB of free space , I wondered how much a 64gb would even give you to work with.
The only useful thing he wrote is about battery lifetime. Everything else is just a crap needed to fill whole column. If you wanna know how good (or bad) some hardware is, look for benchmarks, and if you wanna review, the only way is to try it yourself.
Mossberg is just repeating Apple's hype that the new MBA is somehow inspired by the iPad. There is no fundamental difference between this new MBA and the original one that predated the iPad.
This is significant because it proves that Apple creates hype. A lot of their marketing is hyperbole.
This is significant because it proves that Apple creates hype. A lot of their marketing is hyperbole.
Agreed. They are often quite pleasant. Cheerful even. But it is still pretty random. They might let it stay in the bag, or they ask you politely to take it out. Or they may get terse and authoritarian. My experience is that once they've made their mind up, pointing out the rules they're supposed to be following is not constructive.
Me too. Manchester, New Hampshire airport this past June.*
Regarding the ability to not take the air out of a bag...when my wife and I travel, I carry a backpack stuffed to the gills with every electronic doodad we will be taking. I'm so used to emptying the contents of the bag that I'll take the MBA out now, just out of habit.
(regarding my earlier statement...I took both laptops out of the bag, but purposely left in the iPad because my wife reminded me it was on the no-check list. After having me remove the iPad so they could re-screen the bag, they found battery chargers and other stuff that they felt needed more thorough screening. Took about 5 minutes for them to inspect everything in my backpack.....)
My 11.6 128 GB showed 109 GB free upon first boot. After checking it out, I shut it down, rebooted with the USB stick, wiped the drive, and customized the installation. After it was finished, I had 112 GB free (no iLife apps).
And this reminds me....if I delete the safe sleep image, I'll free up 4 more gigs....
I read the review and it seemed pretty balanced... what did you think was off about it?
Tsa
This is news to me how the US TSA regards notebooks of various sizes. I have always had to take out my iPad when going through security, it is just not worth arguing with a TSA agent, they will always win and the rules vary from airport to airport.
This is news to me how the US TSA regards notebooks of various sizes. I have always had to take out my iPad when going through security, it is just not worth arguing with a TSA agent, they will always win and the rules vary from airport to airport.