Apple MacBook Air Announced at MacWorld '08

No one is sure if it is or isn't a LV CPU. Considering the two available speeds they do match up with the current C2D LV units. The only way to find out is to check the System Profiler in Mac OS or use something like CPUID on the Windows side. The machine does have a CPU fan. You can see on one of the pics where they show the system electronics.

 

Great, just what I need. Not only can I lose my remote between the couch cushions, but now my laptop

 

If it's the best ever made sign me up! It just better have lots of blue LEDs.

 

O.O what is this mystery notebook!?!

 

Not its not. Please don't make me go over the reasons why it does not constitute an ultra portable for the tenth time. L2Read.

 

Awesome. Probably rather expensive as well, though I don't know much on details.

(Of course, this is assuming my hypothetical guess is correct, which I'm almost sure it is.)

You, sir, are WRONG, the MB Air is NOT an ultraportable. It is a 13" notebook hacked down to ultraportable weight and thickness. Look at the footprint - its almost the same as the HP dv2500t, which is most certainly NOT an ultraportable.

 

I just noticed that in the details for the MacBook Air given on NBR, the MBA is described as "ultra-portable". This is misleading and incorrect and should not be given in the product description.

 

Just updated that now. We were making a template on the fly as things were coming out and were really hoping for an ultraportable . Just changed it to "ultra thin"

 

Who cares about what you call it! The fact is that it's a very light 13.3" notebook. How 'bout we call it a "veryportable" laptop. I don't understand what the big deal about the ultraportable label is. I'm sure that we are all smart enough to make our own decision on whether or not it is portable enough to fit our own needs.

I personally don't care too much about the footprint, as long as it is small enough to open in a plane without hitting the seat in front of me (pretty much all sub 14" widescreen laptop would do). What I do care about is the weight. After lugging around my 14.1" asus w3v in a conference all day, which weighs 5.4lbs or so, I really wished that my laptop was lighter. I don't recall ever wishing it were smaller though. In fact I probably wished that it had a bigger screen a few times.

Other things that I am looking for in a laptop: performance and battery life. As a physics PhD student, I need to do some serious work on my laptop. I don't think that I could work all day squinting at a tiny 11" screen. All ultraportable laptops have ULV processors in them, which just aren't powerful enough for what I need.

To summarize, I want the lightest possible 13" laptop with the most powerful processor that still has decent battery life. The macbook air pretty much fits the bill.

 

Samsung Q45. There you go, problem solved. The big thing about the category is that the merit of an ultraportable is the footprint.

Thanks Kevin! I was hoping for an ultraportable too. Or a nice multitouch based UMPC...

 

One more thing. To all those people complaining that Apple is ripping you off with the $1000 extra it charges for the 64GB SSD drive, that's what those types of drives cost! If you don't believe me, check out http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609244. That 64GB drive is over $1500!!!

I think that the pricing is quite reasonable compared to other laptops in the same weight category. Don't get me wrong, I still think that all "ultraportables" are overpriced.

 

And the MBA is the most overpriced of all considering the tasks that it can only do.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately though, you can't buy samsung laptops in Canada (I'm not exactly sure why)

Another reason why I'm really interested in the MBA is the operating system. I've never used OSX before, but I've been using various linux distros over the past year and really like them except for a few problems that don't exist with OSX. I would rather not go back to windows if I didn't have to. I'm not a fanboy, it's just that a unix environment is better suited for my needs.

 

I have to quote this for truth, even though the thing about male enhancement pills is a bit.....flammatory.

But I agree with you 100% otherwise. To me, a 2510p would be plenty small, thin, and light enough for me. Heck, I don't even mind my nw8440's size and weight that much--and that's a 15.4" model that weighs 6 lbs and is 1.1-1.4 in. thick.

To me, I would much rather have an ugly and heavy machine that was reasonably capable over an ultra-stylish notebook that wasn't very capable and was missing fundamental features. In other words, form follows function. Clearly, Apple had it backwards.

 

I'm assuming that you are referring to the lack of ports. I agree that an ethernet port, and an extra usb port would of been nice. I really don't see why it would not be possible to include these extra things.

This being said, why is the MBA overpriced? Let's compare it to the cheapest TZ that is currently priced at $2099.99 on sonystyle.com. It has a slower processor, smaller screen (it used to be that people paid more for larger screens), and less ram. It does have more connections though, a dvd drive and longer battery life. Based on these facts, I find it hard to justify the extra $400 that it costs.

 

Most powerful processor? I think not, considering most other 13" notebooks can be specced with the T7800, which is what, 2.6GHz? Thats a full 1000MHz faster than the L7500 LV in the MB Air.

 

OMG one usb port.... I'm not ever going to consider buying it until there is more than one USB port, and a disk drive. cool concept, but the extra thinness doesn't offset the loss of capability, performance, and your money.

 

I really hate it when people keep b####ing about the having a slower processor. Its an entirely different class of processor (ULV compared to LV or standard). On every future review I publish should I mark a con that the notebooks processor is slower than the equivalent desktop processor?

Also battery life is going to be a joke on the MBA unless they are running pulling off some voodoo magic with the power management. The Sony TZ has a 65Whr battery and gets about 7-8 hours of life on one of the most efficient intel processors made for compacts. The MBA has a 37WHr battery, and at best as a standard LV processor, yet still claims up to 5 hours. Is the lid closed?

 

Quite a statement and completely incorrect. One example is the ThinkPad X61, which comes with CPUs up to T7500 2.2 GHz C2Ds. And the new Penryns have just been announced for introduction in the X-series as well.

 

I didn't mean that the 1.8HGz processor was the fastest available. What I meant was that I want the fastest processor that can fit in a sub 3lbs package while still maintaining decent battery life (4hours+).

Most other 13" laptops are a lot heavier. For example, the sony SZ is almost 4lbs. Most 13" laptops with the 2.6GHz cpu don't have that great battery life too. I'm not saying that the real life battery life of the MBA will be that great either, but I'll wait and see the reviews before I make up my mind.

Anyway, I don't want to start a flame war, I just wanted to say that everyone has different needs. The MBA fits my needs, and I'm not some style obsessed apple fanatic that spends my time in starbucks ordering male enhancement pills. Just because the MBA does not fit yours needs it does not mean that it's a complete disaster.

 

But the X61 weights 3.7 pounds with the 8-cell battery that is needed to get 4 hours + of battery life. According to some here it wouldn't qualify as an ultraportable.

Even so, your are right and so I'll amend my statement to "most ultraportables...".

 

321 responses?

25,000 views?

Is that all?

 

Absolutely not! For some people it's not that much of a concern. If I just needed to work on a word document or some spreadsheet, the ULV processors would be fine.

All that I'm saying is that for some people such as myself, processor speed is important.

 

The lowest model 1800$ the top model is like 3000$

 

I don't know... I was wondering that myself. I'll wait and see what the reviewers say.

 

I can just picture all those complaining about the lack of ports sitting on a plane or at Starbucks with their Vaios and connecting mice and printers and network cables. The whole point about the Air is obviously that everything you connect should be wireless. If you have a wireless printer, a wireless network, a bluetooth mouse, a wireless backup system and pretty much everything else wireless too, you don't have to complain about ports. Just buy the accessories. And that's the whole point.

 

I remember when apple ditched the 3.5" floppy drive. There was a huge uproar, people were adamant about it being a necessity. Now who's using their floppy drive anymore?

 

Then why the lack of 3G and HSDPA? Did anyone else hear that gun shot? Is that Apple shooting themselves in the foot? They give this whole show about the MacBook Air being based on wireless connectivity and then forget these two ingredients... Please don't argue that the "whole point about the Air" is being wireless. I have wireless on my year old Q35 yet I don't use a wireless printer, wireless backup etc... Why? Because that technology is still far too immature. News flash - the MBA did not pioneer wireless connectivity contrary to what some Kool Aid drinkers would have you believe.

 

Yes because that makes sense to have to spend $100 on a wireless printer, $100 for a Optical drive, $50 for a wireless router, $200-$400 for a wireless back up system, $50 for a bluetooth mouse all so you can use this very magical and special laptop...Orrrrrrr you could by a different ultraportable laptop that has various USB ports, Ethernet ports, and Optical drives all built in all for less then the prices f the above components.

Yes I know Apple is in the business of making money but in this case as a consumer that is just not an economical purchase. In fact it makes it even less appealing so I how was this a good thing?

 

At the time a lot of software and programs were already moving to CD based formats. Remember this was 1998 when the jettisoned the Floppy Drive. And even then it still took years before it was pretty much wiped off the face of the planet. i think Optical Formats have a while to go before they die especially since DVD's are the preferred video view medium and you can play them on PC's. Floppy's were basically good for moving information between non-networked machines. You couldn't watch a VHS tape on your desktop or laptop computer. The floppy drive was limited in what it could do. USB Memory Keys basically was the death blow to the already dying format. We are not at that point. I guess yeah 5 years down the road when whatever is coming out to replace optical devices we can look back to the early ultra-portables that came sans optical drives and say they started it. But then that isn't Apple.

 

I already have a printer connected to my wireless router which I can access wirelessly. I don't need an optical drive (I have a desktop), most people with a laptop already have a wireless router. I don't need a wireless backup system: I can put my backups on any other computer. I don't need a bluetooth mouse: there is a usb port. Besides, when I'm on the road, I'll probably just use the trackpad.

 

You're talking about....2015 maybe???
I guess you can apply for a marketing job at Apple now.

But that's just you, there are not so many people that have a wireless printer, or another desktop to use, and obviously you can't watch a DVD or maybe listen to music CD. What if you have to connect to the computer with more USB devices. And people do something else on the road, not just open the computer for 5 hours (that's questionable anyway). Like I said, the MBA is just overpriced considering what you can only do with it. Not to mention if somehow the batter dies...well another MBA to buy there you go. And Apple gets more money, what a brilliant strategy !

 

I never said that apple was the first to omit the optical drive. I agree with you that the dvd disk isn't at the same point that the floppy was in 1998, but that being said I don't use the optical drive in my current laptop very often. Most of the time, I have the modular optical drive swiped out and instead use an extra battery.

 

Then get an Asus Eee PC.

 

Very funny... But the Eee PC is not for me.

 

Why not? It fulfills everything you are looking for and costs far less than the MBA. Or are you just going to get the MBA so you can be at the bleeding edge?

 

What's up with all the personal attacks? Why does it make people here so mad that some might like the MBA for what it is: a light 13.3" notebook with a decent processor and battery life (well, we'll see about that last one)?

If you really want to know why I don't want the Eee:
-screen is too small
-keyboard is too small
-too little hard drive space
-too little ram
-puny cpu

I don't think that I could write my thesis with the Eee, run virtualization software and run my simulations.

One more point that everyone seems to be missing. If you want a laptop that runs OSX natively, you only have 3 choices. The operating system is a huge selling point for me. I've been holding off purchasing a macbook just because they were are all so heavy. Now I have a lighter choice, which makes me happy.

 

I'm glad you changed this.

 

Yeah, I apologize for the original message. It was written rather hastily without much forethought or after consideration(a bit like the MBA design I must say). Still my thoughts remain - the majority of those that purchase this notebook will solely do so just for the short lasting aesthetic appeal and the "ooohs" and "aaahs" it will generate around the water cooler.

If you do decide to opt for the MBA then enjoy being part of a VERY select group. My bet? You can't write your thesis on the MBA keyboard either.

I don't think anyone is made "mad" by people seeing the MBA in one light. Its when they fail to neglect the glaring omissions from the overall package that ultimately do not make the purchase valid. Why, may I ask, do you require the MBA (with what will surely be a god-awful keyboard) for writing your thesis when by your own admittance you have a desktop that is surely better suited to such a task?

And if you were originally considering the MacBook but were put off by the weight, why didn't you consider lighter notebooks or other options such as the Sony SZ. I just fail to see why anyone would have a reason to purchase this notebook.

 

Well, the small screen and keyboard are valid points, but at least the Eee PC uses a standard monitor out port and offers three USB ports so you can connect an external monitor and keyboard more easily than with a MacBook Air.

The hard drive space and RAM are both user upgradeable on the Eee PC, unlike the MacBook Air ... and you can get an extended life battery for the Eee PC.

As for the 900MHz processor (yes, it is 900MHz if you run the correct BIOS) it really isn't that much slower than the base 1.6GHz processor in the MacBook Air in terms of raw power.

OS is a matter of personal choice. I run XP SP2 with an OSX Leopard theme and dock and I find it actually a little easier to use than true OSX Leopard.

Still, I'm getting off track. As wonderful as the Eee PC is (for some people) I'm not sure why so many people in various forums are suggesting it over the MacBook Air. These are COMPLETELY different types of notebooks that target COMPLETELY different buyers. About the only thing these two notebooks have in common is that they are working portable computers.

My work-issued Dell Latitude D630 and my Motorola Q smartphone have about as much in common as the MacBook Air and Eee PC.

 

No problem .

Yeah, I really don't know about this. I'll have to wait and see one for myself.

That's a good question. I'm going to be traveling a lot over the next few months, and so I kind of need a laptop to keep working. The asus w3v that we currently own is always used by my wife, and I do have an ancient 8.5lbs compaq presario with 45min battery life that sounds like a vacuum cleaner which I might be forced to use but I rather not .

Ok, I'll agree with you on this one. If I ever buy a MBA, I'll know what I'm getting into, but I would like to see the look on some poor soul's face that can connect his brand new laptop to his router because the MBA does not have an ethernet port. The lack of an ethernet port is pretty astounding and the biggest oversight in my opinion. Many hotels for example do provide free internet access, but don't have wireless in the rooms.

I did in fact seriously consider it. Essentially, it comes down to the operating system. You might think that this is really stupid, but for me this is quite important. Should I buy the SZ, I'd install some variant of Linux on it. The reason being is that I really like Linux for work purposes: it's much easier to remotely operate and connect to other Linux computers, I prefer the text editors for writing papers with Latex and programming, and I can get a free high quality compilers (the intel compilers are free for personal use on Linux). Linux is also nice because you don't need any virus scanners, or even a firewall really (well, as long as your router has one). You don't get a million annoying popups telling you that your desktop has too many icons, or that you need to reboot to complete updates.

The problem is that Linux can also be a real pain in the ass for things like connecting to a wireless network if you wireless card is not supported, or importing pictures from a digital camera (I can't get this to work properly). Setting up Linux on the SZ could potentially be a huge ordeal that I'd rather not go through...

I never really considered OSX until my supervisor purchased a macbook pro. I really like that OSX has a UNIX base (so you can do the same things that Linux can), but is tweaked to work perfectly with the hardware, and that things like multimedia work perfectly out of the box. So for me OSX is the perfect combo of the best of windows and the best of linux. The deciding factor for me is that with the unity feature of vmware's fusion virtualization product for the mac, I wouldn't have any problems running that one stupid scientific application that I need from the world of windows.

Anyway, I'm not saying that OSX should be a selling feature for most people, just that for my particular needs I think that I would be happiest with it.

Speaking of theses, I should really stop procrastinating and get back to work!

 

On the Apple website they claim, and I quote, "Between 0.16 to 0.76 inch thin and weighing only 3.0 pounds, MacBook Air sets new standards for ultra-portable computing — without the usual ultra-portable compromises."

LOL

 

enough to attribute a decent market to sell to and insure that production if slow will be at least mediated by jacked up margins to ensure there will be moderate success

 

I think Apple are just hoping the reality distortion field works well with this one. Pixelot's post really outlines.

Good luck with the work Someguy00 - I know how it feels and I've seen this whole thread as a most fabulous means to procrastinate.

 

one feature that would increase the macbook air's potential (at least in my eyes) would be an option for a docking station. i can live without my mouse and keyboard when i'm out in about, and i am fine with dealing with small screens.....but when i'm home, i would like the ability to not only use my accessories and use an external monitor, but to just plop my notebook onto my docking station and recharge my computer without having to mess with a single cord. unfortunately, given apple's track record, it probably will not happen.

 

I was blown away that it didnt even have some flush contacts on the bottom for a docking station. That would have solved many of my issues with it.

 

I'm willing to bet they won't and don't have a docking station for it because -- it's supposed to be totally wireless. You can't get one for a Macbook either because Bluetooth mice and keyboards are available and cheap.

For our Macbook the only wires needed are for power (to charge it up), and for an external monitor. Usually though the external monitor isn't hooked up. Everything else is uses via the network - printers, file shares, etc. This MBA is of the same concept. It works great in conjunction with your desktop computer, but as your only computer I think it's lacking and you'd be better off with a traditional laptop.

Greg.

 

That is the big question. The lack of EDGE/EVDO/3G/HSDPA is the only real flaw about the computer. At least it's a much much bigger flaw than the lack of ports and an optical media bay.

And who cares about cost? It's a cheap machine. CHEAP. If you want it and need it you buy it. It's only $1700. Calling a $1700 laptop expensive is silly. That's 10 days of work for most people. In Norway Apple wants $2600 for the low end Air and $4500 for the SSD-version, and I'm still considering selling my X60s to get the low end version. You guys are lucky to be able to buy it for as low as $1700

 

Holy crap. Lots of people crapping all over the new MBA. All I have to say is you need to see one in person. I'm only speaking from personal experience, but folks I know who have used small and light notebooks did so for the lower weight, and hated the tiny screens and itty-bitty keyboards. I've used my MacBook in coach and the footprint is just fine. But after cramming it into a carry-on with a bunch of other junk and lugging it around the airport, I would have appreciated it being 2lbs lighter.

I love the emphasis on what the MBA can "only" do. What can't it do? I've hardly ever used my optical drive, never used firewire or wired networking. For me, it's dead weight. Wireless printing is easy and becoming much cheaper, wireless routers are cheap. What is the big fuss? Being able to use the optical drive on a networked machine is a great idea. I planned on using a BT mouse (they're cheap now too), but after using the trackpad with two-finger scrolling and "right-click", I don't see the need.

I can use Office, web, edit photos, write, etc. on the MBA. It's no gaming rig, but nothing in this class is. I can also say that the keyboard is great. It's different and takes a little getting used to, but it's a great design. Don't knock it until you've actually seen it.

 

if you want a 13" notebook you're better off getting a sz, m1330 or the regular macbook.

if you want an ultraportable, you get a tz or something wiht a 10-12" screen.

the end.