MacBook Air - First thoughts
Summary: At Macworld 08 Steve Jobs introduced us to Apple's latest addition to the Mac family - MacBook Air. What's so special about the MacBook Air? It's the world's thinnest, most portable notebook.
At Macworld 08 Steve Jobs introduced us to Apple's latest addition to the Mac family - MacBook Air. What's so special about the MacBook Air? It's the world's thinnest, most portable notebook.
The dimensions of the MacBook Air are unbelievable - 0.16-0.76 inch (0.4-1.94 cm) high by 12.8 inches (32.5 cm) by 8.94 inches (22.7 cm) and the whole package comes in at 3.0 pounds (1.36 kg). Despite the small size, the MacBook Air is equipped with a 13.3-inch widescreen TFT panel capable of 1280 by 800 native resolution, and a full-size keyboard (which is backlit) with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys
The system is based on Intel's Core 2 Duo processor range and comes in either 1.6 or 1.8GHz flavors and 2GB of DDR2 RAM. Also squeezed in to this tiny aluminum box is an 80GB drive or an optional 64GB solid-state drive.
It seems that Apple has also caught the environmental bug - the MacBook Air seems like it's a little better for the sky (and the water, trees and everything else) than other Macs:
- Highly recyclable, mercury-free aluminum enclosure
- Mercury-free LCD display with arsenic-free glass
- PVC-free internal cables
- Largely recyclable, low-volume packaging
- Meets ENERGY STAR requirements
- MacBook Air received a Silver rating from EPEAT
Peripheral connections seem a little mean - a single USB port, an audio out port and a micro-DVI port. No Ethernet, no modem (sold separately as USB adaptors)
Also, the MacBook Air doesn't ship with an optical drive. If you want one you have to buy the optional MacBook Air SuperDrive ($99).
Here are some prices for you to mull over:
- 1.6GHz, 80GB MacBook Air - $1,799.00
- 1.6GHz, 64GB SSD - $2,798.00
- 1.8GHz, 80GB MacBook Air - $2,099.00
- 1.8GHz, 64GB SSD - $3,098.00
One downside that I can see - the battery is not user replaceable. This is starting to become a trend for Apple. I guess it's a good way to build a level of obsolescence into a product so people come back in the future and buy again. Not sure how ethical, customer-friendly or environmentally-friendly that is though.
Apple sure has a way of making the small seem big. My prediction is that this is going to be a huge hit for Apple.
Thoughts?
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Talkback
i wont say huge hit
touch trackpad is very good
back-light display and full keyboard are good
eco-friendly - better.
But,
Mono Speakers??
4200RPM HDD??
1 USB??
No dedicated graphics??
$1799 for 1.6Ghz??
$3000 for 1.8GHz and SSD???
hmmm.. they will sell but, i dont think it'll be HUGE
My guess is
small (though larger than the Mac mini), very expensive, and lacked a lot of features.
It didn't sell well either. Apple only made it so they could be the first to market with
the smallest possible desktop computer.
I think the best thing Apple will accomplish here is that for a while, all super-thin
notebooks will be compared to this one.
Well...
Sub notebooks are about size and weight. Speakers are not important, graphics are not important, the speed is the fastest of any sub-notebook. And there are not any 5400rpm 1.8" HD's.
re: Sony TZ
You must be looking at a different model than I. The TZ130N/B (1.06Ghz), includes a DVD RW, user replaceable battery, a 100GB HDD, and an ethernet port... comes in at 2.6 lbs and costs about $1,600.00 if you add the additional 1GB of DDR2 to match the MacBook Air. I would consider that the base model.
It's 2.7 pounds
hard drive (100 GB).
It's a good competing laptop, no doubt, but for the hard-core road warrior that is the
target market for this, I think the MacBook Air has the edge.
hmm
hmm, my supplier listed it as 2.6... but we'll go with your figure (2.7). I added the cost of the extra 1GB of RAM into the $1,600 price already.
As I stated earlier I believe the "Air" will sell very well. But it still seems over priced IMO. I think that the price will drop in a few months after release just like the iPhone did.
EDU. SPOU+ STUPID
Very Nice Design
RE: MacBook Air - First thoughts
As nice as it looks, I think i'll wait a few months before jumping in and buying one...but it shore is purty...
How big...
Same size
Should be smaller.
It's a great looking laptop...
The biggest downside that I can see is the battery not being replacable. I can see maybe a $500 iPhone, but I guess Apple now just considers $3000 laptops now disposable? That's not reasonable. The battery should ALWAYS be replacable IMHO.
Get a BlueTooth mouse
Sigh.
charges which is right around three years of typical use. So basically after three years,
if you aren't buying a new laptop, you get the battery replaced for $130.
I think the concern here is not 3 years from now
RE: MacBook Air - First thoughts
But seriously, no Ethernet Port, no Internal Optical Drive, no user replaceable battery... and $1800 for the cheapest one? That's a bit much.
Compare to the Sony Vaio TZ...
Intel? Core? 2 Duo Processor U7700 @ 1.33GHz
Hybrid 64GB Solid State Drive, 250GB hard drive
External DVD?R/RW DL optical drive
No ethernet, either. It's also $1000 more expensive because it includes the SSD. With
the AirBook, it's $1000 option.
Grabbed specs from Sony's website, another user...
that includes an ethernet port and built-in drive. I can't imagine that being very
small, though.
Not so sure about that
that includes an ethernet port and built-in drive. I can't imagine that being very small, though.[/i]
the TZ130N/B manages to add both and still keep the weight down to 2.6 lbs and that's not including a SSD. So I would assume it wouldn't weigh that much more, if any. It is however a slower CPU than the MacBook Air.
Don't get me wrong, I think the design is nice and it should sell very well. But just as I felt about the iPhone when it was first introduced... it's priced to high, IMO.