# MacBook Air!



## gphillipk (Jan 16, 2008)

Er, I'm a bit surprised that nobody has mentioned this new addition to the MacBook family. http://www.apple.com/macbookair/
What do you all think? The solid-state 64GB HD is an interesting option, external superdrive a plus and minus depending on how you look @ it.


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## mw84 (Jan 16, 2008)

Been mentioned loads of times mate, have a look in 'The official Macworld' thread.


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## gphillipk (Jan 16, 2008)

ah


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## bbloke (Jan 16, 2008)

Also, there is a discussion about the "point" of the MacBook Air in another thread.


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## SGilbert (Jan 16, 2008)

It's not for me.

Too small, non user replaceable battery, no Firewire, too slow, HD too small, and the desireable solid-stare HD is $900 addtl. AND even smaller!


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## Thank The Cheese (Jan 16, 2008)

I think it's cool but it doesn't have a market IMO. People who are attracted to the prettyness but don't care about specs will be put off by the price. Those who like the prettyness but also care about the specs will be put off by the price and specs. It isn't small enough for an ultra-portable, so it's really just an underpowered full-size laptop that happens to be very thin. 

AT the same time, I don't buy the argument of no user-replaceable battery. Everyone complains about this whenever apple releases a portable product but I just don't think it's important. Firstly, most people would replace their laptop before the 3-4 year lifespan of a battery is up, and even if you do replace it, it's only $130. If you could replace it yourself, the battery would cost at least $100 (probably more) anyway. 

Small HD isn't that big a deal IMO, and I think it's plenty fast for its target audience. No ethernet and no firewire is my biggest gripe in terms of specs. 

Anyway, bottom line is I think the AIr is very cool, but I was hoping for a UMPC that was bigger than an iPhone, but must smaller than a MacBook.


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## mdnky (Jan 16, 2008)

Thank The Cheese said:


> I don't buy the argument of no user-replaceable battery. Everyone complains about this whenever apple releases a portable product but I just don't think it's important. Firstly, most people would replace their laptop before the 3-4 year lifespan of a battery is up, and even if you do replace it, it's only $130. If you could replace it yourself, the battery would cost at least $100 (probably more) anyway.


I have to disagree.  Especially since I'll forced to replace my battery soon on the MacBook Pro, after owning it for only 13 to 14 months now.  The Powerbook I had before this started to have battery issues at 11 months.  My iBook (G3 900) had issues at about 30 months.  

In fact I can't say I know anyone who made it more than 2.5 years on the original battery with full use still available to them.  The vast majority had to replace their batteries with 1-2 years to keep any level of normal usage available.  The majority also followed Apple (and a few other manufacturers) recommendations on charging and cycling.  Some didn't and had the same luck.  

While it might only be $130 to have them replace it, you forget about shipping costs (not everyone has an Apple store nearby) and -- more importantly -- downtime.  I can't afford to have my machine in Apple's hands even for a few hours.  Its the only one I have and way to important for my work and personal life.  Even if I had a desktop unit available, being without my laptop would be undoable for me.

My last foray with shipping a laptop to Apple for a routine (3-5 day turnaround per their people) started in mid-November of 2006 and ended in January of 2007.  It only ended when someone called and said "sorry, we can't find the part we need...so we can wait and see if it comes tomorrow or we can ship you a new MB Pro instead for the hassle."  I chose the new option, since I had already bought my MB Pro before shipping the PB in for service.  I was going to eBay the PB anyways, so I made out better in the long run being able to sell a new unopened MB Pro instead.  I'm not complaining about the end result, just the time it took to happen.


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## Thank The Cheese (Jan 17, 2008)

I guess I've been lucky with mine -- my MBP battery, while definately not as long-lasting as it was, still gets me 1.5-2 hours, depenidng on what I'm doing with it after 2 years 

but that is a good point about the length of time it takes to replace. With a barrery, though, surely it would just be a matter of taking it to an authorised reseller and having them take it out the back to throw it in while you wait (much like what they do with RAM on iMacs for people who aren't confident about doing it themselves). I suppose it depends how difficult it is, so we'll have to wait until people can dismantle it. 

I'm like you -- I can't be without my MBP for very long. In fact, my MBP's "o" key has not worked in 6 months. whenever I want to type the letter "o", I have to either cut and paste it from somewhere, or use my special quicksilver shortcut of Command+Option+0 (zero). Drives me insane, but I don't want to be without it for the 2-3 weeks it is likely to take. So I guess we'll have to see just how difficult it is


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## symphonix (Jan 17, 2008)

Thank The Cheese said:


> People who are attracted to the prettyness but don't care about specs will be put off by the price.



I'd disagree strongly. There *is* a market for this thing, but its also a market that doesn't get put off by the price. This is a luxury product, without a doubt, and has the price tag to match, but the fact is people will pay that much for it. And the price is less than what *every* laptop cost just 10 years ago.

If people were put off buying things just because you could get something "pretty much as good, and a lot cheaper, just not as cool" then there'd be no Ferraris, no Rolexs, no Hasselblads. We'd all drive identical Hyundais and own the same cheap TV sets. 

At present the market is fairly high-end. Executives, lawyers, accountants, journalists, photographers, CEOs; all of them will be looking at the Macbook Air. It won't be as universally adopted as the iPod, but it'll still sell plenty of units.


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## fryke (Jan 18, 2008)

There quite certainly is that market. Plus the luxury marketing thing kinda works for Apple here. People who now are using Windows computers with their iPhones will _want_ a MacBook Air, because they _know_ that Apple makes beautiful machines, and might settle for a MacBook when they notice that the MacBook Air doesn't exactly fit their finances or technical needs.

I for one still want one. With the SSD option. For much less money. So I'll have to wait a year or two, I guess.


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## chevy (Jan 18, 2008)

Don't look at it as a miniature MacBook but more as a super-iPod !


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## fryke (Feb 27, 2008)

Guess I didn't really wait that long. I am a very happy camper I am.


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## chevy (Feb 27, 2008)

Yeah.... can you write a short review of your experience with the _enveloppe_ mac ?


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## Ferdinand (Feb 27, 2008)

So did you take it with the SSD option or not?


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## bbloke (Feb 27, 2008)

You'll need a suitable carrying case, of course, such as one of these or these...


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## fryke (Feb 27, 2008)

I don't think so.  I'll photograph the sleeve I'm using.  But basically: I've got soooooooo many laptop-capable bags already, I don't need specific ones.


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## bbloke (Feb 27, 2008)

Spoilsport!


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## fryke (Feb 27, 2008)

The photos have to wait 'til later. Can't find my camera right now, and I don't want to abuse an iSight for this.

As for the review...

I've been asking for an Apple subnotebook for a long time. And I wasn't happy with a 12" PowerBook, of course, because it was still too heavy and too complete. I was asking for things like 10h battery life, SSD, 10" screen etc. So The MacBook Air isn't exactly it, either.

I'd still like the MacBook Air to have a smaller footprint than the 13" MB, but it's comfortable.
I'd still like an SSD, but didn't get one because of the freakishly high price. Maybe I can replace the drive later in the life of my MacBook Air (can't call it MBA, that doesn't sound right), or I'll just live with the HD. Hope it won't die on me.

The weight of the machine is wonderful. The stability of the materials used is great. I love the backlit keyboard, even though I rarely ever need that (I've learnt the 10-finger-system early in life, thankyouverymuch), just because it's a cool effect and looks nice. The thing's a dog, though. It's quite certainly not your primary machine, even with the SuperDrive. (Didn't get one, have enough drives and Macs around.) It's simply too slow a machine. I don't think the 1.8 GHz version would be much better. I think it's mainly about the smaller harddrive. I'm sure the SSD feels zippier. It's a great machine for me, since I mainly use it for web/mail/text. I'm a writer, so the main thing for me, really, is to be able to sit out in the green for a couple of hours typing page after page on the keyboard. It's a great device for that. Forget about games, forget about graphics design etc. It'll work, but it'll be slow. My two year old MacBook certainly is quite a bit faster, even with the older GMA 950.

So when Apple released this in January, I didn't think I'd want one. It was too 13", it was too big, too expensive. We recently got the first shipment here in Switzerland, and I just had to have one. I've been waiting for really negative reports, but they failed to come in.

I'm sure in a year or two, this machine and its specs will look outdated, but it's the first true attempt of Apple for a subnotebook running OS X. And I just had to have one. (I know, I've already said that.)


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## fryke (Feb 27, 2008)

Guess what: Just found that camera.  Chevy might recognise what this is.


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## chevy (Feb 28, 2008)

M-Budget Air.... nice concept !


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## fryke (Feb 28, 2008)

It's the plastic sleeve their T-Shirts come in when you order from their "mbudgetkult.ch" Shop. They should actually sell those to MacBook Air owners.


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