Today's new Things (MacBook Air and whatever else was introduced in the keynote)

Bingo!

I used to think it ludicrous when the "Open" crowd would rant against Apple for its proprietary attitude. I was (and am) very content in the "integrated" world of OS X. I just don't think it impossible that further development _could_ get to the point of being totally closed. The point is that Apple doesn't seem to have any trouble deciding that a particular category of hardware only has these needs and therefore won't allow access. That is not a happy thought at the moment. I don't root my phone or what-have-you but I don't like the idea that I may not.

Yeah, I can opt-in or opt-out, I'm not saying that Apple owes me anything. I'm not joining the tinfoil hatters, but I think they have more of a point than I used to give them credit for.
 
Just got my 11" MacBook Air now: Love its closedness. Wouldn't WANT to mess with its hardware innards. ;) Lookin' forward to buying my first little app through the Mac App Store. :p

It's really a lovely machine. The keyboard is _almost_ the usual. Most sites talk about how the topmost row (function keys) are smaller, but the lowest row is smaller as well, i.e. the spacebar and the arrow-keys. Takes a _little_ getting used to, but for the normal typing, the keys are normal size, so that's a very good thing.
 
So... how would you recommend the 11"?

I'm finally selling my MacBook polycarbonate and am going to put the money toward an Air. The conundrum is whether it's going to be a souped-up 11", or a lower-end 13" model. I'll be notebook-free in the interim, with just a desktop Mac mini and an iPad (and iPhone 4) to get me through my days, but I haven't used the MacBook in so long, I don't think I'll miss it.

I love the iPad and it does everything I need it to while I'm at work (and suffering through Windows desktop hell), but I'm thinking a "a laptop with the portability of the iPad" would definitely do me some good.

Did you get to mess around with the 13" before you purchased the 11", or did you know you wanted the 11" from the get-go? Or was it financial factors?

Screen resolution on both are phenomenal -- the 11" has the resolution of a standard 13" notebook, the 13" has the resolution of a standard 15" notebook -- so that's not a huge concern. I'm not a photographer, so the SD card slot (or lack thereof) doesn't sway me either way.

I know that the hard drive (SSD) is non-replaceable, so I'll be stuck with what I purchase initially, but howabout the RAM? I've heard it's non-replaceable too... is that true as well? If so, it may be the low-end 13", 128GB SSD, no processor upgrade, with a boost to 4GB.

Grrr... decisions, decisions!
 
The RAM is definitely NOT user-replaceable, it's soldered to the board. I've had the older 13" model and have played with the new one, but I knew I wanted the 11" before-hand, since I mainly use it for its ultra-portability, i.e. writing while travelling etc.

I can recommend both machines, although I must say: The 11" really, really fits even a larger handbag, whereas for the 13" model's size, you still need some sort of messenger bag, although it can be a slim one.

The 11" is so small, that I can hardly think of a situation, where I'd choose the iPad in its stead, but that's the newness factor, I guess. The Sunday morning espresso, reading papers on the iPad, for that it'll still be perfect. _Creating_ stuff, however, will be my 11" MBA's focus.

I'm not pushing the hardware, btw., and all my documents I'm working on are on the iDisk (or its mirror on the MBA), anyway, so I'm certainly not the one doing graphics work on this small screen, and 64 GB is more than enough for me, as long as I have only a couple of GBs on my iDisk.
 
Nobody else went for a new MacBook Air then? I'd love to hear other people's views on them... I've yet to see anything negative about the machines. I've heard the first SSD upgrades have been announced today [EDIT: Apparently they announced it earlier, but I've heard of it through macrumors today only...] by Photofast. But there's no pricing/availability yet. They'll offer a 256 GB option for even the 11" model! :) And they call a 30% speed increase. Sounds good to me! :)

http://www.photofast.tw/products/GM2_SFV1_Air.html
 
fryke said:
Nobody else went for a new MacBook Air then? I'd love to hear other people's views on them... I've yet to see anything negative about the machines. I've heard the first SSD upgrades have been announced today [EDIT: Apparently they announced it earlier, but I've heard of it through macrumors today only...] by Photofast. But there's no pricing/availability yet. They'll offer a 256 GB option for even the 11" model! :) And they call a 30% speed increase. Sounds good to me! :)

http://www.photofast.tw/products/GM2_SFV1_Air.html
Click to expand...

What kind of interface is it using? I originally though that the SSD was soldered on but then I saw/heard it mentioned somewhere that it was removable but that the interface was proprietary. Wonder if that last part was confirmed.

Also, is this user-replaceable? If not, wouldn't upgrading to this void the warranty? Will Apple provide an upgrade service for this?
 
Some kind of mini PCI-Express I read somewhere. I don't think Apple would offer the upgrade service, so it would be outside the warranty. Then again: You don't have to upgrade the second you've bought your MBA and can do it later on... You could also still put the original back before bringing it in for a warranty repair.
 
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