Comments on: First Look: Apple’s new MacBook Air

By: hrissan

hrissan — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 22:15:57 +0000

Well, the best ultra-portable of all Macs is obviously Mac Mini! I have one and use it as a computer-on-the-go. I use it at home, i take it to office, I take it to friends, to customers, so on. I cannot use it at airport or at car, but that’s ok for me, I use more limited iPhone in these situations.

All of people who talk about sony, dell and asus ultraportable, have you noticed that machines are really ugly? Artists, journalists, writers, photographers recognize this immediately and I assure you they will buy Macbook Air instead. Because now they have a choice! Do they really need those additional holes and dvd to type or read an article, show photos to customer, so on? No, they do not and they are clever enough to understand this.

Russian proverb: an aircraft which is not beautifull is unable to fly. The Macbook Air has apparently nice aerodynamics, so it will fly high. :)

By: Triakus

Triakus — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:49:23 +0000

I worry about the MagSafe implementation.

The cable and connector integrate beautifully, but, unlike in the other MBs, the cable is at right angle from the detaching direction.

If you pull the cable, the MagSafe function may just not work in time to avoid the light MBA from falling.

By: LyndellR

LyndellR — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:05:25 +0000

Even the MacBook isn’t $999. However, drop the optical drive from the Macbook and extend the battery and it can be an affordable long battery life notebook alternative to the Air. Minituration is not cheap. Notice the sub-$200 laptops aren’t so small, nor high performance.

Now I wonder when Apple will drop the optical drive from the other laptops.

By: Brau

Brau — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 10:44:20 +0000

t.macman,

You make a really good point. The only thing that’s out of line in that scenario is the price. Unfortunately it costs a lot more than a full featured MacBook and only offers a couple LBS less weight while being a tad thinner as enticement. If it were sold for $999, nobody would be questioning the less-is-more form and its abilities as an ultralight portable second computer. It makes me wonder if Apple will eventually drop the price.

I do feel the Air should not be placed as it is (between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro) because those two machines are far more fully featured. And we all know Apple will be adding the new LED backlit screens, multi-touch trackpad, and SSD options to the MB and MBP as soon as they can.

By: harrywolf

harrywolf — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 08:13:41 +0000

Looks like we are going to have to see how the market responds, as there appears to be no clear route for this computer, as yet.
It is beautiful, but there are a number of other items I could buy for the sheer beauty - an English titanium frame Moulton bicycle, for example. Or a serious espresso machine from Italy!

The optical drive ‘issue’ is solved at once by buying the $99 external.

As for watching movies; on a trip, use Handbrake and compress a full dvd to 500mb MP4 - still looks pretty good in Quicktime, and the 80 gb drive wont be too compromised if you carry 10 movies using 5 gb. Add another 8 movies on a 4 gb usb ram drive (only $50) and you have a lot of entertainment for a week long trip, and no disks to carry.
I think a USB ram drive and the optical drive are necessary items with this machine.
I dont think ethernet is a big loss, unless wireless is a security issue for you. If so, get the dongle.

Its minimal alright, and that is growing on me. Apple seem to want to tell us that dvd’s are dead and thats part of their marketing strategy with movie rentals too.

Are they right? Well, they can be right in a niche way - we’ll see how that goes.

They have thrown down a gauntlet - its a more provocative Macworld than I first thought.

By: pa

pa — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:29:02 +0000

I may be wrong, but MacBook Air looks like it was primarily designed for the Japanese market. For years Apple has been trying to grow in Japan but has not been too successful. This new sub-notebook uniquely embodies the Japanese taste and preference for compact electronics. It seems Apple has realized that it does appeal to the fashion conscious and design consious types with means to easily afford one. If it does well in Japan, it will have served the company well.

By: t.macman

t.macman — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 03:40:24 +0000

when you first look at the air its hard to see the point. Bit that is when realize its not meant to be a MacBook upgrade. Its a great secondary computer because its so lite and thin. For someone that has an imac at home this would serve as a way to basic to moderate level computer for when ever there on the move. I do agree that they should have a 160 gb as an upgrade.

By: observer

observer — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:02:09 +0000

I agree with Brau that Apple did not invented anything really new. But there are two important points:

1. MBA filled an important gap in their product line.
2. It has an Apple twist - no optical etc.

Time will tell whether it will be a marketing success.

By: LyndellR

LyndellR — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:05:15 +0000

I want one, don’t need one. I already fit this usage profile. I take just my laptop to church leaving the power adapter at home. …and never bought a second battery, which I aways do for my cell phones. I occassionally use the CD-ROM to rip CDs, however, I can have those MP3s emailed instead. That CD drive is rarely used.

I still remember those old Dell laptops that could remove the CD drive and replace with a second battery. I can squeeze 4 some hours out of my 15″ PB, but that’s using only vi (TextEdit should do the same too.) MacBook Air is boosting 5 hours with WiFi usage! The other laptops could have much longer battery life if the CD/DVD drives were replaced with more battery.

I think they should have squeezed in a 4-pin FireWire port for connecting DV-camcorders. That’s be more meaningful when larger drives are available. I don’t use the ports often, and WiFi is much more convenient than Ethernet.

I first, I thought this thing was sealed; no vents. Assuming that, I was thinking this design is ready for ruggedizing and waterproofing.

What’s in those tappered edges. Seems the MacBook Air could be a little smaller if those tappered edges were trimmed. Remember the plastic bloat on the old iBooks?

By: russtic

russtic — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:12:32 +0000

@Silencio
Thank you that seems a reasonable explanation.

I wonder how well it will run things like parallels.

I guess my problem is I would love one but am not convinced it will do the job. What I would really like is 13 or 12 inch MBP with no optical drive and say about 4 pounds.