Apple Announces MacBook Air 1218
Apple made four announcements at MacWorld Expo: the new MacBook Air, new features for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and movie rentals via iTunes from a TV without a computer involved. The new portable gets most of the attention. It is 0.76" thick at the thickest part, tapering to 0.16". It weighs 3 pounds and has a 13.3" screen and full-size, backlit keyboard. Its Intel chip is the diameter of a dime and the thickness of a nickel. The MacBook Air will cost $1799 and up. Its storage is either 80 GB disk or 64 GB solid-state drive. 2 GB of memory. It has no optical drive (an external one is available for $99) and features a way to wirelessly use the optical drive of any nearby Mac or PC with the proper software installed.
"Integrated Battery" (Score:3, Interesting)
"Integrated 37-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery"
Are they serious? No way to swap out a battery halfway through a 10 hour flight? No way to take it out at security check points (or if it catches fire)?
Please tell me I'm misinterpreting that phrase. Want to buy one now, but that's a deal breaker. Argh!!!
-Chris
Movie Rentals? (Score:5, Interesting)
Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, Newline, FOX, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony all on board.
Library titles: $2.99,
New Releases: $3.99,
HD rentals are $4.99.
Rules: 30 days to start watching. 24 hours to finish
Watch anywhere (Macs, PCs, all current iPods and iPhone
Thanks MacRumors.
Durability & EEE (Score:2, Interesting)
Also why nobody mentioned the EEE pc yet? though the similarity seems to end at portability....
Re:"Integrated Battery" (Score:1, Interesting)
Short on Options! (Score:5, Interesting)
So, somebody's going to buy one, and when they foobar their OS and drop it off at the helpdesk, how do we fix it?
Yes, there is USB, so we'lll need to keep a few USB CD-Rom drives around for these things. >p>ah well, it looks real nice.
No FireWire?! (Score:4, Interesting)
Although, you probably don't need it as much if you have that $1000 solid state disk...
Re:Wot no optical drive? (Score:2, Interesting)
Lock-in?
Seriously?
How is it lock-in?
As far as I can tell, Apple still sells plenty of laptops with optical drives. They even sell one as an accessory for this machine.
The fact you are gleefully glossing over this fact in your hurry to paint this one item as a lock-in tool is that this is a subnotebook -- meaning that it doesn't have all of the features that you might expect from a regular laptop in order to meet a number of design goals. If your design goals are small form factor and extended battery life, what are the first things you sacrifice? Bulky, power-consuming electronics like a DVD drive.
But don't let me get in the way of your lock-in rage...
How expensive is it? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:"Integrated Battery" (Score:3, Interesting)
I have never gotten more than a hundred charges or so from my battery without noticing definite decrease in capacity -- these are not deep charges, and if you use the battery every day, that is quite a few replacements over the life of the machine...
Re:Time Capsule (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:"Integrated Battery" (Score:4, Interesting)
$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch? (Score:5, Interesting)
I know I'll end up buying them, but it's the principle of it all...
Re:But.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch? (Score:3, Interesting)
Not that I *agree* with it at all. But that at least might shed some reason on it. Even if it's a poor reason.
Re:A few thoughts (Score:2, Interesting)
I actually find the hub quite useful. I've never had an issue with Linux or windows recognizing devices. I have a printer/keyboard/mouse hooked in to it so that I only have to plug/unplug one usb cable instead of 3.
Re:Underwhelming Resolution (Score:2, Interesting)
How sweet would it be to both see most of your photo and check if it is in focus without zooming in and out? Ahh... one day someone will see the light... Until them, I guess I am getting a dell, dude.
Re:A few thoughts (Score:3, Interesting)
I agree. My claim is that this is going to limit the market for this laptop to a fairly small niche. This is where we disagree:
$1799 is a fairly hefty price tag to pay for a second computer. People have complained about the lack of replaceable battery hampering business use (perhaps that's a big deal, I don't know). My point was for the "travel" user who wants something for entertainment, I thought that the inability to easily watch DVDs with it would limit that use. That's why I suggested a terrific feature would be the ripping of DVDs into iTunes. This will only happen on a large scale on Macs when Apple does it itself and thus does it legally.
This laptop is competing directly with the Sony Vaio market. That's fine, but my point was that it seems like a much smaller market than a good successor to the 12" Powerbook could have.
So yes, my entire point about it not working as a primary computer is that it is playing for a much smaller market, and that Apple has continued to leave a bit of a hole in the Macbook Pro lineup.
Re:Apple releases MacBook Air (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:"Integrated Battery" (Score:5, Interesting)
I've been trying, actually. The 0.16" is clearly marketing-speak, because when you look at the thing the edges come to points. By that logic, I've seen cars that are
After watching the little intro video on the Apple website, I'm getting the impression this is intended mainly as a shiny executive toy. They mention presentations, meetings and airplanes every time they get a chance, for example. But beyond looking sleek, I'm not sure I get the point. I mean, are you actually SUPPOSED to be storing these in packing envelopes? If not, what are the advantages over a normal laptop? Is it worth the inconvenience of no removeable battery, no optical drive, minimal connectors, and limited hard drive options, all for a pound or two of weight saved? I know, I know, it comes with the subnotebook territory - but who are these "subnotebooks" targeted at, anyway?
Re:"Integrated Battery" (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I'm underwhelmed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Interesting)
The difference in price between the 'middle' MacBook and it is $500. I put together a WHOLE PAGE of stuff that is on the cheaper MacBook but not on the Air. And for less money, seriously, look at the specs, it's freaking hilarious. I'm a huge Apple fan boy but I can't say I'm enthusiastic about something that is so blatantly only sold for the 'cool' factor (insert your 'isn't that all Apple products' line here).
Apple really missed the mark with this one here. At $1000-1200, it's reasonable but at %50 more it becomes laughable. I was really hoping for something in that range so I could replace my girlfriend's aging iBook but now it looks like I'll wait for an LED-backlit refresh of a MacBook, you know, that laptop that actually does something for $1200.
Re:"Integrated Battery" (Score:3, Interesting)
I just priced a Dell XPS M1330 and it comes to $1,304 with 40GB more hard drive space (you can get a 64 SSD for a grand instead) 128MB graphics card, bluetooth, wireless-n, CD/DVD+/-RW, 8-in-1 memory card reader, firewire, more USB 2.0 ports, removable 9 HOUR battery, 1.66 GHz core duo 2, 13.3" lcd, 2.0 MP webcam, and an expresscard slot. The depth and width are the same and it is only half an inch taller and less than a pound heavier.
So except for Mac OS X it does not even come close to outclassing the Dell and it is $500 more. Sure if you compare it to a Sony then the Apple is a better deal but Sony is consistently very expensive and that is why Jobs chose to compare the Air to it.
Re:Lithium Ion degradation NOT covered by applecar (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Time Capsule (Score:2, Interesting)
Genius indeed! (Score:3, Interesting)
Crossing the 3lb barrier has huge physical and psychological changes. Getting a Vaio ultraportable has (dare I say) changed my life: having a computer so light it's harder to not have it around than to drag it everywhere. Never do I have to go home to get email, or look stuff up, or run handy tools, or decide whether to lug the durn heavy thing around
Part of the genius of Apple IS the gumption to say "no, you're not going to have it that way". They compel people to think forward to better ways of solving a long-running problem, rather than hanging back to old solutions. No optical drive? yeesh, they're so 20th Century, get with the download/bittorrent/thumbdrive/802.11n future already. Limited hard drive? wireless shared drive, man. No Ethernet port? get a USB adapter for those rare no-Wi-Fi times.
Time to switch. Apple is hitting the tipping point: just a hair (or 224 lines of video) away from "PC? Vista? why bother what that old stuff?"
Re:Absolutely right (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, I dunno what macs you bought, but, I seem to think they hold up pretty well, and hold their value amazingly well for resale.
I've only got one mac computer right now...an iBook G3 800Mhz. I think it was built around 2000 or 2001 maybe. I bought it used for $800 with all original cd's, a nice travel case and full accesories in about 2003-20004. I originally bought it to turn into a Gentoo Linux laptop. I kept a very small partition for OSX on it...just to play with. Over time...I redid the box, and put all OSX on it. (Don't worry, I have plenty of gentoo on other boxes). This is 2008 and still my only laptop I work with. It is just now getting a bit long in the tooth for me and slow. I'm about to buy a new macbook pro....and then, I'll relegate this old iBook to the kitchen...as my kitchen computer for emailing while cooking...or looking up recipes..or playing a dvd on.
I don't know of many other laptops out there that stay useful for so long. The OS upgrades seemed to help it keep its usefulness over the years...and it was a solidly built machine.
I don't find that fashionable obsolescence was something built into this product. And, aside from only being USB 1.1....it has served my needs for quite awhile, and I do use it for more than email and surfing. I'm often sshed in from it to my other boxes in the house doing jobs or developing on it....
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Interesting)
The difference in price between the 'middle' MacBook and it is $500. I put together a WHOLE PAGE of stuff that is on the cheaper MacBook but not on the Air. And for less money, seriously, look at the specs, it's freaking hilarious. I'm a huge Apple fan boy but I can't say I'm enthusiastic about something that is so blatantly only sold for the 'cool' factor (insert your 'isn't that all Apple products' line here).
"There's no optical drive!"
"You can pay Apple more money to solve that!"
"There's only one USB port!"
"You can pay Apple more money to solve that!"
"There's no user replacable battery!"
"You can pay Apple to solve that!"
I'm sorry guys, I just don't get this one.
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Expensive (Score:2, Interesting)