“It fits in a manila folder, you can slide it under a door, and if you threw it hard enough you could probably chop someone in half with the thing. It’s the thinnest, and if we may say so, sexiest laptop around today: the MacBook Air,” Ryan Block writes for Engadget.
“It’s hard to take lightly (har) the purposeful design that went into the Air, it’s simply and without a doubt the most beautiful laptop we’ve seen in a while,” Block writes.
“There are a lot of things that the Air gets right, and a decent amount of horsepower is one of ’em. Apple didn’t take the easy route and go with an etiolated Ultra Low Voltage (read: ultra low performance) chip, they actually pushed Intel to repackage a slower version of its full-on Core 2 Duo processor. We were a little disappointed when Steve announced this wasn’t the new power-efficient, lower-heat 45nm Penryn chip design, but in the time we’ve played with the Air, it’s still rarely managed to output enough heat to raise an eyebrow. This is actually a laptop that belongs on your lap — without any fear of sterility. Of course, as our Mac-on-Mac benchmarks showed, the 1.6GHz chip is still a little on the slow side, but the Air is by no means unusable. It’s not really one of Steve’s ‘screamers’ — but ultraportables aren’t really intended to be,” Block writes.
“The Air isn’t supposed to be everything for everyone. For those in need of a machine that masters basics in a super thin, light form-factor, and who have the coin to pay for that ultraportability, the Air absolutely nails it like few others,” Block writes.
“Apple’s learned to take the next step in miniaturizing their portable computers. While not all Mac users are going to stand in line to get this latest machine, Apple is doubtless welcomed back into the ultraportable laptop market by the technology world. Perhaps the largest side-effect of the Air won’t be ditching optical drives, though; for the rest of Apple’s consumer base it’s now just a matter of time before other Mac laptop lines benefit from the technical and engineering advances that made this thing so thin and light. Give us the lovechild of the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, and it’s all over,” Block writes.
Full article here.
Let the bitching begin.
Well yeah, it fits in a manila folder, you can slide it under a door if you so desire, but that’s about all it’s good for!
Odds are that it won’t survive a slight drop that a MacBook will and I can’t wait to hear the horror stories from the GB!
I’ll buy a MacBook instead—more for my money. Not as slim and sexy, but built like a tank compared to the MacBook Air!
Engadget concludes (which MDN left out):
“The Air is a tough call. On the one hand it proposes to be a no-compromises ultraportable, but on the other hand it compromises many (but not all) the things road warriors want. We’re all about removing unnecessary frills and drives (we rejoiced the day the original iMac bucked the floppy), but laptops are increasingly becoming many users’ primary — often only — machines, which is why the Air’s price doesn’t do it any favors, either. It’s hard to justify almost two grand for a second laptop (or a third machine) just for travel needs — and even then, that’s only easily done if all your data lives in the cloud. Given those sacrifices and that higher-end sticker, it’s more than likely not going to replace most peoples’ current workhorse laptop.”
See what I mean?
In Japan, miniaturization is a benefit that a significant part of the market values and will pay for.
In the western world, the thinness will likely be seen merely as a feature, not a benefit. Still, it will bring more traffic into the stores, just to see it. The curious may well walk out with another machine.
It fits in a manila folder…
Not advised, it might get mailed by the office gofer.
if you threw it hard enough you could probably chop someone in half with the thing
Odd Job with his flying hat already has that job covered. Unless your willing to challenge him to a duel?
It’s the thinnest, and if we may say so, sexiest laptop around today.
I say not. That title goes to my girlfriend, a current French model.
“Here eat something you poor girl”
I don’t understand why people complain when Apple gives customers another choice. The previously existing choices are excellent, with the MacBook and MacBook Pro. Apple provides another distinctly different choice without taking away the existing choices; that’s even better.
I can see how I could use a MacBook Air as my only Mac. Most of the software I use these days gets installed through a download. In a few years, I think most laptops will save weight and volume by not having a permanently attached optical drive.
@old mac man:
I didn’t realize that your right hand was a French model
@ Old Mac Man
….ditto that, but that title goes to my model Finnish girlfriend.
“Odds are that it won’t survive a slight drop that a MacBook will and I can’t wait to hear the horror stories from the GB!”
and you know this because…..?
seriously, what god died and made you all knowing?
good call, macaholic!!
You guys can have yer boney little stick figure models.
Me, I want a REAL woman. That’s why my favorite mistress is an Italian model. She’s stacked like a brick shithouse.
You may have heard of her. The name is Alotta. Alotta Fagina.
@ken1w
Your post is the first sensible thing I’ve read about the MBA.
Clearly this isn’t for everyone. I see it as the direction laptops are heading. So much is downloaded over wifi. The external drive is there WHEN it’s needed ( new CD, burn DVD)
It’s laughable when everyone writes that this is supposed to encompass everything a desktop does (come on, play game like unreal???) I really read that somewhere.
This is going to sell like crazy. Wait until this comes down into the macbook price range and then a Macbook air(pro) comes out.
Lot of possibilities. Not in my price range but desirable.
Every review of this thing that I read they always have a line about “what roadwarriors want” or how the air isn’t up to snuff for the average “roadwarrior.” This is the classic straw-man argument and I don’t see why people don’t see it as such.
I asked five people at work last week what a “roadwarrior” was to them, and they all described the guy with the thinkpad and a couple of spare batteries and fifteen peripherals. You kow the guy with the useless portable printer that he carries around and fights with in his hotel room, and the huge bag with fifty miles of cables and power adapters.
The Air is NOT meant for “roadwarriors” it’s a consumer portable like the MacBook. It’s not a Pro machine, it’s not a “travel the world” machine. It’s not for the geeked out “roadwarriors” that are writing these reviews. It’s made for regular folks.
@ LorD1776
Fat bottom girls make my rockin’ world go round.
Yeah, I am really irritated about the Air, too.
In the same way that my car won’t fly, my truck won’t float, my cat does not bark, and if my mother had wheels, she would be a shopping cart.
Time for a class action lawsuit, I say.
macaholic: Pardon, s’il vous plaît! Her name is Mlle. Main Droite.
kenh: Forget the cat. The barking spiders are the real problem.
Ampar…
Especially the lethal Rocky Mountain Barking Spider!
They tend to hide in the pack of the guy hiking ahead of you.
As for the MB Air, I’ll defer judgement until I get to see, hold and actually USE one…. with BOTH hands, Old Mac Man.
I still think there should be a FireWire port in the thing. USB2 is too limited.
Fat bottom girls make my rockin’ world go round.
They may, but don’t qualify for the “laptop” status.
Cuts off the blood supply to the legs.
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I had a dentist a long time ago whose watch I couldn’t take my eyes off of… literally; his wrist was 2 inches from by eyeballs as he worked. His watch was thin as a dime. Seriously, I’ve never since seen a watch so thin. It had only two hands and told basic time; but I’m sure did that well. It made every other watch I had ever seen seem crude by comparison. The point is that thin and sleek are as much a achievement as faster processors when it comes to high tech products. I’ve never seen a watch like I saw on that dentist some 40 years ago, yet I can still see it clearly in my mind. Unforgettable for one attribute: its sleek, featherweight design.
@Spark
Thin watches die fast. The normal abuse gets them.
Big stainless steel with saphirre crystal and heavy wristband/clasp. Battery operated.
Works for tens of years though all sorts of activity.
…somewhere I read that science, philosophy and religion are moving toward an intersection.
Like a head on collision?
Because religion depends upon ignorance, blind faith, a lack of comon sense and basic reasoning to progrma it’s followers.
A healthy dose of evangilism is also in order.
“Go out and convert the world my sheep! Bring me MORE MONEY!! Praise Jesus, Allah or Ywahe, Besebub (chose whomever)”
You can have your French, Italian and Finnish girls. I’ve been carrying on a very romantic chat on my Dell for the past month with a girl named Harry P. Ness. It sounds so exotic! The only strange thing is she hasn’t sent me a picture yet but the way she describes herself… oh la la!
Her interests are Windows, saving money, FPS video games and Japanese restraining techniques. Her favorite music is 80’s power ballads, just like me. This could be the one.
Oh, and nice puff-piece, Engadget. We all know the MAC Book Air sucks.
Your potential. Our passion.™
“Cuts off the blood supply to the legs.”
Well I won’t be using my legs…
ChrissyOne,
Don’t forget the tops, dear.
Old Mac Man,
Doesn’t matter. All blood supply is already diverted to critical area.
Z.T.,
You fool. The name Harry P. Ness is an alias for Asami Yamazaki.
Japanese restraining techniques is an understatement. Run while you still can, or you won’t have a foot to stand on. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.
@ LorD1776
I never neglect a good top.
these posts provide a very good laugh… thank you all
ChrissyOne,
Yeah, but it’s ALL good as far as I’m concerned.
Now, about poor Zune Tang …
There are a lot of well-heeled students in the world (or at least a lot of students with well-heeled parents), and they’re going to be a big market for the MBA.
Just imagine, you have an iMac on your desk in your room (or rooms) and you only have this light and sexy device to carry around from lecture to lecture.
With that combination, all the ‘disadvantages’ disappear and the advantages become irresistible.
Young people love things with a strong, sexy image, and it could well be that the MBA will become a real must-have device on the world’s campuses.
I want MacBook Air with 45nm penryn
Gavron,
It’s just seems so obvious, doesn’t it? I don’t understand why more people can’t see this.
macmekrazy,
Steve says “NO”. Sorry.
It’s so simple:
If you don’t like it, don’t buy it!
I LOVE the machine, but in my case, my MacBook pro is a more convenient machine. Yes, I’m a road warrior, and my laptop is practically my office. Yes, it’s bigger, heavier and not as sexy as the MBA (it still looks sexier than the other PC laptops in the room, though) and I use my SuperDrive a lot.
So, the MBA is NOT the laptop for me. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s an amazing achievement, and a super cool computer. I WANT one, but I don’t NEED one. Would I have some spare cash, I’d buy one just to have it.
So… again if the critics don’t like it, get a MBP!!
Grifterus,
“bigger, heavier and not as sexy “
Well, I believe that ChrissyOne and I would beg to differ with that comment, sir.
I went and read the full article and then some of the comments.
GOD!! This windows whiners and fan boys are such a stick in the mud.
” For an ultra light it should have larger battery, more ports, smaller keyboard, bla, bla, bla.”
“Its too expensive (compaired to all the more expensive ultra pcs)..”
“Its made by Steve Jobs so it sucks… “
AAAgggggghhhhh. Are all these people so stupid or clueless or is there just a large base of well paid Windblows that spend all day posting MS fanboy crap????????
—
I just have to say that overall (on average), I see so much more intelligent comments made by Apple users than I ever see from Windows users. …… I have to guess that extended use of windows makes ones brain go bad……
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(legal note. I am talking average, not the ultra fanboy post from either side…)
en
Obviously fragile, because Wintrolls who never touched one say it HAS to be. (But if Dell made one so thin they’d be naturally all over it.)
It can’t possibly be amazingly rigid, with firm keys seldom seen on an ultraportable, as reviewers who actually USED one have said. Not possibly.
Because as everyone knows, anyone who likes an Apple product is a paid Shill. Liking an Apple product is PROOF of it. Only an idiot or a paid shill would dare venture away from the loving arms of Microsoft.
That’s why a $2000 Sony subnotebook is great, but a $2000 Mac subnotebook (which is both thinner and faster) is “grossly overpriced.”
That’s why subnotebooks in general are for stupid gullible people–if Mac users buy them. But it’s fine if Windows users buy them. Who would be so stupid as to buy a Mac, that can run both Mac OS and Windows? For the same price you can have a lovely Windows-only machine–and pleasantly thicker too! Best of all, you can use it as a desktop replacement! There’s no way (without a $5 USB hub) to do that with a MacBook Air.
Happy trolling, jealous Windows sheep–your insecurity speaks volumes.
@anti-creative cretin:
BINGO. Excellent point.
PS from my above post. CNET, PC Mag, Engadget, etc are still MS tools. Sorry but if you read a number of articles form any of of these sites and watch them compare a Mac and a pc or the software for either, you will get an article that ALWAYS finds major fault with the Apple side and even if the pc sucks big time they will give it a dull but so so review.
Sorry, but I want to look forward and for the better, not focus on old, boring, dull designs that give me nothing new and only stick me with someone elses hand off.
Moving forward.
en
I never neglect a good top.
That’s good to hear.
I had one dimwit that tried to paint her toenails at the same time.
We all know the MAC Book Air sucks.
Hmmm, guess that’s better than “blows.”
Every had a newbie actually “blow” instead of suck?
Quite a disturbing experience. Like Windows.
Doesn’t matter. All blood supply is already diverted to critical area.
I would like to be able to walk afterwards.
And in the case of a jealous boyfriend with a baseball bat, RUN!!
“And in the case of a jealous boyfriend with a baseball bat, RUN!!”
Good point!
Its all about style, baby. I have suits that cost more than the MBA.
“I have suits that cost more than the MBA.”
Are you a mob lawyer?
Harry P. Ness finally sent me a picture—IT’S A MAN!—and he wanted to meet me at the Dell kiosk at the mall tomorrow.
WTF?!!!!
Your potential. Our passion.™
For someone who hasn’t used an MBA, it’s always interesting to read how they know exactly how durable it is.
I’d wager, sight unseen since others feel qualified to make judgements like that as well, that the curved metal, adds significant rigidity to the MBA, just as curving metal makes car body panels stiff. And, the flexiest part of my TiPB is the area where the optical drive resides. Taking that out, probably makes the MBA stiffer, as well.
About stiffness is a good point.
My MBP is curving like a banana for some reason.
The curving took out the Superdrive, which was replaced.
Now if this curving continues in the MacBook Air??
Something to think about.
“Yes Mr. Happy, I’ll feed you the Frenchie right now”
The MBA will be a success. I know this because both my wife and one of the CAD operators in my shop, also a woman, both commented on it this week. Both of them are stuck on Winblows, but both of them are leaning strongly toward the Mac now because I use a MBP 17″ and they are both constantly needing help with their crappy Vista laptops while I just keep on using mine productively. In fact, my wife finally asked me last week, right before she saw the commercial for the MBA, if I could reload XP on her laptop because, and I quote, “Vista sucks. I hate it. It’s like your Mac, but really stupid.”
A lot of women really love sexy items like the MBA and most of them could care less about having a ton of ports. They want email and chat and MySpace, and the MBA does all of that and more without batting an eye.
The CAD operator won’t be buying an MBA any time soon, but I could see how much it appealed to her and I’m sure that there are a lot of others just like her that will see the appeal, too.
FINALLY!!!
Someone has gone and built an ultra-portable that can “chop someone in half”. My search is over!!
Enemies beware!!
Apple comes through again!
Very good point. MacBook Pros have large flat areas. Warp city! With all the Air’s curvature, the remaining flat areas are much smaller, and bounded by big curves. Instant stiffness. Round for a Reason.
And the way an Air closes with a magnet leaves no room for error. There’s NO gap, A MacBook Pro can get away with slight warp–it makes the gap a little uneven is all.
Tis is all about what the Air or his offspring will be in a years time rather than what it is at present. At resent it compares very well with its competitors and pretty well even with fully featured laptops but at a slight premium. However it is a marker, its hit a good starting point at which it can now start to pay back the development and technology that will soon in time make it the precursor of nearly all laptops to come. Yes it will take time but it has set itself slightly beyond the available technology while its very existence will encourage that technology to be developed both faster and in some cases developed at all, to exploit its full potential.
It has always been Apple’s strength has long been to take technology that has reached a certain level and propel it into the main stream where it reaches its full potential.
My and wife went to the King of Prussia Apple Store yesterday because my wife wanted to see if they had any display models of the Air in yet. I didn’t have to ask if they had any, or when they were getting in, because when we walked in the store another couple has just asked the same question.
I stayed in the store a few minutes to check my email, and while I did that seven other people went up to the same salesguy asking when the Airs would be in.
Yeah, these things won’t sell at all. Apple will be luck if they sell 10.
The people who are panning this machine are strict in the box thinkers that are afraid to jump outsde their little world much kless think about it. I still say Apple will sell at least a 1/2 million of these puppies in side of six months. I wonder how many of them panned the ipod nano when it first came out and now have either given them as presents or bought a couple for workouts, running or bike-riding?
I had a dentist a long time ago whose watch I couldn’t take my eyes off of… His watch was thin as a dime. Seriously, I’ve never since seen a watch so thin. It had only two hands and told basic time; but I’m sure did that well. It made every other watch I had ever seen seem crude by comparison.
Yer silly argument would have some validity IF MBA had the same functionality as MacBook Pro AND was thinner. MBA is not like every other notebook except for its thinness. MBA lacks a SuperDrive, Ethernet port, and FireWire port; and has a smaller 80 MB HD and a slower processor – all at a ridiculously higher price. You are clearly missing the obvious.
Are you NOT paying attention? Perhaps you ought now see an ophthalmologist.
Looking at the Air it is hard not to suspect that we’re looking at the shell of what was intended to be a much cooler machine–that it was originally intended to be flash-memory only and wireless usb based, and that flash-disk prices didn’t go down as quickly as Apple planned on, and progress on getting a wireless USB ecosystem out there is going much slower that Apple planned on. I bet that the ipod drive was only put in when flash disk prices stayed high, and that the USB port was originally intended as a legacy plug rather than as the main input/output from the machine.
I don’t think that the Air being released is “just the first version” but rather is a retrenched 2.0 design patched together when it became clear that the Air as originally designed was year or two ahead of some of the technology it was relying on.
Guess what? People pay more for more portability. This is old news. Apple’s late to the party, but they made it at last. And with a very competitive price. Clearly you have not shopped for ultraportables before.
I don’t need a superdrive, ethernet, or firewire, but if I did, two of those are options I can add any time.
If you need those things, sweet–get a MacBook or Pro. If you think nobody out there wants portability above all, then you are the one not paying attention
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Phred,
“IF MBA had the same functionality as MacBook Pro” …. “all at a ridiculously higher price.”
The MacBook Air ($1799) is not higher than the MacBook Pro ($1999). It IS substantially more than the MacBook ($1099).
“You are clearly missing the obvious.”
Who missed what, Phred?
People pay more for more portability. I don’t need a superdrive, ethernet, or firewire, but if I did, two of those are options I can add any time.
The fact that Apple designs and markets a SuperDrive and Ethernet dongles for MBA is evidence enough that MBA is lacking these features. If His Steveness passed an edict that the MBA was a truly fully functional wireless machine Apple would not be offering these extraneous doodads. Also, you or anyone else having to carry all these extra doodads to bring yer MBA up to speed kills the ease of portability argument.
Phred, “IF MBA had the same functionality as MacBook Pro” …. “all at a ridiculously higher price.” The MacBook Air ($1799) is not higher than the MacBook Pro ($1999). It IS substantially more than the MacBook ($1099). “You are clearly missing the obvious.” Who missed what, Phred?
Clearly you. Just compare the specs, Einstein.
For only $200 more than the MBA you get a MacBook Pro with a larger monitor, 37.5% faster processor, 50% larger HD, 20% longer lasting battery, 100% more USB ports, and 400% greater total expansion ports. Of course, anyone who expect to pay more to get more, and this is the case. Too difficult for you to understand?
For $700 less you get a MacBook with a 25% faster processor, 50% larger HD, 20% longer lasting battery, 100% more USB ports, and 300% greater total expansion ports. Wow, with MacBook you actually pay less to get a machine with greater functionality. How ‘bout that. even the lowly MacBook is more a machine than MBA.
sf’gpjsy7k9+=f7yi897s87h7azdd9=tyu7;6846h5j87w7r9a,
You stated the MacBook Air has a ridiculously higher price than the MacBook Pro. It’s right there in your comment.
Your new name is the most lucid thing you have ever posted, Phred.
MBA $1,799 or $3,098
MacBook Pro $1,999, $2,499, or $2,799
MacBook $1,099, $1,299, or $1,499
MBA, the “slowest notebook Mac” on the market. Only a fanboi like yerself would buy a machine with less speed, less power, and compromised functionality and call it a bargain. Heck, you could buy two MacBooks for the cost of one MBA, too. Don’t worry, after throwing yer money away yer wallet will feel lighter immediately.
Ya know, that $3,098 “slowest Mac notebook ever” MBA looks like a great deal fer ya. Maybe you’ll carry an extra box of lightweight Kleenex to wipe away yer tears of remorse, if you can afford it.
The perfect vehicle to compliment the purchase of yer MBA, Lord1776.
Small, underpowered, ultraportable, and as sexy as an Apple fanboi needs to be. It is less expensive than a Honda Accord or Toyota Prius, but whose talking money when you can roll in this vehicle, eh? It’s got the Al Gore seal of approval!
Phred,
You win. There’s just no use arguing with your logic. Once again you have shown us the way. Thanks for being here for us.
LorD1776:
Yer just gushing with compliments, aren’t you? If you were actually paying attention you would know that my opinion is not different than a vast number of people. In yer lil fanboi fanatasy world I am the only person that finds the MBA a woefully insufficient notebook at an inflated price.
Apple goofed on this notebook, but the best comeback that fanbois can come up with is that MBA is a “niche product”. A “niche product” doesn’t generate sufficient sales to keep investors happy. Its a fully functional wireless device according to Jobs, but it comes with all these doodads and dongles that kill the contention of ultraportability.
MBA is not a standalone product, it needs a machine with wireless capacity and a CD/DVD drive to actually function 100%. MBA is a like a tiny electronic parasite that sucks the capability of other machines and money from peoples’ bank accounts. Of course, if you are located anywhere the wireless signal is absent or weak, MBA loses even more functionality. I know, I know you whip out yer MBA SuperDrive, but this kills the ultraportability feature Apple claims that MBA has. Not only that, but all those MBA dongles and doodads make a mockery of ultraportablilty.
If Apple placed multi-touch trackpads in all it other notebook models, sales of MBA would pale in comparison. Have you ever asked the question, “Why didn’t Apple put multi-touch in all other notebooks?” There is no technological barrier Apple has to overcome to put multi-touch in all other notebooks. MBA is Steve Jobs’ slight of hand and it was done poorly.
But let’s not chastise Jobs too severely. Irrational fanboi exuberance and wild imaginations generate a slew of <strike>rumors</strike> expectations that no company could match. You crazy fanbois set Apple up to fail with yer insane predictions. Its no wonder Apple’s stock tanked. Every Macworld Expo is never a thrilling as what it is presumed to be and this year was a dud, an Expo for the niche consumer group only.
OK. Thanks.
You people who freek out about the price of the MBA clearly don’t remember the early days of laptops. I bought a Powerbook Duo 2300c when it was $4500. Read that again. $4500. It served me well, but looking at what I get 10 years later for $1799 is pretty amazing.
I also suspect that the price complainers are not people who travel a lot on business with a laptop. Although my 15″ Powerbook is not all that heavy by itself, put it into a bag with an extra battery, cables and powersupply and you’ve got a hefty brick on your shoulders. I look forward to the second quarter of this year when I can expense a MBA and free myself of half the weight slowing me down.