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MacBook Air, she's pretty and petite, but she won't be attending MIT.

Can't replace the battery at home or on the road, can't add or replace RAM at your convenience, just ONE USB port, no FireWire port, no Ethernet port, miniature 80GB HD.

Let's call her the MacBook HotAir. Thanks fer nothing, Apple.

Jan 16, 08 - 01:10 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Phred... The screen is GLOSSY, too.

No SALE!

Jan 16, 08 - 01:15 am Comment from: MaLvado

Phred, sounds like you want a MacBook or MacBook Pro.

You aren't getting the Air's differentiation.

Mossberg, "She's attractive and she sucks, that's what I want in a woman, not a notebook."

I think i can speak for everyone...this thing looks great...but i really still want a better MBP. gimme multigesture on an MBP please!!

P.S. i would also settle for a regular macbook in aluminum....

The eeePC is still a more attractive super-portable option.

Jan 16, 08 - 01:23 am Comment from: coolfactor

Yes, all the complainers about this new notebook are failing to see that it's designed for a very specific target audience. It's not meant to be a complete standalone laptop. It's meant to supplement another computer, and this one you take along to meetings, travelling, and so on. It's designed for a specific type of usage. The MacBook Pro will be upgraded within 6 months and incorporate some of the design philosophies introduced in the Air, while hanging onto the wider array of featured expected in a full-featured laptop. The Air is "sub-" notebook.

The Macbook Air ships with 2GB RAM standard, out of the box...so why is not being able to access the RAM slots supposedly a downside? You can't put more than 2GB of RAM in a regular Macbook either, and those only ship with 1GB standard.

Explain why this can't be your "central computer". With apple's tiny $100 external superdrive and a USB hub, I don't see why I would need another computer.

Jan 16, 08 - 01:33 am Comment from: TowerTone

Since when can you not access the internet with a USB connection? I think Walt "misspoke" when he said it only had one way to get online.

I just love watching a reporter interview a reporter about something they have not even touched.

I know, it is just first impressions, and I do like Walt, but why the cheesy interview format? You get so much more info when a person can speak rather than inform through conversation.

people aren't getting that this isn't a "supplemental computer" like some windows CE device, it's the shape of things to come. In the near future where all your peripherals are wireless, all synching is wireless, hard drives and printers are plugged into your router or just wirelessly talk directly to each other, this is what your computer will look like. No optical drive, no ethernet, 1 USB port, and no need for anything more.

Seriously, some of the people commenting on the Air sound exactly like the people who just couldn't wrap their heads around a computer without a floppy drive in 1997. "No floppy drive? How is this iMac thing supposed to be useful?"

coolfactor:

The only demographic that wants a device with only one USB port, a miniscule hard drive, and no user access to the battery are folks with more money than common sense. Anyone sporting this cute little thing will immediately be recognized as a sucker.

joop:

Because few people want to pay Apple's exorbitant prices for RAM and would rather install their own at much less cost.

The macbook and macbook pro can be upgraded to 4gb, so just 2gb is a drawback.

agentzero:

When the day comes when wireless services can be found worldwide and all peripheral devices are wireless, I'll be sure to circle that date on my calendar and crack a cold one. Also, when that day arrives MacBook Air will be a fond but distant memory.

I do believe that Apple has reinvented the Newton.

Where the hell are the iTunes movie rentals?

Jan 16, 08 - 01:46 am Comment from: Brau

I'm not allowed to be WOWed either ... so I'm not.

Take a look in iTunes. They're starting to show up. Only several now, but hopefully many, many more in the next few days.

Jan 16, 08 - 01:56 am Comment from: TowerTone

Phred
I don't think having one of these would brand someone a sucker. I have only 2 gigs of RAM on my iMac Core Duo and it runs great You can have storage wirelessly, and not everything needs to be maxxed out.

Is this for me? No.

Would I like one? Hell yeah!

I would look at it as a portable video and music player. A place to dump pictures on a trip. I could read my magazine with Zinio and do most of my computing with it. I wouldn't want it as my main computer, but hey, that's just me.

And then again, I get a lot done with just my iPhone......

@agent zero -- Finally, somebody who gets it. The MBA is what the future looks like. Right now, it isn't for everybody. But it will sell well and will be a great testbed for Apple's approach to increasingly more sophisticated mobile devices.

It is "old" PC-style thinking that imagines that more ports and user access are what everyone needs. In fact, the VAST MAJORITY of laptop users rarely use more than one USB port. I'd consider myself a power user -- I am on my 7th Apple laptop and it serves as my primary computing system for everything from email to pretty advanced image processing -- and I only occasionally need both USB ports on my MBP. And since everywhere I go -- office, home, hotels, Starbucks, etc. -- has WiFi, I only use the Ethernet port once in a blue moon.

So, to all those who are stuck in the past and measure a laptop by its features list, I recommend that you go buy one of those boat anchors made by HP or Dell or Toshiba. You'll be happier. And for those of us who prefer to live 15 mins in the future, we will be taking a close look at the MacBook Air.

joop:

My central computer has two 24-inch monitors, one 500GB internal HD, and two 500GB external HDs. MacBook Air cannot match this functionality and versatility. MacBook Air is less a computer and more an overpriced peripheral device where practicality has been sacrificed for a few ounces of weight.

Phred: Try to grasp this: The Macbook Air ships with 2GB RAM Standard. You do not need to buy more at retail prices from a third party or from Apple. 2GB of RAM is the base model. It's also the maximum amount of RAM you can put in pretty much any notebook. Not having to buy it yourself or put it in yourself sounds like a plus to a lot of consumers. I don't think my sister, for example, wants to access the RAM slots. I think these days all computers should ship standard with all their RAM slots full. Why the hell not?

I bet your computer is an ATX tower you put together yourself. You're obviously not going to get the point of the Air.

Are you happy with your PC laptop?

Phred, your "central computer" as you describe it is obviously a desktop...and you're bitching that the Air can't match its specs? Do you know of some brand of notebook with a 500GB internal drive and the ability to hook two 24-inch monitors to it? If so then post the link. If not then shut up and compare laptops to laptops. Yeah my laptop doesn't have four wheels and a steering wheel like my car does, so Apple must be ripping me off.

Jan 16, 08 - 02:10 am Comment from: OZZ

I see very few of you understood this product...

Ralph:

Not everywhere I go has WiFi so MacBok Air is useless to me. I know of no bootable USB external drives so just one USB port provides me with no means to boot should the internal drive fail. There is no advantage for me to buy this thing.

Phred: Apple sells an optional ethernet adapter for the Air. It's tiny and would be the perfect accessory to have in your bag should you wind up somewhere with only tethered internet access.

People bitched when laptops started shipping without dial-up modems too, but eventually got used to it. This is no different. The people who needed a dial-up modem just carried an external for a little while till dial-up disappeared.

Phred:

Just because YOU do not have a use for this computer does not mean that no one else does. I have no need either as I require more power, screen real estate, storage, etc. But I sure would love to have one to flop with on the couch.

antwon:

You have answered my point perfectly. MacBook Air cannot function as a stand alone central computer which was joop's original and flawed argument.

Since I need a central computer as described and if no current notebook would suffice, obviously Macbook Air would certainly not qualify as a central computer. Wouldn't you agree?

No, I have no PC. You made the tragic flaw of letting your own prejudices cloud your limited capacity to reason.

OZZ:

Since you haven't taken the time to explain to the rest of us the practicality of this thing I conclude that you haven't the slightest clue what you think that you might possibly understand. Please, take a few minutes or hours or days to compose yerself and explain what the hell you were thinking.

Penelope Pickles:

Yer argument for buying this thing is diametrically opposed to the current argument that this thing can replace the central computer and/or current line of Apple notebooks.

Please explain why you need this thing just for flopping on the couch and why you would be wiling to pay thousand of dollars for a device with such limited usefulness.

Jan 16, 08 - 02:47 am Comment from: It's About Time

What most people don't seem to get: today, Apple showed us the future of laptops. In a year or two, most laptops will be Flash HD based and larger, processors will be faster, wireless to the max, light weight, brilliant screen of various sizes and a very useful multi-touch pad.

Don't get too hung up on the first entry in to this new world. This computer is simply a harbinger of things to come.

freeman:

For the cost of MacBook Air I would not want to spend any additional cash for a dongle that is too easily lost or misplaced. For the price of this thing I would want Ethernet connectivity built in.

Secondly, doesn't the fact that a separate dongle is needed at all demonstrate that WiFi is NOT universally available? Kinda make the only WiFi functionality of MacBook Air more a limitation than an asset?

It's About Time:

This computer is simply a harbinger of things to come.

So, now is NOT the right time?

Phred: Did the fact that there were external floppy drives available for the original iMac demonstrate that the floppy was here to stay and an essential part of computing? No, they were just a temporary solution to allow iMac users to use a dying technology if they needed to. Ethernet is dying. Honestly I don't know where you're going that you say you "need" ethernet. Can you enlighten us? Is there some coffee shop, airport or hotel chain that only offers wired internet access? Or are you talking about some friend's house who hasn't bought a wireless router yet? Seriously, tell me something of these places you go that only have ethernet and no wi-fi.

Phred: Joop's original post said that HE could use the Macbook Air as his central computer, not that YOU could. Geez, learn to read. Obviously if you NEED a 500GB internet hard drive and TWO 24-inch monitor, NO notebook could be your central computer. Everyone doesn't have the same computing needs you do. Plenty of people use laptops as their central computer these days, and for these people, most of them could probably use the Air as their central computer. You sound like my grandmother when I try to explain to her why I don't need a house phone. She thinks because SHE still needs one, everyone still does.

Wow, I am excited. I really want mine. I am following the guide at [url=http://www.Free-Macbook-Air.com]http://www.Free-Macbook-Air.com[/url]and they said I would get my Macbook Air within 3 weeks!

I get this product, especially after reading the same dumb comments over and over again. I would replace my macbook with it, no question. With a 250G portable usb drive at it's side I'm all set. Battery life sounds insane. I'd replace it myself if I'll be able to source a battery: Apple's portables aren't rocket science to crack open, you just need the right tools and a good take apart manual, and some common sense.

I think it's actually rather ugly.

freeman:

When universal (i.e. worldwide) WiFi access is available let me know. Until then you haven't a clue.

If Ethernet is dying why does Apple continue to sell computers with this outdated technology and why the hell do you still have a Mac with this ancient and outdated technology? Seriously, you better call Apple now and tell them that all their devices sans Macbook Air are obsolete.

I laugh at you, floppy boy

dianne:

How many businesses, homes, schools, and institutions have central computers with a meager 80GB HD?

How many GBs do you have currently in your machine? Would you swap your current internal HD with one with only 80GB? If not, why not?

Do you intend to back up all your critical data on one or more HD's greater than 80GB? How will you decide what data to carry on the puny little 80GN HD in MacBook Air? How often will you have to transfer data to and from the puny Air drive?

phred, I understand that you're posting from 1999, but here in 2008 it's pretty obvious to anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention that wired ethernet is on the way out and wi-fi is on the way in. just because the Dell laptop my work issued me last year shipped with a parallel port doesn't mean that the parallel port wasn't already an obsolete technology. I know I'll never use it or the serial port that it came with. Or the ethernet port, since I haven't needed an ethernet cable at any home, hotel, office, coffee shop or airport i've been at in the last few years. I have two macs (desktop and laptop) and two pcs (desktop and laptop) and no ethernet cables have ever been plugged into any of them. I do not need a computer to have an ethernet port, or for that matter a modem, a parallel port, a serial port or a floppy disk drive in 2008. I'm sure you're still hanging on to these until the last minute, but many of us have moved on already. the world doesn't revolve around you, and everyone doesn't have the same needs you do. I want the thinnest, lightest, most legacy-free laptop on the market. As of today, that's the Macbook Air. All of what I need and absolutely no stupid ancient ports that make PC laptops so gigantic.

I laugh at you, tether boy...chained to the wall like that. You're living in the past.

my current mac is a 12" powerbook G4 with a 40gb hard drive and that isn't even filled. 80 sounds roomy to me!! i keep all my music, movies and docs on a 400GB external disk connected to my airport extreme base station, which not only gives me easy access to my files when i'm on my home network, but also lets me access my external drive anywhere I am on the internet. that's really cool. i love having all my music and movies accessible to me when i travel without having to have them on the computer or lug around an external.

the only things i really hate about my current laptop is it's awfully heavy for something so small, it's PPC so its slow compared to the new intels, and it only has 802.11g so sometimes it's slow to stream large movies from the external disk that's plugged into the airport extreme. so i can't wait to get my Macbook Air with 802.11n!! maybe it's not your cup of tea but i think it's perfect for me. to each his own. love each other.

winky:

Please, post a video of yer intrepid MacBook Air surgical abilities. I, for one, would like to see some documentation of your mad computer skills and common sense. That is, before yer MacBook Air warranty has expired.

Can you do it? You seem to have all the requisite skills, oh Mac master.

Macbook Pro has 6 hours of battery life, MacBook Air 5 hours. So why is battery life "insane" again?

dianne:

Yer current notebook is "awfully heavy"? I don't know whether to laugh or cry, you poor pathetic creature.

freeman:

"it's pretty obvious to anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention that wired ethernet is on the way out ...

Have you called Apple to tell them that all their machines with Ethernet ports are currently obsolete? I didn't think so.

Have you placed yer current Mac for sale? You know, the one with the Ethernet port?

Would you care to prophesy when the last Ethernet cable is fabricated, the last Ethernet port is manufactured, when Jobs declares Ethernet extinct? Go ahead, oh soothsayer of technowizadry, tell us!

Jan 16, 08 - 04:18 am Comment from: MacArch

Please don't feed the bears..... or the trolls.

What else would you call someone who comes out of nowhere, posts this much, and doesn't bother to register?

Apple is now competing in the sub-note book category. If the MBA doesn't work for you, check out the rest of the product line......

Utterly gorgeous little thing.

Not a replacement for my MBPro but most certainly I'd rather take on the road or plane -- anything to cut down size and weight!

Will she be able to edit my vids and pix? I'll give her a test when she's in-store and let her make the decision for me!

So whats wrong again?
It seems You can use USB for ethernet, ?

But can you use USB in imovie??

the ram , HD is not a issue m just the ports could be an issue?

you use the www to store data ,

But who cares anyway.

@Phred

Why so much aggression?

Some people will like this product, some won't.

If you don't need this, you don't need to justify your decisions here. For some people, this product is for them.

I for one like the idea of a very light laptop that can be taken to offices to give presentations, hook up to an internet cafe whilst out and about and act as a repository for photos whilst on holiday.

If the batteries failing after a year, you can either take it to an apple store to change, or attempt it yourself once out of warranty if you are brave enough. I am not.

Some people like the idea of utility computing.

I think its fair to say, you are a power user that doesn't like the idea of having options taken away, no matter how redundent they are to other people, or yourself. You sound to me like you have the right choice for you (even though you don't actually say what you have). I'm happy for you.

Whilst I don't agree that ethernet is dead, because it is still the natural connector for the office and for servers, I can see the point for not having it when it comes to the home.

This laptop is aimed at home consumers, and for people that need ultimate portability. I for one think its a pretty good stab at addressing these peoples needs.

Apple makes other products for you. They may not be the cheapest you can buy, but you know you are buying quality. For your connectivity needs there is always the mac pro, and if you ever need to fold it under your arm and take it out with you, there's the MacBook Pro.

Of course, I am assuming that you have some interest in Apple given you are on an Apple web site? If you are a PC user just trying to get people agitated then, lighten up. Life's too short.

@Phred

It is perfectly OK if you don't see the need for this type of computer for yourself, but you do others a disservice by assuming that your particular set of needs is broad enough to represent the market at large. I find your set of expectations to be a bit narrow-minded, and your expectations on price to be unrealistic.

I happen to prefer OS X and Apple hardware when it meets my specific needs, but my employer is strictly XP/Novell/Dell. We need a few laptops to use for remote on-call IT support, but in going through the options available through our Enterprise agreement with Dell (or even other manufacturers) I have not found what I am looking for when it comes to portability, performance and price.

Last week I came up with 2 candidate specs for the machines from Dell that best meet our needs. The MBA running Bootcamp, XP and our full set of support software would be less expensive and lighter than either of the Dells. The performance would be better than the best 12" Dell, while the portability would be much better than that of the 14" machine. For this particular need, the MBA makes sense. If you know of another machine that is equally easy to have with you 24/7 for a week of being on call for IT support, that offers similar performance, screen size and keyboard utility, for less money, please let me know.

If that isn't enough for you, my wife uses her MBP as her primary computer, making presentations and hosting her website. She doesn't necessarily need the MBP over the MB for the processor or graphics muscle, but she fell in love with the backlit keyboard, liked the fact that it was thinner than the MB and had the money for it, so that is what she bought. For her particular set of needs the MBA makes more sense than the MBP.

I wouldn't buy one for myself, and it is not the best machine for the majority of users, but it will hit the sweet spot for some, and in that particular niche, is certainly not overpriced when compared to the competition, regardless of OS.

Jan 16, 08 - 05:27 am Comment from: ken1w

The MacBook Air does NOT need to meet everyone's needs for it to be a great (and successful) product. Obviously, it is intended for the Mac user who already has another recent Mac at home or at the office, but I can see how it could be used as the only Mac using wireless connectivity and a powered USB hub.

It's not a good fit for me, but I think Apple will sell a lot of these to the right customers.