Filed under: Macworld, MacBook Air
Champagne wishes & caviar dreams: the SSD-equipped MacBook Air
The solid-state-drive and the MacBook Air. 64 GB of goodness and no moving parts. You know you want it; fast, quiet, cool, power-saving and simply the finest laptop money can buy -- plus, you can shave with the front end, or slice cucumbers. One minor note, however, for those who measure their tax refunds in the thousands instead of the tens or hundreds of thousands: this prime bit of kit will take a huge bite out of your bankroll.How huge? Check the Apple Store (and marvel that the number wasn't mentioned specifically in the keynote except to say "pricey") -- a whopping $3100 for the new hotness. Sure, it may be worth every penny, but first you have to find all those pennies and herd them into a recognizable grouping of some sort.
Would the SSD MBA be worth it to you? Extra points if you don't have an actual M.B.A. graduate degree and you can still afford one.
Thanks Rich
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Eamon McDermott said 3:51PM on 1-15-2008
It might be worth it to skip past the 4200rpm drive on the lower model. That's ugly-slow.
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Simon Arch said 7:51PM on 1-15-2008
The fact they went with 1.6ghz and 1.8ghz CPUs should tell you this is not meant to be a high-performance machine. The 4200 rpm drive wouldn't be too slow for general use, which is all this box is really good for. If you want high performance, you'll need to spring for a MacBook Pro, but that's always been true of the MacBook line.
As compromises go, a 4200 rpm 1.8" drive is a pretty good one.
frogbat said 3:59PM on 1-15-2008
hope many people will buy them leading to the poverty stricken sort to enjoy the lower prices later on
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ennui said 7:14PM on 1-21-2008
well a 64GB SSD on newegg is $1533. if you think of it that way you're getting a bargain.
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madtracer said 4:09PM on 1-15-2008
.. And that's for the 2.5" drive.
Dane Omazic said 4:11PM on 1-15-2008
"Extra points if you don't have an actual M.B.A. graduate degree and you can still afford one." hahah love the comment
"64GB SSD Drive, So fast, Load your Porn in seconds, Delete your Porn in second, never let ur wife find out what ur doing :P "
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Stetson said 4:12PM on 1-15-2008
Look again, the model that comes with the SSD standard also includes the 1.8Ghz processor. Building the 1.6Ghz model with the SSD is a few hundred cheaper - the SSD is only $999 upgrade.
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badtzmaru said 4:15PM on 1-15-2008
Wow, only $999? In that case, i'm getting 10!
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Tyrannous said 4:14PM on 1-15-2008
dont blame this on apple, just give the technology some time
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Tom said 4:23PM on 1-15-2008
How much _more_ battery life does it deliver and how much _faster_ is it than the lower model?
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bradders said 4:24PM on 1-15-2008
I ordered mine as soon as the store came back up, do I get extra sucker points for being in the UK and paying the equivalent of 3,800 USD?
:S
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Dane Omazic said 4:30PM on 1-15-2008
since you have extra money to throw around
buy me one, i mean u know how lonely would it be to be the only one with an MacBook Air, this way u just made someone else life and u can feel good about spending your money :)
Ningqing said 11:09AM on 1-16-2008
The MacBook Air is a huge disappointment.
It's way too heavy at 3 pounds, way to expensive (for the SSD drive) and useless to me without an optical drive (so my daughter can watch her DVDs on vacation and I can burn them. If it weighed 2 pounds or less and had an optical drive, I would find the money.
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JPT said 8:47PM on 1-15-2008
I really hope you are joking. 3lbs. is too heavy? Too expensive for the SSD (Close to $2k for the 1.8" and $1.5k for the 2.5" buying it by its self). No Optical, get the add-on if you must get the Air otherwise get a MB or a MBP.
Ningqing said 12:39PM on 1-16-2008
Further to my comments on MacBook Air, 7 years ago I bought a Sony Vaio C1 Picture Book Notebook. Weight: 2.16 lbs., Keyboard size: length 1 3/4" less than MacBook, same
depth (I had no problem keyboarding), screen size: 8.9", (I had no problem viewing the screen or watching DVDs. There was no optical drive so I bought one; weight 1.5 lbs. 7 years ago before flash memory and all the tech. advances. Been there, done that, and Apple can't do any better than 7 years ago? Portable does not mean you can move from downstairs to upstairs, it means you can go on a vacation and not pray that someone nearby has a computer that you can sponge off of for your optical drive.
Paul Joyce said 4:37PM on 1-15-2008
Apple has done well crafting products for users who demand the best design and latest technology, and the MacBook Air continues this tradition. What is interesting about the MBA is that I also see it appealing to the business executive. C-level types have been using compact laptops for a while. Now I expect them to start requesting the MacBook Air for style, status and functional reasons..
Apple’s original corporate strategy started with the education market. The hope was to graduate Mac fans into the office. IT shut this down. With the release of Office 2008 and this slick new laptop, it will be interesting to see if more Macs start showing up in the boardroom and corporate offices. The boss is a harder customer for IT to summarily dismiss.
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max Walker said 5:38PM on 1-15-2008
MBA is cool.
But to be truely wireless world it needs the 3G chipset and an AT&T or O2 connection.
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tys said 9:06PM on 1-15-2008
Exactly! This thing needs a SIM card slot and 3G. Apple could team up with their buddies at AT&T for a data plan. It's a shame to have such a portable device and not be able to connect *anywhere*
I don't mind the lack of optical drive or ethernet. With my current powerbook, I copy DVDs onto the HD from travel and carry an Airport Express(it's quite small) so I can have wireless.
I like the "air", but probably won't buy one, since the iPhone actually satisfies most of my needs while traveling. Plus the glossy screen is a deal-breaker if it's as bad as the ones on the Macbooks and iMacs. SO much glare, even just sitting in the store, I can't imagine trying to use one out in the world.
P Kayne said 4:44PM on 1-15-2008
Though the MacAir is beautiful and very light, in my opinion, it's a waste of time device. It's biggest problem is the lack of the DVD/CD Drive. People still use CDs and DVDs and they are not going away like the A Drive.
I am a working Marketing professional and I back up to CDs all the time and put together video presentations and edit different types of promotional video which must be burnt on a DvD or delivered to me on a DVD.
Therefore with "Air", now I should walk around with a light computer but then pull out a separate external drive. That's going to be nice when I have to go to a meeting. And even better if and when I forget the drive at home or at work.
Apple's assumption that "consumers won't miss because they can download movies and music over the Internet and access the optical drives on other PCs and Macs to install new software" is ridiculous. This type of computer will make the owner's experience even more frustrating.
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james croft said 9:54PM on 1-15-2008
why would you consider a macbook air if you're doing video editing?