Filed under: Macworld, MacBook
MacBook Air
Apple stunned a nation, or at least those who haven't been paying attention to the rumors, today with the unveiling of a very thin new MacBook called the MacBook Air. 'The world's thinnest notebooks' starts at $1799 and comes with a 13.3 inch display (LED), a full keyboard, built-in 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, built-in iSight, and a multitouch trackpad that lets you use gestures to control a number of actions on the MacBook Air. Some other stats include:
- 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache
- 2GB of RAM
- 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive (with optional 64 gig solid state drive
- 1 USB 2.0 port
What it doesn't come with are built-in ethernet ports, FireWire, and optical drive, or enough graphics power to power a 30 inch Display (but you can hook up a 20 or 23 inch display via a built in mini-DVI port).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Billy K said 2:26PM on 1-15-2008
R.I.P. Firewire? I really hope this isn't the end.
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Andrew said 2:30PM on 1-15-2008
Meh
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badweasel said 2:31PM on 1-15-2008
To clarify, it's not an LED display, it's LED backlit TFT display. And FYI, there is no firewire port.
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Tony said 2:32PM on 1-15-2008
I love it. Not as a primary machine, but as an "on the road" machine. I currently have an iMac and a MBP. I keep my documents in sync between the two using ChronoSync. I've found that 99% of the time I'm either using the web or using NeoOffice on the MBP. Although it's powerful enough to do other stuff, I just find myself using my dual-monitor iMac setup for Photoshop, Final Cut Express, etc. So, the MacBook Air (MBA? Nah...sounds dumb) is perfect. I'll seriously consider selling my MBP and getting an Air once the initial user reviews start pouring in.
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JGO said 2:33PM on 1-15-2008
I wonder why the company that invented Firewire has decided to stop using it in their devices??? (ie. newer generation ipods, iphone, ipod touch, and now the macbook air)
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James said 2:34PM on 1-15-2008
Speakers?????
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adrenalin said 2:41PM on 1-15-2008
At first I thought wow, I have got to get me one of these. Then I went to the apple store and thought what the hell was I thinking. First off, I have to pay $100.00 in Canada for the same thing I can drive 30 minutes to the US for. Given that the dollar is still par, $100.00 more is absurd. Second, add the upgrade price for the 64GB SSD and now you are over $3,000. Dang, it would have been great to have a very light, easy to carry notebook but this is way more than I figured it would be. Man, it sucks when reality kicks in.
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adrenalin said 2:42PM on 1-15-2008
Oops, meant to say I have to $100.00 "more". See how frazzled I am.
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Fin said 2:42PM on 1-15-2008
Yeah... Where are the speakers...
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adrenalin said 2:43PM on 1-15-2008
Dang, I still can't form a sentence properly. So ya, where are the speakers :)
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csjk789 said 2:45PM on 1-15-2008
the curved design makes it look like the original iBook...
no firewire, 1.8 inch slow as hell HD, no optical drive, only .25 inches thinner than my macbook pro...
no thanks.
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guy said 2:47PM on 1-15-2008
This is a terrible idea, the macbook air great! if it was anything near cost efficient, why do i give a flying fuck how thick my laptop is within reason.....
The sales of these suckers will be extremelly low, beaucse first of all you could get better specs on a normal flat out macbook for much cheaper. Also about the upgrade, so it uses SSD hdd, 90% of people dont know what that is and say oh its a smaller hard drive and I'm paying more! WTF mate.
This laptop fails.
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ljun said 2:47PM on 1-15-2008
mono speakers, NO replaceable battery, NO ethernet port, NO optical drive .... ONE usb port that's gone if you add the optional superdrive, NO firewire, MORE $$$ :(
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Ryan said 2:48PM on 1-15-2008
No express card slot?
OH! No worries, I can pair my iPhone and surf the web.
...Hey, wait a minute....
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TMM said 2:49PM on 1-15-2008
THEY MADE IT GLOSSY! THEY MADE IT GLOSSY!
(Sorry)
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Seth A said 2:51PM on 1-15-2008
Things that bug me, no Firewire and only one USB port. I might have considered it if it had some kind of "Expansion Port" to add more USB Ports, Firewire, Ect. Apple should take a note from the Sony Laptops they are bashing, sometimes you just cant get rid of things. I mean, Firewire is still the standard way to get video off cameras.
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Tony said 2:55PM on 1-15-2008
"I might have considered it if it had some kind of "Expansion Port" to add more USB Ports..."
They're called USB Hubs, and MANY people with laptops already use them. They're easy to find, and very inexpensive. You should look into it...
Zeromaru said 2:55PM on 1-15-2008
This is among the worst product I've ever seen, bar none.
Seriously. Take a ruler and compare 0.76" to 1.08"... it's not going to make a different. The area is still the same (being a 13" widescreen notebook), so this is no more portable than the Macbook.
So for $700 more, you get the following things above the Macbook:
-Weaker processor
-Non-upgradeable RAM
-Optical drive not included
-Slower, nonupgradable harddrive (4200 rpm PATA compared with 5400 rpm SATA)
-Monoaural sound
-Less battery life
-Only a single USB port
-No Firewire/Ethernet/Apple Remote
-New display output port (meaning your old adapters are useless)
-Trackpad with software-based gesture controls that can be easily added (if they wanted) to existing Macbook/Pros (since their trackpads are already multitouch)
So... why would I want this? Oh yeah, I can pay $1300 more to get a faster (if not as capacitive) harddrive and a processor that's STILL slower than the $1100 Macbook.
Thanks Apple, but I'm gonna buy an EeePC to complement my iMac instead.
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Galloway said 3:18PM on 1-15-2008
The ruler thing was a good idea...
according to my very cheap plastic ruler the difference in thickness between an 'Air' and a regular MacBook is the same as the thickness of the screen...
Open up a "standard" MB and measure the bottom section...
That being said I still think they look cool as hell...
sjs said 4:54PM on 1-16-2008
While you're mostly right, you've missed a few things. Mainly that this product targets a new section of the market (new for Apple): the so-called "ultra"-portables.
It is smaller. Eliminating the optical drive, ethernet port, and FireWire port is a big plus for many people who want something small, light, and sexy.
The battery life is better. Where you got the idea it's worse, I have no clue. I certainly don't get 5 hours on my MacBook while using AirPort.
In short, the MacBook Air is absolutely not a desktop replacement and shouldn't be compared to a MacBook or MacBook Pro as you're doing. If you want all that stuff, the current MacBooks aren't going anywhere.
Just think about it.