There are two hot ultraportable computers on the scene now-a-days: the MacBook Air and the ThinkPad X300. Some clever Lenovo lover created this MacBook Air ad parody which points out the key differences between the Air and the X300: number of ports and an internal DVD drive (only available on some models).
Judging by pure aesthetics alone the Air wins, but ThinkPads are time tested workhorses so I wouldn't count out the X300. Either way, this parody is one of the better ones I've seen.
Bare Feats continues to pit Macs against each other in a no-holds-barred, up-against-the-wall benchmarking breakdown, and this time around it's the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air in the octagon together. And things go about as planned -- while the solid state drive in the MBA has its advantages, the processor and GPU (what little there is of it) in the MBA don't even really compare to the MBP. Sure, it's a small, super thin, super portable computer, but not only are you paying in cash for the portability, you're paying in performance, too.
This doesn't mean the MBA is a bad computer at all -- for most tasks, it'll work just fine. But complicated 3D graphics (both Halo and Unreal Tournament 2004 were tested) will be almost unplayable in games, and there will be a substantial wait, sometimes up to minutes more, for certain processor intensive tasks. If speed is a high priority (at least higher than portability), the MBA isn't for you.
I would like to see how the MacBook compares, though. It's not surprising that the MBP is a fast machine, but where does the MBA line up compared to the cheaper model?
As you'll recall the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) was hard at work, hoping to avoid making another MacBook Air owner miss their flight (the security people didn't know what to make of the x-ray images of the MacBook Air). The TSA got their hands on a MacBook Air for some testing, and ran it through one of their test x-rays machines. Lo and behold, the solid state drive made the MacBook Air look different than traditional notebooks (though in what way, the TSA can't say).
The long and the short of it is that the TSA is distributing printouts of the MacBook Air's x-ray to screeners across the country so they know what to look for. I feel more secure already.
America's favorite ex-con (that's Martha Stewart, not her dog Sharkey, as seen above) just loves her new MacBook Air, according to her blog. Like most MBA owners, she's "amazed" by how thin it is, and is thrilled that the trackpad "works much the same way as the Apple iPhone" -- in fact, her whole writeup reads exactly like an ad from Apple, complete with the link to the Apple Store at the end. Who knew Martha was such a Mac-head?
Although she does settle that debate about whether the book counts as a laptop or a laptop support unit: Martha still keeps her HP right next to the Air, not only because she likes to keep up with both platforms, but apparently because when aides come by her desk to work, she wants them to have choices. And we all know what choice is: a good thing.
What does an Apple advert do for an unknown indie artist without a US album release to her name? In the case of Yael Naim it meant debuting at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 135000 downloads of her song, "I'm a New Soul". It also meant Atlantic Records pushing her US album debut forward by two months. According to this Adage report, Apple gets away with paying about half the going rights rate, in return artists receive unmatchable exposure.
You may recall that MacBook Air user Michael Nygard was recently screened by the TSA (that's the Transportation Security Administration, to those who aren't in the US.) when he went through security with his MacBook Air. It would seem that the good folks manning the X-ray machine couldn't make heads or tail of what they saw on their screen. When Nygard explained that the MacBook Air was, in fact, a computer (and had that assertion backed up by a younger TSA worker) all was cleared up and he was sent on his merry way (though he did miss his flight).
The TSA is working hard to make sure you don't have to deal with this hassle. On the official TSA blog (yes, the TSA has a blog and it is pretty entertaining) Bob informs us now that he is working with Apple to get his hands on a MacBook Air (hey, Bob, just make sure you don't throw it out) for some testing. He wants to run it through one of their screening machines and see if it looks any different than normal laptops. If it does, in fact, look a little odd the image will be sent to all TSA workers in airports so that future travelers won't be bothered.
Apple doesn't just loan review units to anyone who asks. No, you have to be pretty high up on the tech journalism foodchain in order to be entrusted with review gear from Apple (you will note that TUAW does not receive any review units from our favorite fruit company). Steven Levy is decidedly amongst those who have no problems getting their hands on Apple's latest, with lots of help from the company itself (he was one of the 4 journalists who got an iPhone ahead of everyone else). Therefore, it is not surprising that Levy would have a MacBook Air on loan from Apple, but it is surprising what happened to said loaner MacBook Air.
All was well with the MacBook Air, until Levy experienced a panic that anyone borrowing something from a huge multinational corporation never wants to feel: he couldn't find the darned thing. He feverishly traced his whereabouts and quickly ruled out thievery (he still had the powercord, so that didn't seem likely). Finally, he hit upon a theory: the MacBook Air was accidentally tossed out with the Sunday paper (if you read the Sunday New York Times you know that it often weighs in at much more than the MacBook Air's 3 pounds). One wonders if he was using one of the many Manilla envelope cases for his MacBook Air.
Luckily for Steven, Newsweek will be footing the $1800 bill for the MacBook Air, but chances are should the same thing happen to you, you won't be so fortunate. Make sure to keep an eye on that tiny laptop from Apple, there is no telling where it might end up!
Sure, the MacBook Air is a niche product, but it seems to be a darned popular niche product. The folks who are most interested in the MacBook Air are the kind that obsessively track the availability of their latest gadget crush, and now Apple has made that much easier for those jonesing for a little MacBook Air action.
Just load up the MacBook Air Availability page and find out if there are any in an Apple Store near you. As you can see above, my local Apple Store in Ardmore has some MacBook Airs in stock (sadly, the webpage doesn't list how many MacBooks are available, though it does point out that they are available on a first come, first served basis).
You might recall that Apple posted a similar page to track the availability of the iPhone.
Time is running out for Toshiba and friends; the high definition format wars are almost over now officially over. HD DVD hasn't found the footing it needed to earn the support of retailers and studios alike, and it seems that Sony's champion, Blu-Ray, is going to win the day.
So what does that mean for Apple users? Several years ago, Apple latched onto Blu-Ray as a format, but aside from an MCE Blu-Ray drive, we still haven't seen HD media used in any of Apple's products. There have been plenty of rumors (aren't there always?), but whether it's because they want to sell HD content in iTunes or for some other reason, a Blu-Ray drive to replace the SuperDrive hasn't happened yet.
Which leaves us wondering: now that we've seemingly got a winner, will Apple step up with the Blu gear? Of course, the MacBook Air doesn't even have a drive, and we're sure Apple would love to have content distributed only through iTunes and Apple TV. But surely consumers still have a need for physical media -- will Apple now take advantage of its early-advocacy position on Blu-Ray and update the hardware?
Challenging customer service folks in retail stores is pretty much shooting fish in a barrel-- sure, Apple claims to have a great retail environment, but if those Geniuses are getting paid as little as I was when I worked in retail, there's no real reason for them to know the difference between the Apple ][ and the Apple //e (that's what you have TUAW for).
Still, Laptop's writeup on their trip inside the Apple Store is pretty entertaining anyway. The Genius confirms what we all knew about the Macbook Air (it's a "supplemental computer, like, if you already have a desktop at home"), and messes up some specifics on HD-DVD and processor speed and size. My own Apple Store experience wasn't much better-- I had to explain what a KVM switch was (to switch between my Mac mini purchase and my gaming PC). But just like Laptop's experience, my person was helpful and quick, and what more can you really ask from a retail experience?
Long story short, do your research at home, and show up at the Apple Store (or the Best Buy, or the Circuit City, or wherever) only when you know what you really want to buy. The guys and girls with nametags on at the store know a lot about how to sell stuff, but they just don't get paid enough to make your choices for you.
Today was a great day for me personally as my MacBook Air arrived from Apple and I've begun to put it through its paces (expect a full review very soon.). In addition to the MacBook Air, my MacBook Air external USB Superdrive also arrived today as well.
Naturally, being the curious sort I am, before I even plugged the Superdrive into the MBA, I decided to see if it would, in fact, work while attached to any of my other Macs. So, I attached it and gave it a try. I won't keep you in suspense, it didn't work. While the Superdrive was recognized in system profiler by name, when plugged into both my 24" iMac and my 15" MacBook Pro, the drive did not work.
In fact, it didn't even seem like it was getting any power at all and made no sound. It was only when finally plugged into the MBA's sole USB port did the drive come to life. After that, it worked flawlessly when attached to the MBA, as you would expect it to. So, if you were planning on using the MBA Superdrive on any other Mac, you're out of luck.
One item in our loot from Macworld was a shiny new (though now slightly ruffled from the flight) MacBook Air poster. You want it? Sure thing, just leave a comment and validate. It may be the closest some of us will get to a real MacBook Air, until 2011, when all MacBooks adopt the same form factor, naturally.
To enter, leave a comment on this post, validate it so it appears in the comments section.
The comment must be left before February 3, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
You may enter once. We'll check.
One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
The one winner will receive a MacBook Air poster, worth whatever is being fetched on ebay, because you can't buy this thing anywhere.
Click Here for complete Official Rules (after the jump).
Every time a new Apple product comes out our friends at iFixit go way beyond the typical unboxing pictures, and take the whole darn thing apart. They have done the same thing with the MacBook Air, and posted a bunch of very high quality pictures.
They found out a few things:
The battery is very easy to replace (though the procedure requires removing 19 screws).
The multitouch trackpad uses the same controller as the iPhone making it unlikely we'll see a software update enabling that feature for older MacBooks.
The MacBook Air has landed, and people are posting unboxing videos and pictures. The embedded video was sent to us by desenso44, a new MacBook Air owner. Our friends at UneasySilence have taken a slew of pictures of their newly arrived MacBook Air.
Are you reading TUAW on a MacBook Air? How is it treating you so far?
Update: The embedded video has been changed to point to the correct source of the video.
This news comes just as some of you are un-boxing that shiny new MacBook Air. Macworld reports that Apple has updated the MacBook Air wireless release note. In this release note, Apple explains that you may experience problems with older 802.11n routers when using Remote Disc, Migration Assistant, or Remote Install.
As a possible solution Apple mentions that you can try upgrading the firmware on your router; however, this is only possible if your router supports upgrades (although most popular routers do). Otherwise, you may be looking to get a new router; which adds to the total cost of owning a MacBook Air.
What does an Apple advert do for an unknown indie artist without a US album release to her name? In the case of Yael Naim it meant debuting at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 135000 downloads of her song, "I'm a New Soul". It also meant Atlantic Records pushing her US album debut forward by two months. According to 
Time is running out for Toshiba and friends; 
Challenging customer service folks in retail stores is pretty much shooting fish in a barrel-- sure, Apple claims to have a great retail environment, but if those Geniuses are getting paid as little as I was when I worked in retail, there's no real reason for them to know the difference between the Apple ][ and the Apple //e (that's 
Today was a great day for me personally as my MacBook Air arrived from Apple and I've begun to put it through its paces (expect a full review very soon.). In addition to the MacBook Air, my MacBook Air external USB Superdrive also arrived today as well.
This news comes just as some of you are 
