Apple Announces MacBook Air

Apple made four announcements at MacWorld Expo: the new MacBook Air, new features for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and movie rentals via iTunes from a TV without a computer involved. The new portable gets most of the attention. It is 0.76" thick at the thickest part, tapering to 0.16". It weighs 3 pounds and has a 13.3" screen and full-size, backlit keyboard. Its Intel chip is the diameter of a dime and the thickness of a nickel. The MacBook Air will cost $1799 and up. Its storage is either 80 GB disk or 64 GB solid-state drive. 2 GB of memory. It has no optical drive (an external one is available for $99) and features a way to wirelessly use the optical drive of any nearby Mac or PC with the proper software installed.

Comments

But....

[bherman]

does it blend?

Re:But....

[flitty]

Buy me one, Mail it to me in a Manilla envelope, and i'll "find out" for you.

Re:But....

[worryrock07]

Air smoke. Don't breathe this.

Re:But....

[PrescriptionWarning]

maybe.. but it'll certainly bend. I'm just wondering how much force is needed to snap the LCD off from the base, as constant abuse can wear down the top portion of a laptop and one day just goes SNAP

Re:But....

[TClevenger]

Exactly. My Macbook Pro has been tweaked every which direction, and now the LCD doesn't sit flush when closed, and part of the case above the F12 key bows outward. I don't know how an even thinner laptop would handle travel duties.

Re:But....

[LetterRip]

does it blend? Yeah Blender works just fine on OS X Leopard, thanks for asking though :)

LetterRip

Re:But....

[bherman]

If I had not commented, you sir would get +1 funny from me.

Re:But....

[wattrlz]

Drat, where are mod points when you need 'em? +2 funny plz.

Re:But....

[jdray]

Maybe:

"Number two is, unsurprisingly about the iPhone."

Okay, eeew!

Re:But....

[Anonymous Coward]

+5 Funny? Would some kind soul please explain the joke? (I usually am on top of these things: send up the 'zig, etc.)

Re:But....

[sokoban]

Blendtec. The will it blend videos. Whenever the guy blends something which produces dust, he says "don't breathe this"

Re:But....

[aplusjimages]

Will it blend

Re:But....

[darthflo]

My Thinkpad tablet has survived two- to three-foot drops onto concrete, being banged against walls while I was holding it on the display and lots of other abuse with but a few minor blemishes. It's not as thin as an MB Air, but it's also a single-hinge model. Multi-hinge notebooks can be built to almost any thinness desired thanks to (expensive) modern alloys.

Re:But....

[Kamokazi]

I think that's the only way to get the battery out...

Re:But....

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahhh, thanks, guys. I missed that one.

Re:But....

[robbiedo]

It looks like a beautiful piece on engineering, but an IBM...errr....Lenovo x Series sub notebook is more my durability level. I had an x31 survive a motorcycle accident with minimal damage, while protecting my back, and IBM fixed that damage under warranty. They were happy it saved my skin...literally, and it survived.

Re:But....

[zieroh]

Slashdot. One of the few places on earth where it's an outrage (Outrage!) that a company would dare to introduce a product that isn't perfectly tailored to their needs.

Farking freetards.

Re:But....

[zerkon]

My dual hinge G3 ibook fell about 4 feet off my breakfast bar onto carpet. It snapped one of the hinges like a twig.

Took about 2 hours of delicate surgery to replace the hinge. The entire LCD assembly needs to be removed to access the frame which is all welded/pop riveted to the hinges.

Re:But....

[sach2n]

I don't see any strong reasons to buy this MBA as it is the slowest in the MAC family Sachin

Expensive

[Ikipou]

Sooooooooooo expensive.

Re:Expensive

[tuxic]

Good things cost money. Deal with it ;-)
(+3 Funny anyone?)

Re:Expensive

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

I think I'll still get one.

Re:Expensive

[NetJunkie]

Just because it costs a lot doesn't mean it's overpriced. It's a deal compared to comparable Sony models with less power and aren't as thin.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not the half of it. If you decide to go with the flash disc (SSD), you'll have pony up over 3000 smackers.

Re:Expensive

[MightyYar]

You serious? Have you priced out its competition? The closest is probably the Vaio, and it is more expensive. The Dell XPS is cheaper, but is bigger and heavier.

Re:Expensive

[chaboud]

Compared to Vaios that have a DVD drive or 200GB second drive built in?

Really thin is only so useful. The Vaio TZ (along with some Japanese laptops that we don't get here in the states) allows you to change the way that you live. You can stuff those notebooks into a man-purse (Tumi makes some that fit rather well) and go. You can use them in the coach section of an airplane without fear of screen-crunch.

I'm not saying that the Macbook Air is a bad thing. Thin notebooks are nice, but thickness is the dimension that I find least annoying in a notebook (keeping in mind that my thickest notebook is a comparably enormous Vaio FZ, and my favorite notebook is my Thinkpad T42). I wouldn't want my sub-notebook to be as thick as the old Thinkpads were (think DSM-IV hardcover) size, but the footprint matters as well.

If only someone would bring back the old butterfly keyboard of the Thinkpad 701...

Re:Expensive

[Ikipou]

I agree the XPS is bigger and heavier (not that much anyway) but to gain 0.4kg, you loss the DVD, the CPU speed, the storage size and speed, and you paid much more for it. I don't pay 700$ more to have less.

Re:Expensive

[EastCoastSurfer]

Apple removed many of the parts from a normal laptop computer and are now going to charge more for it. Genius I tell you!

Re:Expensive

[cbreaker]

Not sure why you're being moderated as Troll. Oh wait, Apple is popular now.

It's expensive. For a little tiny thing like that, STARTING at $1800, is very expensive. I don't care if the competition is more expensive, that's got nothing to do with it. It's way too much money for a computer these days.

The cost of electronics doesn't go up, so the cost of these small machines shouldn't be sky high. But, as long as the lemmings keep on buying them, they'll keep on setting the prices that high so you can make the CEO's richer and richer.

It looks like a really awesome device. Just not worth $1800 unless it's going to blow me while it downloads movies from the iTunes store.

Re:Expensive

[blowdart]

Apple is using the lingerie model : pay more for a lot less, but it looks sexier.

Re:Expensive

[Atti K.]

Imagine [how much would cost] a Beowulf cluster of these!
Interconnected wirelessly of course. ("I know my rights, I want my gigabit port!")

Re:Expensive

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

omg you're not genuinely unaware of the fact that for electronics, smaller is generally more advanced and hence more expensive are you?

if not, why do you constantly talk about its price in terms of its size? ("For a little tiny thing like that...", "the cost of these small machines...")

Re:Expensive

[Jozef Nagy]

One of the most irritating pet peeves of mine from the days of working retail is what you stated. There's nothing more annoying than a customer complaining to you that something is "too expensive" because it costs more. What I would do to help them understand is to tell them "A Mercedes costs more than a Honda, but people still buy them. You pay more and you get more. The same applies to this product."

Re:Expensive

[cayenne8]

"It's expensive. For a little tiny thing like that, STARTING at $1800, is very expensive. I don't care if the competition is more expensive, that's got nothing to do with it. It's way too much money for a computer these days. "

Not to sound condescending, but, I'm guessing that you just are not in the demographic they are targeting this towards. Apple pretty much seems to be marketing towards the upscale client, with a decent bit of disposable income to spare and that likes fun 'toys'.

I'm not one of them, but, there are TONS of people out there, that make a lot of money...and to them, a couple grand for a toy is chump change. These are the same people that bought iPhones while others complained that they were too expensive too.

If they don't sell well at that price point, then they did price it too expensively, but, I'm willing to bet, that they will sell quite a lot of these.

Apple is not marketing really much towards the middle or low end of the computer market, they are targeting the upscale market with some sleek looking, and functionally 'nifty' products, and there IS a market for that out there obviously....just look at Apple's recent year sales figures.

Re:Expensive

[Amouth]

it is also an exclusivity thing.. apple doesn't want everyone to get it.. they want a niche group.. they arn't going to price it so that every kid or preson can have one.. they want it to be exclusive.. they can make more money that way..

Re:Expensive

[vijayiyer]

But that's why Apple sells MacBooks for $1100 too. This is for the people for whom the .4kg and smaller size _does_ matter.

Re:Expensive

[ubuwalker31]

The competition is the Eee PC...not a Vaio.

Re:Expensive

[Amouth]

i don't think there is a better way of putting it..

+1 perfect

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

Mercedes are far inferior to HONDAS.

As a matter of fact Mercedes are heavier, consume more petrol per mile, have bad performance and handling and are driven mostly by rich idiots.

Re:Expensive

[COMON$]

I agree here, I love love love the XPS 1330 series with the LED display. I will pay $2500 for one of those any day of the week. I bought 3 just last year for co-workers the only complaints I have had so far are Vista issues.

Re:Expensive

[Sancho]

It can't matter that much. There aren't many situations where it's necessary from a usability or pragmatic standpoint.

These laptops are trendy, nothing more. If you want to be trendy, it's perfect--and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But I'm going to get really tired of hearing how innovative Apple is with the Air when functionally, the only new thing is the touchpad (which, you'll note, they didn't put in their other notebook lines, possibly because they realize that it's the only thing that really separates the Air from the Macbook/Pro.

Re:Expensive

[MightyYar]

You're joking? I hope? The Eee PC is not in the same ballpark, not by a long shot. Pick any category: screen, speed, OS, storage, etc. Vaio compares very closely to the "Air", Eee PC compares to what an Air would have been like half a decade ago.

Re:Expensive

[COMON$]

The cost of electronics doesn't go up,
Did you not see the custom Dual Core built for it? Or the thin hard drive....ya I bet those cost just as much as all the other processors and hard drives of the same spec to manufacture.

Re:Expensive

[Linker3000]

Not specifically saying it applies in the case of this Apple kit, but sometimes paying more just gets you your desired brand name/image rather than anything more.

A rather left-of-field example from me today: I benchmarked an Adaptec 1210SA PCI SATA controller against a 'generic' (Newlink) equivalent in a Linux box I was building. Both cards are based on the humble SiL 3112 chip. The performance difference was negligible, but the Adaptec controller was £48, the 'generic' was £12.

Sony and Apple, in particular, strike me as examples of manufacturers that demand/expect a price premium for the brand name. Sure, there are elements of 'first to post' development costs built into their pricing, but in general you can usually buy better kit with more features for less.

Re:Expensive

[MightyYar]

Wanna bet the touchpad shows up on the other Apple notebooks as they are refreshed?

People DO pay for size. A friend of mine paid almost as much for a Lenovo x61s (IIRC) a few months back. He loves it - it weighs half what his old laptop did, gets about 3-4x the battery life, and takes up so little room that he doesn't need a separate bag for it anymore. That's worth a few hundred bucks for a lot of people, and isn't simply a matter of "being trendy".

I wouldn't want it as my primary computer, but it would certainly do the trick as a second computer (as my iBook does now...).

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

But unlike lingerie, this one will get you laid instead of being called a pervert (assuming you are a guy).

Re:Expensive

[Abeydoun]

Not to mention a replaceable battery.

I have a Toshiba Portege R500. It's 2.4lbs, .77" thick, includes an optical drive, and has a replaceable battery (usually runs me a full 6hrs on one charge with average usage). Granted it's not as powerful as the mac (it has a 1.2ghz Core 2 Duo) doesn't have all the cute features of the mac (my favorite is the backlit keyboard), but it's lighter and has some essential practical benefits over the mac. IMHO I don't fully understand the hype that's behind the Air. It's not nearly as revolutionary as people are suggesting.

Re:Expensive

[CountBrass]

I don't think your last paragraph is right. I dont think there's a laptop out there that even comes close to the Macbook Pro (or even the Macbook) in terms of "quality" even if you ignore OSX: and how long has the Macbook been out now (and before it the Al Powerbook)? You get what you pay for.

Re:Expensive

[mrchaotica]

Yeah, if Apple really wanted to make a great product, it should have made it a tablet. Then the thinness and lightness (and multitouch!) really would have mattered!

Re:Expensive

[Monsuco]

Just because it costs a lot doesn't mean it's overpriced.

You could work for a used car dealership.

Re:Expensive

[numbski]

It looks like a really awesome device. Just not worth $1800 unless it's going to blow me while it downloads movies from the iTunes store.

Clearly you didn't look closely enough at the expansion ports under the drop down door!

*wah wah wah wah*

What? Of course it'll fit in there. You're reading slashdot, aren't you?

Re:Expensive

[zrobotics]

You didn't happen to notice that the damn thing's approximately the size of a postage stamp, did you? The point of the air is that's it's incredibly thin. This isn't designed to be the most powerful, feature-laden notebook out there, it's designed to be portable. For instance, Intel re-designed the processor to make it significantly smaller. Things like that don't come cheap; hence, Apple charges more for the device. Yes, it isn't as powerful as the Pro, but it's designed to complement Apple's other notebooks, not replace them. Buy the Pro if you want more power/features, buy the Air if you need an eensy notebook. It doesn't make sense for Apple to sell 3 different notebook models that are all essentially the same thing. One's cheaper, one's more powerful, and one's small. Pick one. Personally, I'm impressed that the Air's still cheaper than the competition, considering that: A) it's a Mac B) It's smaller (thinner) than comparable notebooks C) it's decently powerful and has good battery life. I wouldn't buy one for video/audio editing, but for web-browsing, e-mail, and text editing it's perfect. And, let's face it, that's all that most consumers use a computer for.

Re:Expensive

[alienw]

Good god you are an idiot. I can definitely see you purchase exclusively low-end Dell notebooks. You know, there is a reason people buy premium hardware. It's not built out of cheap black plastic covered with cheap silver paint, it might actually last longer than 6 months, and you don't have to wait on hold for hours just to speak to Indian tech support with no fucking clue what's going on. Not to mention, Apple laptops might actually be able to play an MP3 file without skipping every 5 seconds and connect to wireless networks reliably (unlike every recent Dell notebook I've used). It might have to do with, say, hiring American engineers who have a clue instead of letting the Chinese OEMs design stuff. Or maybe it's that whole thing about not cutting corners. Not sure.

Just so you know, I'm not a Mac fanboy. I just had enough of Dell's shittiness one day and sold my piece of shit Inspiron to some poor SOB on eBay. He probably thought he was getting a deal.

Re:Expensive

[mr_josh]

I am inclined to disagree with that analogy. I look at it more like, some people like red cars, some people like blue cars. If for some reason the blue car is more expensive than the red car, but you really really don't like red, and you have to have a car, is it worth it to pay more for the blue car? They are fundamentally the same, but you just can't stand walking out to your driveway every morning and staring at that hideous red car. That's why I pay more for a Mac. I could use Windows, it would get me where I want to go, but man is it ugly.

Re:Expensive

[Mister Whirly]

"IMHO I don't fully understand the hype that's behind the Air. It's not nearly as revolutionary as people are suggesting."

Maybe Apple should have named it the Macbook HotAir?

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait for 90 days and the price will come down. ;-)

Re:Expensive

[AntEater]

"Apple removed many of the parts from a normal laptop computer and are now going to charge more for it. Genius I tell you!"

Do you work in my IT dept.?

Re:Expensive

[Linker3000]

Fair point, my perspective was more PC Laptop and MP3 player based rather than Macbook-related.

Re:Expensive

[tilandal]

Nope, the closest is the Thinkpad X61 from Lenovo. Same Processor, Same HD, only 1GB memory standard but starts at $1020. Thats 70% cheaper then the Apple.

Re:Expensive

[Penguin's Advocate]

The SSD is a $999 upgrade. Have you looked at the prices for 64GB SSDs recently? They tend to run in the $1500 range. I know it's hard to believe, but the SSD from Apple is actually *cheaper* than retail at the moment. It's not something you usually see in BTO upgrades for a Mac.

Re:Expensive

[helmutvs]

Don't look at the XPS - Check out the Latitude D430. 3lbs, only slightly thicker, and starts at $1200. See it here. I've got the earlier version of it (D420). Far more features and by my experience it's a more mature product. Plus, it makes one sweet Linux box!

Re:Expensive

[Deanalator]

It's also a bit faster than the vaio TZ series. Still though, I was really hoping apple was going to release an 11 inch macbook :-/ I've had my 13 inch macbook for a year and a half and it still feels oversized and klunky. I would much rather have a more portable form factor than something that is just thinner.

Re:Expensive

[cbreaker]

Upscale, okay. But there's a lot of people that aren't upscale, and they buy this stuff too. I don't think $85K is rich, and I certainly don't like throwing away money on things that aren't drugs =)

I think Apple rides on their name, on the success of the iPod, and eventually I do believe it'll fall back on top of them. Apple makes decent products and it sucks that they're not willing to sell to the average consumer, on the border of being arrogant. We'll see what happens.

Re:Expensive

[Altus]

Look, I bought a 15" MacBook Pro back in august. Im pretty thrilled with the machine. It does everything I need and then some, plenty of power, its great. But I have a trip overseas comming up and im not sure I want to lug that thing around for 2 weeks. in this case I would much rather have one of these. The thing is, I want a more full featured laptop because it is my primary computer (I prefer not to be desk bound). For me the Mac Book Pro is still the right computer but if I were a heavy traveler that could easily change the calculus.

I only travel seriously once in a while but this computer is designed for road warriors and for someone like that the .4kg makes a BIG difference because they are probably carrying the computer more often than they are using it.

For some people, sub notebooks make sense... if I were someone who had a desktop as a primary computer then I would almost certainly look at one of these for a portable.

I will admit though, the lack of firewire is disappointing. No Target disk mode makes this laptop a bit less cool than it could be.

Re:Expensive

[Simon Brooke]

Yeah, if Apple really wanted to make a great product, it should have made it a tablet. Then the thinness and lightness (and multitouch!) really would have mattered!

Tablets have been tried, repeatedly. Tablets have failed, repeatedly. I'm just about to start rewriting one system which was designed for a tablet, because the field engineers it was designed for do not like the tablets. Tablets are not great products, they're niche products - and that niche isn't anywhere near as big as the computer makers thought it would be.

I agree that the keyboard is a lousy user interface device, but like democracy it's a hell of a lot better than any of the alternatives.

Re:Expensive

[MrPerfekt]

You're more right than you know.

The difference in price between the 'middle' MacBook and it is $500. I put together a WHOLE PAGE of stuff that is on the cheaper MacBook but not on the Air. And for less money, seriously, look at the specs, it's freaking hilarious. I'm a huge Apple fan boy but I can't say I'm enthusiastic about something that is so blatantly only sold for the 'cool' factor (insert your 'isn't that all Apple products' line here).

Apple really missed the mark with this one here. At $1000-1200, it's reasonable but at %50 more it becomes laughable. I was really hoping for something in that range so I could replace my girlfriend's aging iBook but now it looks like I'll wait for an LED-backlit refresh of a MacBook, you know, that laptop that actually does something for $1200.

Re:Expensive

[Sancho]

Wanna bet the touchpad shows up on the other Apple notebooks as they are refreshed? No, because it seems obvious that they'll do it. I was disappointed that the touchpad wasn't added to them today. Once everyone oohs and ahhs over how great it is, they'll add it to their other lines to increase the sales of those.

People DO pay for size. I wasn't talking generically. I was talking specifically about the Macbook Air.

There's size, and then there are the dimensions that really matter.

The Macbook is 13.3". The Macbook Air is 13.3". Where they've cut down is on thickness (and not much on that) and weight (from 5 pounds on the Macbook to 3 pounds on the Macbook Air.) The weight is nice, if you don't mind a non-replaceable battery, no optical drive, and extremely limited expandability (one USB and one DVI.) The advertised battery life is actually lower than on the Macbook!

Talking generically, you're right. People might spend more money on a smaller, lighter notebook. In this case, though, they're spending more money on a thinner, lighter notebook which eliminates a lot of the features that notebook users probably take for granted right now. I simply can't believe that there is a huge market for the feature set of the Macbook Air compared to the featureset of the Macbook. I can completely believe that the trendy nature of "the new Mac laptop" has a large market.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

You must not understand that Apple is in the fashion industry as well as the tech one. In fashion it's a routine occurrence to charge in inverse proportion to the actual amount of clothing sold. That's why, you know, your girlfriend's tiny, lacy thing costs 5 times what a shirt does.

Re:Expensive

[Altus]

Its also twice as thick, weights 25% more, has a smaller screen and as you say comes with half the ram. Also, in order to get a similar battery time you need the extra big battery. Still a fairly good deal if the Thinkpad has everything you need but for some people the lighter computer with the larger screen might be worth the money.

Re:Expensive

[Sancho]

I'll summarize another post I made along the same lines.

First, I wholeheartedly agree that there is a market for sub-notebooks. I've been wanting to pick one up myself. I consider the Macbook to be on the larger side of the sub-notebook class of computers. What I was talking about was specifically the Macbook Air, specifically compared to Apple's next smallest notebook.

Here's what you get going from the stock Macbook to the Macbook Air:
2 pounds lighter.
0.25 inches thinner, at its thickest.
Spiffy new touchpad.
OLED screen, meaning that the LCD should last longer (this is a marginal improvement)
1 extra gb of RAM, base (costs $150 to add to the Macbook on Apple's website, $50 to add after-market)
Trendy new computer that few other people have.

Here's what you give up:
1 optical drive
1 USB port
1 Firewire port (probably not a big deal to travelers)
1 replaceable battery (meaning that your travelers won't be able to carry a spare)
1 hour of battery life (even worse considering the lack of a replaceable battery)
1 ethernet jack (probably not a big deal, since wireless is slowly becoming ubiquitous)
400mhz on the low end, 200mhz on the high end.
Replaceable RAM (RAM starts going bad? Your Mac is going in for service. Hope it doesn't go bad after the warranty is up.)
Stereo speakers
Optical audio out
$600

I simply can't believe that the things you get are highly sought after.

Re:Expensive

[Fex303]

(think DSM-IV hardcover)

What a random (and awesome) comparison. Of course, my next question would have to be: Do mean DSM-IV or DSM-IV-TR?

Re:Expensive

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

Apple is using the lingerie model

Oh yeah! Every geek's dream, and...

Oh wait. Not that kind of lingerie model, obviously.

Re:Expensive

[twitchingbug]

If only someone would bring back the old butterfly keyboard of the Thinkpad 701...

Yeah. that was a cool keyboard. But the reason for implementing it was that laptops back in the day had the old 4:3 aspect ratio. this meant that laptops were more square and didn't have enough width to fit a keyboard. Or if it did, the screen would be very large, and a lot of space would be wasted with the handrest area.

Today, the problem is solved simply by having widescreen LCD's which do provide enough space for the full laptop keyboard.

Re:Expensive

[Neo_piper]

I can't agree more.
I just two weeks ago bought a Macbook and It's small enough for me.
Making a laptop JUST smaller is a feat, STRIPPING a laptop bare and making it smaller is simple, RAPING a laptop of all it's features, except ram! blah blah blah including removable drive thumb drives blah blah blah and charging more than the larger featured model is criminal.
Even If it does run OS X 10.5
And I'm an Apple fanboy, this could get ugly.

Re:Expensive

[anagama]

Even if you have the disposable income, the Air might not appeal. It's essentially a Macbook with a bunch of stuff stripped out, a slower processor, and a redesigned case. The remote cd-rom application is not all that amazing -- I imagine it's just some rehash of Appletalk. It's sort of like an extreme version of the Macbook "black" penalty -- except now it's an extra $800.

And mods note -- I'm not an Apple hater. I spring for $2k powerbooks, well, now it'll be macbook pros, for my office (replace at 3 year intervals) and I have a Macbook which I use as my personal kick around machine, and before that, a 12 inch iBook.

Another problem with the Air is the same problem the Macbook has -- it's WIDE. The 12in iBook made a great travel computer. The macbook is on the wide side and feels a little more delicate than the iBook. If the Air had a smaller footprint, it would make sense in the product line. As it is, it looks like an expensive wide wafer -- fewer features than a Macbook at nearly twice the price. Even for people with money to burn, it doesn't seem the best place to burn it.

Re:Expensive

[Smackheid]

The performance difference was negligible, but the Adaptec controller was £48, the 'generic' was £12.

Yeah, but the £48 one probably had one of the following in addition to the part:

• -Several 'home editions' or otherwise crippled versions of good software AND an AOL CD or
• -Several CDs full of useless and outdated manuals, drivers, etc. which also happens to include a copy of Acrobat reader 5 or
• -A shitty game, even by the standards of 5 years ago AND a Netzero CD

All in all, no matter which, well worth the extra £36 IMO

Re:Expensive

[Jozef Nagy]

Thanks to everyone for replying to my use of the Mercedes/Honda analogy. You're all correct in what you say. Keep in mind that I used this analogy when I was much younger and it worked in those circumstances. I was in fact selling a superior, high quality product and it cost more than some people expected. My point was that when looking at the price they had to keep in mind that they were in fact getting more than the cheaper junk they were used to.

The analogy was never meant to be all that accurate. For example, the statement about paying more for brand identity is correct. In my generic example I'm referring to a product that IS superior and costs more. That doesn't mean it's just "more expensive", it's a different product so of course it costs a different price. You can't compare a superior product's price to that of its inferior clones. They are different. To a degree it's an apples/oranges comparison.

The same goes for the non-utilitarian based preferences of wanting a certain color car. In that case that involves an irrational consumer preference that doesn't apply to what I'm talking about.

Re:Expensive

[MightyYar]

Right, but you still have a much slower laptop - and when you upgrade it to have some of the same specs as the Apple the price goes up to $1465.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

Replace MacBook Air with PowerMac Cube, then replace "cheaper MacBook" with "cheaper PowerMac." What you say still makes sense. Will the MacBook Air be the next Cube? (A cool product but a failure in the marketplace.)

Re:Expensive

[hahn]

$1500 for a whole SSD harddrive. This is $999 for an *upgrade*. Meaning you lose the 80 GB 4200 RPM 1.8" hard drive which is about $200 on its own. Then the price differential is only about $300. Considering that Apple probably gets a very nice volume discount, it's not *that* great a deal. Fair, but definitely not a screaming bargain. Apple's not a nonprofit charitable organization, no matter what the diehards would have you believe.

Re:Expensive

[glittalogik]

I don't drive but I've been in a Merc or two, and IMO the Honda Accord Euro shits all over them.

Re:Expensive

[crabpeople]

""A Mercedes costs more than a Honda, but people still buy them. You pay more and you get more. The same applies to this product.""

Yeah im sure you'll appreciate it costing more for parts when it breaks down. And as a bit of anecdotal evidence, I know several people who own mercedes and unless you continue leasing a new model every two or 3 years it will break down, just like any other car.

Re:Expensive

[GrahamCox]

400mhz on the low end, 200mhz on the high end

Those millihertz really add up too!

Re:Expensive

[modecx]

Quoth Owen Wilson: "Look at the size of this thing! Size matters. But in the spy world, it's reversed. You want people to say, "Look how small and sexy and sleek this is." Not "How huge this is!"

Except small is sexy outside of the spy world, too. (excepting the bedroom perhaps)

Re:Expensive

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

You're more right than you know.

The difference in price between the 'middle' MacBook and it is $500. I put together a WHOLE PAGE of stuff that is on the cheaper MacBook but not on the Air. And for less money, seriously, look at the specs, it's freaking hilarious. I'm a huge Apple fan boy but I can't say I'm enthusiastic about something that is so blatantly only sold for the 'cool' factor (insert your 'isn't that all Apple products' line here). What amazes me is the gist of the comments, here:

"There's no optical drive!"
"You can pay Apple more money to solve that!"

"There's only one USB port!"
"You can pay Apple more money to solve that!"

"There's no user replacable battery!"
"You can pay Apple to solve that!"


I'm sorry guys, I just don't get this one.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not an OLED display, it is an LCD display with LED backlighting (no electrofluorescent panel - which generally contain mercury). Going with LED backlighting has a few pluses: generally brighter, less power hungry, "green".

Re:Expensive

[Mr2001]

I dont think there's a laptop out there that even comes close to the Macbook Pro (or even the Macbook) in terms of "quality" even if you ignore OSX Really? I think there are plenty, and most of them cost at least 30% less than the MBP.

I don't consider features like a backlit keyboard or a FireWire 800 port to be necessities, so I have no problem comparing the MBP to competing models that have the same size screen, same CPU, same hard drive and optical drive, same networking features, etc. but a much lower price tag. For example, a configured HP dv6700t with the same basic specs as the low-end MacBook Pro costs $958.99 - less than half as much as the MBP.

Re:Expensive

[snuf23]

"1 extra gb of RAM, base (costs $150 to add to the Macbook on Apple's website, $50 to add after-market)"

Just a nitpick but RAM costs have plummeted. You can get a name brand 2GB PC 5300 SODIMM for $35 or less (I've seen $26 after rebate). And yes it works fine with MacBooks.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

Different strokes for different people.

Although I've been a Mac user for nearly two decades, and dislike Microsoft products, I bought the Sony VAIO TX series two summers ago since the MacBook and the Pro were far too big and heavy for me to lug around on business trips. In terms of features, MacBook was obviously far better; however, on the road, it was just not worth the extra two kilos. This one looks good, for a change--it's the closest thing they've made to a ultraportable since the discontinuation of the 12" PowerBook.

If my VAIO weren't so new, I'd be taking out my credit card right now. $1799 is high, but acceptable. It's that attractive to me. You laugh of its anemic "specs"; for me, "weight" and "dimension" are by far the most specs in a laptop, and in those columns the specs look absolutely divine. The only port I'd miss would be the wired Ethernet, since some hotels still have wired Ethernet only; oh well, I'd just have to put my Airport hub in the suitcase on business trips. Well, OK, a "dock" like the TX would have been nice, too, for home use, but you can't have everything.

Re:Expensive

[DDLKermit007]

Still a far better deal than retail. But good luck with the Apple bashing for no other reason than it's not for you. I think the SSD is not for me, but I can certainly see the benifits. Just not the price ones when an iPod can have a larger drive.

Re:Expensive

[cbreaker]

Yea I'm sure nothing else will ever use that CPU...

Re:Expensive

[cbreaker]

I don't buy any of my own notebooks. I let the state buy them for me. In fact, I'm using a Dell M6300 with 4GB and a Blu-ray Writer to type this right now. It's metal and plastic. I'm using MacOS Leopard. Yea, Leopard hackintoshes can be notebooks, too. It also runs Windows very well, too. Ohh, and it can play MP3's just fine, thank you very much. (And Crysis, too.)

The machine was expensive, but it sure offered a hell of a lot more bang for the buck than this thing.

But I see you're taking this opportunity to bash PC's in general, so whatever~ You say you're not a Mac FanBoy but you sure sound like one. If it looks like shit and smells like shit, hey, I bet it's shit!

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

Just because it costs a lot doesn't mean it's overpriced. It's a deal compared to comparable Sony models with less power and aren't as thin.

Yes, it is overpriced. While it is thin, compare this apple laptop with ultralight laptops from Dell, Toshiba, Sony and eeePC, many of which are lighter than this new apple.

In particular, Toshiba makes wonderful ultralight laptops with CD/DVD, ethernet, and other normal computer things.

Re:Expensive

[MidnightBrewer]

So the fact that they get a fair volume discount and you still end up saving $600 makes it somehow more expensive? Also, calling it an *upgrade* doesn't devalue it, either; sorry.

Re:Expensive

[hotfireball]

Sex was always very expensive all times. Especially, if you have merry with afterwards. :-)

Re:Expensive

[BlackSnake112]

It can be a pain but you can put XP on them. Just need to hunt down the drivers. That nvidia video driver was a pain to get. The two XPS 1330s after switching to XP were very nice laptops.

Re:Expensive

[good soldier svejk]

My boss's main work computer is a D420 running Gutsy. I built it for him and I have to say it is the best non-Apple laptop I have used. However, he has been waiting for one of these, and now that it is out, he is switching.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

1 ethernet jack (probably not a big deal, since wireless is slowly becoming ubiquitous)

HUGE deal. Combined with the non-replacable battery (what, they don't want to sell me spare(s)?) we have what is probably a deal breaker for me. I'll just watch www.MacInTouch.com for the next few months to see if this is a lemon or not.

Re:Expensive

[Jesus_666]

doesn't have all the cute features of the mac (my favorite is the backlit keyboard)

A backlit keyboard and a gloss screen. That is not a good combination unless you are good at ignoring reflections.

Re:Expensive

[Zaiff Urgulbunger]

I simply can't believe that the things you get are highly sought after.

Yeah, but it's thin! What more do you want?!

One point you missed is that the low end machine uses a 1.8 inch HD with an RPM of around 4K... so presumably if they hadn't included 2GB ram, it'd be more likely to need to page out to a slow hard drive and make the machine feel slow.

IMHO its a very cute machine and if they sell a lot, they'll make a killing as their margins must be high on this. But I'm sure there will be other similar machines out this year; i.e. machines with no removable media devices and a small HD or SSD a-la the Asus EEE.

For me the new Mac is far too expensive, but I'm sure some people will enjoy it.

Re:Expensive

[Sancho]

Yeah, but time and again, reports come out that Apple machines just don't handle low-quality RAM too well. The extra few bucks for better quality control (that's almost all it CAN be--it's the same damn physical chips) is worth the trouble, in my opinion.

Also, in the Macbook (with its integrated video), you really want two 1gig sticks in order to make up the difference. On Newegg right now, you get 1GB sticks each for $24.99.

Re:Expensive

[Sancho]

I was trying to be fair and throw a bone to all the Apple lovers. I'm also disappointed in the lack of Ethernet--of course, you can always get an adapter.

Re:Expensive

[Clockwurk]

Why don't you use the regular macbook as competition. It has the same footprint and screen, a faster processor, a DVD burner, ethernet, multiple usb, removable battery, upgradeable ram, etc. for a lot lower price.

The Air sacrifices a ton of handy capabilities/usablility to shave off a pound or so and get slightly thinner.

Re:Expensive

[bhtooefr]

The Mercedes also does better in crash tests, many of them DO haul ass in a straight line, they have decent handling considering their size, and they're considerably more luxurious than most Hondas. And, Hondas are driven mostly by riceboys that live their lives 1/4 mile at a time. ;) (Yes, I know, IHBT, IHL, HAND.)

And I'm the one that usually supports smaller cars in arguments like these!

Re:Expensive

[bhtooefr]

Slashdot? Girlfriend? You must be new here.

Re:Expensive

[dgatwood]

Just to pick nits, it isn't OLED. OLED display would mean that the screen itself would produce the light. It is an LED-backlit traditional LCD panel. Of course, not being OLED is a good thing, since OLEDs don't last nearly as long. :-)

Re:Expensive

[dgatwood]

Crap. I just noticed a dozen other people already made the same comment, but I thought that no one had replied because Slashdot doesn't nest comments past about four levels deep. I wish I could change that to... say ten levels. For those of us with wide screens, the extra nesting isn't a problem, but thinking that you're the first person to point out a mistake only to find a dozen replies... is.

Re:Expensive

[onefriedrice]

People say that Apple missed the mark with everything they release. Sometimes they do, but lately it hasn't been very often. One thing Apple knows is their customers. Apple Marketing is truly superb. When you say that Apple "missed the mark," what you really mean is they missed the mark for you, but most likely you weren't in their target market for this device in the first place.

That said, you may be right. Maybe nobody will buy it, but I don't think so.

Re:Expensive

[Sancho]

No worries! None of the others were actually direct replies to my post, I don't think.

Re:Expensive

[greyhueofdoubt]

Thanks for the info- I hadn't seen this line before. It's funny, ever since I sold my Apple stock, the Reality Distortion Field has grown weaker and weaker...

-b

Re:Expensive

[greyhueofdoubt]

Please see the Toshiba Portege-

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?coid=-33781

$3K for a comparable system with an optical drive, solid-state HDD, etc. No backlit keyboard, maybe, but still food for thought. And I AM a macbook pro, ibook, and mac mini owner.

I'm just saying.

-b

Re:Expensive

[dgatwood]

At least one of them above me was. You can't tell it, though. :-)

Re:Expensive

[greyhueofdoubt]

I'm not going to buy this Air either (at least not at this price), but I heard your argument a thousand times about the iPhone. People are NOT rational actors, economically speaking. I WANT this computer. Many people will want this computer. If you think that the "wow" factor doesn't sell, then I advise you to look in your phonebook for the porsche, BMW, and mercedes dealers in your area.

This computer is sexy as hell. Recession or not, people will buy it.

-b

Re:Expensive

[Achromatic1978]

Some of the same specs?

I notice you didn't compare it to the SSD version. Because there, but for the difference between 1.2 and 1.8 GHz (admittedly that's substantial), the difference jumps to a rather substantial $904 (Latitude D430 with 1.2GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 64GB SSD, Bluetooth 2, Wireless-N). That's quite the gap.

Re your example, the price is actually $1495 - you forgot to upgrade from G to N for your wireless. But "some of the same specs" is a little disingenuous, too. "Some" = "CPU", and "OS X", for $304.

Re:Expensive

[MightyYar]

It's almost twice as heavy and nearly twice as thick!

The Macbook is 2.27 kg and is a 2.75 x 32.5 x 22.7 cm cube. That's 2029 cm^2. The Air is 1.36 kg and is an oddly-shaped (0.4-1.94) x 32.5 cm x 22.7 cm. That's approximately 863 cm^2 (I think, assuming a wedge shape of 1.54 cm attached to a cube shape of 0.4 cm).

Now, I can understand it if you don't like the trade-offs, but don't pretend that a 40% reduction in weight and a 57% reduction in volume is a minor difference! As a second computer, this thing could be pretty ideal - especially if you are a frequent traveler.

Re:Expensive

[MightyYar]

Well... CPU, OSX, and it's about twice the size by volume with a smaller screen. Stick the 5-hour battery in it and it is heavy, too. I didn't really do a very thorough job because I think it's the wrong computer to compare the "Air" to. It compares more with the standard MacBook.

Re:Expensive

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

Apple really missed the mark with this one here. At $1000-1200, it's reasonable but at %50 more it becomes laughable.

I think Apple hit it's mark, you're just not it's mark. That's okay I'm not either. I'm not concerned about size or weight all that much. I have a MacBook and if they had a model twice as thick and twice as heavy for $200 less, I'd have bought it. That doesn't mean the market for small and thin doesn't exist. I know those people and they're probably not who you think. A senior engineer/software architect I recently worked with did not get a Mac as his last laptop because he will only consider the extremely small form factor machines (like Sony's tiny one he has now). He doesn't care about looks either, but he is more of a manager now than an engineer. He wants something tiny that will fit in a briefcase, check e-mail, surf the web, run terminals and project management software and read files and create and show presentations and play mp3s. Price is not a big concern since the company will buy it for him. I'll bet you this machine will be his next purchase.

Re:Expensive

[Clockwurk]

If you are a frequent traveler, you will have your laptop in a laptop bag where you can comfortably carry much more than a 5 lb laptop. As far as size goes, you still have the same L x W which means it will take up roughly the same amount of space. It only got smaller in the thickness, and frankly, thats the least important when considering effective size. If Apple had removed the thick bezel from around the screen and removed the extra space on either side of the keyboard they would have made it a lot more portable even if it meant leaving it as thick as the regular macbook.

Re:Expensive

[jgs]

I simply can't believe that the things you get are highly sought after.

It's certainly endemic to Slashdot to believe that if you don't want something, nobody does.

For someone who travels a lot and cares about their back, shaving 2 lbs -- that would be 40% -- of the weight off is huge. I think this is a traveler's laptop.[*] I know a couple of people who travel several weeks out of the month who have already placed their orders.

[*] And, I suppose, one for the fashion-conscious. Whatever.

Re:Expensive

[John Jamieson]

I doubt very much it has an OLED screen. I would bet the backlight is LED.

In case you really care, it is the LED backlight that lasts longer, the LCD screen itself will have the same lifespan either way.

Re:Expensive

[Molochi]

$1700 is only 1156 Euros. Sounds quite reasonable that way.

Re:Expensive

[Conception]

The oqo2 has the upgrade option for 650 bucks and they don't have nearly the volume as Apple. Apple is way over priced on this.

Re:Expensive

[dangitman]

1 replaceable battery (meaning that your travelers won't be able to carry a spare)

Why not? They could just take an external battery. I'd bet that this will be one of the first accessories available from third parties. Will probably be cheaper than an Apple-made swappable battery, too.

Re:Expensive

[Shag]

If you are a frequent traveler, you will have your laptop in a laptop bag where you can comfortably carry much more than a 5 lb laptop. Hi. I flew 135,000 miles last year. I don't use a laptop bag. My MacBook lives in a WaterField sleeve that rides in a messenger-type bag I got at a conference in Switzerland. This works well since I bike to work. I routinely have to travel with a WiFi router, a portable inkjet, a DSLR with 4 lenses, and my laptop.

I may be able to more or less "comfortably" carry much more than a 5 pound laptop, but my gear alone is somewhere around 15-20 pounds, and if I had it in a laptop bag on my shoulder, I'd have back problems by now.

As far as size goes, you still have the same L x W which means it will take up roughly the same amount of space. It only got smaller in the thickness, and frankly, thats the least important when considering effective size. Except you can fit two MacBook Airs in one bag ;)

I'm considering the Air. The dearth of USB ports is a bit of a concern since I have 3 USB devices (camera, iPod, headset for VOIP) and would also need the ethernet dongle when I work at facilities where WiFi is forbidden. The aluminum case is a big plus, since it should give better build quality and durability (my current black MacBook has cracks along the edges due to poor design/construction). The weight reduction would be nice, the style of it is awesome. I'm willing to lose some CPU and spindle speed because I'd be upgrading to Adobe CS 3 and MS Office 2008, from non-Intel-native versions of them, which would help balance the performance difference.

As far as the battery, I'll want to know whether it's something where I have to mail it in, or whether I can just take it to a Genius Bar.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a mac fanboy.. but this is hilarious ... AC, look what you just did..

Although I've been a Mac user for nearly two decades, and dislike Microsoft products, I bought the Sony VAIO TX series two summers ago since the MacBook and the Pro were far too big and heavy for me to lug around on business trips. In terms of features, MacBook was obviously far better; however, on the road, it was just not worth the extra two kilos.

.... The only port I'd miss would be the wired Ethernet, since some hotels still have wired Ethernet only; oh well, I'd just have to put my Airport hub in the suitcase on business trips.

That's hilarious .... You are willing to buy a "smaller" laptop to save a few pounds and form factor just to end up having to lug around an airport express in your brief case and take up 3 additional lbs...

Don't get me wrong, I love apple products and can find ways to justify buying just about any one of them and actually think this Macbook Air is pretty sweet (I'd want it with the SSD).... but anyway.. hilarious.

Re:Expensive

[AReilly]

The Portege and Vaio are nice machines, but they don't run OS-X, which makes them a non-starter for me.
Does Linux know how to talk to all of the curly hardware in yours?
No, I reckon this new thing could very well be the replacement for my 12" PowerBook G4: the 15" Pro is just too big and heavy for what I want in a laptop. Guess I'm the target market...

Re:Expensive

[Chris Oz]

Well I just checked and it is more expensive $1999 for the base model. It's starting weight is 2.4lb with the small small battery, no optical drive and the SSD harddrive. The low end model also had no bluetooth or wireless. The R500 is only a 12.1" screen (there is most of your weight difference) as opposed to the 13.3" on the Air. Max memory 1.5 GB for the base up to 2 GB for the top. It is .77" thick at the front 1" thick at the rear. The Macbook Air is 0.16" to 0.76" looks a lot thinner to me. Further, as you said it has one of those really slow low voltage 1.2 GHz Core 2 with a 533 MHz FSB where the Air has a 1.6GHz Core 2 with a 800 Mhz FSB. I don't know about about you but the R500 looks to be more expensive, slower and apart from a few more ports and an internal optical drive (an external is fine by me), lacking in features. But each to their own.

Re:Expensive

[Ilgaz]

Please see the Toshiba Portege-

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?coid=-33781

$3K for a comparable system with an optical drive, solid-state HDD, etc. No backlit keyboard, maybe, but still food for thought. And I AM a macbook pro, ibook, and mac mini owner.

I'm just saying.

-b And you can change battery yourself :)

If more Apple fans/customers start bitching about these insane decisions, things will get better. Or? I already have a self build PC with Vista and add $400 amount of utility to "fix" it plan in hand.

Apple really "lost it" after the iPhone shipped. Most of the non loudmouth actual user profile is very alerted about it. Professional companies started asking "cross license in case something really more stupid happens" questions to Adobe. It seems Apple is listening to those Digg freaks rather than their core customer base.

Re:Expensive

[bhtooefr]

Not OLED. LED backlighting.

LED backlighting does, however, give you better battery life, it will last longer than CCFLs, and it has zero warm-up time. (Yes, I can notice a CCFL-backlit screen warming up. It doesn't take long, but it still happens.

Re:Expensive

[bhtooefr]

The X61s, however, is about 150% as thick, and weighs 2.7 pounds. As close as I could get it to the MacBook Air, I couldn't get it over $1300.

Then again, it'll have less than half the battery life for a machine with identical specs. I get 4 hours out of my X61 Tablet (essentially a tablet version of the X61s,) and I have the 8-cell. The 2.7 pound weight is with the SLIMLINE 4-cell, which has less than half the battery life of the 8-cell.

Granted, IIRC, even with the 8-cell, the X61s is right around 3 pounds. And has a 2.5" HDD, user-replaceable RAM, an easily replaceable battery, etc., etc.

Re:Expensive

[mdwh2]

Did you not see the custom Dual Core built for it?

It's not a custom chip, it's made by Intel. Custom chips were things like the Amiga had - custom, as opposed to using a 3rd party component.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I'm not willing to put up with three extra pounds. However, an Airport Express weighs 6.7 ounces, or 189 grams, which is less than two typical mobile phones. What was that you were laughing about again?

Re:Expensive

[MightyYar]

I was a 1K traveler on United, and then for a while I commuted between New York and Philly (about 2 hours). It's safe to say that I am an experienced business traveler and laptop user. A five-pound laptop is barely tolerable. Heavier is out of the question. Reducing the dedicated briefcase + laptop bag to just a briefcase is a huge boon, and one that thickness definitely plays a part in. My iBook sort of lets me do this, but it could stand to be a bit thinner. I'd also appreciate the larger screen that the Air provides.

I haven't used the CD drive on the road since USB sticks started getting passed out as free trinkets at trade shows - everyone has one now.

Don't get me wrong, this thing would make a terrible primary computer. And in Asia you'd have trouble without the ethernet, so you'd have to haul around a stupid adapter. And I'd need to see how one goes about replacing the battery. But as a traveling business computer, this thing looks pretty sweet.

Re:Expensive

[Penguin's Advocate]

That's an upgrade from a 32GB SSD to a 64GB SSD. The Air is an upgrade from a normal HDD to an SSD. Completely different starting points in terms of price. Apple's price is still perfectly fair.

Re:Expensive

[mdwh2]

It's the imac over again - lack of the floppy drive is touted as an advantage. When someone says they actually still want one - it's okay, you can pay Apple to solve that.

Re:Expensive

[kill-1]

The Macbook Air has an LED-backlit LCD screen, not an OLED screen.

Re:Expensive

[COMON$]

The vista problems don't warrant a rebuild for me... yet. My main issues are the bluetooth not working on wakeup and some multiple monitor problems that I solved with UltraMon.

Re:Expensive

[Sancho]

Yeah, you'll note that about a dozen other people already pointed that out. Thanks for your added support.

Geez, one thing about Slashdot--there's always a ready supply of self-righteous assholes ready to correct your tiniest mistake.

Re:Expensive

[mrchaotica]

Tablets are not great products, they're niche products - and that niche isn't anywhere near as big as the computer makers thought it would be.

And what the heck do you think this super-thin subnotebook is, then?! It's a niche product too! Moreover, I'll wager it's the same niche, or at least a significantly overlapping one, as the tablet niche. Here's why:

• It's a Mac. That means that a lot of the people interested in it are artists, and artists are the primary market for things like Wacom tablets. Even if a Mac tablet would be expensive, it'd still be cheaper than a Mac Mini and a Cintiq.
• It's a Mac. That means a lot of the people interested in it are students, and students would benefit from being able to draw diagrams in their notes with the stylus.
• The type of people who need a laptop that's that portable are extremely mobile. They don't always have a good place to sit down to use the computer. They would benefit from being able to whip the thing out of their carry-on, look up something on it quickly (using the stylus or touchscreen for input), and stuff it back in their bag -- just like a big PDA.

Besides, one important reason why tablets have failed before is the lack of good software (believe me, I know!), and Apple is probably the single company most suited to overcoming that problem.

Re:Expensive

[DinDaddy]

Its only an LED lit screen. If it were actually OLED, it would be highly sought after, considering Sony is selling an 11" OLED display for $2500.

Re:Expensive

[ContractualObligatio]

That's because you're listening to the gist of Slashdot comments, not the target market. What you need is to go back to basics. Imagine a number of well paid professionals, or executives, or trust fund kids, whose use case is checking email, editing documents, surfing the net, doing presentations and filling in paperwork on the move. This use case might not apply when they're at their desks, especially for professionals, but does apply to most of their trips and interactions with customers outside of their office. Some professionals spend a lot of time on the move, so this describes their most common set of use cases.

If you can realistically describe a number of scenarios whereby any of those features you mention is actually used on any kind of regular basis, then you've got a point. I doubt the real world would provide much evidence for you though. I've never replaced a battery in a laptop myself, for instance, simply because corporate policy is to refresh laptops every three years and in the meantime if the battery starts to die you're just stuck with it because replacement batteries cost money. But forget the reason and focus on the result - most people do not swap or replace batteries in laptops anyway, and most replacements that do take place will be carried out by IT or a service center.

In short - the answer to not getting it is simply to observe what happens out there. You'll see very little to justify why those missing features are a bad design decisiosn when the goal was "strip out the non-essentials and make it small".

Re:Expensive

[Sancho]

Please see my post at http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=419084&cid=22067098

Re:Expensive

[InsaneGeek]

BS you are pulling number out of the air as to retail pricing.

In fact I can go out today buy a Sony TZ91 with a 100GB hard drive for $2,699.00 or I can buy a Sony TZ91 with a 64GB SDD drive for $3,549.00 which is a price difference of $850, Sony's upgrade to SSD is 15% less than Apple's ($850/$999). http://www.dynamism.com/tz90/pricing.shtml

Either you knew ahead of time and were just pumping Apple or you are an idiot and didn't actually "research", pick one.

Re:Expensive

[Penguin's Advocate]

Wow...I mean it takes like 6 seconds to find the retail price of a 64GB SSD....

here's an example for you:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609244&Tpk=64GB%2BSSD

Look around and you'll see that price is actually a steal.

Great. Sony's upgrade is $850 to go from a 100GB drive to a 64GB SSD vs Apple's upgrade from an 80GB drive to a 64GB SSD. That changes what exactly? Those prices aren't even directly from Sony.

You're certainly aggressive, I'll give you that, and that's about all.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

I've done my share of travelling for work and footprint is the important factor, especially on flights. Weights of the new small portables are all under 5lbs, but anything over 13.3" becomes just too large to be unwieldy for comfort. In this respect. you could reasonably compare the Air with that class of ultra-mobile PCs such as the Vaio SZ rather than the smaller ones like the Vaio TZ as Jobs did. For double the thickness but equivalent other dimensions, you get the same screen size, 4lb weight, 5hr battery (apparently!), approximately the same processor, disk, graphics, and price, but with a built in optical drive, and ports for USB, firewire, media, even the old PCMCIA slot is still there!! Of course, with a 19.4mm $2k/£1.1k machine, how sturdy a case will you be using to protect your Lily Cole style notebook? Surely being so thin you will worry more about how tough it is, and the padded, ruggedised case you buy for travelling will offset the thin advantages?

The other advantage of a machine such as the larger Sony or equivalent PC (take your pick in this consumer-centric era!), or the fuller spec Macbook, means you will not ever think about carrying external drives or hubs or anything else, and it becomes easier to work at your client site - can you ever guarantee they will have the required kit you need for your job? Maybe your client wants to show you their requirements doc on this CD-RW they just burnt and brought along... aaahhh oops... Extend this argument to the hotel you are staying in for the week - will they have nifty 28" Apple screens that you can wirelessly broadcast your movie to, downloaded from their inhouse 100Mb/s wireless connection in every room? Personally I prefer to know my machine is practical enough to handle the situation away from my home base, rather than carting around the kit needed to make my (admittedly great looking and cutting edge) machine feasible for my job.

I don't doubt it will sell by the bucketload. As mentioned elsewhere here, well off folks with lots of spare cash will buy it, college kids with trust funds will buy it, senior execs will buy it (and have their staff carry the peripherals to make it viable!) and anyone else who wants something because it is new/cool/rare/sexy will buy it. Also, some IT folk will buy it just to see what the fuss is about... I'm personally sorely tempted, but I really want to get a Eee to play on, saving my cash for getting one of those HUGE 20" super spec HP Pavillions for home use... want to see how Crysis runs on it... ;)

Re:Expensive

[GaryPatterson]

I don't think you really 'get it' with the MBA.

When I was travelling for business I'd have killed (well, maybe not killed but certainly maimed) for something that light that could easily carry off presentations and still be powerful enough for work. Instead I had a half-ton Dell that came in its own heavy leather briefcase which still included a handful of accessories (most of which stayed at home). For a while I thought Dell had perfected the compacted neutron battery, where a teaspoon of the stuff weighs as much as a mountain. Carry that plus your normal luggage around an airport and you'll soon grow to hate every damnable gram as much as I did.

This is absolutely perfect for business travellers. And for those people you mentioned. And for people needing a very portable second machine.

If I were still travelling I'd be interested.

Re:Expensive

[InsaneGeek]

Ahh... I see what you did as "research" (your words not mine), went to Newegg and put the first thing in and said "Well, that's the market price".

Here goto Dell and buy a 64GB SSD outright (buy it from Dell directly, keep your 80GB Apple drive and still make money, over your so called "under-market price" Apple store)

Dell 64GB SSD drive $949
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/System_Drives/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=341-5582

I am aggressive with people that say grandious things but didn't put mental powers behind it... especially when they get incorrectly upmodded to a 5 when they are very incorrect.

Re:Expensive

[Penguin's Advocate]

Incorrect? Hardly. Dell's price is not market price by any stretch. Sure you can buy an SSD from them cheap, but they go out of their way to paint it as an upgrade for a specific model. Newegg has the lowest price for an SSD at retail at the moment. Most other retailers are close to $2K. Cheapest price != market price.

Re:Expensive

[InsaneGeek]

Again if you did the proper research (heck any research, just type Appl SSD), you'd see what brand of SSD they are using. It's the Samsung 64GB that I have listed in my post... there's a reason I used that brand and it's because it's the one that Apple actually *USES*. The market price for the drive that Apple *USES* is nowhere near $1500 period, and Dell's is pretty much around the market price for that particula drive that Apple *USES*.

If we are randomly going to be picking which model of drive SSD drive, then I'm going to pick the brand spanking new STEC ZeusIOP drive (announced this week) that they created specifically for the EMC DMX-4 (which I have more than one of). It has an expected list price of 30x the pricing of a normal 15k drive (it has some special magic, goto the storageanarchist for details), a 72GB 15k drive has a price of around $900, with a 30x multiplier the cost is $27,000 for it (divide $27,000 by 72 = $320/GB or $24,000 for $64GB). Since you were using a brand compeletely different than the one Apple actually *USES*, the statement that the market price of $24,000 for 64GB of SSD flash is as correct as the drive that you "researched", meaning that both of those are completely incorrect if one would (AS YOU SAID) say that Apple is selling their SSD for "below market price", when market price is either of those drives.

Why don't you just walk away, the hole you are in is getting deeper and deeper; facts are facts and you are simply wrong.

Re:Expensive

[Penguin's Advocate]

I really shouldn't bother since your so-called "research" appears to be very limited, but you're spreading misinformation and I don't like it. First, Apple is not using the same drive as Dell, I'll give you the brand, but it's a different drive, at the very least it's PATA not SATA, and it's 1.8" while the Dell is 2.5" (that's a *big* difference). That said, try buying that *SAME* samsung drive from a retailer, you'll find the retail price on that *SAME* samsung drive to be over $1500, even the 2.5" version is over $1K at most places that actually have them. You won't find it at many retailers because it's an OEM drive, but here's one for you
http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/cart.cgi?store=dvnation&product_name=Samsung+64GB+ZIF+SSD&exact_match=exact

As for your other, utterly ridiculous comparison, that is not just a different drive, but a completely different market segment. There's no point bringing that in, at least my example and your Dell were applicable products. Also no point in telling me about how many EMC DMX-4's you have since this is the internet and you can say anything and I don't believe you anyway.

You're wrong, maybe simply because you didn't read what you posted carefully, but that's what being aggressive gets you.

Re:Expensive

[InsaneGeek]

Can you show me your link to the exact drive model that you found for the Mac Air, I am unable to find it anywhere? However I will show you the data that I come to my information by.

If one goes to Samsung's website there is only 1x PATA SSD drive that is in mass production, all the others are in "ENGINEERING SAMPLE STATUS", including the model *you* listed.
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/productList.do?fmly_id=161

Not having the Mac Air part number directly, logically that leads me to one conclusion. The drive that is actually being produced is the one that is going to be used in the actually being produced Mac Air Looking up the part number that is an ACTUAL PRODCUTION, not fantasy engineering land leads me these results:

http://www.excaliberpc.com/SAMSUNG_FLASH_SOLID_STATE_DRIVE/MCCOE64GQMPQ-M1A00/partinfo-id-582173.html
Samsung FLASH SOLID STATE DRIVE MCCOE64GQMPQ-M1A00 64G PATA SLIM $962.20

http://triointernational.com/all.cfm/partno/MCCOE64GQMPQM1A00/stat/froogle
SAMSUNG FLASH SOLID STATE DRIVE MCCOE64GQMPQ-M1A00 64G PATA SLIM $966.90

http://www.pcsuperdeals.com/ProductView.asp?ProductID=a34bfeb9-6511-4c7e-8465-4dbd908e2175&Refer=11
SAMSUNG FLASH SOLID STATE DRIVE MCCOE64GQMPQ-M1A00 64G PATA SLIM $941.85

Need I go on, as you how exactly you are looking right now? I gave you a nice opportunity to walk away, but no you just said well you are correct it's Samsung but then you picked a PART THAT'S NOT EVEN IN MASS PRODUCTION.

I don't have to prove anything to you, but if you search the internet for InsaneGeek, EMC & SAN you'll find a number of blogs that I am a regular poster of; even some from here from a couple of years ago (but like usual you do such awesome "research").

Re:Expensive

[ShaneWh]

The fine print mentions that you cannot operate above 10,000 feet! So much for use by business travelers in flight:)

Still it looks great - except the price. I might try the Asus eeePC instead $400.

Re:Expensive

[Penguin's Advocate]

Note that none of the links you posted have the product in stock for a least a few weeks, while the link I posted to the drive (that is supposedly not in mass production) lists the product as IN STOCK. The fact that samsung's website doesn't list the drive as "in mass production" is pretty much meaningless, *especially* when talking about parts for Apple. Honestly, until you order a drive and receive it, you can't really say either way. We could talk around in circles until the price comes down and you're "right" if you like. There's also the possibility that it's not a Samsung drive at all and it's made by Toshiba, Apple uses both suppliers and both have 64GB SSDs. Either way it's a 1.8" PATA drive, and not anything else, no matter who says they're making what when. In any case, as far as "you how exactly you are looking right now" I'm not too worried...

As for "proving anything" I was simply pointing out that your claims to having so much of some related piece of hardware do nothing for your credibility. I could claim I have hundreds of SSDs in giant arrays, and even if it were true, it wouldn't mean I'm any more right about SSD pricing. It was simply a pointless claim.

A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[(H)elix1]

From the apple site...

Hard Drive

Your MacBook Air comes standard with a Parallel ATA (PATA) 4200-rpm hard drive. Or you can choose a solid-state drive that delivers faster performance and greater durability.
arrow_open.gif arrow_closed.gif Learn more Loading...

80GB Parallel ATA Drive @ 4200 rpm
64GB Solid State Drive [Add $999]

Wow. Just Wow. Transcript from http://www.macrumorslive.com/

10:26 am New Ad for MacBook Air. Plays off of the ability to fit in an envelope.
10:25 am Pre-orders today, shipping in two weeks
10:24 am $1799
10:24 am 2 GB Memory standard
10:23 am 5 hours of Battery Life
10:23 am No optical drive, but a Superdrive accessory is available for $99. Also, software comes with the MacBook Air that allows you to "borrow" a Mac or PCs optical drive.
10:21 am 802.11n + Bluetooth 2.1/EDR
10:20 am Other features: 45 Watt MagSafe, 1 USB 2.0 port, Micro-DVI, Audio Out
10:19 am Steve retaking stage
10:19 am Otellini: The processor is as thick as a nickle and as wide as a dime.
10:18 am Apple asked Intel to shrink the Core 2 Duo. Intel shrunk the processor by 60%. Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel is taking the stage
10:17 am 1.6 GHz Standard, 1.8 GHz Option -- Intel Core 2 Duo
10:16 am 80 GB hard disk standard, 64 GB SSD as an option. "they're pricy, but they're fast"
10:15 am 1.8" Hard Drive
10:15 am How did we fit a Mac in here?
10:15 am Move a window by double-tap and move. Rotate a photo by pivoting your index finger around your thumb. Of course, pinch-zoom.
10:14 am Multi-touch trackpad
10:13 am display is LED backlit. iSight is built-in. MacBook-like keyboard, but with an ambient light sensor
10:12 am Magnetic latch, 13.3" widescreen display
10:12 am MacBook Air is 0.16" to 0.76". The thickest part of the MacBook Air is thinner than the thinnest part of the Sony. It fits inside a envelope
10:10 am We thought 3 lbs is a good target weight, but there was too much compromise with the other features
10:10 am Most people think of Sony TZ series when they think of thin notebooks. Competition specs: 3 lbs, .8-1.2 inches, 11 or 12" display, miniature keyboard, and slower processor.
10:08 am "The World's Thinnest Notebook"
10:08 am As you know, Apple makes the best notebooks in the industry. Today, we are introducing a third kind of notebook. It's called the MacBook Air
10:08 am 4th thing: There's something in the air
10:07 am Steve has re-taken the stage

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

Could be worse.
http://www.google.com/products?q=64gb+ssd+1.8%22

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[Otter Escaping North]

64GB Solid State Drive [Add $999]

You think that's bad? Wait till you see the price difference when they offer it in black.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[adisakp]

64GB Solid State Drive [Add $999]

That's pretty clost the current going price for a 64 GB SSD.

The cheapest 64 GB SSD I've seen so far is $949 from Dell

In Early 2007, a 32GB SSD could set you back over $2,000 so the price per GB has already dropped by a factor of four in the past year.

However, like all technology, SSD's are getting cheaper and cheaper as component prices are falling and the mass production is picking up.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[modestmelody]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609244 Looks pretty decent to me. Newegg 64GB SSD for 1533, 64GB SSD from Apple for 999. This may be the first Apple upgrade ever to be cheaper from the factory than DIY.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[xtracto]

I just looked at the Guided tour video. Even thogh I have always refused to pay for the overpriced Apple products, I really would like to get one of those (although if the stndard Macs are out of my budget, this is waaaaaay out of my league).

It just comes to show that Apple always has the cool technology :(

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[Predius]

'Cool' maybe, but not useful, at least to me. 'Thin' laptops aren't any better or worse for me then their thicker, similar footprint breatherin. I take that back, they are typically flimsier so they are worse. When I want a more portable laptop, thickness is not one of my primary criteria, footprint is. Apple still hasn't released an 'ultra portable' that can replace my Fujitsu Lifebook P2040 in terms of size.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[threephaseboy]

Plus the one on newegg is 2.5", the one in the MBA is 1.8".
I find it odd that they don't offer a 160GB version, since they have a 160GB 1.8" drive in the iPod Classic.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[fangorious]

When the Intel minis and iMacs came out, it was cheaper to upgrade the memory on a build-to-order configuration. I don't think that's true anymore though.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[modestmelody]

Not to mention why they wouldn't offer intermediate sized SSDs. Maybe Jobs is delusional and thinks that someone out there is going to use this computer as their primary machine, yet it's clearly designed to be your on the go, second device. I don't need 64GB in any format on my laptop. 16-32 would do me just fine.

I am excited for the coming of age of SSD though-- this combined with LED backlit screens is making laptops smaller, lighter, and increasing battery life. All of the things I'd like to see in my next laptop.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[toQDuj]

Well, you must not demand much of your laptop... I barely have 40 GB left for user files on my 80GB disk, because there are so many programs installed. I cannot imagine the pain a 32 GB disk would be. You'll be stuck with constantly having to slim down your application set and user files. 64GB is the absolute lower limit.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[twenex]

160GB probably isn't an option because of the thickness of the drive... the 160GB ipod is a little thicker than the 80GB one (13.5mm vs. 10.5mm)

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

Or buy two 32GB drives from the same store for $400 each. Plus you lose the hard drive.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[MobileC]

Newegg 64GB SSD for 1533, 64GB SSD from Apple for 999. This may be the first Apple upgrade ever to be cheaper from the factory than DIY.

Apart from the people pulling the microdrives from the early iPods to put in their cameras.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[Altus]

some people, like me, use laptops as primary machines, but some others use desktops primarily and only use laptops for checking email and surfing the web either from the road or from thier couch and go to the desktop for more power.

Clearly this is meant for people who travel a lot but want a fairly full powered computer so they dont need a desktop at home.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

I consider myself fairly willing to purchase pricey electronics if I consider it to have something to offer, but the price (including the base, with-moving-parts model) is a little on the steep side for a purely secondary device. With a larger drive it becomes able to competently double as a primary, which makes it a lot more palatable.

(Still not buying one. It is, in my opinion, the sex (you heard that right), but I've got camera lenses demanding my money first.)

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[dtfarmer]

Or buy two 32GB drives from the same store for $400 each. Plus you lose the hard drive.

Nice, you can even duct tape the second one to the macbook air and pretend you have a 64GB SSD inside... pure genius!

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[initialE]

16-32 won't cut it if you need to run Time Machine though. They can't sell a product that would be incompatible with the very os it uses.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[ksheff]

I've read of people doing that to the Rio Carbon because it had a CF microdrive that normally cost more than the Carbon did. I suppose they could have done the same thing with the mini.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[DietFluffy]

Also, Apple's SSD is 1.8 inches while the one from dell is 2.5. So it turns out that Apple's $999 upgrade is a bargain.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[kylehase]

$999 is not the price for the SSD, it's the price for the upgrade. You're loosing the 80GB 1.8" drive. An 80GB drive is less than $534 but the point is still valid.

Re:A grand for a 64G SSD drive?

[dangitman]

This may be the first Apple upgrade ever to be cheaper from the factory than DIY.

No. The first Powermac with the built-in Superdrive (DVD burner) offered it way cheaper than it cost to buy the same drive separately. This was when DVD burning was very expensive, and nobody supplied PCs with DVD burners built-in.

Wot no optical drive?

[Bertie]

But how am I going to watch movies?

What's that? I can rent them from Apple, you say? What a coincidence!

Remember, kids, it's not lock-in, it's Steve Jobs holding you nice and safe in his loving arms...

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[MoneyT]

Your movies aren't already ripped into 20 different formats and stored on your in home wireless server? Then what the hell are you doing playing on slashdot, get moving man!

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Llywelyn]

Or you can buy them from Apple, download them from other sources, or rip them from your own DVDs.

How is this related to lock-in again?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[dloose]

Where's the lock-in? You can watch any movie you want on this machine. You can rent and watch iTunes movies on any machine that can run iTunes. Seems like a stretch to call this lock-in.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jonnythan]

Well, it's illegal to rip DVDs.... and you won't be able to rent a DVD at the downstairs Blockbuster when your hotel's internet connection gets you a lovely 75 KB/s.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[RedSteve]

Lock-in?

Seriously?

How is it lock-in?

As far as I can tell, Apple still sells plenty of laptops with optical drives. They even sell one as an accessory for this machine.

The fact you are gleefully glossing over this fact in your hurry to paint this one item as a lock-in tool is that this is a subnotebook -- meaning that it doesn't have all of the features that you might expect from a regular laptop in order to meet a number of design goals. If your design goals are small form factor and extended battery life, what are the first things you sacrifice? Bulky, power-consuming electronics like a DVD drive.

But don't let me get in the way of your lock-in rage...

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Buy the optical drive - this is routine on ultra small laptops by any manufacturer.

2) Rip them on another system or download via bittorrent. (We all know slashdotters dont buy MPAA or RIAA junk)

3) Use the remote drive software

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[David Rolfe]

It's funny, but also a troll! Touché!

If renting is too scary (the 24 hour lock-in!!), you could buy the intended optical drive for $99 -- or save a couple hundred bucks and carry around a two-pound-heavier, faster, thicker Macbook. Sheesh.

Of course I know you're being facetious, as you undoubtably rip and transcode your DVDs for travel because you're too lazy to carry around all that extra plastic. You might even be one of those types that 'backs up' movies you rent from Blockbuster and/or Netflix, you know to prevent the lock-in of needing a membership.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[timster]

If anything, his comment demonstrates how far people will go to paint Apple as the new Microsoft. As if Microsoft weren't still around and up to the same dirty tricks as always.

But hey, they made a game console that's pretty good (at least when it works), so now they must be a great bunch of people. And all corporations have the exact same ethical standards by law, right? Right?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[MightyYar]

Well, it's illegal to rip DVDs.... It's illegal to speed, too. Most of us ignore stupid laws. I copy DVDs and go just under 10 over the limit.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[cashman73]

Forget the movies! How am I going to install Duke Nukem Forever?!?! Or does DNF come preinstalled on this thing?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[xtracto]

Yeah, and also darn Negroponte, locking in the latin american market ...

1. Give away laptops without CD/DVD drive to third world kids
2. ???
3. Profit

For the love of god, CD/DVD is just a device, this specific laptop does not have it. Or do you fill locked in because your washing machine does not comes with a cavity magnetron to heat your food? Not that this computer wont have USB so you will be able to plug any external DVD drive in it...

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[xtracto]

Oh and by the way, I do not own any Apple computer as they are out of my budget (and I consider them overprized)

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

check your sources bub,
you can rip DVDs now, fox just released an iTunes compatible Family Guy DVD.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[wattrlz]

Not quite. Last I checked you have to pay the fee for, " space shifting" or, "media shifting", or whatever the marketting department calls, "mandatory us ripping it for you."

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Bert64]

Who still uses clunky optical discs to watch movies anyway?
One movie, per easily scratched easily lost optical disc? No thanks...
With 64GB or 80GB internal storage, i can copy a fair few movies on to there... And an external 250GB HD (2.5" so it doesnt need its own power supply" is still smaller than a dvd case, while being capable of holding many more movies and only a single item to keep track of instead of stacks of easily-misplaces DVDs.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[kehren77]

Or you can buy them from Apple, download them from other sources, or rip them from your own DVDs.

And how would you rip them from your own DVDs if it doesn't have an optical drive?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jonnythan]

That "DVD" isn't quite a DVD.

It's a DVD that includes a *second copy of the show* in an iTunes format.

Not quite the same, is it.

It's still illegal to break CSS.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[LordVader717]

Wrong. The DMCA criminalizes circumventing copy protection. Plain and simple, with only a handful of pretty obscure exemptions.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Firehed]

It's not a subnotebook. It's a thin notebook that sacrificed an optical drive to be really thin. This is exactly the same width and depth as the standard Macbook (give or take a couple hundredths of an inch). It even retains the insanely thick bezels around the edge of the screen of the Macbook. The eee is a subnotebook. This is just a very attractive, very thin standard notebook.

But yeah, you're spot-on about the lock-in nonsense. If you want a thin machine, ditching the optical drive and moving to a 1.8" drive is the way to do it. It's been rumored for months that if Apple made a thin/small/light/sub notebook, it wouldn't have an optical drive. It's not like streaming DVD-quality video over 802.11n is a challenge - I can stream 1080p through two floors where I can't even see 802.11g signal. /wanted the new 12" that apparently just wasn't meant to be. desperately. *sobbing*

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

The fact you are glossing over is that it is not a subnotebook. A subnotebook is a small and lightweight portable computer, with most of the features of a standard notebook computer but smaller. The MBA may be thin and lightweight but it is not small.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Llywelyn]

You could:

* Buy the accessory for $99, then just not carry it with you when you travel.
* Use the built-in software to "borrow" the optical drive on another Mac or PC and use that for ripping.
* Rip it on your other system and then transfer it over the network.

Basically there are several good options.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jonnythan]

Sorry, you're totally wrong.

The DMCA, in no uncertain terms, criminalizes the very *act* of breaking the CSS encryption on DVDs.

"No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title."

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

Q. Hi, I'm a Slashdot editor and I want to smoke Steve Job's sausage...

A. Get in line.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[74nova]

with humor?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[packeteer]

The difference between copying a DVD and speeding in your car is of course the fact that nobody gets physically hurt when you copy a DVD. Many thoughtful people advocate rethinking our copyright laws. Most people agree that speeding isn't a right.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[MightyYar]

Are you seriously telling me that you obey the speed limit? I mean, there do seem to be a few people on the road that do, but it is pretty rare. I rarely pass anyone when poking along at 5 or 10 over. I'd estimate 1 in 50 or so cars going slower than me.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[vijayiyer]

Last I checked, nobody gets physically hurt when you speed, either. Most people also agree that copying DVDs isn't a right. As long as we only ask for the freedoms relevant to us as individuals, we will lose them all as a society.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Tumbleweed]

It's not yet determined whether it's illegal to rip your own DVDs or CDs. Sure, the industry mouthpieces say that now, but they were saying the opposite just a few years ago. The law, however, isn't whatever industry mouthpieces say it is until they get around to actually buying off the politicians to change the law, which as far as I know, they haven't yet done. So rip away, mi amigo!

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Drooling Iguana]

I wouldn't call CSS "effective."

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[cayenne8]

"The difference between copying a DVD and speeding in your car is of course the fact that nobody gets physically hurt when you copy a DVD. Many thoughtful people advocate rethinking our copyright laws. Most people agree that speeding isn't a right."

Strange...I've never hurt a soul out there when speeding, and I ONLY look at the speedometer when the radar detector goes off.

Driving speeds that are safe based on the cars abilities, road condidtions, traffic and driver skills, is often a great deal higher than posted limits which are pretty much arbitrary.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[kehren77]

True. Although I think the point of the OP was that there was no built-in way to view movies using just the MacBook Air, except via iTunes.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

Outside of North America, yes, people actually do adhere to the speed limit.

Or a least don't usually exceed it by more than 5%.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[GNious]

Dude, you forgot the "Move to a civilized country first" part...

/G

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

Well, it's illegal to rip DVDs.... and you won't be able to rent a DVD at the downstairs Blockbuster when your hotel's internet connection gets you a lovely 75 KB/s.

Actually, I don't believe this is true. According to the DMCA it is illegal to distribute tools used to break CSS, but I don't think actually breaking it is illegal. Also, that only applies in the US, and (finally) some of the new Blueray/HD-DVD discs are supposedly starting to ship with an mpeg file on them that iTunes can just grab and load onto your iPod (and I'll bet this new sub-notebook).

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[PitaBred]

People do get physically hurt when you go slower than traffic, though. Please tell me that a "laws define reality, they shouldn't reflect it" type of person like you doesn't drive in the passing lane... if not, you're more of a hazard than someone who drives 10mph over the "limit" yet does so safely.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Are you seriously telling me that you obey the speed limit? "

I bet you obey the speed limit too when there is a cop behind you, right?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[MightyYar]

Do they have more reasonable limits? Or are people just willing to do 55 MPH (90 km/h) on a highway designed for 70 MPH (110 km/h)?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[MightyYar]

Uh, yeah? Is there a cop standing next to me when I copy a DVD?

Besides, I regularly blow by cops at up to 9 MPH over (along with the rest of traffic) and they never pull me over. I have been pulled over, but only when going more like 15 over.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Tsunayoshi]

I remember when supposedly the speed limits on freeways was 55mph in the interests of getting better gas mileage.

I had a Mustang (4-banger) that got its best mpg @ 70mph (24mpg@55 vs 35 mpg@70, down to 18mpg@75). My current car gets it best mpg @ 75mph (29-30mpg).

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[bball99]

+1 funny, but also astute!

it bothers me that i have .mp4, .avi, .divx and what-not for a variety of formats (such as PSP, iPod, notebook)...

- fortunately, i think this requirement is starting to go away... i recently adopted the Nokia N800, and all my regular movies, tunes, documents, etc. all work fine on this Linux-based tablet...

- this will seriously reduce my storage requirements!

(and i wondered why they were selling terabyte drives for consumers?) :-)

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[mblase]

But how am I going to watch movies?

If you can afford an $1799 subnotebook but not a $50 set-top DVD player for your television, there's something badly wrong with you.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[sexconker]

Those are several annoying hurdles.
And transferring a DVD over a wireless network? HAH!
At 2 MBps (more throughput than most people actually get with 802.11g), an actual DVD will take how long to transfer?

About 8000 MB = 4000 seconds = over an hour.
If you want them to compress the movie, then they lose quality and have to spend time compressing it, and still transfer about a gig of data.

They obviously couldn't fit the damned optical drive in there, but $99 for an external drive is rape. Typical Apple.

Seriously - how hard would it have been to include an ethernet jack?
I bet dollars to donuts that the next revision has a GigE port on it.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[mdm-adph]

Please oh please tell me what year of 4-banger mustang you got 35 mpg in, because I'm having a bit of trouble believing it. And please tell me how much in the way of mods you did to get that, if true. ;)

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[spiffyman]

Strange...I've never hurt a soul out there when speeding, and I ONLY look at the speedometer when the radar detector goes off. Hate to flame, but you deserve it. Hey, ass hole. Do me a huge favor and stop ruining the world for the rest of us. Not only are your speeding habits inherently less safe than others' due to the lack of reaction time available, but you're also reducing your fuel efficiency pretty heavily. Of course I'm assuming you drive a regular ol' gasoline-burning car, but even if you're driving some ultra-green machine you could save a bit of energy for the rest of the world.

Seriously. You're like that ass hole who loaded his car up with tech goodies to cross the Continental U.S. and break some record; it was here on /. but I can't find the link now. WTF gives you the idea that you can go around putting others in both immediate and long-term danger?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jonnythan]

The law makes the act of breaking the encryption illegal in the US.

The same goes for the entire EU, which ratified very similar language into law in 2001.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Hellburner]

"Well, it's illegal to rip DVDs..."

If the Law supposes that --- the Law is an Ass.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[packeteer]

There is no way your car got its best mileage at 70 mph. Read about hypermiling sometime. The energy requires to maintain your speed goes up exponentially with an increase in speed. 70mph is never going to be the most efficient unless you are comparing drafting to non-drafting.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Bertie]

I'm on a plane, you insensitive clod!

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[T-Bone-T]

Last I checked, many people get killed in accidents that weren't avoided because someone was going over the speed limit.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Altus]

since this laptop is presumably targeted at heavy travelers I think its a legitimate question since watching movies on a long flight is a nice reason to have a laptop with you. Then again I store rips of movies on my iPod for such trips and you could easily use that (or the internal drive) for such things if you wanted to watch on the laptop screen instead.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[cayenne8]

"Hate to flame, but you deserve it. Hey, ass hole. Do me a huge favor and stop ruining the world for the rest of us. Not only are your speeding habits inherently less safe than others' due to the lack of reaction time available, but you're also reducing your fuel efficiency [fightglobalwarming.com] pretty heavily. Of course I'm assuming you drive a regular ol' gasoline-burning car, but even if you're driving some ultra-green machine you could save a bit of energy for the rest of the world."

Well, I give a hats off to those who want to go green, and save the world. I'm not really that hung up on it. I can easily afford the gas I burn...and will continue to do so while it pleases me. My current car actually gets quite good mileage for me...about 23 city driving. My last one, a small german sports car I lost to the hurricane, got 10 mpg on a GOOD day....but, those were the most FUN 10 mpg you could get.

My cars I drive are pretty much all high performance cars. They can handle speed, turns and braking better than most cars out there. And when I posted above and said driving according to the conditions of the road...that also meant traffic condiditons too 'asshole'...No, I don't usually go 80 mph in heavy traffic...but, if it is light with little or no traffic, and for instance on the hwy with no one for miles...I'll crank it up to over 100mph....no problem.

So, I'll argue that driving the speed that is safe for the current conditions is not dangerous despite it being higher than posted limits. But, if you're hung up on energy conservation...well, I'm guilty of not doing my part, and I really don't care. I've owned nothing in my life but 2 seat sports cars (german one was technically a 4 seater, but, no one could really sit in the back)...and I buy and drive them because they are performance vehicles, and I take them out and enjoy them every day I drive.

I feel sorry for those like you that are so timid and worried about safety that you never get out and live, and get a little bit of an adrenaline rush. At least when I die...I can know that I enjoyed life closer to the max that many like you apparently.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[_the_bascule]

You might even be one of those types that 'backs up' movies you rent from Blockbuster and/or Netflix, you know to prevent the lock-in of needing a membership.

I don't tell myself that, I tell myself that spending 3 quid, taking a lower quality copy and giving them their disc back is a fair business model

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[TClevenger]

Actually, last time I checked, most people are killed in accidents where speeding isn't involved. Most often it's alcohol or driver inattention.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[TClevenger]

Car and Driver took a Camaro Z-28 across Montana a few years ago (1994-ish). They achieved 27 mpg travelling through the state at 100 mph. That's higher than EPA (55 mph) rated mileage.

The best speed for fuel efficiency is that at which the manufacturer gears the car for the engine's efficiency sweet spot. On most cars, that's 45-50 mph, but on a 1994ish Z-28 with the six speed manual, that's obviously much higher than 55.

The best thing the EPA could do to increase fleet average is to actually test the cars at 65 or 70 mph. Car makers would change gearing to make the car most efficient at that speed.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[T-Bone-T]

Many people are still killed in accidents involving speeding.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[TClevenger]

Hate to flame, but you deserve it. Hey, asshole. Do me a favor and stop driving the speed limit. For most cars built today, peak mileage is at 45-50 mph, not that 65 mph you've been traveling. Also, your stopping distance at 65 mph is almost double that at 45 mph. How can you look in the mirror each morning knowing that you're burning all that extra gas and endangering other people on the road?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[spiffyman]

I feel sorry for those like you that are so timid and worried about safety that you never get out and live, and get a little bit of an adrenaline rush. Don't straw-man me. I'm considerate enough to get my jollies in ways that don't put others in danger, which is clearly more than we can say for you.

Unless and until you've got studies that say the reaction-time reductions on your cars are greater than or equal to reaction-time reductions from your increased speed, your implied contention that you're no more dangerous than drivers who maintain the speed limit is baseless.

Your cavalier attitude toward ecological disaster isn't worth treating seriously. Its folly is only matched by its extraordinary selfishness. Enjoy your cars today, but your kids and grandkids will pay for it.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[TClevenger]

Yes, and many people are killed in accidents involving changing the radio dial and listening to passengers. Let's outlaw radios and isolate the driver's compartment from the rest of the passengers.

Why pick on such a tiny segment? Especially when speed limits are specifically set so that 15-20% of all drivers are automatically "speeding"?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jimfrost]

Actually the #1 cause of accidents is failure to yield the right of way (often by failing to obey traffic control signals).

When it comes to whether or not speed is a primary cause of accidents you should be aware that if you include all roads in the U.S. then the average speed an accident occurs at is 29mph. If you take highways out of the picture it drops to 27mph. This data suggests that speed is not causal in most situations.

Given this data (and if you don't believe me, by all means go look it up -- that's what I did) you should wonder why it is that traffic enforcement focuses on speeding almost to the exclusion of everything else, even though speeding is a very small fraction of the problem. But speeding is easy to enforce and brings in a lot of revenue, both for the government and (critically) for the insurance companies. This is a major part of why speed limits are artificially low on highways in the U.S.; it's easy money.

If we were really interested in safety we'd spend a lot more time enforcing rules at intersections where almost all accidents occur. Unfortunately automated tools like red light cameras have not proven effective in reducing accident rates; quite the contrary, they have boosted them. There are numerous theories as to why this is, but the one I adhere to is that the yellow light period is usually shortened when it should be lengthened. The way it is now people slam the brakes on when the light goes yellow and they get rear-ended. Oops.

Oh, about that MacBook Air. I would like one. It's not quite what I want -- I want a 13" MacBook Pro -- but I love the form factor. The huge downside I see is not the lack of an optical drive, which I can carry if I need or not if I don't, but the non-replaceable battery. 5 hours, even if that is a real number, is not enough for a cross-country flight. If or when my MacBook finally dies I will probably get one regardless, the MacBook has not been durable enough, but it would be a lot more useful if I could carry spare batteries.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[T-Bone-T]

Automatically speeding? Do you actually believe that? Speeding is always a choice. It may not be a good one but it is still a choice.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Jeremi]

I wouldn't call CSS "effective."

It's a good point -- the law is almost a tautology there. If someone is able to rip the DVD, then clearly CSS is not an effective access control.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Jeremi]

I think its a legitimate question since watching movies on a long flight is a nice reason to have a laptop with you.

Isn't running the optical drive a significant battery drain? I think it could be much more efficient to rip a few DVDs in advance and play them off the static RAM drive instead. Plus that you don't have to worry about the DVDs getting lost/damaged/stolen during your trip. (I would worry about the laptop itself getting lost/damaged/stolen though!)

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[TClevenger]

Uh, no. Read up on 85th percentile speed limits and tell me that I can "choose" to speed. The speed limits are designed so that 15% of all drivers are always considered "speeding." This is regardless of what speed everybody travels.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[T-Bone-T]

Yes, you can choose speed. Obeying the speed limit sign is still a choice. The speed limit isn't constantly changing to reflect the 85th percentile rule. If the speed limit says 75, you can either drive at or below that or you can drive above that.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't use logical arguments like that against Bertie, he'll just call you a zealot and masturbate while he bathes in the glory of his glorious intellectual victory.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[aztektum]

But since CSS doesn't control access to the work very effectively, therefor it's not covered by the DMCA?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[aztektum]

Basically there are several good options. You forgot "Buy a much cheaper system that includes an optical drive." (Mac or otherwise)

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Jesus_666]

Your movies aren't already ripped into 20 different formats and stored on your in home wireless server?

You mean "stored on your stay-at-home server", right? Admit it, the other children are only laughing because they're jealous.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

The battery is locked in.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[wish bot]

Try looking up figures for fatal accidents next time.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[itsdave]

hate to flame, but you deserve it.

You are still whining about this so called man made global warming? did you notice it snowed in Baghdad this week? first time in over 50 years?

Can you explain the 5 or more ice ages that somehow melted before the industrial revolution.

I didn't think so.

Blow it out your ass buddy. I am going to speed home from work right now at 90+ mph in my Chevy Truck. Suck it.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[ruzel]

Actually, I killed my girlfriend while copying a DVD. I mean, her irritating nagging about copying a "stupid" movie like Office Space and the gun might've had something to do with it, but I WAS copying a DVD.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[njh]

The energy requires to maintain your speed goes up exponentially with an increase in speed.

Actually, it goes up as the cube of the speed.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[megaditto]

Well, it's illegal due to DMCA but could be allowed under Fair Use. It probably won't be settled until someone gets a case and lets the judges decide.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, you're wrong.

You're not the one circumventing the access control, the maker of the tool is. If we were to go with your interpretation of the law, you'd be just as liable under the DMCA when you put that same DVD into your DVD player, since you're circumventing the technological measure in that situation too. However, since the tool maker in that instance is licensed by the DVD CCA, they can legally produce and distribute a device that circumvents the access control.

In both instances, a person using the tool on media they own is completely within their fair usage rights to do so.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Saint Fnordius]

This ought to be a no-brainer, but I'll spit it out for you: physics.

The higher the speed, the greater the damage/risk of injuries and/or fatalities. That is why speed limits play such a large role; they attempt to strike a balance between performance and the risk to all traffic participants (including pedestrians).

Now you may argue that the speed limits where you live are set too low, but that's quibbling over details. Balancing risk and performance is a tricky task, and as you note in some countries people observe a speed limit other than the one printed on the signs. But it doesn't invalidate the concept of speed limits.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[ceeam]

> But how am I going to watch movies?

Like you usually do - just open a *.torrent file, wait a bit, double-click on the movie.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[packeteer]

Is the cube of your speed not exponential growth?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[cayenne8]

"Your cavalier attitude toward ecological disaster isn't worth treating seriously. Its folly is only matched by its extraordinary selfishness. Enjoy your cars today, but your kids and grandkids will pay for it."

I just don't believe this impending ecological disaster is really coming...I just don't see it happening. And if it does happen, it will be LONG after I'm dead and buried...so, what do I really care? If I drive an electric car...it is not going to affect the outcome any differently than if I drive a 10 mpg Porsche. So...I might as well enjoy my life while I have it.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Tsunayoshi]

'93 LX 2.3L coupe. Zero mods. I was stationed in the BFE deserts of California (round trip to the mall in Palm Springs was 144 miles). I kept track of my mileage each tank of gas as well as what type of driving I was doing (in-town vs long highway drives). My numbers are accurate.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Tsunayoshi]

Thanks, you explained that better than I could have. I was basically going to say that each gear has that "sweet spot" rpm as far as fuel efficiency, and that the sweet spot of the highest gear is where you get the best mpg.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[kisrael]

I think the thinking is global "warming" was the wrong term of it,
and the basis of too many WAY too easy jokes and half-assed observations during tough winters.

The warming is about energy being added to the system the result of heat getting trapped. This will lead to all kinds of medium term weirdness of hot, cold, wet, and dry (like, Snow in Baghdad, wildfires in CA) and only a long term warming trend.

I don't think your dumbass truck makes much of a difference but you're a clown if you're still using this "oh so this is global WARMING???" style argument.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[njh]

no. You might like to read up on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cube_(algebra)

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jonadab]

> At 2 MBps (more throughput than most people actually get with 802.11g), an actual DVD will take how long to transfer?

Waitasec, let me get this straight:

802.11g, the hot data-link-layer protocol everyone wants to use these days, is actually a good deal slower than old-fashioned 10BaseT ethernet, which is so old and slow nobody has bought or sold a new device that supports it exclusively for the better part of a decade. Have I got that about right?

Okay, I'm blessed with not having to travel much, so laptops aren't really my thing, and consequently I haven't paid a great deal of attention to wireless networking technologies, since I've got wired network everywhere I need it. So I'm not as informed about this as I might be. But your numbers are really catching me off-guard here.

I knew that wireless networks were slower than comparably-priced wired networks from the same era. Yeah, of course. So obviously 802.11g would be much slower than gigabit ethernet, and probably even a little slower than the 100BaseT "Fast Ethernet" that was the slowest wired network technology anybody wanted to deploy ten years ago. But, seriously, _five times_ slower than plain old 10BaseT? Really?

Wow.

Am I ever glad I don't have to deal with wireless networks. I can put up with slowness when accessing *remote* things, like, you know, over the internet. I expect that to be slow. But man, when something's in the same room with me, I expect network transfer times to be *faster* than sticking it on a removable USB mass storage device and carrying it over there. I mean, if it's gonna be that slow, what exactly is the *point* of having a local network?

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jimfrost]

Try looking up figures for fatal accidents next time.

Been there and done that. Single-vehicle fatal accidents do have a large speed-related component. They are still under-represented in the data overall, unless you narrow your field to only highway accidents, which are highly under-represented in overall fatality statistics.

I note that these statistics are not easy to get; NHIS doesn't compile such overall statistics, at least not for public release. It cherry picks its figures (for this and a bunch of other things). I'm sure there are political reasons why it does this, but whatever their reason you have to dig them out of FARS on your own. I spent awhile doing that and, frankly, was very surprised at how widely disparate the reality was from the press releases.

Mind you, I'm not saying we shouldn't have speed enforcement -- but the bulk of the carnage on the roads is not speed-related, and it's a huge disservice to not bother to enforce the laws that might prevent a lot of accidents. Failure to yield right-of-way is a very, very common cause of accidents -- both fatal and not -- and yet is rarely prosecuted until after an accident.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[sexconker]

2 MBps != 2 Mbps.

10 BaseT, 100 BaseT, 1000BaseT, etc etc are all measured in BITS.
I was talking about BYTES.

2 MBps = 16 mbps.

802.11g is rated at 54 Mbps, but in all reality you get no where near that (Data Rate vs throughput, 1 host vs several hosts, interference, distance, ...).
Wikipedia lists the typical throughput at 19 Mbps, or 2.375 MBps.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

There are numerous theories as to why this is, but the one I adhere to is that the yellow light period is usually shortened when it should be lengthened. The way it is now people slam the brakes on when the light goes yellow and they get rear-ended. Oops.

The reason is simply this... the average driver is a moron.

If you are approaching a green traffic light and you didn't see it turn green then you should think of it as a "stale green" and be prepared to slow down and stop when it turns yellow. Either way, you need to pick a spot in the roadway (usually the end of dashed lines and the start of solid lines for the lanes leading up to the light) beyond which you will continue on if you see it turn yellow. You need to pick this spot ahead of time and then base your go/no-go on that decision.

(Another hint is that crosswalk signals usually start flashing a few seconds before a light changes from green to yellow. But this isn't 100% certain.)

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jonadab]

> 10 BaseT, 100 BaseT, 1000BaseT, etc etc are all measured in BITS.

Of course. Bandwidth is normally measured in bits per second...

> I was talking about BYTES. 2 MBps = 16 mbps. 802.11g is rated at 54 Mbps, but...

Oh. That's somewhat closer to the speed I would have guessed it would be. More or less.

And yeah, you don't always get the full theoretical 100 mbps out of FastEthernet either.

Sorry about the confusion. I wasn't paying much attention to capitalization because, you know, it's slashdot, and people capitalize weirdly all the time.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jonadab]

When Duke Nukem Forever is released, you can donate your crusty old MacBook Air to a museum and buy yourself a much newer and thinner laptop with a 64TB solid-state drive and a 64-core CPU that can run OS X 10.15 and Windows Longhorn/Vienna/Seven/Fiesta/whatever at the same time in a hypervisor.

HTH.HAND.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

The law makes the act of breaking the encryption illegal in the US.

I don't think that is accurate. From the summary Groklaw posted long time ago, breaking encryption yourself is legal, but distributing tools to break it is banned. I could be wrong, but that is what I recall.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[mdm-adph]

Well, my friend, that's just fucking amazing. It's a manual-shift, right? I drive an 89 4-banger myself with the older 2.3 (not the more advanced one like in '93), that doesn't even have an overdrive on its automatic transmission (it's broke), and even sitting at 3500 RPM at 65MPH I get about 27 mpg, so I always knew these cars were capable of some impressive gas mileage. Your personal experience of getting 35mpg is about at the top limit of what I'd think capable, but it's definitely within reason.

Seriously, though -- do you coast down _every_ hill? :P

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jonnythan]

Where do you get this stuff? The maker of the tool isn't doing any more circumvention than the gun manufacturer is shooting people or the hammer manufacturer is breaking windows.

Re:Wot no optical drive?

[jonnythan]

There are Fair Use exemptions to copyright law.

No "Fair Use" exemptions to the DMCA exist.

"Integrated Battery"

[rockmuelle]

(from tech specs page on apple.com)

"Integrated 37-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery"

Are they serious? No way to swap out a battery halfway through a 10 hour flight? No way to take it out at security check points (or if it catches fire)?

Please tell me I'm misinterpreting that phrase. Want to buy one now, but that's a deal breaker. Argh!!!

-Chris

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[stewbacca]

It hasn't been an issue (for most people) on the existing Macbook models, so what's the fuss now? Last trans-Atlantic flight I was on (December) had electrical outlets in the seats (even in coach).

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[0100010001010011]

Then get a MacBook. Sorry but you are not going to fit it into that form factor.

"Wah Wah Wah, I want a replaceable battery in the iPod."
Get a Nomad. Some companies even have players which take AAs.
"But they're not tiny like an iPod".

Compare a AA to an iPod... there's no way you're going to get it into that form factor.

Go take the battery out of your laptop. Notice all the extra plastic around the battery. And then the laptop has to have plastic where the battery sits. So you're already essentially doubling the case thickness.

Do you want a laptop that is 0.16" to 0.76" thick? Go grab a ruler and put that in perspective. There is no way in hell you're going to do that with a standard external battery.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[DrXym]

Please tell me I'm misinterpreting that phrase. Want to buy one now, but that's a deal breaker. Argh!!!

Wouldn't surprise me if true. Apple have discovered that if they seal the battery in, make it incredibly expensive and inconvenient to replace it, that people throw away an otherwise functional device and buy a new one. Sad but true.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[rockmuelle]

I have currently have a black MacBook and two batteries. I don't leave home w/o them both fully charged and usually go through them both over the course of a day of travel. I fly all the time and it's still rare to find working outlets (at least on US flights).

-Chris

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[feranick]

What happens if your battery goes dead? You throw away the all thing? You pay for expensive service to install a new one? For many people swapping batteries are just a way to keep going with their work.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[neapolitan]

Agreed -- definite deal breaker for me as well. The battery is ALWAYS the first thing that dies in my laptop -- I would like it to be a $40 replacement part, not something that I need a screwdriver for, or (even worse) mail my machine back to Apple.

I have never gotten more than a hundred charges or so from my battery without noticing definite decrease in capacity -- these are not deep charges, and if you use the battery every day, that is quite a few replacements over the life of the machine...

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Haha, looks like you're getting a Dell!
bummer dude..

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Dixie_Flatline]

There's a $50 (CDN) adaptor for airline power. If you're on a flight, just plug in. And it's cheaper than an extra battery.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[EastCoastSurfer]

The non-replaceable battery kills it for a lot of business people. Then I start to wonder who (other than the apple fanboys) will spend 2k-3k for a poor performing laptop w/o the luxury of having work pay for it? The air will remain a niche product.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[dmccarty]

Someone mod parent up...hilarious!

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[binary paladin]

I love reading macrumors.com whenever there is an impending product release like this.

I kid you not I read a comment that was something like, "if it has dedicated video, I'll buy it in a heartbeat." Yeah, because they're clearly going after the gamer and 3D development market with these babies. You can always expect the:

"If this product has I'll buy it in a heartbeat." or "If this product costs I'll snatch it up in a second." What we have above, concerning the battery is a sort of reverse play on the same old, same old:

"Man I want to buy this product but is a deal breaker." Good lord.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[rockmuelle]

"Then get a MacBook. Sorry but you are not going to fit it into that form factor."

"Do you want a laptop that is 0.16" to 0.76" thick? Go grab a ruler and put that in perspective. There is no way in hell you're going to do that with a standard external battery."

So, my two laptops prior to my current MacBook were a Sony Vaio PCG-505 TR (smaller than the MacBook Air) and a Toshiba Portege (about the same size as the Air). Both of these had replaceable batteries and very clever engineering designs to make them work with the form factor. It's definitely possible to do it.

-Chris

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[MightyYar]

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[sokoban]

Ave you ever disassembled an Apple laptop. It's pretty easy, and an external battery will probably be coming soon from some third party.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[FroBugg]

The problem is its design flaws kill it for its target audience.

Who needs a super-thin, super-light laptop and is willing to pay a premium for it? People who are traveling a great deal and need to carry it around all day long.

But you can't swap out batteries in the middle of a trip.
If you go to a site and have to read something from a CD, you need to carry a USB optical drive with you.
No firewire ports if you happened to be using any of those.
No ethernet port, so you'll need the USB adapter if you go somewhere without WiFi.
One USB, so you can use wired ethernet or an optical drive or a thumb drive or an external mouse. But only one at a time.

Sure, it's pretty. But it makes way too many compromises to be practical. The advantages over the regular Macbook are insignificant for the price and sacrifices.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[dmccarty]

No way to take it out at security check points (or if it catches fire)?
.

As opposed to those videos you saw where someone walked up and pulled out their exploding battery after it caught fire?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Plug it in.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[kanweg]

It is 5 hours with wireless on. The stewardess won't smile at you when you leave that on. You, however, will have more time to waste your time looking at the screen instead of the stewardess.

Bert

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[David Rolfe]

You pay for expensive service to install a new one? This argument is often trotted out for the iPod, etc. It's specious. First, it's not expensive to install a new one -- it's free as part of your AppleCare. Second, in three to five years if you are still using the slow old Macbook Air you'll be able to self-replace or inexpensively (relative to other old laptop batteries) replace the battery in the same way you can painlessly and cheaply do it for old iPods and old Thinkpads (i.e., you've always been at the mercy of the part costs near end of life with any product).

Other posters with a need to work untethered for 5 or more hours have a legitimate complaint. For them this laptop is not an option and they will either spend more for a slower Sony (if they have a 3 lb. model with replaceable batteries), or carry more weight for a faster Macbook. That's life.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[feranick]

I imagine that working with screwdrivers in an intercontinental flights (or in any "on the run" trips) will be the next big "Apple" thing. Very posh.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Coincidentally enough, apparently a major ratification to batteries is coming our way. There's an article (http://www.news.com/2100-1041-6226196.html) that claims a 10-fold increase in battery life in the near-future (up to 40 hours)! So integrated batteries will likely become the de-facto standard.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[tgd]

You mean all the ones with removable batteries? Like... you know... every one?

Not that I don't agree with you -- I don't think an integrated battery is a big deal.

However, all the macs have removable batteries.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[shinma]

Where are you getting this 2k-3k number?

It's $1799. $1898, if you add the optical drive accessory. And it's cheaper than comparable (but slower) subnotebooks from other PC manufacturers.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[0100010001010011]

Target audience? When was the last time you were in an Apple store? The place was flooded with teens and parents. Right before fall semester starts its flooded with college freshmen. I was in there after christmas. A guy was in there with his daughter, she was going to get an iPhone. She was 14. There is a large population that falls under "rich" but above $100,000 a year. People that probably have insane amount of debt but have the latest and greatest.

Could you imagine this in a college setting? 90% of these kids just use AIM, Mail, & Word. And before you go off ranting about how expensive it is for some college kid. Imagine those kids who drive new cars to college. The ones whose parents live in 500,000 houses and drive the latest from Mercedes. $5k is a drop in the bucket, I'm sure they can find another credit card to put it on.

But you know what, they keep Apple in business. And as long as they do that I'm happy with the other toys Apple gives me (ZFS, Unix, Stuff that just works(tm)).

The same reason I don't have a problem with BMW selling their 3 and 5 series to any yuppie that wants to buy it. People that won't even touch the performance of what it's capable of. Because those people give BMW money to make nice toys for me like the M3 which I can take out to the track.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[alienw]

The existing models have an easily-removable battery.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Zadaz]

Well.. I have a Sony TX and I would suspect that it's probably competition for the Air. The Sony has a smaller (and also LED lit) screen, but is lighter and only slightly thicker. And it has a dual layer DVD burner inside.

The standard battery is replaceable and has 5 hours of life. I have an extended battery in mine and can fly from San Francisco to Tokyo (~10 hours) without running out of power.

I like the bigger screen on the Air, but I have to agree that the battery is a bit of a deal breaker. I'll wait for the next rev and see if they fix it.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[King_TJ]

Huh? Who made you the official spokesperson for the needs of business users everywhere?

I imagine this will see excellent sales among business users, regardless of the "integrated battery". A Core 2 Duo at 1.8Ghz isn't exactly "poor performing". My Macbook Pro is the first generation model with the original Core Duo (not Core 2) CPU in it. It still performs quite well for me, so I'd expect to see similar overall performance from the Macbook Air.

Furthermore, as Apple pointed out, the thickest portion of this notebook is THINNER than the thinnest part of Sony's Vaio slim notebook line. The battery life is rated as high as 5 hours. The keyboard isn't some "compact" model with keys too closely spaced together, and the display is a full 13.3" instead of some 11" or 12" compromise.

Considering the fact that notebooks are largely non user-serviceable to begin with, the need to mail this off for battery replacement shouldn't be a huge change for most laptop users. (When's the last time your full-size HP, Toshiba or Gateway laptop malfunctioned, and you were able to swap out the defective motherboard or video or display with parts picked up at your local retailer, huh?)

Judging by how many notebooks I see in service with totally non-functional, worn out batteries in them - I think for many people, it's not even a priority..... They don't like the price of new li-ion batteries anyway, so they do without when the original wears out. If you have you car and airline charger/adapter, along with your AC power adapter, the ability to plug it in wherever you go still makes your portable computer pretty darn portable.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[DrXym]

I have a Nokia 6300. It is exactly the same thickness as an iPhone. But I can remove the back and replace the battery. There is absolutely no excuse that Apple products cannot do likewise.

The reason that they seal the battery has nothing to do with form factor and a lot to do with built-in shelf life. Once the battery goes many people will buy a new iPod rather than replace the battery in their otherwise functioning existing one. It is not surprising when the Apple battery replacement service costs a lot of money and doesn't even say you get your original iPod back.

If this economic model has extended to the new laptop then buyer beware. It sucks enough that they do it in a $200 device, it is outrageous if they do it with one costing $1800.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[EastCoastSurfer]

You're referring to the original ipod which had a new, unique interface (which still took awhile to become popular). Other than trackpad gestures, what new interface is the air offering over other sub-notebooks? It's thinner, but doesn't weight much less if at any at all. But since it's thinner you now don't have a an optical driver, ethernet port, replaceable battery, any of the other standard ports, etc...

As an Apple fan this keynote was very disappointing. $20 to update the ipod touch firmware, you have to be kidding!

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Phat_Tony]

This a new Apple product. You could probably hold your breath during the wait for Griffin, Belkin, Kensington or somebody to release an external battery pack that connects to the magsafe port and gives you a bunch of additional battery life. Then it'll be about another 15-minutes until there's a Chinese knockoff of that product on ebay.

You'd better hurry and order the laptop and the extra battery soon though, Apple will probably release an even better laptop in a few days.

Seriously though, the Macbook Pro is due for an update anytime now.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

From http://www.reviewsonline.com/SONY9902.htm

  Sony VAIO Laptop PCG-505TR

Weighing only 3.1 pounds (1.40 kg) and being only 0.9 inch (22.9 mm), the Sony Vaio PCG-505TR combines a 300 MHz Mobile Pentium MMX, 10.4 inch (26.4 cm) active matrix XGA display, 6.4 GB hard drive, 64 Mb SDRAM, double capacity Lithium-Ion battery, V.90 internal modem, iLink (IEEE-1394) interface, USB interface, PC card slot and touch pad with PEN operation in a magnesium alloy case. - WOW!

Thats not "smaller then the MacBook Air" like you said ..
its heaver and MUCH thicker .. Shit .. its as thick as a fucking macbook pro.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[CastrTroy]

Yes, it's a trade off. I have an iPod Nano. There's no waay you could have any kind of standard user replacable battery in that thing without making it bigger. The same probably holds true for this laptop.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[annodomini]

Then, don't buy a subnotebook. The whole point of a subnotebook is that you sacrifice a bit on features and price in order to get something that's really damn small. You want a replaceable battery, buy a MacBook or MacBook Pro. You want something small, light, and sexy, buy a MacBook Air. Yes, it sucks that you don't have a replaceable battery, and it sucks that you don't have a DVD drive, and it sucks that you don't have an ethernet port. That's what you live with to get something so small. Some people really like having a small, ultraportable computer; some like having all kinds of features. Pick what's best for you, and buy it.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[badasscat]

Then get a MacBook. Sorry but you are not going to fit it into that form factor.

"Wah Wah Wah, I want a replaceable battery in the iPod."

An iPod is not comparable to a laptop.

First, an iPod is about $200. Still expensive for what amounts to a disposable device (for those who don't know how to or don't want to pay to replace the battery), but a lot less than $1,800. An $1,800 device is *not* disposable.

Also, again because of price and a fairly limited feature set, it's common to upgrade to new iPods every few years. But a lot of people use the same PC's for 5 years or more - all their stuff is on them, a lot of that stuff is hard to move, and anyway they still usually work fine after that time. That seems to be about the standard rule in my house; I just replaced a circa-2003 Dell for my wife, and my last unforced laptop purchase (ie. one not caused by my computer breaking out of warranty) was to replace a 1997 Thinkpad in 2002.

By that time, both of those machines had been rendered long-since un-portable due to totally dead batteries. I didn't care much, as neither my wife nor I are real road warriors and we use our laptops more as desktop replacements. But that's not the market for the Macbook Air - it's an ultra-portable, it's meant to be carried around.

It's patently ridiculous for an ultra-portable laptop to have a non-replaceable battery. The thing is basically going to be rendered useless to a lot of people within the span of 2 years. Oh I'm sure there will be a cottage industry popping up selling third-party batteries and the means to install them for the advanced. And I'm sure Apple will also provide this service... for a "nominal" fee. But that shouldn't be required; it's a freakin' subnotebook, for God's sake, it should have a replaceable battery.

It's kind of like selling a PDA without an LCD screen or a calculator without a numeric keypad. This thing's entire reason for existence is jeopardized by the lack of this feature.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you want a laptop that is 0.16" to 0.76" thick? Go grab a ruler and put that in perspective. There is no way in hell you're going to do that with a standard external battery.

You mean internal battery, as in "inside device". There's external batteries too for sale which connect to charger connector. I don't know if they have mac connector but I would believe that it wouldn't be unsolvable problem.

That would be a solution for those rare cases where you need more power and you're ready to carry additional battery. They're for sale for the reason that they're more general than normal batteries and thus cheaper too.

(I don't know what airport security thinks about external batteries as they could be lumps of C4 just as well judging from look but that applies to any battery and pretty much anything else too like shoe soles)

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[David Rolfe]

One USB, so you can use wired ethernet or an optical drive or a thumb drive or an external mouse. But only one at a time. Because one of these is just so damn expensive when you've already spent $1800 on the laptop and $20 bucks for the inflight-power adapter.

If you're going to expense it, you might as well expense all the goodies for your new road warrior kit.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[zzatz]

"There is no way in hell you're going to do that with a standard external battery."

Welcome to Hell. It can, and has, been done. If you meant internal rather than external battery.

My Nokia n800 is smaller and thinner than the MacBook Air. It has longer battery life than the Air. The battery is replaceable.

No, it's not going after the same market segment. The n800 aims at an even smaller form factor and does it with a replaceable battery.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ZedmanAuk]

I agree with you that a non-removable battery is a deal-killer. My 1.5 year old Macbook Pro's battery is not holding much of a charge anymore, but at least replacing it is not a huge deal. If I had to pay Apple to do it and actually ship my entire computer to them and be without it for days or weeks that would be a huge problem.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[FroBugg]

Or maybe they'd notice that they can save $700 and gain lots of features by giving up a third of an inch and going with a regular Macbook.

It's just not worth it.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[rockmuelle]

Specs I have for the Vaio PCG-505TR are (from http://www.notebook-pcs.com/sony/1074.html):

Dimensions (width x height x depth) 259x208x22 mm
Laptop weight (incl. battery) 1,22 kg

For the Air:

Height:
0.16-0.76 inch (0.4-1.94 cm)
Width:
12.8 inches (32.5 cm)
Depth:
8.94 inches (22.7 cm)
Weight:
3.0 pounds (1.36 kg)

According to those numbers, the Vaio is smaller (note that depth for the Vaio is what Apple is calling height). Unfortunately, Sony doesn't have the specs online anymore, so it's just my google search vs. yours. :)

-Chris

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[EastCoastSurfer]

$1900 is right at 2k. Add the SSD and you're right at 3k. Add the faster proc + SSD and you're over 3k.

And all these numbers ignore tax...

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[e2d2]

That would all be correct if the target market was "business users on the go". But it's more like "people that sip lattes and work on homework" and have more money than sense.

Three words for business users: Lenovo X Series. 3.7 lbs

But if you _need_ a mac, go get one tiger.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[podperson]

And if you want to swap batteries, you might notice that the MacBook offers this functionality and is actually cheaper.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[alienw]

But you can't swap out batteries in the middle of a trip.

Pretty much all business-class seats on airplanes have power outlets. Besides, it has 5 hours of battery life -- enough for most trips. But I don't think its audience is either hardcore geeks or traveling businessman types.

If you go to a site and have to read something from a CD, you need to carry a USB optical drive with you.

That's really mainly relevant for sysadmin types. Besides, how many people don't own a USB stick?

No firewire ports if you happened to be using any of those.

Who uses firewire these days? And for what? I've used the firewire port on my macbook once, to grab some video off a DV camcorder. This obviously isn't something you would do with a subnotebook.

No ethernet port, so you'll need the USB adapter if you go somewhere without WiFi.

Never traveled anywhere where I could only get an ethernet connection. Usually, that's only the case in an office-type environment (where you would be fine with a desktop machine, or a full-size laptop, or a USB adapter). Besides, modern ethernet adapters are tiny.

One USB, so you can use wired ethernet or an optical drive or a thumb drive or an external mouse. But only one at a time.

Well, only if you don't know about USB hubs.

Seriously, some of you people sound like this is meant to replace a full-size desktop. It's not. It's a thin notebook that you can bring anywhere -- say out to lunch, or on a vacation. I doubt any corporate types will want to make it their primary machine.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Predius]

But this laptop isn't really damn small, it's just thin. There is no good justification for it.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[samkass]

How often do business folks need more than 5 hours of battery life and/or can't afford the auto/plane power adapter after buying a laptop that starts at $1800?

Come on. Apple is going to sell gazillions of this thing. It will be to laptops what iPods were to all other MP3 players.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[EastCoastSurfer]

The poor performing part of the Air isn't the proc, but the HD. 4200 rpm drive is really slow. Going from a 5400 rpm drive to a 7200 rpm drive in my mbp made a huge difference in performance. I can't imagine going down to a 4200 rpm drive. And then the SSD drive as a $1k option. How about a 32GB SSD drive for $400?

The business people I know who travel a lot (and could justify the cost of this sub notebook) need to be able to carry a spare battery. They can probably work around sharing the USB port between ethernet and optical and get a bluetooth mouse. The Air is sexy, but can sexy alone sell a product that starts at $1800?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[modestmelody]

They have started to sell an airplane power adapter in the Apple Store online with the Macbook Air, so they do seem to share your concern.
I hate the integrated battery because with the race towards greater capacity and battery length as well as compacting the batteries, longterm reliability has pretty much been shot to shit.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Nokia:
# Processor: OMAP2420 microprocessor at 330 MHz. Underclocked, runs at the native 400 Mhz with the latest (2008) fimware upgrade[citation needed].(DSP speed will be halved).[1]
# Memory: 128 MB of RAM and 256 MB of flash memory.
# Connectivity: IEEE 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (DUN, OPP, FTP, HFP, HID profiles as well as A2DP/AVRCP via third party emulation), and USB 2.0 high-speed.
# Display & Resolution: 4.1 inches 800×480 at 225dpi, (the same as the 770.)

MacBook Air:
1.8gHz Core 2 Duo
2 GB Ram Standard
All the same connectivity.
13.3-inch (diagonal), 1280 by 800 (native).

You're comparing two completely different things.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[shinma]

You're comparing the battery life and size of a smartphone and that of a laptop.

I don't really think it's a great idea to make the battery integrated on the Air, but that's not even a straw man, it's more like a stick figure.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Firehed]

Ah, the iPod argument all over again.

The last time this was an issue for me, it was probably 1999 with one of those awesome Thinkpads with the Ultrabay flip-up keyboard and a Ni-Cd battery. I've owned three iPods and an iPhone and all have had zero battery issues; likewise for all Li-Ion laptops I've used that I can remember, which is quite a few.

Removing ease of access allows you to remove the components that bring that ease of access. Hinges, doors, flaps, and sockets all take space. Sticking it all behind a big shell takes less space. Apple wanted a thin notebook, so guess which route they took.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[fonik]

Applecare isn't free. You're just paying the price for a battery replacement up front as part of the extended warranty, whether you use it or not.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[fermion]

If Apple were supporting products the way they used to, i.e. 3-5 day turn around, basically assuming the customer is not trying to screw them, and honoring the original warrenty, not just applecare, then the lack of a removable battery would not kill the deal.

However, given my experience trying to get a battery replaced on my iPod, I suspect that instead of replacing the battery under warranty they will waste a couple days of the customers time and them say that it is not a warranty repair.

The thing that kills this is the slant, and I am not sure why Apple did this. Even without the slant, they still have been about 20% smaller than the 12" Powerbook, and we might have added, what, a kilogram or so? If it would have meant a user replaceable battery and a firewire port, it would have been worth it.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ZombieRoboNinja]

>>Do you want a laptop that is 0.16" to 0.76" thick? Go grab a ruler and put that in perspective.

I've been trying, actually. The 0.16" is clearly marketing-speak, because when you look at the thing the edges come to points. By that logic, I've seen cars that are .16" "at the thinnest point." And .76" is certainly thin, but hell, my current MacBook is less than an inch thick already. So at best they saved maybe a tenth of an inch of thickness and added in a prettier, curvy form-factor.

After watching the little intro video on the Apple website, I'm getting the impression this is intended mainly as a shiny executive toy. They mention presentations, meetings and airplanes every time they get a chance, for example. But beyond looking sleek, I'm not sure I get the point. I mean, are you actually SUPPOSED to be storing these in packing envelopes? If not, what are the advantages over a normal laptop? Is it worth the inconvenience of no removeable battery, no optical drive, minimal connectors, and limited hard drive options, all for a pound or two of weight saved? I know, I know, it comes with the subnotebook territory - but who are these "subnotebooks" targeted at, anyway?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[prelelat]

When you said in three to five years I thought you were going to say "you should replace that it anyways" I just about dropped until I finished reading your thought. I agree this notebook is not going to be for everyone, when I first seen it my first thought was "damn that things sexy" then my second was "I can't use that". It doesn't have two things i require, wired network(I heard rumors last night that it wouldn't have any and i haven't seen any pictures that show one. I need wired because we don't have wireless at work for reasonable issues), it doesn't have a CD-Rom drive(I do need it on the road sometimes I could get by with having to plug in the external drive but carrying around an external drive for a highly portable notebook seems counter productive), and if I can I would like a VGA/S-Video out for presentations and if possible(I admit my current notebook doesn't have one) a com port to link up to some of the hardware I maintain like cisco routers dell switches and other hardware that might need to be configured.

Does that mean I think it sucks. Hell no, it's a sexy beast and I think the target isn't people like me but the kind that want to have something portable to browse the net and hookup their ipod, and do a little word processing/spread sheet work. I rarely put a dvd into my notebook, I have tons of dvds ripped to a file server in my house anyways.

This might be the first apple I consider buying for reasons other than trying OSX.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[fonik]

Everyone goes to the Dodge dealer to look at a Dodge Viper. Some of them buy a Stratus or Neon. It's the halo effect. Even if the Macbook Air just gets people into the stores to buy the "omg better deal" Macbooks, it'll be a success for Apple.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[apt142]

Since you can't carry screwdrivers on a plane, I suspect that getting held up at airport security will be the new posh "Apple" thing.

But, I suspect they'll see the dollar sig^W^W light and make an external battery for just such an occasion. Which would of course increase the weight of things you have to lug around for the laptop.

One of my travel rules: If I have to lug it around with my laptop to keep it functional, it's part of the laptop weight.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[MightyYar]

You read too much into my comment. I was suggesting that the notebook will be successful despite any Slashdot criticism. Say what you will about Slashdot readers, but we are certainly not good at predicting the consumer market - nor do our tastes have any bearing at all on the broader market.

I would probably consider getting this thing if I weren't happy with my iBook. It's my secondary "work" computer, and so I rarely use the DVD player, never use the firewire, and speed is not an issue. The little 40GB drive is always full - but since it is not my primary PC I can delete a bunch of stuff every once in a while. I would love to shave 2 lbs off of my iBook.

I imagine that version 2 of this thing will be killer.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[cnettel]

Well, the lack of an Ethernet port can be justified with the whole idea of a portable machine. The lack of an optical drive can be justified by the size, and the fact that the spindle would suck power anyway. Higher battery time isn't unusual for ultra-portables, for the very reason that they are supposed to be mobile. 5 h is still far from impressive enough to solve the battery needs for many users, and it will certainly be even less so after a year of use (i.e. when you would need to switch the battery even for some continental flights, while it would be hard to justify yanking out the now maybe 60 % good original battery).

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[DrXym]

Yes, it's a trade off. I have an iPod Nano. There's no waay you could have any kind of standard user replacable battery in that thing without making it bigger.

I don't see why not. Most wristwatches manage to have a very small form factor and a battery that can be replaced with relative ease. What would it take? A hatch and a few screws is all.

The same probably holds true for this laptop.

Possibly, but then again, Apple is supposed to a master of design, so why not amaze people with an elegant solution, e.g. maybe the keyboard could lift up and reveal the battery compartment or similar. I assume they'll be charging squillions for a replacement service, so realistically how much more difficult would it be to make it user accessible rather than requiring special tools?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[neoform]

>There's a $50 (CDN) adaptor for airline power.

So.. what's that, like $100 America Dollars? *zing*

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Wolvie MkM]

Easier said than done? I thought power was available only in Business class and up? Not economy where us slags travel :) Or have Air Canada and WestJet just left me jaded and cynical.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[hondo77]

The air will remain a niche product.

Isn't that the idea?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[real gumby]

Dude, stop thinking of the battery as a consumable and start thinking of the whole the mac book air is a disposable item, like a disposable razor. When the battery is fried, just toss the MBA in the trash at the airport and buy another one from the vending machine just past gate 5 next to the first class lounge.

Look, you heard it from the guy from Fox: "we always wanted rental movies online and consumers did too." You aren't a user any more, you're a "consumer" so start consuming!

Replacable battery jeez. Get with the modern world! Next you'll want to install your own apps!

-g

(I love that it's called an "MBA" -- that's the target market!)

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Nizer]

Correct. I'd mod up if I could.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[petermgreen]

it hasn't been an issue (for most people) on the existing Macbook models
unlike the iPods and iPhones the macbooks DO have easilly removable batteries.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

No one in my family has ever bought a 2nd laptop battery, and we've had over 6 laptops over the years -- 2 Macs. Not everyone needs to replace their battery.

With no way to take it out at security checkpoints, that means you'll have less waiting time. ;)

Also, I advise not trying to remove a burning LiPo battery from a laptop -- that sounds a bit dangerous.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[russellh]

I know, I know, it comes with the subnotebook territory - but who are these "subnotebooks" targeted at, anyway?

Whoever they are, they don't post much to slashdot.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod parent up. Calling something that comes in a service package add-on costing $249 "free" is the kind of bent zealot thinking that doesn't help. AppleCare and any other type of insurance is based on making the insurer money - not giving you an economic advantage. Some of us with savings don't consider that to be appealing.

Being an ardent Apple fan (and earlier this decade, share holder) since the IIc, I have to admit that if there was a time to get insurance on Macs in the past ten years, the past two or three years is it. There has definitely been a decline in build quality as well as basic design failures that are never addressed. In some ways it mirrors Toyota - after reputation and popularity grew, quality declined.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[feranick]

Please, tell me how making the battery swappable would compromise the size of the laptop. You can easily make ultrathin batteries this days, which can be integrated to be fully swappable. Your argument doesn't hold up. As of getting a subnotebook, the all point of it is to really get it for its portability and usefulness. While I think getting rid of the DVD drive is a good thing (you can always carry an external one), having a fixed battery is bad, mostly for a portable device.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[vrmlguy]

I need wired because we don't have wireless at work for reasonable issues Does your workplace support VPN access from home? If so, then how about suggesting to your network security guys that they install a WAP *outside* of the corporate firewall? This would allow you to use your existing VPN infrastructure to tunnel into the workplace, and the security issues would be exactly what they've already come to terms with.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[C0rinthian]

The poor performing part of the Air isn't the proc, but the HD. 4200 rpm drive is really slow. Going from a 5400 rpm drive to a 7200 rpm drive in my mbp made a huge difference in performance. I can't imagine going down to a 4200 rpm drive. Try to find a 1.8" drive faster than 4,200 RPM. For people who feel that 4,200 is too slow, you can either get the SSD, or get a different laptop. (MacBook, or MBP)

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[EastCoastSurfer]

I started seeing ipods everywhere when the nano came out at that magical $200 price point. Gazillions sold when it starts at $1800? If this thing was $1k I might agree.

5 hours of battery life is the stated life from Apple. BTW, my last flight on a 777 from Atl -> Tokyo had no power at the seats grr :(

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[eiapoce]

No way to take it out at security check points (or if it catches fire)? BURN BABY BUUUURRRRNNNN ;D
And don't forget the lack of a heatsink!!!! Better not import that in iMovie while flying!! ahahahah.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Llywelyn]

United and Delta, from what I hear, have been expanding it to all of their classes of service.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

I would like a VGA/S-Video out for presentations All Apple laptops with DVI out have come with a VGA adapter. MBA doesn't make an exception.

and if possible(I admit my current notebook doesn't have one) a com port to link up to some of the hardware I maintain like cisco routers dell switches and other hardware that might need to be configured The words `ultraportable' and `com port' don't fit in the same paragraph. Just use a USB-COM converter. There are several that work great with OS X.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[jmauro]

You're not looking on the bright side, since it's small enough to fit in an envelope, it'll be easier to mail back to Apple when the battery finally kicks off.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Wolvie MkM]

Good to know!

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[SeanMon]

Most wristwatches manage to have a very small form factor and a battery that can be replaced with relative ease.
Most wristwatches don't have a 1.6 GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, an HD screen with backlight, and wifi.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[msisden]

Last time I flew Air Canada (around Thanksgiving), all classes seemed to have TVs and power from the seat immediately ahead of them.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[EastCoastSurfer]

I imagine that version 2 of this thing will be killer.

You're probably right. Just like v2 of the iphone will be something that I might actually look at picking up.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[samkass]

Gazillions sold when it starts at $1800? If this thing was $1k I might agree.

Apple's machine is hundreds of dollars cheaper than a comparable Sony machine. If you really want a super-light, small, reasonably performant laptop there aren't a huge number of choices. And Apple's is the cheapest I can find by a reasonable margin. I actually think the *low* price point is going to be a game-changer for those in this market. My guess is this single-handedly saves Apple's Japanese business unit, for one...

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[PsychoSid]

> As an Apple fan this keynote was very disappointing. $20 to update the ipod touch firmware, you have to be kidding! Whilst I take the point it's software and software can occasionally cost money. If this should have been in from day 1 is a slightly different argument

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[petermgreen]

There are two main problems with USB hubs in this context:

1: it's yet another box to carry arround (on top of your CD/DVD drive, network adaptor, mouse etc)
2: if the hub is self powered it needs to get it's power from somewhere (like batteries which will make it rather bulky). If it is bus powered you will have trouble with some devices because of lack of power availibility).

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ksheff]

That's why they'll sell you the optional "MagSafe Airline Adapter" to charge it up during the flight.

I like what they say is in the box:

MacBook Air, Micro-DVI to DVI adapter, Micro-DVI to VGA adapter, Cleaning/polishing cloth, MagSafe power adapter, Install/restore DVDs, Printed documentation.

The install DVDs are great unless you don't have access to a machine that you can use to share a DVD drive. The polishing cloth shows that they know what their target audience is going to like most about it. I wonder what the price difference would be if they included some sort of read-only USB flash drive instead of the DVDs. Something similar to a D-Link DSB-H3ETX may be popular with owners of this machine.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[squiggleslash]

But, dude, it fits in an envelope! An envelope!

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[twenex]

Quite true. I was hoping to replace my 12" G4 Powerbook with one of these, but there are two deal killers for me:
- Only one USB port - come on, while wireless may be many places, many corporate environments don't use it yet, so I end up needing ethernet which takes a port, then how am I supposed to use flash drives or other peripherals.
- The integrated battery - my current powerbook is 5 years old (almost) and I'm on my third battery

Apple missed on this one, and I'm a big fan. This is too much form over function. Let's just hope it sells better than the last time they made this mistake - the cube.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Hamilton Lovecraft]

Also, that 5 hours is using the WiFi, which you won't be using on a plane trip.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[CaptDeuce]

Who needs a super-thin, super-light laptop and is willing to pay a premium for it? People who are traveling a great deal and need to carry it around all day long.

If you can figure out how to cram an optical drive, removable battery, Ethernet and FireWire ports into a super-thin, super-light laptop, just go ahead and do it!

Go ahead. I'll wait.

[tapping foot]

[checking watch]

[rolling eyes]

[sighs]

What, can't do it?

What a surprise.

Sure, it's pretty. But it makes way too many compromises to be practical. The advantages over the regular Macbook are insignificant for the price and sacrifices.

*click* [pointing gun to his head and cocking it]

[speaking in bad German* accent] But you haf no choise. You vill buy zee übertin vun! Now!

* Feel free to substitute with any accent you wish but you must do your own transliteration. I suggest French or Russian... except for French the gun could be replaced with, perhaps, waving a glass of white wine while staring down one's nose with a haughty glare.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[wiredlogic]

It really annoys me that the industry moved toward the oversized SUV machines and doesn't offer a good selection of truly portable computers. If you want small while still retaining a usable keyboard look toward something like a Fujitsu P1610/20. For *nix users these are some of the few notebooks that have three mouse buttons for X goodness. I have a P1510 and I can get 6 hours out of the extended battery with my underclock and undervolt setings.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ksheff]

The Air is sexy, but can sexy alone sell a product that starts at $1800?

People didn't think that Apple would be able to sell a $600 phone either. People with more money than brains is a nice market to target.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[stewbacca]

Ahh..my bad. I have a Macbook, and I guess I just don't consider the way the battery is tucked away underneath really to be "easy" like the pc ones I'm used to (swap right in/out, no coins needed). But now I see some of the other comments and the point with the Air is that you can't even get to the battery...got it. Still, a non-issue for most people that would consider this machine in the first place.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[petermgreen]

but who are these "subnotebooks" targeted at, anyway?
Afaict theese very thin laptops with largish screens are mosty targetted at those with more money than sense who are buying a machine based on looks rather than practicality. There are a surprising number of such people.

If you want a machine that is small in a pracitcal sense you need to give up screen size. If your application demands PC architecture that means machines like the libretto, the eeepc and the smaller vaios. If it doesn't then there are a variety of products that come from the large PDA direction.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[crbowman]

Actually I did just the other day to replace my hard drive, and I would in no way call it "easy" there were no less than 14 screws of the smallest phillips head variety I have ever seen not to mention the torx screws. Not at all easy. Want to replace the hard drive on my work IBM laptop? One, count that *ONE* frick screw and it was fairly normal sized at that. Apple makes great gear and I love my MBP but easy to disassembled? I don't think so.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

It's $1799. $1898, if you add the optical drive accessory. And it's cheaper than comparable (but slower) subnotebooks from other PC manufacturers. First of all, it won't ship until next month at the earliest. How do you know what other PC manufacturers will announce (that's all Apple did today) before the MacBook Air is shipping?

Also, why would other PC manufacturers want to release a "comparable" subnotebook without ethernet, only one USB port, no optical drive, no firewire, no ExpressCard slot, non-upgradable memory, non-removable battery, no memory card slot, no docking station option, and no mobile broadband options?

Dell sells a 3-pound subnotebook with all those features, except integrated optical drive, starting at $1200.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ContractualObligatio]

> what are the advantages over a normal laptop?

There are three consistently important things about portable devices - size, weight and battery life. Many people who can afford it are willing to pay for smaller, lighter and longer. It's that simple. If this perspective does not make sense to you - simply write yourself out of the target audience and get on with that which is important to you.

Many users do not need a removable battery, optical drive or additional connectors. It's that simple. If you do, simply write yourself out of the target audience and get on with that which is important to you.

There's a lot to be said about being able to understand another person's perspective and requirements. On a geek site, an engineering achievement such as an incredibly small laptop that (for instance) required Intel to produce a new, smaller chip design is worthy of respect rather than puerile comments about shiny toys. Reducing height by 25% and weight by 40% is a tough design goal. But if you can't understand the user, or appreciate the engineering - just get on with other things.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[MushMouth]

You ever heard of a usb hub?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Roger W Moore]

Then, don't buy a subnotebook. The whole point of a subnotebook is that you sacrifice a bit on features and price in order to get something that's really damn small.

Then how come my PDA, which is even smaller, manages to have a replaceable battery? I realize that there is a trade-off between space and features but I cannot imagine that a replaceable battery would add much space. Of course all Mr. Jobs is concerned about is will the lack of this feature put enough people off that they will not buy it. However I cannot imagine there would be many people would would say "there is not way I'm going to buy a 0.8" thick laptop, if only it had been 0.76" thick" whereas there are a lot of us you will not buy one without a replaceable battery.

Certainly for me this is a deal breaker - there is no way I'm going to buy a lap top with a 5 hour, non-replaceable battery for $2-3k. I need at least 8 hours to get through the average sort of day where I would want the portability (notetaking/email in conferences and working on a plane). Yes maybe they will come up with an external battery but then it will hardly be very convenient. No more popping in the replacement battery and using it all afternoon, instead you have to lug around a separate battery to use it. This is in addition to battery lifetime problems.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[internic]

This argument is often trotted out for the iPod, etc. It's specious. First, it's not expensive to install a new one -- it's free as part of your AppleCare.

So, it's free in the sense that you have to buy some additional extended warranty plan. Or, actually, you had to have bought it years before that (I believe you technically have to purchase it before the end of whatever limited warranty the unit comes with).

On my mp3 player, replacing the battery is just a matter of buying a new one and removing four screws (small phillips heads).

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[protohiro1]

Replacement for the battery costs $129. If this seems like a lot, be aware that a replacement battery for the regular Macbook is also $129, so this will be less profitable for apple (labor costs) must have made the choice for design reasons. More from apple: http://www.apple.com/support/macbookair/service/battery/

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[twenex]

Of course I have. It's just one more thing to carry, and then you get the problems with powered vs. non-powered ports, having to carry a power adaptor for the hub, etc. No, I'd rather have 2 ports, thank you.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[PitaBred]

Check your google-foo at the door. Sony's specs are still online for this machine (click on "Marketing Specifications").

Either way, it's still thicker and heavier for a smaller, lower-res screen, slower machine than the Apple, especially if you include the extended battery, which is necessary to make the Vaio run as long as the Apple (3.0-6.0 hours with the double-capacity battery for the Vaio, which takes the machine weight up to 3.1lbs and increases the height of it.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Well let's see:
a.) I own a sharp MM20, which is similarly small, and does have a removable battery - and it also lasts around 2-3 hours, but... it's powering a 1ghz transmeta chip, not a freaking core duo. Even if my battery and apple's packs the same amount of power despite the plastic around mine, the plastic means, well, it's plastic, not metal, and the case of both my laptop, and the apple is metal. The metal on the bottom of mine is probably painted, and anyway not shiny, so it doesn't look too odd. I bet the apple one looks more "metal" though, so a plastic battery would either look very crappy, or, need to be made out of the same expensive metal as the laptop.

2. When the battery runs down, you plug in "Mr. Battery" (look it up, I have one, and it's awesome!).

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[zrobotics]

The Air is sexy, but can sexy alone sell a product that starts at $1800?

I give you the Lamborghini Murciélago, base price $313,000. Sexy, yes. Functional, hell no.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[David Rolfe]

That's right. It also covers a lot more than battery replacement. Do you think in three years less a day that the Airbook's battery will cost more or less than $249 (let's throw in the cost of installation/disposal, out of warranty shipping, etc.)? There's a chance it won't, $130 is about average for Apple's spare laptop batteries. In my opinion the additional two years of AppleCare has always been worth the price.

Maybe you can get away with the default one year of Applecare if you intend to trade up quickly, or if you plan on leaving it on your desk (...an ultra portable?), I just didn't (and don't) consider extended warranties optional for thousand-dollar electronics that I'm going to carry around daily. If I break a hinge, or mark the display, or the drive goes out, or the battery, or worse blah blah blah.

Doesn't hurt that the additional cost of Applecare over three years is trivial bet (like $0.25 a day).

I don't know why I bothered replying though, you know all this crap, and everyone that buys a Mac sees that the extra warranty costs extra (duh). Where can this discussion possibly go?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[oever]

The Dell X1 can be gotten for a lot less. It's very similar to this new Airmac. It comes with external DVD drive can run about 7 hours on battery. More if you take a spare battery. I'm typing this post on the one I bought 3 years ago. It is running KUbuntu perfectly.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[mzs]

First the Air is not a subnotebook, it is a very thin notebook. A subnotebook would need a screen no larger than 10".

I just priced a Dell XPS M1330 and it comes to $1,304 with 40GB more hard drive space (you can get a 64 SSD for a grand instead) 128MB graphics card, bluetooth, wireless-n, CD/DVD+/-RW, 8-in-1 memory card reader, firewire, more USB 2.0 ports, removable 9 HOUR battery, 1.66 GHz core duo 2, 13.3" lcd, 2.0 MP webcam, and an expresscard slot. The depth and width are the same and it is only half an inch taller and less than a pound heavier.

So except for Mac OS X it does not even come close to outclassing the Dell and it is $500 more. Sure if you compare it to a Sony then the Apple is a better deal but Sony is consistently very expensive and that is why Jobs chose to compare the Air to it.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[EastCoastSurfer]

So that's why they dropped the price soon after releasing it? You always have the fools who can be parted with their money, but $1800 is a lot to part with :)

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ColdWetDog]

Are they serious? No way to swap out a battery halfway through a 10 hour flight? No way to take it out at security check points (or if it catches fire)?

So you're going to pull a burning lithium ion battery out of a notebook (or anywhere else for that matter)?

Color me impressed!

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[0xdeadbeef]

Isn't it cute, how this guy wants to pass off Apple products as status symbols, but also implies that most of the people who buy them are heavily into debt. And with the M3 reference, it's like he wants to identify with the wealthy, but wants to sneer at every other yuppie with the same purchasing power.

Computers are not status symbols. And that "more money than sense" group is no where near large enough to account for anything. Apple products are not in the same category as gold teeth and spinning rims.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[slaingod]

I'm sure there will be an external battery extended that plugs into the magsafe that will extend it another X hours...

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[richdun]

It could also vary greatly on the type of aircraft. I'd doubt many 737s or A320s, for instance, would have this in all classes, unless you catch an airline doing fleet-wide upgrades to its interiors. Those interiors are very expensive, and many were designed alongside the airframe (I remember when the 777s first flew Nintendo was advertising them in Nintendo Power since Super NES games were available on them).

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[David Rolfe]

Thanks for the reasoned reply.

I use an older iBook for travel. It's one of the last ones with a built-in modem, which I occasionally find useful for faxing and enjoying the modem pool from rural areas :). Been a year or two I think, but it's handy when you need it. So, I can see your point about wanting some legacy ports.

I'm pretty close to an upgrade, and the one thing that impressed me in this new 'airbook' is the huge trackpad for the multi-touch gestures. I'm confident that feature will be included in the 'full-sized' Macbooks pretty soon. I'd imagine sometime this year even. When those come out, I'm upgrading.

I can't wait until we're all using multi-touch on our coffee tables, microwaves, and everything.

Cheers.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Penguin's Advocate]

Just FYI, the MacBook is 1.08 inches thick, and the MacBook Pro is 1.00 inches thick. So unless you've got some other version of the MacBook that is unavailable to consumers or you've run it over with something and it is no longer functional, your current MacBook is not less than an inch thick already. That said, I'd still stick with my MacBook Pro over this, though I wouldn't mind a solid state drive. (Unfortunately my 200GB is constantly filling up).

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[blitzkrieg3]

Clearly you've never lugged a 6 pound laptop all over the city or a college campus. Your back would definitely thank you for halving that weight.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ucblockhead]

Breaking news: replacement batteries are $129 with free install.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[NeMon'ess]

So I guess you had to sleep or something to pass the time.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Altus]

from the picture I have seen the battery takes up a huge chunk of the machine itself. It looked like it stretched from one side to the other and filled more than half of the case front to back. It may be that making it removable would pose some challenges... for instance the battery itself may be providing much of the structure for the laptop.

perhaps they could have made it removable but it would have cost more, or made the laptop bigger. Engineering is all about tradeoffs.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[rho]

Whoever they are, they don't post much to slashdot.

That's not true. With every Macworld Expo there's always some wit who weeps over the demise of the Mac sub-notebook. Now we've got one, the other folks--sub-notebook haters--come out.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Hatta]

What does a replaceable battery have to do with weight?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[DrXym]

Most wristwatches don't have a 1.6 GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, an HD screen with backlight, and wifi.

I was making that comparison to the first remark concerning the iPod Nano. But certainly there is zero excuse for sealing the battery into the laptop either. Adding a hatch for a battery would not make any significant space demands on the laptop or on its design. Phones manage to be thinner than this thing and still allow access to the battery. At worst the battery could be accessible via a screwplate on the underside. Or if Apple were half the designers people imagine they were, they could do something clever such as hide it under the keyboard or make it click into place from the side. They just chose the most lucrative way of doing it, knowing full well that the poor saps who buy this laptop will be captives when their battery dies out on them and they need it replaced or end up buying a whole new machine again.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

As of January 15, 2008, $50 (CDN) is $49.06 USD. zing

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[PFAK]

Or, you know. They could buy an IBM ThinkPad X61 which is actually cheaper.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[_the_bascule]

...the other toys Apple gives me (ZFS, Unix, Stuff that just works(tm)).

Apple gave you neither of ZFS or UNIX, they aren't apple technology by a long stretch, just stuff apple have used in their products

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Javit]

You should look up replacing the hard disk on a 12" iBook G4, it's an hour long job your first time. Here's a great walkthrough: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/iBook-G4-12-Inch/Hard-Drive-Replacement/83/14/.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ivan256]

"Us slags" don't buy trendy micro-notebooks that aren't appropriate for their needs. It's pretty clear that there is a market for this type of device, even if you aren't in it.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Manuscript Replica]

What happens is you pay them $129 and they install a new one. http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/15/macbook-air-battery-replacements-129-free-install/

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Britz]

I don't fly frequently, but when I do I always check out what connectors they have available. I have never seen anything that could possibly by a power connector. Maybe first class, since I don't fly that way.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[tyrione]

Halo effects work in the short-run. The cost of production on this, if it doesn't grow Apple's bottom line, will be written off in a year.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[MattBurke]

But beyond looking sleek, I'm not sure I get the point. I mean, are you actually SUPPOSED to be storing these in packing envelopes?

What would Mr Opportunist Thief rather target - a bulky Targus bag that some guy in a suit puts down while he does something, or a jiffy bag someone has tucked under their arm?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[robin]

OK, no optical drive, but the Thinkpad s30 was pretty close, and that was in 2000 or 2001. If it just had the capability to take more memory I'd still be using it every day.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Thumper_SVX]

Truly, one who does not fly coach often ;)

Seriously... this is aimed at the person who spends much of his working life in a coach or "coach plus" seat with a laptop on a tray table. This would be a bit of a cramp... the size of the screen means that it'll be tough to get it to sit nice on a tray table... but I have sometimes been quite able to get some work done sitting in a coach seat with my Macbook Pro (15"), although it usually involves some machinations with putting my seat back to at least the same angle as the guy in front of me :)

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

I imagine there'll be some kind of (Third Party) external battery that you can use

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[T-Bone-T]

Is too thin for the extra space an ethernet port to fit good enough?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

This argument is often trotted out for the iPod, etc. It's specious. First, it's not expensive to install a new one -- it's free as part of your AppleCare.

Except notebook batteries are exempt from Applecare coverage, unless they're obviously defective within a short window from the date of purchase. Applecare doesn't pay to replace a battery that's worn down to half or a third of it's life after 13 months. I doubt they'll change this for the "Air."

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Ben174]

They could always create an external 'power block' which plugs into the power port.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[smcdow]

M3? Please. Four wheels is two too many.

If you're looking for a REAL BMW, look no further.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[sacrilicious]

If this perspective does not make sense to you - simply write yourself out of the target audience and get on with that which is important to you.

You appear to believe that the advice "buy it if you like it, don't buy it if you don't" is all the perspective anyone could want to have. But I take the GP's question to be taking a higher-level view of market-related questions: will enough people buy this machine to make Apple's production of it worthwhile (whether in outright profit or as an image product contributing to a halo effect)? If so, what motivations will these people have to make the purchase? You seem to propose that a large enough group of people will buy this for functional reasons, based on it (a) being smaller and (b) having a long battery life. But the GP points out, quantitatively, that the size savings from (a) don't really enable new usage or new categories of ease, and (b) comes at the cost of disallowing battery swapping. I think the GP has a good case that the "shiny executive toy" view applies.

To me, there's nothing wrong with buying something because it's cute or shiny or symbolizes status. But I wouldn't pretend that the difference in functionality is at all substantial.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[MattBurke]

Are you really under the impression this laptop is aimed towards the geek home use niche? There are two obvious target audiences for this device:

1) People who want the flashiest toys. People who queued up for the iphone. People who won't care about the non user-replaceable battery and will happily pay a couple of hundred for a replacement battery at an apple shop in a couple of years, unless Apple have brought out something shinier by then

2) (The biggest market by far) Companies. Every second middle manager and above in the corporate world will have one of these on order by the end of the week. It'll look good next to their iphone/blackberry. When the shine wears off it'll be replaced and handed down to the IT department for internal 'recycling' or disposal. 2 years would be a long time for an exec to keep a laptop.

The only thing that *might* hamper its adoption (or more realistically force IT departments to upgrade infrastructure) is the lack of an ethernet port.

It's not about form over function or even the product itself, it's about flashiness. That's what Apple sells (as well as a pretty nice OS on generally mediocre hardware). Saying an Apple product will flop because it's not as practical as other products is analogous to saying nobody would want to pay silly money for an original DaVinci painting.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[PianoMan8]

Ave you ever disassembled an Apple laptop. It's pretty easy, My ibook here begs to differ.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[nine-times]

Weight is a big one, IMO. You'd think 5-6 pounds is light enough, until you have that 5-6 pounds strapped to your back while you run around from place to place, pretty much every day.

For those of us who carry around a laptop pretty much everywhere, shaving a pound or two off the weight sounds great.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Jeremi]

Computers are not status symbols.

Computers in general, perhaps not. Apple computers (and particularly their laptops), OTOH, most certainly are. They are functional also, but one of their selling points is definitely that they look sexy.

Apple products are not in the same category as gold teeth and spinning rims.

Nope, they're more in the category of BMWs, designer purses, and high-end basketball shoes.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

There's a lot to be said about being able to understand another person's perspective and requirements. On a geek site, an engineering achievement such as an incredibly small laptop that (for instance) required Intel to produce a new, smaller chip design is worthy of respect rather than puerile comments about shiny toys. Reducing height by 25% and weight by 40% is a tough design goal. But if you can't understand the user, or appreciate the engineering - just get on with other things.

I can't understand why it lacks simple connectors like an Ethernet port or more than one USB port.

Perhaps Apple should stop telling us what we "don't need" and provide something that we doneed.

As for the "new, smaller chip design", no, it's not new - but Apple wants you to think it is. It's the same LV Core 2 that's been sold for over a year, using the same soldered-to-board BGA design. Smaller PC notebooks (like the ultraportable Sony and Toshiba models) use the same CPU, or, in some cases, the even-lower-power ULV variant.

The OQO is "incredibly small". The MacBook Air is not. Similarly sized and sometimes lighter PC notebooks have been on the market for years. Go look at the Toshiba Portege series from 10 years ago, or the PictureBook. Even my 5-year-old Compaq Armada M300 was similar in size, and I got it for $300 on eBay. It had a removable battery, integrated Ethernet, and 2 USB ports too. And a PC Card slot.

When you drop the optical drive and use a smaller (1.8") HDD, it's easy to make a small notebook.

It's not about us "understanding your perspective". It's about us calling bullshit on the Apple hype. The MacBook Air has some serious problems. One USB port in this day and age is simply absurd. No WWAN on an ultraportable notebook is absurd. A non-removable battery is absurd. These are not features, and they aren't necessary to build a small notebook. They are design decisions Apple made because they thought they knew better than their users. The sad part is, their fanboys will buy it hook, line and sinker.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[mr_matticus]

Battery service: $129. Problem solved.

If you're cheap, wait for the ~$75 batteries to surface on the Internet and do it yourself. It's not that hard if you're not afraid to open up your devices.

iPod batteries are $30. Installation takes 5 minutes. It's a tired argument...right up there with the one button mouse crap.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Too bad you have to shell out extra for a business class or better seat to use the adapter.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, I've never known anyone that lived in 500,000 houses. Or did you mean $500,000 houses?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Wakko Warner]

This argument is often trotted out for the iPod, etc. It's specious. First, it's not expensive to install a new one -- it's free as part of your AppleCare.

AppleCare for the iPod costs $59.

A new iPod battery costs $59.

So, tell me what happens when I spend $59 for the 2-year extended AppleCare warranty and my iPod battery dies in 2 years and 1 day? After the part where I buy a new, non-Apple-branded music player.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[BrianRoach]

And with the M3 reference, it's like he wants to identify with the wealthy, but wants to sneer at every other yuppie with the same purchasing power.

You're kinda missing the point a little here. The M3 is a world class sportscar, and he wants to not only own one, but take it to where it should be used ... the racetrack. He offers that they are able to produce the M3 because many other people buy BMW (non-M) cars for no other reason than for "status". They would be equally served in regard to utility and quality buy purchasing, say, a Toyota Camry for example.

- Roach

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[MyDixieWrecked]

I was at the keynote (albeit, in a separate room, watching it on a stupid big screen... and I waited in line for 5 hours... but that's a rant for another forum), and I can really see a reason to get this machine. It's got a pretty wide audience.

Having a 15" macbookpro, this thing is heavy. It's not Dell heavy, but it's still a bit heavy. It can be a pain to lug around and I generally don't take it with me unless I know I'll be able to use it. Having a lighter machine would be very nice, but I still feel that my MacbookPro is too big.

I ordered an eeePC right before xmas (which still hasn't shipped) because I want to have a machine that I can take everywhere I go, even if I don't necessarily need it. The thing is tiny, light, sturdy and cheap. For $500, I'm not kill myself if I misplace it or it gets broken and it shouldn't be too much of a pain to carry around with me.

I was really hoping that apple's rumored subnotebook would actually be tinier... they really need something to fill the gap that the 12" powerbook left behind (not that it was really that hot of a machine). I would have been psyched for something with similar specs (maybe the option for a slower cpu), but with a smaller screen and perhaps more battery life, especially if they could have gotten the cost below $1000... maybe $1200 with a smaller solid-state drive. 32GB should be more than enough. hell, 20GB would be fine for such a thing; I've got my 80GB ipod that I can use for storing any media.

For those that love to lug around their laptop to watch movies on, why not just rip/encode your DVDs and put them on the drive, or chuck them onto your ipod?

I can see the Air being a pretty popular product, although it is pricey; but then so are most other lightweight notebooks.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Jesus_666]

Where exactly will the external battery go? On the USB port, the mini-DVI port or the sound jack? MagSafe is not neccessarily desirable for an external battery if you're really low on juice and the battery suddenly coming off would be bad.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Jesus_666]

Compare a AA to an iPod... there's no way you're going to get it into that form factor.

Some Chinese manufacturers had an idea on how to solve the "regular batteries are too large for small players" problem with commodity parts: They just use cellphone batteries (mostly Nokia, as it seems). The form factor is just right and the capacity is tolerable. The downside is that the players get delivered with cheap Chinese clone batteries which tend to do all kinds of bad things like swelling up.

Actually, that's more or less the same kind of battery found in the iPod. The big difference is that the Chinese players can be opened and the battery exchanged.

I don't know why Apple doesn't allow that. Maybe so that people don't buy cheap third-party batteries that set their iPods on fire and then sue Apple for making an unsafe product. Maybe because the iPod looks sleeker if there aren't any sliders or flaps you can open. Maybe because it's cheaper.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Jesus. Cry me a river. You don't have twenty bucks and something sharp?

This macbook air is probably going to be just like opening up a macbook, move two clips to flip away keyboard. Use a jeweler's phillips driver to open up the top plate, and assuming the battery doesn't have soldered leads you'll pluck off some wires, unscrew or unlatch the battery. replace. close up.

For being geeks you bitches sure are afraid of opening cases.

But directly to your point -- yes, you can buy the 2 additional years of applecare for any mac during its first ("free") year of coverage. Of course even that first year's not really free, so don't bother arguing about it, you're paying for that customer-service/phone-support and repair/replacement plan whether you want to or not. Wow it's such a shock businesses include part failure in their pricing!!

Free phone support, free shipping, free repairs. $249 for three years (or "extra 2", however you want to split that hair). It's a good value.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Falstius]

The depth and width are the same and it is only half an inch taller and less than a pound heavier. That that makes it roughly 80% thicker and 33% heavier. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the air book is worth the money, but I'm wouldn't argue with the price.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[nanoakron]

I know, I know, it comes with the subnotebook territory - but who are these "subnotebooks" targeted at, anyway?


The Japanese.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

"standard external battery"

duh, they've customised everything else, why not a battery?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

They are design decisions Apple made because they thought they knew better than their users. The sad part is, their fanboys will buy it hook, line and sinker. So Apple did know better.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Ooh 500K, That's what, a Murphy bed studio in Manhattan :) ?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[CastrTroy]

From what I know from disassembling my iPod Shuffle, they put very little casing around their internal batteries. It's basically a battery, soldered right onto the circuit board. When you start adding removable batteries, there has to be a plastic casing, probably about 2-3 mm thick, for the battery to sit in, plus another plastic casing 2-3 mm thick around the battery. That's going to add around 5 mm of thickness to your device. That may not sound like a lot, but when you are building a device that's only 6.5 mm thick (in the case of the nano), that's quite a bit of extra material. Same goes for this laptop. it's only 19 mm thick. Adding 5 mm just for the sake of a removable battery would be a big problem.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Third party companies sell external batteries for laptops too.
e.g. http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=358

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple has announced that they will replace the internal battery for $129, which is the cost of a new MacBook battery. That seems like a good solution (although you will probably have to give up your laptop for a day or two). The real problem, as noted in a previous comment, is that you can't swap out the battery on a long trip. I go through at least two batteries on my MacBook Pro when I fly coast to coast. Perhaps a third party will create a battery-powered device that emulates the output of the power brick, so you can plug into that when your battery runs out of juice.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[pennyloafer]

It's that simple. If this perspective does not make sense to you - simply write yourself out of the target audience and get on with that which is important to you. ...

Many users do not need a removable battery, optical drive or additional connectors. It's that simple. If you do, simply write yourself out of the target audience and get on with that which is important to you. ...

[Apple]... required Intel to produce a new, smaller chip design is worthy of respect rather than puerile comments ...

But if you can't understand the user, or appreciate the engineering - just get on with other things.

Synopsis: Tut, tut. Go on. Yup, nothing to see here [you slack jawed animals]

Holy shit. America has changed quite a bit in the past 20 years. Heh. More wimmen for me!

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[thedbp]

Well, first of all, the 2-year plan covers MORE than the battery. Screen, touchwheel, etc.

Second, do you really think they'd deny you a replacement 1 day out of warranty? That's really low expectations and I think you'd be surprised if you went about it in a reasonable manner and didn't go in expecting a fight in the first place.

Man, you haters are so bitter and jaded. It makes me sad.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[thedbp]

It also lacks bluetooth, has a 50% smaller HD, 50% less VRAM on an inferior card, 10% smaller display, 25% slower processor, 50% less RAM. Ooh. Its got a removable battery and optical drive. Bestill my heart.

How is that even a comparison, really?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[djfake]

"it's free as part of your AppleCare." This is an oxymoron - AppleCare isn't free.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[dangitman]

The non-replaceable battery kills it for a lot of business people.

Why? What about it having an internal battery makes it unacceptable for business people? Does Excel refuse to run if the battery is not swappable or something?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[dangitman]

The business people I know who travel a lot (and could justify the cost of this sub notebook) need to be able to carry a spare battery.

So - they buy an external battery. For fuck's sake, this is supposed to be a site for "nerds" and so many people can't even use their brain for long enough to think of alternate sources of power? I mean, you can get external batteries for laptops, iPods, anything that is USB powered, etc. I find it truly astounding that so many people remain oblivious to this fact.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ContractualObligatio]

I can't understand why it lacks simple connectors like an Ethernet port or more than one USB port.

Well, I've only had a MacBook for four months, which isn't a huge amount of time to go on, but I've not used the Ethernet port once so I'm guessing because it's not necessary. And in eight years of doing the whole road warrior thing with PC laptops - ditto on two USB ports. I know many of my colleagues would disagree because of a need for USB mouse + memory stick. But presumably there's enough people like me out there for whom the design does provide something we need.

As for the "new, smaller chip design", no, it's not new - but Apple wants you to think it is.

I'm pretty sure the 22mm package is new, but I'm happy to be corrected if you can provide a reference.

The OQO is "incredibly small". The MacBook Air is not. Similarly sized and sometimes lighter PC notebooks have been on the market for years

Oh, come on. Yes, the OQO is smaller but it's a handheld. Yes, similarly sized PC notebooks have been on the market for years and guess what - I think they're incredibly small too! And dearly wish I got something like that from my work. However, from an engineering perspective I can also recognise the effort and achievement in the shape of the MacBook Air, because the tapered shape means less space to work in. Engineering at the margins is usually tough. The M300 damn sure wasn't $300 when it came out - it was $1000 more expensive.

When you drop the optical drive and use a smaller (1.8") HDD, it's easy to make a small notebook.

It's even easier to bullshit online, and the lack of comparable alternatives available suggests you're full of it.

It's not about us "understanding your perspective"

Actually, it is. When intelligent, experienced, successful IT people say "I like the look of that product, it's what I need for mobile computing" and you can't understand it - that is a problem with you. And if you can't understand, just walk away.

The sad part is, their fanboys will buy it hook, line and sinker.

Yeah, gee, I'm such a sucker. Spending a few weeks wages on something that I know fits my requirements based on years of experience. How ever do I manage to get through life? My last expensive purchase was an American Deluxe Series Ash Telecaster. Pretty basic, no fancy paint job, simple wiring, no humbuckers, no auto-tuning, no whammy bar, no B-Bender, no onboard processing, no mother of pearl scratch plate, no trim, no access to the 24th fret, etc etc. But hey, I've got other guitars. This one looks great, feels great, and provides all the functionality I need from a guitar when I want to just pick up and play. I know my tools, I know their limitations, and I'm willing to part with cash for designs I like. Just because Springsteen's guitar lacks the functionality of Steve Vai's doesn't mean Bruce doesn't get good artistic and/or commercial results out of it. I can live with a single tone control. If that kind of thinking makes me a fanboy, so be it. Having experienced the joy of going from opening my notebook lid to recording riffs within seconds, I'm currently believing Apple have an overall better understanding of what I want from a computer than any other vendor.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Ilgaz]

You're comparing the battery life and size of a smartphone and that of a laptop.

I don't really think it's a great idea to make the battery integrated on the Air, but that's not even a straw man, it's more like a stick figure. It is not a smart phone, it is a Linux running full feature computer which you can install anything or compile your own. It is a hit on general public shopping sites like Amazon, not "think geek".

For Nokia: If it runs Linux, it is handheld computer. If it runs Symbian: It is smartphone or a business laptop/smartphone creature like 9000 (now E90) series.

Apple wasted a great idea for stupid business reasons as usual lately. People supposed to work in professional IT media or being fan of them adds more to these stupid decisions. Stop apologizing for them. If a company does put a non user replaceable part which is guaranteed to fail in matter of a year, they are greedy. It doesn't make any change if it is Adobe, Apple, HP, Microsoft.

Even Nokia, the indisputable king on mobile couldn't dare to ship any product without user changeable battery.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Not this one, it's sealed up more like an iPod than a MacBook. Of course, someone will reply "but it's easy to take an iPod apart!" It's not easy for people like my father, however, and he's the sort of person that would quite like one of these little computers.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[srussia]

Where exactly will the external battery go? On the USB port, the mini-DVI port or the sound jack? MagSafe is not neccessarily desirable for an external battery if you're really low on juice and the battery suddenly coming off would be bad. External batt to MagSafe. Just use the external first so if comes off, you still have the internal.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[SpinyManiac]

Maybe you've never considered this, but calling someone a hater makes you look like a zealot. Maybe you are one, maybe not, but you certainly look like one now.

I'm not the sort to rummage through your recent posts to find out. Making enemies is a fool's game. ;)

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Jesus_666]

I know some people who ride their batteries right down to zero percent nd only then switch to external power. Okay, they deserve what they get (namely a very short battery lifespan) anyway.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[poot_rootbeer]

Are they serious? No way to swap out a battery halfway through a 10 hour flight? No way to take it out at security check points (or if it catches fire)?

iPods also have an integrated battery pack. Have any of the things you mentioned ever been an issue with iPods?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes I have disassembled an Apple laptop, to replace the superdrive(TM). It was a 12-inch G3 powerbook (the aluminum one). It was a bitch to disassemble. About 100 screws of various types (about 20 different types, if memory serves), along with lots of small, fiddly bits (such as a small, curved bit of aluminum bracing which needed 2 screws on its own).

Btw. if you ever need to replace the superdrive(TM) in one of those, get the correct model disassembly manual... I ended up with about 10 screws left over. Ho-hum. As long as it still worked.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Armchair Dissident]

You mean, of course, "I personally could not justify it". That just means that it's not the trade-off you're prepared to make, it does not mean that there is no good justification for it.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you tried disassembling the new MacBook Pros? I had to remove something like 37 screws of four different types and try not to break four clips just to gain access to the hard drive I wanted up upgrade. It was significantly harder than my PowerBook G4.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

why should i pay top dollar for the small size only to encumber it with an external power supply monster?

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[The One and Only]

Probably--it's even too small for a mini-DVI port to work, so they had to use (invent) a micro-DVI port. Apple does have some interesting patents on collapsable ethernet ports but didn't implement it this time.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[The One and Only]

But a lot of people use the same PC's for 5 years or more - all their stuff is on them, a lot of that stuff is hard to move, and anyway they still usually work fine after that time.

Macs have a feature that basically lets you connect one Mac to another (even wirelessly, at least in the case of the MacBook Air) and transfer all your stuff over automatically. And a MacBook Air will work fine in five years, although you'll either have to pay for battery replacement (costs the same as getting an extra battery) or keep it hooked up to power all the time like any other old notebook.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[EastCoastSurfer]

It's a 14 hour flight there and 12 back so even with sleeping (which is hard to do in coach), you still end up with a lot of time to pass.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[ilsie]

I would like it to be a $40 replacement part, not something that I need a screwdriver for, or (even worse) mail my machine back to Apple.

OEM Macbook replacement batteries cost $200.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Anonymous Coward]

Some kid already set his ipod on fire in Australia by piercing the ipod battery with a screwdriver. I think that the story was even on /.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[toddestan]

If you have to carry a purse full of accessories, then what's the point of getting an ultrathin laptop? Might as well get the regular laptop with everything you need built in.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[russellh]

well the 12inch powerbook, 2400c and duo fans can finally upgrade.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[Qubit]

[H]ave you ever disassembled an Apple laptop. It's pretty easy...

Easy? Umm... no. Have you ever tried to get a hard drive out of an Apple laptop?

When a Thinkpad at work gave up the ghost a month or two ago, I just flipped it over, removed one screw, and pulled out the hard drive. 3 screws later the hard drive was free of the drive sled, and then all I had to do was plug in my external drive cable and let USB mount it as an external device on my Ubuntu laptop.

When a friend's iBook gave up the ghost a couple of years ago, I had to jimmy plastic case pieces, remove dozens of screws, remove the keyboard, unhook the wireless card (and, I believe, eventually remove the whole thing), and basically tear the thing down to the bare chassis + motherboard in order to get at the hard drive. It was, to put it in the best light possible, a formidable technical exercise.

I've had to open up a couple of other Apple laptops before -- heck, my g/f's laptop recently had the harddrive die -- and in all cases I really didn't want to go through the hassle of opening them up.

Now I'm not saying that it's only Apple's laptops that have this problem -- I'm going to guess that most laptops are probably a pain to take apart -- but I it seems like many manufacturers try to make it as easy as possible to let the user get at certain parts such as the battery, RAM, hdd, wireless card, etc... For whatever reason (warranty? aesthetics?) Apple doesn't give the user easy access.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[MrNiCeGUi]

I'll give you the display is slightly smaller and the video card is slightly worse , but the bluetooth is only a few dollars extra, the processor is a ULV so it's easier on the battery, plus the speed difference may not matter as much to some people, and RAM and HD are easy to replace. For 1900 I was able to configure a 1,2GHz Core 2 Duo, external DVD-RW, 1GB RAM, 80GB HD, 2 9-cell batteries (good for about 5+5 hours, a 6+9 cell would give 3+5 hours), a slim 65W Auto/Air/AC Adapter, Intel 4965 802.11a/g/n, wired Ethernet + modem, Bluetooth + Bluetooth Travel Mouse, 4USB ports, XP SP2 + media, all in a durable magnesium chassis that will take on occasional roughing in stride.
For another 100$ you could get a MediaBase that clips on the bottom, that can also serve as a dock for the office in order to connect an external display + peripherals without messing around with cables. It even has an old serial port on it, if I'm not mistaken, and I believe it also has a PCMCIA slot.
So, for about the same price as the Air you could get an external DVD-RW single or in a dock with extra outputs, 3 extra USB ports, 1 extra long-life battery, a bluetooth mouse, an universal travel adapter, magnesium chassis. But I'll admit that the Air is cooler looking, at least, if not as powerful or practical.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[David Rolfe]

"it's free as part of your AppleCare."

This is an oxymoron - AppleCare isn't free. I addressed this witticism 10 hours before you posted here: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=419084&cid=22057412 to the first person that skillfully misrepresented my point by saying "applecare isn't free". If you don't know anything about the process, the first year of AppleCare is "free". Its duration can be extended at any point during the first year by, gasp, buying more coverage.

Also since that time it's turned out I was right, out of warranty battery replacement is $129 with "free" shipping. (but, omg it's not really free because the cost of doing business is built into the cost of product lines or no company would be profitable omg!!)

Thanks for taking the time, and welcome to Slashdot. Cheers.

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[djfake]

Actually, that really isn't my point. Given that I work for a large university and manage hundreds of Apple computers where we expect a three year service-free life to new hardware, I've learned one thing over the years: Applecare should always be purchased for Apple computers because service will be required. And that's not an "if service is required", but a "when service is required". Come visit me, I have all the paper work to support this. Conversely, the majority of PCs I purchase all come with 3 year standard warranties. Thus, Applecare is indeed an oxymoron: it's the hidden cost of Apple products - repair. So add it to the price of every Apple computer, and don't ever kid yourself that Apple gives ANYTHING away for free. charles (my apologies for having such a high /. number - could someone please change that?)

Re:"Integrated Battery"

[hritcu]

There's a $50 (CDN) adaptor for airline power. If you're on a flight, just plug in. And it's cheaper than an extra battery.

And where are you going to plug that adapter in? In economy class you don't get any power sockets.

Looks good, but...

[Atti K.]

They could have also dropped the price of the regular macbook...

They DO make nice products...

[Predathar]

But not for me. I don't like their prices, some items lack features (Apple TV needs Xvid/DivX support) and they are too lawyer happy for me.

But I have to admit, they make very nice products (Macbooks, ipod touch, their 30 inch screen)

Re:They DO make nice products...

[MoneyT]

The prices do seem to be roughly in line with similar computers. The comparison made at the keynote was to the Sony TZ series.

Re:They DO make nice products...

[Anonymous Coward]

(Apple TV needs Xvid/DivX support) Why? Xvid/DivX doesn't even come close to h264/x264. I can encode to x264 at 1024 and it looks better than Xvid at 2048 (both two pass). Clearer, no blockiness, etc.

Re:They DO make nice products...

[Applekid]

(Apple TV needs Xvid/DivX support) Might want to check out the upcoming Archos TV+. It's basically an Apple TV plus ethernet, classic composite output, composite + component inputs, Xvid/DivX support, web-on-TV, remote with a QWERTY keypad.

Re:They DO make nice products...

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh yes, it sure is nice to have all my existing video reencoded into x264 just by wishing it was. Oh, and that extra detail already lost (that I have been living with and been fine with) should just magically reappear, right?

New feture? iSmug. Lacking feature? iApologist.

Re:They DO make nice products...

[David Rolfe]

Oh yes, it sure is nice to have all my existing video reencoded into x264 just by wishing it was. Oh, and that extra detail already lost (that I have been living with and been fine with) should just magically reappear, right? If only you hadn't pirated all that shit in Xvid, it wouldn't be a problem. If only you weren't "backing up" your rented and borrowed DVDs in Divx and 3ivx and whatever else, lol, it wouldn't be a problem. You could solve the whole issue just by getting out your spindle of originals re-ripping them -- time well spent -- because they'd take up less space and/or look better in h264.

No, the real issue you have with AppleTV's "lack of support" for Xvid is that you don't have originals/masters for your library: it doesn't support your vast library of torrented movies and pron.

To mock the Betamax decision, the Apple TV isn't popular with your set because the technology isn't capable of substantial infringing uses.

Re:They DO make nice products...

[Anonymous Coward]

To be fair, the AppleTV has an ethernet port. In fact, that's a wonderful way to do the first sync if you don't have 802.11n.

Movie Rentals?

[0100010001010011]

I thought this was a pretty big part of todays Keynote:

Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, Newline, FOX, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony all on board.
Library titles: $2.99,
New Releases: $3.99,
HD rentals are $4.99.

Rules: 30 days to start watching. 24 hours to finish
Watch anywhere (Macs, PCs, all current iPods and iPhone

Thanks MacRumors.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[Lumpmoose]

Nifty, but one part that bugged me was his earlier line (c/o Engadget):

"I'd like to say all of us have tried. We have, MSFT, Amazon, TiVo, VuDu, Netflix, Blockbuster -- we've all tried to figure out how to get movies over the net onto the TV. We've ALL missed. No one's succeeded yet."

He mentions Microsoft as one of the failures, but Apple's new service is almost identical to the Xbox Live Marketplace, which has been working great for over a year. Similar studio support, HD, 5.1... the only Apple advantages are DRM'd portability and 30 days before expiration instead of 14.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[DrXym]

Apple will just be one of many providers of rental content. I don't see anything compelling in what they're offering and most likely other providers will offer rentals at exactly the same price.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[truthsearch]

When he says "succeeded" he means popular and profitable. Available != Succeeded. How popular and profitable are XBox Live Marketplace movie rentals? This is the first time I've heard of them, if that's any indication.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[Rude Turnip]

The portability is important to me. The Apple TV will sync back to my desktop. Anything I download from Xbox Live has to be deleted over time to make space for new programs (I have the 20 gig HD). If Apple TV had a DVD drive (which won't happen ever), it would make my Xbox 360 obsolete, except for gaming.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[Lumpmoose]

I don't know how popular it is, though it is displayed prominently on the start-up screen of the Xbox 360--which is very popular.

Even so, I don't want to give the impression I'm a Microsoft fanboy. I haven't actually purchased an Xbox Live movie in months. They call it HD, but the movies are only 720p and 5-6GB a piece. I'd be very surprised if Apple's downloads are any better. Sure, the quality's great, but it's not to the level of the 1080p/lossless audio content on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. "HD" can mean many things...

Re:Movie Rentals?

[edwardpickman]

I might actually use the service if the pricing was $3 for new releases, $2 for older films and personally I'd love to see classic or more obscure films available for $1 rental, that one I'd use heavily. $4 is Blockbuster with a 24 hour limit, what's the point? I save them a bundle on distribution just to pay brick and mortar prices? Now the HD has me more interested. I've got a wide screen Mac so if I can watch HD movies on it for $5 I'll do that. I'll happily pay $10 if they start making them available on opening day of the theatrical release then drop them back to $5 after it's theater run. I'll pay for quality but I'm not paying $4 for heavily compressed video that I have 24 hours to watch once I start it.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[BadHaggis]

You forgot to mention that the Turner announced that their Blu-Ray discs will have free iPod versions of the movies on the disc. Not perfect but a nice multi-use feature.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[The_Angry_Canadian]

But not for us Canadians... Can I cry now ?

Re:Movie Rentals?

[STrinity]

Wow, Apple's invented OnDemand!

Re:Movie Rentals?

[HogGeek]

It's is pretty cool, but it's too damn expensive!

I can rent from McD's for $.99, or get a netflix account and it works out to about $1.30 per. While is more "convenient", it's not $2.00+ convenient.

And what the hell is with $20 for 5 apps for a touch? They should have been there in tghe first place, The price for a new one didn't go up.

I'll have to "break" mine in about a week and get them for free...

Re:Movie Rentals?

[Anonymous Coward]

Available != Succeeded. How popular and profitable are XBox Live Marketplace movie rentals? This is the first time I've heard of them, if that's any indication. Everybody that has even considered owning an Xbox has probably heard of Xbox Live Marketplace movie rentals. How popular is Apple TV? Steve admitted Apple TV sales were slow in his keynote today. HD movies will look pretty lame on most computer screens and all portable media players. How long will it be until Apple TV sales come close to Xbox 360 sales?

Re:Movie Rentals?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm going to make a 25 hour movie. Just to spite this.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not quite watch anywhere. Any movie purchased from the Apple TV will ONLY play on the Apple TV (non-transferable). Plus, you can only rent HD movies from the Apple TV.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[MojoStan]

The portability is important to me. The Apple TV will sync back to my desktop. Anything I download from Xbox Live has to be deleted over time to make space for new programs (I have the 20 gig HD). The portability is nice, but I bet the iTunes HD titles won't sync back to your desktop. If you haven't heard, the iTunes HD titles are for Apple TV only. It's hard to believe they'll sync back to your computer if they cannot play on your computer.

I think the Apple TV updates are nice, though. I'd like to see an "update software/firmware war" between Apple TV, Xbox 360, PS3, the Netflix/LG set top box, and whatever Amazon Unbox comes up with (in addition to Unbox on TiVo).

Re:Movie Rentals?

[stratjakt]

So, it's basically XBox video marketplace, without the XBox.

Didn't they release AppleTV last year, and nobody cared? Are they trying to slip it past as a "new" invention?

Re:Movie Rentals?

[jaaron]

Even more interesting was the bit about DVDs coming with iTunes compatible versions on-disc. Think about it -- you no longer have to rip your DVD movie. You can directly copy it off of your DVD. That's a great idea.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[vaporland]

I like thepiratebay.org better: free popular movies download in less than two hours, sometimes less than 45 minutes, and can be played repeatedly, indefinitely...

Re:Movie Rentals?

[Anonymous Coward]

WAY overpriced.

There will always be idiots who pay for this kind of stuff. But it's not a game changer. You can buy a full featured DVD for $6 next to the bubble gum. Hell, even Blockbuster costs that much and you can get it for 4-7 days, not 24 hours. If you want 24 hours, just go to Red Box at your local grocery. $1 for overnight.

So yeah. I think they'll change movies like the iTunes TV episodes changed television. Some mac-tards will waste a lot of money. Most everyone else will think it's cute and only use it when they get it free with some promotion.

Re:Movie Rentals?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why 24 hours to finish? If I rent a 2+ hour movie I want to watch half one night and the rest the next. This is the same problem with Xbox-360 rentals. I would much rather have a much shorter window like 7 days that allows me to watch as much as I want.

Solid state drive?

[AltGrendel]

Not sure I'd trust one of those just now. No one is really talking about MTBF and I've heard that eventually they turn into a Read Only device.

Re:Solid state drive?

[oahazmatt]

Not sure I'd trust one of those just now. No one is really talking about MTBF and I've heard that eventually they turn into a Read Only device. Don't worry, I'll bet they go Quantum Optical soon enough.

Re:Solid state drive?

[Albanach]

Not sure I'd trust one of those just now. No one is really talking about MTBF and I've heard that eventually they turn into a Read Only device.

I thought everyone was talking about SSD drives MTBF? 2 Million hours seems pretty good to me. 200+ Years really ought to be Enough For Anybody[tm].

Seriously, they have no moving parts - which do you think will fail first? The manufacturers have been working on the limited write capacity for years such that they believe it's no longer an issue. Modern flash memory can already silently correct for any parts that can no longer be written.

Now all we need is for production to ramp up and the cost to come down.

Re:Solid state drive?

[norminator]

Seriously, they have no moving parts - which do you think will fail first? The manufacturers have been working on the limited write capacity for years such that they believe it's no longer an issue. Modern flash memory can already silently correct for any parts that can no longer be written.
Not to mention that the big killer for flash memory is swap files. Your normal day-to-day operations aren't going to be doing so much disk writing that it's really going to be an issue for a long time. If you're swapping files to disk all the time, though, you might run into problems. I noticed they said that the Air comes with a minimum of 2GB of RAM, so that probably helps reduce the need for swapping.

I really thought it was funny back when all the flash-based mp3 players were coming out, and people would make comments about the limited number of write cycles... Even without wear-leveling, 100,000 write cycles is a lot for a music player. The pins on the dock connector would break before you reach that many rewrites.

And for general day-to-day computing, with wear-leveling and a healthy amount of RAM, I would think that Flash would be a pretty viable option.

Re:Solid state drive?

[xZgf6xHx2uhoAj9D]

Please stop spreading FUD. An out-of-date flash drive, being written to CONSTANTLY (under MUCH harder conditions than just swapping) should last for no less than 51 years. For modern flash drives, that number should be in the hundreds of years.

This is not to say that flash drives last forever, or even that they last 51 years. This is to say that, no matter what you're doing, there is nothing in this world perverse enough you could be doing which will make a modern flash drive level out. As mentioned in a parent post, the limiting factor in flash drives these days is NOT how many writes it can do. It's probably not too hard to abuse a flash drive to render it useless, but writes are NOT the limiting factor.

Re:Solid state drive?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought corrupted file systems were more of a worry than limited write capacity. Whether this worry is justified or not is another question, but there have been enough people burned by writing files to USB sticks which then mysteriously get corrupted, losing everything and requiring a reformat. That's why people don't want to trust them.

Re:Solid state drive?

[norminator]

wow... FUD? Troll? I was saying that I thought flash would be fine for a desktop machine, and that the number of write cycles probably wouldn't be a serious limitation... Apparently I underestimated just how suitable it is (although 51 years of continuous writing to disk sounds like a lot). Sensitive bunch we have here.

Hot Air

[Philotic]

While the Macbook Air does not come with an optical drive, it does come with a canister of compressed breath of Steve.

I'm underwhelmed

[myawn]

I just don't share Steve's obsession with thin.

I'm not willing to sacrifice processor speed, memory, disk drive space, and optical capability so that I can fit my laptop into an interoffice envelope.

I feel the same way about the iPhone -- with 16GB storage, it is in no way a replacement for my current iPod. But I suspect if he'd been willing to accept 1/16 of an inch increased thickness, we could be looking at 32GB or 64GB, and then you've got me as a customer.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Llywelyn]

If you are not willing to accept those tradeoffs then you are not the target market for the MacBook Air. Might I suggest a MacBook or a MacBook Pro?

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[oahazmatt]

I just don't share Steve's obsession with thin.

Thin? I'm just happy he appears to be over that whole "cube" fetish. I was worried we were two years away from an iBook the size of a milk crate.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Joe The Dragon]

thin laptops are also a lot easier to steal and at that size all you need is a envelope.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[myawn]

100% agree. If Steve had announced a MacBook Pro with Penryn, I'd be at the Apple store now rather than whining on Slashdot.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[paanta]

This is essentially perfect if what you want is to do light computing, and the compromises seem acceptable. So you rip your DVDs and don't load it down with media that've already gotten bored with. Big deal. It's not a desktop replacement like a macbook pro, but I'd carry something like this pretty much everywhere while the MBP mostly stays at home or goes with me when I travel/need to do a presentation. A mac this light would be very tempting if I had a little more disposable income. I walk 3 or 4 miles a day, every day, and so I'm not real keen on schlepping a big laptop with me to work and back...but something dumbed down like an Asus Eee doesn't quite cut it, although for 1/5 the price it's awfully tempting. I suspect many city-dwelling non-car commuters will feel the same, although maybe not so many that this is more than a niche product.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[ContractualObligatio]

Wow. The primary product feature is "thin", you don't care about thin, and you're not buying one. I wonder how long Apple are going to try to persuade other "I'm not even interested in that kind of notebook" customers to buy one?

I'm posting this because I've had a shitty day and and take pathetic pleasure in mindless sarcasm. What's your excuse?

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[timster]

I feel the same way about the iPhone -- with 16GB storage, it is in no way a replacement for my current iPod. But I suspect if he'd been willing to accept 1/16 of an inch increased thickness, we could be looking at 32GB or 64GB, and then you've got me as a customer.

No way. The iPhone (which is 8GB max) uses flash and has zero space left inside. If you're talking 32GB flash, you're adding hundreds of dollars to an already hefty price to get that much flash, and you'd still possibly need to slim down the battery to make more space for flash chips (the thing is seriously packed inside). And a 32GB hard drive like the one in the current iPods wouldn't fit in 1/16 of an inch.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[caseih]

The problem is that there is nothing in the MacBook Pro line for people like that poster, or me. I want something smaller than a 15", that's durable and made of aluminum. A 12" MacBook Pro would be ideal. I don't want the chicklet keyboard of the MacBook, and I don't want a white plastic computer.

If this MacBook Air had a replaceable battery, and an ethernet port, it would be close to what I need, even though the chicklet keyboard just doesn't work out well for me.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Mr. Underbridge]

If you are not willing to accept those tradeoffs then you are not the target market for the MacBook Air. Might I suggest a MacBook or a MacBook Pro?

I think the implicit question is, "who is the tarket market?" Does anyone care that much about thickness that they're willing to give up a removeable battery, hard drive space, an optical drive, and pay a ton more?

For me, getting the flash drive for, say $200 extra would be OK, but not $1000. Methinks this is an idea a year or two before its time. Maybe some crazy early adopters will go for it, but that's all I see.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[krog]

I've been waiting for a graphics bump in the MB before I replace my beloved iBook G4. Now comes the Air, with the same graphics chipset. This means that the MacBook, rather than having some Real guts, has the same anemic graphics capability as an ultramobile PC.

Alternately, Apple could have released a 12" or 13" version of the MacBook Pro, along the lines of the 12" Powerbook G4 which won so many hearts a few years ago. They skipped that too.

I'm sure there's a target market for the Air, but I'm not a part of it. Unfortunately, I am not currently in the target market for any of Apple's computers right now.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[garcia]

I'm just waiting for the DVI output along with bluetooth for KB and mouse so that I can carry around ALL my devices in one. I am someone who wants a high quality camera with GPS (for geotagging), music player, phone, and pocket computer that I can take with me wherever I am.

I enjoy my mobile device but I really don't care for hacks to distribute my settings across the multiple devices I use during the day and even throughout my home. Once it's all in one spot I'll be really happy.

Maybe next year's MacWorld?

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[rockmuelle]

Actually, I'd suggest a Sony Vaio or Toshiba Portege. Both lines have notebooks with similar form factors that didn't make as many tradeoffs.

-Chris

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[B3ryllium]

To borrow from PennyArcade: "It's not FOR you." *condescending glare*

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[BuR4N]

Its a Thinkpad x61(s) you want.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[kchrist]

Answer: Travelers. Or anyone who moves around a lot, whether they're traveling or working mobile around the city. Lightweight + small form factor = something you can fit into a backpack or any other bag you use, while not weighing you down. Now that I think about it, students fit this profile pretty well too.

I see this as being a complement to your regular computer, something to take with you when you need mobility. Shame about the price though, at $1800 I think I'd rather just lug my Powerbook. I don't travel nearly enough to justify the cost.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Aardpig]

Or, you could buy a laptop computer, such as an IBM T61p.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[ceoyoyo]

That's why Steve provides two other options for you that have lots of disk space, built in optical drives and (slightly) faster processors.

There are a lot of people who will love this thing. I'll stick with my MBP, but I can definitely see the attraction of the Air. It should be perfect for the Word/Excel/Powerpoint/e-mail/web crowd.

The widely suspected explanation for the iPhone not having a hard drive is that a hard drive sucks power that's needed by that giant screen. Plus I'm not sure you really want a hard drive in your phone... it would be running much of the time while it's getting carried around.

The Touch is a quite adequate replacement for my iPod, by the way, even when you throw in a few movies for the plane.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[daffmeister]

It's not Steve's obsession, it's the world's.

Thin is cool. Chunky is ugly. Phones are fashion items. You are not the target market, and actually, not representative of any significant market.

(don't worry, I'm with you, and I'm not representative of any significant market either).

Oh, and as others have pointed out, they have other models. That's the whole point of having different models. Different ones appeal to different people. This is not the one for you. Big deal.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[noidentity]

I'm just happy he appears to be over that whole "cube" fetish. I was worried we were two years away from an iBook the size of a milk crate.

That was the Mac Portable.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[mgblst]

Yes. I only have one battery for my laptop anyway, never had more than that. I like to travel light, especially when I am at work and travelling around town for meetings, and especially when I am travelling overseas. So yes, all the time. I have a attachable dvd drive at the moment, which I have used 3 times in the last year.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Mr. Underbridge]

Or anyone who moves around a lot, whether they're traveling or working mobile around the city. Lightweight + small form factor = something you can fit into a backpack or any other bag you use, while not weighing you down

Is a 12" laptop that huge that it weighs you down? Certainly we shall see, but I think it's dubious whether this thing will catch on.

Now that I think about it, students fit this profile pretty well too.

Except for the price tag part (for the demo'd version, about $3K). Unless we're talking about trust-fund babies, I can't see students affording this thing.

Shame about the price though, at $1800 I think I'd rather just lug my Powerbook.

Yup. And remember, $1800 is with the standard HDD and no optical drive.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Anonymous Coward]

You bring up a good point - the MacBook Pro version of this will rock. Is it too much to ask for an OLED screen?

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[serviscope_minor]

I just don't get your obsession with fast.

I'm not willing to sacrifice weight, size battery life and heat generation so that I can have a computer as fast as a moderate desktop.

You're making sacrifices, but you don't realise it because they're ones you're happy to make.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[riseoftheindividual]

That's a good point. The only thing keeping me from getting a Mac notebook at this point is no touchscreen/tabletpc type functionality. I'm typing this on my mac mini right now, so no one accuse me of being anti-mac, I love this OS, it's just after 2 years with my TC1100, it's very difficult to go back to the classic notebook form factor.

In fact, having got my desktop mac after I got the TC1100, I can tell you the only reason I'm not upgrading my tc1100 to a newer version of the tabletpc with better hardware specs is because I really don't want another PC at this point. I hope Apple is looking into that. The tablet format is addictive and it has nothing to do with handwriting recognition, I don't use that at all. It's just being able to carry a slate and tap the screen browsing the net in comfortable, natural positions, is something that can't be fully appreciated until experienced.

Please Apple, please. Give me my dream notebook... a MacOS tablet that can be used as a keyboardless slate like the TC1100.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[KiahZero]

Many schools are giving students an additional allotment of money for a laptop in their student budget. For instance, I was able to roll $2500 of my $2800 laptop into my student loans; when you're already going to be $150,000 in debt, another couple thousand doesn't really make a difference.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[jcoleman]

As a developer who's tried a number of keyboards, I can vouch for the "chiclet" keyboard being the best available keyboard on the market, bar none (the wired desktop version, that is).

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[brass1]

I think the implicit question is, "who is the tarket market?" Does anyone care that much about thickness that they're willing to give up a removeable battery, hard drive space, an optical drive, and pay a ton more? I do, though it's not a "ton more" by any stretch of the imagination. I carry a 15" MBP back just about everywhere I go in a 10lb backpack (5 for the machine, 2.5 for the pack itself, and another 2.5 in extra crap I carry around needlessly). I'd like to have some very small and light I can grab and take to a meeting, down stairs to the data center, or out in my back yard. I don't need an optical drive (hell, I use the optical drives in my systems that have then in an annual bases as it is), I've never removed the battery from any of the laptops I've owned over the years other than to get at the maintenance port Apple invariable puts under the battery, and I don't need a lot of storage on a box I use for ssh, mail, web, and meeting notes.

The EEE pc is one possibility for this, but the screen isn't of sufficient quality for my requirements (I have a rule about displays: if I can't read it without my glasses then it's a non-starter for me; hunching over and squinting is ok, but it still has to be [mostly] readable); also the keyboard on the EEE blows.

This entire thread reminds me of the iPhone bit from a year ago; no one could figure out who the hell would buy a smart phone without Exchange support. We know, now, that there's at least 4M people who didn't think Exchange support was a deal killer.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[zenkonami]

Actually, it's perfect if what you want to do is light computing and you have a fair amount of disposable income around. $1700? I'm not sure I saw any features worth the price point. My only real gripe about the Asus Eee (my girlfriend has one) is the size of the keyboard. Otherwise it works wonderfully, and at a fraction of the cost of the "Air."

I am a bit of an Apple fanboy, but this one seems to be more an exercise in marketing than anything actually useful. It's more likely that this is an indicator of things to come than a product that's going to have much more than limited success. Think I'll hold out for the next generation Eees or something like them unless something like this manages to drop in price almost $1000. Being "thin", "wireless" and having a multitouch touchpad just don't strike me as worth that much.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[petermgreen]

I can see the attraction of a true small form factor machine (e.g. libretto, eeepc, VAIO TZ ) but other than showing off I just don't see the use of ultra thin but large area machines. They seem like they would be very fragile and no less awkward to pack than slightly thicker machines like the regular macbook.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[petermgreen]

but something dumbed down like an Asus Eee doesn't quite cut it, although for 1/5 the price it's awfully tempting
What can't the eeepc do that you require?

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Anonymous Coward]

Answer: Travelers. Or anyone who moves around a lot, whether they're traveling or working mobile around the city. Lightweight + small form factor = something you can fit into a backpack or any other bag you use, while not weighing you down. Clarification: Travelers who must have a Mac. Dozens of 3-pound "PC" options are available that don't give up the removeable battery, hard drive space, and optical drive that the GP thinks most buyers in the target market want.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[kchrist]

Well, the smallest MacBook is 13 inches, not 12, but it's the weight that matters. Five pounds can be a lot when you're also carrying book or a camera or whatever. Shaving two pounds off of that will definitely make a noticeable difference. This new one is nice and thin too, which means it'll fit your bag easier. Although to be honest, I would have preferred seeing this new one in 12 inches rather than 13, just for the extra savings in size.

You're quoting the high-end price for effect but the low-end is a perfectly capable machine and I'm having a little trouble imagining who would buy the $3k version. Like I said, I personally think $1800 is a lot, but I'm not carrying my laptop plus books around every day. If I were, I would certainly consider one of these. Remember, not all students, even undergrad, are 19 year olds straight out of high school.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Hektor_Troy]

For me, getting the flash drive for, say $200 extra would be OK, but not $1000.

Well, if you can find a 64 GB 1.8" internal SSD for 200$ (let's say 300, as it's an upgrade from the other harddrive), I'm sure you can find lots of buyers here on slashdot. Primarily because the cheapest internal 1.8" SSD available on newegg.com is a 32GB one which costs $399.

But hey - I'm sure it'll be raining cats and dogs any time soon too.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[tgibbs]

As a scientist, I see people all the time toting those skinny little Sony subnotebooks. They are people who travel a lot to give talks, don't care to lug around a heavy notebook computer, and prefer to have their presentations on their own laptop where they can be confident that everything will work as intended.

Optical disks are already going the way of the floppy. These days I rarely see an optical disk other than for software installations, and for occasional use the AirBook can "share" another computer's drive. Most people cary information around on USB flashdrives.

I expect that the flashdrive model will become popular as prices on flash memory drop, but there are certainly people who can afford it if it provides advantages of speed or battery life.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Hao Wu]

If you are not willing to accept those tradeoffs then you are not the target market for the MacBook Air. Might I suggest a MacBook or a MacBook Pro?

I get the feeling that's what they really wanted... The reason they made the Air model was to up-sell buyers to Pros.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[caseih]

As it happens I have been looking at the X61. It's a very impressive little machine, which a keyboard that, I'm sorry, leaves the chicklet keyboard in the dust. The price is incredible too. Not much more than a MacBook. The only minus for me (besides having to abandon OS X--do I really want to deal with Linux on a laptop?) is the lack of a touchpad.

If I'm willing to give up on my 12", I can choose between a MacBook and a Thinkpad T61 14" (same physical size as the macbook). Interesting options anyway.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[jargoone]

Don't worry about "dealing with" Linux on a Thinkpad. Just install OpenSUSE 10.3. I haven't tried an X61, but I have tried several others. Everything works out of the box, even the hard stuff, like suspend to disk with an LVM swap device, middle button trackpoint scrolling, function and volume buttons, etc.

And by the way, once you get used to a trackpoint, you'll wonder how you ever used a touchpad.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[Anonymous Coward]

holy shit, you mean this product wasnt designed to please you personally? what is the world coming to?

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[lucas teh geek]

I have no idea about tablets, does the modbook look anything like what you want?

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[onefriedrice]

... I don't travel nearly enough to justify the cost. Which is why I think your assessment is wrong. It's not for travelers, which is what a lot of people are saying here. They've already got a travel bag and maybe a suitcase they have to carry with them. What difference would a couple pounds in the laptop make?

No, this is for people like students who carry their notebook around everywhere they go all the time. Personally, I love the idea of a "satellite" notebook. Certainly the Air is enough computer for most people's needs, but it appeals to me because I'd like a portable for those times that I'm out, but I also enjoy sitting down at my powerhouse (base, hub, or whatever) computer with my big widescreen monitor when I'm at home.

However, the Air is not for me for two reasons. First, I'm a poor student and daddy doesn't buy me everything I want. Second, there is an unsolved problem which needs addressing for a satellite/base system to work: simple, automatic syncing. Until these two issues are resolved, I'll keep lugging around my hefty Thinkpad.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[residents_parking]

I doubt Jobs has obsessions. This is just marketing of the "this one goes up to 11" variety. Some people are stupid enough to fall for it.

Re:I'm underwhelmed

[The One and Only]

Jobs tried (and failed), twice, to market a cube-shaped computer. Although to be fair one of them was large and black and the other one was small, white, and suspended in lucite.

13.3" Display

[jo42]

Is it a cheap-arse 6-bit per RGB (256K color) or a proper 8-bit per RGB (16M color) display panel?

Re:13.3" Display

[gnasher719]

Is it a cheap-arse 6-bit per RGB (256K color) or a proper 8-bit per RGB (16M color) display panel? Could you see the difference?

Re:13.3" Display

[wodgy7]

There are no manufacturers of 13.3" panels who currently manufacture 8 bit panels. All of them in that size, from every manufacturer, are 6 bit.

Re:13.3" Display

[Anonymous Coward]

And you can't?

I'd should leave it at that, since that's the way you treat people, but I'll add that I've seen the difference. It's pretty subtle, but can be easily noticed in the very blackest colors.

Re:13.3" Display

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm nearly as colorblind as a bat and I can easily distinguish between a 24 bit and an 18 bit flat panel:
Nasty dither patterns, banding, etc.

Re:13.3" Display

[Thornburg]

Absolutely. Even without putting them side by side.

Color gradients and metallics hues (both of which are very common in Mac GUIs) make differences in pretty much anything below 16.7million colors easily noticeable to anyone who pays attention to what their screen looks like.

Re:13.3" Display

[imgod2u]

It's actually quite noticeable in single-color gradients. For instance, dark blue to light blue. Remember that 6-bits only offers 64 discrete color levels.

Re:13.3" Display

[Anonymous Coward]

I challenge u to show me a link to ONE single laptop currently being sold that has an 8-bit panel..(not just some spec page that states 16pointsomething million colors, as that most of the time means the cheap trick of dithering)

AFAIK Apple has never had an ips or *va based panel in any laptop, ever.

Re:13.3" Display

[cnettel]

Yeah, spatial or temporal dithering to simulate 24-bit color really eliminates the point of subpixel text rendering, which in turn makes text look like crap (compared to what it looks like on a proper 24-bit screen).

Re:13.3" Display

[mr_matticus]

It's a notebook, so it's a 6-bit panel, like all the others, except some 17" notebooks that use what are basically desktop panels.

I don't know where people get the idea that notebooks come with 8-bit panels, because it certainly wasn't true a few months ago, and if something that major changed, it would have made waves somewhere.

Durability & EEE

[Kyokushi]

I wonder how durable that thing is.... put that in a bag and drop it, see how it compares to the macbooks and thinkpads.
Also why nobody mentioned the EEE pc yet? though the similarity seems to end at portability....

Re:Durability & EEE

[DrXym]

The comparison with the Eee PC is interesting. $1800 is a stupid amount of money if you just want a laptop for on the go. Sure the Air is a mac, sure it's probably faster, sure it's got more storage. But if you're just after something for some browsing or connectivity and don't want to haul around some large thief magnet then it's perfectly useful. And if by chance you drop your Eee PC or do have it stolen then it sucks, but not nearly as much as when it happens to a laptop costing five times as much.

I have to wonder if the days of conventional subnotes is disappearing fast. I certainly see no reason that any casual user wanting mobile computing should drop $1800 for this Mac.

Re:Durability & EEE

[timster]

The comparison with the Eee PC is interesting.

No, it's ridiculous. You're talking about a device with 4GB of storage versus one with 80GB. A device with a 630Mhz Celeron versus a 1.6Ghz Core 2 Duo. A 1280x800 screen versus 800x480. 512MB of RAM versus 2GB. 2.5 hours of battery versus 5.

The specs on the Eee PC are a lot closer to those of the iPhone than they are to the Macbook Air.

Re:Durability & EEE

[DrXym]

The point I was making and you conveniently ignored is the Eee PC is completely suitable for travel and connectivity. There is no reason anymore to buy an expensive laptop to buy a PC in a small form factor. Many of the reasons that someone might have for buying a subnotebook including the Air device fly out the window when you can buy something for a fifth that has it covered.

Re:Durability & EEE

[timster]

Well, the Eee PC could be called suitable, but I'm not sure that's realistic. There are a lot of things you can't do with the Eee PC that people like to do on the road. Load up a GUI email client and a Web browser, maybe with a tab or two, and pretty soon you're running out of RAM and there's no swap to speak of. Rendering Web pages with a lot of scripting is going to take a while. And forget about taking a movie with you, or some music, or hooking up your digital camera on the go -- there's just so little space. Based on the way my 3Ghz P4 runs OpenOffice, I'm not sure it's so great for word processing either.

I'm sure that some people are OK with the Eee PC's limitations, but I'm not sure it belongs in this comparison. The laptop market hasn't shown too much interest in godawful-slow tiny laptops as of yet.

Re:Durability & EEE

[Anonymous Coward]

Load up a GUI email client and a Web browser, maybe with a tab or two, and pretty soon you're running out of RAM and there's no swap to speak of. What is the point of offloading large chunks of code to swap, if you can just remove the bits from main memory and fetch them without seek time penalty from system disk when needed? IMHO in personal computing swap is useful when you page out/in large sets of data at once so that the reads and writes turn into sequential. Working with large datasets is different matter but probably irrelevant in the case of eeepc.

Re:Durability & EEE

[DrXym]

I haven't had any issues firing up email or a web browser at the same time. And if I did, well there's a hatch underneath to double or quadruple the memory. 1Gb would set me back $24. The device also has an SDHC slot so you can take movies on the road with you. I've loaded up an SD card with videos for my toddler to watch while we're on holiday soon. It is certainly space limited, but I can't say it's a big deal in my experience, and if it were, there are lots of USB storage options. As for market interest, Asus sold 350,000 of them in 2007 alone (it launched at the end of October), so I'd say they're proving very popular. It's a cheap, tiny, functional laptop perfect for coffee shops, plane clip trays, trains, lecture halls etc. It cuts straight into the traditional market for small laptops, which includes Apple's.

Re:Durability & EEE

[Stephane K.]

That's true: not much interest from the market, only 350 000 EEE PC shipped by December 07... http://www.eeeuser.com/2007/12/22/350k-eee-pcs-shipped//

Re:Durability & EEE

[zenkonami]

No, it's ridiculous. You're talking about a device with 4GB of storage versus one with 80GB. A device with a 630Mhz Celeron versus a 1.6Ghz Core 2 Duo. A 1280x800 screen versus 800x480. 512MB of RAM versus 2GB. 2.5 hours of battery versus 5. The specs on the Eee PC are a lot closer to those of the iPhone than they are to the Macbook Air. Oh yeah...and over four times the price of the Air.

But let's be real, here. More and more the question is the usability and practicality of the device. The iPhone is an expensive, albeit well designed mobile internet device / cell phone. The Eee is an inexpensive wireless computing appliance great for students and rugged travellers who just need to do the basics effectively. The Air is clearly targeted at a higher class of consumer...the business traveler / commuter, for whom it is overpowered unless they plan on getting their World of Warcraft on while flying cross country (do they have wireless on the airlines?)

I'm not saying it's a bad machine, but I think in purpose it has more to do with the Eee than the Eee does to the iPhone. It's just after a different demographic who wants things slicker, cleaner, at a higher resolution and a price point they can boast about.

Re:Durability & EEE

[zenkonami]

Having used an Eee, I can say that most of those problems are simply not an issue. Just using the default Linux OS, I've had the GUI e-mail client and Firefox with a few tabs running simultaneously with no problem. Open Office runs just fine (I suppose if you have multiple docs and spreadsheets open it may bog down fairly quickly.) As far as hooking up a digital camera, it has both USB and SD ports (tried this just the other day, and were able to transfer pictures the same way we do on our desktops.)

To be fair, you're right about movies and music and I hope that's something that future generations of sublaptops will solve as solid state drives come down in price, though movies on an Eee would be a slightly disappointing affair due to the size of the screen. My only other gripe is the size of the keyboard, which I feel could have been just slightly larger, but at the price it's hard to complain.

Let's just not forget that there's about a $1300 difference in price between these two machines, which is quite important if your very budget conscious and looking for a great student machine or something more useful than a PDA at around the same price.

OMG, I'm starting to sound like an Asus fanboy...

Re:Durability & EEE

[ksheff]

Does anyone make an external keyboard for the iPhone similar to what was available for the old Palm PDAs?

Its just thinner - firewire officially dead

[acomj]

Er.. I like apple stuff, and this is nice, but...

As someone who totes a camera and laptop when travelling with the 13 inch macbook, drive space is usefull to us. I miss the portability of my old 12" g3. They just made it thinner which won't help on airplanes etc.

I have an OLPC, and I kinda like the mini size. Maybe thats too mini but....

Also no firewire means all those mac users who tote portable firewire drives for photos are going to have to switch to USB. No Firewire input from video cameras either.

It pretty though..

specs here

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html

Re:Its just thinner - firewire officially dead

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm wondering if the lack of firewire has to do with the fact that Apple only uses the larger (powered) firewire port on their products instead of the smaller (unpowered) one. Did they feel it was better to omit it completely than to have one system go against the grain and use the smaller connector?

Re:Its just thinner - firewire officially dead

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm Apple did bring out a wireless HD to combat the lack of Firewire dude.

Re:Its just thinner - firewire officially dead

[LazyPhoenix]

The lack of a firewire port is the one big missing thing for me -- not being able to hook this thing to my video camera or audio recording interface is a big bummer, because other than that, I'm in serious new-mac lust.

No new monitors

[guzi]

What a pity!

Gigantic Trackpad

[hotsauce]

How are they going to prevent accidental input on that gigantic trackpad?

That SSD one looks very sweet though.

Re:Gigantic Trackpad

[astrosmash]

The trackpad is no wider than the existing ones; it's just taller with a much thinner button.

I wonder if these new trackpad gestures will find their way to existing models? The three-finger back/forward swiping would be nice to have.

Re:Gigantic Trackpad

[binary paladin]

It's not that gigantic. It looks like it's the same size as the one on the MacBooks. (Which isn't a big deal since I'm typing on one as we speak and have never had issue with it.)

Compared to the MacBook:

[Anonymous Coward]

Compared to the MacBook:

+ Thinner
+ Lighter
+ Multitouch trackpad
+ Backlit keyboard
+ LED display
+/- Height and width are identical
+/- GPU is identical
- more expensive
- slower CPU
- sucky 1.8" HD or expensive SSD
- optical drive is optional external extra
- 1 x USB, 1 x analog audio out, 0 x ethernet, 0 x firewire
- less battery life

Re:Compared to the MacBook:

[p0tat03]

- less battery life

Last I checked you can't squeeze 5 hours out of a MacBook. With some extreme power saving measures you might be able to top 4.5h, but at that point you'd be afraid to even squint at the dimly lit screen.

Re:Compared to the MacBook:

[fmobus]

am I the only one who finds the lack of "delete", "home", "insert", "end", "page up", "page down" in a keyboard extremely irritating? Or is it common in Macs and/or there is a more apple-ish way to achieve those commands?

Re:Compared to the MacBook:

[ceswiedler]

Function+arrows produces home, end, pageup, and pagedown. Function+backspace produces delete. Apple shortcuts don't really rely on those keys (they use mostly option/control + arrows instead) but it's definitely annoying if you're used to those keys.

Re:Compared to the MacBook:

[toddestan]

Last I checked you can't squeeze 5 hours out of a MacBook. With some extreme power saving measures you might be able to top 4.5h, but at that point you'd be afraid to even squint at the dimly lit screen.

Likewise, I fully expect that the actual battery life of the Macbook Air is going to be less than what Apple claims, as usual.

xbox 360

[snamd]

Wow... the ability to rent movies and TV in HD and watch them without a computer... sounds like apple tv is almost where the xbox 360 is.

Re:xbox 360

[Anonymous Coward]

Almost?

I think they've just blown it away. Apple TV is smaller, cheaper, more storage for you dollar, quieter, similar priced rentals, but cheaper for HD, what else?

Re:xbox 360

[Anonymous Coward]

Duuuuh. You can't play Halo 3 on the AppleTV, can you?

Re:xbox 360

[snamd]

might be cheaper... but with the xbox 360 you get... oh... an xbox 360 and the ability to play all video files shared publicly on your home network and record TV... all for 50 bucks more... apple tv isnt even close yet.

holy crap

[TheSpengo]

That is insane! I need to get me one of those. :o

The Will Smith Reply...

[tpconcannon]

I feel like I'm gonna break this damn thing! I wonder how long it will be until someone snaps one of those Airs in half?

Apple releases MacBook Air

[Anonymous Coward]

No optical drive. Smaller hard drive than a VAIO. Lame.

Re:Apple releases MacBook Air

[norminator]

No wired. Lame.

Re:Apple releases MacBook Air

[norminator]

I also just noticed that it doesn't come with the Front Row remote by default... you have an option to pay $20 more to get that... what's the deal with that, when the other MBs include it?

Re:Apple releases MacBook Air

[SashaMan]

My guess is that they realized the number of users who actually use the front row remote on a laptop is really, really low. Fundamentally when you're at a device with a small screen you're rarely going to be that far away from it where you'd need a remote. There are some limited use cases (such as giving presentations), but I know lots of people with MacBooks and MB Pros who never used the thing.

Re:Apple releases MacBook Air

[XaXXon]

$29 for wired. You're already paying $1800.

Re:Apple releases MacBook Air

[Jesus_666]

Which might be because the Apple Remote/Mac pairing system is not quite robust. I don't know how the it works n a technical level, but I know at least one other user who's Remote can't be distinguished from mine, so when we're in the same room and he starts iTunes to play a song, my MBP also starts blaring. We had to settle on both keeping the IR port deactivated unless actually needed.

By the way, the Remote is nice when you have the device hooked up to a projector. But apart from that, it does rarely see any use at all.

Re:Apple releases MacBook Air

[mr_matticus]

Did you actually pair the remote? Just enabling the IR on the computer doesn't restore previous pairings in my experience, and they ship open to all Apple remotes by default.

That's not to say that you didn't happen to get two remotes with matching codes, but it would be unlikely.

It's also highly unlikely that this plays any role in why the remote isn't often used--mostly it's just because a notebook is something you keep at close range, and most people don't connect them to large displays, except those who give presentations...and I imagine they use the remote. I use mine all the time on my MBP, but mostly to skip tracks/chapters without reaching out when I'm reading.

Another issue is the fact that lots of Apple customers already have one by now--from an iPod dock, an Apple TV, or a current Mac (and this product is clearly geared toward people who have a different primary computer). They probably figured it would be redundant for many. Instead, the MBA includes video adapters, which have largely disappeared elsewhere in the product line.

Re:Apple releases MacBook Air

[Jesus_666]

Yes, we did pair and re-pair the remotes. Our remotes just appear to match.

But you are right, the Apple Remote is not quite the most useful addition to a new Mac notebook.

Re:Apple releases MacBook Air

[norminator]

I really don't care about the wired ethernet support, I just thought it fit nicely into the old "No wireless. less space than a Nomad. Lame." joke that the post above mine started.

Short on Options!

[qwertphobia]

So, somebody's going to buy one, and when they foobar their OS and drop it off at the helpdesk, how do we fix it?

• No Firewire - can't boot target mode!
• No Optical Drive - can't boot from DVD!
• No Ethernet - can't net-boot!

Yes, there is USB, so we'lll need to keep a few USB CD-Rom drives around for these things. >p>ah well, it looks real nice.

Re:Short on Options!

[Ant2]

But! You can use "Remote Disk" to access the optical drive of a nearby Mac or PC running a little Remote Disk client. Yes, you can even reinstall the OS this way. http://www.apple.com/macbookair/wireless.html

Re:Short on Options!

[guruevi]

You can buy an external optical drive or as the keynote mentioned: you can use a remote disk drive (over wireless) to boot/re-install your Air. That last thing is a really nice feature and I hope it gets extended to other devices as well, too much mucking around and loops to get something to boot how you want it ever since BIOS (and thus it's DOS-like hooks and limitations) came out in the 80's. The EFI firmware allows for such extensions and Apple is really using it well here.

Re:Short on Options!

[rizzo320]

Boot it up in target disk mode (which essentially makes it an oversized external drive), connect to another Mac via USB cable, re-image. Or, boot the MacBook Air off an USB external drive (I already do this routinely with other Macs). This isn't a huge problem to overcome, though lack of Ethernet will make imaging interesting. I'm guessing someone (Apple or third party) will market a USB/Ethernet adapter for this purpose.

Re:Short on Options!

[Anonymous Coward]

ur p is showing.

Re:Short on Options!

[MrWhitefolkz]

Or you can use the included USB Ethernet Dongle...

Re:Short on Options!

[sdbillin]

I've never had a problem booting with target disk or a HDD over USB.
What's the big deal?

Re:Short on Options!

[localman]

Wireless remote disk? The MacBook Air tour specifically mentions that you can re-install OSX over wireless, even from a PC with an optical drive.

Re:Short on Options!

[mgibbs]

A USB Ethernet dongle for $29 and an external USB Superdrive for $99 doesn't seem that bad to me:
http://www.apple.com/macbookair/specs.html (very bottom of the page)

Why would it be your responsibility to keep these around anyway? Wouldn't the user bring them in with the laptop?

Re:Short on Options!

[MrWhitefolkz]

Apologize, you can get a USB Ethernet Adapter from Apple for $29...

Re:Short on Options!

[keytoe]

No Ethernet - can't net-boot!

Why not? It's got 108.11n - Ethernet isn't magic.

Re:Short on Options!

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

>Yes, there is USB, so we'lll need to keep a few USB CD-Rom drives around for these things

oh god, the horror.

with all those exclamation points I thought you'd found something interesting, but turns out you answered your own question (even ignoring remote drive capabilities).

btw, you can't boot from a floppy either!!!!

Re:Short on Options!

[nickscalise]

They have a new software feature called Remote Disk. Comes on the MacBook Air install DVD. You can install this software on a PC or Mac and wirelessly share your optical drive.

Apple claims you can even reinstall your OS from a Remote Disk.

Re:Short on Options!

[flamingnight]

There is a $29 US Ethernet adapter. Not that it's a good option, but it's an option. Wonder if it's supported in the firmware (to support netboot). No word on that yet, of course.

Re:Short on Options!

[moosesocks]

Apple doesn't support network booting from Wireless connections. I'm not 100% sure that I've heard of any PCs that have the capability to do so either....

That said, they'll probably support Netbooting via the USB->Ethernet adapter, and I imagine that 802.11n Netboot support isn't that far off.

Still, the lack of Firewire and Target-Disk mode greatly disappoints me. I love my (aging) 12" Powerbook, although I certainly wouldn't mind it being a bit thinner, and could probably do without an optical drive. However, there were far too many compromises made with the Air that could have been readily avoided.

I suppose that losing the Ethernet port was a sacrifice that had to be made at some point due to the size of the connector, and that Apple remains morally-opposed to 4-pin firewire connectors, but still.... it wouldn't have killed them to add a second USB port, included the ethernet dongle with the base machine, or fitted it with a more capable hard drive from the get-go?

Re:Short on Options!

[CODiNE]

All Intel Macs can boot from USB hard drives. That wasn't an option with the PPC stuff, but Apple added it a while back, perhaps preemptively for uses like this. It was always stupid only being able to boot from firewire anyways.

Re:Short on Options!

[kehren77]

First of all, I agree with you completely. Personally I don't understand where Apple thinks there is a market for this thing. Unless they really are working on an iMac style docking station for this thing:

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/03/apple-creating-imac-like-docking-station/

Re:Short on Options!

[Anonymous Coward]

And only one USB port too... what happens when the only USB port has issues?

Re:Short on Options!

[FroBugg]

So you just spent $1800 on the thinnest laptop available, but to fully utilize it you have to be near a desktop that you've already installed software onto?

Re:Short on Options!

[Madsol]

You've actually been able to use target mode with a USB 2.0 drive since a short time after they switched over to Intel.

Re:Short on Options!

[ceejayoz]

I use a CD about once a month, if that. I suspect there are many like me in that regard.

Re:Short on Options!

[Anonymous Coward]

You can plug in a DVD drive.

Re:Short on Options!

[DaveRexel]

So, somebody's going to buy one, and when they foobar their OS and drop it off at the helpdesk, how do we fix it?
... ...
Yes, there is USB, so we'll need to keep a few USB CD-Rom drives around for these things. >p>ah well, it looks real nice

Helpdesk? lacking a few tools of the trade? Surely you can find an external USB-DVD reader in your workshop?
Colour me very surprised at this very blatant astroturf...
How can one jump to such conlusions without testing the hardware in question?

Re:Short on Options!

[keytoe]

Apple doesn't support network booting from Wireless connections.

My point was that just because they don't currently support it doesn't mean that it's not possible. There's nothing stopping it technically other than the promise of extremely poor performance. If you're just interested in getting bootstrapped into a NetRestore session, however, then who cares about performance. All it would take is adding 802.11n support into EFI - which may or may not already exist, for all I know. It's not like they have to support a myriad of card manufacturers.

Re:Short on Options!

[funkboy]

It doesn't say anything about reinstalling the OS via Remote Disc: "In the Finder on MacBook Air, under Devices, select the icon that says Remote Disc. Click on the computer you enabled, and then double-click to open the software DVD. Now proceed with the installation just as if you had a built-in optical drive." EFI is nifty and all & I'd love to see it be able to netboot over 802.11n via bonjour, but somehow I don't think it's gonna happen. If you want to reinstall the OS, you're most likely looking at using a USB DVD drive.

On a side note, anyone else think that adding a DV-sized firewire port to this thing would have been trivial? It's just begging to be hooked up to a DV cam & edit video in the field...

Re:Short on Options!

[catxk]

Oh noes, I feel your pain. It's just like with my current laptop (a Fujitsu-Siemens :() which, for some reason, lacks a floppy drive! Omg, I don't get what the hell FS was thinking! How am I supposed to install my original XP disc with this SATA drive equipped poor excuse of a paper weight!?

Re:Short on Options!

[protohiro1]

The great thing about it is that you can refuse to support people's personal computers. At our company if we want macs we get MBP. I highly doubt MBA is going to be an option.

Re:Short on Options!

[jordan314]

This scares me too. Apple's depending a lot on the wireless capabilities of this thing; lets hope Apple's finicky support for third party routers such as some Linksys ones has improved. 1 USB port sounds like a pain too; if your wireless doesn't work, choose between an external USB CD drive or an ethernet USB adapter.

Re:Short on Options!

[Anonymous Coward]

EFI is nifty and all & I'd love to see it be able to netboot over 802.11n via bonjour

It works.

anyone else think that adding a DV-sized firewire port to this thing would have been trivial?

Firewire requires 12V; battery on this is only 7.4V.

(Posting anonymous.)

Re:Short on Options!

[eturro]

What do you do if the Remote Disk client is broken? What if the entire OS is broken, how do you install the OS on the MacBook Air?

Re:Short on Options!

[stewbacca]

Somebody didn't look at the product. Or even read the slashdot summary, for that matter. (hint: Remote Disk)

Re:Short on Options!

[YukonTech]

EFI, It m has not been fully realized yet, but the EFI in all new macs supports wireless netbooting. I wouldn't be surprised if they finally enabled it in the new macbook Air... EFI can boot over wireless (where BIOS can't) because EFI has the ability to run each piece of hardware OS independant. So EFI could control the wireless interface, connect to a netboot server, and place the image on the HD.

Re:Short on Options!

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder just how fast and reliable such a thing might be...

Re:Short on Options!

[agendi]

Cool tech but in other words you're saying that this notebook shouldn't be your only computing device in the house? Or again in other words, buy a macbook air and then a macbook or imac just in case you need to reinstall or watch/rip a dvd?

Re:Short on Options!

[nine-times]

If you're a helpdesk guy supporting Macs, the first thing you should do is install OSX on an external USB drive. If you're having any software problems, you plug in your external drive, boot from it, and do whatever you need to do. If you're really smart, you'll keep a working image on the external drive (using Carbon Copy Cloner or I think now you can even do it with the Disk Utility). that way, if the system is really hosed, you back up the user's files, reapply the image from the external drive, copy the files back, and you're done.

Re:Short on Options!

[Spy Hunter]

Yes, you can even reinstall the OS this way.

Where did you get that tidbit of info? I suppose it's possible that Remote Disk is built into the BIOS (or firmware or whatever Macs have) but I'd hardly assume that without firm confirmation from Apple.

Re:Short on Options!

[Anonymous Coward]

I had a Sharp laptop that is basically the same thing as this Apple Air. Loved it while it worked. But after a while the novelty wore off.

Bad idea. Really bad idea. Not sturdy. Non-standard hardware. Not all boot disks work as you think they should. One thing breaks and the whole laptop needs to get sent in.

Nope. No more. If I ever get another laptop it's going to be modular. I'm going to be able to pop out the keyboard myself. Get to the RAM myself. Get to the battery myself. I'm not paying a ridiculous $200 service fee to replace a part that costs twice as much as any other laptop's because it's small, a pain to work on, and super-low production run.

My advice to everyone: get the closest thing to a desktop as you can get. Even if you move around a lot you probably need something durable first, portable second.

Re:Short on Options!

[martinX]

I see the Macbook Air as being a computer equivalent to the iPod and the AppleTV - all are extensions of the desktop. It's so I can have an iMac with a 24" screen and if I really need to have something portable, I can get the Macbook Air. Naturally, my wife will say I can not get the Macbook Air. She looks after me like that.

Other uses for the Macbook Air:
- for guests
- for occasional untethering from the desktop
- for the household member who only occasionally requires computer access

Re:Short on Options!

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

It works.

It lets you enter WPA-PSK keys before booting? Not all of us can control the wireless infrastructure.

Firewire requires 12V; battery on this is only 7.4V.

Whether or not you were involved with the design of this thing, you're wrong. 6-pin ("DV-sized", as the original poster indicated) FireWire ports are unpowered. Many, many PC notebooks have these ports. They won't power a drive, but you can hook up a camcorder or externally-powered (e.g. large) drive.

I'm sure you're very impressed with the design. Perhaps you have a right to be. But we're not impressed. Maybe these things will sell like hotcakes. Maybe they won't. But if they do, you'll have the other side of Apple to thank for it.

Re:Short on Options!

[Too Much Noise]

Yes, you can even reinstall the OS this way. http://www.apple.com/macbookair/wireless.html [apple.com]

Um. Where did you see that one? I read

3. Install the software on MacBook Air.

In the Finder on MacBook Air, under Devices, select the icon that says Remote Disc. Click on the computer you enabled, and then double-click to open the software DVD. Now proceed with the installation just as if you had a built-in optical drive.

Now, as wonderful as EFI can be, I don't think it brings Finder up when it can't find a partition to boot from. Or even that it brings up a working wifi connection in such a case. So could you now help an old man understand how apple would achieve such a feat (or point me to exactly where it said it did)?

Re:Short on Options!

[dangitman]

6-pin ("DV-sized", as the original poster indicated) FireWire ports are unpowered.

No. 6-pin firewire ports are powered. 4-pin ports are unpowered.

But we're not impressed.

Who's "we"? Is there more than one of you writing that post?

Re:Short on Options!

[dangitman]

Uhhh, use an external optical drive?

Re:Short on Options!

[eturro]

First of all, I was referring to the parent's assertion willy-nilly that you could use Remote Disk to install the OS without further explanation. Second, your "use an external optical drive?" solution sounds rather annoying - how many external optical drives does the average user have lying around!? Fortunately, it appears that Remote Disc supports netbooting, allowing you to boot the MacBook Air from a Mac OS X Install DVD in another computer. I presume this is installed in the boot ROM and makes use of EFI.

Re:Short on Options!

[dangitman]

External optical discs are quite common. In any case, it just seems you're looking for something to complain about. In the context of the situation you describe - the system being screwed up - most people will either take it to be serviced (the repair shop will have the drive), borrow the drive from a friend (not hard to find) or go and buy one (not expensive, especially if it's about saving your system). You say this is an "annoying" solution. I'd say it's a lot less annoying than having your system screw up in the first place.

Seems like a bit of a non-issue to me.

Re:Short on Options!

[eturro]

Actually I wasn't complaining about anything - it was an honest question. The guy said you could install the OS with Remote Disc and I wanted to know how. Installing an OS isn't that uncommon (not as uncommon as external optical drives!) and it's good to see it can be done with netbooting.

Re:Short on Options!

[poot_rootbeer]

So, somebody's going to buy one, and when they foobar their OS and drop it off at the helpdesk, how do we fix it?

1. Amend the support policies to make it clear that due to hardware issues, MacBook Airs are not supported by the helpdesk and should not be used onsite or attached to the local network.
2. Request an increase to the helpdesk budget for additional equipment and training that would allow you to support these computers
3. Give yourselves raises from whatever's left over after you've read the Air manual and spent $200 for a couple of USB DVD drives.

Re:Short on Options!

[funkboy]

It works.

Got some links to back up that statement? Netbooting OS X over Airport with WPA keys?

Firewire requires 12V; battery on this is only 7.4V.

I imagine there's a voltage converter in there already, like in my Powerbook that has a powered firewire port on it... BTW, I said "DV-sized" for a reason; 6-pin firewire is pretty meaty as peripheral connectors go, which is why they removed it from the iPod after the 1st generation. The unpowered 4-pin Firewire connector present on most DV cams (aka i.Link in Sony land) is really tiny (smaller even than mini USB), and the TI chip that usually runs it costs about $5 (qty 1k).

On a high(er) end laptop like this I see it as the only glaring omission, even in the ultraportable minimalist meme that the MBA targets. I imagine the dialogue went something like this:

"Hey, all our expensive laptops have Firewire on them"

"But our connector's way too big"

"What about the 4-pin version?"

"Doesn't Sony have a brand consciousness build around that connector?"

"Yeah, and it already starts with the letter "I". Screw it, USB2 is good enough."

...which is really too damn bad. I would have much rather seen a mini-USB2 port and 4-pin Firewire than the standard-sized USB port, even if it meant using a dongle to connect "normal" USB peripherals, as most of the time I'd be using something that needs a USB cable (hub, drive, camera, card reader, etc) as opposed to a mouse or webcam or whatever that has a hardwired cable. This certainly would not have flown with the marketing guys as it's definately restrictive, but for me personally it's a design sacrifice that makes the difference between me wanting this machine and not. I just have too much Firewire stuff to not have it on any machine I own. Even the lack of wired ethernet port could be pardoned by having Firewire, but without one or the other there's just no real high-speed low-latency non-cpu-intensive way of getting large amounts of data in & out, which puts it in the same category for me as either (A) an EEEPC or (B) my phone (an E61).

BTW, this same conclusion lead me to wait until the 2nd iteration of the toilet-seat iBook was released before getting one, as it had Firewire (as did the Pismo).

Sweet.

[Rob T Firefly]

and features a way to wirelessly use the optical drive of any nearby Mac or PC with the proper software installed. And here I was thinking wardriving, bluejacking, and so on was just starting to get boring. Off to the coffee shop to watch some DVDs! I hope someone's got "The Simpsons" loaded in...

No FireWire?!

[alispguru]

Just a USB2. FireWire target mode has saved my butt so many times, I would really hate to give it up, especially on a portable machine.

Although, you probably don't need it as much if you have that $1000 solid state disk...

Re:No FireWire?!

[Anonymous Coward]

WOW! STEVE JOBS has invented the Sony Vaio TX! Except Sony managed to put an optical drive in the same 3 pound computer! Steve Jobs will Invent that next year!

Re:No FireWire?!

[geekoid]

I thought one of the points to Apple's computers is that you don't need to 'save your butt'.

Re:No FireWire?!

[nagora]

I thought one of the points to Apple's computers is that you don't need to 'save your butt'.

You've not owned one then? I have several friends with Macs. One is on her 4th replacement machine, another on his second, and another's "angle-poise" is left in the corner where it was sitting when they gave up trying to boot it. God knows how many dead iPods I could russle up at short notice.

I keep warning people not to touch Apple's plastic tat but they're sooooo pretty that apparently some people just can resist.

TWW

Re:No FireWire?!

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple's hardware is far better than your average laptop, but they still break...just not as often as the average laptop.

They're probaby ignoring your "advice" for other reasons.

Re:No FireWire?!

[Anonymous Coward]

The stats I saw showed that Apple laptops failed at exactly the same rate as everyone else's. Lenovo and I think Toshiba were a tiny bit better (about 10% better) some other brands were a tiny bit worse. Apple was right in the middle with Dell.

Re:No FireWire?!

[timster]

Really? From myself and people I know, I can count 7 Macs, all of which lasted at least a year without any problems. Five of those still work, one I'm not sure about, and one had a hard drive fail.

I've still never seen a broken iPod, though I'm sure it happens, and my old 3G did need to be restored a few times.

Anecdotal evidence is worse than useless -- if you even bring it up, you ought to be modded Flamebait.

Re:No FireWire?!

[nagora]

rom myself and people I know, I can count 7 Macs, all of which lasted at least a year without any problems.

A whole year? Gosh, it must be great to have such low expectations.

I've still never seen a broken iPod,

I simply don't believe that, sorry.

Anecdotal evidence is worse than useless

You mean when other people use it I assume, since your post is all anecdotal evidence. Actually, there's nothing wrong with it.

Re:No FireWire?!

[timster]

A whole year? Gosh, it must be great to have such low expectations.

Some of them aren't much older than that, idiot.

I simply don't believe that, sorry.

Why not? Because it would hurt your world-view? Or do you have some kind of study proving your allegation of a high iPod failure rate?

You mean when other people use it I assume, since your post is all anecdotal evidence

My post is in contrast to your post, as a demonstration that anecdotal evidence is useless. When you go to college, take a logic class.

Actually, there's nothing wrong with it.

And statistics.

Re:No FireWire?!

[nagora]

Or do you have some kind of study proving your allegation of a high iPod failure rate?

I don't need a study; I've seen it. You're the one that wants a study to bolster your world-view, not me.

My post is in contrast to your post, as a demonstration that anecdotal evidence is useless.

Firstly, two things that are the same are not in contrast; secondly, your experience is not useless to you. Or do you always form your opinions through other people's lives instead of your own?

When you go to college, take a logic class.

Done both, thanks. Logic does not override personal experience, either mine or yours.

TWW

Time Capsule

[hotsauce]

BTW, I think Time Capsule is as important as the Air announcement. Can't get anyone to back up. But since it's also a wireless hub, and Time Machine autoconnects, people will actually start backing up while barely meaning to.

Re:Time Capsule

[Fear the Clam]

I hope Time Capsule means that Time Machine will be updated to work with other network servers.

Re:Time Capsule

[soft_guy]

I already have the Airport Extreme that supports Air Disk which I was lead to believe would be a target for Time Machine, but then they dropped that feature at the last minute. Now they come out with this which still doesn't do what I want. I hope that they will add back Air Disk support for Time Machine.

Re:Time Capsule

[EastCoastSurfer]

I was thinking the same thing. Everyone wondered why an airdisk wouldn't work. I think now we have our answer. They wanted to force us to buy an apple product to do wifi backing up. Lame...

Re:Time Capsule

[Fear the Clam]

I think they just needed more time to work network server bugs out before Leopard was released.

Wireless is cool, but I'm just hoping that a Time Machine update will let me backup via Ethernet to my Infrant NV+.

Re:Time Capsule

[AndrewStephens]

Would be nice, but we are probably out of luck. Time Machine relies on some filesystem trickery (specifically links to directories) that no other generally available filesystems support.

What I really want to know is if a Time Capsule is really a cut down Mac in disguise like the AppleTV, and can it be modded to run other services like the Linux-based NASes can.

Re:Time Capsule

[CestusGW]

Actually, that added feature pushed me to buying one of those when they come out. I've got an XBox and a PS3 in the living room fighting over the single ethernet cable there, and a very noisy 2.4ghz spectrum. I've been thinking about getting an 802.11n router for my MBP so I can switch over to 5ghz networking, but the AEBS wasn't doing it for me. However, an AEBS with an internal 500gb drive well get me: Some more zero-downtime networked storage (which I need) A small gig ethernet switch to let my living room devices live in harmony An 802.11n router to let me get off the 2.4ghz spectrum A good place to add external drives from guests or as a later expansion Consolidating all that stuff in the living room (which keeps the light, heat and noise out of my bedroom), in a single box, for a reasonable price seems like a win/win/win to me.

Re:Time Capsule

[ksheff]

I would guess that device will be hacked to be used for other uses - like a nice little home web server. Plug it into your cable modem/dsl and have it host a website for your friends & family. Since it doesn't have video & audio output, it might not be as attractive as the AppleTV machine was for someone wanting a cheap OS X machine. I'm sure there are cheaper little linux machines with some of the same features.

Re:Time Capsule

[_the_bascule]

what can be easier than (windows) right-click, share this folder on the network or in KDE right-click share, share this, use samba?

Re:Time Capsule

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

what can be easier than (windows) right-click, share this folder on the network or in KDE right-click share, share this, use samba?

Umm, I think you missed the point. We're talking about automated backups of changed files across wireless. Plugging this thing in, then clicking Time machine to "on" and selecting it is a lot easier than any other solution I've seen.

Re:Time Capsule

[k2enemy]

I agree. I bought an AEBS and external disk under the impression (and recommendation of an Apple store employee) that Time Machine would work with AirDisk. Not only was that feature dropped, but AirDisk is too buggy to even be useful. If there aren't updates to Leopard and/or the AEBS firmware to get things to work properly I'll be pissed.

I understand why Air Capsule was released ($$$), but I think Time Machine + Air Disk is a much more elegant solution. If I buy another computer and need a bigger disk to back up to I'd rather just buy another external drive rather than buy both a new drive (at Apple prices) and a new wireless router.

Re:Time Capsule

[_the_bascule]

I see, it auto syncs changed files between the devices and the time capsule, yeah that is kinda cool, thanks for replying

Re:Time Capsule

[Jesus_666]

It's essentially a NAS'd external hard drive that supports Time Machine autoconfiguration. With WLAN.

Actually, the thing starts to become attractive to me, although I'm going to stick to my rather new MyBook Studio. A) FireWire S800 still beats 802.11n and B) well, I just plonked down 280 Eurobucks for an external hard drive. Also, C) I know Apple to well to think that the 500 USD will translate to 340 EUR. The thing will cost 500 USD in the States and 500 EUR in Europe.
Still the feature set is kinda nice.

Re:Time Capsule

[complete loony]

So they put a hard disk into an airport extreme, and added $120 to the cost (500GB version). For that price you can buy your own external USB disk.

Re:Time Capsule

[Wizard Drongo]

It doesn't "just" auto-sync changes. It works fully in tandem with Time Machine, part of Mac OS X 10.5. What this means is any changes you make to any file on the OS (or some part of it) are backed up periodically (you can tell it when to do it). OK, you're asking "how is this different to any other backup system?". What's different here is that OS X provides a simple (I cannot stress this word enough) easy-to-use GUI for the backup. You just hit the time-machine icon, and the current finder window (like a Windows Explorer window) pops up on screen, with a whole load of greyed out identical windows stretching back behind it in a cool space-time-warp kinda effect. You can then scroll back and forth through these windows that are, in effect, the current folder you're in, but going backwards in time through every backup that's ever been made of it. Then when you find the file/folder you were looking for 'cause like me, you're a pratt and deleted something you shouldn't have, you click on it, then hit the (big, pulsing) restore button. Once you've explained the basics of it to the average user, they never come bothering you again wanting help to back things up cause they just lost their term-paper/last month's accounting spreadsheet/photos of their new crotchfruit* (delete as necessary).

This new product is essentially just a wi-fi based hard-drive that links into the Time-Machine process, something that's ultra handy for laptop owners that don't have the separate hard-drive TM needs to do it's shit. Something I've been crying out for, since I constantly have to plug-in my macbook to an external firewire drive for TM to work, and I seem to lose a few files that I've created/edited then deleted before it's had a chance to archive them. If I had the spare cash I'd buy one of these for sure.

Re:Time Capsule

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

So they put a hard disk into an airport extreme, and added $120 to the cost (500GB version). For that price you can buy your own external USB disk.

Yeah, pretty much, then again you end up with two enclosures and the USB is another, potential bottleneck. Also, you can buy an external 7200 RPM .5 terabyte SATA drive for $120... barely if you buy the cheapest one from the cheapest place you know. Apple tends to have a bit higher quality parts (according to independent reliability testing from consumer reports).

Re:Time Capsule

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

I see, it auto syncs changed files between the devices and the time capsule, yeah that is kinda cool, thanks for replying

No problem. I suppose I shouldn't expect everyone knows how Time Machine works. It is actually nicer than it sounds because it saves the backup and each of the changes until it runs out of space, so if you change a file and want the old version back after the backup has synched, you can still access the previous versions, much like a versioning system. OS X 10.5 has both a nice interface to it, and an API so programs can access it through that program's interface (like undoing changes to photoshop files beyond the last time you saved and quit working on it).

Re:Time Capsule

[jannesha]

Don't forget - it's also a print server (via the USB port). Still, nothing new here, but a nice package IMHO.

Re:Time Capsule

[lucas teh geek]

It is actually nicer than it sounds because it saves the backup and each of the changes until it runs out of space

this isn't strictly true. I had time machine running every weekday of november (I keep the backup drive at work), yet I now only have a weekly snapshot for each week of novemeber, but the drive still has 80GB of free space. I'm pretty sure you get the past 24 hours of hourly snapshots, around 30 days of daily snapshots... past that looks to go to weekly snapshots and I havent had it running long enough to see if it eventually drops back to monthly snapshots.

I think you need something like ZFS or MS's shadow copies to get a separate revision every time a file changes. AFAIK we dont have that functionality on OSX yet

Re:Time Capsule

[soft_guy]

Well, not only the fact that you don't want to replace both pieces of equipment together, but I also was planning to buy a Guardian Maximus (from Newer Tech) which is a low cost RAID system. The idea is that I could set it up to have two disks that mirror each other and if one goes bad, I just replace it and don't lose my backup. To me, that's a pretty nice solution for home and Time Capsule doesn't quite do it.

Or...

[Anonymous Coward]

...you could just buy an ASUS Eee PC for 10% of the price, which whilst not as powerful would still be capable of doing everything you'd do on a sub-notebook anyway i.e. office, music, video, web.

For some reason I thought when Apple release a sub-notebook that it might be something within a reasonable price range (i.e. less than the MacBooks), god only knows what made me think that.

I was going to check the UK pricing but all I get when jumping to the UK Apple site is a 500 internal server error, the US version of the site is just unusably slow.

I know these type of announcements are going to put a lot of strain on a site, but I don't remember any other large tech. companies suffering such an outage.

Re:Or...

[p0tat03]

doing everything you'd do on a sub-notebook anyway i.e. office, music, video, web.

I'd beg to differ. A good friend of mine has a Eee PC, and while it's certainly a nice device (light and cheap, who can complain?), it's definitely not on the same playing field as this one (or any other ultra-port). For one thing, while you can run OpenOffice easily on the Eee, typing is another story. The keyboard is small enough that anything but light typing (entering URLs, small notes, etc) is an absolute pain. That friend of mine has a full-sized keyboard at home for when he needs to get ACTUAL work done.

Kind of like an iPhone keyboard actually... easier than the status quo to type on, but still not something you'd want to write an essay or report with.

Not to mention you're not going to store all that much stuff on the internal 8GB drive (smaller, since you have to account for apps and OS). And the SD slot becomes a large expense if you want space to compete with ultra-portables. The average Eee PC probably has about 10-12GB of storage, whereas an ultraportable is looking at 60GB+

For some reason I thought when Apple release a sub-notebook that it might be something within a reasonable price range (i.e. less than the MacBooks)

I think it was obvious from day one that this thing would be MORE expensive. Look at other products in its market - the Vaio for example - much more expensive than any of Sony's other non-ultraport laptops. There has always been a large price premium for size, and this is no different.

Re:Or...

[Anonymous Coward]

Except that the ASUS Eee PC doesn't have OS X. Or a large, high-quality screen. Or a trackpad that support muilt-touch gestures. If the ASUS Eee PC is 10% of the price, then what on earth makes you think it was designed to compete in the same market? Sounds like someone is having a bit of a hissy fit.

How expensive is it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you link to something cheaper with a competitive hardware spec? Please do not link to anything physically larger, as size is the primary discriminator in its class. I went looking for a Vaio to price against it but couldn't find anything in its class. HP, Dell, and Lenovo all fell short as well. Before saying it's more expensive than its competition, please actually tell us what its competition IS, keeping in mind that to compete, you have to compete on form factor first.

A few thoughts

[proxima]

This laptop is too small and feature-limited to make a reasonable primary computer for many people, I think. Consider:

1.) No wired ethernet. I don't know if I've seen a recent laptop without wired ethernet. Apple is pushing bluetooth and 802.11* hard. That brings me to

2.) 1 USB port. Seriously? You can have wired ethernet OR a superdrive OR any of a huge number of wired devices, until you end up getting one of those tiny and somewhat annoying USB hubs which don't seem to be as reliable as having multiple USB ports.

3.) 1.8" 80G hard drive. This is the hard drive they use in iPod classics. It's 4200RPM, and it's small by modern laptop standards. The only upgrade option is $1000 for the solid state drive. Why aren't they offering the 160G iPod drive?

4.) Micro-DVI: Unlike the Macbooks, they actually stick a few of these adapters in the package.

It just seems like they tried too hard to go all out for thinness (and with the case design, it's still 3lb like a lot of subnotebooks). One option I thought would make it a lot more attractive would be built-in ripping of DVDs into iTunes. That way it could still function as a useful movie player on the road. Instead, we get an announcement that some distributors (like Fox) will be including iTunes files on new DVDs. No thanks.

There's probably a market niche for this product, but I don't think it's as big as the one for the 12" Powerbook G4. I'm still waiting for a suitable replacement in that category.

Re:A few thoughts

[Anonymous Coward]

Buy a hub for chrissakes!

Re:A few thoughts

[Anonymous Coward]

This laptop is too small and feature-limited to make a reasonable primary computer for many people, I think. Consider: Who the F said this should be a primary computer for ANYONE? Did you completely miss the bit about add-on software to support wireless CDROM sharing?

Ah-DUUHHHHHHH..

It just seems like they tried too hard to go all out for thinness Buy a damned MacBook or MacBook Pro then! WTF is wrong with you? What do you think a sub-notebook is?
Inch thick, multiple USB ports, 160GB 5200 RPM drive??? Buy a normal fucking laptop you dolt.

Ah-DUUHHHHHHH..

One option I thought would make it a lot more attractive would be built-in ripping of DVDs into iTunes. WTF does that have to do with sub-notebook design?

Sorry, I don't AC often, but there are some real dumbasses on here today. Retards like you, and the flame wars you create (here's a lighter) are what make Slashdot so miserable.

Re:A few thoughts

[cbart387]

1 USB port. Seriously? You can have wired ethernet OR a superdrive OR any of a huge number of wired devices, until you end up getting one of those tiny and somewhat annoying USB hubs which don't seem to be as reliable as having multiple USB ports. I agree with you on only have 1 USB but I disagree with the USB hub not being reliable. I have one for my non-mac laptop which works quite well. It comes with a power supply, which I don't use since that's only required for stuff that needs to be powered (usb harddrive, phone datalink etc) and I typically only have one of those plugged in at a time.

I actually find the hub quite useful. I've never had an issue with Linux or windows recognizing devices. I have a printer/keyboard/mouse hooked in to it so that I only have to plug/unplug one usb cable instead of 3.

Re:A few thoughts

[aluminumcube]

The MacBook Air is NOT designed to be a "primary computer."

In fact, the brilliance on Apple's part here is the recognition (FINALLY) that there are lots of people with big honkin desktop machines who also need a portable computer for going out to meetings, travel or just reading the web (on something bigger then a 3" screen) at the local coffee shop. For us, the Air is perfect - a minimalist extension of our main work computer.

The only two complaints I have about the Air are the hard drive (you get to choose slow or obscenely expensive) and the fact that Apple hasn't really taken the concept of a satellite laptop as far as they could in OS X. It would be cool if my MacPro and my laptop used WiFi to sync up documents, preferences, media files and such. This problem is especially acute in iTunes where I have hundreds of GB of media on my main machine, but have to manually manage those things on my laptop. I wish Apple recognized this problem and solved it elegantly.

Other then that, I already pre-ordered my MB Air with the SSD. I can't wait!

Re:A few thoughts

[proxima]

Buy a hub for chrissakes!

My (anecdotal) experience with USB hubs is that they tend to be less reliable than straight-up ports. Some devices don't work in a hub but do directly (even though it's a powered hub), some devices need to be unplugged and plugged into the hub before they're recognized, etc. Maybe I've just been unlucky.

Still, since many devices are powered USB these days (especially mp3 players) you really should get a powered USB hub, which means another power cable. USB ports are light and small, but Apple went so far towards thinness that they just couldn't spare the space for one more.

Re:A few thoughts

[Daniel_Staal]

Um, as a replacement for the PowerBook G4: What's wrong with the Macbooks? Or the Macbook Pros?

Yes, this new laptop isn't designed as a desktop replacement. It's not meant to be. They already sold those.

Re:A few thoughts

[proxima]

The MacBook Air is NOT designed to be a "primary computer."

I agree. My claim is that this is going to limit the market for this laptop to a fairly small niche. This is where we disagree:

In fact, the brilliance on Apple's part here is the recognition (FINALLY) that there are lots of people with big honkin desktop machines who also need a portable computer[...]

$1799 is a fairly hefty price tag to pay for a second computer. People have complained about the lack of replaceable battery hampering business use (perhaps that's a big deal, I don't know). My point was for the "travel" user who wants something for entertainment, I thought that the inability to easily watch DVDs with it would limit that use. That's why I suggested a terrific feature would be the ripping of DVDs into iTunes. This will only happen on a large scale on Macs when Apple does it itself and thus does it legally.

This laptop is competing directly with the Sony Vaio market. That's fine, but my point was that it seems like a much smaller market than a good successor to the 12" Powerbook could have.

So yes, my entire point about it not working as a primary computer is that it is playing for a much smaller market, and that Apple has continued to leave a bit of a hole in the Macbook Pro lineup.

Re:A few thoughts

[SeanMon]

The 160GB iPod Classic is .12'' thicker than the 80GB version because the drive is thicker. This model doesn't look like it can be easily expanded even by a couple mm...

Re:A few thoughts

[keithpreston]

3.) 1.8" 80G hard drive. This is the hard drive they use in iPod classics. It's 4200RPM, and it's small by modern laptop standards. The only upgrade option is $1000 for the solid state drive. Why aren't they offering the 160G iPod drive? The 160gb drive wouldn't fit. If you look at the specifications for the ipod classic http://www.apple.com/ipodclassic/specs.html the 160gb is .53" as compared to .41" for the 80gb which is solely due to the drive being bigger (2 platters instead of 1 platter). I'm sure Apple would be happy to upgrade you to a larger drive, once they have ones that can fit in there.

Re:A few thoughts

[p0tat03]

I don't get the bashing here either, but can we refrain from childish AC name-calling? I'm as big an Apple fanboy as it gets, but your post is just incoherent and uncalled for.

Re:A few thoughts

[proxima]

Um, as a replacement for the PowerBook G4: What's wrong with the Macbooks? Or the Macbook Pros?

The Macbook Pros are an excellent replacement for the 15" and 17" Powerbooks. My point was about the 12" Powerbook.

So what about the 13.3" Macbook? It's a little big (cases meant for 12" 4:3 laptops will not fit the Macbook), for one. The case is significantly inferior to the aluminum of the Powerbook/Macbook Pros. A 3 year old 12" Powerbook looks pretty good, while a 1 year old Macbook will show quite a bit of wear and scratches. Also, the video cards on the MBP are superior to the built-on graphics of the MB. It also wasn't until recently (Nov?) that they updated the max memory to 4GB - I hadn't checked on that until just now.

Still, it's not a bad replacement for the 12" Powerbook, it's just not ideal, like the 15" and 17" upgrades are. I had been hoping for an Apple version of the Thinkpad tablets with a keyboard.

Re:A few thoughts

[ScottForbes]

One option I thought would make it a lot more attractive would be built-in ripping of DVDs into iTunes.

That certainly would be an attractive option, if it weren't illegal in the United States. Write your Senators and complain.

Re:A few thoughts

[proxima]

That certainly would be an attractive option, if it weren't illegal in the United States. Write your Senators and complain.

It wouldn't be illegal if Apple got the right licenses and agreements. They're clearly a big enough player to be able to negotiate rentals through iTunes. They might have to do something annoying to get the studios to agree - like have ripped versions expire after X days. The most obvious thing that studios will worry about besides sharing is mass renting through Netflix/library and ripping them all to disk for a large permanent library.

Still, it would allow you to load up your laptop with movies for the road for a trip and not have to worry about the disks, and in the case of this new Macbook Air, having to bring an optical drive.

Re:A few thoughts

[RocketScientist]

I bought the first macbook sold by my apple retail store to replace my Powerbook G4 about, what, 2 years ago or something?

Anyway. Great machine. Reliable. Tough. Easy to upgrade (bought 2 GB of RAM and a faster/larger hard drive from NewEgg for cheap) with a #0 philips, a penny and a nice clean towel. Beautiful screen, great keyboard, good wireless reception (compared to the all-metal powerbook) and it has the built in camera thingy that I never use. I don't have a single bad thing to say about it.

The air is a joke. OMG. Can't replace the battery. 4200 RPM hard drive. Looks fragile. A complete fanboy product.

I really was hoping for a UMPC-type Mac. Looking at a Sony UX now.

Re:A few thoughts

[nrozema]

Why aren't they offering the 160G iPod drive?

My guess is because it's thicker. The 160GB ipod classic is 3mm thicker than the 80gb version. Probably not cost-effective to have two different cases for disks of different dimension.

Re:A few thoughts

[Anonymous Coward]

3.) 1.8" 80G hard drive. This is the hard drive they use in iPod classics. It's 4200RPM, and it's small by modern laptop standards. The only upgrade option is $1000 for the solid state drive. Why aren't they offering the 160G iPod drive?

Because the 160GB drive is two 80G drives back to back..... hence the iPod is larger..

Re:A few thoughts

[Anonymous Coward]

>There's probably a market niche for this product

Yes, there is. Chicks.

Re:A few thoughts

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

Uh, I have 4 computers that I use regularly, so my Lenovo T61 is certainly not my "primary computer". But it has the same capabilities as a real system, unlike the MacBook Air.

There are so many reasons to have a notebook that is a fully-featured computer, and only one not to: 2lbs. That's the difference between my T61 and the MacBook Air. There are smaller, lighter full-featured notebooks too. Notebooks with replacable batteries. Notebooks with Ethernet ports. Notebooks with optical drives.

Apple went too far. I can understand leaving out the optical drive - it's probably the biggest part of the notebook. But one USB port? No FireWire? No Ethernet? No replacable battery? These are standard notebook features.

You don't miss a replacable battery until two years down the line when your battery quits working and you have to send the whole machine to Apple to have it replaced for $200 (rather than spending $60 on eBay for a new battery).

You don't miss having an Ethernet port until you want to transfer some DVD images from a desktop - what takes 2 hours on 802.11g (1MiB/s) takes 3 minutes over GigE (40 MiB/s).

You don't miss having multiple USB ports until you want to plug in a USB drive while you're using a EVDO or HSDPA card. Hope you remembered to bring your USB hub.

You don't miss having a microphone port until you realize that your USB headset takes up your only USB port. Oops. Hope you brought that USB hub.

You don't miss having a full-sized display connector until you want to show something on a larger monitor. Hope you remembered to bring your mini-DVI to DVI adapter. And your DVI to VGA adapter.

You don't miss the optical drive until someone asks you to watch their training video on DVD. Or a new movie. Or install MATLAB. Or Mathematica. Hope you brought your external optical drive. And a USB hub, since it uses your only USB port.

So, I guess it comes down to this: you can bring a 5lb notebook and be ready for pretty much anything. Why would you give up all of that capability for 2lbs?

Re:A few thoughts

[mblase]

One option I thought would make it a lot more attractive would be built-in ripping of DVDs into iTunes.

Can't do that without annoying the very same media companies Jobs wanted to court into iTunes movie rentals -- not to mention the one he himself sits on the board of.

Re:A few thoughts

[Hamilton Lovecraft]

the hard drive (you get to choose slow or obscenely expensive)

Given what you're going to use the Air for, what's the problem with a slow hard disk? I mean, it's not going to affect word processing, spreadsheeting, or web surfing noticeably. Slightly longer boot times? This isn't a suitable machine for doing media creation and editing on, period. I think it's a reasonable compromise.

Re:A few thoughts

[petermgreen]

One option I thought would make it a lot more attractive would be built-in ripping of DVDs into iTunes.
Sadly apple can't do that, while DVD copy protection is thouroughly cracked it is still illegal to distribute tools for ripping DVDs in many countries. Small timers can get away with it but a company the size of apple would just get slapped with a lawsuit immediately.

Re:A few thoughts

[kwerle]

Disclaimer: My Macbook Pro is my primary computer.

There are so many reasons to have a notebook that is a fully-featured computer, and only one not to: 2lbs

So get a full laptop, not an ultralight. Clearly, different people have different thresholds.

Apple went too far. I can understand leaving out the optical drive - it's probably the biggest part of the notebook. But one USB port? No FireWire? No Ethernet? No replacable battery? These are standard notebook features.

I use my OD all the time, so I would not get an air (given my current set of machines/needs). I only ever use one USB port, and only seldom. I do sometimes use FireWire (camera). If I had a main desktop, I wouldn't. I only rarely plug in ethernet - and only when one of my damn neighbors is spewing copious amounts of RF interference so that my wireless won't work. That will change when I move next month. I have never replaced a laptop battery.

You don't miss having an Ethernet port until you want to transfer some DVD images from a desktop - what takes 2 hours on 802.11g (1MiB/s) takes 3 minutes over GigE (40 MiB/s).

Your wireless connection sucks! I get 3+ MB/s on home wireless without trying, and on older equipment. Still no fun to transfer a whole DVD, but see below.

You don't miss having a microphone port until you realize that your USB headset takes up your only USB port. Oops. Hope you brought that USB hub.

Mic is built in. If you really need a mic & headphones, get an integrated set, or bluetooth.

You don't miss having a full-sized display connector until you want to show something on a larger monitor. Hope you remembered to bring your mini-DVI to DVI adapter. And your DVI to VGA adapter.

You're right. You will want to carry around your connector. I'm thinking the laptop bag would be a good spot.

You don't miss the optical drive until someone asks you to watch their training video on DVD. Or a new movie. Or install MATLAB. Or Mathematica. Hope you brought your external optical drive. And a USB hub, since it uses your only USB port.

Or use someone else's. I'm sorry I can't find a link, but it comes with software that will let you share someone else's (mac/pc) optical drive.

So, I guess it comes down to this: you can bring a 5lb notebook and be ready for pretty much anything. Why would you give up all of that capability for 2lbs?

It's not for me, because it costs nearly the same as a MBPro, which I use as a main machine. But if it cost less and I had a desktop, I'd sure consider it. The reasons you listed would all be unimportant to me if I had a desktop. I certainly know people who have been waiting years for just this machine.

Re:A few thoughts

[petermgreen]

the way I see it this is

* not much smaller than the basic macbook
* far more expensive than the basic macbook
* far lower featured than the basic macbook

You seem to be paying a large cost both in terms of price and features for a marginal improvement in portability and an improvement in coolness.

Re:A few thoughts

[hazydave]

Primary computer? Not in Apple's wildest dreams. This is a flashy ultraportable, which finally delivers Jobs' obsession with ultrathin to the PC world. And while I'm no Macfaithful, I'll admit it's pretty cool looking. But it's no more intended to be a primary system than the OQO. But that's ok... Apple (like Sony and a few others) are increasingly using unique and clever industrial design to prop up margins in what's rapidly become a commodity market (notebooks used to be a higher profit business than desktops... that's what kept IBM in the business, long after they had abandoned making PCs).

Even big notebooks (like my HP dv9500t) are often a poor substitute for a desktop... which is why I have a desktop, too. For years I had a notebook (Fujitsu P2000) that, somewhat like this one, was designed to be really portable, but was not intended to support many of things one does on the desktop. On the other hand, my desktop didn't have a dual-battery setup that gave me 14-something hours of battery life, either (I used to commute from New Jersey to Hildesheim, Germany, pretty regularly).

Of course it's a niche... but so is every other notebook. Added together, you have niche coverage of over half of all PCs sold, but each one is, itself, a niche product (ultraportable, ultrabattery, multimedia, gaming, low cost, etc).

Re:A few thoughts

[Clockwurk]

A fool and his money are soon parted. Seriously, you could have purchased the regular macbook for cheaper and had a good, highly portable second computer. The Airbook has the same footprint as the regular macbook, and sacrifices a lot of functionality to be a 1/4" thinner.

Re:A few thoughts

[WorkerGnome]

I get around the iTunes problems with a combination of Screen Sharing (to get stuff in) and the Apple Remote/Front Row (to play stuff). It works well for me--I don't have any music on my laptop at all. And if I'm out and about, I probably have my iPod, anyway.

I am horrified at the number of Apple products I just mentioned.

Re:A few thoughts

[itsdave]

if you look at a ipod classic 80gb vs a 160gb you will notice the 160gb version is slightly thicker than the 80gb version. this is probably why it does not have the larger 160gb drive.

i may be mistaken.

Re:A few thoughts

[geekoid]

"$1799 is a fairly hefty price tag to pay for a second computer. "
Not for a second computer thats stylish, light, and attractive to the growing female executive market.

This is for the people entering and age where they want their technology to be a power status symbol. People around 25-30 or so.

Re:A few thoughts

[Anonymous Coward]

"The only two complaints I have about the Air are the hard drive (you get to choose slow or obscenely expensive) and the fact that Apple hasn't really taken the concept of a satellite laptop as far as they could in OS X. It would be cool if my MacPro and my laptop used WiFi to sync up documents, preferences, media files and such. This problem is especially acute in iTunes where I have hundreds of GB of media on my main machine, but have to manually manage those things on my laptop. I wish Apple recognized this problem and solved it elegantly."

It's called iDisk.

Re:A few thoughts

[owlmon]

It would be cool if my MacPro and my laptop used WiFi to sync up documents, preferences, media files and such. This problem is especially acute in iTunes where I have hundreds of GB of media on my main machine, but have to manually manage those things on my laptop. I wish Apple recognized this problem and solved it elegantly.

rsync?

Re:A few thoughts

[Triv]

In fact, the brilliance on Apple's part here is the recognition (FINALLY) that there are lots of people with big honkin desktop machines who also need a portable computer for going out to meetings, travel or just reading the web (on something bigger then a 3" screen) at the local coffee shop. For us, the Air is perfect - a minimalist extension of our main work computer.

Exactly. But.

For those of us with big-honkin' computers at their desks that they spend most of their time at, what we want is a mimimalist extension of our main work computers that feels like one.

The MacBook air is over-powered. What I wanted was a well-designed, 10" laptop that I can do paperwork, answer emails, watch a movie on and not have it feel like a brick in my bag. What I want is a 12" powerbook, but smaller and lighter and without an optical drive for weight's sake, for, say, 800 bucks. The Macbook air goes for the flashier, better-heeled market and leaves me out in the cold.

Re:A few thoughts

[RalphBNumbers]

The MacBook Air is one sexy, thin piece of hardware. But I'm not nearly as interested as I would been a year or two ago.

It seems to me that Apple has preemptively undercut themselves here.
The MacBook Air seems built on the premise that people will have two computers: a powerful desktop and an extremely svelte portable. And that's a premise I can definitely get behind. I just think the definition of "an extremely svelte portable" has changed recently; and Apple has even played a large role in changing it.

The iPhone, and to a lesser degree the iPod Touch, are very nearly laptop replacements for those who don't ask too much of their laptops, and they will rapidly grow even further into the realm of portable computing in February (presuming their upcoming SDK is not heinously crippled).

There's only really one hardware feature I'd like to see in my ultra-portable that the MacBook Air provides but the iPhone lacks, and that is an easy way to hook it up to a VGA or DVI projector and display presentations (Ironically, this is a feature that the iPhone already had on stage when is was first introduced; Steve Jobs had a special custom interface set up to mirror his iPhone's interface onto the giant projection system he uses at keynotes. Steve just decided to keep that particular toy to himself for some reason.).

Now, obviously, it's going to be a while before many people use a phone to replace a desktop or laptop as their primary computer. And even those with another system at home may demand more than a phone sized device can provide in the near future if they do a lot of work on the road. So fully featured independent laptops have a long and profitable future ahead of them. And some people will undoubtedly love the MacBook Air, either alone or as a second computer supplementing a heftier machine.
But I suspect, in this case, Apple has "skated to where the puck is going to be" with the iPhone, and then turned around and skated right back towards where it was with the MacBook Air.

Re:A few thoughts

[dangitman]

But it has the same capabilities as a real system, unlike the MacBook Air.

Uhh, it is a real system. Do you think it's imaginary or something?

Re:A few thoughts

[DrXym]

In fact, the brilliance on Apple's part here is the recognition (FINALLY) that there are lots of people with big honkin desktop machines who also need a portable computer for going out to meetings, travel or just reading the web (on something bigger then a 3" screen) at the local coffee shop. For us, the Air is perfect - a minimalist extension of our main work computer.

And why would a regular MacBook not be any of these things?

Re:A few thoughts

[Anonymous Coward]

And why would a regular MacBook not be any of these things?

Because everybody has one now... he's trying to "think different"

Re:A few thoughts

[Stu Charlton]

Eh, most of your complaints are dealt with, though

- There's an Ethernet USB dongle for a reasonable price
- There's a USB SuperDrive if I really need regular DVD/CD access
- The battery is replaceable for $129, same price as any other Apple battery (and you won't find it on eBay for $60 unless it's used!)
- Portable USB hubs are common and *tiny*, like credit-card sized
- EVDO or HSPDA? ROFL! I'd rather use a hotspot, thanks.
- Macbook Pros already need you to bring your DVI to VGA adapter, thats the price of going DVI
- Few people actually bring 2 batteries with them, it's just too much weight -- only cross oceanic flights I tend to, but on those there's usually a seat DC adapter

Anyway, I'm a power user, I've owned several Powerbooks and a MacBook Pro, and I'm considering the Air. The only drawback I see, frankly, is the hard drive speed.

Re:A few thoughts

[Xel]

"It would be cool if my MacPro and my laptop used WiFi to sync up documents, preferences, media files and such. This problem is especially acute in iTunes where I have hundreds of GB of media on my main machine, but have to manually manage those things on my laptop. I wish Apple recognized this problem and solved it elegantly."

It's called .Mac. For $69 a year you get 10GB of online storage which automatically syncs with all your computers, AND Back To My mac which (with the right router) will dynamically track your IPs and allow you to share screens and files with your other machines from anywhere in the world with no configuring necessary.

Re:A few thoughts

[SteeldrivingJon]

Or use someone else's. I'm sorry I can't find a link, but it comes with software that will let you share someone else's (mac/pc) optical drive.

Apple should really put that software on their website in an easily-located place, so that Air users don't have to carry it around but instead can grab it off apple.com on demand.

Re:A few thoughts

[kwerle]

While I don't disagree...

Maybe they will.

But even if they don't, OSX ships with sshd (for scp), and apache if you wanna web host it, and ichat if you wanna send it via chat, and mail if you wanna mail it, and the macbook air has a usb port - so you can sneakernet it, and afp, and and and.

So it shouldn't pose too much of a problem to just get it from one machine to another.

Eh - too many compromises

[FroBugg]

$1,000 to upgrade to the SSD
No optical drive
No ethernet
Just one USB port
No audio-in port, but built-in mic
Probably runs hotter than hell

It's pretty, sure, but the regular Macbook is already just a hair over an inch thick and has the exact same size otherwise, with more power and connectivity for cheaper.

Re:Eh - too many compromises

[ToasterMonkey]

What ARE you looking for in a sub-notebook then? A smaller laptop that costs less? MacBook Mini? Lol.
MacBooks are already tiny, so they went as far as they could to minimize size for their new product category.

From the sound of a lot of these posts, people must be chomping at the bit for a smaller, cheaper MacBook, and lost sight of what "sub-notebook" means.

Probably runs hotter than hell Why?

"millions of colors"

[alispguru]

From the tech specs page:

13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy widescreen TFT LED backlit display with support for millions of colors

so I suppose it could be a 7-bit panel...

the price, probably

[CdBee]

You can get 4 eee PCs for the price of this thing, in fact you can probably get 3 into its footprint. I was hoping they would properly challenge Sony and Dell's subnotebooks with a 10-inch screen device. Thinness is less important than width to me

Re:the price, probably

[Anonymous Coward]

Thinness is less important than width to me.

No way! Thickness is always more important than length. Just ask any girl.

Re:the price, probably

[Anonymous Coward]

Thinness is less important than width to me

That's what she said.

Re:the price, probably

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah but how do i get my hands on an eee pc here in budapest? there are 3 apple stores I know of. (technically "premium resellers" - there are no official apple stores in hungary. but they look the same). they'll have this stuff in a few months if not sooner.

For That Price

[N8F8]

It better include a iHandjob!

Re:For That Price

[jollyreaper]

It better include a iHandjob! We don't have time for Starbucks right now.

Re:For That Price

[Anonymous Coward]

"It better include a iHandjob!"
Is this sort of comment really necessary? Apple's coolness bubble may have burst, but just because your iPod isn't as sexy as you once thought it was doesn't mean you should air your libidinous consumer frustration so rudely.

Re:For That Price

[Anonymous Coward]

For that price (about $3,000 for the fanciest version), I bought a Toshiba Portege that weighs less than three pounds and is only 0.75 inches thick (at it's thickest point - the Portege is also tapered).

I'll grant you that it only gets about an hour and change without using the (included) spare battery. And yes, other posters, you can remove the tiny main battery. You have to be able to remove it; it uses Win XP and removing the battery is sometimes the only way to reboot it.

I bought it 4 years ago. Apple fans have been used to thick laptops for a long time, I guess. But that's why I'm not very impressed with Jobs' "thinnest" claim.

I'm using this slim, sexy, tapered computer now. I guess I'm still cool.

Open Apple

[TriNitroToluene.gt]

Has anyone else noticed that they've gotten rid of the 'Open Apple' symbol from the keyboard on the Macbook Air? It's been replaced by command...what's that about?

Re:Open Apple

[rizzo320]

All new Apple keyboards (not just on the MacBook Air) have eliminated the Apple on the Command key. I don't know what the reasoning is behind it.

Re:Open Apple

[astrosmash]

Yes, it's sad. The poor Open Apple. One of the last remaining bits of Apple II legacy has finally been removed from the Mac, and the once-mystical Apple/Splat/Command key becomes just another key.

However, the backspace key is still labeled "Delete", so Apple II fans can still enjoy that one at least.

Re:Open Apple

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

It's been that way for a while. No point in having 2 symbols for the same key, I guess. Makes it less confusing.

Re:Open Apple

[hawaiian717]

The original Mac keyboards had only the Command symbol; adding the Open Apple to the key didn't come about until the advent of ADB, used on both the Apple IIGS and Macs from the Mac SE and Mac II until the iMac came along. I had assumed that a major reason that the Open Apple was added was since the Apple II family used it, it was needed to make things easier for users who wanted to use the same ADB keyboards on an Apple IIGS and on Macs. Though that doesn't explain why the Open Apple was kept on the keyboard once the Apple II line was no longer relevant; the OS never switched the keyboard shortcut graphic in menus from the Command symbol to the Open Apple.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Apple_512k.jpg shows an early Mac keyboard with no Open Apple.

Design?

[Anonymous Coward]

What do other people think about its design? My first impression was that Air is not very good looking, it looks tacky and closer to a generic sub-notebook. Elements of clean industrial design are missing - perhaps worst offenders being:

1. Case design - odd uneven shape is jarring
2. Magsafe connector - looks really bad - I swear I saw the plastic trim on it
3. Flipdown USB port - just really really ugly.

Re:Design?

[jjohnson]

I think the uneven shape is intentional--the very thin edge makes the whole unit look slimmer than it actually is, since some of the bulk is hidden. Also, the fact that the leading edge hovers 3/8" off the top of the desk adds a floaty feel to the whole unit (thus, "air"). It's a bit jarring, but I don't find it unpleasant.

The flipdown USB port isn't pretty, but plugging anything into a pretty, hermetically sealed unit uglifies it, so one can think of it as a flip up cover for when you're not using it.

Really, you should imagine pulling this out in a coffee shop or airport, connecting to wifi and doing your thing without something plugged in. In that case, it very much looks wafer-thin, light, and convenient--which is probably what it was supposed to look like.

Re:Design?

[geekoid]

exactly why you should just use Bluetooth perfs.

Consumer product?

[fermion]

The lack of a firewire port make me wonder if this is a pro or consumer product. The price is pro, but the features is a consumer machine. OTOH, this may be just another indication that Apple is dropping firewire, which is sad as there are advantages.

I also wonder how good a price of $1000 is for a 64GB solid state drive. Typically, Apple sells memory at a 200-300% markup over average maket price. The SSD, along with the fast processor, is why the full configured machine is well over $3000.

Overall, I like the machine. It projection is a little bigge than the 12", 2" in one dimension, but I guess 13" screens are in. Nothing we can do about that. If 2 gigs are the most it can handle, that could be a problem as well.

Ultimately, the question is which market it is for. If it is an expensive consumer machine, with consumer features, it is too expensive. If it is like the Powerbook 12", with some compromises, but still solid, it looks like a good deal.

Re:Consumer product?

[kanweg]

"If 2 gigs are the most it can handle, that could be a problem as well."

I just took a look at a E2600 Sony TZ21. It comes with 2 GB as well. It runs Vista Business on 1.2 GHz; would that qualify for the Guiness Book of records?. The 64 GB solid state thing may scream, if SSD is indeed much faster than a HD, left alone a 4200 tpm HD like in the cheap MacBook Air (or the Sony, for that matter).

The lack of the video-port will not make it the favourite of video-enthousiasts, but the pro world is larger than that.

Bert

Re:Consumer product?

[ubernostrum]

The lack of a firewire port make me wonder if this is a pro or consumer product. The price is pro, but the features is a consumer machine.

After much analysis, reading of entrails and consultation with otherworldly forces, I believe I have identified the portions of Apple's product line which are intended to be "pro"-level offerings. They are:

• MacBook Pro
• Mac Pro

Admittedly, they made it much harder than necessary to guess which products, exactly, were in the "pro" lineup (I was not able to discern any pattern or signifier; only brute-force methods finally yielded up the answers), so I can understand that some folks would have trouble figuring out where the new notebook fits in; perhaps this is Apple's famous culture of secrecy at work.

MacBook Pro

[hotsauce]

All that's true, which just means you're not the target market for that machine. I think they want to sell you the Pro.

No ethernet port, no optical drive

[sillypixie]

Sounds like a sys-admin's nightmare. I think I'll stick with my Macbook for a bit, thanks.

As a consultant who travels with a laptop, I would say I use wireless at client sites no more than 15% of the time. The chance of me showing up with a wireless-only laptop, and being able to get onto the network on the first day.... 0%.

I'm sure we'll get there. But until then, I still need to get work done.

Re:No ethernet port, no optical drive

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple offers a USB-ethernet dongle as an accessory

Re:No ethernet port, no optical drive

[jmauro]

Finally. It really, really sucked trying to find one before when I smoked my MacBook Pro's ethernet port. I finally found a USB-Ethernet device for the Wii that the drivers for the same chipset on worked for.

Re:No ethernet port, no optical drive

[illumin8]

As a consultant who travels with a laptop, I would say I use wireless at client sites no more than 15% of the time. The chance of me showing up with a wireless-only laptop, and being able to get onto the network on the first day.... 0%.

So you bring a frickin' USB ethernet adapter, or just stick with your Macbook.

You are not the target audience for this laptop. Apple has researched the market extremely well. 99% of these will be purchased by college students that use them to take notes, IM, search wikipedia/google, and browse facebook in class. For these type of operations, an ethernet jack and optical drive is totally unnecessary. A 3 pound form factor, bright screen, and thin case most definitely is.

Apple will sell these faster than they can make them. They will be the "must have" notebook for new college students. And, if you've ever priced out sub-notebooks, you know that these are extremely price-competitive compared to the Sonys and other competitors.

Re:No ethernet port, no optical drive

[Thumper_SVX]

Here's a thought... and something I do with my Macbook Pro... I have an Airport Express in my bag along with my power adapter. It allows me to have my own isolated wireless network, secured MY way (WPA2 Personal FTW!) and gives me the ability to have an hardware firewall on my network connection that's under my control... just in case someone has some virus screaming on the customer's network. Not necessarily for my Mac mind you... but for my Parallels XP VM that I sometimes have to run at client locations.

Small, portable and a bit of peace of mind that I can have a connection so long as my clients don't mind me plugging it in. Then again, if they mind me plugging in the APE, they probably don't want my laptop plugged into their network, anyway... though I do understand some wireless concerns.

As a result, I use wireless at my client sites... I can move my laptop around and even have my APE configured so that it's tied to the MAC of my laptop (the MAC of my Mac?) and thus no-one else can use it. Very handy and allows me to move my laptop around quite a bit... within range.

Re:No ethernet port, no optical drive

[toddestan]

Which then ties up your only USB port.

Air + Cintiq 12WX

[splatterboy]

A Macbook Air and A Wacom Cintiq 12WX... I want to get one just for the "watch this" effect next time I have to meet a client/portfolio review.

Suck it, Sony!!!

[BrowncoatJedi]

Steve Jobs owns your sorry ass.

Underwhelming Resolution

[dazedNconfuzed]

1280-by-800 resolution.

This thing is awesome, and I really really want one, and I understand compromises must be made, but a screen limited to 800 lines is problematic.

Please, Steve, 1024 lines? really soon now? please?

Re:Underwhelming Resolution

[joey_knisch]

Underwelming displays are not exclusive to the Air. Look at the 15in MBP for example. Any other manufacturer offers wuxga upgrades for their 15in laptops. Leopard apparently even has resolution independant control rendering.

How sweet would it be to both see most of your photo and check if it is in focus without zooming in and out? Ahh... one day someone will see the light... Until them, I guess I am getting a dell, dude.

apple why the lack of updates for you other hardwa

[Joe The Dragon]

apple why the lack of updates for you other hardware?

like the lack of a macbook pro update, macbook, imca, adc, and mini updates?

The mini is 161 days old and that was just a core 2 cpu drop in update it still has the real old gma 950 video and only 1gb of ram at the same price point.

The imacs are 161 days old as well and they have a weaker video card then the older a bigger imac before them.

The macbook pro is 224 days old.

also where is the xmac?

the mac pro starts at $2700 now but you can cut $500 by going down to 1 cpu.

$2200 for 1 quad core with 2gb of ram and ati 2600xt is better then the older mac pro but what about people who need a good desktop at $600+ and $1000 - $2000?

The Imac screen is not good for pro work and the mini is over priced and underpowered for it as well.

are you waiting for 10.5.2 with amd chipset drivers?
http://www.mac4ever.com/news/34085/amd_dans_leopard_10_5_2/
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.mac4ever.com/news/34085/amd_dans_leopard_10_5_2/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D10.5.2%2Bapple%2Bamd%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DzNW%26sa%3DN

$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[Aphrika]

I'm a tad annoyed by this. iPhone users get the new software update for free, new iPod Touch users get them for free, yet the early adopter iPod Touch people have to stump up $20?

I know I'll end up buying them, but it's the principle of it all...

Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[BMonger]

I know this won't make you feel better but... iPhones are technically purchased over a 2 year period. At least that is how Apple is putting it into their accounting spreadsheets. iPod Touches are probably accounted for all at once. Add this in with the reasoning behind why they charged $1 or whatever it was for 802.11n in some devices and that may be part of why they are charging $20 for these new features...

Not that I *agree* with it at all. But that at least might shed some reason on it. Even if it's a poor reason.

Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[kanweg]

No need to complain. A dollar ain't worth much these days, so for Mail and Notes it is a steal, actually.

Bert

Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree, I recently went against my better knowledge and bought one even though I half expected them to pull a stunt like this, still as soon as I have enough time to figure out how to downgrade to firmware 1.1.1 I'll probably just jailbreak it... I wasn't going to but this is deffinately enough to make me do it

And if you ever want them to change, vote with your wallet!

Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[*weasel]

So why doesn't Nokia charge me for all the apps they add to my n800?

Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[Anonymous Coward]

iPhones are technically purchased over a 2 year period. At least that is how Apple is putting it into their accounting spreadsheets. iPod Touches are probably accounted for all at once. Add this in with the reasoning behind why they charged $1 or whatever it was for 802.11n in some devices and that may be part of why they are charging $20 for these new features... Yet, somehow, Microsoft manages to make available all of the 2nd-generation Zune's new features to 1st-generations Zune owners for free. The Zune's whole freakin' OS was updated (as well as the Zune PC software), improving the interface and making it more responsive. It also added things like wireless computer-to-Zune synching, no time limits for Zune-to-Zune sharing (3 plays still applies), Windows Media Center TV shows synching, and Xbox 360 streaming.

Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[gobbo]

I'm a tad annoyed by this. iPhone users get the new software update for free, new iPod Touch users get them for free, yet the early adopter iPod Touch people have to stump up $20?

Probably SEC rules about changing an already spec'd prduct as opposed to releasing a new one. That, and a little friendly gouging.

Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[trawg]

If it's the principle, then don't buy it! Send a letter to Apple to complain about them punishing early adopters - you know, the people that had faith enough buying a first release product from them. I am utterly appalled that they expect me to shell out another $20 for applications that I can get for free if I just jailbreak.

I've been holding out jailbreaking because I figured any apps I wanted I'd be able to get when the SDK was released. Now I'm wondering - are they making it $20 because they know we're not going to have a choice because the SDK is going to suck? Or are they just trying to scam money from early adopters AGAIN before the SDK comes out and makes this package redundant?

Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll pass on these since Google now offers up Gmail in a "native" format. Mail was all I wanted anyhow. I'm sure Google will get maps to work the same way as the Apple widget.

Re:$20 Suite of apps for the iPod Touch?

[Jellybob]

Or you could just Jailbreak your 1.1.2 touch, and install the same suite of apps from an iPhone firmware image... it takes a little bit more work, but it does result in the nicest PDA I've ever used. And yes, Apple are being unbelievably cheap about things on that front - it's like the charge for upgrading your wireless firmware for n support.

Air

[Jethro]

At first I was psyched about the MacBook Air. I've been wanting a small MacBookPro for... well, since the MBP came out. I was goign to ask whether this thing has a glossy screen.

But really, a non-replaceable battery in a LAPTOP? Especially when Apple says that the batteries are rated for 18 months with "ideal usage"? That seems... a bit off to me. Also I'm betting the harddrives aren't that easy to replace/upgrade.

Come on, Apple! I'll take the same form-factor as a MacBook! Heck I'll take the same specs, just put a real keyboard on it and get rid of the glossy screen! I'll still pay $1,799!

Re:Air

[noidentity]

But really, a non-replaceable battery in a LAPTOP? Especially when Apple says that the batteries are rated for 18 months with "ideal usage"? That seems... a bit off to me.

Kind of like the non-replaceable battery in the iPod?

Re:Air

[Jethro]

Kind of, but not exactly, no.

An iPod is, what, $250, maybe $400 if you go overboard? This guy starts at $1800.

I'd have a much easier time cracking open an 18-month old iPod that I'd paid (lets say) $300 for, and worst case I'll get a newer one with over double the capacity, than cracking open an 18-month old laptop that, worst case, I have to spend another $1800.

I've been inside Apple laptops - I've upgraded the harddrive on my 12" Powerbook G4. It it NOT in any way a simple, easy procedure, and the only reason I did it is this thing's over 3 years old and I needed it to have a speed boost of SOME sort to still be usable.

Apple don't make it nice and simple to crack their computers open, and something tells me this'll be even LESS easy on one of these...

And you know what? It's not just the battery. This things are even more underpowered than the MacBooks. "thin" is cool and all, and I /want/ a small laptop, but honestly the 1" thickness of a MacBook is thin enough for me. And I'd get one if the keyboard wasn't made of chicklets and if the screen wasn't glossy.

Re:Air

[Enrique1218]

Come on, Apple! I'll take the same form-factor as a MacBook! Heck I'll take the same specs, just put a real keyboard on it and get rid of the glossy screen! I'll still pay $1,799!

Ah, dude just get an Macbook and save $300 dollars. I am not seeing your argument. Apple thin light notebbok by basically gutting the damn thing. I am not saying its a good thing but its their choice. I will wait to see how the early adopters react to it

Re:Air

[Bob Wehadababyitsabo]

When shopping for a new Mac laptop about 6 months ago the screen was a significant issue. Matte screens just looked better to me. I couldn't justify blowing the extra cash on an MBP (w/ matte screen) and ended up with a straight MB. The screen has thus far not been an issue, somewhat to my surprise.

Re:Air

[Jethro]

> Ah, dude just get an Macbook and save $300 dollars.

I don't want a MacBook for two reasons: 1) The keyboard is pretty awful, and B) GLOSSY SCREEN. I just cannot handle glossy screens. For goodness sake, the people at the Apple store can't even set the things up to not glare all over the place.

I'm upgrading from a 12" Powerbook G4, not from an iBook. I don't want a toy, I want an actual computer.

Re:Air

[Jethro]

The thing about glossy screens is that they really suck when you do a lot of photography stuff and you want to make sure the colours are correct. I dunno, it looks like I'm going to have to compromise and I'll probably get the way cheaper MB so that WHEN they come out with one I really want, it won't be such a big deal. Or not, I dunno. I had some big hopes for the product announcements today, my poor old PB12 is just dying.

Re:Air

[Thumper_SVX]

18 months? Come on... my MBP has a battery that's two years old and it's still charging to 90% capacity according to Coconut Battery. Oh, and my battery life went up with Leopard so I still get about the same runtime as I do when I bought it. And I'm not particularly careful with the battery. I know I should condition it... but I keep forgetting :)

Re:Air

[stephentyrone]

The color is actually better on the glossy screens, as they trade off some glare for a better contrast ratio and gamut. I have a 17" glossy MBP and do a ton of photography work on it, it's wonderful. I also have a matte-screen 15" MBP for coding on (given to me by the office), so I have some basis for comparison here.

Re:Air

[Jethro]

I'm just saying, that's all Apple will claim it's good for. The battery on my PB12 did kinda die after about that long - it'll now hold charge for mayyybe 10 minutes. The new one I got, which I use correctly, has lasted much longer, but still. Just sayin' what Apple are sayin'.

Re:Air

[Jethro]

I'm not saying it's not purty. I'm saying it's inaccurate when you have to have it look EXACTLY the same on the screen as when it's printed.

Re:Air

[Raptor CK]

Thank God I'm not alone. 20 years down the line, we'll all be living under a bridge, chanting "God, Country, and the 12" Powerbook!"

Okay, maybe that makes us crazy, but hey, the 12" PB was just *that* good.

Re:Air

[stephentyrone]

In that case you're not using a laptop anyway, you're using a calibrated external monitor with a hood.

Re:Air

[Jethro]

That's true. Which is why I'll probably compromise on one of those. ):

Re:Air

[Scudsucker]

Apple don't make it nice and simple to crack their computers open

They do on the current run of Macbook's, at least. Replacing a hard drive should take only a minute or two, as opposed to on the old iBook's where it was at least a half hour long operation.

What's unappealing to me about the Air is the lack of built in ethernet, after having gotten used to gigabit connections.

Re:Air

[Jethro]

I know the harddrive is easy on the new MB and MBP, but I'm talking about getting into the parts they don't want you to get into.

Re:Air

[JemalCole]

It's not a non-replaceable battery. It's a non-user-replaceable battery. $129 gets you a new one, and Apple will install it. That's cheaper than most spare batteries.

Also, I don't know if you've used a glossy screen, but I'm switching to them. I got a glossy Sony LCD that I love, and a MacBook that I take everywhere and love even more. Glare shmare.

Re:Air

[Jethro]

First of all, $129 is the standard Apple price for batteries. Second, shipping your laptop in for a battery replacement is, in my own opinion, unreasonable.

Re:Air

[Scudsucker]

What parts do you need to get to, other than the ram and the hd?

Re:Air

[Jethro]

We're talking about the MacBook Air, not a MB or MBP. yes, it's easy to get at those things on those guys, but I was using my PB12 as an example. Apple didn't make the HDD accessible on that and it was hellish getting in there and replacing the thing. I'm willing to bet that it'd be even HARDER on the MBA, and they have the battery in there, too.

Well.. yeah...

[denzacar]

Every laptop includes iHandjob. As long as you have hands that is.

Its the Handjob2-Me4M-HR technology that is non-standard. And no.. it does not come with it.

Real air (and cheaper, tough and available now)

[GAATTC]

I think I'll stick with my Thinkpad X61s. It has mobile broadband (real air! - Verizon or Cingular) which is crucial for me when I'm traveling. It is hundreds (to thousands) of dollars cheaper than the Mac Air. It is also a tad lighter, has removable batteries (the big ones last over 10 hours), a much faster HDD (than the 1.8" HDD), is just about as thin (0.8"), can connect to a dock, has multiple USB ports, ethernet, a microphone, PCMCIA slot, SD card reader, keyboard light, , a full size video connector (no dongles to lose), and tough construction. In addition, the Thinkpad keyboards are legendary. Of course - it's not an Apple - but if that's not an issue then it is a much more flexible and cheaper alternative if you're looking for a small laptop which is truly wireless nearly everywhere.

Re:Real air (and cheaper, tough and available now)

[manonthemoon]

"is just about as thin (0.8")"
Not True: Height: 1.41"

"It is hundreds (to thousands) of dollars cheaper than the Mac Air"
Not True: "Price as Configured: $2033 ($1863 without UltraBase and Optical Drive)"

"It is also a tad lighter"
Not True: Weight: 3lbs 10.6oz"

I had one about 8 years ago. Except it was

[yourpusher]

called a Sony VAIO.

Re:You know...

[abigor]

The MacBook Air is silver. It has an aluminum case.

0.76" to 0.16"

[denzacar]

0.76" to 0.16" thick, nickel and dime processor...

How much is that in REAL measurements?
You know... like Libraries of Congress (LoCs) and Lengths of Football Fields (LoFFs)?

Apple link

[Petaris]

Here is the official Apple link:

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/

Apple Blew It

[petehead]

I was stoked on the rumors but not so when I found out how big it would be. They essentially took a decent laptop and made it really really thin. Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I have found that with the fairly thin modern laptops, the thickness wasn't the limiting factor as far as portability. I'd much rather had them keep the same thickness and knock it down to around a 10". Really, 13.3" is still pretty big to stow and go. And, I'd be scared about its durability.

Re:Apple Blew It

[jjohnson]

See, I think this is the perfect form factor for laptops in general--full size screen and keyboard and really thin, meaning light as well. I hate tiny screens and keyboards, which has kept me away from the ultraportable market until now.

My ideal laptop would be the size of a sheet of letter paper (the most common dimensions around for, well, anything into which you might also stick a laptop), and only 1/2" thick.

Toshiba portege has replaceable batteries.

[tknd]

Do you want a laptop that is 0.16" to 0.76" thick? Go grab a ruler and put that in perspective. There is no way in hell you're going to do that with a standard external battery.

Toshiba has been doing it with their portege series for quite a while now. Here's their latest ultraportable/thin laptop (Portege R500) where they even managed to cram an optical drive into the thing: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3769

You can even go to their older products like the Portege R100 which has a maximum thickness of 19.8mm (.78 inches) as well as a removable battery but no optical drive.

Re:Toshiba portege has replaceable batteries.

[statusbar]

You know, I am unashamedly both a linux and a mac fan-boy... I was waiting with baited breath for today's announcement as I have both a 12" powerbook g4 and a 15" powerbook waiting to be retired...

I have been a bit disappointed.

I wish Apple had made an ultraportable which competed well with the Toshiba R500.... The R500 with the trans-flective display is very tempting. I wish I didn't have to pay the microsoft tax with it as I would run Linux only on it.

I was hoping for an Apple ultraportable with a smaller, higher resolution trans-flective screen. I thought about it hard and was ready to plunk down my money today, but the 'thin-ness' of the Macbook Air is not really important to me - Even though it does look 'sexy'... Portability and usability outdoors is more important for me. If it were a 12" or 11" screen I'd be a lot happier with it even though the lack of firewire is a problem for me.

--jeffk++

Holy crap!

[Kuukai]

Its Intel chip is the diameter of a dime and the thickness of a nickel. Holy crap! I've certainly never seen anything like that!
 
...Or do they count the board?

Re:Holy crap!

[Anonymous Coward]

The wired log http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/01/countdown-to-th.html said that the packaging is nickel and dime sized. The packaging includes the heat-spreader and bga (if that's what they're using on this). Which is to say it includes the green stuff on the pic of the processors you linked. Pretty small for a standard CPU.

It'll be interesting to see how hot they get.

Re:Holy crap!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes you dumb fuck .. that INCLUDES the board

Re:Holy crap!

[Anonymous Coward]

You do realise that you are linking to some very out-dated CPUs, right? And I think they are counting the board - their is a big diagram on the website showing just that.

Laugh

[hotsauce]

We may laugh, but my secretary just came up to me and asked if it comes in black, because she'd pay more for that...

Re:Laugh

[denzacar]

Can you fire her based on that?

Or at least recommended her for psychiatric observation?
Willingness to pay extra for hardware's color does imply some kind of mental defect.

Re:Laugh

[flitty]

Wait, we ARE talking about Macs, right?

Re:Laugh

[Anonymous Coward]

At least she doesn't suffer from Asberger's.

Re:Laugh

[PitaBred]

Seriously. Why does anyone want a car in a color other than black?

Re:Laugh

[Freeside1]

That's the thing, while Apple hardware may be decent, owning Apple hardware has become more of a fashion statement than a reflection of someone's computing needs. If you disagree, go to your nearest college campus, and count how many scenesters sport the white iPod earbuds.

Re:Laugh

[revscat]

Obviously you don't live in Texas. Getting into a black car in August is hellish.

Of course, my car is black, so I'm a huge hypocrite. BUT the point is that white is a very popular color here, and for damn good reason.

Re:Laugh

[PitaBred]

Sorry, I forgot the tags. I was referring to Henry Ford writing "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black", and eventually having to change that because of market forces. People will pay more or go elsewhere to get what they want. I can just imagine the GGP poster being perfectly happy buying a mustard and fluorescent pink Mac as long as it was fast...

Re:Laugh

[T-Bone-T]

Funny. My girlfriend recently bought a car and got a huge discount for getting a white car off the dealer's hands. That was almost the only color they had because all the other colors got sold.

Re:Laugh

[xSauronx]

My grandfather always told me to get a white car: "you dont notice as soon if it hasnt been washed" he told me.

Re:Laugh

[tm2b]

I get the reference, but seriously: anybody who lives in the south of the US. Black cars become EasyBake ovens in the summer.

Re:Laugh

[PitaBred]

I've actually found that both black AND white cars show dirt instantly. Get anything but those colors, and your car will look clean longer.

Steve jobs...

[Jangchub]

...bathing in rays of rainbow light like some kind of solar messiah? Everything mac reminds me of tamagotchi.

Re:You know...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ehm, actually the Air is Aluminium, not white. With black, backlit keyboard. Not white. And then of course there's the black MacBook regular. Not white.

Thanks but no thanks

[epr]

The only two advantages it has over other similar notebooks is that it a) looks good, and b) runs OS X. But with those specs I'd rather get a Lenovo X61 or Panasonic W7. And integrated battery? Come on, it's not a freaking wrist watch, even if it's thin enough to be one.

Re:You know...

[Pojut]

Oh, I see how it is Steve. You think just by using a slightly different colour and an entirely different material suddenly makes your products awesome? Sorry bucko, but you can't fool me. It's the same old cult crap it has always been.

(on a more serious note, I would like to apologize to any slashers out there who have taken me seriously...it's 2:30 PM, work is slow, and I REALLY want to go home.8D)

One pound too heavy

[Anonymous Coward]

Light means :

3 pounds with optocal drive

2 pounds without optical drive

This one it is one pound too heavy.

Question: is it easy to replace the hard drive?. Apple usually overcherges you for a big drive. I always buy a mac laptops small drives and buy the biggest drives available myself.

Considerations

[eiapoce]

Finally a very very luxury item from apple ;) how strange. Some considerations:

1) I won't do anything with just a USB port. Two is few and I usually carry a powered hub with my macbook.
2) The multitouch stuff is interesting I can't wait for people to port it to the other macs.
3) Where the fuck is the battery!!! Can't see that, maybe is it a iPhone trap?
4) Dealing with wireless on my macbook is as pleasurable as dealing with a sandpaper anal indruder. I hope they made some progress on drivers before relying on it for software installs

Looks a nice expensive hi tech mobile, somewhat superfluos but I guess people will flock to buy it nevertheless.

I give it a 3 out of 5

[Alzheimers]

At first I was dazzled by the bullshit, but after an hour's contemplation I realized that nothing they've announced today is either revolutionary or exciting.

#1 - The Time Capsule. Haven't we had wireless NAS's since 802.11 became a standard? I've got a USB-2 external drive that does my backups now. This announcement does absolutely nothing for me.

#2 - The iPhone/iPod touch updates. I was really hoping to hear an announcement regarding the hardware. More memory. Smaller form factor. Lower price. Open network. Instead we see a few lousy software upgrades (woo, quasi-GPS that's been in the system for a week now). And, a nice F-U to the early adopters in a 20$ upgrade for the Touch. Glad noone bought me one of those for xmas. Anyone who did get one in the last 30 days should immediately return it and get one of the "new" ones with the additional features for free. And take a crap in the box, before they do.

#3 - The AppleTV/Movie Rental Service. Exciting, if the XBox360 hasn't been serving this capacity for over TWO YEARS. Wow, all the major labels, eh? Are they suddenly going to cut ties with all their other distribution partners? I didn't think so. And the price cut on the AppleTV was okay, but they *really* couldn't go just a bit further to put it below the $200 mark? Really, they must want this device to fail.

#4 - The MacBook Air. It's really just a masturbation toy for the rich gadget hound -- it does nothing new besides be smaller, and it does it slower and more expensively to boot. Wow, it fits in an envelope. Unless you're mailing me one, I'm not interested. Multitouch pad? Give it a month, they'll be on all the MacBooks. The size factor will very quickly be copied by Sony/Dell/et al, so Windows fanbois can rest easy. What would have made it revolutionary? If it were JUST a screen, no Keyboard, no fancy touchpad. Or, if it were under a thousand dollars. THAT would have been impressive. Made of Aluminum? And you thought the last generation MacBooks broke easily! Remote Disk? I've been sharing my CD-ROM drive via windows networking since 1996. It even works over wireless!

What WOULD have been impressive:
- A new headless Mac Desktop that fits between the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro.
- An iPhone Nano, about the size of the old iPod Nano with 1-2gb of memory for $99-$149.
- A Mac tablet running full Leopard with multitouch. Bonus points if it's under $1500.
- An iMac with a curved monitor like what's been shown at CES.
- Price drops on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac Mini.

In a word: meh.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[keytoe]

#1 - The Time Capsule. Haven't we had wireless NAS's since 802.11 became a standard? I've got a USB-2 external drive that does my backups now. This announcement does absolutely nothing for me.

To be fair, the real feature is the seamless integration with Time Machine - not the fact that it's a NAS/WiFi base. If this makes it easy for my wife to back her data up from her desktop and her laptop without having to figure it out, it's a win. With a 1TB version, all four computers in our house can be automatically backed up with Time Machine by simply hitting the 'on' switch. I think that's pretty cool. To boot, it's reasonably priced for the features - which is odd for Apple peripheral gear.

Everything else you said I agree with for the most part, however.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[DrXym]

I'm surprised they didn't produce a rebadged Mac Mini called Apple TV Plus or similar and being a full computer as well as a dumb iTMS client. After all, the Mac Mini would make a passable computer / player running on the TV.

The Apple TV itself seems like a turd of a device. It's amazing its taken them this long to figure that requiring a user to sync an Apple TV to a PC / Mac is a stupid idea. Now they've fixed it the Apple TV is moderately usable, but it still doesn't do anything besides act as a dumb client to iTMS. It doesn't even play games, act as a PVR, DVDs or Blu ray discs. 720p only is pretty crap too. Its competitors have more features for not much more. Asking $229 for an Apple TV (and soon $299 for new model?) is just too much. An XBox 360 offers movie rentals, and happens to be a games console too for not much more. So does the PS3 and is only $100 more which includes full multimedia playback including Blu Ray and probably rentals sometime this year. Or a Tivo that is a PVR and offers Amazon Unbox. It wouldn't surprise me if the PS3 teams up with Amazon Unbox before long.

I think Apple enjoyed being a monopoly for far too long, and they simply don't have the clout they did. It's clear that lots of movie rental services are already up or soon to appear. Apple is entering a crowded market with fairly meh devices and I don't think they're going to get very far.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[llZENll]

Yeah you are right on. The most exciting thing for me would be the HD rentals, but the fact that you have to have an AppleTV is dumb, I have a MacMini hooked up to my HDTV and its awesome, why the hell can't I download HD movies using it? I have a 360 and their movie selection is pretty bad, Apple having all of the studios could be a big plus, but not if you need an AppleTV.

About the only thing that would have been impressive in your list is a tablet with multitouch, but seeing as every tablet that has ever been released has been a total failure, I don't think they are going to touch ;) that anytime soon.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[Rakishi]

The size factor will very quickly be copied by Sony/Dell/et al, so Windows fanbois can rest easy. The size factor has more or less existed for a long time, see for example the Dell X1. Usually it included a dock so that the whole thing wasn't an utter pain in the ass to use. Panasonic had some brilliant designs as well which even included a cd/dvd drive in roughly the same form factor.

The thing is that no one actually wants the form factor, the Dell X1 was smaller and lighter but slightly ticket. If I remember correctly it was phased out because sales weren't good enough.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[ContractualObligatio]

You remind me of every fuckwit manager/luser I've ever encountered who doesn't have a damn clue what good design, good value, or good business is.

For instance, releasing a new iPhone model at a quarter of the price of the very first model, which has been out for less than a year and still has a significant target to meet? What do you have for brains, muesli?

I pity anyone with the misfortune to work for someone like you or the idiots who modded your post up.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[ari_j]

#1 - How many of them automatically integrate with Time Machine-like software on the local network? Time Machine is, I'd note, about a lot more than backups.

#2 - Yeah, adding Mail to the iPod Touch is pretty useless. Lack of that is the main reason I've held out on getting one.

#3 - Please indicate the source of your expertise on product pricing, and demonstrate why your pricing model is superior to Apple's.

#4 - It's not for you. Don't worry so much.

The real question here is why you have so much animosity toward Apple. Did you just find out that Steve Jobs is your real father, or something?

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[vux984]

#1 - The Time Capsule. Haven't we had wireless NAS's since 802.11 became a standard? I've got a USB-2 external drive that does my backups now. This announcement does absolutely nothing for me.

Yes -WE- have, but the average joe doesn't, and even if we gave him one he wouldn't be able to get it working. Maybe, just maybe, now they'll actually make backups. Apple is known for making things painlessly easy. I wouldn't be surprised if setting up your mac to back itself up automatically is a couple checkboxes now.

That's a good thing.

iphone ipod

Yeah, nothing big there. But we all already knew the real iphone news comes with the dev kit, next month. The $20 upcharge to get the apps on the ipod touch is a slap in the face, especially coming out 2 weeks after christmas. It really should be free, or something completely nominal like $1.99.

The AppleTV/Movie Rental Service.

Alright, a couple comments...
1) Xbox has only been doing this a year. The console's been out 2, but HD movie rentals only one.

2) Xbox selection after 1 year still sounds considerably weaker than what apple's announced out of the gate.

3) xbox is a game console, first and foremost. I don't think ANYBODY bought an xbox to rent movies with. Even though it did it first, it was an add on feature that most people in the mainstream don't even know exists. When they think xbxo 360 they think Halo3, and if that doesn't interest them, they aren't going to buy an xbox 360. Microsoft hasn't effectively marketed their console as anything but a 'hardcore gamers console'. And Sony is in the same boat. Nintendo focussed just on games, and Apple is focussing just on movies... its not a bad idea.

Where is Microsofts Media Centre Edition PC that does this, without the 'Xbox360' wrapper all for ~200 bucks? If microsoft was after this audience, that is the product they'd need to be promoting.

4) appleTV is mac and pc compatible

I agree its not earth shattering, but its an interesting step forward.

#4 - The MacBook Air. It's really just a masturbation toy for the rich gadget hound -- it does nothing new besides be smaller, and it does it slower and more expensively to boot.

So your theory is that the thinnest PC in the world should also be the fastest and least expensive in order to qualify as 'something new'? Indeed, if it were, why would there be any other laptop models at all... as they'd all be bigger, slower, and more expensive. Do you hold all manufacturers to this ridiculous standard or just Apple?

The size factor will very quickly be copied by Sony/Dell/et al, so Windows fanbois can rest easy.

Maybe, maybe not. In any case Dell and Sony have nothing like this now, and would never had had the balls to bring it to market unless someone else forged the way first and proved there was a market for it. So if you buy one from Sony six months from now, you can still thank Apple for goading them into it.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[MrMacman2u]

You have a few points that need to be corrected, I shall volunteer...

#1 - The Time Capsule. Haven't we had wireless NAS's since 802.11 became a standard? I've got a USB-2 external drive that does my backups now. This announcement does absolutely nothing for me.

Yes, the hardware is nothing new, but the excellent software and the sheer ease of use is going to be the key selling points with Time Capsule. So instead of farting around trying to get your back up software to work with your NAS, John Generic opens the box plugs it in and he/she is done. That's exciting for most people.

#2 - The iPhone/iPod touch updates.

I'll give you this one. Well done!

#3 - The AppleTV/Movie Rental Service. Exciting, if the XBox360 hasn't been serving this capacity for over TWO YEARS. Wow, all the major labels, eh? Are they suddenly going to cut ties with all their other distribution partners? I didn't think so. And the price cut on the AppleTV was okay, but they *really* couldn't go just a bit further to put it below the $200 mark? Really, they must want this device to fail.

Two problems. One, the XBox 360 costs more than the AppleTV and doesn't have the best (read: sad) compatibility with streaming video and other media in from Macs. Yeah you can play games with it also justifying the cost, blah blah blah, we're not talking games.

Two, there WAS a price cut, so hush. Apple would have been justified in leaving the price point the same just as it tends to do with all it's systems, upgrade the hardware, leave the price point the same. Yes, loosing that last $30 to bring the price under 200 would have been nice, but not doing so is NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, wanting the device to fail.

#4 - The MacBook Air. It's really just a masturbation toy for the rich gadget hound -- it does nothing new besides be smaller, and it does it slower and more expensively to boot.

You're not the target audience. Stop talking.

It's a laptop for people who want something more portable, lighter and smaller than the MacBook, of which there are plenty. For most people you can't make a laptop small or light enough and as a bonus it does make an excellent status symbol. Guess what? ALL of Apples products are considered status symbols. Outstanding style, design and functionality at a premium price, thats what a large part of Apple's market demands, so Apple delivers. It doen't HAVE to be the end-all be-all of portable computing, there are two other perfectly capable models in the line up to do that.

Regarding the price, small cost money to MAKE so small costs money to BUY because people WANT small!!

As for the wireless CD sharing, I've been doing the same thing via Apples file sharing since '92, it's nothing new, they're just gonna make doing it easier and slicker so that John and Jane Generic can do it in their sleep.

What WOULD have been impressive:
- A new headless Mac Desktop that fits between the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro.
No arguements here, been practically begging Apple for this for years.

- An iPhone Nano, about the size of the old iPod Nano with 1-2gb of memory for $99-$149.
You want a blow job from Steve with that too? Not happening. The iPhone is extremly sucessful at it's current size and price point. In 5 years maybe we'll see a Nano iPhone for around $200, until then go buy a Centro

- A Mac tablet running full Leopard with multitouch. Bonus points if it's under $1500.
The market is not demanding a tablet Mac, only frothing geeks that want a "masturbation toy" I believe you said.

- An iMac with a curved monitor like what's been shown at CES.
Shut up.

- Price drops on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac Mini.
It took 4 or 5 years of CONSTANT UNRIVALED SUCESS for Apple to drop the price on the iPod... Ask again in a few years for

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[Joe The Dragon]

replace the mini with a desktop starting at the mini price.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[MrMacman2u]

Ummm.... the mini IS a desktop...

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[MojoStan]

Ummm.... the mini IS a desktop... Lame car analogy...

The Mac Mini is a Tata Nano. It's pretty obvious the GP means at least a Toyota Camry, a REAL desktop with a 3.5" 7200rpm hard drive, desktop CPU, Blu-ray option, and non-mobile GPU.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[vux984]

The Apple TV itself seems like a turd of a device. It's amazing its taken them this long to figure that requiring a user to sync an Apple TV to a PC / Mac is a stupid idea. Now they've fixed it the Apple TV is moderately usable, but it still doesn't do anything besides act as a dumb client to iTMS. It doesn't even play games, act as a PVR, DVDs or Blu ray discs.

Oh noes, my PVR must also be a turd because it doesn't let me play games either, and it won't even play DVDs, never mind blu ray discs.

Fortunately I have a DVD player for DVDs, and a Wii for games And I'm not convinced that I even want a bluray player yet. So I'm not that bent out of shape that my HD dual tuner PVR is a $600 turd that can't do any of those things.

And don't get me started on my home theatre receiver... fucking turd only has an am/fm tuner.

An XBox 360 offers movie rentals, and happens to be a games console too for not much more.

No. An Xbox 360 offers games, and happens to offer movie rentals too. But other than gamers and xbox360 owners (who are pretty much all gamers) who else knows about xbox360 movie rentals? Has anyone ever bought an xbox to rent movies? MS is doing a dismal job of getting the word out.

but it still doesn't do anything besides act as a dumb client to iTMS

I already use VOD from my cable provider (video on demand) to rent movies, but the VOD service isn't HD. 225 for access to an HD VOD rental service? Doesn't seem -that- bad to me. Plus it can sync and stream media from my PC?

Sure an xbox can do this too...but if I don't want Halo 3 etc, or I do want it to work with my Mac then the xbox doesn't really bring any extra value.

I'd agree that AppleTV isn't revolutionary, that its just another product entering the fray. But a turd? Compared to an xbox360? Get real... xbox360 is plagued with reliability problems, and its weaker flavours force dev's to write to the lowest common denominator... ie... no hard drive.

And the PS3? The only thing its really got going for it is that its a decent bluray player. But I'm not even sure I want a bluray player, nevermind one with an identity crisis. Why does my blu ray remote look like a game controller? Oh? It plays games too? Oh? That's actually its primary function? That explains why it came with a game controller while the remote is separate... but then why did it come with 6 blu ray movies and no games?

I think Apple enjoyed being a monopoly for far too long, and they simply don't have the clout they did.

Is this the same apple that's had from 3 to 7% of the PC market for the last 10+ years? Yeah, the hubris of being an unstoppable monopoly has really addled their brains.

Apple is entering a crowded market with fairly meh devices and I don't think they're going to get very far.

The devices in the market are all also fairly meh. While Apple's products may be 'meh' on features and performance for the price, they're likely to be easy to use and stylish... and at the end of the day, that's what sent the ipod into the stratosphere and is driving their PC sales... it seems to be a strategy that works for them.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[MrHanky]

I imagine the gentleman is looking to buy stuff, not sell it. Not a proper Apple fanboi, in other words.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[Anonymous Coward]

>#4 - The MacBook Air. It's really just a masturbation toy for the rich gadget hound --
>it does nothing new besides be smaller, and it does it slower and more expensively to boot.
>Wow, it fits in an envelope. Unless you're mailing me one, I'm not interested.

Well I am, it's a bit faster and cheaper than the closest model available now (from Sony), and quite a bit faster than the comparable ones than sharp. It's got a metal case, and 5 hours battery life. The most important two factors for a laptop (i.e. something to use portably!) are:
a.) portability (small size/weight)
b.) Battery life

It's small, reasonably light, and the battery lasts a long time. This means I can actually use it on the train or airplane for more than an hour! and I won't mind carrying it to begin with.

>Multitouch pad? Give it a month, they'll be on all the MacBooks.

That's true.

>The size factor will very quickly be copied by Sony/Dell/et al, so Windows fanbois can rest easy.

The size factor has been around, sharp and sony have used it a lot. So what? This model is faster than the sharp and cheaper than the sony, and with a nicer case.

>What would have made it revolutionary? If it were JUST a screen, no Keyboard, no fancy touchpad.

Yuk, then it would also have been relatively unusable to me. I so much LOVE trying to use Excel or OpenOffice with the touch-screen... emails are fun too... even web browsing would be a pain without a keyboard. There's a reason "tablet PCs" have pretty much flopped.

>Or, if it were under a thousand dollars. THAT would have been impressive.

Yeah, it would, but nobody else's comparable PCs are, why would apple's be? It's already better than the sony one in most ways, and cheaper.

>Made of Aluminum? And you thought the last generation MacBooks broke easily!

I don't get it, metal is certainly better than plastic in this respect. (I've owned both kinds)

>Remote Disk? I've been sharing my CD-ROM drive via windows networking since 1996. It even works over wireless!

Yeah... but sharing the disk at the block level in a reliable way is a bit different.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[117]

2 - The iPhone/iPod touch updates. .....Instead we see a few lousy software upgrades you clearly overlooked the part about the revolutionary features like "text message multiple people in one message"; and "customize their home screen", those being features available to pretty much every other mobile phone manufactured in the last five years....

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[danigiri]

"What WOULD have been impressive: - A new headless Mac Desktop that fits between the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro. - An iPhone Nano, about the size of the old iPod Nano with 1-2gb of memory for $99-$149. - A Mac tablet running full Leopard with multitouch. Bonus points if it's under $1500. - An iMac with a curved monitor like what's been shown at CES. - Price drops on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac Mini. In a word: meh."

Feel free to go to http://www.apple.com/jobs and send your awesome CV, in 9 months we want to see all these products delivered. You'll be the product manager in the development of said products, overseeing the bunch of idiots that work at Apple that somehow couldn't get that out of the door in time. Good luck. Free hint: the CFO will want to see you immediately to find out how to recap the costs of development of these awesome products at that price. Oh, and drop all that insider info to iSupply, they also want to know. *Chuckle*

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[failedlogic]

I also was looking forward to a headless desktop that was less expensive than the Mac Pro. I've looked at pricing on a single CPU with 3-year Apple care. But once I add a few upgrades - even when I do it myself - its well over $3000: I need a monitor, an extra HDD, bluetooth. As I only have an iMac G5, I don't have a monitor from an existing system. I was budgeting around $1800 - which would be iMac range, but I'm not going to put up with the disadvantages of the iMac or a Mini. I'm thinking with the lack of desktop choices from Apple, my first Apple system will also be my last sadly. I wonder if I'm not the only one thinking the same thing. Hello Apple?!

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[initialE]

I for one would have wanted a big-ass iphone with full-featured Leopard on it. A tablet like no other.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[nine-times]

#1 - The Time Capsule. Haven't we had wireless NAS's since 802.11 became a standard?

The point isn't that it's just a NAS, but it's a NAS that supports Time Machine. I hope they'll start supporting Time Machine use on external drives hooked to the 802.11n Airport device, but at least it's a start.

#4 - The MacBook Air. It's really just a masturbation toy for the rich gadget hound

Yeah, so...?

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[BrowncoatJedi]

Idiot

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[CmdrPorno]

Well, for me, the "being smaller" part is important. I wished Apple made an ultraportable when I bought my 12" PowerBook almost three years ago, as I do not need to carry an optical drive on a daily basis. Now, they have introduced a product that more closely fits my needs. I'm not thrilled

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[greyhueofdoubt]

So the new Chevy ThunderCatEagleBird just came out... After I thought about it, I realized that it's just not my thing:

-70 MPG: yeah, but the fuel tank isn't replaceable. Plus, with my personal biodiesel still in my mom's garage, I can just make my own gas.

-Night-vision HUD: Great. Now old ladies can terrorize the roads at NIGHT as well as 11 a.m.

-Auto steering and trip planning: I enjoy poring over old topo maps and planning my next trip to Spockland. Maybe SOME people are willing to pay extra $$$ to have their CAR figure out the quickest route, but I am not that easy to fool, Chevy!

Why can't people just say, "Hey. I guess I'm not in the market for this device. Kudos to Apple/Toshiba/Sony, but I'll stick to what I already have."

I'd understand if you were an exec and you already had a toshiba portege (and money was no object), and you were saying, "Hey this thing doesn't match my mistress's favorite pantyhose." OK then, you have a point.

I give up...

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[-noefordeg-]

I can't even in my wildest dreams believe you compared the most ugly and noise machine to ever enter my house to Apple TV/iTunes movie rental.

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[weicco]

revolutionary features like "text message multiple people in one message" *snip* those being features available to pretty much every other mobile phone manufactured in the last five years....

Heh. This brings back memories when I coded such a thing for Piccolink 2000 (google for it, I didn't find any sites in English about it) in 2003. It could send multipart SMS to multiple recipient at once. Maybe I should check out if there's any job openings at Apple :)

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[necro2607]

"Haven't we had wireless NAS's since 802.11 became a standard?"

Oh yeah, we have. But have fun configuring that to seamlessly & automatically & wirelessly back up with all of your Mac and Windows machines. Yeah, see you in a few weeks+.

"The AppleTV/Movie Rental Service. Exciting, if the XBox360 hasn't been serving this capacity for over TWO YEARS"

Sure, except those videos on your 360 don't load onto your other computers, and your cell phone and iPhone.

"Multitouch pad? Give it a month, they'll be on all the MacBooks."

Yup I agree on that, not that it takes away from the opportunity to have it immediately on the Air.

As for the size/form-factor? I'd love to see any manufacturer match this machine. Even 6+ months from now, it's not going to be matched, especially when intel had to custom-design/fabricate this CPU exclusively for the Air. As for the "breaks easily" aspect, I'm not buying that argument. Car wheels are made with aluminum alloy (in fact my car has aluminum alloy wheels). It's probably stronger than the magnesium alloy shells of the MacBooks, but I don't know -it would be interesting to see some docs on this...

Re:I give it a 3 out of 5

[necro2607]

sorry, meant "cell phone and iPod" on that second point.

Solution to "Integrated Battery"

[GSGKT]

Maybe, just maybe, a hand-crank charger (like the one for the XO laptop) will be available for MacBook Air soon... and a demonstration video with Chuck Norris showing us how to fully recharge the battery under one minute.

Road warriors

[jfengel]

I think you're missing the target market for this machine. It's your basic road-warrior type, who uses the machine away from the office. They give Powerpoint presentations, read and send email from coffee shop and hotel wireless, watch a few movies, type up documents and spreadsheets, etc.

They have their IT department install software at the office, from another computer or an attached laptop. These people haul their computers around all day every day and want something really, really light and small.

It's always been Apple's brilliance to see what people can live without and making their computers more streamlined. People spazzed when the iMac didn't have a floppy drive.

I dunno if this is the right computer for its target market; that's Apple's gamble. But it doesn't surprise me that you're not in it. It's not for everybody. A machine for everybody is a machine for nobody; it doesn't make any of them completely happy.

When your hard drive starts to fail...

[alispguru]

... which is common on portables that get the crap beaten out of them, being able to easily attach another machine and copy your data off is real important. This is especially important on portables that are tough, but painful to open for servicing.

My ancient and revered iBook (500 MHz G3) is still in service, running 10.4. I've never lost data on it, not even when its hard drive committed slow-motion suicide after repeated falls, primarily because I was able to image its hard drive even when it was unbootable.

Replacing that hard drive was a nightmare. Three hours on my dining room table, N different shapes and sizes of miniscule screws... my eyes water at the thought of it.

I was expected an iHDTV ...

[guysmilee]

I was hoping apple would produce a nice HD TV/PC device with a nice 50 " display for my house ... oh well maybe next year!

$20 for a software upgrade?

[gelfling]

Sounds pricey.

WTF?

[MoxFulder]

No ethernet port, only ONE usb2 port, no microphone jack? Honestly, how are you supposed to use this thing? What if you need to use Ethernet and a flash drive at the same time? Are you supposed to carry around a USB-to-ethernet dongle and a hub... possibly a POWERED hub?

I love how people rave about Apple's "all-in-one" designs, yet in practice every all-in-one computer is a mess of external devices and cables. My grandma, for example, has an all-in-one iMac... with an external modem, an external floppy disk drive, and a hub... since the stupid computer doesn't have any convenient front ports for a USB flash drive.

Oh, and no user-replaceable battery? Thanks but no thanks... there are lots of other ultra-portables that I'd choose over this one.

Re:WTF?

[c_forq]

since the stupid computer doesn't have any convenient front ports for a USB flash drive. I've always used the one on the keyboard. However I guess this isn't available if you are using the wireless one, but you should be aware of that tradeoff.

Re:WTF?

[cayenne8]

"I love how people rave about Apple's "all-in-one" designs, yet in practice every all-in-one computer is a mess of external devices and cables. My grandma, for example, has an all-in-one iMac... with an external modem, an external floppy disk drive, and a hub... since the stupid computer doesn't have any convenient front ports for a USB flash drive."

I hate to 'rail' against Grandma here, but, in other people's defense, MOST people out there don't need a floppy drive, nor a modem for their laptops. Flash drives, cdroms, and wireless/ethernet seem to be the standards for today, and those all work well with most all laptops, Apple's included.

Re:WTF?

[COMON$]

OK first, it is not intended as a ultra adaptable Laptop, you want lots of functionality, get a macbook pro. If you want something sleek that you can hit wifi hotspots and update your blog...this puppy was designed for you.

You might as well complain about the tiny hard drive and lack of optical audio and no DVI output. Oh well, some people just don't get it.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

My grandma, for example, has an all-in-one iMac... with an external modem, an external floppy disk drive, and a hub... since the stupid computer doesn't have any convenient front ports for a USB flash drive. A floppy and a modem? How quaint! You might want to let her know that there's a port for flash drives on the back of her keyboard, it's probably right next to where her mouse is plugged in. Or... is granny so hip that she has a wireless keyboard and mouse, but still uses wired narrowband? Lol.

Re:WTF?

[timster]

On http://www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html you can see that he's talking about the package, not the chip itself.

Re:WTF?

[Brett Johnson]

Actually, it does have DVI output. From the press release:

"Every MacBook Air includes a micro-DVI port so users can connect to Apple's gorgeous 20-inch or 23-inch Cinema Displays to extend their desktop or connect to projectors and other displays via DVI, VGA, Composite and S-video adapters. "

Won't hook up to my 30" Cinema display, 'tho.

Re:WTF?

[BlueStraggler]

My grandma, for example, has an all-in-one iMac... with an external modem, an external floppy disk drive, and a hub... I guess the hub must be for her dot-matrix printer.

Re:WTF?

[Simon Brooke]

No ethernet port, only ONE usb2 port, no microphone jack? Honestly, how are you supposed to use this thing? What if you need to use Ethernet and a flash drive at the same time? Are you supposed to carry around a USB-to-ethernet dongle and a hub... possibly a POWERED hub?

Apple would reply, 'how last century'.

The answer is you don't use a wired ethernet - Xerox designed ethernet to be wireless back in the seventies, that's why it's called ethernet. Running it over wires was only ever supposed to be a short term hack while they sorted out getting the radio link working. And Apple fanbois aren't expected to be technical enough to worry about security issues.

And, of course, you don't use a flash drive. You use that wireless ethernet to access your Time Capsule[TM], which it seems to me was the really interesting bit of today's announcement from Apple.

So, if you're so mind-bogglingly primitive that you still think digital watches^W^W wired networks are a really neat idea, then you aren't part of Apple's target market for this machine.

Oddly enough, it's the first Apple machine I've been tempted to buy. And although I like the form factor, the thing that sells it for me it the mouse-pad gestures, which are just so much richer and more intuitive than anything we've seen before. Next job, of course, is to hack something together so that that functionality is available in Linux/KDE...

Re:WTF?

[hawks5999]

No ethernet port, only ONE usb2 port, no microphone jack?

AND WHERE'S MY ISA SLOT????

Re:WTF?

[justkeeper]

No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.

Re:WTF?

[pimpimpim]

So, how do you connect your flash drive AND cd-rom at the same time? Or are you in the possession of a wireless cd-rom drive?

You obviously didn't get the point. Fact is, 1 USB port is not enough. Even the 300 euro EEE pc has 3 of them, and don't think they didn't try to save on both money and space on that thing...

Re:WTF?

[mzs]

I plug my flash drive right into the side of my keyboard. I have not used a floppy in more than ten years and a modem in more than seven. In the iMacs I do wish the headphone jack was on the side like in an eMac.

Re:WTF?

[T-Bone-T]

If one USB port isn't enough, get a hub or two. That's what hubs are for, after all.

Re:WTF?

[the_B0fh]

ISA? Obviously not a Mac User. Please report to the nearest cleansing station, MSDOS user.

NuBUS is what you want.

Re:WTF?

[oscarmv]

Actually it can drive your 30", but only up to 1920x1200 ;)

Re:WTF?

[toQDuj]

Well, I usually use only one, max. In the few cases that I cannot absolutely have any less than two active at the very same time, I can find a hub here or there. Mind you, only in cases that, for some reason, I cannot possibly do without one of the two devices for a while.

Face it, one is very often enough.

Re:WTF?

[COMON$]

in a whiny voice "Ya but who is going to carry around a Micro-DVI port converter, possibly with a cable".
That is where I was going with that :)

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

ass.

Re:WTF?

[Toonol]

Hmmm... I think you're the worst person I've encountered on the internet in several days.

Re:WTF?

[Pollardito]

The answer is you don't use a wired ethernet - Xerox designed ethernet to be wireless back in the seventies, that's why it's called ethernet. Running it over wires was only ever supposed to be a short term hack while they sorted out getting the radio link working. And Apple fanbois aren't expected to be technical enough to worry about security issues.

even 30 years later i need one PC that can be connected via wire to the router to configure the wireless settings. i'm not sure i'd trust everything to work right configuring that over the wireless itself, since you're liable to block yourself out. that's pretty sporadic usage and you wouldn't use it all the time (just like a DVD drive), but if you do any traveling you might also want one for those antiquated hotels that only have wired networks.

Re:WTF?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Flash drives, cdroms, and wireless/ethernet seem to be the standards for today, and those all work well with most all laptops, Apple's included. Not with only one USB port they don't.

Re:WTF?

[Lars T.]

So, how do you connect your flash drive AND cd-rom at the same time? Or are you in the possession of a wireless cd-rom drive? Actually, the MacBook Air comes with a feature called Remote Disc:

However, for those times when you still need to install software on MacBook Air from a CD or DVD, a new feature called Remote Disc lets you wirelessly use or "borrow" the optical drive of a Mac or PC in the vicinity. So you can have full access to an optical drive without having to haul one around.

That's for those who can't handle a passive USB-hub.

Re:WTF?

[drsmithy]

I've always used the one on the keyboard. However I guess this isn't available if you are using the wireless one, but you should be aware of that tradeoff.

How ? They're unpowered (or, at least, the ones on my Mum's G5 iMac are). Plug in a thumbdrive and...nothing.

Re:WTF?

[Thumper_SVX]

The perfect example of one who is not the target market, and who does not get it.

Me? I'm not the target market, either but I used to be. The target for the Macbook Air is the road-warrior, the person who racks up enough frequent flyer miles in a year to fly to Paris for Christmas. I know, I used to be that guy and I would've killed for this device. As it was, I had a Toshiba Portege that was awesome, though underpowered even when it was state of the art. It did me perfectly, and fit like a champ in a briefcase that I could carry into the cabin of the flight. The 5 hour battery life was also more than enough for 99% of the flights I took in the mainland US, and the flights I took within Europe. The only time I would have used the laptop more would've been on an international flight... and most of them either have rather good in flight entertainment options these days, power sockets in the seats or I had my iPod.

I have a Macbook Pro which I love to death, but I have no need of a laptop like the Air in my current job or my life. I like the expandable, heavy and reliable Pro which has run like a champ for me for two years and has given me very little trouble. If I were back in the road-warrior business, I'd be all over the Air as a primary laptop for business, using home networking for the majority of my big file storage and just keeping the necessities on the Air.

This isn't an audio studio laptop... Apple has one for that; it's the Pro. It's also not a consumer laptop... Apple has one of those; the Macbook. This is one aimed at a very specific market segment; those who need an ultra-portable computer but are less than impressed with the options available elsewhere. And at 3lbs with a 13" screen, this is just an incredible piece of technology. Hell, I'd consider one of these for the geek value if I had $2K to drop on it right now. The price point and the name say it's not for the average consumer... the lack of optical, CPU speed, expandability and so forth say it's not for the A/V pro. Like every Apple product except the iPod, it's aimed at a very specific market segment... and one that's been screaming out for exactly this for a long time.

Oh, and if you want to bring issue with the lack of an optical drive... well, I have one in my Pro which I rarely use except when I'm at "home base". And if I'm at home base, what's wrong with me hooking up a USB drive to do the same? Oh, and there's a $99 external drive available as an option if it's really important.

Re:WTF?

[Tawnos]

...Isn't Remote Disk just mounting a network shared media?

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

"I hate to 'rail' against Grandma here, but, in other people's defense, MOST people out there don't need a floppy drive, nor a modem for their laptops. Flash drives, cdroms, and wireless/ethernet seem to be the standards for today, and those all work well with most all laptops, Apple's included."

The age of Grandma's iMac was never stated. For the first few generations of the iMac, floppy drives were the most popular method of file transfer. Flash drives and CD burners weren't available for those iMacs, broadband/ethernet was very rare in homes, and the iMac's 28.8kbps modem was outdated in a short time.

The situation with today's iMacs is much better, but not perfect. In 2 or 3 years, an iMac bought today might have an external Blu-ray drive, external WiMax adapter, external USB hub (for convenient front ports), external HDTV tuner, external SD/CompactFlash/etc card reader, external hard drive, external 8-bit LED-backlit LCD (the 20" iMac's LCD is 6-bit), and other stuff that adds to the clutter and mess of cables.

Re:WTF?

[mattack2]

But if you block yourself out, you can just hit the 'reset to defaults' button (and unplug from Ethernet while you're at it for extra security while re-setting it up).

Re:WTF?

[Atti K.]

And, of course, you don't use a flash drive. You use that wireless ethernet to access your Time Capsule[TM], which it seems to me was the really interesting bit of today's announcement from Apple.

A base station with a hard drive interesting? Well. I've had it for some time now, and I suppose many geeks from here have something like that too. (Asus Wifi router + ATA HDD + USB enclosure + openwrt and samba to share it out). It probably won't work with TimeMachine[TM] though :) (but it does download torrents and stuff from edonkey:) Anyway, their price looks good on this one, but it's not revolutionary.

Re:WTF?

[espressojim]

Let me know when you can stream HD media from your time capsule to your new Mac. Wireless is great, but throughput sucks for continuous file transfer, which is why I always plug my mac in to move big files.

Re:WTF?

[dynamo]

It has a microphone jack.

Re:WTF?

[bhtooefr]

It's not a real Apple if it doesn't have eight slots. :P

Re:WTF?

[Lordnerdzrool]

Most people won't go anywhere without a laptop mouse, including myself. #1

No CD/DVD? I'll just stick a USB one on it right... oh.

Re:WTF?

[HTH NE1]

I hate to 'rail' against Grandma here, but, in other people's defense, MOST people out there don't need a floppy drive, nor a modem for their laptops. Flash drives, cdroms, and wireless/ethernet seem to be the standards for today, and those all work well with most all laptops, Apple's included. I know of one grandmother who got a copy of Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" for Christmas, and her computer met all the requirements for running that OS save one: it had a CD-ROM drive installed. The OS was on DVD-ROM.

Re:WTF?

[xSauronx]

I *have* a laptop mouse and use a T40 thinkpad. Unfortunately, being old, one of the USB ports is, at best, iffy. So I have one, and use it for...my mouse! I love the trackpoint if im somewhere and really cant spare the space, but having to use it briefly to give up my mouse is a hassle. 2 usb ports should be the minimum, as well as an ethernet jack. Id *like* a new notebook, but Im broke. this *looks* nice, but i agree, with one usb port id find it mostly a hassle. if i want a small, gimped notebook, ill take the Eee. if i want to spend this kind of money on a notebook, ill take something slightly larger with features i like. its apple. its expensive. its pretty. yay.

Re:WTF?

[HTH NE1]

Not with only one USB port they don't. Heard o' hub, bub?

Re:WTF?

[dhuff]

Most people won't go anywhere without a laptop mouse, including myself. #1

So get a bluetooth mouse. That'll leave your USB port open...

Re:WTF?

[xSauronx]

sounds that way....so theyre finally putting the *nix underneath to use, huh? ;)

Re:WTF?

[Dr. Spork]

Actually, you got this wrong and you didn't see the pictures. The package of the standard C2D got shrunk - not the die. For the non-technical: The processor from above has two surraces: the silvery one and the green one. Intel shrunk the green part by quite a lot. linky (scroll down).

Re:WTF?

[Falstius]

I have a few USB Ethernet adapters, picked them up at garage sales for under a dollar. You're certainly going to end up carrying around a mini usb hub with this thing, plus spend an extra $100 on bluetooth headphones and mouse. Too bad my D600 still seems to have a few more decades of use in it. Damn I hate Linux, it doesn't give me an excuse to constantly update my hardware.

Of course, Apple isn't interested in frugal people.

Re:WTF?

[erikvcl]

> The answer is you don't use a wired ethernet - Xerox designed ethernet
> to be wireless back in the seventies, that's why it's called ethernet.
> Running it over wires was only ever supposed to be a short term hack
> while they sorted out getting the radio link working.

Do you have any evidence at all for this statement?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet

Wired networking in general and wired ethernet, in specific, is not a "short-term hack". Physical networks will always have higher bandwidth and greater security than their wireless siblings. The reason is basic physics. Wireless communication has to deal with tons of issues (interference, etc.) that wired networks don't have to.

Re:WTF?

[nbert]

But in some (very annoying) cases you need at least two. I'm a fan of touchpads, but for those preferring a mouse one port won't do the job whenever they want to plug in another device. There are wireless options, but most of them come with their own proprietary receiver. The wireless Mighty Mouse works, but at least in my opinion it's a terrible product compared to the average 3-button mouse we've seen in the last decade (yes, that's personal, however I might note that left and right click don't work so well on the mighty mouse and for people running parallels it's a real nightmare because it usually takes 2 restarts to get recognized by the OS).

There are other scenarios in which you need two ports. For example if you are using Elgato's EyeTV to record television and their Turbo to compress those recordings for your iPod, iPhone whatever.
Of course all these problems can be solved with a USB-hub, but one of the reasons I switched from Linux to Mac was avoiding all the clutter in the first place...

PS: The lack of an Ethernet jack is also a big problem. Some people really need it on the road and even though there's an adaptor available for 29$ I'm not sure if that's the best solution to this - I use Ethernet much more than DVI...

Re:WTF?

[Dr. Spork]

It has a microphone jack.

I don't think it does, but it appears to have two built-in microphones next to the webcam.

Re:WTF?

[ArAgost]

Airport routers can be configured via a neat software utility, and most routers nowadays can be configured wirelessly AND feature and incredible reset button in case you screw up.

Re:WTF?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Not with only one USB port they don't. Heard o' hub, bub? Yes, you're absolutely right. You can solve this problem by sacrificing some of the mobility you were trying to gain by purchasing this machine. Thank you for that enlightening bit of wisdom.

Re:WTF?

[Absentminded-Artist]

It really depends on your usage. For instance, I rarely tether my MacBook to a ethernet cable. I need to put a CD/DVD into my optical drive once every few months. I don't need the Time Capsule because I've already got Time Machine working across the WiFi network doing hourly backups. My MacBook's built-in mic works for my recording needs. I've never needed access to more than one USB port. The MacBook Air is perfect for my needs. Then when one considers how light the thing is, my shoulder is already telling me what my next laptop purchase is going to be.

BTW, the battery issue is a non-issue. Apple service centers will replace the battery for the standard price and not charge for labor. This means to me that the battery is replaceable by hackers and will within weeks have how-tos available on the internet from multiple locations.

My question is: Why don't people understand that Apple's tight and tiny designs don't allow for battery hatches? Either you like the slick form factor and the trade-offs that come with it, or you buy another vendor's product.

Re:WTF?

[shmlco]

Ummm.... wouldn't you leave that connected to the 30" monitor?

Re:WTF?

[Lars T.]

Unix on Windows? Reading Mac CDs on Windows?

Re:WTF?

[shmlco]

If you need it, there's an USB-to-ethernet dongle available. But the point you may be missing, and that the parent certainly missed, is that this is an auxiliary computer.

Take to meetings or lunch or wherever to take notes, write your novel on it while at Starbucks, catch a flick on the plane, and then come home to your REAL computer, an iMac or a Mac Pro.

And if he needs an "all-in-one" that's his sole computer/desktop replacement, then the Air isn't for him. Buy a 17" MBP.

Re:WTF?

[Nimsoft]

That's not a problem, plug in an external!
You can also modify the plist on the DVD to allow for systems that are not even supposed to support Leopard.

I used an external DVD drive and modified Leopard DVD to install on a 1st gen eMac with 800Mhz G4 (Required is 866)
It runs great for what it's being used for (my Mothers first computer).

Even if you don't have an external DVD drive, there are other ways.

Re:WTF?

[fazookus]

Time Capsule(TM), hey? That explains why Apple didn't get the external storage feature built in (technically speaking) to the 'old' "N" base stations.

Re:WTF?

[greyhueofdoubt]

I always thought that it was called 'ethernet' because your packets go into the 'ether' without your NIC needing to worry much about what happens after the router. You know, the whole "cloud" picture that is the internet? The two end devices only need to know their neighbor. They can send packets to any other device connected to the ethernet without needing to know anything except the other device's address. Similar in many ways to the postal service.

-b

Re:WTF?

[jacksonj04]

Just not the Apple one. The Mighty Mouse is susceptible to a nasty sticking scrollball problem, requiring you to turn it upside down and give it a good whirling round on a bit of paper. The only plusses are the fact it can run on either one or two batteries, and the scrollball is full 2-dimensional rather than locked to straight up/down, left/right. I would much rather have a Microsoft Bluetooth mouse (They're quite good actually) than my Mighty Mouse, I'm just waiting until it finally packs in.

Re:WTF?

[jacksonj04]

Right, let's clarify here.

If you need an ultramobile device to work on, but don't need to hook it up to wired networks that often, or use physical media whilst on the move, or will have it regularly kept at a static location (Such as your desk at home) then the MacBook Air is the one for you. It doesn't have 3 USB ports, firewire, Dual-Link DVI, ethernet, line-in and a CD-ROM drive because it's aimed at people who don't need them whilst moving around. It's designed for those people who will arrive at the home/office and the Air will hook up to the existing *wireless* network and use that for all the connectivity. You may use a Bluetooth mouse.

If, on the other hand, you do need more of the IO stuff whilst on the move, buy a straight MacBook or MacBook Pro.

I use an MBP because I'm a computing student, and often need to connect various external devices, disks, network and so on, or load files from a CD. If I were doing an English Language degree and only needed my laptop for typing things up and making lecture notes, the Air would be ideal because it's easy to take to lectures, I can take notes, then I get back home and it automatically backs up to my convenient Time Capsule, or I can connect one power line and one USB hub. In all honesty that's more or less what I do at the minute (Plus an ethernet cable) and that's *with* a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro because although I could have one USB port for every device, just using a hub is a far easier.

Re:WTF?

[moracity]

I think you're right on. This is Apple pushing consumer computing into a new phase. It's just like when they went USB-only and everyone was like "wtf??". MacBook Air is EXACTLY what I've been looking for...a true notebook computer. No ugly ports all over it and no useless optical drive. My MacBook has never been "plugged in" and has only ever been wireless. It's time to do away with CAT5 once and for all.

I don't use a laptop as a desktop replacement, I use it as a portable extension of my desktop and don't need all the other cruft.

Re:WTF?

[porcupine8]

Hm, the flash drive currently plugged into my keyboard begs to differ. I didn't know that some of them require power.

Re:WTF?

[Rebelgecko]

How much better could HD media look on a 13 inch screen anyways?

Re:WTF?

[Bill Wong]

No. Macbook Air is shit for road-warrior. Non-swappable battery is a deal breaker.
Sometimes on the road I don't have access to an outlet, and if I need to get work done, I better be able to swap the battery for my spare.

Re:WTF?

[pipatron]

Then they are broken, not "unpowered".

Re:WTF?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

If, on the other hand, you do need more of the IO stuff whilst on the move, buy a straight MacBook or MacBook Pro. This isn't about wanting the ultra thin model to have everything the other models have, this is about one little design choice that draws a needlessly thick line between the two lines of products. The reality is that I frequently use two USB ports on my laptop while travelling. Not four. Not firewire. Not even ethernet. Two regular plain old USB ports. One is for my mouse, since I don't like wireless mice. (This is more for ergonomic reasons than anything else. Tho it is worth pointing out that I can't stand trackpads and bt mice are frowned on while in flight.) The other I use for transferring data via USB stick, syncing my iPod, and transferring pics from my camera. These are all normal laptop usage patterns, not some case where I'm trying to replace my desktop with it. It may sound silly to you, but it actually is a deal-breaker for me. It's a pity because in every other respect it's ideal. Oh well, there's still life in my current laptop.

Re:WTF?

[Thumper_SVX]

There's an airline adapter on Apple's webpage. I have one for my MBP. Don't use it as much as I expected to... but I also don't change the battery... ever. And if you're a road-warrior in the car... well, I've never had a problem finding either (a) a coffee shop or (b) the outlet in my car to charge my laptop.

If you can't get done in 5 hours what you need to get done on a plane, then you're not working very efficiently. If I am on a flight more than 5 hours, sitting in that seat for that time with my laptop is going to get old quick... and on a shorter flight the non-removable battery is a complete non-issue.

Maybe a problem with when you fly to a destination? Well, again, most rental cars have outlets... all it takes is a very small adapter these days.

My Macbook Pro gets ~3 hours on the battery. To-date I've never needed to swap it out... I don't even own a second battery. It's not that I don't do work; I just work efficiently. I can also raise my battery life by dimming the screen, turning off the wireless and Bluetooth, etc.... that helps.

Re:WTF?

[bluekanoodle]

I have to disagree. My wife is a flight attendant. She makes the business frequent fliers look like sunday tourists. There is no way that this thing is going to stand up to the kind of abuse a very frequent traveler needs. Even her macbook, built as solid as it is, is starting to show cracks and wear after 6 months.

Re:WTF?

[grrrl]

Well, if more companies offered bluetooth mice that would be nice. I don't see why they don't!

If you're recording from eyeTV, surely a USB hub is not an issue since you can leave it next to the eyeTV on the bench.

Re:WTF?

[mini me]

I've never used a USB drive that was able to acquire enough power from the keyboard USB ports.

Re:WTF?

[kisielk]

God forbid you have to clean your mouse ball once in a while. I think after 5 months of using my mouse every single day at the office I've had to clean the ball exactly twice.

Re:WTF?

[gig]

You're not supposed to use it on Ethernet, or any kind of desk-bound use. It's a "wireless notebook", you're supposed to use it wirelessly, sitting on your lap, where the missing weight matters, and take it with you anywhere because it's so small and light.

I missed the FireWire jack right away because I would want to plug in to a pro audio sampler, but if I'm going to tether the notebook to a sampler then I might as well get a MacBook Pro. If the notebook is sitting on a desk, plugged into stuff, then the extra 2 pounds is OK. The next evolution of the MacBook Pro may be to a docking station because they may want to make it thinner than the ports but we'll still need a pro notebook with all the ports until there is wireless that is faster than FireWire 800.

It's weird that there's a Mac without an Ethernet port or FireWire port, though. The array of ports on every Mac has been so consistently complete for so long I was wondering where they were going to go from there, but didn't expect them to go to almost no ports.

Re:WTF?

[John Jamieson]

Wow, you are way in the future.

In the world I live in you need WIRED or optical networks any time you need reliability or speed(or additional security). You just CANNOT trust wireless anything serious. (maybe no serious work is ever done by any other apple than the ones I've used) Wireless is a market segment, not a tech from last century.

And for speed, wired will ALWAYS beat RF, always!

This does not just apply to computers. I dabble in Sound Reinforcement, and the PRO`s use wireless whenever they HAVE to, wireless is a headache waiting to happen... interference from other devices, broadcasting stations etc, like to play havock at the most inopertune times.

Re:WTF?

[bursch-X]

I think the interesting part is the backup portion. Apple decidedly dropped backing up stuff with Time Machine via AirPort, because there is no way to make sure that the data transferred over the wireless LAN was not only received properly, but also written out to disk reliably and for sure.

So this now makes me believe they have sorted that out, which is a little revolution to me. Up until now backing up over wireless basically included a lot of hoping and praying.

Re:WTF?

[Molochi]

I like that its under 2KG. But the thinness doesn't matter to me when it sacrifices functionality this much. I was really just hoping for a new, Intel+GF8800GS 13" Macbook Pro.

I have a feeling, though, that some usability studies were done on the size of the notebook regarding purse capacity or something. I can almost hear Jobs saying "Make it thinner! If you can make it just 3mm thinner someone could fit a CPR How-to Booklet into their purse. and that could save a life! Making it thinner could save a life!"

Re:WTF?

[ottffssent]

>The target for the Macbook Air is the road-warrior, the person who racks up enough frequent flyer miles in a year to fly to Paris for Christmas.

Don't those people already have X-series Thinkpads? I know I do. Granted, this one's about twice as fast (maybe 3x), 15% lighter, and has a nicer screen. The price is about the same. But my Thinkpad has another hour of battery life (and it's removable too), twice the USB ports, firewire, gigE, a CF reader, IR, a PC-CARD slot, a real video port, parallel, and a dock connector. And it's 6 years old.

Dropping all the extra bits my X31 has would save probably more than that 15% weight, so what we're left with is that in 6 years Apple's got a faster machine with a better screen. That's really disappointing.

The wireless CD drive sharing Apple's doing is cool. I'd like to see EFI replace the legacy BIOS in the rest of the market so we can start seeing more of that kind of thing. But the hardware they're selling is a badly designed Thinkpad shaped like a squished chiclet. And it's not black.

Re:WTF?

[thedbp]

Actually, MacBook Air owners WILL BE in the possession of a wireless cd-rom drive. It will use included software installed on any host you want (Mac or PC) and the Air can use the other computer's optical drive. Wirelessly.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting... apostrophes where they should be, and capitalized acronyms; but no capitals at at the start of each sentence, or for the personal pronoun 'I'. Is this one of those 'fads' that I've heard so much about?

Re:WTF?

[tsa]

My thoughts exactly. This is a machine for people who buy SUV's 'because they're so practical'.

Re:WTF?

[tsa]

Samba.

Re:WTF?

[rwven]

The standard macbook could easily be pronounced as "just as ultra mobile as the Sir" since, in fact, the only thing different about the size is a marginal difference in thickness at ONE END. Other than the thickness, the X-Y footprint is the same, the weight difference is basically negligible in a backpack, and you get a 100% better feature set at 50% the price. I'm not seeing how ANYONE can defend this thing anymore. I'd buy a standard macbook over this thing at the SAME price, let alone the ridiculous price they have the AIR set at.

They should have revamped the Macbook to be "a bit thinner with the a couple more features and NO less," refreshed the Macbook Pro, Waited until the keynote to talk about the Mac Pro refresh, come out with a matte screen iMac, and people would have thrown a party. Not this drivel though.

Re:WTF?

[rwven]

typo: "Just as mobile as the Air"

Re:WTF?

[dangitman]

So, why couldn't you just take an external battery pack? It would take up the same amount of space as a swappable one.

Re:WTF?

[Matchstick]

>PR#6
*6[CONTROL-P]

Re:WTF?

[Peter Cooper]

The stupid thing is that they've given a name to a feature OS X has had for ages.. mounting remote CD drives over the network. I can do that on all my Apple gear already and install stuff. I think the only addition they've made here is that it's "built in" so it'll work for OS installs, and not just once the OS is up.

Re:WTF?

[iainl]

The last couple of times I've changed the security settings on my router I've lived fast and somehow avoided dying young by doing it over the wireless and then reconfiguring everything to log back in after the changes are activated.

But the point is that you don't reconfigure your router very often, and when you do for most people it's in the comfort of their own home. So a cheap USB-to-RJ45 dongle doesn't need to be carted on the road, and it's not a big pain you can't run a USB DVD drive at the same time.

Re:WTF?

[iainl]

Do you run your laptop at 640x480, because anything higher and you can't read the tiny text?

If you can resolve text fine on the machine's 1280x800 screen, then you can benefit from 720p video.

Re:WTF?

[pimpimpim]

That is if you are actually allowed to install the software on that pc (e.g. install policy at work). I guess that anyone with enough money to buy one of these things will already have another mac anyway. Oh and if it's anything like iTunes, it won't install on linux :(

They got it right that optical drives will be less and less important. But I'd rather be able to plug in some peripherals without having to create a clutter with external USB hubs. And how much energy can you pull from that USB hub to have the peripherals work from it.

Re:WTF?

[Squozen]

Out of interest, have you tried a Mac trackpad? I find, for reasons I'm not quite clear on, that they feel more responsive than on most PC laptops. Maybe it's the material it's made from, the more generous size or the better mapping between the pad and the display, but I can work on a Mac trackpad all day long, whereas I'm always plugging a mouse into a PC.

Re:WTF?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Admittedly I have not. I'm an artist, though, and I've always got Photoshop open for one reason or another. (Especially after downloading photos.) I'm also an Opera user and am quite fond of the mouse gestures. I can imagine the Mac trackpad being friendlier than those I've used, but I'm also having difficulty picturing myself wanting to use it exclusively enough to warrant it. Maybe I'm just being stubborn, I admit that. However, I don't think there's that much harm in avoiding a purchase if I know it's wrong for me.

Re:WTF?

[jacksonj04]

Not trackball, a little one in place of a scrollwheel. And I'm not talking every few weeks here, I'm taking every few days. It just collects crap from your fingertip all day and you can't remove it to give it a proper cleaning.

Re:WTF?

[mdwh2]

I agree - not sure why you were modded down, but sadly moderation is broken on Apple stories - anything non-positive about Apple gets modded down.

It's even funnier when you think how not to long ago, Intel was supposed to be rubbish and Macs were so much better for using PowerPC. Yet when they turn round and have to use PC chips after all, suddenly they still somehow get to claim the glory that they're better!

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

What are you talking about? Can you do 1000MBit over a 802.11n connection? No? Didn't think so. Maybe most joe-blow consumers don't need GigaBit Ethernet, but "do away with Cat5" is hardly the case. And in general Cat5 is just the type of cabling. You can use Cat5 cabling to wire your house with landline telephones if you wanted to. Just the connectors would be different. (*hint* typically phone wires are Cat3 cabling; ethernet connectors are RJ-45 connectors; telephone connectors are RJ-11 connectors)

Re:WTF?

[Thumper_SVX]

Yeah, the X-series is a good laptop... but I never once claimed that the Macbook Air was revolutionary. It's another competitor in the same space as the X-Series with the advantage that it can run a certified UNIX platform (Leopard) and in fact defaults to that state. It also has some really nice productivity tools that either don't exist on the Windows platform, or have half-hearted attempts. I've yet to find a better writing environment than Scrivener... and if there's an alternative for PC I've not found one, yet. Granted, I haven't looked much lately; I'm quite happy with the Mac platform.

So, the Macbook Air isn't for the Windows guy. Never was. It's a Mac... and as such is targeted at the road warrior who wants to run a Mac. There's a lot of those around these days.

And let's see... in your list of extras I have to say the only thing I miss from that is the extra USB port... but even then that's a relatively minor thing. External drives? Well, the Time Capsule is effectively that without wires... I'd go on but you get the point I think. Although I agree with you in principle that the X-Series is "better", it's only better for some people. For me, since I've now made the transition to the Mac platform as my daily computer of choice the X-series is in fact no longer in the running. It can't run OSX or some of the applications I like to use. While you can happily put Windows on the MBA and make it compete on a level playing field with the X-Series, why would you?

Re:WTF?

[Thumper_SVX]

I dunno... people said the same thing about my Portege when I bought it. It certainly seemed pretty flimsy. 7 years later I finally replaced it with a Macbook Pro because the 733Mhz CPU was cramping my style a bit. It still had a 5-6 hour battery life (with the external battery pack), and still appeared flimsy. However, it lasted.

I agree in one respect though; the proof of the MBA will be in the pudding. I can't wait to see reports on how these things last from people who DO fly commercially a lot.

I still fly... I just think that playing with a laptop is probably not a good thing when you're the one with your hands on the controls ;)

Re:WTF?

[Lars T.]

Samba. So Samba can read HFS(+) CDs on Windows?

Re:WTF?

[ktappe]

Most people won't go anywhere without a laptop mouse

I challenge that. Just because you do so don't assume others do too. Very few laptop users I know use mice with them. Of course, most of those users are MacBook users, so perhaps they are very comfortable with the input abilities Apple provides (that is, they're not stuck with a "nipple" in the middle of their keyboard, etc.)

Re:WTF?

[YrWrstNtmr]

If you need it, there's an USB-to-ethernet dongle available. But the point you may be missing, and that the parent certainly missed, is that this is an auxiliary computer.

$1800+ for a light use secondary machine is a bit much.

Re:WTF?

[signifying nothing]

http://www.ethermanage.com/ethernet/ethername.html

"the physical medium (i.e., a cable) carries bits to all stations, much the same way that the old "luminiferous ether" was once thought to propagate electromagnetic waves through space"

Re:WTF?

[tsa]

O, sorry I misread your posts. Ofcourse it can't. I should stop browsing /. just after waking up.

Re:WTF?

[COMON$]

LOL, never mind, it was an irrational request meant for humor, I evidentially did not portray the facetiousness all too well.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, they ALL require power - what did you think pushed around all those little electrons?
But they should require minimal power, certainly enough from a keyboard. I've never had a problem other that speed - usually keyboards are slowed to USB 1, not USB 2.

Re:WTF?

[theManInTheYellowHat]

The next time you are in the coffee shop, hotel lobby, airport, hangout... that has an access port look around at all the people with notebooks and then count all the things that they have sticking out of them.

Re:WTF?

[organicparts]

I own this mouse and was originally really pissed when I couldn't figure how to clean the scroll wheel, but a simple paper clip or needle wiped around the edge where the ball meets the mouse casing cleans it right out. It is far easier to clean than the old mice that used a trackball in the base. And the ability to scroll in any direction, especially in programs like photoshop or after effects more than make up for the nuisance of cleaning every now and again. Plus, it uses a bluetooth connection- no need for a usb port.

Re:WTF?

[mgblst]

Some people look after their stuff, some people don't. I manage to drab my laptop with me on quite q few trips, and it is fine. Other people in the office break it when they have to leave the building.

Re:WTF?

[cayenne8]

"Out of interest, have you tried a Mac trackpad? I find, for reasons I'm not quite clear on, that they feel more responsive than on most PC laptops. Maybe it's the material it's made from, the more generous size or the better mapping between the pad and the display, but I can work on a Mac trackpad all day long, whereas I'm always plugging a mouse into a PC."

Thank you....I very RARELY plug a mouse into my mac...I use the track pad and button on the laptop almost exclusively. It is funny, tho.....I gave my PC friend my iBook to look something up on the web, and he sat there tapping it over and over again, with a puzzled look on his face. I asked him what the hell he was doing. He said he was double tapping the track pad to try to make it do something.

apparently on PC's....they have tap sensors in the track pad. Do the newer mac laptops have this also? Anyway...was first time I'd heard or seen anyone trying to double tap a trackpad for something...

Re:WTF?

[The One and Only]

Aren't CD's formatted in ISO9660?

Re:WTF?

[Shadowmist]

The wireless CD drive sharing Apple's doing is cool. About a year ago, mainly as a demonstration to some coworkers, I used Toast 8 on a desktop G4 to burn a CD wirelessly on a white iBook which also had it installed. Worked just as if it were directly connected to the machine.

Re:WTF?

[The One and Only]

I like to think of it as a luxury item, but like the Power Mac Cube, it's probably not going to sell well because of that.

Re:WTF?

[Defiler]

Proprietary magsafe connectors prevent anybody from selling such an external pack for this laptop.
Unless there is some awesome trick that I just don't know (if so, please share), carrying multiple batteries is the 'road warrior' option for Apple laptops.
I currently do this with my Macbook, and it is a hassle.

Re:WTF?

[The One and Only]

And for speed, wired will ALWAYS beat RF, always!

Because I truly need a gigabit connection to my 5 megabit cable modem? I think for everyday use wireless is fine, although for Serious Business there are always applications for wired.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's gonna be a great help while I'm sitting in [a field/my car/starbucks], next to my diesel generator, and Mac/PC.

Re:WTF?

[3247]

No, Mac CDs use HFS+.

Most CDs made for Macs have both an HFS and an ISO 9660 file system, so you can access the data with either system. However, only the HFS structures allow access to ressource forks and other Macisms, which you may (or may not) need for installting software.

Re:WTF?

[The One and Only]

I think that description better fits people who demand a 17" notebook with two PC card slots, S-Video, full-size DVI, three USB ports, one of each FireWire port, gigabit ethernet, etc. despite the fact that half these things never get used, just as SUV drivers might use four wheel drive only during the winter, only use one out of the three cupholders, and rarely use the ceiling-mounted storage boxes. MacBook Air is more like an electric car--doesn't carry as much, isn't really self-sufficient if you're gonna use it as your only device, costs more than it's really worth at the moment, but is still pretty cool and well-suited for 80% of tasks.

Re:WTF?

[MoxFulder]

Exactly, that's another reason my grandma needs the hub: no flash drive will get enough power from the keyboard USB ports... really pathetic!!

Re:WTF?

[John Jamieson]

If this is just for browsing and email, I am with you. Although for that job I would use a different device myself... like the eepc

I think I would need gigabit. I'm thinking that with a very small hard drive, only one usb port and no onboard DVD... my ethernet would be very busy. Cable internet is the least of my worries.

Re:WTF?

[MoxFulder]

Okay... but would it absolutely have KILLED them to fit in an extra 2-3 USB ports on the thing? Most of the ultra-light 13" laptops I've seen have no problem placing 3 or 4 USB ports conveniently, many have a mini-FireWire port as well.

Seems like, as always, Apple worried more about aesthetics than functionality.

And if he needs an "all-in-one" that's his sole computer/desktop replacement, then the Air isn't for him. Buy a 17" MBP.

I'll stick with Dell or HP, thanks. Half the price, and none of this one-button-mouse crap.

Re:WTF?

[MoxFulder]

I think you're right on. This is Apple pushing consumer computing into a new phase. It's just like when they went USB-only and everyone was like "wtf??". MacBook Air is EXACTLY what I've been looking for...a true notebook computer. No ugly ports all over it and no useless optical drive. My MacBook has never been "plugged in" and has only ever been wireless. It's time to do away with CAT5 once and for all. Going USB-only was stupid when they did it, as was eliminating the floppy when they did it. The marginal cost of parallel and serial ports, and a floppy drive, is $1 or $2 on a desktop computer.

Today, the marginal cost of 3 extra USB ports and an Ethernet port is probably about 50 cents for the connectors. The chipset in the MacBook Air probably already includes an Ethernet NIC, or most components of one.

I love how inflexibility becomes a feature on Apple products...

Re:WTF?

[MoxFulder]

I plug my flash drive right into the side of my keyboard. Doesn't work on my grandma's new iMac... the computer complains that the keyboard ports don't have enough power for a flash drive (which only needs 100 mA!!!).

Re:WTF?

[MoxFulder]

How about the Dell XPS M1330: http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1330?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

Under 4 lbs, dual-core, 2 USB ports, RJ45, VGA, DVI, slot-loading optical drive, replaceable battery. For $999.

Or the 12" Latitude D430, which is only 3 lbs, similar to the above but no optical drive. $1200.

Or you can get this 13.3" Toshiba with 2gb RAM, C2D 1.66ghz, 160gb HD, optical drive, webcam, etc., weighing 4.5 lbs... for $750. Kind of amazing! http://edealinfo.com/dealsearch/Controller.php?bargain_search=13.3%22

Re:WTF?

[Gulthek]

No much problems with my mighty mouse so far. Maybe you should wash your hands a little more often?

Re:WTF?

[The One and Only]

So basically you're moving large datasets over a LAN for whatever reason, and you have to do so faster than WiFi will allow for? I'm not convinced that's a common use case, to be honest.

Re:WTF?

[onemorechip]

GP didn't say it was a narrowband modem. Could be a cable or DSL modem. Most everybody with a computer has a modem these days.

Re:WTF?

[zakezuke]

My question is: Why don't people understand that Apple's tight and tiny designs don't allow for battery hatches? People like me reject the idea that something as to be a closed clam shell to be 100% sleek. And for something you have to replace... it's a legit critique. Is it really a design issue or is it a cost issue?

Re:WTF?

[ncc74656]

You're certainly going to end up carrying around a mini usb hub with this thing, plus spend an extra $100 on bluetooth headphones and mouse.

While it's missing a bunch of standard I/O ports, it does have a headphone jack. Since you can't use Bluetooth headphones on an airliner (which is about the only place I'd use headphones), I'd stick with the corded variety.

Re:WTF?

[HTH NE1]

Yes, you're absolutely right. You can solve this problem by sacrificing some of the mobility you were trying to gain by purchasing this machine. Thank you for that enlightening bit of wisdom. You want to tether two USB devices and I'm out of line for suggesting a hub?

There are USB hubs that don't require a power connection. And if the Mac Mini is any indication, I expect there will be USB hubs designed specifically for the MacBook Air too and soon that blend in with the contours like a blister at the port without any snagging corners. Some may even take standard batteries for when you need to hook up more than one USB-powered device.

There are also ways to share USB devices over a wireless network, but you can look them up for yourself.

Re:WTF?

[John Jamieson]

I see what you are saying, but cannot buy in. (sorry)

Large datasets over the Lan? Oh ya, for sure. Whether it be moving movies over for when the family is traveling, HD streaming... even backing up the sucker. I love my Gigabit, but I could handle faster.

Oh, and backups SHOULD be "a common use case" in my mind.

On a similar note, I find in this day and age that the processor in my notebooks seems to be less important then the network bandwidth. Cut me down to a single core processor, I can live. Cut me off the network... what good is the laptop?

Just my view, but I think for a couple of grand, the thing deseves a gigabit port. Or if that is just too large, a spot to plug in a mini dongle that sports a gigabit port.

Re:WTF?

[The One and Only]

Large datasets over the Lan? Oh ya, for sure. Whether it be moving movies over for when the family is traveling, HD streaming... even backing up the sucker. I love my Gigabit, but I could handle faster.

Yeah, but WiFi is at least sufficient for those tasks, especially 802.11n. Backing up I wouldn't know about from experience (I use a FireWire drive) but the incremental backups Time Machine does aren't necessarily that large. And 802.11n (especially at close range) is fast enough that the tradeoff between speed and not having to string cables about is good enough that leaving out the thickness of the Ethernet port and the size of the associated NIC was worthwhile.

Re:WTF?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

You want to tether two USB devices and I'm out of line for suggesting a hub? Yes. You're ignoring all the reasons I'd buy a laptop like this in the first place.

Re:WTF?

[IntergalacticWalrus]

So get a bluetooth mouse. That'll leave your USB port open...

I've yet to see a Bluetooth mouse that doesn't suck.

Speaking of which, does anyone have any recommendations on a good Bluetooth mouse? (forget the Mighty Mouse, I hate it)

Re:WTF?

[tsa]

Hmm, maybe you're right. You mean the MacBook Air is like the iPhone! /me ducks and runs away fast...

Re:WTF?

[toddestan]

They all require power, some more than others (and undoubtably some of the no-names lie about how much power they really draw in an attempt to make them work on some unpowered hubs). I've found they are pretty hit and miss when it comes to plugging them into USB keyboards.

Re:WTF?

[dangitman]

How do they prevent it? Anybody could just reverse-engineer the connectors.

Re:WTF?

[rantingkitten]

You have an odd idea about "most people", I think. As I look around right now, there are six other people besides myself using laptops and none of them have a mouse -- myself included. The touchpad or whatever works fine for "most people", since "most people" want things to be as integrated as possible without lugging around extra equipment like external pointing devices.

Re:WTF?

[Cappy Red]

Hmmm... I think you're the worst person I've encountered on the internet in several days. Took a break, huh?

Re:WTF?

[olafva]

There are leaders and followers. If you step out ahead, you always
hear such criticism.

A case in point was when IBM, after having a great go with card punches
and readers, decided to move forward with interactive terminals and "update"
mfg facilities in Research Triangle NC and Kentucky.
Unfortunately, a large group of "followers" was just catching on to punch
cards so IBM against it's better technical judgement gave in to growing
consumer demand and delayed converting their card punch and card reader
production lines several years.

Let's give Apple credit for stepping out and doing what's best for the future
and not giving in to the "card punch" slaggard mentality.

Re:WTF?

[apposite]

Correct me if I'm wrong but as far as I can tell the Mac Air is about 1.35kg and the Macbooks (Pro or Standard) are 2.45kg. I find the difference there quite pronounced.

I've been using Toshiba Porteges for about 4 years now (~1.1kg) and I'd be pretty unhappy with a 2.45 kg laptop. That extra kilogram can't be lightly dismissed. I use my laptop professionally and in most meetings I'm the only person with a laptop. I'm convinced that it is because it is light enough to carry without being a pain in the arse. Everyone else has standard corporate laptops which are 'only' 2-3kg... and they don't use them in meetings. (This doesn't apply to university students who seem to be more prepared to haul around 5kg of computer equipment.) Most corporate laptops are at best carried between home and work.

The Mac Air looks pretty good to me. I do agree with the general line of discussion on the paucity of USB ports. I also regularly use two USB ports. Since one is for a mouse I could work around it but that is a bit of a pain. Wouldn't stop me from getting a Mac Air.

Pricing wise it also seems reasonable to me- comparable to other laptops in this class. Damn expensive for SSD- like other laptops in this class.

Still, I'm not rushing out to buy quite yet. MacAir/Portege style CPU, weight and wireless connectivity with a larger and cheaper SSD and a tablet touch screen would be really nice- and none of that is unlikely in the near future (1-2 years). But the killer would be all that plus high pixel density screens like the Sony eReader/Kindle- all the ePaper based platforms. At this point the trade offs on ePaper are a killer (terrible refresh rate, no colour) but it seems reasonable to think those will be addressed at some point. The timeline for that is a bit longer since there are still real technical hurdles to overcome. But then... well that is a nice device. It is readable like a book, drawable like paper and is a no compromise laptop computer which, because it is all solid state, is robust. Except for the screen we are almost there- and in reasonably short periods of time it should even be affordable.

So I'm waiting a little while longer before buying my next laptop.

Re:WTF?

[shmlco]

'Half the price, and none of this one-button-mouse crap."

I'll take guestures over an extra mouse button any day of the week.

Re:WTF?

[Gropo]

The target for the Macbook Air is the road-warrior, the person who racks up enough frequent flyer miles in a year to fly to Paris for Christmas.

I'm at the other end of a fairly wide spectrum, someone who cycles all around Manhattan between two real estate offices doing lightweight print design and down to school in Chelsea in the evenings. I was originally tempted to get a BlackBook for my needs, but anticipating the inevitability of the Air over the last 6 months I held off, and boy was the wait worth it.

The fact that my class is 90% women who are going to constantly fawn over it is just puddin' ;D

Re:WTF?

[space_in_your_face]

No ethernet port, only ONE usb2 port, no microphone jack..
...lame

Re:WTF?

[Chutulu]

for typing things up and making lecture notes, wouldn't a piecer of paper be easier and lighter? And a much more cheaper option? But noooo, you would want to show your stupid Apple logo in classroom.

Re:WTF?

[jacksonj04]

You should have the option in your System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse -> Trackpad -> "Click". It maps a single tap on the keypad to a click of the mouse button. Can't speak for earlier than OS X 10.4 though.

Re:WTF?

[espressojim]

USB1 has poor throughput too. Actually, isn't 54g better than USB1 (54 Mbit/sec vs 11Mbit/sec)? I know wireless isn't going to give you more than 25-50% of that, but that's still better.

Re:WTF?

[espressojim]

I plug my Macbook Pro into a 720p projector and a dedicated 24bit DAC (usb in, line level out) to power my home theater.

Re:WTF?

[PriceIke]

How is this 'flamebait' exactly? Ohhhh .. today's "Drunken Moderation Day". I didn't get that memo, sorry.

Target Audience

[hotsauce]

Dude, where I live, $500,000 will barely get you a one bedroom apartment.

You're right about the target audience though. More like "needs to be thin to look cool in the coffeeshop" than "needs to work in coach in a plane".

God, I want one...

Re:Target Audience

[littlerubberfeet]

Yeah, me too. A studio rents for $1600/month, a house? Never sells for under $650,000. The thing is, a lot of people in my area are federal employees. They are definitely not rich given the mortgage they have to pay these days.

Re:Target Audience

[daviddennis]

Price is a fairly modest premium over the MacBooks and I think a lot of people will consider it well worth the extra money despite losing the optical drive and replacable battery.

The thinness would help out quite a bit in coach, though, would it not?

I know when I was using a 15" PowerBook, it was barely possible to open it on a coach seat. This could really help.

If the battery does get consistent 5 hour life during its normal span, for most people this is not a bad tradeoff. The typical coast to coast flight is about 5 hours.

This isn't good for a flight to Asia unless you get a seat with a power socket, which I think exists nowadays in many planes, even in Coach.

I just wonder how long it will keep a five hour battery life. My 2 year old 17" PowerBook G4 has about a 1.5-2 hour battery life, down from over three originally. I have no complaints since that's the way the battery crumbles, and a new one can be obtained to fix the problem without too much grief. But to have a 5 hour battery life shrink to 2-3 within a couple of years of ownership and no economic way to replace it would be pretty cruel. I wonder what Apple will do about this.

D

Re:Target Audience

[vrmlguy]

This isn't good for a flight to Asia unless you get a seat with a power socket, which I think exists nowadays in many planes, even in Coach. Just to but this into perspective, I recently made my first (and to date only) trans-Atlantic flights, flying coach on Delta and Air France between Atlanta and Paris. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the seating, which was comparable to business-class on domestic flights. Because of this, I'd fully expect there to be power outlets available in any trans-oceanic flight. (Also, try to fly in planes operated by European operators; they serve complimentary wine with their meals.)

Re:Target Audience

[servognome]

Same applies to quality carriers flying to asia like Singapore Air. US airlines suck, domestically and internationally

Re:Target Audience

[grrrl]

trying flying Qantas - free booze all the time (even on domestic, after 12pm).

Actually, I think all international carriers give you free booze (have never flown one that doesn't, and being an Aussie I have flown a few in order to get anywhere :))

I only recently flew inside the US and I was rather shocked!

So far I've never had in-seat power in economy (coach) though.

Re:Target Audience

[hotsauce]

I know when I was using a 15" PowerBook, it was barely possible to open it on a coach seat. This could really help.

Hey David, I think the reason it is hard to open 15" (and 13") screens in coach is the height of the screen, not the thickness of the laptop. I was really hoping for a smaller (subnotebook) form-factor, but instead we got the same as the MacBook, just a bit thinner.

There's plenty of space around the keyboard and screen that could be trimmed, but I guess they couldn't get that circuit board any smaller. Pity.

Re:Target Audience

[daviddennis]

I think you should be able to build a less high screen when you attach it to a thinner notebook. When I see a MacBook Air at the Apple Store I will try comparing it and see if the total height is slightly lower than the MacBook.

I'm surprised there is so much of an uproar over this machine. To me, the two most important things about a computer's usability are the quality of its keyboard and display, and nobody seems to be disputing that they are both first-rate. For my lamentably aging eyes, I think a 13" screen would have to be considered an absolute minimum. I haven't hooked up Ethernet to my laptops in years, and while I would really prefer more storage, this is obviously a great machine for shuttling yourself between airports. I can imagine myself carrying a stylish attache case instead of an ugly computer bag thanks to this computer.

I won't buy it, though, because I need a desktop replacement with a big screen. I think most people who have been reviewing this machine really want it but in the end are similar types of users to me. This machine isn't meant for us, it's meant for the guy who spends half of his time around airports, and to that person, being able to slip a computer into a manila envelope happens to be pure gold.

D

cheating?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't removing all the ports [sound/vga/usb/cdrom/etc] from the actual computer cheating?

I'm sure my laptop could be smaller if it didn't have that annoying CD/DVD drive in it. But then again, who wants to lug around a detachable DVD drive with them? It's always the sort of thing you'll end up needing most when it's not around [e.g. on a business trip].

Re:cheating?

[Scamwise]

It has sound out, USB and micro DVI, 3 out of the 4 things you mention are actually present...

Most small laptops these days don't have an optical drive anyway (in fact even some quite large laptops don't).

The only normal thing I can see thats missing is wired Ethernet but there are USB adapters to fix this, in fact apple should be clever and add it to the USB optical drive.

Will influence other products

[hey]

Other companies will copy it and then maybe there will be one I can afford.

Lame.

[moosesocks]

No wired ethernet. Weighs less than a Nomad. Lame.

On USB hubs

[klossner]

The reason a USB hub isn't as reliable is that it can't supply full power to each port because you don't plug in its external power supply. The hub then divides up 2.5 watts among all its ports. Devices have to get by with a fraction of full power, and some of them can't.

Re:On USB hubs

[ilsie]

The USB spec only allows for 500mW peak power from any devices, so unless your devices are out of spec, 2.5 watts should easily support four devices.

Re:On USB hubs

[klossner]

The USB spec (page 178) specifies 500 milliamps of current. At 5VDC, that's 2.5 watts of power.

AAPL tanks

[Alzheimers]

AAPL has fallen from 180/sh at 11am to a current value of 166/sh, a drop of almost 7% in just four hours.

OUCH.

Re:AAPL tanks

[GaryPatterson]

History shows AAPL always slumps after major announcements. It's probably indicative of people buying stock as it rises towards the keynote and then selling quickly after that peak.

Re:AAPL tanks

[Onan]

"Tanks"? "OUCH"? Alarmist much?

It's a down day. AAPL's down 5.4% The Nasdaq is down 2.5%.

More to the point, the stock always runs up in the month before macworld, and dips immediately afterward. That's because everyone buys beforehand and sells immediately afterward to take advantage of this cycle, not because of anything related to whatever gets announced.

Notice the exact same dip immediately after the beginning of every year.

Re:Its just thinner - firewire officially dead not

[ToasterMonkey]

Firewire is still present on every other device they sell, AFAIK. They just figured it wasn't essential in a sub-notebook PC.

Why are so many people here considering this a direct MacBook replacement? Why does it need everything the MacBook has?
If you need those features, spend less, get a MacBook. If you need the small size, get MacBook Air. It doesn't seem all that difficult...

Does anyone out there NEED the smaller size of this AND Firewire built in?

1280x800

[Surt]

Resolution too low. I wouldn't buy a computer under 900 lines of resolution.

Re:1280x800

[VisceralLogic]

Resolution too low. I wouldn't buy a computer under 900 lines of resolution. Depends what you're using it for. I use a MacBook (same 1280x800 resolution) as my primary computer and like it very much. When I need more resolution, I dual-screen it.

Time Capsule

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

The summary missed one of the new products, called "time capsule." It is basically an 802.11n wireless hub/Gb ethernet hub, with a built in hard drive for use with Time Machine to auto-backup all your macs. It's going for $500 for a terabyte, or $300 for a half terabyte. It is, of course, a small form factor without room for more drives. It will probably be the only backup solution that will really be easy enough for most of the home market, but not really all that cool for Slashdot types.

Bad Idea

[Aqua_Geek]

I knew it was a bad idea to release the iPhone in Germany! After updating my phone's software, iTunes asked me to verify some info. I accidentally put in the wrong info, and it showed this.

The Germans are at it again! Trying to take over the world! Or, I guess, my iPhone.

Laptop kyphosis

[epine]

If the average prospective customer cares so much about having a replacement battery, this version won't sell as well as Apple hopes, and soon they will introduce a new version which does allow battery replacement.

I bought my first (and last) laptop in the early 1990s: a Gateway 2000 486DX/25. It was fairly small by the standards of the day, and the battery lasted five hours if you nursed it along. I said to myself, my next laptop purchase will run ten hours and weigh three pounds. Still waiting, but closer now. Meanwhile, I've discovered I rarely have an idea in a coffee shop so profound I can't jot it down on a slip of loose paper in ten words or fewer.

Then when I return home, I can keyboard it at an ergonomic workstation with the top of the screen positioned to eye level. But who knows, maybe kyphosis is actually good for your sex life after all.

http://bicyclehabitat.com/page.cfm?PageID=97

thin = nice, but...

[recharged95]

they forgot to tell you that it runs at a cool 90degrees.

And when you using those power apps like Keynote, will easily substitute as a frying pan for making breakfast when you're on travel.

It's nice effort, excellent for those need-to-have-bling consultants of Silicon valley (and pretty much any Big5 consultant). But for a home use it's not that practical.

"thank you for trolling, please move along...."

Lithium Ion degradation NOT covered by applecare

[SuperBanana]

This argument is often trotted out for the iPod, etc. It's specious. First, it's not expensive to install a new one -- it's free as part of your AppleCare.

Bullshit. The warranty specifically excludes reduced battery consumption as a result of use/age, both under the standard warranty and the Applecare extended warranty. At least they're (more) upfront about it now than they used to be...they now mention that Lithium Ion batteries degrade with time and use, etc.

$19

[xot]

19 bucks for an upgrade that does nothing. How come the iphone guys get a free upgrade and ipod doesnt? I guess they just want to brick more phones with their upgrades.That sucks.

Price Comparison

[coppro]

I just ran through a customization option at Dell, and here's what I ended up with:

Components:
PROCESSOR: Intel® Core(TM) 2 Duo T5450 (2MB cache/1.66GHz/667Mhz FSB), English
OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition, English
SYSTEM COLOUR: Alpine White
LCD AND CAMERA: Standard Display with 2.0 Megapixel Webcam
MEMORY: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE: 120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
GRAPHICS CARD: Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
OPTICAL DRIVE: 8X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)

Essentials:
PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE: Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD, English
WIRELESS CARD: Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
INTERNET ACCESS: Please contact me with more details
SECURITY SOFTWARE: Trend Micro Internet Security 15-months
BLUETOOTH: Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
ONLINE DATA STORAGE: Dell DataSafe 2.0 Online, 10GB for 1 Year (included with price)
HARDWARE SERVICES: 3 Year Next Business Day Onsite/In Home Service, CompleteCare, Tech Support with Lojack
BATTERY OPTIONS: 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
SOUND OPTIONS: High Definition Audio 2.0

Accessories:
FINGERPRINT READER: No Fingerprint Reader

Price quote? $1658 CAD = $1641 USD. And that's with what I call the "hammer warranty" - they will replace your computer if you so much as hit it with a hammer!

NOTE: I picked this specific model because it was the lightest, according to Dell. I put minimal upgrades on it, and, IMHO, this totally smokes the MBA in terms of value. And Dell actually puts ports on their computer. 1 USB port is just not enough for anyone. Unfortunately, this particular model does not, IIRC, come with a mouse nib. I personally want to kill whoever decided that people don't use mouse nibs. Trackpads are unusable, and external mice don't work in many places. I can play any FPS or RTS or other game on my mouse nib. I have yet to meet someone who can play similar games on a trackpad. Moreover, I wouldn't pay for half this stuff, but it comes standard (it's too hard to find somewhere where you can just buy a computer nowadays. It's either "make it yourself" or "here's all the software you don't need".

If I am reading right...

[thebdj]

I am far more upset about the apps added to the Touch. So, they want early adopters to pay $20 for apps that are in the new Touch (which is in no other way different), when they have no increased the price of the touch, so they are not showing an apparent "cost" to the new apps. (Granted, they've probably increased the margins since the touch launched.) This is what pisses me off. Apple once again proving they like screwing their early adopters (twice in the last year now). Oh well, too bad I got all those Apps free once I "jail breaked" (or whatever term to use) my Touch.

It's a sign of things to come.

[bennomatic]

Apple is leading into a market niche that is going to explode in the next few years.

Note: Women are getting more education, and filling more elite/management positions than men.

Note: The CEO of Avon cosmetics joined Apple's board.

Apple got a Gap board member to help with retail design and strategy. Apple got a Google board member to have a strong ally in networks and data distribution.

Apple is not looking in to selling cosmetics, I can guarantee that. What Ms. Jung brings to the table is a huge amount of experience in marketing to women. Women who, per the first note, are going to be earning more, spending more, and who are an expanding market for techno-doo-dads which have been traditionally marketed to men.

Oxygen network vs. Macbook Air? I don't know if that's what's going on here, but I think it's likely to think that Apple will be pushing their products--naming, ad campaigns and more, possibly even specific designs--in ways that will be more and more appealing to women. Making a laptop that's 3 lbs instead of 5 is not something that should be ignored by anyone who has ever noted the difference between the average man's hand/wrist strength and that of the average woman.

Sony has done something similar, but half-a$$ed, with their "Bravia - A TV both Men and Women can Love" campaign. I think Apple will go down this road, and they will do it right.

Re:It's a sign of things to come.

[tfinniga]

I wish you had posted this earlier, as I think this is the most insightful response I've heard about the MBA.

Personally, I wasn't really the target market. But my wife like her 12" powerbook because it fits nicely on her lap. I was thinking that when it dies, the MBA will be a great replacement.

It makes sense that the target demographic would be women as much as students, road warriors and others mentioned in the thread.

Re:It's a sign of things to come.

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple has been targeting certain markets for quite a while, by trying to make the computer more accesible, but I don't know how much this has helped them. For example, Mac OS, back to at least System 8, had speak over, and I believe Mac OS could enlarge the screen back to system 9. The one button mouse is developed to minimize hand stress, and the Mac OS applications are developed around the idea of one button, unlike other OS. These things should help Apple because there are times we all need such things.

It can bwe argued that one reason it is important that the powerbooks are thin is so small hands can hold it. The handles on the old power mac were a great innovation for moving a tower. The colors were certainly not meant for the average geek.

The Mac air is going to appeal to the fashion concious, but buying a computer is not like buying a Hemut Lang dress or Milano Blahnik shoes, and buying an Apple computer certainly has nothing to do with he mid priced cosmetics of Avon.

So I don't see huge turn around here. Women who can shop at Saks or Neiman or Bloomies will likely pass by the cute store, and buy the cute computer, which may increase market up take. Now, if Apple can get Oprah to use it as the primary on air (ha, pun) computer the OWN network, then we will have a winner.

Re:It's a sign of things to come.

[bennomatic]

Thanks for the feedback. I know there are indeed a good handful of women on this site, but it seems to me that /., and the computer industry at large, is very male-heavy. Marketing to women has doubled the size of the auto industry, the tobacco industry and more. And gee... let's not forget how popular the iPod mini was and the Nano is.

Re:It's a sign of things to come.

[The One and Only]

Should we expect the next version of MacBook Air to have pink tinted anodized aluminum and an "OMG! Ponies!"-themed version of Mac OS X?

Re:It's a sign of things to come.

[bennomatic]

Marketing to women--especially female professionals with discretionary income--is very different from marketing to little girls. I'm sure you're joking, but the fact is that many male-dominated industries have just such an oversimplified, stereotypical view of marketing to women.

Smaller and lighter, while retaining the great majority of functionality is indeed important. Other things like design may make some difference, but to suggest that "marketing to women" == "OMG! Ponies" is silly at best, but probably somewhat sexist.

Re:It's a sign of things to come.

[The One and Only]

I'm sure you're joking

I am--I'm referencing Slashdot's April Fools' prank of 2006.

A niche, but not mine.

[peacefinder]

The Air seems to be a prestige product, like a V12 BMW. Almost no one really needs it, but quite a few people will pay a premium price because they think they do. :-) It's a pretty little thing, though.

It so happens that I unpacked and set up a few Fujitsu Lifebook T2010 convertible tablets yesterday. Handling those makes the tradeoffs Apple made with the Air really obvious. The little Fujitsu is slower, cheaper, larger, and heavier... but not much slower, larger or heavier, and not all that much cheaper. They obviously didn't minimize on ports, as it has 2xUSB2, Gig-E, Firewire, headphone, mic, and VGA ports; slots for PCCard, Smartcard, and SDCard; a fingerprint reader, a Wacom touchscreen, and almost twice the battery life. On the other hand, it only has a/b/g wireless and it doesn't come with OS X or integrated multitouch, and it is not much of a looker.

Apple clearly optimized for different requirements than Fujitsu did. I'm sure the Air will fly off the shelves, but it's not for me.

Darn it.

Pass.

[solios]

I have a 13" powerbook G4 with 802.11g, bluetooth, firewire, and a lot of other buzzword-compliant googaws on board. It's small. Sure, it's only 867mhz with 640 ram, but it does everything I need a laptop to do when I need a laptop (which is almost never) - media playback, web browsing, wireless, terminal/ssh.

I can get all that in an Asus EEE PC for 300-500$, or approximately 0.16-0.27 the price of the Macbook Air.

And the EEE has rj45.

Sure, it doesn't (easily) run OS X or Photoshop, but that's what my desktop is for. Sure, it's not as pretty. But it's small, it's functional, it has more features I need/want than the Macbook Air (which I'm sure could be added to said for more money on top of its already grotesque price point), and it's much more reasonably priced.

The Macbook Air reminds me of the Apple Cube from a few years back - Pro priced, lacking a bunch of the features that mac the Pro pricing tolerable, pushing size/formfactor as the makeup feature... and with an initial MSRP of $1,799.

Maybe in five or six years, when I can get one used for what I paid for my (also used) powerbook. Until then, the featureset and the price point are way too out of whack for my wallet.

Re:Pass.

[geekoid]

". Sure, it's not as pretty. "
which is why it's for a completly different niche.

Besides, this is a great step toward fully Bluetooth integrated systems.
You can set this next to a bluetooth projector and cordlessly give your presentation.

Instead of needing to carry perfs, they'll just be there for whomever brings a bluetooth system.

This hits a very powerful up and coming market segment square on the head.

Re:Pass.

[solios]

This is true. Less wires == more better.

However, you'd think that by gutting all of those bits out of a Macbook the end result would be cheaper, not nearly twice the price.

iPhone re-lock

[Tom]

The one thing I hate about the iPhone firmware update is that it requires you to re-activate your iPhone. Which means that if you got the SIM-Lock removed in yours (which, for example, T-Mobile had to do for free in Germany for a limited time) then the SIM-Lock will be active again after the update.

Since the Apple hotline is closed now (9 pm over here) I can't yet say whether they'll remove it again without trouble or not. I'll see tomorrow.

Bad move. Being able to get it without a SIM-Lock was an important deciding factor for me.

Other stuff...

[funkboy]

Also announced were updates (& a price drop) to the AppleTV, a wireless basestation/NAS companion to Time Machine, and the long-anticipated iPhone SDK. Summary is too summary...

Music studio

[ContractualObligatio]

From my point of view: MacBook Air + my Edirol PCR-1 slim USB keyboard = Incredibly powerful music composing tool, usable in dark because of backlit keyboard, only 5lbs total weight, less than 2" thick. Fantastic! And in my mind Apple keeps up its tradition of design by working with Intel to get a new, smaller chip layout.

One side-effect of working enough to be able to afford such a doohickey is that I no longer get much time for my creative pursuits. With my MacBook Pro I can be getting things done in GarageBand (for later export to Logic) within seconds of opening the lid - but in a small cramped seat thin and light really does have value. With the Air I'll be able to use both laptop and keyboard even in coach (it's just a bit too tricky with the larger machine). That means more time to be creative - that means good value for money for me.

Yes, proper recording requires an external firewire drive, a single USB port isn't enough, and during serious music making you want ready access to a CD drive whether for listening or burning a CD, etc etc. I'm sure photographers have similar issues. But if you need an external device anyway, surely by definition your use case means that thinness and lightness are not priorities?

Re:Music studio

[DaveCBio]

Hate to be a quibbler, but GarageBand is a toy, not a music studio. Sure you can do basic things with it, but if you are serious why aren't you using Logic all the time? Also, I don't get this fascination with a super portable recording rig if you have to make all kinds of compromises. Maybe if you are the guy in the ads that composes on the beach this is right up your alley, but I use my rack gear and like to listen on decent monitors when I work on audio.

the Neon has been discontinued

[ksheff]

but you're right. People will go in to see what the high end machines look like and then decide "well, while I'm here, let's see what other stuff they have".

Still no 802.1X

[Greatmoose]

And there's STILL no 802.1X authentication. What the hell, guys?

Re:Still no 802.1X

[Anonymous Coward]

802.1X has been in OS/X since 10.3 check wikipedia article about 802.1X

Only one Intel chip inside?

[bball99]

FTFS: "Its Intel chip is the diameter of a dime and the thickness of a nickel. The MacBook Air will cost $1799 and up."

- what, it doesn't use a CPU? and with the "diameter of a dime" and the "thickness of a nickel," this laptop sounds expensive - plus, you have to pop extra for an optical drive?

- and no SSD?

- talking about being, pardon me, nickel-and-dimed to death? :-)

p.s. i love apple, but i'm starting to collect too many expensive yesterday 'puters... anyone want a Ti PowerBook or Cube?

Thinkpad X series

[Per Abrahamsen]

Who needs a super-thin, super-light laptop and is willing to pay a premium for it? People who are traveling a great deal and need to carry it around all day long. I strongly suspect that particular target audience will stick with the Thinkpad X series for the foreseeable future. The weight, specs and price is at the same level, except that IBM (and Lenovo) decided not to compromise in order to get the thickness down, something Jobs rightly pointed out all the ultra-thin notebooks had to do.

Re:Thinkpad X series

[bonaldi]

The specs on the X-series are even better: real-world battery life up to nine hours(!), changeable battery, ports-a-plenty, and no 4200rpm hard "drive". The Air doesn't come close to competing, especially with its lardy footprint, which is bigger than the MacBook's.

24 hours?

[swb]

Why a 24 hour limitation?

I may be weird, but I often will watch a longer (>90 mins) movie in 2 or 3 chunks, sometimes over a period of a week.

I still think Netflix is pretty close to ideal; I can keep them as long as I want, and for $15/mo I can beat $4 rentals even at my leisurely pace.

Re:24 hours?

[heinousjay]

There's no may about it. You're weird. Possibly even singular in this regard. I wouldn't go waiting for Apple to cater to you anytime soon.

no MacBook Pro updates?

[Anonymous Coward]

so what, are they going to let the MacBook Pro lineup sit and stagnate for another 6 months before they update it? Gah.

CD Copy Protection?

[Prien715]

I'm probably in the minority here, but let's say you wanted to play Civilization 4 or the forthcoming Starcraft 2 on the Macbook air.

Would the "virtual CDROM" work in another machine, would you be forced to pony up for the external drive, or will game manufacturers cease the activity of requiring the CD in the drive?

(While there are means of questionable legality to circumvent this, people who play games like "The Sims 2" may well just become upset instead!)

Re:CD Copy Protection?

[zenkonami]

Well there are always services like "Steam" out there, though they don't have a particularly large selection of games on hand. But then again, look at the video card in the Air. Does it look like a gaming machine?

Re:CD Copy Protection?

[Prien715]

Steam's windows only (last I checked) so until you do boot camp, doesn't help you.

I used Civ4 and Sims2 specifically since they don't require overly elaborate video cards: they play just fine on a regular macbook and are quite popular.

New airline

[Killer Eye]

MacBook Air sounds more like an airline devoted to Mac users, doesn't it? I wonder what that would be like...

Re:New airline

[Thumper_SVX]

Well, it wouldn't need fuel for the planes. Just the sweet smelling farts of the self-righteous smug. There'd be no coach class, all seats are first class but cost roughly the same as a coach seat on another airline.

Unfortunately, each seat also requires a separate support agreement when you're in the ground than one in the air if you want a flight attendant in both locations. Oh, and the button to put the seat back doesn't actually do anything except strengthen the reality distortion field around your seat so you THINK that the seat's gone back.

And this from a Mac owner... ;)

Re:New airline

[geekoid]

"There'd be no coach class, all seats are first class but cost roughly the same as a coach seat on another airline.
"

Priceless. First class at the cost of coach..I'd fly that.

Re:New airline

[Thumper_SVX]

Ah, but therein lies the other catch; the reality distortion field means you're actually sitting on a milk crate... the RDF just makes you THINK you're in first class.

Re:New airline

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds good to me! Extremely low cost for the airline, I sit in apparent luxury. If I can't tell there's a milk crate there, I don't care. I don't see the problem!

A few anchor points.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't see number one as the downside as you do, especially considering it's a notebook. Combine a bluetooth phone with this and you're good to go. Combine this with municipal Wi-Fi and you're good to go. Wired is for those who don't want to go.

Life time

[Per Abrahamsen]

I don't care about 10 hour flights, my experience has been that those always have power plugs.

But for my old laptops, the ability to change the battery has easily doubled their effective lifetime. I do need it to be able to stay alive for a 45 minute bus trip, plus some "sleeping" time before and after.

Of course, I can see the business case for making the lifetime of a product half as long, with a loyal customer base it means double sales.

Where's the Firewire?

[WillAffleckUW]

Seriously, it can take me a long time to run a backup over the other ports, how come the Macbook Air doesn't have a Firewire port?

USB is painfully slow.

Time Machine with Network drive.

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071028173642747

Allows any network drive to be used, or at least an AFP share.

Using it with my NAS as we speak. No problems. Although its not lightning fast, but hey.

Not my experience

[MushMouth]

Applecare is the extra warranty,

Last week Apple gave me a brand new battery for an intel MacBook that is nearly 2 years old, even though it was out of warranty, and I never purchased applecare, they were simply not happy with the performance of their batteries. My had the vague symptoms of not lasting as long as it used to. There was no wining needed, I simply made an appointment at the Apple Store "Genius Bar" (for the next day), brought in my MacBook (forgot the receipt) and 10 minutes later I had my brand new battery.

Re:Not my experience

[tyrione]

Firstly, AppleCare is extra.

Secondly, It's excellent.

With that said, it's also something you SHOULD BUY. Why? Since having an iBook G4 1Ghz I've had 2 logic boards, second hdd, DVD drive, new TFT LCD and more all replaced on my system. All covered and no cost to me. AppleCare is not only worth the extra expense, it just makes good business sense to buy it.

I'll never buy an Apple, DELL, HP or other small-form factor product WITHOUT their extended Warranty/Care policy.

Apple has a top flight policy and I'll buy it every time.

Re:Not my experience

[BeeRockxs]

Am I glad to live in a country where everything comes with a free 2 years warranty.

No Firewire?!?!

[Anonymous Coward]

WTF?

Saving Ideas (was Re:Laptop kyphosis)

[daviddennis]

A lot of ideas are so fleeting in my mind that they are gone by the time I can get my PowerBook out of its case, wake it up from sleep, and start typing.

But I couldn't use a slip of paper. I would simply lose it.

The solution? I have iPhone and take it everywhere. Then I jot down the idea instantly using the notes application and never forget it.

Works better than anything else I've ever tried.

D

Buying Applecare is Zealotry now?

[David Rolfe]

Calling something that comes in a service package add-on costing $249 "free" is the kind of bent zealot thinking that doesn't help. [...] I have to admit that if there was a time to get insurance on Macs in the past ten years, the past two or three years is it. Zealot? Me? Hardly.

Buying expensive hardware without a warranty is pretty... what's the word... retarded? how about just risky. All Macs, as you apparently know, come with one year free warranty (first two weeks: not even a blink; first 90 days: no questions asked, from experience). I would never encourage anyone to buy a laptop without a warranty. You even say as much... so I have to ask -- did you have a point other than to insult me?

So let me ask, how many of you buy new laptops without extended warranties or insurance of any kind? Do you think you're normal?

Re:Buying Applecare is Zealotry now?

[Anonymous Coward]

Calling a service that comes in an optional extended warranty package costing of $249 "free" is zealotry, but good job intentionally misinterpreting what I said. Also, as others have pointed out, Apple specifically mentions major exclusions to battery operation - e.g., reduced operating time - so even paying the $249 for AppleCare likely wouldn't cover installing a new battery.

I understand that you like insurance. Lots of people like insurance. It makes them feel safe. Lots of people like getting tax refunds at the end of the year, too. In both cases, those people are screwing themselves financially due to the psychological benefit - with one rare exception. If you cannot afford to fix or replace an item in the unlikely event of an accident or failure, then yes insurance makes sense - although even in that case, an extended warranty tends to make less sense on items like laptops given their large depreciation. In all other normal cases, you are losing money by buying insurance or an extended warranty. Companies offer insurance and extended warranties because they make a profit from it - not out of the generosity of their big hearts. That profit comes from the customers paying more than it would cost, on average, to make warrantied repairs on the item during the period of coverage.

It's quite likely you've read this and refuse to consider even slightly the possibility that any of it can true; perhaps your burning rage has conflated or misconstrued most of what I've written. Have a nice day.

Re:Buying Applecare is Zealotry now?

[David Rolfe]

I guess we have a failure to communicate here then. Let me serialize it, and editorialize for clarity:

Hand-wavery: what if the battery "dies"!

Me: No problem, that's free under Applecare. Or more exactly, quote, "it's free as part of your AppleCare." [You're noting this time that I didn't say AppleCare was free, and we're talking about a "dead" battery.]

Fonik: Applecare isn't free. [Never mind that I didn't state or dispute this.]

Me: That's right. It's not. It's twenty-five cents a day over its term. IMO a good bet considering the wear on laptops. Or more exactly, quote, "Buying expensive hardware without a warranty is [...] risky."

AC, You, presumably: Lol, David Rolfe's a zealot! Or more exactly, quote, "Calling something that comes in a service package add-on costing $249 'free' is the kind of bent zealot thinking that doesn't help." [Again, never mind THAT I DIDN'T.]

Me: Buying laptops without insurance is risky. You (presumably) agreed with that in your post. What was the point?

You: I'm going to misstate your position again. Also, people that buy insurance are suckers, even though I (presumably) said in a previous post that for this product it's advisable. Or more exactly, quote, "Calling a service that comes in an optional extended warranty package costing of $249 'free' is zealotry, but good job intentionally misinterpreting what I said." [Never mind that I didn't call it free. Nor did I intentionally misinterpret what you (presumably) said -- that it's advisable to buy an extended warranty: "I [presumably] have to admit that if there was a time to get insurance on Macs [...] the past two or three years is it."]

Is that not what you said? Which part was the misrepresentation? That all seems clear to me. I hope that clears up our misunderstanding. Cheers!

Re:Buying Applecare is Zealotry now?

[mdwh2]

I would never encourage anyone to buy a laptop without a warranty.

As you say, you get a year free - no one is buying laptops without warranties at all. The question is whether it's worth spending hundreds on a warranty just for the extra few years.

Re:Lithium Ion degradation NOT covered by applecar

[Anonymous Coward]

that's not what he's talking about. you have to pay for the battery, sure, but the cost of installing it is free. the parent poster was talking about having to throw away the machine, which is not the case. You pay for the battery, and insofar as the installation cost is free, then there's no difference.

You pay for size

[Quila]

That Dell is about the size of the MacBook, which costs less and is more powerful. It is lighter, but then it also has a smaller screen. It is far bigger than the MBA.

A more apt comparison is the one Jobs did, with the Sony slim notebook, and the Sony's more expensive.

A base station

[Per Abrahamsen]

For the Thinkpad X series, which has similar specs, you can buy a base station. The base station has extra usb ports, as well as connectors for external monitor (plus usb keyboard and mouse). It also sports space for an optical drive and extra hard drives. You place your (closed) Thinkpad X laptop on the base station, and use it as desktop computer.

If the MacBook Air is to be used as a primary computer, it will need something similar.

It makes more sense to me than to move all your rarely used peripherals with you in your "ultraportable" package. When used "on the road" I have never needed any of the missing stuff. A single USB port is enough.

Remote disc?

[achenaar]

So you can share another machine's optical drive huh?

Wait a second, isn't that pretty standard? I mean, if the drive's host is already on the network and the drive is shared...

Nice "feature", sure saves your ass from the whole not having an optical drive thing.

pld

Ach

Finally! Thank God!

[netpixie]

In contrast to a load of the posts here, I am absolutely cock-a-hoop with this. After having my needs in laptopery ignored for years, someone has finally made a laptop that is basically exactly what I want. No useless DVD drive, no stupid sockets (This Thinkpad I'm using now has a parallel port, FFS), no stupid replaceable battery, a full size keyboard, a decent screen, very low weight, fast processor, good HD and a reasonable amount of RAM.

Well done Apple.

The only thing that is a bit silly is the camera and I'll need to see one after its been dropped on the floor before I'll actually shell out.

Re:Finally! Thank God!

[stewbacca]

The camera is integral to many Mac-centric homes, however. It's all part of the "just works" mystique about Macs. Two Mac users plug in each others' iChat name and their off. I've struggled for years and years trying to make reliable video chat connections with PC-PC and PC-Mac, but Mac-Mac (with the camera on every model except the pro for the past few years) always just works. The typical user of this device will probably like the ability to video conference or sex-chat (perhaps both at the same time, if they have a really cool job).

Re:Finally! Thank God!

[gujo-odori]

I was entertaining the idea that you might not be a troll until I got to the part about "no stupid replaceable battery." I also think the MB Air is very nice, but I'm also very glad my MBP has a replaceable battery. I have two for the MBP, and more than that for my Thinkpad. More than once, I've wished my iPod had a replaceable battery.

I also with it had more than one USB port, but that's a quibble. I can live with a USB hub, and have one plugged into my MBP right now. Overall, I think the MB Air is a very nice machine, and after a closer look, may get one for my wife. It'd be ideal for carrying around campus and is lighter than the Thinkpad she has now. Then I could take her Tpad and put Linux on it, Muuuahahahaha!

Way to go

[Anonymous Coward]

I know it's always wrong to doubt Stevestradamus' view of the marketplace, but last I checked the Mac Cube failed horribly. File this under "unnecessary" - Macbook Pros are plenty slim for 99% of users out there. This is intended to be an in between product, but I doubt potential MB buyers are willing to spend the extra dough for the slim factor while I also doubt that potential MBP buyers are willing to sacrifice hard drive and processor speed to save a little.

Oh, and the black keyboard is ugly.

Re:apple why the lack of updates for you other har

[mozumder]

The MacBook Pro was updated in November.

Re:apple why the lack of updates for you other har

[XaXXon]

like the lack of a macbook pro update

What more do you want? They're up to date on everything. They did just do a speed bump when they did the santa rosa macbooks.

, macbook,

Just got a big bump.

The mini is 161 days old

Yeah, not sure why this hasn't gone santa rosa yet.

The imacs are 161 days old as well and they have a weaker video card then the older a bigger imac before them.

Don't concern yourself with imacs. You don't want one. It doesn't matter if they bump them.

The macbook pro is 224 days old.

No it's not. No where close. And, as mentioned before, it's got everything they could put in it, anyhow. And they just gave it a speed bump.

also where is the xmac?

Nice try.

the mac pro starts at $2700 now but you can cut $500 by going down to 1 cpu.

Yep. They just updated this.

$2200 for 1 quad core with 2gb of ram and ati 2600xt is better then the older mac pro but what about people who need a good desktop at $600+ and $1000 - $2000?

You're not the target audience, apparently. They think they can do better without you. So far they're winning that bet.

The Imac screen is not good for pro work and the mini is over priced and underpowered for it as well.

Yep. That's why it's called a Mac Pro. It's for Pro work.

Canadian Prices

[Roger W Moore]

Where are you getting this 2k-3k number?

www.apple.CA: $1899 for the base model $3.3k for the SSD model.

These are in Canadian dollars which are worth roughly 2% more than a US dollar (at least last I checked) so converting this into USD gives $1937 which easily rounds to $2k. I'm sure this is the price that Apple must be charging you in the US because Apple is such a fine, upstanding company that I know they wouldn't dream of participating in the usual price gouging of Canadian consumers.

FireWire is essential to me

[Jerry Smith]

I do all my backups over Firewire. A firm protocol for when reliability is essential. No FireWire? No deal.

Re:FireWire is essential to me

[mrsteele]

I sit in the rain counting elephants. An unpleasant task in unpleasant weather. No waterproofing?. No deal.

(seriously, what is with comments like this? firewire has never become a true standard in laptops. I've only ever owned one laptop with firewire. and subnotebooks have been successful without built-in optical drives for years. this new laptop fits fine within the category it was built for)

Re:FireWire is essential to me

[Ilgaz]

I sit in the rain counting elephants. An unpleasant task in unpleasant weather. No waterproofing?. No deal.

(seriously, what is with comments like this? firewire has never become a true standard in laptops. I've only ever owned one laptop with firewire. and subnotebooks have been successful without built-in optical drives for years. this new laptop fits fine within the category it was built for) Firewire (IEE1394) is a true standard coming with every high end Laptop out there. A person buying a $1700 laptop (or $3K) won't trust his/her data to your average sub speed USB junk. High end cameras doesn't even do anything over USB. There is no high end audio equipment for USB2 because of a basic reason: Its advertised speed is completely false. Do you think a $1700 laptop owner have a el cheapo USB2 camera?

As Intel have "special" agreement with Apple, they could be ones to blame for single USB2 junk being offered. USB2 is still being considered a joke even while the Firewire 3200 didn't ship yet.

This is the cost of exclusive agreements with "Tel" part of Wintel gang.

All Macintosh owners out there either own or owned a Mac with Firewire port and they are enjoying 40MB/80MB rates with their external drives. Apple kinda forgot their user profile lately. For USB2 el Cheapo people, there are far cheaper Laptops offered by no name companies.

Re:FireWire is essential to me

[rstultz]

"Firewire (IEE1394) is a true standard coming with every high end Laptop out there. A person buying a $1700 laptop (or $3K) won't trust his/her data to your average sub speed USB junk. High end cameras doesn't even do anything over USB. There is no high end audio equipment for USB2 because of a basic reason: Its advertised speed is completely false. Do you think a $1700 laptop owner have a el cheapo USB2 camera?"

Bull shit. My Cannon Digital Rebel uses USB, so I checked out their highest end camera ($7999). USB.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=15710#ModelTechSpecsAct

Serious question..

[jameseyjamesey]

How do I install Ubuntu on it without an optical drive? or How would someone reinstall MAC OS if they fsked their system?

Re:Serious question..

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh, you use an external optical drive-- just like you do on non-Apple subnotebooks that lack built-in optical drives for the last 15 or so years.

I swear, do you people shut the logic centers of your brains off when Apple products are involved?

Remote Disk

[coldfarnorth]

Cool! A program that shares a drive over a wireless network! And a computer that can map said drive! Revolutionary! Where would we be w/o Apple?

Patent

[Quila]

Apple had a patent about detecting accidental contact with a track pad, such as resting your hands on it. Maybe that technology made it into this.

Re:Patent

[Tim Browse]

OS X already has a setting to 'ignore accidental trackpad input' - basically, if you're typing, it ignores it (I believe that's how it works anyway).

It's in Tiger, possibly earlier than that.

Re:apple why the lack of updates for you other har

[Joe The Dragon]

The last mac book pro update as just a BTO add on

Where is the $1000 to $2000 desktop?

$2200 is high for alot of pro users.

the mini is still over priced as it is and santa rosa will not help at is price point.

Not an executive toy

[Shivetya]

One problem that keeps the Apple laptops out of our office, let alone others, is no docking stations.

See, Executives have nice LARGE LCD monitors at work. If by chance they have a laptop; most of ours have computers given to them for home use complete with everything they have at work; they dock it at home and work. E-Mail, blackberry, thank you.

This is a Starbucks trophy. I can only imagine seeing a few pop up in two weeks at Starbucks. An accessory of the wanna be terminally cool crowd.

Do I want one... yes and no. Yes because it is so small, no because it is so small. Its a great form factor for college students... but honestly it only shaves two pounds off of their already light weight notebooks. My long term concern is the durability of something so light and small. I am not horribly upset at the battery, thats an annoyance and at most a "justification" for many to push off yet another good machine from Apple. I am still in the camp of wanting a headless system similar to the Mac Pro but in the iMac price range. I'll keep my iMac till then.

Re:Lithium Ion degradation NOT covered by applecar

[Anonymous Coward]

The fine print may say it's not, but that just gives them the right to charge you for the new battery. In practice, they may replace it for free anyway: I fried the battery on my Macbook within 1 year, and they didn't charge me a dime.

Absolutely right

[DingerX]

My Parents have 4 Macintoshes in their house. Two they use, and two that ended up obsolete simply because Apple made them that way ahead of their time (okay, okay, that iBook could have been brought up to speed for only a $150 software update and a $150 (on Ebay only) legacy 802.11b card, 'cos Apple wouldn't think of making 802.11g for old tech).

Most people DON'T need all that. But most people DO need SOME of that. And if you add it all together, most people AREN'T going to get WHAT THEY NEED.

Now, you can debate whether the Mac approach is better than Microsoft's (=We give you ALL you need, but each bit of it only works 80% of the time. Most people will need to use FIVE such elements, so it will only work, (Pet 2.0 fans, help me out here) 32.768% of the time), but the fact is, fashionable obsolescence is part of Apple's game plan. And we can always needle you for it.

Re:Absolutely right

[cayenne8]

"Now, you can debate whether the Mac approach is better than Microsoft's (=We give you ALL you need, but each bit of it only works 80% of the time. Most people will need to use FIVE such elements, so it will only work, (Pet 2.0 fans, help me out here) 32.768% of the time), but the fact is, fashionable obsolescence is part of Apple's game plan. And we can always needle you for it."

Well, I dunno what macs you bought, but, I seem to think they hold up pretty well, and hold their value amazingly well for resale.

I've only got one mac computer right now...an iBook G3 800Mhz. I think it was built around 2000 or 2001 maybe. I bought it used for $800 with all original cd's, a nice travel case and full accesories in about 2003-20004. I originally bought it to turn into a Gentoo Linux laptop. I kept a very small partition for OSX on it...just to play with. Over time...I redid the box, and put all OSX on it. (Don't worry, I have plenty of gentoo on other boxes). This is 2008 and still my only laptop I work with. It is just now getting a bit long in the tooth for me and slow. I'm about to buy a new macbook pro....and then, I'll relegate this old iBook to the kitchen...as my kitchen computer for emailing while cooking...or looking up recipes..or playing a dvd on.

I don't know of many other laptops out there that stay useful for so long. The OS upgrades seemed to help it keep its usefulness over the years...and it was a solidly built machine.

I don't find that fashionable obsolescence was something built into this product. And, aside from only being USB 1.1....it has served my needs for quite awhile, and I do use it for more than email and surfing. I'm often sshed in from it to my other boxes in the house doing jobs or developing on it....

Re:Absolutely right

[jpellino]

iBook? What's the 802.11 issue? Any iBook had b and should see anything. No sense in adding g to one that has it for most uses.

Re:Absolutely right

[Anonymous Coward]

Parent more-or-less complains because Apple no longer makes the 802.11b AirPort card. (It's an exceedingly old design nowadays - basically an old Lucent Orinoco card without the antenna bits on the end.) The new 802.11g AirPort Extreme card is MiniPCI (or some variant thereof) and is incompatible with the 16-bit PCMCIA slot that is your average AirPort card slot. That's really the issue; the slot is really old. I've never seen a G card work on the old PCMCIA (all the ones I've seen were CardBus). You can't even buy the Lucent version of the card new anymore, though you can find them on eBay and cut the end off and shove 'em in the slot OK if you wanna do that.

Re:Absolutely right

[geekoid]

By your statement, SOME people won't get what they need.

I know too mane people using old macs.

Re:Absolutely right

[DingerX]

Aye. It's exceedingly old now. It wasn't four years ago when I tried to sort it. Basically, the first-generation iBook didn't have AirPort built in. After that, they moved to all-AirPort all the time. Thanks to a custom port, you can only use the Apple cards. Thanks to 10.1, you can't use any third-party WiFi cards. So, four years ago, I had to sort this situation: here's a machine that labors under 10.1, and there are three options: A. spend $150-200 on Ebay for an Airport (802.11b) card that Apple no longer manufactured, B. Spend $150 on an OS upgrade that would degrade OS responsiveness without adding anythign system-critical, and another $100 on a USB Wireless card, or C. Do nothing, and wait for them to repeat their mistake and buy yet another Mac.

I took option C., and Mr. Jobs and the Mac horde otta be grateful for it.

I do enjoy these little posts, because it shows that there are always Macintosh fans who refuse to believe that Apple could ever do anything bad to their customers; every time I bring up an Apple failing (well, except for the Eudora abandonware issue that hit everyone last week), someone has to post that the problem doesn't exist. Guys, it's an OS. If, in the past, you'd only gone the Amiga route instead of the Macintosh one, you'd understand that brilliant UI design and amazing engineering are fine things, but the suits run strategy. All that fine work ain't gonna save you from marketing decisions, and a platform that insists on tight hardware control is going to have exactly these problems.

Then maybe you'd figure out why Firewire was a fiasco at a dollar a pop instead of a triumph.

Re:Absolutely right

[SuperKendall]

I don't buy it because I know people still using very old macs for real work (not just browsing) on systems where the PC's selling at the time are at Goodwill now.

As for the person needing a modem, if they really cared about wires they would use the Airport that included a modem so they could put the computer wherever they liked. And they really do not need a floppy drive, there's just no way at this point. CD's are the new floppy (in more ways than one since you see they are now being phases out by Apple too).

Re:Absolutely right

[pnevin]

I found that upgrading from 10.1 to Tiger on a G3 iMac actually improved its performance.

Re:Absolutely right

[jpellino]

no, just wondering which model

for your original ibook, original airport card for $109 go here:

http://www.macwireless.com/html/products/wireless_cards/11g_11b_cards/airportcard.php

jp

Re:Absolutely right

[jpellino]

btw wasn't denying, just forgot that rev's details and i was trying to help.

World of Warcraft

[Satanboy]

The big question, is will it play world of warcraft?

Re:World of Warcraft

[jjohnson]

Not with Intel embedded graphics, it won't.

Re:World of Warcraft

[Satanboy]

That's good info, I couldn't find any data on video chipset.
Looks like I'll still be waiting for that laptop that can play wow that is reasonably priced and is small and light.

Re:World of Warcraft

[geekoid]

While I can't speak for the chip set in this specific machine, I have played wow on other intel video chips.
Not top of the line, but certianly playable.

Re:Lithium Ion degradation NOT covered by applecar

[arrrrg]

I'm on a 1.5 year old MacBook Pro, on my fourth battery. The first one was recalled, and the next two started performing poorly and both times I called AppleCare and had a new battery on my doorstep the next day without paying a dime.

Genius indeed!

[dazedNconfuzed]

Removing unnecessary stuff from a computer - I mean really removing it, not just taking half away and ignoring the half that's left - is difficult when the cheap option is to leave crap hidden inside, and to tell the suits "no, really, people will pay MORE to have LESS!" Sounds goofy, but true. Ever consider building a really really small computer? even with the "micro" and "nano" sized motherboards, there's always a whole bunch of useless ports on it; want to get rid of the unused stuff? go build yer own motherboard is the answer.

Crossing the 3lb barrier has huge physical and psychological changes. Getting a Vaio ultraportable has (dare I say) changed my life: having a computer so light it's harder to not have it around than to drag it everywhere. Never do I have to go home to get email, or look stuff up, or run handy tools, or decide whether to lug the durn heavy thing around ... instead, it's within arm's reach or a short walk all the time. The one thing holding me back from Apple was the absence of an ultraportable (and now my only hesitation is no 1024-line display).

Part of the genius of Apple IS the gumption to say "no, you're not going to have it that way". They compel people to think forward to better ways of solving a long-running problem, rather than hanging back to old solutions. No optical drive? yeesh, they're so 20th Century, get with the download/bittorrent/thumbdrive/802.11n future already. Limited hard drive? wireless shared drive, man. No Ethernet port? get a USB adapter for those rare no-Wi-Fi times.

Time to switch. Apple is hitting the tipping point: just a hair (or 224 lines of video) away from "PC? Vista? why bother what that old stuff?"

Re:Genius indeed!

[mdwh2]

Never do I have to go home to get email, or look stuff up

I check email and look stuff up on my dirt-cheap bog-standard phone. Granted, there's certainly a market for something larger and more convenient that a phone, whilst not quite so large as typical laptops. But we're years past the stage when checking email meant you had to go home.

Re:apple why the lack of updates for you other har

[GaryPatterson]

also where is the xmac?

I don't recall Apple ever promising an xMac.

They did deliver a lower-cost tower a few years ago, but it was such a market failure I doubt we'll see another soon. Remember, the people who say they'll buy something rarely translate to actual sales. For some reason the myth of the xMac includes the idea that everyone and their dog would rush out and buy one, when the reality is that few will.

Not what I had expected

[Cannelloni]

I don't want to whine, but though the products are nice, I had expected a lot more from Apple. The Air is much too limited for my needs. A single USB port? (I need three) No Firewire? (I need two ports, preferably FireWIre 800.) No audio in? At any rate I won't get version 1.0... The services are VERY impressive, though, much more so than the hardware.

Re:Not what I had expected

[tim_uk]

Well then you are clearly not the target user for it.

It's a coffee-shop computer, designed to impress. It's not for film-makers to offline with Final Cut, or for photographers to run Aperture on, or for developers to code on, unless you are doing all that in the coffee shop with the data stored locally, or available via wireless or Bluetooth.

It's a presentation device - and women will love it. ( And they are a huge part of the target market)

Personally I love the fact that the remote CD software is supplied on a CD. And it's said that there's no irony in the American psyche.

Tim

The Air

[CaptScarlet22]

Regardless if the product is good or bad. The product defines what innovation is.

Maybe it's cooler than a MBP?

[David Rolfe]

Granted.

So one needs to determine: am I carrying around 2 pounds or more of port-replicators and external drives? Do I have device incompatibilities? If no, you're still winning with the ultraportable. If yes, though, one needs to do some more fine grained calculus -- are there times when I can make do with less? Is the equal or greater weight in externals worth those situations? etc. -- Still worth it? If not this laptop is ruled out and you go back to the five-pounder and reevaluate what you have to carry around with it.

On the other end of the spectrum, I'm sure there's kitchen-sink, dual HD, dual proc, 17" display DELLs that don't justify their built-ins, and the interrogation is in the other direction (how often do I need 4 USB2.0 ports and RAID 10 on the road, is it worth 12 pounds?). It's probably been said 300 times in this thread now, "choose the right tool for the job."

Airbook looks about right if you want to spend a 2000 mile flight using xcode and your tray-table is broken/missing and your thighbones are too brittle to hold up a MBP (or your jewels can't take the heat! wink wink). Right there's a market niche to exploit!

It also seems like it would be pretty handy as a satellite machine at university. You'd carrying it all day everyday, the form factor might be a win there. Maybe picking up some dates in lecture hall? I dunno. You don't need lots of ports and optical drives to IM your friends, I mean take notes and do homework. The cost you say? Put it on the student loan; worry about it when you're old!

God I'm old.

Re:Maybe it's cooler than a MBP?

[petermgreen]

You don't need lots of ports and optical drives to IM your friends
nor do you need a 13 inch screen and many gigs of storage.

Re:Maybe it's cooler than a MBP?

[grrrl]

""You don't need lots of ports and optical drives to IM your friends""

"nor do you need a 13 inch screen and many gigs of storage."

Yeah you do to store those IM log files!! and u need 13" to have chat windows, mahjong AND facebook open at once!

Re:Maybe it's cooler than a MBP?

[David Rolfe]

You don't need lots of ports and optical drives to IM your friends
nor do you need a 13 inch screen and many gigs of storage. But you do to keep up the pretense of taking notes and doing homework. Oh wait. I said that. You can't write term papers or run Matlab on your Sidekick.

Do you have a substantive argument against the airbook's use as a satellite machine at university (other than the old standards, 'get something heavier', 'get something cheaper and heavier' , 'get something smaller and less productive but lighter', those are all tradeoffs) or was this just a drive-by? If not, thanks for the commentary.

Grrrl makes a good point, too. How could I forget Facebook?!

Cheers!

iPod Flea

[antdude]

iPod Flea ;)

So there was something in the air

[ZlotyJelop]

So the hint left on http://www.thereissomethingintheair.com/ was correct (if you cod decipher the message on the front page that is). It is big and small...

[now completely OT] Re:Wot no optical drive?

[spiffyman]

Nice try and good points, but I actually sold my car several years ago with the express intention of not purchasing another until I could afford a viable environmental alternative. I use public transportation for the vast majority of my transit, which in Austin is run in large part on natural gas.

Why, I could...

[bill_mcgonigle]

This may be the first Apple upgrade ever to be cheaper from the factory than DIY.

I just bought an 8GB microSD card for $115 for my n810, so if you gang them together with their USB adapter boards and an 8-port USB hub's circuit, and RAID-0... OK, that's just silly.

But the price of the RAM, retail, is less than what they're charging, and SATA and flash controllers don't cost much, so there's still plenty of profit left in those drives. Whether that's going to the drive vendor or Apple/Dell/whomever is another story.

As a 12" PowerBook lover...

[Cybrex]

You're absolutely right. My 12" G4 PB is (still) my primary computer. I'm a form factor fanatic, so much so that the relatively small size increase between the 12" PB and the MacBook is enough to keep me using a G4. Sure there are trade-offs (I've upgraded the hard drive to 160 GB, but I'm still stuck with 1.25 GB of memory and an aging 1.5 GHz PPC processor), but I make them happily for my itty bitty form factor.

I've been waiting for Apple to come out with an equivalent sized Intel machine, but frankly this isn't it. Yes, it's thinner and 1.6 lbs lighter, with a faster processor and more memory, but even I have limits to what I'm willing to sacrifice for a smaller machine. I use wired ethernet every day both at home (where I could use wireless) and at work (where I can't), FireWire at least once a week, a plethora of USB devices (I have a powered USB hub at work but not at home), and rip and burn discs regularly. I'd *have* to carry around the external SuperDrive, a powered USB hub, an external hard drive (I couldn't come close to shoehorning my data into the Air's tiny hard drive) and the USB-to-Ethernet adapter just to maintain my current functionality, at which point any benefit from the smaller form factor is totally lost. Besides, I'd be cutting less than an inch from the thickness but gaining 2 inches in width. No thanks.

Size freak that I am, it seems that if anyone would want one of these it would be me. Unfortunately I really don't. Maybe I'm really not the target market after all, but are there really that many executives out there who use Macs, and of that set are there that many who fetishize small machines?

this is hilarious!

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple has simply taken what ASUS has already done with the EEE and just made it bigger and more expensive. So much for the idea that Apple "reinvents" technology every year. This is just another "me too" product from a company that is quickly running out of ideas.

Re:Lithium Ion degradation NOT covered by applecar

[crabpeople]

Thats nice, but the parent was talking about ipods. Try even ordering a replacement battery for a 3 year old ipod. You will be redirected to the apple store and told to buy a whole new ipod.

Apple is crap for long term reliability. And if you say something stupid like "you should have bought the extended waranty with the cutsey wootsey carebare name" ill punch you in the face. Apple makes people into suckers. Always have, always will.

Blame the IRS and FASB for the $20 Upgrade

[jordandeamattson]

Blame our good friends at the IRS and FASB for the required $20 upgrade for iPod Touch users.

The issue here is good old revenue recognition.

For the iPhone, Apple has an ongoing revenue stream (the monthly fee they get) against which they can charge the cost of this upgrade.

For new iPod Touches, it is built into the price.

But for old iPod Touches, Apple doesn't have a revenue stream against which they can charge the cost of the upgrade. Therefore, they had two choices: 1) do not recognize all of the revenue from an iPod Touch sale and use it to match the cost of the upgrade, or 2) charge for the upgrade.

Revenue recognition around upgrades (vs. bug fix releases) is a major issue for software companies. The complexity of trying to set aside a chunk of revenue and match that against expenses is nasty. It is just easier - unless you have a revenue stream - to charge a nominal amount for the upgrade.

Apple Air Biscuit

[trouser]

Pay more, get less. Hooray fuck. I'm buying a Dell.

Re:Apple Air Biscuit

[El Gruga]

you seem to have missed your calling in life - I would suggest you will find it in the nearest Public Toilet. Goodbye.

Apple Legal & shareholder lawsuits

[mbessey]

As it was explained to me when I worked there, the Legal team at Apple feels that they'd be vulnerable to shareholder lawsuits if they gave away something that customers would be willing to pay for. This is traditionally attributed to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but I think the intent of the policy is more general than that.

In general, updates to existing products are not allowed to be free if they add new features, only if they fix bugs. There are a bunch of exceptions, including for products that are given away, like iTunes. I expect that the iPhone is actually being "sold" a bit at a time over the course of the mandatory 2-year contract, and so since customers are still technically paying for them, it's okay to add new features in a software update.

I didn't much like this explanation the first time I heard it, but given the number of shareholder lawsuits Apple already gets every year, they definitely have reason to be cautious. As long as the prices for feature upgrades remain relatively low, it probably won't anger the customer base too much, and it'll hopefully keep the class-action lawyers at bay.

Re:Apple Legal & shareholder lawsuits

[Osty]

I expect that the iPhone is actually being "sold" a bit at a time over the course of the mandatory 2-year contract

Just FYI, the iPhone does not have a mandatory 2-year contract. While it's true that if you're a new AT&T subscriber you need to sign up for a 2-year contract for an iPhone (other phones have 1-year contract options if you're willing to pay more for the handset), if you're already a customer with a voice plan that is out of contract you don't have to lock yourself into another 2 years unless you change plans. The data plan piggybacks on your existing voice plan for $20/mo with no contract term required. I know this first-hand, because I'm a 6.5-year Cingular/AT&T customer who purchased an iPhone a couple months ago without having to roll a brand new contract. I'm still month-to-month on my no-longer-available-for-new-subscribers plan, as I have been for the last 4.5 years.

Yes, Apple does get some bit of my monthly payment, but that's money out of AT&T's pocket and I'm not contractually obligated to stay with AT&T for any longer than I desire. The iPhone itself is a pretty compelling reason to stick around, coupled with the fact that AT&T is the best GSM provider in my area, but if for some reason I wanted or needed to change I could do so tomorrow without any repurcussions.

Re:Apple Legal & shareholder lawsuits

[grefyne]

What about the free upgrade for existing Apple TV users? Shouldn't they have to pay as well?

Mod down

[ToasterMonkey]

#1 - The Time Capsule. Haven't we had wireless NAS's since 802.11 became a standard? I've got a USB-2 external drive that does my backups now. This announcement does absolutely nothing for me.

Iomega vs. Time Capsule
See any differences? Price, size? Not revolutionary, but a fine product.
I have an AE with a USB harddrive, it does almost nothing for me either.
So what?
Wow, that is really interesting, thanks mods.

#2 - The iPhone/iPod touch updates. I was really hoping to hear an announcement regarding the hardware. More memory. Smaller form factor. Lower price. Open network. Instead we see a few lousy software upgrades (woo, quasi-GPS that's been in the system for a week now). And, a nice F-U to the early adopters in a 20$ upgrade for the Touch. Glad noone bought me one of those for xmas. Anyone who did get one in the last 30 days should immediately return it and get one of the "new" ones with the additional features for free. And take a crap in the box, before they do.

Why the F-U? You knew the touch didn't have those functions originally, now it's a measly $20 add-on. So?
Sure, free is better, but it's not like you got a raw deal. Care to explain?
Thanks again mods.

#3 - The AppleTV/Movie Rental Service. Exciting, if the XBox360 hasn't been serving this capacity for over TWO YEARS. Wow, all the major labels, eh? Are they suddenly going to cut ties with all their other distribution partners? I didn't think so. And the price cut on the AppleTV was okay, but they *really* couldn't go just a bit further to put it below the $200 mark? Really, they must want this device to fail.

Apple is poised to leapfrog Microsoft's rental attempts in the blink of an eye. It's not INSIGNIFICANT that they've managed to get every major studio on board! Does Microsoft?
The Apple TV is now cheaper than the cheapest XBox 360. It also looks, sounds, and fits good next to a TV. There's also the additional incentives to rent videos through iTunes due to the transferability to iPod/iPhone/computer. There will still be an appeal for 360's, but that doesn't mean this device will fail.
Interesting? Please mods...

#4 - The MacBook Air. It's really just a masturbation toy for the rich gadget hound -- it does nothing new besides be smaller, and it does it slower and more expensively to boot. Wow, it fits in an envelope. Unless you're mailing me one, I'm not interested. Multitouch pad? Give it a month, they'll be on all the MacBooks. The size factor will very quickly be copied by Sony/Dell/et al, so Windows fanbois can rest easy. What would have made it revolutionary? If it were JUST a screen, no Keyboard, no fancy touchpad. Or, if it were under a thousand dollars. THAT would have been impressive. Made of Aluminum? And you thought the last generation MacBooks broke easily! Remote Disk? I've been sharing my CD-ROM drive via windows networking since 1996. It even works over wireless!

We get it, you're not in the market for a sub-notebook, and/or poor. Waaaaaaah! Move on, others are in the market.
"The size factor will very quickly be copied by" Well, which is it? It's a flying piece of shit on one hand, but Sony and Dell will attempt to quickly copy it on the other. Well? You sound more like the "Windows fanboi that wants to rest easy" yourself.
Poop on multitouch, poop on form factor, poop on Apple, poop on price, poop on aluminum (seriously?), poop on MacBooks, poop on EFI-level wireless Remote Disc (excellent display of ignorance). Poop on us all because you wont buy one.
Very interesting indeed mods.

Since you were so kind, I'm going to poop AL

Mod up.

[Anonymous Coward]

I hadn't heard about that second url. That's pretty interesting!

I think we'll all be a lot happier --even if it takes marketing -- if we can draw more women out of the safe (and patriarchal!) stereotype of technophobia and into our broader community. I don't mean /. in particular, but the 'computers are more than a work tool', they are an expression and communication tool. And hence into software using, feature requesting, feature implementing, software writing, application designing. I know there are women that do these things, but as our field reaches parity with the population it will be a huge net benefit for us all.

As long as we can get youth culture (and American culture in general) past its rampant anti-intellectualism I have no doubt we'll get there with the generation of girls that are in grade school right now. If we can prevent the kids we've got in school right now from getting stigmatized for their curiousity we'll have some good times before we're all dead :-D

I'm going to post this anonymously, for the irony of the 'mod up' subject line. Maybe I can get some +funny out of it.

Nice, but...

[DrZook]

It's a great engineering effort, but hardly revolutionary.
I was really excited when I got my hands on a hacked iPod touch. Notes, Photo editing, nifty motion-sensing games, a really neat multi-touch interface...it felt like 1984 all over again, with apple inventing another revolutionary human interaction system that would define computing for years to come.
Somehow, with the Airbook I feel apple's creative streak is stumbling. And to its marketers, a $20 early bird tax for an iPod update when Microsoft rewards early adopters with new firmware that they have no real reason to give away? Like charging for full screen mode in quicktime, this is just plain annoying.

Your thoughts, summarized

[SuperKendall]

"No wires. Less space than an iPod. Lame."

I think that sums up what you are trying to say there.

So many slashdot users with no imagination

[cybereal]

How many people have asked seemingly appropriate questions about "How do I use 45 usb devices at once?!" "How will I hook up 4 monitors to this?!" and my personal favorite "Derr where's the microphone?"

Ugh. Where have you all been? This is a subnotebook. This is not meant to be your only computer. This is meant to slip into your folio for your bike ride to the cafe. This is meant for travelers who are not trying to render video on the airplane. There are uses for this computer. It is not intended to replace your desktop. Isn't that obvious?

Now, besides the high likelihood that the thing has a built in mic like all other macs, you have bluetooth. That's B L U E T O O T H. It's this fantastic new technology that lets you wirelessly connect a headset to a device, along with a variety of other features nobody ever uses.

If you're wondering how to hook this up to your monitors you're DOING IT WRONG. The *only* reason it has a dvi port is for connecting to a projector! And if you're really savvy you've got yourself a bluetooth enabled projector that lets you export your screen. Hell, I have had 2 different cell phones that worked with such projectors... really, the slashdot crowd is sadly uninformed about new tech.

Now for those who have seen and/or held the device. I wonder, does it have a fan? I'd be enamored if not. Even so, it's a pretty slick superlight machine, and I'd love to be sliding into my folio for the ride to work at... wherever I feel like working :)

Oh, and before I go, I cannot post on MWSF day without pointing out where we are in the The Apple Product Cycle:

The haters offer their assessment. The forums are ablaze with vitriolic rage. Haters pan the device for being less powerful than a Cray X1 while zealots counter that it is both smaller and lighter than a Buick Regal. The virtual slap-fight goes on and on, until obscure technical nuances like, "Will it play multiplexed Ogg Vorbis streams?" become matters of life and death.

Its Reasonable

[bussdriver]

Typically, Apple maintains the similar product margins so there is likely a valid reason for the price. In addition, Apple often releases at competitive or even great pricing (see the flash HD) and maintains that price while the industry continually moves downward in price.

I think it was designed to be far cheaper but was held up on components and manufacturing somewhere; otherwise, Apple is aiming for higher margins (not that the missing parts cost all that much to include.) I don't know what they are thinking leaving out Firewire; USB 2 is a joke replacement.

This is not an injection molded frame like a macbook it is metal and needs some precision to fit together nicely; in addition to the custom CPU package, possible custom bridge, GPU package, "green" LCD, newer keyboard, etc. Possibly Apple will break past patterns and have price drops and or simply not upgrade and let it fall into a sub-note book price range.

Keeping high margins will make this the next Mac G4 Cube (remember that flop? it did cost to make those.)

Note: I'm not interested in one. No DIMM, no firewire is nuts! Otherwise it perfectly fits my portable needs.

Human memory = low quality copy

[Saucepan]

The old way wasn't that different, really: you pay to see the movie, and in return you get to take a copy of it out of the theater with you, encoded in your brain with a highly abstract lossy codec.

When you rip rented movies you're just using a better codec and space-shifting the bits from your brain to your flash drive.

Personally I don't see a problem with it either way especially if you aren't distributing derived works.

Re:Human memory = low quality copy

[_the_bascule]

*chuckle* thnks for that, I did forget to mention that I won't upload ripped movies from DVD rentals, just an ongoing moral problem for me. Redistributing copyright material that cost a lot of money to make in the first place is something that I can see as wrong, but my own counter-argument tells me that paying Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Cruise and the like $10million a movie is also morally wrong and I don't want to support that model of business either ...

I wonder when the MacBook Vapor is coming out...

[turing_m]

It's 0.1 inches thick, can be folded up to fit in a standard envelope, sports a 2 terabyte SSD and 8 cores, all while sipping only 3.5 Watts of juice. As a nod to Greenpeace, it is not only biodegradable, it is also edible. Early beta testers describe it as having a "cool mint" flavor, and there are reports of a "zesty orange" version in the works.

To enhance morale, at Apple there are gigantic posters of Steve Jobs fixing employees with what can only be described as a "level stare".

The keynote for the rest of us

[SuperKendall]

And by "us*" I mean not you nor I, but the public.

#1 - The Time Capsule. Haven't we had wireless NAS's since 802.11 became a standard?

Yes but how many people have those in homes and use them for backups? What I'm hoping this means is that older AIrports with mounted disks will also be able to act as TM repositories without extra work. Even if they don't I don't care, since I backup wireless to a disk mounted on my desktop Mac - but I recognize this will help a lot of people actually get backups done, in one easy to deploy integrated package.

#2 - The iPhone/iPod touch updates. I was really hoping to hear an announcement regarding the hardware. More memory. Smaller form factor. Lower price.

*Lower* price? Do you not remember the extreme bitching that occurred he *last* time Apple lowered the price, now at a very reasonable $400? Considering four million have been sold, why should Apple do so? Plenty of people are fine with the price, me included.

The hardware is already very good, software updates improving it significantly and soon to have an SDK. For real hardware updates wait for 3G support later this year - and as for open networks, we already know we are on year one of a five year plan. Since all cell carriers are equally horrid (in the US) this is not an issue for most people.

#3 - The AppleTV/Movie Rental Service. Exciting, if the XBox360 hasn't been serving this capacity for over TWO YEARS

Personally it doesn't excite me much (yes I realize you were being sarcastic) though with Apple presenting it, it might actually get used (last NPD numbers for online video sales I saw showed iTunes TV donwloads already mopping the floor with Live, so we can only assume the same thing would keep happening with movie rentals).

#4 - The MacBook Air. It's really just a masturbation toy for the rich gadget hound -- it does nothing new besides be smaller

But smaller has a lot of value, as the history of devices has shown. If I were getting a laptop for the first time that's the one I would go for, as it plays on the key strength of a laptop - portability. Apple sells powerful laptops too but not all laptops need bucketloads of power to be useful, and if you traveled much at all the smaller size would be really, really nice.

It's actually a great complement to the other laptops, and fills a need not well met by the other two lines (Macbook for instance does not have backlit keyboard which is very handy).

It was a keynote about products for real people, not just geeks.

They have a utility to access the drive remote

[SuperKendall]

Just a USB2. FireWire target mode has saved my butt so many times

They have a utility to use the Macbook Air drive as a target from another computer over USB. Doesn't help when it's your desktop needing target mode though... but then that's what bootable backups are for!

iMac screen is fine for pro work

[SuperKendall]

The 24" iMac has a very high quality screen.

If it's the glossiness that has you concerned, you can either remove the glass (under which is a standard screen) or use a second monitor that's not glossy. After all, what pro wouldn't be using two screens anyway?

Will help on airplanes quite a bit

[SuperKendall]

As someone who totes a camera and laptop when travelling with the 13 inch macbook, drive space is usefull to us. I miss the portability of my old 12" g3. They just made it thinner which won't help on airplanes etc.

I also travel with a camera (a few cameras and a number of lenses) and laptop, and this system looks much nicer to me for traveling:

1) will fit better in seat pocket in front of you when not in use.

2) Will take up less extremely valuable space in carryon, since you have to carry every possible thing on now.

3) Makes it more practical to carry in a variety of bags along with cameras, again because of lighter weight and thinner width.

4) Every little bit of thickness lost from the base means the screen can tilt that much further back against the reclined seat in front of me.

If I didn't have a Macbook Pro already, I'd buy this - as it is I'll wait for about a year and probably get it later after selling the Macbook.

Not needed though

[SuperKendall]

They wanted to force us to buy an apple product to do wifi backing up. Lame...

I backup using TM today, onto disks mounted on my desktop Mac. Wouldn't that also have been disabled if your theory were correct?

Wait and see if the next OS X update doesn't also enable this for airport mounted disks (or of course you could use a simple workaround to just get it to work now).

Foleo revival

[weg]

Just when we thought that we finally got rid of the Foleo, it suddenly strikes back!

O Foleo, Foleo! wherefore art thou Foleo
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;

No wires. Less CD support than a desktop. Lame.

[SuperKendall]

Where have I heard something like that before...

New definition of "no"?

[dirk]

So, the article states "The all new Apple TV software delivers an entirely new user experience centered around iTunes Movie Rentals, allowing movie fans to rent and watch movies right from their widescreen TV, with no computer required." Can someone please explain how exactly you run the Apple TV software without a computer? Does is magic run on my widescreen tv? Did they invent a new way for my current TV to connect to the internet and download, save, and play a movie automagically? Or is this just blatant bullshit?

Re:New definition of "no"?

[tim_uk]

Um, all you need is an Apple TV hooked up to your television and wireless/lan to the internet.

So, no computer required. You browse, select, download and watch. You can also sync the movies to your iTunes and therefore to your iPhone, iPod and iTouch.

It's not hard. Do keep up.

Tim

Re:New definition of "no"?

[dirk]

Last time I checked, Apple TV is just Apple version of a media PC, which means it's a computer.

Here, have a nickel

[Nicolas MONNET]

Buy yourself a used USB hub on ebay, genius.

Re:Here, have a nickel

[maynard]

Hmmmph. I can't even buy myself a decent UNIX workstation for that.

A Humble Steve?!

[Amorymeltzer]

I thought the whole thing was a big deal. The movie rentals deal was amazing, as was the revamp of AppleTV. I don't think it's quite there, but combined with having every major studio available for cheap rentals should make it a much more desirable product. I for one will actually use the damn thing now; I've never bought a single movie in my life for the reasons Steve said - you only watch a movie once or twice or so in your entire life. With rentals, hell, it's cheaper than Blockbuster and FAR less difficult to use. I don't have to waste money on subscriptions like NetFlix so it's really a rather awesome deal.

I actually thought the biggest thing in the presentation was how humble Steve-o was. He didn't talk about the awesome progress most Apple devices made, and he mentioned flat out two or three instances where Apple didn't meet expectations. You could see him shy about announcing 4M iPhones (When everyone thought it would be five) and he just said that they were wrong with AppleTV. I don't know if I like it yet, but it's refreshing!

Ram doesnt "start going bad."

[Nicolas MONNET]

I've never encountered RAM going bad. I've encountered a lot of RAM being bad to begin with, however.
Sure, it could happen. Congratulations, a high-tech laptop is less serviceable than a whitebox PC. Whoddathunk it?
As for the optical drive, I use mine every other month, why should I carry it around every day?
The battery ... 95% of users don't swap them around, the only exceptions being those who need extra long battery life. So we have established that the Air isn't going to compete in the rugged industrial laptop category ... that's quite the bummer, buddy!
Optical audio out? Completely useless. Stream over wifi or Bluetooth (has Apple implement hifi audio on their bluetooth stack in Leopard?). Apple sells a device for that.
You're missing the point. The Air is not replacing the MacBook, it's a new product. So yeah, it's expensive. Too expensive for me, I'm keeping my MacBook and will buy an EEE to carry around, but this is a nice product and will sell like hotcakes, no doubt about it.

Re:Ram doesnt "start going bad."

[Sancho]

I've never encountered RAM going bad. I've encountered a lot of RAM being bad to begin with, however. Good for you, buddy. I've seen it plenty of times. Before I install RAM, I always check it. When a computer starts going bad, it's also usually the first thing I check. It happens.

Sure, it could happen. Congratulations, a high-tech laptop is less serviceable than a whitebox PC. Whoddathunk it? Nice strawman, but I'm comparing it to the Macbook, which, incidentally, has replaceable RAM.

As for the optical drive, I use mine every other month, why should I carry it around every day? Great. Lots of people use the optical drive daily.

The battery ... 95% of users don't swap them around, the only exceptions being those who need extra long battery life. So we have established that the Air isn't going to compete in the rugged industrial laptop category ... that's quite the bummer, buddy! Replaceable batteries are really useful on, say, long flights or long trips. Exactly the same time that you want an ultraportable.

Optical audio out? Completely useless. Not to me.

Stream over wifi or Bluetooth (has Apple implement hifi audio on their bluetooth stack in Leopard?). Apple sells a device for that. Which both adds to the cost (gotta buy the device) and reduces your battery life (all that wifi/bluetooth.)

You're missing the point. The Air is not replacing the MacBook, it's a new product. You quite clearly missed my point. I'm not under the impression that the Macbook is being replaced--rather, I'm under the impression that the Macbook is a better ultraportable computer than the Macbook Air. Being thinner than an inch (the Macbook thickness) doesn't do anything for portability. Being 2 pounds lighter? Maybe, but for all that you're giving up, I don't think so. Keep in mind also that every feature I listed is likely to turn some category of people off of this device--that adds up.

Re:Ram doesnt "start going bad."

[drifterusa]

Funny, I thought the same thing about RAM. After buying a new iBook G4 with all-Apple RAM, I ran the extended Apple Hardware Test on it. No problems found. A bit later, I started experiencing intermittent issues with the iBook, but since I "knew" RAM didn't go bad, I didn't check it right away. Too much time later, I finally ran the AHT again and whaddyaknow? Bad RAM!

Lesson learned.

Re:Ram doesnt "start going bad."

[GaryPatterson]

I had a 512MB stick of RAM go bad in my old iBook. It worked for a year or so and then I started getting kernel panics all the time. Three, four times a day. I checked every component through software, did lots of RAM tests (write patterns, read patterns, etc) but nothing showed up. I guessed it might be the RAM so I pulled the stick and while the lower memory slowed the machine down, it didn't panic again. After a month of this sort of use (wanted to be certain) I swapped the stick under its lifetime warranty and everything was good again.

Ah, memories. The times I nearly threw that iBook out the window... good days...

A toy? Something you work on 8h a day is not a toy

[Nicolas MONNET]

Many people make this point of calling it a toy, but seriously ... I use my MacBook at least several hours a day. It's the tool of my trade, just like a dentist's drill or a carpenter's hammer. Sure, unlike those, you can play with it as well as work with it, but I certainly can't work without my computer.
Consider the amount of time you spend on your computer. The extra few hundred bucks you could spend on a better machine amortised over this time is really nothing. In fact, getting 1% more efficient at one's job is worth much more than a few hundred bucks.

I have to say

[sentientbrendan]

I appreciate what they are trying to do... but others have already made ultraportable laptop's that are in some ways better.

I currently use an laptop well under 3 pounds, the IBM/lenovo X61. It has very similar specs, with a core 2 duo and GMA X3100 (which is the best *embedded* card on the market).

The differences that I note are this:
1. The air is a lot thinner and less sturdy than the X61 for the same weight. This may be a stylistic plus, but it also makes the hardware a lot less breakable, and I think they made the wrong choice here.
2. The Air is only 1.6 Ghz for a core 2 duo. My X61 came in at 2.2 Ghz.
3. The Air costs a lot more. My X61 came in at about $1400, whereas the air starts out at $1800! That's $400 for a brand identity on slightly inferior hardware.
4. The Air has a tiny by current standards harddrive (80 gigs) probably to make the solid state version not look so bad.
5. The Air's one strong point is that it has DVI out, whereas the X61 only has VGA out. Since there are DVI to s-video adapters, this means the Air can play movies on the tv, whereas the X61 cannot.
6. The air has an optional (it's in the $3000 dollar model) solid state drive. I'm not sure what real benefits you get by paying for this.

I am glad that more companies are putting out more portable laptops. I see a lot of people with these huge tanking laptops rigged for gaming and audio video that make no sense to me. My brother's laptop even has 2 harddrive's!

If your laptop weighs in at around 10 pounds, then there's no point in having a laptop. Just get a desktop and save some money. Desktop's are about as portable as a 10 pound laptop...

Re:I have to say

[wirelessbuzzers]

I currently use an laptop well under 3 pounds, the IBM/lenovo X61. It has very similar specs, with a core 2 duo and GMA X3100 (which is the best *embedded* card on the market). I have an x61s. It's a nice line. Like the x61, they're about 3lbs (not "well under 3lbs", like maybe 2.9?) with a 3/4-hour battery, or 3.5 with the extended 6/8 battery. The s gets more battery life than the non-s, and is maybe slightly lighter (?), but slower.

The differences that I note are this:
1. The air is a lot thinner and less sturdy than the X61 for the same weight. This may be a stylistic plus, but it also makes the hardware a lot less breakable, and I think they made the wrong choice here. Maybe, maybe not. It does have a metal shell, unlike the x61, and MagSafe, so you're less likely to pull it off a desk. Though I wonder what the metal shell will do to wireless reception. Also, I hate to say it, but the x61 shell is kind of shoddy for a ThinkPad. Mine is already cracked around the CPU fan vent, and I've been pretty nice to it.

2. The Air is only 1.6 Ghz for a core 2 duo. My X61 came in at 2.2 Ghz. It uses a low-voltage processor, like the x61s. It gets more battery life than the x61 (even the s), at least in the 3lb configuration, unless Apple is lying more than Lenovo. Anyway, many ultraportables use 1.2GHz ULV processors, so Apple is taking the middle of the road here.

3. The Air costs a lot more. My X61 came in at about $1400, whereas the air starts out at $1800! That's $400 for a brand identity on slightly inferior hardware. Expensive, yes, but inferior isn't clear yet. It has a lot of features that the X61 doesn't. 802.11n, keyboard backlight (that LED on the ThinkPad is not a substitute), 13.3" higher-res display, magsafe, magnetic latch, multitouch trackpad (conspicuously missing from the x), camera, microphone. Also, let's admit it, ThinkPads are ugly. Not as bad as Dells, but nothing compared to the shiny of a high-end Mac.

Also, it ships with Leopard instead of Vista.

4. The Air has a tiny by current standards harddrive (80 gigs) probably to make the solid state version not look so bad. It has a 1.8" HDD. Smaller and uses less power, but more expensive and less capacity.

5. The Air's one strong point is that it has DVI out, whereas the X61 only has VGA out. Since there are DVI to s-video adapters, this means the Air can play movies on the tv, whereas the X61 cannot. Yup. And you can connect it to a nicer LCD. On the other hand, the other ports are pretty limited. No ethernet (not "airy" enough?), no mic-in (of course, it has an internal mic), no firewire (oh, the irony), no sd reader, no express slot. And only one USB port. This isn't as bad as it sounds, because you probably have a hub on your desk anyway, and you're not going to need more than one port on the road. Probably.

Still, it seems silly not to include Ethernet. I suppose there's an adapter, but blah.

6. The air has an optional (it's in the $3000 dollar model) solid state drive. I'm not sure what real benefits you get by paying for this. Faster (especially for random reads), lower power consumption, lighter weight, no moving parts, more rugged, geek cred.

MBA

[scolbert]

The MacBook Air is great. Perfect for the biz traveler. Love the wifi optical drive. Oh, yea I also ordered the 1.6 MacBook Air one about 1 hour ago!

Nice, but ...

[PPH]

... its so cool, you're going to need an 8 lb chain to keep thieves from running off with it.

Re:Lithium Ion degradation NOT covered by applecar

[greyhueofdoubt]

Applecare is great, but I have never used mine. My oldest Mac is a 2 year old iBook G4 that still uses the original battery. I still get more than 4-5 hours on it unless I'm running the optical drive or the HDD constantly.

Anecdotes prove nothing, of course. I'm just saying.

-b

Cock

[trouser]

MacFanboy1> Is that the new MacBook Air in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
MacFanboy2> Hey, let's have anal sex and then go to the Apple Store to buy new iPods!
MacFanboy1> We could go there in my new Volkswagen.
MacFanboy2> Holy crap I want to smoke some cock, but first I'll call all our friends on my new iPhone.

MacBook Air is my dream ultralight

[snolan]

This is finally the machine I have been looking for. An ultra-light that runs Mac OSX. SSD. Wow... they listened to the small market that is tired of lugging heavy feature bloated machines around.

My only question is how much faster is SSD over the hard drive option, and how much longer will the battery last?

If it takes the device from 5 hours to 10 hours battery life, that helps justify the high cost of the SSD option a lot... of course waiting will make that SSD cheaper, but I've already been waiting 5 years for a 3 pound Mac OSX ultra-light.

Dancing for joy.

Travel Notebook - DVD = no movies?

[gearloos]

I know most business travelers use their notebooks for work but I use it for movies also...a lot actually. I am somewhat of a fan boy but still have to say what were they thinking with no internal optical drive for a travelers box?

Re:Travel Notebook - DVD = no movies?

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

when I travel and want to watch TV/movies I copy them to hard drive anyway. even if I don't encode the TV/movie, I rip the DVD so I'm accessing the hard drive and not the optical drive so as to increase battery life.

No, it doesn't.

[babbling]

It snaps.

not if the OS is crashed

[vaporland]

if the system is crashed, how are you going to browse the network to read the install DVD?

Re:"Integrated... has fire extinguisher built in

[El Gruga]

There is a chemical fire extinguisher built in to the MBA - if temps get above safety levels, the machine activates a dry powder that sucks all the oxygen out of the surrounding area.

Sub-notebooks

[El Gruga]

...are targeted at sub-humans, of course.

Oh they sure do.

[Mahjub Sa'aden]

If by "customers" you mean "people who willingly mortgage their houses to get less product for more money", then yes, I imagine Apple knows and loves, loves, loves them ;)

Hmmm

[DuranDuran]

> the diameter of a dime and the thickness of a nickel.

Does anyone have these dimensions in other currencies?

OLPM?

[Anonymous Coward]

> You must not understand that Apple is in the fashion industry as well as the tech one.

Yes. This notebook is the first product to come out of Apple's "One Laptop Per Metrosexual" program. :)

What is your audience

[John Jamieson]

If you claimed it was illegal to rip a movie, then I hope you only posted on the USA ONLY section of slashdot. (they should make one so we can continue to believe we ARE the world)

Anyway, the last time I checked, most people on the world lived outside the US, and for most of those it is LEGAL to rip a movie.

Re:What is your audience

[jonnythan]

No.

The EU and Canada have both adopted anti-circumvention laws with language *very* similar to that of the DMCA.

It is illegal to break CSS in the EU, US, and Canada.

Re:What is your audience

[John Jamieson]

Really, what is that law banning reverse engineering(anti-circumvention) that Canada has enacted?

I look forward to hearing from you soon, since I assume you are one of these people who only correct others when they are a master on a subject.

Re:What is your audience

[John Jamieson]

I am waiting excitedly to hear from you explaining the "DMCA like" law that Canada has adopted.

Anyway, I still stand by my assertion "most people on the world live outside the US, and for most of those it is LEGAL to rip a movie".

Even if we assume(pretend?) that Canada and the EU were under a DMCA, most of the people in the world would still be unaffected. The west has very little population.

Restore from Time Machine

[Estanislao Mart�nez]

[...] being able to easily attach another machine and copy your data off is real important.

But if you've been using Time Machine, then you just restore from that. The fact that the Macbook Air was announced together with Time Capsule is significant that way--Time Capsule apparently allows you to restore wirelessly.

Re:Lithium Ion degradation NOT covered by applecar

[thedbp]

Replacement iPods of most varieties are available as "Battery Replacements" with a 90 day warranty for about $70. And you don't just get a new battery - it looks pretty again too.

Dimensions

[FrankDrebin]

It is 0.76" thick at the thickest part, tapering to 0.16".

Decimal inches always struck me as awkward; saying 19mm tapering to 4mm is much cleaner. Steve Jobs is already legendary in some circles, but even his biggest fanboys haven't predicted his ability to force the US to finally adopt the metric system.

Doesn't have an OLED display

[MrPerfekt]

15-inch MacBook Pros and now the MacBook Airs have LED-backlit LCD displays, not OLED displays. Unlike traditional florescent backlights for LCDs which become dimmer from age more rapidly, LEDs have a much longer lifetime in the 7-10 year range, allow for much whiter whites on the display and don't show a 'warmup' period when turned on.

OLEDs on the other hand refer to the organic light emitting diodes that make up the pixels of OLED displays. They emit light directly resulting in richer, brighter color from nearly any angle. OLED technology is in its infancy right now though and the biggest problem is that the organic materials they are composed of breakdown after a relatively short amount of time compared to the operating lifetime of an LCD.

Strange Apple Keyboard Decisions

[igb]

The ``no USB on wireless'' is obvious to anyone who thinks about it. But what is odd is the new wireless keyboard doesn't have a number pad or cursor keys or a full-size set of shifts and modifiers: it's a laptop layout. I had a white sloping wired keyboard on my desk at work, and I had the Bluetooth variant at home: same keyboard, modulo the USB ports and (obviously) the wire. When I got a new iMac for home I unthinkingly checked the wireless option, and I shocked to find that the keyboard was a sawn-off one. But my daughter grabbed it for her (space-limited) desk to use with her Mini, and I went and bought a corded one. Which has the handy USB ports, which the iMac doesn't while the Mini it's replacing did. So in the end, all was well. Odd, though.

Re:Strange Apple Keyboard Decisions

[3247]

The ``no USB on wireless'' is obvious to anyone who thinks about it.

If you really think about it: Why not? There's no real reason why this should not work.

Of course, if the keyboard is supposed to give enough power to more demanding USB devices, it needs more batteries.

Re:Strange Apple Keyboard Decisions

[igb]

Of course, if the keyboard is supposed to give enough power to more demanding USB devices, it needs more batteries.

I have a feeling that USB is one of those things like CD, where the term is trademarked and only applicable to stuff that meets the spec. Whatever, Apple's customer base would be the wrong people to try a ``here's a USB port, but the current limit is.,...'', even assuming that you can find out what the current draw of, say, a flash memory stick is. 600mA@5V, which is the USB spec, would drain four AA lithium cells (which are Not Cheap) in about five hours --- Lithium cells are 1.5V 3Ah, Alkaline more like 2Ah.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Does Remote CD work with copy-protected CDs?

[jededeck]

I wonder if Remote CD works with copy-protected CDs. Even though for Mac OS/X there are no CDs with built-in copy-protection (to the best of my knowledge) I wonder how this works with copy-protected CDs with Windows applications...

ipod touch apps

[thebigbadme]

I, for one, have decided to contact Apple to thank them from the bottom of my heart for attaching a $20 fee for the software update.

Yes, I'd love a notes app. I can do without the other ones, I mean, it's not that hard to use the web-interface for g-mail on a touch.
Sorry for the digression...

It was just sooo thoughtful of them to not have to re-program some apps that were already on the iPhone, and just package them into the iTouch system... That must have cost them a fortune.

like I said... I'm contacting them right now... my URL is the one you need if you wish to do likewise....

Glossy

[Anonymous Coward]

A machine like that would be great for quick and dirty video eediting in the field, were every ounce counts, but...
- without firewire you don't get any video in it from, say, a DV-camcorder
- with that awful glossy screen, you couldn't watch it anyway
- without an optical drive you couldn't get it out of the machine.

While one might get away with an external drive and even find some workaround for the missing firewire port, there is no way to get rid of the glossy screen. Glossy screen. Glossy screen, glossy screen GLOSSY SCREEN!!!!!

Bleargh! Now even Apple tries to give us that shit!

That's Apple's margin... the "Mac Tax".

[argent]

The Air costs a lot more. My X61 came in at about $1400, whereas the air starts out at $1800! That's $400 for a brand identity on slightly inferior hardware.

You can get a Lenovo Thinkpad comparable (pretty much chip for chip) to the $1200 Macbook for under $900. The Mac mini is under $400 worth of hardware for $600. This is the "Mac Tax", it's what you pay for the ability to run OS X. Mac fanatics will come up with a fantasy price comparison that will make the difference go away, or claim that the Wintel boxes aren't as reliable, but the difference is real. But the difference is also worth it - it's not "brand identity" that we're getting, it's the ability to run applications that don't suck on an OS that doesn't suck.

Oh, by the way: "GMA X3100 (which is the best *embedded* card on the market)"? It may be better than the execrable GMA 950, but if I was getting a Thinkpad I'd still pay the extra $200 to get an nVidia or ATI GPU... even if it was embedded. Intel GPUs have been SO bad for SO long that there's no way I'll trust them to get it right until they've established a solid track record.

Panasonic R7

[keean]

Still think my panasonic R4 is better... its lighter 999 gramms (3lbs = 1.36kg) has an 8 hour battery life, and changeable battey... okay its a bit thicker, but its smaller in length and width (9"x7.2"x0.9") even though its thicker at the back (1.6") this gives the whole thing a nice downward slope... I might upgrade to the new R7 though as mine only has a pentium-M 1.2GHz being a couple of years old, and the new ones have a core2-duo. This quote sums it up quite nicely: "The remarkable 2 lb Panasonic R7 has an 8 hour battery life, and comes in 11 colors."

Re:Panasonic R7

[srjaynes]

Good points and I presume true, but the Panasonic doesn't run Leopard... ;-)

Now my editorial: Laptops are like shirts. One size doesn't fit all.

The new ultra thin models are terrific for my daughter as they fit in her shoulder bag without causing bodily harm. But, with even the terrific portability advantage of ultra light weight and convenience of a 12" sub notebook, she often finds herself wishing for a larger screen and more processing power almost daily when she's out on projects. When she's at her office, she uses a 20" external monitor, so screen size ceases to be a problem. Still, using the Adobe suite, and rendering video for DVDs, she can use all the memory and processing power she can drag along.

I'm a user on the other end of the spectrum. I use Windows-XP Pro/Server, Leopard, Tiger, Suse Linux and RedHat Linux every day. I need HUGE internal storage and a fast-as-I-can-afford processor, that runs several virtualized OSs simultaneously, all while away from my office... Try crowding three or four OS windows onto your 12" or 13" screen.

That being a fact of life, I choose a larger laptop and the productivity, ease of maintenance, and ease of support that OS-X gives me, any day. For my usage patterns, I gladly give up the 8 cool colors for a low-maintenance OS any day. (By the way, I run a computer applications lab for a Fortune 10 company, and I have my CHOICE of systems. I still drag around a 17" MacBook Pro, as there's no substitute for horse-power, large storage, and HUGH screen real estate for productivity, I frequently run Windows (no Vista allowed here), Linux, and Unix (OS-X) simultaneously all day long.

My current system has a 17" 1680x1050 screen and a 256 MB Video card, a 2.6 GHz Core2Duo Proc., 4 GB RAM, 320GB internal storage, and tips the scales at just under 7 pounds. I'm in good enough shape at my old age to drag the other 3+ pounds around for the performance and productivity difference.) It still fits in my briefcase, and the briefcase has wheels. Beats the heck out of dragging multiple small systems to China, India, Europe, and Asia. AND, the 17" screen makes it a terrific movie machine for those long flights and foreign hotel rooms.

Do I think everyone should drag around a 6.8 pound 17" laptop? Nope, that's nuts for most folks. Pick what fits YOU. In your case, you clearly enjoy the features and size of your Panasonic system running Windows (or perhaps Linux).

However, IF smaller is better for you and you want an OS that doesn't get in the way or abuse you every day, I think the MacBook Air deserves consideration, especially in the absence of the PowerBook 12".

My wish list is: A folding computer, with 17"-19" screen, at least 2ea. 4-GHz Xeon-class 4-core procs, 8 GB RAM, 1+ TB of storage and 10 hour battery life, and what ever other silliness I can dream of, all weighing less than 2 lbs. All I need to do is wait until I buy my next system. That dream system will be available a week later. ROTFLOL

Opinions are like lower body orifices, everybody has one. I hope mine doesn't offend you.

Steve J.

Ummm...

[crhylove]

This is /. I'm pretty sure we all pay the most ultimately careful attention to the DMCA and all that legal clap-trap.

So it's basically a grossly overpriced DVD player

[jhylkema]

Wait, it doesn't have a DVD drive. Nevermind.

Seriously, this is ridiculous. No Ethernet port, no optical drive, no modem, no nothing? At this price point? It's absurd! But hey, it's thiiiiin and kyooooot, so the idiot yuppie iPhone buyers will lap it up.

Re:Lithium Ion degradation NOT covered by applecar

[Anonymous Coward]

AppleCare is a life-saver on laptops. My AppleCare more than paid for itself in parts on my laptop. I've had the screen replaced twice. Your mileage may vary though.

Ny strategy for buying Macs...

[alispguru]

... is buy last year's model and make it last for five years. The newest machine in my house right now is a 1.25 GHz G4 Mac mini, which I'm debating moving to Leopard.

I love the idea of Time Machine and Time Capsule, but I won't be running them any time soon.

Fuck MacWorld. Give me OS X 10.5.2 already...

[Anonymous Coward]

What a phenomenal wanking of the tech press that event was. Quit sitting on OS X 10.5.2 already. I'm tired of dealing with the memory leaks and dropped wireless internet connections. With the exception of Time Machine, I consider the switch from Tiger to Leopard a downgrade thus far.

MacWorld 2008 wank job

[Anonymous Coward]

10:07:01 am Steve begins wanking every member of the crowd in a round-robin fashion
10:08:01 am The rate of wanking increases. He's only using his right hand, but somehow he manages to cycle through the 4000-member crowd about once every 5 seconds.
10:17:01 am Steve begins using his left hand as well. Now he's just a blur, and somehow each person is getting wanked frequently enough by Jobs' wanking service routine (WSR) to actually get aroused.
10:19:01 am Now Steve employs his mouth and both feet. He looks like a hummingbird's wings, and his limbs are flapping so wildly that he actually hovers over the crowd.
10:26:01 am The crowd reaches climax simultaneously. WSR v1.0 has executed flawlessly, and everyone was amazed as usual.

FTA

[COMON$]

"Intel was willing to engineer a new version of the Core 2 Duo specifically to Apple's specifications -- it's 60 percent smaller than others"
Ya, that doesn't sound custom at all. And yes it probably could be used for other things as long as Intel didn't sign some kind of agreement with apple NOT to use the chip in a competing device...cause apple would never do something like that.

[way OT] Re:Wot no optical drive?

[spiffyman]

Again, this is a monstrously selfish view. I see what you're saying, sure, but valid arguments from flawed premises are still unsound arguments.

You apparently operate on the principle that you're free to do what you want so long as you don't suffer the consequences for it. That's a principle you're welcome to adhere to, if you like, but I find it hard to believe that you really do. Would you - in principle - go set fires for fun if that's what you enjoyed? I assume not, but maybe I'm wrong.

As a member of a society, you could at least do the rest of the world the common courtesy of enjoying your life in a less threatening way. This isn't an unreasonable request.

Re:So it's basically a grossly overpriced DVD play

[revscat]

Fuck you, my insecure little cupcake.

If you don't like it don't buy it. But get off your sanctimonious high-horse, your false belief that your purchasing decisions are the One True Way and that anyone who differs is a fucking idiot. What you chose to buy does not make you better than other people.

"No nothing"? Except for... a 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 2 gig of RAM, 802.11n wireless, USB2, backlit keyboard, built-in iSight, LED display, 5 hour battery life. Not to mention the software.

Yeah, I guess other than that nothing. If I were a business traveler I'd want one of these. I'm not, so I don't. But I'm not such a child as to think that I'm better than anyone who might.

It's accounting rules, actually

[Stu Charlton]

The problem is more related to revenue recognition with a hardware + software bundle, and is similar to why they charged $2 for the 802.11n enabler.

Basically, software is tied to hardware as a "bundle", but if you provide "extra features" at a later date, then you technically did not deliver full bundle, and should not have recognized the revenue from the original sale. This is because accounting rules try to remove "shenanigans" that have happened in the systems integrators of the past where software was promised but was still being built after the deal had closed & revenue recognized!

So, if Apple were to give away the iPod Touch update for free, they'd have to restate their earnings from back when it was first released, because they didn't technically "sell" the Touch back then, they completed delivery now.

If, however, they charge for the update, at a nominal price, it's considered a set of extras and isn't tied to the original bundle.

The iPhone doesn't have to deal with this because they accrue the revenue over several years.

Re:It's accounting rules, actually

[Breakfast Pants]

But if it wasn't part of the advertising for Touch, Touch was delivered when Touch was delivered.

Re:It's accounting rules, actually

[Stu Charlton]

Advertising doesn't really enter into it. Usually corporate accounting policy of how various elements of a product are priced (which are called "Vendor Specific Objective Evidence" or VSOE) will dictate this sort of thing long in advance.

Here is an article about the complexities of this, if you're interested...

A 6 pound laptop? Really?

[Rob Simpson]

Sure, it's cheap, but not exactly an ultraportable. A better comparison would be to a Thinkpad X-series. Or maybe a Toshiba Portege or a Fujitsu Lifebook. Heck, the Asus eee is closer to this than that HP. (And unlike the Apple, it has three USB ports, a swappable battery, and an ethernet port.)

Re:A 6 pound laptop? Really?

[Mr2001]

I was comparing that HP to the 15" MacBook Pro, which at 5.4 lbs is no ultraportable either.

Re:A 6 pound laptop? Really?

[Rob Simpson]

D'oh, that'll teach me to read... though looking at the MacBook Pro, which the previous poster changed the subject to, comes with its own video memory, while the HP is only upgradeable to an nvidia 8400M GS - which still uses shared memory. While getting dedicated video memory comes with a price jump, it does look like there are plenty of laptops that are better deals, like this ASUS which is $1000 cheaper than a MacBook with the same or similar components and 1 GB less RAM.

I can seem them justifying charging extra for OS X, and maybe the chassis is of higher build quality... but $700 to upgrade by 2 GB of RAM is crazy...

design over performance

[ILongForDarkness]

Is it just me or does Apple tend to spend so much time making things pretty that they are obsolete before they ship (as opposed to a PC that is obsolete 1 month after coming out ;))? I want my month back!

Seriously though, my business laptop has a 100GB HDD and I purchased it about 15 months ago (and at the time a 100 GB drive was about mid range). A new laptop that isn't even available yet is going to ship with an 80GB, what the heck? No optical drive, I don't think that has been the case for ~10 years. Conclusion: you can make things really pretty and small if you want to use old hardware/remove major components, duh.

no optical drive

[Anonymous Coward]

samba does shares, even of optical drives :D (first for me
was on win 3.11. that laptop didn't have cd drive yet/also in 1995?).

dunno about writing 2 optical media tho.

on a side note, speculating on future mac designs, it seems that after the loss of floppy,
the ppc chip, Nubus, now optical drives and ethernet, the next thing to go
is prolly the mouse or the keyboard :P

err

[Stu Charlton]

Err, try to get a regular person to set up backups. Or a lazy techie. Versus "1 click" time machine. I know I'll back stuff up more with this.

As for the iPhone, I wouldn't say these are lousy updates; I've been using the new GMaps and it's fantastic.

I have an XBox 360. They don't have much of a movie library, at least compared to what they're saying iTunes is going to have by eo-February.

Oh, and all the MacBook Pros are made of aluminum.

Headless Mac Desktop might be nice, agreed, but not sure the market is big enough (Curious PC switchers wedded to their monitors?)

In a word: lolwut

yeah

[Stu Charlton]

The X3100 integrated graphics will run Wow around 2-3x better than the older MacBooks with 950 GMA. Which isn't saying much.

Basically expect ~18-25fps in 25 mans or BGs. Playable, but don't expect wonders. My MacBook Pro with X1600 Radeon averages 25-38 fps in comparison.

MagSafe is really annoying.

[argent]

and MagSafe, so you're less likely to pull it off a desk.

I'd rather the infinitesimally higher risk of pulling my laptop off the desk with the very real (as in it's happened) risk of the stupid MagSafe cable falling out without my noticing it, and my battery going dead.

MagSafe is an overreaction to Apple's previous horrible power connectors. My Thinkpad had a generic concentric power connector that never came out by accident and never pulled my Thinkpad off the desk.

Also, let's admit it, ThinkPads are ugly.

Why should I admit it? I like the looks of most Thinkpads. They're industrial-style rather than Mac-style, but de gustibus non est disputandum.

Re:MagSafe is really annoying.

[wirelessbuzzers]

I'd rather the infinitesimally higher risk of pulling my laptop off the desk with the very real (as in it's happened) risk of the stupid MagSafe cable falling out without my noticing it, and my battery going dead. I've had the power connector fall out, although I don't think I've actually deadened a battery that way (they go to sleep when it reaches 10% or something). But yes, it's annoying. I've also nearly pulled about 3 different laptops off of desks by tripping over their cables. I've also seen laptop power cables damaged by people tripping over them, and I've seen power supplies damaged because power cables broke off in them.

I prefer the MagSafe risk.

Re:MagSafe is really annoying.

[argent]

(they go to sleep when it reaches 10% or something)

Theoretically, yes. But the difference between theory and practice in practice is bigger than the difference between theory and practice in practice.

I've also had the magsafe cable fall out when I popped the battery out to charge my spare.

More recently I've started encoding movies, with iMovie, and I need to remove the battery while I'm encoding because the damn thing overheats if I don't. This is typical for the 1st gen Macbook Pro, but it's not been enough to convince Apple to replace it. I was already pretty ticked off at the Magsafe connector before that point, but as you can imagine the issue's gone non-linear since then.

And despite 20 years as a network/system admin I still have yet to see a laptop pulled off a desk by the power cable. I've seen plenty dropped for other reasons, but with the power cable connected to the docking station instead of directly to the laptop I just can't see how that could happen.

Of course Apple is about the only company making laptops that doesn't provide docking stations or port replicators for them. Why, I have no idea, but this seems to be one of many places where Apple seems to lack the common sense gene. It's particularly a shame now, because a port replicator would sure as hell resolve most of the other problems with the Macbook Air.

Re:MagSafe is really annoying.

[GaryPatterson]

The MagSafe cables actually take about the same force to break the magnetic connection as required to pull out the old cables. The difference is that they're designed to pull out if the cable is pulled from any angle. My wife and I both use MBPs and haven't had a cable fall out accidentally or otherwise.

It's a nice idea and definitely not the issue you're thinking it might be.

Re:MagSafe is really annoying.

[argent]

The MagSafe cables actually take about the same force to break the magnetic connection as required to pull out the old cables.

By "the old cables" I assume you mean the old iBook/Powerbook cables.

I'm not comparing them to those cables, I'm comparing them to the typical positively-locking barrel connectors that most laptops come with.

It's a nice idea and definitely not the issue you're thinking it might be.

I got my Macbook about as early as you could get one, to replace a Thinkpad T23. This isn't a matter of what I "think it may be", this is two years of real live experience with the bloody stupid things.

Re: no firewire == no target disk

[Psykechan]

The lack of a firewire port on a new Mac makes me think that either Apple has made a new way of doing the target disk function (USB perhaps?) or that functionality is gone. Honestly, having it makes having a Mac portable very versatile and the only other way I can see for a OS reinstall or boot camp install is to purchase an external drive.

Holy Crap Yes.

[riseoftheindividual]

Thank you, you just helped me find my next notebook.

Missing some marks...

[PhotoGuy]

Hmmmm...

• It's a few hundred dollars more than rumoured.
  
• Again, contrary to rumour, the external optical drive isn't included ($99).
  
• Only one USB port.
  
• No included ethernet ($29, and ties up the sole USB port.)
  
• No line in.
  
• The flip-down with the connectors looks like a possible point of failure (moving parts bad)
  
• It's has a slower CPU than the Macbook.
  
• It has a new micro-DVI connector, so I gotta rebuy the video/svideo out cable (at least it's cheaper, at $19, and they include the microDVI to VGA/DVI connectors).
  
• Internal battery.
  
• The flash drive is only 64G and cost $1000 extra! over the included 80G hard drive.
  

I like the unit, and might have jumped at a $1500 price, but $1900 (Cdn) + cables + external drive etc., and the few other lacking things might make me hold off for now. I feel they sacrificed a bit too much to be thin, think thin. They could have gone with a smaller screen to reduce it's length/width, and had a bit more thickeness, and thrown more stuff in, maybe...

I'm sure I'll still end up with one, but it's not quite the slam dunk I had hoped it would be, in my mind... The size/weight and battery life will probably win me over, but for now, my Macbook will do :)

Off topic as usual -- copyright.

[David Rolfe]

I guess you are to be commended for re-encoding at a lower bit-rate rather than simply cloning the disk? It's sort of a self-flagellation I guess.

I wasn't addressing the morality of making back-ups of movies you rent though, I was addressing the lock-in of rental memberships. Sadly, it flew over some people's heads, or they hate me for even suggesting it, because I was modded down for it. How can lock-in even be an issue for digital rentals when the rental business is already designed around 'lock-in'? Sheesh.

A digression if you'll permit me though!

I'm glad you admit a little later on the the moral issue you see with uploading the rentals you've 'backed up'. Is it then moral to benefit from that immoral act by downloading torrents? It's another gray area. For the U.S. and assuming you're in the U.K. it's illegal for us, and for me downloading for free what you would typically be willing to pay some amount slightly immoral per instance, and rather outright immoral in the high degree. I don't see making 'back ups' of rented material as immoral, but for people in the U.S. it is dishonest. In other countries, it's expected behavior (e.g., Japan and China; you can pick up blanks while standing in line to check-out). In Canada they are taxed on a variety of 'piracy related goods' to permit unregulated downloading for personal use. (Weirdly, uploading is still illegal, so that freedom, as I understand it, relies on illegal activity inside Canada and the U.S. or uploaders from countries where it's legal to upload copyrighted material.)

One day someone here in the States will get sued for having a library of DVDs they've 'backed up' from rentals, when the case makes it to the supreme court it could probably be ruled a fair use even though it doesn't obviously pass the 17 USC's 4-point test for fair use. (IANAL, but it doesn't seem obviously 'fair' in light of the 4-point test.)

The four fair use factors (for copying rented material, without redistribution or intent to redistribute, sourced from Stanford's Fair Use Center):

What is the character of the use? Personal and non-profit (very likely fair).

What is the nature of the work to be used? Published yet creative. (This is the light-gray area of the test where white is fair. This would be black for not-yet-published works, and white for works of pure fact like phone directories. Movies aren't like either of these.)

How much of the work will you use? Every bit (this is a very dark gray area of this test, copies of more than small sections of long-form works aren't found fair use very often).

What effect would this use have on the market for the original or for permissions if the use were widespread? Some, in aggregate, after all this is why you do it, to save a few quid. Your personal, non-profit 'back ups' would prevent repeat rentals (might not matter) and in many cases prevent purchases of the product outright as well as possibly prevent purchases of later editions, thereby diminishing the market as a whole for a particular work. This wouldn't be an issue if copyright terms were sane -- but since they're like 200 years right now over most of the globe... the market of each work lasts at least 100 years and so covers many, many people for generations. For this factor the outcome isn't clearly "in the white" either: 'back ups' have some non-zero effect on the market, especially if 'back ups' are widespread. This factor gets darker in relation to how long copyright terms are and how many people are 'backing up'.

The four fair use factors here would be determined by our judges in aggregate, one clearly fair use factor does not make the infringement fair use. In aggregate these factors are on the 'dark' side of the spectrum, towards the unfair infringement. If this case were tried today, in our current supreme court with our current "treaty-length copyrights" it would fail. A couple dissenting opinions might mention the extreme terms of copyright as being exclusively pro-glob

Re:So it's basically a grossly overpriced DVD play

[slriv]

Very well put revscat!

It's an excellent 'on the go' laptop or for the office if you are meeting locked most of your day. It's small, light and probably next to silent. I'm impressed. Reminds me of my old n505ve!

Replacing Batteries?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm just curious about one thing. When your battery performance does degrade and you need to get it replaced, how many people are actually going to be comfortable giving up their laptop for a couple of weeks while they send it away to have the battery replaced? Also, given the fiasco with Bestbuy/Circuitcity with the sales people going through peoples hard drives, I for one really wouldn't be very comfy sending my laptop with all my data/personal stuff on it.

Re: no firewire == no target disk

[ToasterMonkey]

I can't find any solid information on Remote Disc outside Apple's site. The demo video says it can be used to install new versions of OS X, so wouldn't that mean the disc has to be available at the EFI layer? I hope they don't just mean upgrades, and an install is impossible. The Air page says the Remote Disc software is used to do the wireless migrations that TDM used to be used for. Not the same thing as using TDM to fix a broken system, I know.

I think Firewire will be around at least as long as optical drives are, in Macs anyway. They must have been pressed for space in that little flip down panel. Check out the video, I thought it was just a plastic cover till they showed it. All three ports actually flip down.

Don't lose hope yet, it isn't quite clear how Remote Disc works. If Sun hardware can boot from NFS shares, I wouldn't toss out the idea of Apple pulling something similar off with EFI, wirelessly. /shrug

Time Machine/Filevault Backup over 11n fine

[olafva]

I conduct research in a large supercomputer center where Macbooks seem preferred
by systems and research people. I agree that 802.11n with Time Machine are fine for
incremental encrypted backups(Filevault).

Apple's due credit for anticipating & producing this cutting-edge notebook the
leaders and shakers in Supercomputing (including nerds & geeks) are likely to adopt quickly.

Recharge Laptop on Certain Ailrine seats

[olafva]

Checking around, you can find seats on many airlines
that have electrical connections so you can charge
your MacBook Air's battery. You'll probably need to get
a special adapter you can find on the web or check with
a seasoned international traveller.

MBA

[scolbert]

I love the new MacBook Air. Everything but the battery that is not removable!

Not your only computer

[sweetandy]

Yes that's right, you can't hook up your printer, your USB MIDI keyboard, and your flash drive all at once to your MacBook Air... But did you know that this computer is not intended to be used for all such things? If you're buying a MacBook Air, you probably have another computer in your house! It's a laptop, not a print server that stays stationary at your house which can receive network print jobs from any computer on your wireless network. Nor do I think you want to carry around your printer to that Wi-Fi hotspot down the street!! Apple is targeting this for a different kind of computer usage. Nobody is bashing the iPod because it can't print, it's not meant to print. Sorry, no Apache Web Servers for your Air so that you can host that high-bandwidth flash-based site you've been meaning to run. Seriously, guys. This is 2008. Think about the future, not the past.

MacBook Air battery replacements take only minutes

[rambag]

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/01/18/sources_macbook_air_battery_replacements_take_only_minutes.html For all of those that were upset about the integrated battery.