MacBook Air patent is mocking you

It's no secret where this little bit of patented know-how ended up. Apple's little port door for the MacBook Air is one of those design elements of legend that could one day go down next to MagSafe and the Click Wheel in the annals of Apple history -- even if it's near impossible to use without picking up the computer. So it's a little ironic that even the dreamer that drew up this patent couldn't imagine a mac without FireWire, Ethernet and a pair of USB ports. Oh Steve, you ask so much of us.

[Via SlashGear]

[Joshua @ Feb 28th 2008 11:02PM]

I am purchasing an eec for $300 that has more ports than that, is lighter, and runs an many operating systems too.

[Big John @ Feb 28th 2008 11:05PM]

Also:

5" less screen space
Half(ish) processor speed

You also forget the Air can run any OS it damn well pleases itself. I don't know if OS X has been "Hackintoshed" onto the Eee yet, though.

[mushrooshi @ Feb 28th 2008 11:16PM]

"I am purchasing an eec for $300 that has more ports than that, is lighter, and runs an many operating systems too."

Congrats. The EEE is very nice to have, its just not in my interest, where I'd rather have a power-sucking 2 hour battery computer that has some uber graphics card and stuffs.

Now, um, there are some things kind of wrong though:

1. EEE and Macbook Air- Its like comparing a strawberry and caviar: one is sweet, inexpensive, and tasty, and the other is expensive, powerful (comparing to the other), and the absolute quality is higher. By absolute quality, its like an XBOX PS3 vs a Wii. the ps3 is a lot more powerful, and thats it. No power or gigabyte per dollar or stuff like that. Just raw absolute quiality of parts.

More Ports: As far as I know, this is correct

Lighter: Correct, but its the difference in their leauge

Runs many operation ystems too: By comparing the two, I assume you either:

A. Use "too" as an addon, like "also", with correlation to the other statements", meaning it "does this, that, and also that".

B. Compare tot he Air that it can also do it. Like "I like pie", "Me too!"

[mushrooshi @ Feb 28th 2008 11:16PM]

Forgot: Yes, it has been hackintoshed. not sure about the Cloudbook.

[Jonathan Zencovich @ Feb 28th 2008 11:17PM]

@Big John

Just because the "speed" of the processor is slower than the Air, doesn't mean that it's nerfed. The Eee Can run Half-Life 2 at a decent FPS, all for $350.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UixLlpMgJqA

And yes, the Eee has been "hackintoshed".
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arxdlBGolTE

Do some research next time. It's a dead give away of fanboyism when you don't.

[Juaquin @ Feb 28th 2008 11:18PM]

Don't compare Apples to Oranges. The Eee is cheap, small, and light - but very small in some respects. It does the basics and does them very well. The MacBook air is astronomically expensive (for the performance it gets) but it's meant to be full-sized and capable of most people's daily computing tasks. They're not at all in the same market. You might as well have just said "I'm building a gaming desktop for $1000 that beats the pants off this MBA". Well, yeah...but it's not at all the same.

[Big John @ Feb 28th 2008 11:24PM]

@Jonathan Zencovich: Uh, OK? Are you really going to be playing HL2 on a 7" screen? On that thing? Whatever. I checked Wikipedia for basic specs. I don't own one, I don't spend my days reading articles on the Eee since I don't have a driving desire to have one. Also, pretty sure I said I didn't know if it had been Hackintoshed. Pardon me for not scouring the internet before you came in with your mighty knowledge to crush the fanboy!

I do like how 'fanboy' has turned into a generic insult for people that are fans of a product they own. I don't think I'm being that rampant with it at all. How many fanboys admit to a product flaw, anyway?

[CraigJ @ Feb 28th 2008 11:25PM]

EEE: 7" screen, non-full size keyboard, 1GB RAM, 802.11 b/g, CPU: 630 Mhz, FSB: 70Mhz, 8GB SSD...
Air: 13" screen, full-size keyboard, 2GB RAM, 802.11 b/g/n, CPU: 1.6 GHz, FSB: 800 Mhz, 64GB SSD...

I'm not saying the Eee is bad, in fact I think I want one, and I don't really want an Air, but comparing the Air to the Eee is like comparing a BMW to a Smartcar. In other words, a completely lame comparison.

[Jonathan Zencovich @ Feb 28th 2008 11:39PM]

@Big John

Ok, I'll admit my reply was a bit condescending, sorry. It's late, and I jumped (http://www.xkcd.com/386/ :p )

My point was that thought the Eee might have "low" specs, it is far from being under-performing as you were hinting.

You have to admit though that your post "highlighting" the Eee shortcomings in relation to the Air. Again, sorry for namecalling you a "fanboy", that was harsh on my part :p

--Jon

[Big John @ Feb 28th 2008 11:47PM]

@Jon: No harm, no foul. It's hard to tell in the comment threads here with so much anti-Air stuff flying around. Others said it better: apples, meet oranges. Oranges, meet apples!

[Juaquin @ Feb 29th 2008 12:10AM]

Awww. Hugs all around.

...

[Greg @ Feb 29th 2008 1:52PM]

@Big John:
Right on, detecting that Fanboyism...
But wait, why the low rank? Ah, the windows fanboys, I always forget those little...

[Big John @ Feb 28th 2008 11:03PM]

Yay! A new post for Air flames to pour in!

That is one thing I don't like about the Air: impossible to open that little door! It's not like the Air is heavy to pick up, awkward or anything but it would have been nice if were closer to the edge. I'm guessing this wasn't possible due to technical limitations of the keyboard hardware.

[billmao @ Feb 28th 2008 11:04PM]

I feel offended.
Like, ass-raped offended.

[Big John @ Feb 28th 2008 11:07PM]

Why? The patent describes other things not implemented on the Air's little door (independent port 'opening', appearing at the rear of the laptop). What we're seeing on the Air could be a stripped-down design and a first attempt at production-level use of this patent. We could see MacBooks and MacBook Pros in the future having a fuller complement of ports stowed away like this. The multitouch touchpad debuted on the Air -- no one said that was the only brand new thing Apple did on the Air (aside from the size, of course).

[Ryan Trevisol @ Feb 28th 2008 11:07PM]

Bastards!

[fiivd @ Feb 28th 2008 11:09PM]

I'm still waiting for that rumored Mac-and-Cheese book...

[m @ Feb 29th 2008 12:11AM]

you should build your own-- compared to after-market cheese, apple's prices are obscene. plus, cheese is really easy to install yourself.

[brad @ Feb 29th 2008 10:57AM]

cheese ftw

[mushrooshi @ Feb 28th 2008 11:09PM]

Step two: Lower costs.

If it actually was in the price league of other ultraportables of this type, and if I was interested in one of these, I would take it.

No, I am not asking for it to run Doom 3 or Crysis, but I mean, it is a nice computer to have. Not necessarily nice to buy, but nice to have one in your possesion.

You would be happy too if someone gave you a Macbook Air out of random!

Either way, this is a great, much needed improvement.

And yes, I have 8 USB ports, 2 on my Macbook, which go to a 4 port USB 1.1 hub (hey, it was $5), and a 4 port USB 2.0 hub.

My mouse, printer, and scanner are hooked up to the 1.1, as well as the occasionally autoclicking mouse.

My USB drive, USB card reader, USB external drive, and iPod cord are on the 2.0

[Big John @ Feb 28th 2008 11:11PM]

That's great that you have all those things hooked up to your laptop -- it really is. The Air isn't aimed at you (this go-round, anyway). You're probably the target consumer for a slimmed down MacBook / MacBook Pro in the future with a fuller complement of ports.

[mushrooshi @ Feb 28th 2008 11:19PM]

Actually, I am looking to make a custom rig.

But not too long ago, I was looking for a slimmed down Pro for gaming. Until I realized I should just get a desktop and game on that, and it would be tons cheaper and better and more powerful, I was waiting for a Macbook with graphics card, or a Macbook Pro.

[tekdroid @ Feb 28th 2008 11:11PM]

I'll think of this breakthrough patent if I ever buy a boutique computer.

[rouge @ Feb 28th 2008 11:13PM]

This is just not that innovative.

[Jason Golden @ Feb 28th 2008 11:14PM]

The diagram is not what was scaled down to be the Macbook Air, but rather what we'll see in June from the next Macbook Pro revision. Don't lose sight of that.

[austin @ Feb 28th 2008 11:31PM]

I ranked you low. Meant to rank you high. Those damn little buttons are so hard to press on an iPhone

[arn @ Feb 28th 2008 11:18PM]

You guys didn't read the patent. The patent was about collapsable ports... not just a flip-down drawer. The MacBook Air didn't use this system.

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/08/16/ultraportable-connecting-system/

[mushrooshi @ Feb 28th 2008 11:20PM]

Hey... wait.

This was August...

WTF! They couldve added it in a long time ago!

[Juaquin @ Feb 28th 2008 11:21PM]

Good catch - the actual ports themselves are meant to collapse in on themselves. Very interesting. This has very little to do with the Air's ports (the thing holding the ports collapses, but not the ports themselves).

[Big John @ Feb 28th 2008 11:26PM]

The Air's system is still an extension of this patent. It's relevant all the same.

Besides, we haven't had a good Air flamefest in like 24 hours!

[HAHAHA @ Feb 28th 2008 11:24PM]

Wonderful~~~ It comes with the next generation of Macbook AIR!! COME ON!

[Big John @ Feb 28th 2008 11:30PM]

Wha... huh?

[Big John @ Feb 28th 2008 11:47PM]

Has anyone had experience with Boot Camp on the Air? I have a massive amount of free time coming this week and I might play with it just for kicks!

[kimatg @ Feb 28th 2008 11:54PM]

Everybody now, put your hands in the Air...

[BigD145 @ Feb 29th 2008 12:13AM]

USB is pretty easy to slim down without using collapsible shielding. Ethernet and phone modem have been done to death with some of the pull out connectors on PCMCIA cards.

[alexvoda @ Feb 29th 2008 1:16AM]

I know that many people criticized the air for not playing well with 3G modems.
Well actually the Air followed the standards while the 3g modems didn't.
The usb standard also specifies the size of the device around the port.

This i hope will make the 3g modem makers follow the standards.

What i don't like is that they didn't followed the standards on the power of the usb port. They increased it so it could fit the dvd writer.
I would have inserted a firewire port too.
Firewire (6 wires) on a macbook offers 8 V compared to the standard usb 5 V i think it would have been sufficient for the dvd writer

[Jeff Lewis @ Feb 29th 2008 1:34AM]

Ok... this is bugging me - but... I'm SURE I've seen this concept before. A pull down connector set that's flush with the case when it's pushed up.

Damn, now I have to go find it. I'm almost 100% sure this isn't Apple's invention.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Feb 29th 2008 2:07AM]

Well, there have been several Taiwanese mini-tower PC cases that had ports like that on the top of the machine. I for the life of me can't even begin to understand why the author of the article thinks this feature is so amazing, much less some brilliant stroke of design. Oh wait, it was done by Apple, so it must be the most revolutionary port ever created by man. I forgot, this is Engadget, where they advertise that Apple will be updating a SKU for two weeks before they release a +.2GHz processor upgrade. Everything Apple does has to be amazing here.

[Geir E @ Feb 29th 2008 3:01AM]

If you call "MacBook Air patent is mocking you, because it includes things that is not in the final product" - a way to make apple product sound amazing?

[L. M. Lloyd @ Feb 29th 2008 6:18AM]

No, I call "is one of those design elements of legend that could one day go down next to MagSafe and the Click Wheel in the annals of Apple history" a way to make a fairly mundane port sound amazing.

[Ethan @ Feb 29th 2008 2:11AM]

I never saw the pic of this. I just read the description and surmised some weird origami-fest. Thankfully not.

[Ondra Soukup @ Feb 29th 2008 2:45AM]

do you guys know why they call these images an "illustration" in patents? because they aren't the real thing, they are there to...umm...illustrate?!!

[Tony @ Feb 29th 2008 2:55AM]

is that a dial-up data port I spy? Oh wait there is the T-rex in the background ... it makes sense now

[Lally @ Feb 29th 2008 3:17AM]

Apple has a tendency to hide their intents in their patents. E.g. they don't let people figure out their product plans from the patent applications.

For example, the iPod clickwheel patent diagrams used a mouse as the example device, not a music player.

[Iridium @ Feb 29th 2008 11:30AM]

So who is the idiot at the patent office that granted apple a patent for this. Wow the wires of the Cat5 jack collapse into the socket saving 2mm of space.

[paul-engadget @ Mar 1st 2008 8:03PM]

magsafe power is totally stupid... mainly because there's no magsafe ethernet, magsafe usb, magsafe DVI, magsafe headphones. what's the point in a quick-release power cable when none of the other frequently used connectors have a quick-release variant.

if Apple did a magsafe docking cradle/dongle for the macbookpro or airhead, then it'd be clever.

[Brad @ Mar 7th 2008 12:00AM]

Yes...because Apple invented magsafe and the click wheel. Just like they invented multi-touch and every other advancement they've accomplished? Thank you for the history lesson engadget.