New MacBook Air hits the streets, actually capable of this whole "computing" thing

The new MacBook Air has landed, and folks all over are recording their impressions of the slightly-revamped ultraportable. Obviously there's very little to note externally, with the same packaging and design to the computer -- the only real difference is the new mini DisplayPort plug to replace that totally oddball microDVI plug. What's much more exciting is what's under the hood, namely integrated graphics (NVIDIA 9400M) with enough juice to, say, play back a YouTube video without overheating the computer to a point of non-usability. Shocking, we know. Booting is a snap (25 seconds in informal testing) with that new 128GB SSD, the computer runs cool and core-shut-down-free, can handle full HD video, and outputs to external monitors without a problem. Apple really hamstrung an otherwise interesting computer in the original Air with a criminal lack of power and cooling, and we're happy to report that they seem to have righted those wrongs -- though MacBook Air 1.0 owners still have little recourse, unless you count a $1,799 "upgrade" as a viable move. Hit the read link some more impressions, or peep the unboxing gallery below, courtesy of Engadget pal Sam.

Gallery: New MacBook Air hits the streets

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[John @ Oct 31st 2008 8:55PM]

What is the point of being so thin if it has the same footprint of a normal sized computer?

[iEye @ Oct 31st 2008 9:11PM]

The same reason sexy runway supermodels are thin...

Why not shake off all that bloat? same way all those windows computers get shipped with bloatware...

[mike @ Oct 31st 2008 9:11PM]

His Steveness commands it! ;)

[Chin-Poh @ Oct 31st 2008 9:15PM]

I agree John, Steve Jobs classified this as an ultraportable because of its thinness but I classify one must also have a small footprint.
If the footprint is going to be this large, I'd rather just get a regular 13" notebook anyways, but that's just me.

I don't see the point of it being so thin, you don't really need to slide it underneath a door do you? I know the compromises of ultraportables are their small keyboards and screens and this aims to fix it, but yet this weights more than most ultraportables and is too large to be an ultraportable. Its a paradox.

[happy_penguin @ Oct 31st 2008 9:20PM]

Well, there was an argument for weight savings when I brought that up the other day but I agree. For my money give me the new Macbook. Macbook has better specs at a much lower price and basically the same footprint. Sure the Air is beautifully thin and all but no thanks. The Macbook has far more utility and is a bargain by comparison.

[Ian @ Oct 31st 2008 9:25PM]

Portability is also related to weight. You may want an 11" ultraportable, or even a 10" netbook, but not everyone wants to compromise on keyboard or screen size. They want a full sized keyboard, and at least 1280 x 800 resolution on a screen that's not too small. This is perfect for those people, and there is certainly a market for it. Lenovo and Sony seem to know that quite well.


There's no excuse for the lack of ports (even a 2nd USB port would appease most people), but the new MBA with fast SSD is performing far better than anyone would have expected. Heck, it's probably faster than my laptop, and on paper, my laptop is faster. Must be the SSD's speed, because it's certainly not just the integrated graphics.

[Darren @ Oct 31st 2008 10:02PM]

> What is the point of being so thin if it has the same footprint of a normal sized computer?

What is the point of a netbook with 800x480 screen and a keyboard too small to type on?

Anyway, someday you may find yourself having to lug a laptop around wherever you go, then you'll realize the advantage of a very light and durable laptop that has a full screen and full keyboard.

[Levi @ Oct 31st 2008 10:27PM]

wow a comment left by iEye that didn't get voted down?lol

[KilgoreTrout @ Oct 31st 2008 10:58PM]

When you start to like on a pc the same attributes you like in girls (supermodels or not) it means you're a target for Apple's marketing and soon you'll be ready also to pay 1700$ for your thin laptop

[dark star @ Oct 31st 2008 11:08PM]

i thought ultraportables were suppose to be... light!
at 3+lbs, this aint.

i would rather get a toshiba R500 or R600, under 2lbs with a frickin dvd burner built in! and with all the ports and bells and whistles.

[fred @ Oct 31st 2008 11:29PM]

if you've used it you would know, weight matters. the feel is quite different in use. other ultra portables like the 7" notebooks are mostly sacrifice for little gain. you cant pocket anything bigger than an iphone after all, once you reach the threshold of book bag/laptop bag you might as well have something that isn't cramped. many ultra portables shrink in all the wrong dimensions. and with the netbooks the sacrifice is only worth it because of the price. given a choice what they really want are the macbook airs, but for most they will have to wait till the price/tech comes down. a compromise.

[Flashpoint @ Oct 31st 2008 11:48PM]

My friend bought a new Macbook. Its a great designed computer compared to the MBA.

I think the real problem is, the MBA was designed to be thin and that's all. It wasn't really designed to be a laptop...more like...art.

[iphonerulez @ Oct 31st 2008 11:51PM]

Who cares about the footprint. It's the Apple logo that matters. Let's just say it's thin like Stevie. Anyone who sees a MacBook Air always asks "Does it really fit in a manila envelope? Wow! I'm gonna get me one of those just to carry it around in a manila envelope. Nothing like having a crowd pleaser to prove you are one of the elite computer users.

[wootman @ Nov 1st 2008 5:20PM]

Because like someone above mentioned, its only purpose is to look nice.

[loosely_coupled @ Nov 1st 2008 8:02PM]

As others have said, many people want a highly portable laptop without compromising on keyboard and screen size. When you travel constantly, an incredibly thin laptop makes it much easy to carry around as it fits in thin and lightweight bags and briefcases.

[Pretol @ Nov 2nd 2008 5:50AM]

The point is that Apple has a fanbase that doesn't need such things as "points". "Points" is what boring PC people have in their boring MS Presentation documents.

The reasons are described by "sexy", and "I want one, because I'm a consumer whore"...

Apple will upgrade something piddly, and the Apple fanbase will make it sound like a major upgrade to the "computing" factor. It still has a single USB (so you have to unplug your mouse when you want to plug in a thumb drive), and it's lacking every other connector. It doesn't have firewire, so no video editing. And if you get your videos through USB, you have to unplug the mouse. You could edit with a trackpad, but then all video editors use mice for some reason. All it's good for is internet browsing.

It's a religion. Steve was crucified for your connectivity pains, and in return, you must, unquestionably, love every piece of gadgetry he designs.

[this post was made on a mac] - message inserted here by Steve for extra snob effect, and because he wants to whore your computer out for free.

[Paul Chapel @ Oct 31st 2008 8:55PM]

This is what envy look likes.

[mirakutea @ Oct 31st 2008 9:11PM]

And so the thin and light and market space gets more and more interesting :].

[nerdtalker @ Oct 31st 2008 9:19PM]

This is what totally missing the point on the netbook market looks like.

OS X + Atom + netbook + 250-350 dollar price point = huge gains in market share

I would buy one in a heartbeat, and I'm a diehard PC guy.

[Paul Chapel @ Oct 31st 2008 9:28PM]

@nerdtalker, who said: "OS X + Atom + netbook + 250-350 dollar price point = huge gains in market share"


You just described the iPhone.

OS X + ARM + netphone + 200-300 dollar price point= 10 million sold.

I will buy one in a heartbeat (once the 60 gig comes out), and I'm a diehard PC guy.

[Jeff @ Oct 31st 2008 9:28PM]

A $300 netbook is what I predicted for earlier this month and Steve didn't deliver...I was sad and I still had $300 in my wallet for Steve.

Maybe at Macworld things would change...because seriously, I would buy a Mac netbook in a heartbeat too...as long as its made of aluminum.

[mirakutea @ Oct 31st 2008 9:29PM]

Maybe when steve jobs retires the elitism will drop sufficiently for that to happen, they don't like small pricepoints, they like big margins.

[mirakutea @ Oct 31st 2008 9:31PM]

The iPhone is great but isn't a netbook/notebook ...

[Joe @ Oct 31st 2008 9:33PM]

Envy looks like this actually.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/10/voodoo-floats-13-3-inch-envy-133-in-the-air/

[KillaChaos @ Oct 31st 2008 9:36PM]

OSX + hardware + $250 price point = does not compute.

Unless you are using $3 parts...

[iEye @ Oct 31st 2008 9:51PM]

Someone mention the iPhone?

now there is a topic I can talk about!

[phanbouy @ Oct 31st 2008 9:59PM]

iEye's consistently funny?

either he's doing drugs, or has stopped doing drugs

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Oct 31st 2008 11:05PM]

nerdtalker,

*whoosh*. The list price for OS X is $129. Your low-end price leaves a whopping $121 for the actual *computer* to run that operating system on. Even your high-end price only leaves $221. You'd probably be hard pressed to find a SINGLE major component on today's small laptops that costs less than $121, let alone all of them. Also, I suspect the $129 Apple charges for OS X is a bit less than the true cost of producing the SW; I bet the hardware slightly subsidizes the software.

It's like saying "I'm a Ford guy, but even I'd buy a Ferrari if they built one for $5,000." Yeah, no kidding. Me too.

[iphonerulez @ Nov 1st 2008 12:00AM]

Jeez, that Voodoo Envy is really something. It would make a perfect mirror. I hear they've actually sold two of them already. Look out MacBook Air. You're in big trouble now.

[nerdtalker @ Nov 1st 2008 12:30AM]

@UnixSystemsEngineer,

You'd really have to be kidding yourself to assume that apple has to pay itself to install OS X, _OF COURSE_ they can subsidize the cost. You're completely insane if you honestly think they need the full $120 for OS X production costs. Apple is rolling in cash, and they licensed the FreeBSD core (as you should well know, being a "unix systems engineer", pfft). Come back when you're being rational.

Elitism is the primary thing holding apple back from a netbook. Exclusivity.

And whoever it was that said the iPhone is a netbook... Just wow. Fail.

[Linkman2004 @ Oct 31st 2008 9:02PM]

What do you mean new? It's a specs bump!

[Peter @ Oct 31st 2008 9:03PM]

It's got vents!

[Patrick @ Oct 31st 2008 9:05PM]

rofl i love the title of this piece

[kloan @ Oct 31st 2008 9:14PM]

Oh man, I want one!

I originally bought one in January, but was so thoroughly disappointed with it's performance, I ended up taking it back. It overheated, stuttered, and was just awful. Just about the only thing good with it was the fantastic LCD quality.

It looks like Apple got it right this time! Man, what a lousy time to lose my job. :(

Thanks for the pics!

[Fed @ Oct 31st 2008 9:19PM]

Played with one at work today, piece of junk that is underpowered. Lame. Overrated and useless.

[Jeff @ Oct 31st 2008 9:24PM]

I saw a bunch of women at work have these. I find it odd because the ENTIRE company relies on Lenovo Thinkpads yet these ladies simply insist on using the Macbook Air...I hope those weren't expensed to the IT department.

[Lazerface @ Oct 31st 2008 9:19PM]

but is the USB connector accessible this time?

[Jeff @ Oct 31st 2008 9:25PM]

Yep its accessible...judging by the picture, all I would need is a 1 inch USB extension cable. WIN.

Seriously though...probably everything should fit except 3G USB cards.

[Mike @ Nov 1st 2008 8:01AM]

Hi, im a PC and i suck camel-balls.

[umijin @ Oct 31st 2008 9:41PM]

You know, I have the v1.0 Air with a real hard drive and I don't really have any of these so-called problems, minus a few times where it gets warm.

[larryj @ Oct 31st 2008 10:51PM]

I agree.

My wife has taken over "our" MacBook Air as her primary computer. She's a doctorate student now and gave up her Windows machine to use the Air as her primary computer for school. I really expected her to kick and scream her way through the Windows to Mac experience. On top of that, I expected to hear every little complaint that I read about the Air here on Engadget and other sites.

But she actually seems to like it. So far, she doesn't seem to care that she doesn't have two, three or even 8 USB ports. Apparently this isn't a big deal while she's in class. So far, it hasn't been a problem that she can't swap out the battery for the multiple spare batteries that she could have charged up in her bag. It seems to get her through the day without needing to recharge. So far, she hasn't had a problem running Firefox, Word, End Note and whatever other apps a student needs. It just seems to work for her and she really likes that it doesn't take up as much room as half of one of her text books in her bag.

In the real world, isn't a 'portable' computer more about taking up less space in your bag? Who cares about footprint when you have to bring along a laptop along with 3 textbooks? I think being thin means more in the real world than some people choose to admit.

[tnkgrl @ Nov 1st 2008 4:13AM]

I agree 100%!

I've owned the 1.6 GHz 80 GB HDD "base" MacBook v1.0 model since day one - it's my primary machine, and I've experienced absolutely zero problems with it...

It gets warm at times, but it never appears to overheat.

[Daza @ Nov 1st 2008 10:00AM]

larryj, it sounds like your wife just likes it because it's portable, thus the reason she hasn't complained about any of the quirks. But if she's happy with that, then she'd probably also be very happy with a 10" netbook for about 1/3rd the price. Of course it won't look as good, but if she's not fussed by the pitfalls of the Macbook Air, then she probably won't care about the netbook either.

[monkfishbandana @ Oct 31st 2008 9:51PM]

For some reason, I've never even considered this a serious laptop.

Anybody who looks at this side-by-side with any other laptop and thinks "Ooh...that Macbook Air isn't a bad deal" should be shot.

[phanbouy @ Oct 31st 2008 10:00PM]

clearly those free from the dreaded curse of mac fanboydom are more moderate.


....


right?

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Oct 31st 2008 11:00PM]

I think you're missing the point. It's not for you, and it's not for me. But there is a market for ultraslim notebook (think Vaio), people who are willing to pay extra for that extra bit of style and small size, and don't mind the tradeoffs.

You know how in high-end CPUs, the fastest available costs 2x what the 2nd fastest costs, even though it's barely any faster? We're the guys who buy the second fastest because it still screams and is a good deal. Some people shell out huge bucks just to have the absolute fastest money can buy. In the same way, some people will shell out huge bucks to have a slightly thinner laptop.

[happy_penguin @ Nov 1st 2008 12:16PM]

I agree with you, USE. As long as there is a market for the Air, Apple should sell it. But I still think it's kind of silly. If they take a few inches off the screen and make it a beautifully thin notebook in the netbook form factor but keep the higher power I think it would be something I might be interested in as long as they knocked a few hundred off the price. It would still be worth a premium to me just for the thinness and beautiful design. But next to the Macbook, thinness aside, I just can't see the value.

[Tejas @ Oct 31st 2008 9:54PM]

All this time, I'd never heard of the Air heating up while playing simple YouTube videos, or it's inability to play full HD videos (which I know is kind of pointless unless you connect it to an external display).

I knew that the Macbook Airs were having issues with overheating but didn't know it was that severe. Now that makes me really think hard about how good the Air actually is...!

About the thinness making this an ultraportable? No way... If you can make it thin and let it have a small footprint at the same time, I'm sold. Otherwise this is all really useless as an ultraportable!

[Titanium man @ Nov 1st 2008 9:08AM]

The whole youtube thing is because of the useless, resource hog flash player, adobe releases for the mac os.
This also explains the reluctance Apple shows towards releasing a flash player for mobile safari on the iphone.

[htd @ Oct 31st 2008 10:26PM]

I didnt know there are so many lethal drawbacks on original mac air... any way, I love 1000ha form factor better, the price is better too...