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.
posted Oct 31st 2008 8:49PM
What is the point of being so thin if it has the same footprint of a normal sized computer?
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...
His Steveness commands it! ;)
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.
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.
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.
> 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.
wow a comment left by iEye that didn't get voted down?lol
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Because like someone above mentioned, its only purpose is to look nice.
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.
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.
This is what envy look likes.
And so the thin and light and market space gets more and more interesting :].
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.
@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.
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.
Maybe when steve jobs retires the elitism will drop sufficiently for that to happen, they don't like small pricepoints, they like big margins.
The iPhone is great but isn't a netbook/notebook ...
Envy looks like this actually.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/10/voodoo-floats-13-3-inch-envy-133-in-the-air/
OSX + hardware + $250 price point = does not compute.
Unless you are using $3 parts...
Someone mention the iPhone?
now there is a topic I can talk about!
iEye's consistently funny?
either he's doing drugs, or has stopped doing drugs
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.
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.
@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.
What do you mean new? It's a specs bump!
It's got vents!
rofl i love the title of this piece
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!
Played with one at work today, piece of junk that is underpowered. Lame. Overrated and useless.
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.
but is the USB connector accessible this time?
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.
Hi, im a PC and i suck camel-balls.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
clearly those free from the dreaded curse of mac fanboydom are more moderate.
....
right?
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.
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.
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!
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.
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...
Most people had no problems. Some people did.
It did have problems playing video though. Well, it played videos, but the fans would be cranked.
Apple fanboys aren't allowed to comment flaws in Apple products until they reach end of life.
And that includes nearly every tech blog reviews.
Why didn't they at least update the bezel to match the new macbooks? If they did that and the more extensive work to change the touchpad too, they would all look alike...which always seemed the biggest thing Macs had going for them, all their products and all their users looking/thinking alike as one group entity.
I must be the only person in the world whose MacBook Air has functioned fine... I've never had it overheat, it always runs cool enough to use on my lap (in shorts), and it handles 720 video easily. Guess I've just been incredibly lucky?
That's also been my experience (see above).
I still think its stupid that you have to pay $100 just to get the external dvd drive.
Seriously. Think of all the beefcakes you could buy with $100. BEEFCAKES!!!!! BEEFCAKES!!!!
Look at the positive side man, it was lucky you lost your job before you could get ripped off by Apple
I owned a macbook pro, sold it and got a macbook air. I was a little nervous that it was going to suck and regret selling my macbook pro. But the opposite has happened. I take it with me everywhere. I'm a real estate broker in Miami. I carry the macbook air in a small military shoulder bag when I show property. I really don't feel the weight and whip it out on the spot to write up contracts or review listings in a heart beat. I edit short videos on it, do some photo editing, surf the web, put together some keynote presentations, all running at the same time without a problem.
Now if your a hardcore graphic artist or video editor then you'd want to go with a 15 or 17 inch macbook pro. But if your looking for a badass portable then I think the macbook air blows away all of the current netbooks out there, especially if your an apple crack head like myself.
I also agree about the "ultraportable" label. It must be a marketing trick, but then again it's not targeted for people who know much about laptops.
I question whether the boot speed is related to the SSD. I think OS X + Apple hardware just plain boots fast. My (1st gen) Mac Pro boots to the login prompt in maybe 10-15 seconds flat, and the login is almost immediate. Most Macs I've used are similar. It's not really that relevant because most of us put our laptops to sleep rather than power them down, but it is nice.
And my C2D PC running Vista and Ubuntu does the same. What's your point?
If I were in Peter's shoes, I'd do the same thing. My Macbook Pro rocks, but if I had to carry a computer everywhere, and especially if I had a desktop as a sort of "home base", I'd get an Air. It's very difficult to not be seduced outright when I hold the thing, too.
One thing I often repeated about the 12" iBooks and Powerbooks was that, when folded, they were the same height and width as a common 8-1/2"x11" spiral-bound notebook. They were even no thicker than many paper notebooks. The Air takes the size thing one logical step farther -- folder-thin, but no less usable. Thousands of attaché cases and document bags are designed around standard notebook paper sizes, so the Air continues being able to take advantage of the space. Why bother with an "ultra portable" computer with a small screen, cramped keyboard, no palmrests, and maybe even no trackpad?
Except the air is 13" widescreen, not 12" 4:3. Thus, it's not the same size as a spiral notebook.
the macbook and Air are just about the size of a standard legal pad, again, common to put in briefcases and backpacks.
Apple rules. who else can make a computer that lacks basic features, charge an arm and a leg, and still swoon fanboys?
Looks nice! I wish my Air didn't burn me while watching Hulu (seriously). Not ready to plunk down for an 'upgrade' yet, but I'll definitely consider the i7 variant when that comes out in a year or so.
I use mine 8 hours straight every day. Works beautifully for me, plays videos, no overheating issues in my case. It's not the laptop for everyone, but I have no regrets buying it.
@ Paul: "...new mini DisplayPort plug to replace that totally oddball microDVI plug"
And who else is using the mini DisplayPort?
this makes the adapter the same across all of Apple's laptops. The new 24" monitor uses this directly and they have (slightly overpriced) adapters for standard VGA and DVI purposes. Mostly, you don't need a different size now as in the past the iMac used one size, the Macbook another, the Air another and the Mac Pro and Macbook Pro used full size plugs.
"with the same packaging"
Wasn't the original Airs packaging smaller and you know... black?
Kinda like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/renegrub/2989382880/in/set-72157608533238528/
Tbh, if you do actually buy a MacBook Air, you deserve it.
Just get any other 13.3" laptop, even a MacBook makes more sense than this.
Please tell me these things come with a Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter. Otherwise I'm going to have to tell a bunch of hipster undergrads on campus that they can't connect their MBA to our LCD projectors. It's bad enough having to deal with the DVI/Mini DVI adapters (and Mac owners who don't know the difference between either).
Man, the Apple product un-boxing experience is so slick.
It puts you in a good frame of mind before you get to the computer.
And their doing this with less packaging and more ecological materials from their competitors.
Whatever you think of the product inside, it's pretty damn impressive.
That was the only mac i didn't like:(
Please! If Sony had made this, everything you said was bad about it would now be awesome!
You would continue with the spiel about how Apple should watch its back. This is the future of computers. You fucking USA haters would say American computer people better get on the ball. You will cry everyday about how you can't wait to drop serious cash for this puppy. On and on.
LOL:)
I got a MacBook Air after going through the angst of worrying about all the features I'd be giving up by not having a "real" notebook. After 6 months I have to admit.....I haven't missed ANY of the missing features. I bought the external DVD drive.....used it once. Never had the need for more than one USB port at a time. I used to travel to the Far East on business every couple of months with my old 6lb laptop. After schlepping the monster around Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taipei, and various airports in the US let me tell you its the weight that makes the difference for me. Losing 2-3lbs feels like 20-30lbs. I'm 6 feet 6 inches tall...small netbooks look cool but are a little small for my big hands and their screen resolutions drive old guy eyes nuts. The takeaway here is the MacBook Air isn't for everyone. However for others it fits their needs perfectly. Buy the notebook that fits YOUR needs.
I own an MBA 1.0 and im completely happy with it. I take it to class everyday and let me tell u, when I have to take 3 fat textbooks to drag around thinness MATTERS. Who cares about a footprint, its about how thin it is without sacrificing anything. it never has overheated and on top of that i have the coolest laptop on campus.
Huh? My 1.0 Air ran just fine. I guess I don't get the complaints about the first generation still... and dragging it out even more is pointless.
If you think that these MacBooks are great, then you have not seen these other MacBooks. Just watch the videos.
http://applediario.com/2008/11/01/convierte-tu-macbook-en-un-mac-tablet/
nice, i'd love to have one
With all the space they are saving by putting their crappy mini display port, why can't they put in an Ethernet port?
"mini DisplayPort plug to replace that totally oddball microDVI plug"
"mini DisplayPort ... to replace ... oddball microDVI plug
Seriousness or sarcasm?
If Apple was nice, they would start creating adapters between all the display output formats they keep pushing out. Then, instead of having another set of Mini Display Port -> X adapters, loyal Mac users can save their money using existing cables for things like:
Mini Display Port -> Micro DVI -> Mini DVI -> Mini VGA -> VGA -> S-Video
If they've fixed the cooling problems, I'm in. I really don't want to to buy 1st gen anything, as much as I was tempted when the MBA came out, but now I think I'm gonna do it.
it's not the footprint at all imo... I travel a lot and the weight is a big difference for me.
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well I still feel that it needs 2 USB ports... one for a mouse and one for something else (thumbdrive, external hdd etc.)
but it does seem you can actually fit something in that port trapdoor this time around... that was a big blunder imo.
The Air is for everyone. It is a matter of using it. For people who do not own it, they can say all they wanted. Maybe not quite the price. But it is a heck of a machine doing most things and blows away my PowerBook 1.67.
I have the new MBP and still likes it but the MBA gets more usage just for its battery life and absolute portability. An amazing kit to use!