backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 158 comment(s) - last by robinthakur.. on Jan 21 at 11:46 AM
Thin is in with the MacBook Air

Everyone was expecting Apple to release an ultra-portable notebook at this year's Macworld 2008 expo, and Steve Jobs didn't disappoint.

Jobs revealed the aluminum-bodied MacBook Air is 0.16" at its thinnest point, 0.76" at its thickest point and weighs just 3.0 pounds. Jobs played up the fact that the MacBook Air is thin enough to fit within a standard manila envelope and new Mac TV ads will center on this ability.

“When you first see MacBook Air, it’s hard to believe it’s a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is,” said Jobs.

The MacBook Air features Intel Core 2 Duo power (1.6GHz standard, 1.8GHz optional), 2GB of memory (soldered on and not upgradeable), Intel GMA X3100 graphics, a 13.3" LED-backlit display and an 80GB, 1.8" HDD for storage duties. A 64GB solid-state disk (SSD) is optional on the MacBook Air -- Steve Jobs notes that "They're pricy, but they're fast."

To keep its thin form-factor, the MacBook Air makes do with one USB 2.0 port, a micro-DVI port and an audio-out jack. Other features include the requisite iSight camera and full-size, backlit keyboard. Apple includes 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1, but there is no WiMAX, EV-DO or HSDPA in the package despite the "Air" moniker.

There is no Ethernet port due to space/size restrictions and there is also no built-in optical drive although Apple will gladly sell you an external SuperDrive for $99.

Perhaps the feature that will be most talked about -- besides its thin, aluminum frame -- is the Multi-touch trackpad. MacBook Air owners can use the same gestures that iPhone and iPod touch users have grown accustomed to (tap, scroll, pinch, rotate and swipe) to manipulate windows, picture and other items on the screen within OS X.

Apple claims that the MacBook Air can operate for up to 5 hours on its standard battery which is quite good for an ultra-portable notebook that is so thin. By the way, the battery is not user replaceable. You'll have to ship your notebook off to Apple if your battery dies.

Pricing for the MacBook Air starts at $1,799 USD. It can be pre-order from the Apple Store today, but units won't begin shipping until two weeks from today.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Just preordered it
By aos007 on 1/15/2008 1:57:57 PM , Rating: 2
This is going to be my first Apple computer. I waited patiently for a year to replace my aging Toshiba R100, this was exactly what was expected by many and will fit the bill. I so wanted to get the SSD but alas, $3000 is just way too much. I hope customers will be able to purchase a SSD drive in a year when prices drop.




RE: Just preordered it
By tayhimself on 1/15/08, Rating: -1
RE: Just preordered it
By PandaBear on 1/15/2008 3:34:14 PM , Rating: 2
AppleTV is an example of them packing crap software into a white box, but too bad it doesn't sell well.


RE: Just preordered it
By kelmon on 1/15/2008 3:48:56 PM , Rating: 2
Honestly, Apple TV's biggest problem wasn't its software but a lack of content to play on it, particularly if you lived outside of the US. I'm honestly quite impressed by the announced revisions to the Apple TV but at the end of the day it's the content that's key.


RE: Just preordered it
By MonkeyPaw on 1/15/2008 6:38:23 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
Enjoy your Zune, Dells, and Vista.


Enjoy your non-replaceable battery, zippy and spacious 80GB 1.8" HDD, and solitary USB port. Impending frustration never cost so much.

Do let us know when your MacBook Air becomes a MacBook Frisbee.


RE: Just preordered it
By JoshuaBuss on 1/15/2008 9:43:56 PM , Rating: 3
i don't want to imagine loading leapord from 4200rpm :|

for $1,800 the SSD should've come standard.


RE: Just preordered it
By Scott66 on 1/16/2008 1:37:17 AM , Rating: 2
Any other comparable laptop offering such a drive is in the 2500-3500 price range. Don't demand from Apple what the other PC makers aren't willing to cough up.


RE: Just preordered it
By spudboy23 on 1/16/2008 12:27:04 PM , Rating: 2
oh, but it's APPLE...they have to live up to a standard that no other PC makers have to, because how else would people be able to attack them for every single product they release and write articles with headlines that include a flaw for a grabber: "Apple Macbook Air Notebook Launches; Lacks User-Replaceable Battery." nice double standard, there.

people haven't even used the thing and they're already bagging on it. i bet most of you don't even own a Mac and have no idea about the interoperability that's designed into the systems (such as the ability to use another Mac's SuperDrive via wireless). just watch, every other PC maker will release some version of this notebook within the year and all the Windows-groupies will fall all over themselves to talk about how lacking an Ethernet port and using a 4200 RPM 1.8" hard drive is "forward-thinking, innovative design."


RE: Just preordered it
By inighthawki on 1/20/2008 6:27:01 PM , Rating: 2
"(such as the ability to use another Mac's SuperDrive via wireless)"

last time i checked, using another pc's drive is as easy as sharing it over the network...


RE: Just preordered it
By ertomas on 1/16/2008 7:13:39 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
and solitary USB port.


You forgot the solitary mouse button...


RE: Just preordered it
By B on 1/15/2008 2:34:29 PM , Rating: 2
I have not seen the new Mac, but it looks like even the battery is sealed in like an iPod. So it may be tough for the user to add the SSD drive.

I tried to pull up more pics and tech specs on Apples site, but it seems to be overwhelmed at the present.


RE: Just preordered it
By Ryanman on 1/15/2008 3:37:05 PM , Rating: 2
Have fun not watching any media that comes on an optical disk, and having the portability crippled by having to carry around a USB hub. And if you finally end up realizing that the optical drive omission is a huge mistake, I hope you realize what a blast it is to carry around an external drive : D
Hindsight's 20/20, but I have a hunch that the effort you'd use carrying around an extra pound of notebook around pales in comparison to the problems you'll have with this form over function macbook.


RE: Just preordered it
By pomaikai on 1/15/2008 3:44:47 PM , Rating: 2
It better have a wireless mouse functionality built in. Would suck to have to have a usb hub to plug in a wireless mouse and a USB stick at the same time.


RE: Just preordered it
By TomZ on 1/15/2008 4:39:34 PM , Rating: 2
I agree, but when you look at today's offering of wireless mice, nearly all the best ones require a USB dongle. And many of the ones that are bluetooth (thus requiring no dongle) the users report to have a lot of connectivity issues.

So, unfortunately, the state of the art today for wireless mouse connection is the USB dongle. Hopefully that will change, however.


RE: Just preordered it
By Circle T on 1/15/2008 6:01:47 PM , Rating: 5
This is just my experience, and is in no way representative or the entire wireless market. But, I use the MS Wireless Laser 8000 with a Mac Mini in our house. Simple install of Intellipoint, and all the buttons work, no dongles needed, and it syncs just fine.

And, on an old PC in the house, I have the original MS Bluetooth mouse that came out years ago. Its so old, it doesn't have a model number, it was just called the "MS Wireless Mouse for Bluetooth". I just tried it too, and as old as it is, it works as well. Not as good, the tracking isn't as nice as the new Laser 8000, but it syncs just fine. Neither has any sort of connectivity problems.

Again, I can't speak for everything. But my experience has been that any mouse with BT will work in basic use once sync'd. If the mouse has special buttons, such as with my Laser 8000's 2 side buttons or side-to-side scrolling, you need drivers. And those might not always be there. But sync and use is just fine.


RE: Just preordered it
By Scott66 on 1/16/2008 12:31:06 AM , Rating: 2
If you had more than an antiquated experience with Macs, you would be well aware that all apple computers (except Mac pro workstation) have built in Blue tooth. If you spent time actually looking at the specs of this machine before you typed, you would have noticed this has 2.1 specs.


RE: Just preordered it
By Circle T on 1/16/2008 1:06:29 AM , Rating: 2
The Mac Pro does in fact come with standard Bluetooth (2.0+EDR). Now, this could be a change in the new Penryn revision that is all of a week old, I don't know. I don't have the old revision's specs handy. But, as you said to the other person, reading the specs before commenting is good.

All Mac computers now, including the Pro, come with standard Bluetooth.


RE: Just preordered it
By Scott66 on 1/16/2008 1:38:52 AM , Rating: 2
Yes that is the case with the Mac Pro,


RE: Just preordered it
By Scott66 on 1/16/08, Rating: 0
RE: Just preordered it
By Scott66 on 1/16/2008 1:49:00 AM , Rating: 2
Sorry Cicle T, my last comment was intended to Pomaikai, who I thought made the reply to my reading comment. Apple originally thought workstations such as the Mac Pro wouldn't need the Blue tooth and didn't offer it until the newest iteration.


RE: Just preordered it
By Circle T on 1/16/2008 1:55:55 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Apple originally thought workstations such as the Mac Pro wouldn't need the Blue tooth and didn't offer it until the newest iteration.

It was offered, but it was optional I believe. Now it is standard.

On a somewhat related note though, the Mac Pro is now the only Mac computer that DOES NOT come with standard Wifi. It is still optional.


RE: Just preordered it
By kelmon on 1/15/2008 3:55:19 PM , Rating: 2
Seriously, the only really important omission is the ethernet port and a firewire port. I almost never use my optical drive in my laptop so losing that is not going to cause that much of an issue. It's a bit like having an external modem - I bought one since the MacBook Pro doesn't include one anymore but I haven't used the thing in over a year now.


RE: Just preordered it
By kmmatney on 1/15/2008 5:49:19 PM , Rating: 2
One USB port is pretty lame...


RE: Just preordered it
By kelmon on 1/16/2008 3:20:48 AM , Rating: 2
True, but it's only an issue if you NEED more than one. It is, for example, perfectly possible to use any laptop today and never use a USB port so this is only an issue if you work in an environment that requires USB. Again, it's going to be a buyer's decision - decide if you need more than 1 USB port and if an external hub is not an option.

Let's be perfectly clear here - the MacBook Air is not for everyone but if you are in the market for a full-featured ultra-portable then this will be an ideal product for some people.

Personally, I'm more bothered now about the lack of a FireWire port now that I note that you can get an Ethernet connector for it.


RE: Just preordered it
By MADAOO7 on 1/16/2008 3:15:36 AM , Rating: 2
I don't believe half the people posting understand the purpose of a laptop like this. This is not designed for the general population (although you can bet they'll market it to everyone). This is an ideal laptop to the traveling workforce. I don't see many people missing the optical drive. Most corporate workers have access to share drives and servers in which they can easily get the software they need. If you travel then you probably aren't using wired internet to begin with and obviously most people with laptops have a wireless router in their house. No one traveling carries an external hard drive to begin with, so that argument is irrelevant. If you want more features simply buy a MacBook Pro or a MacBook.


Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By Domicinator on 1/15/2008 2:12:08 PM , Rating: 1
But I'm not speechless because I'm impressed. I'm speechless because this thing doesn't have ethernet ports or an optical drive and they're still charging $1800 for it.

Somebody above me commented that it doesn't matter because you can use another computer's optical drive over a network and that he doesn't use his laptop's optical drive anyway. You sir, are the minority.

If you are going to justify the latest Apple product's high price tag and low functionality (iPhone anyone?) by pretty much saying "Who needs an optical drive anyway?", then you are just another person willing to eat up anything Steve Jobs feeds you.

These kinds of machines are already on the market. They're called ultra portables. They have more functionality and are WAY cheaper. Anyone who throws down $1800 for this thing is an absolute sucker.




RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By SuperNaruto on 1/15/08, Rating: 0
By Tim Thorpe on 1/15/2008 2:56:58 PM , Rating: 2
Draft-N actually...not too shabby IMO, my network @ home is still 10/100mbps wired and 99% of the time that is fine for what we do with it. For those dropping bricks about the lack of an optical drive you are probably not the target audience for this thing...there are cheaper notebooks out there that have them so you should probably go with one of those. The only real drag I see with the Air is the price...1800 bucks (1900 w/ external drive) is a hell of a lot of money when I picked up an HP DV6636nr for 650 bucks over the holidays, sure it doesn't have the aluminum hard body but who cares! The thing that really irks me about the Air is the lack of a user replaceable battery, that is a deal killer.


RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By tayhimself on 1/15/08, Rating: -1
RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By deeznuts on 1/15/2008 3:03:30 PM , Rating: 1
Dell Latitude D420 can be had for $800 right now. Is that ultraportable?

Lenovo Thinkpad X61 for less than a 1grand. Is that ultraportable?


RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By tayhimself on 1/15/2008 3:53:56 PM , Rating: 2
DELL Latitude D420
* Processor: Intel Core Solo U1300 ULV (1.06GHz, 533MHz)
* Screen: 12.1" WXGA TFT LCD 1280 x 800 (Matte)
* Graphics: Intel GMA 950 (Integrated, up to 224MB shared)
* Memory: 1.5GB, DDR2-533 SDRAM, (512MB Integrated) 2 DIMMs
* Hard Drive: 60GB 4200RPM 1.8" Hard Drive
* Wireless: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
* Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
* Input: Full size keyboard with touchpad and pointing stick
* Battery: 6-Cell Primary (with ExpressCharge) and 65W AC Adapter
* D420 Dimensions: 11.63"x8.27"x1.00"

First, its not on sale. Second, its fat. Third, it lacks CD/DVD. Fourth, 1.06 Ghz.


RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By deeznuts on 1/15/2008 5:48:16 PM , Rating: 2
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx...
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?ca...
It's $800, with 3 year warranty. That's not on sale?

Yeah it's fatter, but the original presmise was ultraportable. 1" thick is not THAT thick and around 3.0 lbs. I never said it was better than the macbook, of which I really want one. I'm just pointing out that ultraportables don't have to cost $2000, which was stated in the post I replied to.


By tayhimself on 1/15/2008 7:49:35 PM , Rating: 2
Its 1222 with Bluetooth, XP/Vista Basic, 80 GB drive, 2 GB RAM.

Pretty good other than the fact that its a Dell. The Vaio TZ are around 1800.


By deeznuts on 1/15/2008 5:53:06 PM , Rating: 2
Oh, and I forgot to add, with reports of some lag already, I'm waiting and seeing. But I really want one and hope it isn't (friend works for Apple, as in the company not the store, so just gotta ask for discounts, if any).

http://gizmodo.com/345139/macbook-air-multitouch-g...
quote:
We found hiccups when scrolling through an image in iPhoto (zoomed), but our guess is that such issues were do to processor power and not the pad itself.


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 1/15/2008 3:07:29 PM , Rating: 1
I'd like to see a convincing argument that OSX > Vista. When put into perspective, OSX while a fine OS, gets its ass handed to it by Vista. We won't even get into the fact that Vista is also far more resilient and flexible than OSX could ever hope to be.


By kelmon on 1/15/2008 3:31:09 PM , Rating: 2
I'm just going to note here that the current incarnation of 10.5 still requires quite a bit of work by Apple as it continues to be bug-o-rama so fingers crossed for 10.5.2. While I could have gone back to 10.4 (since that was pretty mature by the end despite hickups to begin with) I have to confess that you'd have to prize Spotlight, Cover Flow and Quick Look from my cold, dead, and probably clammy hands. I just hope that the bugs in the rest of the OS are nuked pretty soon.

With respect to OS X vs. Vista, it all depends on what you like. If you don't like your current OS, whatever it may be, it's probably worth trying another since it may work more in the way that you want/expect. Many people like Windows and that's fine by me but OS X > Windows for me because it doesn't piss me off as much. Being happier while computing is a bit difficult to quantify in some form of measurement but that's what it comes down to for me. I honestly don't think that you can produce some sort of equation that will determine which is the best OS since people have different priorities.


By MADAOO7 on 1/16/2008 3:32:32 AM , Rating: 1
You can't be serious. This is how I see it: OSX=XP>Vista. Vista is a terrible excuse for an OS. I love my PC, and am fascinated by Apples ingenuity, but would probably never really buy one considering that I can build a custom PC with twice the power for half the price. But going back to Vista, it boots slower, runs slower, and has a lack of driver support. Vista is ok if you build a system around it, but it may be the worst upgrade ever. It's just a softer, slower, more resource hungry version of XP. You can just tell they were trying to keep peoples appeal with Aero and the widgets by copying Apples OS. Vista simply falls short of what was promised to us loyal Microsoft fans years ago. Let's be honest the only reason you hate Apple is because of the pricing and marketing. Leave that out of the equation and you have a modern Unix based OS that runs the way it was designed on a x86 system.


By winterspan on 1/16/2008 8:44:00 AM , Rating: 2
HAHAAHA.. thats a funny argument. Are you really serious? you must be an uber-nerd to think Vista is a great OS!!!!! LOL


By inighthawki on 1/20/2008 6:39:18 PM , Rating: 2
It's quite sad how so many people bash vista. The really sad thing is that most of the people i know who bash vista have yet to use it for more than 2 minutes, and this is because they are too lazy to go along with the small learning curve.

I go to lans all the time with about 10 people, all of whom have vista. and guess what, only one among them has any problem with it at all.

Now i'm not saying that it's perfect for everyone. Surely there will be people here and there that have problems, it's inevitable. If you use vista and still absolutely hate it, that's fine.

But I've used vista even back during it's beta stages, and i have dvd copies of almost 10 different beta copies, all of which ran perfectly for me.

But hey, those of you who have never used vista, you know better right? You see a person online who had a problem, maybe 2 or three and assume vista is a huge problem itself. The fact of the matter is, you don't see the other people post about how it WORKS since they don't need to.


By Durrr on 1/15/2008 4:10:36 PM , Rating: 1
Dell x300 = paid 300 for (refurbished, but still)


RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By mondo1234 on 1/15/2008 2:26:46 PM , Rating: 2
Domicinator, You posted at 2:12, How did you move up on the list and the Penryn post is way below and it posted at 2:08? You were just at the bottom of the page.


By cochy on 1/15/2008 2:31:02 PM , Rating: 2
The number of replies to a post + some algorithm based on post ratings determines how far up the page the thread goes. Not the time it was posted.


RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By cochy on 1/15/2008 2:29:47 PM , Rating: 2
Uh an ethernet port and optical drive cost next to nothing. They aren't included to keep the size down not to keep the price down.

It's expensive because it's an Apple product and super light-weight.


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 1/15/2008 3:04:43 PM , Rating: 2
Indeed, an Ethernet port likely could have been added but an Optical drive would have been tricky. Perhaps a Slot load one would be doable however, and it makes little sense they didn't go with that, unless there just isn't internal space for it, which could also be the case. No excuse on the lack of Ethernet though.


RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By djc208 on 1/15/2008 4:41:13 PM , Rating: 2
The lack of optical drive also lets them give longer battery life numbers, plus then we'd all be complaining about how it doesn't support some form of HD format too.

As for the ethernet port Apple knew what they were doing. In 6~12 months they'll update this one with the newer 45nm processors and an ethernet port for $500 more so you'll regret buying yours but shell out the money for the new one anyway.


By JoshuaBuss on 1/15/2008 6:33:14 PM , Rating: 1
lol, sadly i bet you're 100% correct


RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By Senju on 1/16/2008 1:52:52 AM , Rating: 2
I agree about the ethernet port. By taking this small expensive component out, users will be force to buy the "Time Capsole" or another Mac device that has ethernet connections.
I also can see that Apple is trying to completely wipe out any LAN connection on its newer products in the next 10 years (if I read this trend correctly).


By winterspan on 1/16/2008 8:47:28 AM , Rating: 2
I agree that they should have built in a collapsible ethernet port, but to you are taking it too far.
They provided a small usb->ethernet adapter that could easily slip into a bag with the laptop. So it's not THAT big of a deal.


RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By bldckstark on 1/16/2008 12:35:27 PM , Rating: 2
woot.com has a USB port replicator today for cheap. The port replicator has a USB hub, ethernet, parallel port, etc. I don't own a MAC, I do own an ultraportable Lenovo that I wouldn't trade for anything, but the inclusion of an ethernet port wouldn't sway my decision to buy this. The thing that would? Non-user replaceable battery. This trend has got to stop. The batteries in laptops are at 50% life after one year, and 25% life after two. That means I have to ship this thing off every 1 to 2 years to get the battery replaced, and at Apple's pricing to boot. Too much money over the lifecycle for what I can get from others.


By Brandon Hill (blog) on 1/16/2008 12:50:08 PM , Rating: 2
Where are you seeing this port replicator on woot? All I see are headphones.


By inighthawki on 1/20/2008 6:45:49 PM , Rating: 2
To be honest, i can't really see anyone buying this needing an Ethernet port at all. An ultra portable laptop would not only be crippled by having it connected to a network through cords, as well as anyone that can afford/need one of these probably has a wireless connection at their house/place of use. If not, USB to Ethernet adapters should cost nothing compared to the $1800 price tag of the laptop itself.

Personally, i like the idea of no Ethernet and optical drive. As sated above somewhere, not sure on the exact post, not including them is the first step in the next gen. Wireless is the way things are heading, so why continue to have everything connected by wires? It's only slowing te process down.


RE: Unbelievable................I'm speechless.
By winterspan on 1/16/2008 8:41:16 AM , Rating: 1
You sir, are a god damn idiot.
1) Compared to nearly every other ultraportable/subnotebook, Apple's is quite powerful. 90% of others from brands like Sony and Panasonic carry an Intel Core2 Ultra Low Voltage chip (1.06ghz, 667mhz bus). The Apple has a real Core 2 DUO chip custom designed with Santa Rosa 800mhz bus. So on that point you are WRONG.

2) On price you are even MORE OFF! Nearly every decent subnotebook starts over $2000 and rises quickly into the $3,000s. Apple starts at $1799. Here's some examples....

Asus U1F
2.2lbs / 10.1 x 7.4 x 0.80"
11.1" 1366x768 *LED backlighting*
Intel Core Duo U2400 1.06ghz/ 1.5GB RAM/80GB 4200RPM/945GM/Wifi/Blue2/Lan
http://www.dynamism.com/asus-u1/specs.shtml
starts at: $2200

Panasonic R6
2.0lbs / 9.0 x 7.2 x 1.20"
10.4" 1024x768
Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7500 1.06ghz /1GB RAM/80GB+/945GMS Express/Wifi/Lan
8 hrs real-world battery
http://www.dynamism.com/r6/main.shtml
starts at: $2250

Panasonic T5 subnotebook
2.26-2.77 lbs / 10.55 x 8.27 x 1.25"
12.1" 1024x768
Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7500 1.06ghz /1GB RAM/80GB+/945GMS Express/Wifi/Lan
3-4/7-10 hrs real-world stand./litewt. battery
http://www.dynamism.com/t5/main.shtml
starts at: $2200

Panasonic W5 subnotebook
2.64lbs / 10.6 x 8.2 x 1.25"
12.1" 1024x768
Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7500 1.06ghz /1GB RAM/80GB/945GMS Express/WiFi/Blue/LAN DVD-RW
10.5-hours battery (7 hrs real-world use)
http://www.dynamism.com/w5/main.shtml
starts at: $2200

Sony Vaio G1
1.89-2.15lbs / 10.9 x 8.46 x 0.97"
12.1" 1024x768
Intel Core Solo U1500 1.33Gz/1GB RAM/100gb hdd/945 GMS express/MA950/WiFi/Blue/Lan
5/10 hr real-world battery
http://www.dynamism.com/g1/main.shtml
starts at: $2500

Sony Vaio TZ90 (10th anniversary edition)
2.26lbs / 10.9 x 7.8 x 0.89"
11.1" 1366x768 *LED backlighting*
Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7600 1.2 GHz/1GB RAM/100GB hdd/945GMS Express/Wifi/Blue2/Lan
8-10 hrs real-world battery
http://www.dynamism.com/tz90/main.shtml
starts at: $2400


penryn?
By 8steve8 on 1/15/2008 2:08:38 PM , Rating: 2
are these "special" c2duos penryns?

if not, when?




RE: penryn?
By mikeepu on 1/15/2008 2:32:08 PM , Rating: 1
Not sure really, Apple probably exaggerated when they said they "asked" Intel to shrink the processor in order to put it into the Macbook Air. But i think it was probably just the planned Penryn shrink that Intel already had. If i remember correctly Intel released their 45nm penryn shrink for their mobile line at CES recently.


RE: penryn?
By B on 1/15/2008 2:40:20 PM , Rating: 2
This processor at best is a 45nm and possibly a 65nm. Specifically, they shrunk the packaging of the processor down, i.e. the ceramic piece with the gold dots that the silicon is "wired" to. On a current C2D the processor only takes up maybe 25% of the whole package's total surface area.


RE: penryn?
By TomZ on 1/15/2008 2:43:34 PM , Rating: 2
It's entirely possible - and I'm just speculating here - that Apple did ask for a custom-packaged 45mn processor. The "chip" itself might be the same as standard size, but with a smaller overall package and thus smaller footprint.

Check out the picture of the chips here: http://www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html


RE: penryn?
By TomZ on 1/15/2008 2:50:40 PM , Rating: 5
Actually, stuying the specs and available processors, I'm guessing that the processors are actually the low-voltage Merom 65nm's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_...

The Apple site says 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz are available with a 800MHz bus. This seems to line up with the top-end LV Merom's.


RE: penryn?
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 1/15/2008 3:08:56 PM , Rating: 2
I think your right, it would also explain how it managed to handle the heat disipation of Core 2 chips. At ULV the heat would be minimal.


RE: penryn?
By cochy on 1/15/2008 4:40:39 PM , Rating: 2
Correct according to Anandtech.

http://anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3201


RE: penryn?
By winterspan on 1/16/2008 8:52:15 AM , Rating: 2
Yes, they are not the penryns.
I was looking forward to them hopefully using a specific new penryn chip. If you go to wikipedia and look at "List of future intel mobile processors:, you'll find the model numbers
it has these specs I think:

45nm
1.6 and 1.8ghz
1066mhz FSB
SSE4
special "compact casing"
17watt TDP

ah well.. maybe for model #2


RE: penryn?
By Zandros on 1/15/2008 2:43:42 PM , Rating: 2
They didn't mean the die, they meant the package, which can be clearly seen at the MBA's info page.


CD Drive
By ksherman on 1/15/2008 1:56:48 PM , Rating: 1
Another feature regarding the DVD drive not mentioned in the article, there is included software you can install on either a Mac OR a PC that will allow the MacBook Air (IMO, a pretty dumb name) to use that computer's DVD drive over a network. Pretty impressive, and a worthy compromise. I hardly ever use the DVD drive in my laptop. CD-Images are more useful.

Overall, this is an impressive and reasonably priced release from Apple!




RE: CD Drive
By JKflipflop98 on 1/15/2008 3:35:24 PM , Rating: 3
I bet Mr. Jobs loves people like you. As a matter of fact, he makes a living at it.


RE: CD Drive
By kelmon on 1/15/2008 4:00:51 PM , Rating: 2
The devil is in the detail, as they say. I'm honestly skeptical as to how well this will work in the real-world, particularly for installing a large application. However, if it does work then I seriously don't need the optical drive at all.


RE: CD Drive
By cochy on 1/15/2008 5:58:35 PM , Rating: 2
VMware makes use of a similar feature for their GSX product. It works rather well. I'm sure this feature is the same.


RE: CD Drive
By Christopher1 on 1/15/2008 11:49:14 PM , Rating: 1
Actually, it works pretty well. I have installed things from a shared DVD drive over the wireless network that I have, and it is a little slower than a wired DVD drive but not much slower.


RE: CD Drive
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 1/15/2008 4:07:36 PM , Rating: 3
The lack of a CD drive is a non-issue for me. I have an Eee PC and have used an optical drive only two times since I've had the device -- and both were on the same day, the day I installed XP.

I used an external DVD burner first to install XP and second to install the drivers.

All other software installations/driver installations have been performed either over the network or with a thumb drive.

So the lack of the CD drive on the MacBook Air isn't an issue to me... however, the lack of a user-replaceable battery is unforgivable. And don't get me started on the price.


RE: CD Drive
By shadghost on 1/16/2008 3:47:01 AM , Rating: 2
I also use the eee pc, i have used the external cd drive once to install Ubuntu, and the non-replaceable battery i agree is bad, but my dorm room gets no wireless, i can only plug in with wired, and i normally have a wireless mouse, and a thumb drive in it, if they gave it a SD card reader, and one or two more usb ports i would start to look at this laptop, but only one usb port, no eathernet port, and non-replaceable battery is three strikes you are out.


RE: CD Drive
By DandDAddict on 1/16/2008 12:07:22 AM , Rating: 2
Can OSX not normaly use remote disc drives or is the software just to help people who dont know how to?


RE: CD Drive
By kelmon on 1/16/2008 3:28:02 AM , Rating: 2
I honestly don't know as it's never been something that has even occurred and I can't think why I'd want it in the first place if my computer has its own drive. Certainly remote hard drives are accessible but I have no idea about optical or tape drives.


Time Capsule
By ninjit on 1/15/2008 2:52:14 PM , Rating: 6
I haven't seen a news bit about this yet, so I'm posting it as a comment:

Apple also just announced a new Wireless Hard-drive system called "Time Capsule" that works as a target for Time Machine:

I like apple, but that is stupid.

Now I see why crippled Time Machine before release:

The Airport Base station has USB ports to add storage anyway (called "Airdisk"): prior to release you could use an external hard drive attached to an Airport as your Time Machine target, which was really really useful for all those people who use their laptops wirelessly around the house. But with Leopard's release that feature was disabled:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306...

And here is the reason why, so that Apple could sell you yet another box to perform that function.

They want to make money, fine, I understand that - but doing this so blatantly is f'ed up




RE: Time Capsule
By kelmon on 1/15/2008 4:05:08 PM , Rating: 2
I'm really pissed off about that announcement. The Airport Express Base Station (AEBS) was marketed as being able to backup to an external USB drive when Leopard and Time Machine launched and I bought into it. That not only was this feature yanked at the release of Leopard that it has now come back in a chargeable format is disgraceful. I'm very happy to be known as an Apple fan but in this case I am not - Apple should be ashamed for misrepresenting their products.


RE: Time Capsule
By gramboh on 1/15/2008 5:18:11 PM , Rating: 2
How can you be proud to be known as a fan of a corporation (who, like all corporations, exist purely for profit)? Especially one that disregards you by making an announcement like this which has zero technical basis. I would never buy another product from a company that did that to me.


RE: Time Capsule
By kelmon on 1/16/2008 3:43:03 AM , Rating: 2
Honestly, because this is the first thing that Apple has done in the past 5-years since I switched that I have been annoyed about. They make products that work they way I expect without getting in the way of what I want to do and while a lot of the PC world complains about Apple (witness most comments on DailyTech) I've had far more fun computing with them. However, I have no problem seeing when they have done something bad and this is definitely that time. So, I am now less of a fan than I was before the announcement. I will be making an official complaint to them and I'll be interested to see the result of this, although I do expect nothing to happen.

I would suggest that your suggestion that Apple and other corporations exist purely for profit is not entirely true. While that is certainly true for the shareholders and probably much of the board, for the people that work there it is about making cool stuff. This does not apply only to Apple but I'd argue it applies to almost all companies.


RE: Time Capsule
By crystal clear on 1/16/2008 7:38:14 AM , Rating: 2
Its like chocolates-The same old chocolate give it a new sleek packaging & a new brand name mixed with some smart high power marketing & advetisement campaign.

You generate the sales & the revenues....good old tricks of the trade...

They want your money.


RE: Time Capsule
By crystal clear on 1/16/2008 8:03:41 AM , Rating: 2
The old chocolate was called ....say...Brandon, now with the new packaging you call it Brando !


Welcome to 2004!
By goku on 1/15/2008 2:00:00 PM , Rating: 3
Sony came out with a carbonfibre (at least a lot of it was) subnotebook back in 2004 but that quickly disappeared when the price and features steered people away from it. Aside from those problems, the sony notebook was very appealing and thin, this is apple once again making something that's already been done and calling it their own. (aka the ipod)




RE: Welcome to 2004!
By bplewis24 on 1/15/2008 2:11:22 PM , Rating: 3
That model is still around:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet...

It was also one of the first to have an LED backlight screen. It's one of their more popular models.

Brandon


RE: Welcome to 2004!
By abakshi on 1/15/2008 2:47:50 PM , Rating: 3
RE: Welcome to 2004!
By goku on 1/16/2008 11:11:05 AM , Rating: 2
Thank you, yes this was the model I was talking about..


RE: Welcome to 2004!
By Johnmcl7 on 1/15/2008 3:06:04 PM , Rating: 3
That's exactly what I was thinking of when reading this article, no doubt people will be quick to badge this as yet another innovative market leader when Sony not only managed to do it years ago but also with older tech.

John


Fragile?
By pauldovi on 1/15/2008 1:48:49 PM , Rating: 3
I cannot help but imagine that its pretty fragile.

Overheating problems too? I know normal Core 2 Duo notebooks can get pretty hot!




RE: Fragile?
By TomZ on 1/15/2008 1:51:16 PM , Rating: 2
Not in my experience. My Dell w/T7700 is very cool.


RE: Fragile?
By Pneumothorax on 1/15/2008 2:16:42 PM , Rating: 2
It also uses a presumed ULV chip so it should run alot cooler.


RE: Fragile?
By winterspan on 1/16/2008 8:55:40 AM , Rating: 2
WRONG! ULV chips don't run at 1.6/1.8ghz. They are most likely just LV.
Big difference.. ULVs are terribly slow


RE: Fragile?
By RMSistight on 1/15/2008 2:45:12 PM , Rating: 2
You know I'm thinking the same thing. Any slight thing and CRACK.


RE: Fragile?
By kelmon on 1/15/2008 3:20:42 PM , Rating: 2
The same was said of the thin keyboards when they were announced but they're actually very strong. While I can't say for certain in the case of the MacBook Air I honestly don't see Apple releasing a laptop that can be snapped. If for nothing else they are obsessed with materials.


Have to admit it looks sleek.
By SilthDraeth on 1/15/2008 1:47:27 PM , Rating: 1
I normally disdain Apple products, but I am impressed with this one. Though I still wouldn't buy it.




RE: Have to admit it looks sleek.
By ZipSpeed on 1/15/2008 1:52:37 PM , Rating: 3
It's one sleek looking product that's for sure. If I wanted to show off something, I get this. Other than that, I still have my eyes on the Dell XPS M1330 as my choice for practicality and portability.


By AmbroseAthan on 1/15/2008 2:17:35 PM , Rating: 2
I have to agree. I normally am not a big Apple Comptuer fan, as I do like to build my own desktops normally and have a natural hate towards Apple's marketing...

But I have to admit, this is a pretty good looking notebook and the specs are pretty good for the price/size combination. I expect we will be seeing alot of these being picked up pretty fast.


RE: Have to admit it looks sleek.
By One43637 on 1/15/2008 2:21:36 PM , Rating: 2
It certainly looks appealing. Shame there's no Ethernet port, optical drive and only 1 USB port (I guess you can use a USB hub for that).

I wonder if the next version will have the Optical drive.


By Oregonian2 on 1/15/2008 3:47:57 PM , Rating: 2
Nah.... way too heavy. Asus EEE is only two thirds the weight and has replaceable batteries (and goes for $399).

:-) :-) :-)


Nice, I wonder how the Ipone sales are holding
By mondo1234 on 1/15/2008 2:03:13 PM , Rating: 2
I heard they sold around 2.2 million Iphones and 24 million Ipods last quarter alone.
Just curious, what were the Zune sales over christmas?




RE: Nice, I wonder how the Ipone sales are holding
By pomaikai on 1/15/2008 3:42:05 PM , Rating: 3
Yep just follow the crowd. The Zune I purchased to replace my 14 month old broken ipod syncs wirelessly, includes a built in radio and has a bigger screen than my previous 30gb ipod video. It is a little bulkier, but at $79 it does more than my previous ipod at a fraction of the cost.


By mondo1234 on 1/15/2008 5:59:26 PM , Rating: 2
But M$ gives money from every Zune sale to the record companies.
I dont want to pay the RIAA tax


By robinthakur on 1/21/2008 11:46:04 AM , Rating: 2
Get real, who the hell wants a Zune, they are ugly and the MP3 equivalent of owning a Skoda to the slick, thin iPod Touch's Ferarri. I'm really glad you're happy with that. "It is a little bulkier" That's great, good for you, slow and steady gets you there! I'm sure if we were all blind as well it would be 'to die for'. The whole Zune fiasco screams "end of life product" There's a reason they haven't released it outside of the US you know...There are too many MP3 player manufacturers and they are all scrabbling around for the business of the 1% (or whatever the percentage is) of the civilised world not owning/buying iPods. I'm amazed they even waste their time, money and effort! Who buys these things?!? If you really can't afford an iPod then I suppose its a fitting stop-gap, until that is, it becomes a door stop...


Did we forget about mapping a network drive?
By InternetGeek on 1/15/2008 2:40:32 PM , Rating: 2
He mentioned these MacBooks have 'software that lets you see a remote optical drive as it is was a local one'.

When did we forget we can just map a network drive? They become offline when not in the network and are available again when in the network... regardless its a wireless network or not.




By erikstarcher on 1/15/2008 3:39:42 PM , Rating: 3
You are forgeting that this is a mac. It is marketed to people that don't know how to use a computer. Now you want them to map a drive??? What do you mean I need to stick a cd in the other computer??? Why??? I want to use it on this one?!?!?!?!


By SavagePotato on 1/15/2008 8:48:17 PM , Rating: 3
No no no you need the "special magic software" that Apple invented to allow this wonderous feat.

No mere windows pc could do what apple can do with this cutting edge technology.

Oh wait thats right, you do just map the damn drive.

However, if you put it on a commercial with pc guy and mac guy every clueless smacktard from one end of the country to the other will beleive it.


Missed the memo?
By quiksilv3r on 1/15/2008 2:06:39 PM , Rating: 1
Did Jobs miss the memo, or did he use his RDF to make people think that 13.3" is ultraportable?




RE: Missed the memo?
By ksherman on 1/15/2008 2:07:42 PM , Rating: 2
Doesn't that classification have more to do with weight than size?


RE: Missed the memo?
By Bluestealth on 1/15/2008 8:07:03 PM , Rating: 2
I think any notebook that is less than 13.3" screen size and under six pounds can be considered ultra portable.


RE: Missed the memo?
By Bluestealth on 1/15/2008 8:09:08 PM , Rating: 2
Kind of phrased that bad... meant that any laptop 13.3" screen size or less...

bah... ill go hide now.


Ah yes...
By DigitalFreak on 1/15/2008 2:56:51 PM , Rating: 3
Another Apple "form over function" product...




RE: Ah yes...
By Bigjee on 1/15/2008 5:48:37 PM , Rating: 3
I couldn't agree more. This laptops like a blonde. All looks and no brains. Here's why:

1. Its fast ok but at $1800 its to be expected. It's not like its the benchmark standard either.

2. X3100 graphics for that price at least shove an ATi or Nvidia chip into it.

3. No Ethernet port and how many usb ports does it have? I know that I need at least two and if they've skimmed on that too to keep this Blondie thin well then its just what it is.

4.- No replaceable battery (WTH) how is this an improvement over replaceable battery laptops. And yeh have it shipped back to them every time something goes wrong with the battery...eh No thanks Apple! I think I'll pass on this one.


comprimise
By tastyratz on 1/15/08, Rating: 0
RE: comprimise
By TomZ on 1/15/2008 5:29:30 PM , Rating: 2
I agree with your overall thesis, but the fact is that the Ethernet port would not necessarily have driven the entire design to be thicker.

A standard off-the-shelf Ethernet jack is just about 0.55" tall and the plug about 0.3" tall. So if you used or designed a low-profile jack, it should be no problem.

I think the actual constraint that led them to omit the Ethernet is the available panel width in the "thick" part of the base.

And even if there was room for one more jack, I think they would have been better off putting in a second USB port. I would think that one port will be painful. My laptop has 5, and I often use 2-3 at a time (e.g., mouse dongle, USB flash key, camera connection). I wouldn't want to have to unplug my mouse in order to upload photos, for example.


RE: comprimise
By MrTeal on 1/15/2008 10:22:34 PM , Rating: 2
Or they could use a slim, custom, non-RJ45 ethernet jack, and sell a dongle with their plug on one end, and RJ-45 on the other. I'm actually surprised they didn't, iDongle in White, Lime or Fuschia for $49.95 would sell like hotcakes.


RE: comprimise
By Scott66 on 1/16/2008 12:24:51 AM , Rating: 2
Don't need a USB port for the bluetooth mouse. Better yet spend more than a day with the touch pad and throw the mouse away. Why bother getting a thin ultra portable when you drag around a mouse 4 times taller than it.


And the price...
By HaZaRd2K6 on 1/15/2008 2:30:11 PM , Rating: 2
While it's not exorbitantly expensive, I do find it to be priced quite high when you consider most of what you're paying for is the thickness (or lack thereof).

And why is it $100 more for Canadians when the currencies are basically on par (the Canadian dollar, last I saw, was at $0.98 USD)?




RE: And the price...
By Durrr on 1/15/2008 4:12:41 PM , Rating: 3
Blame Canada, BLAME CANADA! They're not even a real country anyway!!


typo?
By thereaderrabbit on 1/15/2008 1:55:49 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
which is 0.16" at its thinnest point and 0.76" at its thinnest point
. That just doesn't sound right.




RE: typo?
By thereaderrabbit on 1/15/2008 1:56:25 PM , Rating: 2
Damn, that was fixed fast :)


For Mac users only
By crystal clear on 1/16/2008 3:07:07 AM , Rating: 2
SAN FRANCISCO — Jan. 15, 2008 — Microsoft Corp.’s Macintosh Business Unit (Mac BU) today announced the official availability of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac at the Macworld Conference & Expo 2008. Office 2008

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/jan0...

Introducing Office 2008 for Mac

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.mspx




RE: For Mac users only
By Scott66 on 1/16/2008 11:56:58 PM , Rating: 2
About frickin time, I am fed up explaining to customers that it is not the computers fault that Office 2004 for Mac runs slow.

Microsoft Office had the dubious distinction of being the last major application that required Rosetta to work in OSX


Queue the Apple haters
By Phynaz on 1/15/08, Rating: 0
RE: Queue the Apple haters
By MatthewAC on 1/15/2008 1:59:27 PM , Rating: 2
1800 dollars for a paper thin notebook,hehehe.

*Warning, this notebook is not waterproof, fall-proof, sitting-proof, or game-proof, please do not use this notebook in a work enviroment for fear of upsetting the Dells across the cubical.


hurr, why
By piroroadkill on 1/15/2008 2:51:15 PM , Rating: 2
The only revolutionary thing about this is the fact people think it's revolutionary




No Wireless WAN Option ....
By Oscarine on 1/15/2008 3:04:49 PM , Rating: 2
I'm sure for plenty of people this won't be an issue, but wow, no WWAN, and no convinient way of adding it other than large unsightly USB versions. I can understand the space saving required to not include a Express Card slot, but really considering the form factor you'd figure there would be enough room for a WWAN card somewhere inside.




Come on, can't you see it?
By enlil242 on 1/15/2008 5:58:23 PM , Rating: 2
This machine is totally marketed to the Starbucks crowd ... I wouldn't be suprised if they incorporate the "Starbucks" WiFi store on this as well...

No business person in their right mind would by this machine. Can you imagine going to a client site saying, "what's your WiFi key?" Followed by "What's LEAP?."

Business users, and the like will opt for the MacBook / Pro and leave this to the "coffehouse snobs."

BTW, I own an iPhone and it is horrible for my work, but I got it for the "bling factor" as well as its Internet capabilites...




But I'm "pretty"
By poweruserx83 on 1/15/2008 7:13:18 PM , Rating: 2
Screw you if you want to print while moving an external mouse! Screw you again if you happen to want to print from your USB drive. You're so demanding. I'm pretty and that is enough.




By am1330 on 1/16/2008 4:04:56 AM , Rating: 2
I use both macs and pcs but never bought a mac for home. Without ethernet, DVD drive, more usb ports, express card slot etc this macbook is more of a toy.

My new Dell m1330 is about 4 lb, has 250GB high speed HDD, DVD, HDMI out, USB and firewire, express card slot, built in media card reader!, 2 headphone jacs to watch movies in plane etc. A powerful core 2 duo 2.2 GHz CPU. Instant on function for media. I can watch TV using express card tuner. Use cellular networks for internet.

And a dedicated graphics card not the crap built in X3100.

Unless someone can not use anything other then OS X, there are better ultraportables, from Dell, sony and toshiba, and new IBM U110 seems great if no dvd drive is needed.




nice
By Visual on 1/16/2008 5:59:02 AM , Rating: 2
but not nice enough

ok, they made the thinnest laptop ever. great for them, i like it.
but they didn't develop the idea far enough. i mean... cmon, multitouch touchpad? wtf? why not go for a touchscreen directly? it is high time someone rises the standard there, makes a multitouch touchscreen for PCs.
and yeah, it is not a tablet, but is it illegal to have a touchscreen in a laptop?
or even, make it a tablet. would it have been too hard to make its joints open at 360 degrees, so you can fold it bacwards, screen outside? add a switch to disable the keyboard that ends up at the bottom... and it becomes the greatest tablet convertible ever.

but no, why should they make a really great, new and innovative product? it's so much more easier to sell us old crap with a new look at inflated prices.




Ze headline said:
By Polynikes on 1/16/2008 12:14:04 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Apple MacBook Air Notebook Launches, Lacks User-replaceable Battery

How appropriately Apple.

Seriously, though, I can see why, that must be a small battery, and undoubtedly was developed in-house. I'd be afraid of snapping that thing in two.




Would like to know the reasoning
By viperpa on 1/16/2008 7:29:55 PM , Rating: 2
If I spend $1,800 on a laptop, I expect to be able to replace the battery. Apple is sounding more like the RIAA, " you don't own the product, you are just paying to use it." I would like to know what's the reasoning behind Apple not letting the customer replace the battery?




What a piece of crap!
By daftrok on 1/15/08, Rating: -1
RE: What a piece of crap!
By daftrok on 1/15/2008 2:13:57 PM , Rating: 3
On a positive note their HD movie rental service is a step in the right direction, as is the free Fox DVD to iPod.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By HaZaRd2K6 on 1/15/2008 2:25:20 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
we got a laptop that isn't gonna sell well at all.


You clearly have never encountered members of the Church of Apple. This new Macbook Air proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that if it's small and it's got a white apple on it, people will buy it. Why bother looking at Sonys or Dells when they don't have the magical white apple?

*shakes head sadly*

Now it's just time to wait for the Macbook Touch, which at this point, is inevitable.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By Circle T on 1/15/2008 3:29:16 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
This new Macbook Air proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that if it's small and it's got a white apple on it, people will buy it.

Really? That is your view of Apple users?
quote:
Why bother looking at Sonys or Dells when they don't have the magical white apple?

Or, in my opinion...

"Why bother looking at Sony or Dell when they don't have OS X."

But, thats just me. I have an old MacBook, so I have no need for this. But, it is nice looking. Its not for everyone, that is for sure. But, for a select group of people, I could see this being a nice piece.

My wife, for example, has probably never used her optical drive, and mainly uses her older iBook for email and crap like that. Something small and light like this would be fine for her. Its not for everyone. Thats why this isn't replacing anything. Just another model for the line.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By ethana2 on 1/15/2008 4:45:48 PM , Rating: 2
"Why bother looking at Sony or Dell when they don't have OS X."

Because of course that has nothing to do with blatant abuse of the DMCA, right? You could run OSX on it if you reallllly wanted to but you know what it comes down to? It's not good enough. OSX is not good enough. It doesn't have enough drivers, and outside of Apple hardware, it's hardware support is terrible.

Apple blew it. Canonical did not. They can piss of a lot of nerds like me but in the end? Their loss. Can they compete in hardware on the basis of hardware alone? I think so, but apparently they don't. As long as that is they case, they won't get a cent from me.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By Circle T on 1/15/2008 5:29:45 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Because of course that has nothing to do with blatant abuse of the DMCA, right?

You get really worked up over this, don't you? I couldn't care less about the DMCA. I like OS X, I like most Apple hardware, and I like that it all works well together with the things I like to do with a computer. End of story. I have nothing bad to say about Windows or Linux. I don't LOVE Apple and HATE everything else. I just prefer it.

I use a Dell desktop and Lenovo laptop at work, and very much like them for the things I do at work. If Apple opened their use of OS X up to other hardware vendors, I would surely consider other options. But, until that happens, which seems unlikely any time soon, I will stick with Apple.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By Domicinator on 1/15/2008 5:09:22 PM , Rating: 2
Ok, now that's going too far. Why bother looking at a PC when you can have OSX? Puh-lease.

Someday, a long long time from now, maybe in another life, someone may convince me to buy an Apple computer based on design/hardware. But you will NEVER convince me to buy an Apple just because I get OSX. I would rather use Linux.

Yes, Apple's hardware looks nice and is designed well. (Except for this new piece of crap Air thingy). But OSX is about the most worthless piece of crap OS I have ever used and you will never convince me otherwise. Steve Jobs is the last person who should be getting cocky about OSX, especially after Leopard was on that same "list" that PC World made.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By Circle T on 1/15/2008 5:40:57 PM , Rating: 2
Some choice quotes here....
quote:
But you will NEVER convince me to buy an Apple just because I get OSX.

quote:
I would rather use Linux.

quote:
But OSX is about the most worthless piece of crap OS I have ever used and you will never convince me otherwise.

That is a blunt, and stern opinion. And I respect that. I just simply disagree. You could EASILLY convince me to get an Apple computer because it comes with OS X. I would rather NOT use Linux. And I think OS X is the best home user operating system that I've ever seen. It does everything I want, in a way I find easy to do, and has very few faults that I can find.

Now, thats not to say that it has NO faults, or that it would work just as good for everyone, or that its anywhere near MS in terms of business use. But, for me and my family, and what we use a computer for at home, in our opinion, there is nothing better than OS X. You can feel however you want. I just simply disagree.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By tayhimself on 1/15/2008 2:28:24 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
Why make a $1799 Macbook without ethernet, no microphone port, no optical drive, a slower processor, and a 4200 rpm HDD? WTF?! Is a 5 pound 1" thick 13" screen laptop too much for people?


How many people do you see around with ethernet ports and microphones plugged in around town using their laptops. How many of them are installing software on the go? And a 5 lb laptop is 2+ lbs too big.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By TomZ on 1/15/08, Rating: 0
RE: What a piece of crap!
By mondo1234 on 1/15/2008 2:54:15 PM , Rating: 1
Atleast 10x faster?
Show your math for 802.11n (160Mbs)


RE: What a piece of crap!
By JoshuaBuss on 1/15/2008 3:00:10 PM , Rating: 4
ya right, like anyone actually gets anywhere close to rated wifi speeds lol

at least with gigabit ethernet you can actually saturate your disks over a lan


RE: What a piece of crap!
By TomZ on 1/15/2008 3:01:41 PM , Rating: 4
I've also got 'n' here, but the actual bandwidth is quite a bit lower than it should be, which I understand is a common experience. Connection speed is high (300Mbps) but actual throughput is just a fraction of this in my experience.

Maybe I exaggerated a little bit, but 5-10x WiFi bandwidth is achievable using gigabit Ethernet.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By Jedi2155 on 1/15/2008 3:03:43 PM , Rating: 3
Probably more,

Gigabit ethernet can probably get up to 100 MB/sec+ with typical 20% overhead if can transfer files that fast.

Wireless standards, overhead is usually a lot more in the range nearly 50% of the data. So a 160 mbps would be around 10 MB/sec (160 mbps * .5 for 50% overhead / 8 bits in a byte = 10 MB/sec). Good enough for most file transfer but it is about 10x slower than a "wired" connection.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By JoshuaBuss on 1/15/2008 5:10:02 PM , Rating: 1
is that even fast enough to watch an HD movie over the connection?

if not this could be a huge blunder on apple's part lol


RE: What a piece of crap!
By Jedi2155 on 1/17/2008 2:03:52 AM , Rating: 2
Should be fast enough, I was watching a 1080p quicktime trailer (H264) and it reported only 10.3 megabits/sec in the data rate. So technically wireless G shouldn't even have a problem with HD media.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By PandaBear on 1/15/2008 3:25:59 PM , Rating: 2
I am not an apple fan, but it is quite good for a portable but too weak to do anything (Steve, it is not anywhere close to high performance) without ethernet and 2GB RAM. CPU, well, you can probably open it up and over clock it.

No replaceable battery? Didn't we just went thorough a huge Li-Ion fiasco recently? So you are going to lose all your work if that happens, you better back your data up very frequently.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By JoshuaBuss on 1/15/2008 5:17:59 PM , Rating: 1
it's probably no accident that the release coincides with the time capsule backup product ;)


RE: What a piece of crap!
By FITCamaro on 1/15/2008 3:48:53 PM , Rating: 2
If 5 pounds is too much for you, you must have to carry your laptop with your teeth.

And there's no way I'd buy a laptop without an ethernet port.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By kelmon on 1/15/2008 3:15:49 PM , Rating: 3
The lack of the ethernet port is the only aspect of this that puzzles me. While wireless is far more prevalent today I don't think we are quite ready to lose wired ethernet yet, particularly not in business.

With respect to the lack of an optical drive, while it will cause some problems this is very much the same thing as the demise of the floppy drive. It might be a bit too soon but then that's Apple and the rest of the world will catch up later. The optical drive is definitely going to be a thing of the past so we might as well start getting used to it. I have yet to work out the practicalities of reinstalling the OS but I am sure there must be a way but beyond that I honestly have little use for an optical drive now that most content comes from the Internet already.

Overall, I thought it was an OK announcement for people who want a really portable laptop. It's not for me since I want a 17" screen but I know lots of people who love 12" laptops and this should keep them pretty happy.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By PandaBear on 1/15/2008 3:27:59 PM , Rating: 2
USB ethernet to the rescue, but Mac is never about functionality but about fashion instead, so wireless is COOL.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By Suomynona on 1/15/2008 3:29:08 PM , Rating: 2
I agree that lack of ethernet is kind of a crap move. Even if there wasn't room for your regular soldered-on jack, they could have come up with some sort of clever retractable tray-type connection. The lack of optical drive is nothing new for an ultraportable, though. I have an X-series Thinkpad doesn't have one either, and I don't really miss it. I have a dock for the rare times that I actually need a disc, and not having a drive onboard saves enough space, weight, and battery power to make the tradeoff worth it IMO.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By TomZ on 1/15/2008 3:29:50 PM , Rating: 2
I personally think it is too soon to ditch optical drives. The OS as well as most purchased software applications that you want to load on the machine will come off a CD- or DVD-ROM.

People also use optical drives quite a lot still to play and author music CD's and DVD's.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By kelmon on 1/15/2008 3:44:46 PM , Rating: 2
It's one of those things where your mileage may vary. CDs and DVDs will be a thing of the past pretty quickly but the delivery of major applications might take a bit longer. I'm honestly not sure what happens for the distribution of the OS but I think that will become much clearer when the system launches - talking about that sort of thing is hardly keynote-worthy.

For some people the lack of the drive will be very important but I honestly don't think that will bother me since I don't tend to use mine very much at all, except for the installation of applications.

Ultimately I am sure that people who buy the system will understand what the lack of the drive will mean and therefore won't be bothered.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By rtrski on 1/15/2008 3:45:38 PM , Rating: 3
If the ethernet PORT itself was 'too big', why didn't they put some sort of smaller port on that let you attach a 'dongle' or pigtail to get to ethernet?? Seems like something a competent signal integrity engineer would be able to kludge up pretty quickly. It's no different than the use of non-standard, compact USB ports on some digital cameras (my Olympus E330 dSLR for example just has a USB1.1 connection, but the connector isn't the usual mini-wedge type USB but looks more like a mini Firewire jack and takes a custom cable).

Just another excuse for them to sell another $25 'adaptor', I'm rather surprised they missed it...


RE: What a piece of crap!
By nowayout99 on 1/15/2008 3:55:10 PM , Rating: 2
"If the ethernet PORT itself was 'too big', why didn't they put some sort of smaller port on that let you attach a 'dongle' or pigtail to get to ethernet?"

They did. It's called a USB port. ;) USB-ethernet adapters can be had for 10 bucks. If someone's willing to shell out $1800 for this, they won't miss the extra $10 for the convenience, should they want it.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By TomZ on 1/15/2008 3:57:38 PM , Rating: 2
Apple is offering a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, so effectively they have done what you are suggesting. It's only $29, which seems pretty reasonable to me.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/A...

Only problem is that ties up the only USB port, forcing you into a USB hub pretty quickly.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By amandahugnkiss on 1/15/2008 4:25:53 PM , Rating: 2
they should offer a nice accessory iBelt, kinda like the Batman has:

Storage compartments for usb hub, usb optical drive, usb ethernet connection, mighty mouse, external drive, iPhone, pen drives, external back-up power, etc..., and a free iCape for the first 500 buyers.

I'm envisioning this and the image really screams "I didn't really want to another date in this life-time' :)


RE: What a piece of crap!
By JoshuaBuss on 1/15/2008 5:14:12 PM , Rating: 1
if you have to carry around stuff like that to make it barely functional then the whole ultraportability thing becomes quickly pointless

i just don't think it wouldn't killed them to include an ethernet port and at least one more USB jack. who cares if it's .78" instead of .76"??


RE: What a piece of crap!
By INeedCache on 1/15/2008 11:35:34 PM , Rating: 3
An iHub for $79. A bit steep pricewise for a simple 4 port USB hub, but it looks elegant, and has the white Apple symbol placed prominently. You'll want two. Maybe three.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By bnutz on 1/15/2008 3:18:39 PM , Rating: 2
I too am very dissappointed. it seems that apple is late to the ultraportable sector and the want to charge more, for what OS X. No CD drive, ok but include it in the box. Can't replace the battery? Wonder how much it cost for them to replace it? And a PATA drive. This is what I get. I was going to get this until I saw the specs. Guess I am replacing my 12" powerbook with the Asus U6.


RE: What a piece of crap!
By XPguy on 1/17/08, Rating: -1
"I f***ing cannot play Halo 2 multiplayer. I cannot do it." -- Bungie Technical Lead Chris Butcher

DailyTech Poll
Which web browser do you use on your primary personal machine? 






44 Comments







botimage
Copyright 2009 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki