MacBook Air

my biggest gripe with this new macbook is the lack of a user replaceable battery. thats not very smart considering its designed for portability and traveling. still, it can fit inside a manila envelope, that's something worth bragging about

Not for me. My main computer is a Macbook Pro, so I pretty much out of the target audience of the Macbook Air.

However, I really like the concept. If I had a Mac Pro as my main computer, I would strongly consider the Macbook Air as a mobile extension of the Mac Pro.

Thin isn't always better. Thinner it is the easier that thing is to break.

I think it's impressive engineering and style wise, but I get the feeling that this is more of a slick PDA than it is a series work machine. You do your work on a desktop and just copy the docs to this one and yer off to where ever. My laptops tend to be my man work machine. I'll get a Mac Book Pro later this year.

i'm impressed at the MacBook Air but sacrificing some features like an optical drive and a user replaceable battery for slim factor might give me 2nd thoughts in buying one (as if i have the money to buy one lolz)

for US$1799 (or more), i'd rather buy a MacBook Pro with features that i really need like an optical drive or i could wait for a much better MacBook Air in the future ^^

2008 is the year of Solid State Drives (SSD) ^___^

I'm interested to get a macbook just to learn the ropes of the Mac OS. Currently I got no idea which of the Macbooks to get.... any suggestions for a Mac noob?

Congrats on getting invited to Trend Day!

I would prefer sticking to a MacBook Pro for now (And when I get one that is). Will wait for a few years for the prices of SSD to drop ^^;

Probably be good to view anime on the MacBook Air while on the plane...

First off, I have the original MacBook and it's still running great to this day, and never had a problem with it.

Second, the MacBook Air is not worth it, if I were to honestly see someone, who is outside of a business person who travels a lot, having one of these, I'd just think they been ripped off and/or want to be "trendy".

Third, among the Mac community, it's known that you should never buy a first-gen Apple product, as it's almost always due to have problems.

Finally, I recommend the MacBook for consumers looking for that notebook, for what you get and price, it's very affordable and terrific machine.

As for Danny, Why are the folks using MBP's to run Vista? I assume they just have a dual boot setup on there?

I should clarify my last post a bit more, I meant to ask "why are the people AT microsoft using MBP for Vista?"

To quote one Merlin Mann of 43 folders, "Thinking I've got it now: 'MacBook Air: If you're kinda rich and want a fourth computer.'"

If it was half the price of the regular MacBooks, yeah, I'd say it was worth it. But all that removed functionality for the sake of being thin? Last I checked, anorexia is a problem, not a solution. :P

I've recently purchased the Asus EEE for mobile use so the role of mobile workstation is already fulfilled. Granted the Air can do alot more and have much better specs but for a cheap portable for students not using much other than Word, Excel, and Adobe Reader I think EEE is still the perfect laptop.

http://eeepc.asus.com/global/

The screen can be improved by cutting the speakers out of course but otherwise I think EE is the perfect mobile machine for me =) (at 1 kg it is also lighter than the Air, even less if you take the battery out)

Not considering, and the reason is here:
http://gizmodo.com/345574/is-macbook-air-worth-the-money-five-slim-laptops-face-off

I already have a M1330.

Might be fatter, heavier, less beautiful (though I don't think it's ugly) and have less battery life but has DVD recorder, memory card reader, HDMI out, Ethernet, replaceable batteries, fingerprint reader, 3D graphics card, upgradeable RAM (up to 4Gb), more HDD space (I really need it), a remote control, 5.1 sound (though it doesn't have optical out), and well... after I installed XP, it's just great! All those are pluses (IMHO) the Air doesn't have.

Also, I don't know how hot the Air will get... but the M1330 is pretty silent and cool. Gets warm when you play 3D games though.

And I don't really care about showing my laptop to other people. This can be a very dangerous thing here in Brazil, so having a laptop that's as discreet as possible is the best option.

Probably the best laptop I could get for myself today on the whole market.

Oh, Sony SZ series are not a bad option too... I struggled with myself to decide which to get.

While Vista Ultimate (preloaded on M1330, sadly) gave me tons of headaches, fortunately I found a way to replace it, and now everything is great.

This is rough because I'm a huge fan of making my machine smaller so I can take it more places. However, the Air would have to be a secondary computer, and that's not currently the way I use my MBP. More considerations reveal that for a small computer, the Macbook has quite a bit more power and isn't really *that* much thicker. I realize that .25" is very noticeable side by side, but the Macbook is already as thin as some of the ultra-small competitors.

No Air for me, but maybe someday [either the Air or a plain Macbook] + iMac. For now I guess I need to use the $2700 worth of MBP I bought. Silly distortion field.

Thats extremely thin.... But I'm betting with one wrong move you would snap it in two somewhere...

Gee, Apple, thanx for your size offer, but, I'll stick with your regular MacBook.
I hope they don't stop making the regular MacBooks. That'd be a harsh price to pay. Plus this thinness just looks so fragile... I'd pass on this option. It's cool, nonetheless.

Buying a MacBook Air, in the long run, is really far more expensive than a normal MacBook in my opinion.

Batteries that last up to 5 hours? I've to buy a battery from Apple after I used it up? Totally uncool, and it costs 100+ USD.

Even as Danny said, for presentations, I'd rather get a super light weight notebook than MacBook Air, which I think is really terrible with all those sacrifices made.

Are normal sized notebooks *that* hard to carry around?

I mean... is it really worth squishing everything down, having a less powerful PC and paying more for it?

Maybe it's just me....

looks alright - great design - don't know about the performance though - great, innovative product

What an oversized piece of crap, pardon my expression.

I mean, it doesn't even have the requisite DVD slots or even the HD-DVD/Bluray of the most modern PC laptops, and 1.8GHZ is just laughable. I love their OS's, I hate everything else about it.

And they can stop with the silly, 'trendy' approach of marketing except it works for them too well.

Saw it yesterday and straight away thought about you Danny and the original rumour post you did a while back speculating on a ultra thin touch screen Macbook! :)

Not going to get a Macbook Air for now. Even though it's sexy, it's just way too expensive for what it is and I've already got a Macbook Pro, which I love and adore. I still haven't taken it in to fix the buggered super drive and the battery dies on me after just 30 mins :(

It looks like you would snap the thing in half if you put it in a bag...

very usefull for traveling.. most usb drives are bigger than a dvd now.. so no problem there.. but no dvds for movies on the flight??? gonna have to get some movies on the shaddy side of legal :D

Aside from the weight, which all students would appreciate (omg, carrying all my books and binders and a 2.4kg laptop is tiring), the inability to replace the battery by myself is probably why I won't buy this.

That and the price. It's really a little pricey, especially when you think about the speed and stuff. Other super-thins out there cost around the same, but have faster processing speeds and/or have another USB port. D: Sigh, Apple could've done so much better.

I really think that this new macbook is adorable, but... I see it more than a potential trend than anything else. I just want portable computing power ^^
Still, It's another thing for me to write about on my blog, post ideas just came to mind en masse after days of now knowing what to post, has this happened to some of you before? ^^

@Swordsly. I'm sure the battery is rechargeable after 5 hours. Correct me if I'm wrong. It's when the battery dies after prolonged use or after certain times and needed to be changed, it had to go back to the Apple store to be done.

If I was wrong and it lasts only 5 hours, who in their right mind would buy one? $120++ for 5 hours? I'm sure I know more than a way to have more fun in 5 hours than staring at a laptop.

I think it means that the battery will last for 5 hours BEFORE you need to recharge it again. No one would make a laptop with a single-use battery, that would be tragic.

1 time use and you gotta get another battery for $1oo+?! Brr... It's gonna burn holes in my pockets...

Like most new mac products, it does look very nifty and has pioneering technology, but ill give it a miss.
Its mainly due to the fact that its a mac! Im happy enough with PCs, and although that mac is super thin, my current new laptop has a 12" screen and is small and pretty lightweight - its definately manageable for on the go computing, and its a fully functioning computer with 3 USB ports, all the sockets and a DVD writer. Functionality over practicality and style, methinks.

My brother is a mac freak, so he will definately be getting it though...

First reaction: "Want!". Then I read the specs and though otherwise. No ethernet, no firewire, 1 USB port, no optical drive? A bit too minimalist for my needs. And the battery issue is a deal-breaker.

I've lugged my trusty iBook G4 several times around the world, and while it could be a smidgen lighter, it's just fine as a secondary computer and remarkably solid so that I haven't been able to justify a MacBook yet.

If I wanted something portable and very light I'd go for one of the non-Apple options.

I'll keep my pro, but the air looks cool.

I've been holding out getting a mac laptop for a while because of the rumor about this and now its arrived im still not sure :P

For roughly the price of a low end MBP I could have one but im not sure I can really justify the cost when I could get a standard macbook for less than half the price.

Does look incredably nice though and the technology inside it is pretty incredable and is a good indicator of things to come I think.

Woah wait a second, how come they say the blacklit keyboard is useful to work if we're traveling on a plane if they don't let us carry almost anything with us inside the plane? Or did they go back on that stupid law?

While I desperately want a light, compact Mac (carrying a Macbook Pro around for a 4 day congress is no fun), the Macbook Air is just isn't very appealing.

I can live without an optical drive (I never needed it except for OS installation) and Ethernet port, but only 1 USB port? That's ludicrous.

And it's just freakin' expensive.

But on the other hand... 1.5kg... My back tells me I have to get one :)

Maybe one day it will become cheaper and then I can get one but not right now. I would rather save that money for another trip to Japan for summer for next Comike perhaps ^^;

wait until the dust settled, then I will buy it. Too much hype and too expensive at the moment ..

While its amazing thin and light, I'm sure industry standards will catch up soon. I still prefer a windows machine anyday.

Got the aesthetic, but not the guts. We'll see if it calls my name when its actually in front of me.

I still don't like the mac interface at this point. The capabilities is rather limited on it's own. However, it seems we may be an inch closer to having those sci fiction hologram laptops.

I've started to consider buying a mac notebook by the summer only because I'm fed up with how garbage the PC ones have come out to be. Yes, I am a gamer, but I have a nice enough desktop that can be upgraded if needed, and I've always had a curiosity to turn to a Mac.

However, the Macbook air defeats a lot of the purpose of buying a laptop, as the user is restricted to installing things on the Laptop via connecting it to the PC/Mac. It's almost necessary in that sense, that a user should have a desktop before even considering buying the Macbook Air, otherwise the notebook would be near useless... That's kind of redundant if you ask me, even if the damn thing is lighter and more compact, Jobs sacrificed too much in that design.

first of all - being a bit of a pc nerd with over 3years of I.T hardware studies behind me as well as building ALL of the six pc's in my house & gaming on most of them id say this has innovation. some of the features like the LED keyboard & stupidly thin size kicks monkey butt. but then the 1 thing that u cant do which they HAVENT mentioned in the youtube video Danny put up is that you CANT swap out the battry yourself. so u cant carry around a spare battry & apple WILL charge you a premium when it comes to fixing your laptop battry problems & also ontop of that you HAVE to send the whole laptop to them to get it fixed which could also mean that they may take a gander at whats on your hard drive when they managed to fix it. who knows?

good laptop but flawed customer service

Hey, first off, I finally signed up to your site! I've been a guest here for about a year now, better late than never, eh?

Anyway, I'm a big fan of Apple's designs, and This one has really grown on me, at first I didn't like the black keyboard, but looking at the demo of it lit up is making me reconsider...Still i think its way to expensive, I'd go mac book pro, although I guess it depends on the users needs...

As nice and stylish as it seems, I think I'll stick to my tablet. I can draw on my tablet, after all, and I don't have the money to get one.

Macbook air: something to label under "huh?"

I'm with the group that says they sacrificed too much to make it slim and also the price just doesn't justify the content. Tho the same could be said about the Vaio TZ.

Danny, if you're going to base your presentation on Jobs, make sure you include several "boom" moments. I understand that he only used the term once this year. A shame...

The lack of an optical drive, as well as it having only 1 USB port, along with the fact that it misses a few other features that I enjoy having, means that it's a definite no-buy for me. I don't care if it's the slimmest laptop, all I see is a thin laptop that looks pretty but doesn't do everything that my current laptop does, and it will probably still cost me a lot more.

I don't think it's a bad machine at all. I'm not one to call something "garbage" just because it doesn't suit my particular needs. I think it's downright fantastic, really, and I'd love to have something in that size for trips.

But I won't be buying it. For the reduced size, I could put up with no optical audio, having only one USB port, needing an external disc drive... but I cannot do without firewire. I *really* think they could have squeezed a four pin firewire port on there (and then made a killing on adapters to add power for devices that require it, to boot).

If it had firewire, it would be my main machine. Since it doesn't, though, I won't be buying it, and it's back to the MacBook Pro for me.

And I'm still enraged by Apple's refusal to include a docking port on their laptops (no laptop needed a docking port more than this one).

I think it really boils down to individual needs. I see this machine as something a person that's always on the go, who needs a decent enough machine to work documents with (on the go), using only Wi-Fi for convenience purposes (because he's on the go, hehehe.....). To those of us who are more demanding (download freaks, gamers, graphic illustrators, movie/photo editors, etc.), a different machine would suit our needs.

I like the multi-touch trackpad though. I think it's based on this technology.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLhMVNdplJc[/url]

EDIT! EDIT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLhMVNdplJc

My bad.

MacBook Air is like the flagship sports car that draws attention and gets free press for the car maker. Most people are still going to buy MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Best feature? Multi-touch track pad...drool.

I don't really see much benefit that can gain from it thinness. Moreover, the price is not cheap too and the weight is not the lightest. I would choose something slightly bigger, but with more functionality and cheaper. (Dell XPS M1330 :p)

The MacBook Air looks absolutely stunning. I would love to have one and I can really see it's usefulness for people who have a main computer/Mac at home, but need something light and compact for travel. The lack of an Optical Drive and firewire ports isn't going to be an issue for people who don't need them on the go. However, for someone like me, who uses his Macs for video editing and ISP support, I need the additional ports for specific needs. Therefore, though the Air would be a fantastic computer to play with, I have no specific need for it. I would rather spend the extra money for a MacBook Pro, and have the ports I need. In the long run, I really do see this laptop making a name for itself and selling extremely well. And the battery issue shouldn't be a problem for about 2 years anyhow.

Oh, and for those worried about replacing the battery, keep an eye on www.ifixit.com. They will carry replacement guides once they get their hands on a MacBook Air. ifixit.com has the best visual guides on the internet, IMO, and batteries will eventually be available from them and OtherWorldComputing.com for a bit less than Apple's cost. I do battery replacements on iPod ranging from the old first Gen, all the way to the 2nd Gen nano. If you can follow directions on ifixit, you can replace the battery in your MacBook Air.

It seems to be trying to focus on business users as they often need to take things on the go all the time.

However, as a personal notebook, I still think the Macbook/Macbook Pro is better as it does have everything together. Will most likely give this one a miss.

I honestly can't believe that the whole build up for the Apple Key-note speech was an extra-thin laptop...

Dosent look that great - surely the Desktop they just announced was far more impressive- 8 processors at once !

I have the Mac book Pro - I think it's more advanced than this "Air" business.

How long will that piece of paper last before the screen breaks?

no way i'd buy it, too small, too thin, too easily broken.

My preorder is already in ;)

Just got a MacBook Pro for christmas and love it...so Ill pass on the Air for now.

Another thing, why is the damn thing priced at $1799.00 US when it uses 54% materials to build? I mean, you can buy a really good macbook for about $1500.

Where do the CDs/DVDs go?

Why on earth would you ever need something that thin? I mean it could get broken so easily!!! I'd worry about it ALL THE TIME!!! Sure it's good for portability, but its not really that usefull considering the amount of padding you'd need to keep it safe!!! Imagine if you accidently bent it huh? How would you feel?! lol

hmm either not really interested maybe if i am "really" need to use it for works

This is a very interesting machine, but more importantly a very important technological innovation! Just look at how far we have come! But without an optical drive I can't justify a purchase

nawwww i wouldn't buy cuz i don't need it and besides that it's kind of expensive ohhh! and only one USB port? that sucks well anyway i guess it's perfect for a businessman with lots of money

Its one really mean machine :) ultra thin and with good specs at the same time :) but not in my buy list though :) I recently bought a macbook and I am extremely happy with it. the macbook air is designed especially for presentation and people who dont like to carry the 2,5 kg macbook :)

A good extra "device" when you're on the move most of the time, and as you said with other machines at home/office. Its design is definitely cute and sexy ! ^^

Another great design from Apple, I'll give them that. Like I said before, the thing is insanely thin but insanely compromised as well.

I could do without the optical drive but I wish they didn't take out the ethernet port and had two usb ports in there. Plus, once again...battery isn't user replaceable. And why do they call it a full size keyboard when it doesn't even have a numpad?

In the end, I think Jobs just wanted to release a machine that looks good with average performance. Too expensive for so little features. Still a lot of room for improvements I say.

Although I am not a MAC user I do like the innovation that this machine provides. As a college student it is not fun lugging around a heavy laptop (which died within 4 months of production, VERY bad rep for Gateway) and this is ideal for presentations and what not, however I can't live with an external disk drive or one USP port. She sure looks gorgeous though- and I too would worry about durability. The price-tag makes this computer a no-no.

Well, since I'm not The Lord Of The Money, I won't buy it. And if I were I wouldn't either. I'm too clumsy and maybe I'd just sit on it accidentally ^_^ I prefer desktops... or a big, heavy, really "powah!" laptop XD

My only complaints are the lack of a 32gb SSD option, the lack of an SDHC port and the price. I'd rather just get an eeePC and a 16gb flash drive or SDHC card for only $600.

eeePC;
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=27282

16gb SDHC;
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26213

Sure it has Leopard on it and is shiny, but a $2000+ price difference doesn't exactly seem all that worthwhile to me. Besides, I can just use my patched Leopard DVD to install Leopard on the eeePC.

If the Air was to add a 32gb SSD and drop the price $1500 I might be interested.

The MacBook Air is certainly not on my buy list, since it's far from practical for me. But I will switch from Windows to Mac OS X this year what so ever, but with the updated Mac Pro. ^^

wow so thin! It even pawn those Sony Vaio notebooks!

sorry, im a microsoft person.

Impressive! I am not a Mac user at the moment, but I keep geting lured into looking at their impressive models and specs.

Makes me want to get one! Talk about easliy persuaded!

Btw Danny, where did you get those pictures?! I did countless Google searches and still couldn't find any 'close ups' like yours!

that would be great to have for college, its light and great for typing.. i wonder what model will they have by the summer of 09 when i go college shopping.. maybe theyll have a newer lighter version then

Hmmm, do you seriously expect to be able to play downloaded animes and doramas with soft subs on any Mac OS PC?
As to this with a 4200 RPM drive, that's laughable.

This is a great machine for those of us always taking our laptops everywhere we go. I personal don't feel it's suppose to be used a primary machine.

With the MacBook Air you have what you need for a presentation or business meeting, just as you pointed out Danny. I know I would be happy to have one for such activities. It would make a great addition to the two Mac I already have.

I think for the time being I will stick with my MacBook Pro. I'm always carrying it just about everywhere, but I don't feel it's heavy. It the lightest laptop I have ever owned. I will consider buying it in the future. Right now with going to college again and my fiancee and I getting close to our wedding day, I want to keep expenses down.

I will be looking forward to your final impressions when you do buy one Danny.

Steve Jobs is great at presentations! The Steve Jobs reality distortion field is legendary. I always try to keep him in mind when I need to stand up in front of people.

Yea Steve Jobs sure does do well in presenting his products to the world.

I also like Jeremy Clarkson when he presents on Top Gear or on his car shows, although he is one sided, he also does a pretty good job at presenting.

I rather save up a little more money, and buy the MacBook Pro

I wonder if this is going to be like the iPhone, a huge pain waiting to happen. A lot of people whining, and people still paying out the nose for it.

Seeing its ultra slim profile makes me think if it will make a good frisbee.. :P

Steve Jobs kind of looks and talks like my lecture professor.

@DRAGUN
Yeah, iPhone is totally useless. I've had a chance to play with my friend's and I'm not all that impressed. Still, any new Mac/Apple product is generally always hyped a great deal, and the mac fanatics will always line up to pay an arm and a leg for them.

The Macbook Air sacrifices too many important features for a slicker look, which in my opinion is not worth it.

I already have a MacBook, so I'm in no rush to get one of these. The thinness is neat, but I'm more zazzed about it running 802.11n. Those tiny ASUS laptops running Linux are another thing I've been eyeing. Are we entering the year of the cute, tiny laptop?

It's a nice piece of design and superb in terms of engineering, but I wouldn't buy one. I've got an MBP and a Powermac G5 (although looking to ditch it for a Mac Mini) - I don't need something that can't read optical media, no matter how svelte...

On the plus side, my girlfriend has one of the eee PCs from Asus - I'm hoping to get one too and just hack around with it. I'd be interested to try adding a touch screen, and a better lin distro than the cut down Xandros on it... KDE4 might be especially shiny for that. Only disappointment with the eee thus far is that it doesn't come with VLC out of the box for my gf to watch fansubs on - but that was easy enough to add... ^_^

IMO, wtf was Apple thinking not including 3G on the MBA? If they wanted to emphasize wireless they should've at least implemented that. Anyway, the general consensus on every forum i've been to says the MBA is more for the self-conscious fashion geek that needs to show it off at their local Starbucks or better yet, Dean & Deluca's.

I can see the appeal of the notebook, but it's not something I would buy. It's too expensive for what it offers. :S

Another first for Apple though!

Wow that is impressive but I wonder how its cooling system worked out.

I never liked Ultrathin Laptops, for me power>portability...

So no, not interested in the macbook air...

Innovative and neat, but entirely impractical and expensive. Knowing the way that most people handle their computers, they are liable to break this thing like a wafer...

while I see it is kind of cool new thing I'm disappointed. It has no CD/DVD in it so for me it has no uses. If they were able to get laptop that size with CD drive then I would be impressed and I do not want to plug one in each time I need to use a CD or watch DVD.

I've been a avid Mac user for some time now. And when i saw this...I said to myself "My 13" Macbook could do the same thing and more...for less." It's would be cool if it was cheaper. Kinda sounds like the Mac Cube. But it looks cool.

It look's cool, but there's no optical drive which I really need

I honestly cannot think of a situation where it's worth it to sacrifice cost, performance, ports, optical drive, battery, etc... to get this laptop over a normal 13 inch laptop.

If a normal 13 inch laptop really isn't portable enough for you, then I suggest looking at an Eee PC, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_PC

The Eee PC is a remarkable little 7 inch laptop, it costs between $250-500 USD depending on the model, making it ultra cheap as well. It has very little storage capacity, but you can stick SD cards in it to get a lot more. It has ethernet and 3 USB ports in addition to the SD card reader, VGA, and even a lock slot, and PCI Express Mini expansion slots. One thing that might irk people is that it comes with it's own special distribution of linux meant to be user friendly and take up very little space, but it's compatible with windows and other linux builds. Ya it only has a celeron M processor, but lets face it, you're not going to get a gaming rig in a package this small.

The macbook air is a bit of an ugly duckling, it's not really that much more portable than a good 13 inch laptop, while the Eee PC is much more portable and cheaper, if not as thin, the only disadvantages being screen size and storage, and I guess the processor. If you're a hardcore mac fan you might even wait to see if Apple tries to make an Eee PC clone.

Ironically, I don't even fit into the ultraportable niche, relying on my inspiron 1520 as a compromise between size, performance for games, and price. I just felt the Eee PC deserved some love and that the Macbook Air was kind of ridiculous.

/end rant

damn thats thin. seems like it would snap into two pieces easily.

if and when my macbook Pro i baught in 2005 dies I'll buy one of these with every possible upgrade (which is just V2 really). I ordered my original duoCore for 4k AUD >< so thats still burning my wallet after 4 years hee hee ><. Hopefully a 17inch of the air will be released.

Mac is pushing the thin notebook concept. They did it great with the Air, though it cost some important elements like the ethernet and the battery. It's a nice buy, but I'm not sure if it could be useful to most.

I'd rather give up portability for the sake of more power and better ease of running stuff like photoshop or playing movies, etc. Then again, this *is* coming from the girl who lugs her 20" iMac places on her back on a regular basis. . .