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SHIFT: The MacBook Air — what we really think
The hype is over, the news has broken, and the backlash is in full swing. We're talking about the MacBook Air of course — the big gust of wind coming out of Cupertino this week. It's one of the thinnest and lightest laptops ever made, stacking up well against several competitors, including Sony and others. Plus it boasts innovative features like a multi-touch trackpad. What's not to love?
Lots, apparently. It lacks an Ethernet port and an optical-disc drive. There's no 3G wireless ability. It's frakking expensive.
But what does that mean? Is the MacBook Air a failed attempt at an amazing product or a breakthrough notebook with just a few flaws? We asked all of our writing staff what their first impressions are of the MacBook Air, and the opinions range from admiration to abhorrence. Click Continue to see DVICE's take on the Air, and feel free to share your own in the Comments. Don't forget to breathe.
Charlie White: I like the MacBook Air. No, I'm not buying one, because it's impractical and too expensive. However, its outlandishly thin design is groundbreaking and has already firmly planted a seed in the mind of every laptop designer. They'll try to top its streamlined, aircraft-like form factor while adding truly useful accoutrements such as an internal EV-DO card, a slot-loading Blu-ray drive, a 128GB solid-state drive (for a lot less than $1,299) and up-to-date Intel Penryn processors. Like the iPhone did to cellphones, the MacBook Air will make fat and ugly laptops a whole lot harder to sell. Just look back at laptop design a year from now, and you'll see its influence. THUMBS UP
Travis Hudson: My biggest gripe with the MacBook Air is that it's late to the race, but acting like it's already won. Ultrasmall laptops have existed for years now and UMPCs and other types of portable computers are becoming a regular entity in the consumer-electronics world. Apple's MacBook Air has come strutting into the scene acting like the top dog, but the Asus Eee, HTC Advantage and others are already holding strong in the ultra-portable field. The $1,800 price tag does not justify the speed or performance. Too little, too late. THUMBS DOWN
Adario Strange: There are two ways to look at the MacBook Air. Bad and worse. The first involves the arrogance of Steve Jobs. When I first saw the MacBook Air, I was immediately struck by how similar it looked to the old clamshell Apple iBook (circa 1999), a notoriously cheap and unreliable laptop. For veteran Apple consumers like myself, the MacBook Air appears to be nothing more than a clamshell iBook swathed in sexy "Pro" aluminum. SJ knows this, but still believes (and rightfully so) that you'll pay the premium regardless. Nevertheless, the real problem with the MacBook Air isn't just its lack of a CD/DVD drive, replaceable battery, or Ethernet port, but the fact this incredibly hobbled computer (dumb terminal?) is just $200 cheaper than a full-featured MacBook Pro. That is insanity. But history has proven that Apple fans will often drink the Kool-Aid as long as Lord SJ tells them to suck it down.
But wait, there's even more insanity! The amount of peripherals you'd need to carry around in order to make the computer truly usable actually defeats the purpose of an ultra-slim, ultra-light laptop in the first place. The second reason the MacBook Air is bad for consumers is that it essentially acts as Apple's first aggressive effort to gradually force mainstream computer users to accept less powerful, less customizable, passive (read: dumb) terminal computers. If When such computers become the norm, consumers will lose control of a great deal of their computing experience. In reality, the MacBook Air is merely an iPod on steroids. Imagine paying $1,800 every 1.5 years to upgrade your computer and — gasp! — you've taken an unauthorized peek at Steve Jobs' real laptop business plan. Don't drink the Kool-Aid, you'll get hooked. THUMBS DOWN
Michael Trei: It's hard to deny that the MacBook Air comes packaged in a beautiful and uber-stylish wrapper. To make it this svelte and sleek, something had to give, and for the MacBook Air it was the optical-disc drive. That's fair enough, few of the MBA's competitors can spin discs either, although some (like the Sony TX), manage to squeeze one into a package that actually weighs less. To compensate, Apple is touting the MBA's wireless capabilities, although this argument would be stronger if it supported 3G wireless in addition to its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. These minor caveats aside, it's hard to deny that the MacBook Air will cause a major shakeup in the ultraportable laptop market. THUMBS UP
Stephen Schleicher: While I congratulate Apple for creating a superthin computer, tossing out the optical drive is a real deal-breaker with me. I don't want to hijack someone else's computer on the network if I need to install software or rip a CD or DVD. And what's with that hard drive? 80GB? If I installed the software I use to work and play, there would hardly be any space for movie or music storage. Still, the idea of being able to fling my laptop like a Frisbee is appealing. THUMBS DOWN
Kevin Hall: The MacBook Air gets a thumbs down from me only because I need something more robust in a machine. I respect Apple's willingness to take a risky leap forward, cutting out technologies it sees as on the wane. Alas, unlike the floppy, I still use my optical drive, and sometimes a wired connection to the net is all that's around. If I wanted a casual laptop to compliment my work machine I'd buy an EeePC for a fourth of the price. And the ability to fit in an envelope? Sure, great, I'll send it to someone who can use it. THUMBS DOWN
S.E. Kramer: The Mac Air would be good to own--maybe--as your second or third laptop. You know, the one you bring to Starbucks occasionally to show off. Steve Jobs can't be serious about it being useful to anyone else. External Superdrive? $99. External Ethernet Adapter? $29. Just don't try to fit them both into your one USB port at the same time.
My favorite part about the Air Apple Store listing is the part where it says install/restore DVDs for the MacBook Air come "in the box" without telling customers that with the notebook alone they'll have no way to run those DVDs. If you run into a problem and your external drive isn't around, your computer becomes little more than a heavy piece of interoffice mail. And don't even get me started on the assumption that free Wi-Fi is just floating around everywhere. Even CES, a trade show where the most advanced consumer electronics in the world are shown off, didn't supply Wi-Fi to journalists: We had to use Ethernet cables.
The whole point of a laptop — especially a thin one — is that it's portable. But if you bring your computer on a trip and need a thousand peripherals just to make it do regular jobs like connect to the Internet or watch a DVD, that computer becomes a lot less useful quickly. I sincerely hope that no other computers go the way of the Macbook Air. THUMBS DOWN
Peter Pachal: While I've already criticized the Air in a satirical piece, I have to admit I admire it. Beyond the sleek form factor, the Air represents a big step in an important technological trend: the death of physical media. By eschewing an optical-disc drive, the Air doesn't just lose weight, it untethers itself from depending on those fragile CDs, DVDs, and whatnot. It's just too bad the world isn't quite there yet. And while its Wi-Fi abilities are impressive, the limited range and relatively unwieldy usability (think about it: you have to set up Wi-Fi; cellphones just work) prevents the Air from being a true wireless maven. Actually, without some kind of always-on Internet connectivity (3G, WiMax, or whatever), the Air might even feel out of place in the future. The promise it represents has me pulling for it, but in the here and now I'm afraid I have no use for Air… though I wouldn't mind taking a whiff. That thing is hot. THUMBS UP
By Neddog at 6:32 PM ON 01/18/08
All of this complaining about the lack of an optical drive sounds EXACTLY like what we were hearing when Apple discontinued floppys... Everyone screamed and moaned. Within a year or two, they were gone from everyone's systems in lieu of better and faster options.
This sounds very familiar.
By BrownCow at 8:18 PM ON 01/18/08
To the above comment: I agree, this is reminiscent of that floppy->CD-ROM transition period. But, one HUGE difference: Apple hasn't provided a "better and faster option". We didn't all just drop floppies and hunch our shoulders: it was an immediate move into CD-ROM drives. No such thing presents here.
This isn't the case of Apple innovating and others not catching the 'comfort' curve fast enough: this is the case of a compromise for size. Period.
By MACMAN at 9:48 PM ON 01/18/08
I think it has room for improvement however it is pretty cool that they got it that thin. Go Apple!
By bladeyama at 8:06 AM ON 01/19/08
What if it drops then it would be even smaller lol. I dont like Mac's anyway they are wana be PC's
By Cliven at 10:37 AM ON 01/19/08
Not having any on-board physical media (or even an ethernet connection) for maintenance is troubling. Unless you can guarantee 100% functionality, even when the OS has crashed, from the purchasable external Super Drive and/or (especially unlikely if secured SSID's are in place) from the wifi, you run the risk of having to bring this thing in to the shop whenever you have an OS-failure problem with it. While many casual Mac users claim their individual machines run fine all the time, as one who is in a position of having to service a great many machines, I find it necessary to resort to optical media to run Disk Utility-->Disk Verify, or to connect via Ethernet to reimage, very, very, very often. Even Apple itself is focused on using these media when THEY troubleshoot over the phone, so what exactly is the end-user supposed to do if the unit goes "kerflooey"? If the unit needs reimaging, how does one go about that? At last look (admittedly I don't have hands-on experience with Leopard yet) Disk Util still didn't support USB boot. There are ways around this limitation (looks like CarbonCopyCloner will allow this, for instance), but the average user won't have prepared themselves before disaster strikes.
Very disconcerting. Better hope you bought that external drive, and that it recognizes properly!
By Steve at 12:32 PM ON 01/19/08
I have a bootable rescue system on a USB key, and it's been quite some time since I carried any physical media with me that doesn't check for the disk (Like reason 4). Usually I just image them to my passport 160 USB (bus powered, tiny) disk drive. Everyone I know carries a USB hard drive of one sort or another; I'm not sure why everyone is so up in arms about the optical drive. I have used bluetooth to access the phone-as-modem in my wireless handset on occasion, but ninety-nine percent of the time there's wifi near. If you have to have ethernet, they have an ethernet USB adapter.
Seems to me this laptop is built to meet the most common needs, and they've provided addons to service the edge cases. I don't think it's aimed at being a desktop replacement, but a mobile counterpart to a more robust system - an iMac or mac pro. If you're buying a desktop replacement, get the macbook or macbook pro with full boat memory and the biggest HDD you can get. If you want an adjunct to your home desktop system, the Air will serve admirably.
By Aikibu at 1:23 PM ON 01/19/08
As was mentioned I am not sure some folks get the hook that is being put into thier mouths....No Opitical Drive... Small HD...Spiffy WiFi...
Thousands of New .MAC Subscriptions with Apple's new "Thin Client Terminal" to me Cloud Computing is just another hype to keep taking money from me every month...Just watch what happens as Tech Companies like Apple's revenues fall in the current recession... Old Steve well come up with a ton of new "captive revenue" ideas
Just a personal thing but I like Ownership... My Laptop... My Files... My Storage... My Software...
The "Cloud Computing" business model is too Orwellian for me Steve. :)
By Cliven at 5:34 PM ON 01/19/08
Good that commenter Steve has a USB rescue drive that works, but my point above was that such USB solutions fail with Macs unless you have **3rd party** rescue products; nothing Mac itself supports in Tiger was USB-boot friendly within OS X itself, at least as far as I have ever seen or heard; one has always been a slave to the mighty FireWire if you went for a **Mac-based** peripheral-device boot. Not every user will have set this up beforehand, by a long shot. After all, this is the product line which "just works", right?
I have also noted that, in cases where some app really hoses the OS down to the partition level, say by having a Mount Point go bad (this is a known but unresolved flaw in OS X), imaging will then often fail unless you Zero Out the drive first; if the rescue disk app used does not have this option you might find reimaging a bother.
By Steve at 6:46 PM ON 01/19/08
@Aikibu - I don't disagree about 'cloud computing'. I'm not sure how that's relevant - like I said, I store a lot of my personal data on USB drives ( most commonly, an 8GB USB "key") because I switch back and forth between several macs - my iMac at home, my macbook, and my iMac at work, etc. 8GB stores a WHOLE BUNCH of user-created data. My iPod carries my media. Macbook Air is an adjunct, like I said, not a desktop replacement machine like the 17" MBP.
@Cliven -
I didn't have too much trouble getting a Tiger boot working on USB - Google and a few minutes - (heh, try that with windows!), but Leopard doesn't require ANY particular third party stuff. I suspect the macbook Air will have a 'rescue partition'; (I bet you'll be able to image it to a thumbdrive, too ) if that goes south, and it's your only machine, you take it to your neighborhood Apple Genius. You should be using Time machine, so you won't even lose any data.
I just think we're making mountains out of molehills. If the device doesn't fit YOUR needs, then, by all means, don't buy one; I (and I suppose SJ) believe that it will fit the needs of a sufficient number of people to justify its existence. You want onboard optical drive and user-replaceable battery, it's already there in the macbook. This isn't about supplanting the MBP or MB at all, it's about extending the line to a new demographic.
By mattcyborgelt at 3:56 AM ON 01/20/08
hooray ive finally read some peoples opinions that make sense! I was getting sick of hearing nothing but ranting OMGZORS SEXY BEST MACHINE EVER GIMME GIMME GIMME.
In the automotive world, and car shows we see concept cars that will never be produced. This laptop really ought to be the same. Its a nice showpiece of thin-isity, but id rather get a macbook pro thankyou...
best quoute " And the ability to fit in an envelope? Sure, great, I'll send it to someone who can use it. "
By gearhead at 3:44 AM ON 01/24/08
I personally like the new Mac; unlike the PC pundits and their Micro$oft lemming followers, this computer will allow those who need a WiFi enabled computer with a full-size keyboard to work effortlessly at their local coffee hangout without all of the wires and time-consuming configurations that the Mac's PC counterpart seems to have. Moreover, the size of this computer will more than be something that you will see more of! Get over it, PC crowd.....you're looking at what the future of the laptop will be!
By TOOO at 7:05 AM ON 01/24/08
The Air has the same problem all Macs do - it's made for the FUTURE. Unfortunately, most computer users and software manufacturers live in the PRESENT. Apple needs to consider the needs of the PRESENT.
I have a MacPro, and I love it - except for the fact I can't use my old OS 9 software - and many of my old OS X software, such as Photoshop, without plunking down $1,000 for Creative Suite.
Someday, we'll look back on this and see it for the milestone it is. But, sadly, for the PRESENT, it's a millstone.
By Del at 7:56 AM ON 01/24/08
I liked Apple much better when they were underrated instead of overrated. I liked them better when they made a solid intelligently designed interface on rock solid architecture. I liked Apple better when they looked up from the five percentile at Microsoft's inferior OS and politely smiled. I liked Apple before they became the leader in electronic toys for rich socialites. I think I'm gonna buy an Alienware rig and run Linux.
By coonass at 8:10 AM ON 01/24/08
The Air depends on a lot of infrastructure that for the main part here in the hustings (Denver) isn't here. Climb on an aircraft and if what you need isn't on your hard drive (or you're not on one of the spendy airlines that hooks you up with wifi)... you're out of luck, dude. No wireless Ethernet, or you need to dongle more than one USB device? So sorry, you're screwed (unless you have a USB expansion bus in your carry case, one of a number of things you may need to haul along depending on what you actually need to do.)
Want to watch your own movie? Well, you just dropped $1800 on a laptop, so just hope you have enough headroom on your plastic left over for Vongo or something similar and had the foresight to download whatever it is you wanted to see. Meanwhile, back in coach, I've already jacked the noise-cancelling phones into my Dell Inspiron E1705, which WON'T fit in an interoffice mail envelope in your wildest dreams, but WILL play Serenity for me in splendid 17" diagonal hi-res color on my DVD-RW drive. It'll also select one of a number of digital storage chips in a built-in slot on the other side, so I can review my vacation snaps or home movies, or documents I need to brush up on for the meeting where I'm heading; It's got both composite analog video and DPMI jacks (so I can lay on a presentation or finish watching Serenity at my hotel room) and six, count'em, USB ports. Don't need to lug a video adapter or a USB expansion bus, or a digital media reader, or...
Why, exactly, did I need that Air?
By Shaun at 8:14 AM ON 01/24/08
Consumer is king! I do not like the idea of Mr. Jobs trying to dictate what is needed and what is not. Personally, I like having the choice to include some sort of optical drive in any computer I purchase. For the consumer that wants to decide what is installed on their machine, we have a saying in economics that fits: vote with your feet.
By Thrythlind at 9:02 AM ON 01/24/08
Apples are meant to be eaten.
By nulldevice at 9:08 AM ON 01/24/08
I dunno, I see this as fitting a very specific market-niche. It's a nifty little machine. Groundbreaking? Nah. There are other ultraportables. As someone, though, who manages a small laptop fleet for business I REALLY like the idea that, say, my tech-idiot boss would have a hard time popping in a CD and installing something that would break everything (as he's done so many times).
It's overhyped, sure, but...I mean, this is Apple, fer chrissakes. Steve Jobs sends out a major press release when he wipes his backside (after keeping it secret for several months, of course). It's also too expensive. I blame some of that on the high cost of components.
But that's the really big deal, there - the components. In a way that I think is missing a lot of the pundits but not missing a lot of the industry insiders, the big deal about the Air is that Apple talked Intel into custom-manufacturing things for them. That's no easy feat, and it implies that Apple not only has the clout to talk the world's biggest PC chipmaker into bowing to their needs, it also is a big push against the notion that laptops are just interchangable consumer goods.
I doubt it'll sell exceptionally well. It still looks cool, but aside from that factor I don't think it'll be much more than another spiffy Apple laptop that shows up on every TV show about young, successful attratcive people. But it's a big break from the established laptop-design paradigms and I think it'll start pushing other manufacturers to do more with their laptops than just upgrade the chip inside.
By AscendedMaster at 9:19 AM ON 01/24/08
It's always interesting to see how people respond to situations where they're forced to rethink how we work day-to-day. As Steve mentioned below, USB booting, Bluetooth EVDO/EDGE Internet, Ethernet USB adapter, etc. are always that those whose lifestyle (read: the average person) would fit.
Much like the reaction to the maximum distance the first modern electric cars from GM, the average day-to-day lifestyle is more than addressed by the Macbook Air. And if it's not? Get a regular Macbook.
By Tiranogh1 at 9:19 AM ON 01/24/08
The Mac Book Air has a lot of nice features and trade-offs. It will suit some extremely well, others less so.
I'm a Desktop user so I won't be purchasing a new laptop. For the record I'm still using their now 7 year old mac to everything that I need to do. It's OS has been upgraded twice without any problems (the system actually ran faster after each system upgrade). In seven years no viruses, no spy ware, no system updates that hobbled the system, and reasonable (not perfect, but it has never gotten in the way of my music)DRM for managing songs. Now with DRM going away, the system is even better. Tech support is always top notch (in North American English, very helpful, and rarely used)
At the time of purchase I figured that I had spent maybe 200.00 more for my system. With all that I've done, and all that I've not had to do, I've actually saved money.
By FIRSTLENSMAN at 10:34 AM ON 01/24/08
I think the problem here is that Apple has been waiting for the portable flash memory to become less expensive and higher capacity because it'll, rightly so, replace the CD and DVD. I read an article stating that an 80 to 160 GIG portable flash drive no larger than a USB key was in the works. Apple just couldn't wait any longer to release the MBA.
By COMALite J at 11:47 AM ON 01/24/08
Anyone remember the iPod Flea fake commercial video? You can see it on YouTube (do a search on “iPod Flea”).
This reminds me of that, only for real (especially in the ridiculous collection of add-ons needed to make it actually useful).
And I’m a long-time Apple fan, dating back to the Apple ][+ and ∕∕∕.
By Jonathan at 1:38 PM ON 01/24/08
This thing reminds me alot of the Mac Duo. No floppy, no CD/DVD unless it's hooked up externally.
I do like the idea that it's WiFi ready, but how about all the rest? Why not have a slot for 3G communications, why not a built in for bring your own-SIM mobile connectivity? I still think Apple could do better to have put in a larger hard drive. It's not like they aren't available.
It would have been even better to make the SSD drive a default drive. What's 20 gigs less space but a huge lightning fast kick in performance?
It's time for Laptops to be something better. This is a nice step forward and brings the ultralight more mainstream. Let's hope now a ton of great clone products follow that push the AIR to improve exponentially.
By CarMan21 at 11:53 AM ON 01/25/08
As is typical for Apple, an overpriced, underpowered brick that looks pretty....and the idiots who just love Apple will waste their money on it. Like Barnum said, there's one born every minute.
I can't understand why everyone wants an ultrathin notebook anyway. When I look at a notebook, I want the fastest, most powerful machine I can get, and I don't care how big it is. I want the power, not the space saving aspect of a computer. Are people's desktops that small that they need to save space? Buy a bigger desk. As for the weight, I don't care about the weight. Maybe it's because I'm 6'-2" tall and weigh in at around 250 pounds, but I've never had any problem carrying any notebook around all day, even when notebooks were large, briefcase sized computers. Ultrathins are a waste of money....more money for a smaller, lower powered, slower, smaller screened system. No thanks.
By KG4MXV at 7:18 PM ON 01/25/08
Well I will have to say that there is a tool for every use.
For me I can not go with out a optical drive or Ethernet. There are motels that the wifi signal is not good or not available at all and I would have to hate to carry a wireless excess point just to have connectivity in a motel room.
I currently have a MacBook and before that I had a G4 15" aluminum that had served me flawlessly for 3 years and hopefully this macbook will do the same.
I travel all over the US and sometimes out of the country and can not be without my data or network access. So I cary my restore DVD's and a 2.5" firewire drive for back up now made effortless with time machine.
Now for the executive that only travels from office to home or office to office the MacBook air might be a good fit.
I will stick with a Macbook or MacBook Pro.
I.E if was was working in a harsh environment I would have chosen a toshiba toughbook.
Buy what need not what you want.
By Don Lee at 3:12 AM ON 01/30/08
I like the form factor in the MBA but I am bothered by the lack of a CD/DVD drive and the price. While I understand Apple's reasoning for the lack of a drive with more companies offering software downloads (such as Adobe) via online purchase, it surprised my that Apple itself does not have this kind of distribution for their own software. I think an announcement like that to coincide with the MBA launch would've satisfied a lot more users. The price is a bit high as well. I do like the thin design though.
By Ember at 8:50 AM ON 01/31/08
No ethernet port? Does it even contain firewire? No wireless, I don't know if it would even make it on the market for more then the ignorant consumer. Looks cool and it's thin (and light too) but without the essentials, what good is it?
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No ethernet port? Does it even contain firewire? No wireless, I don't know if it would even make it on the market...More »