MacBook air 11" .. anyone got one yet?

adam_m

adam_m

adam_m

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I'm sitting here looking at my current Apple kit thinking of the new MBA :)

- iMac 21" .. my workhorse, will get a pro one day but very happy with it
- iPad 64Gb 3G .. great for the train/plane and quick surfing on the sofa
- 15" MBP Unibody .. doesn't get a great deal of use but good to travel with when I want to play some games and 'proper' OSX apps

...I'm seriously thinking of ditching the MBP for a new MBA. It'd be a 'proper' Mac (in the sense it can run OSX / Windows) etc.. and also ultra portable meaning I'd be more likely to take it on the road with me.

My concern is that it overlaps so massively with the iPad I would most likely stop using that too, as much as I love it, as the MBA isn't that different size / battery life wise but with more functionality.

..what I'd miss about the iPad would be:

- Tiny footprint - on a train / plane it's just too darn cramped to open up a screen of any kind most of the time.
- 3G .. why oh why does a 11" netbook not have 3G built in !!!
- Ability to charge via USB, dont really want to cart the brick around with me

What does everyone else think about this? I could get one of those MyFi gadget things to get around the lack of 3G on the MBA, or carry both iPad and MBA around with me but seems a little pointless.

Confused!!
Adam
 
Your MBP does everything the Air does, but better. The MBP is hardly massive and the difference between the two is negligible. Not to mention the screen size advantage on the MBP if its for 'proper tasks'.

You just want to buy one, you are sucked in. This is common amongst Apple peeps when new products are released. Just resist the urge for a few weeks and you'll see you don't need this and could spend the money on something else.
 
yashiro said:
Your MBP does everything the Air does, but better. The MBP is hardly massive and the difference between the two is negligible. Not to mention the screen size advantage on the MBP if its for 'proper tasks'.

You just want to buy one, you are sucked in. This is common amongst Apple peeps when new products are released. Just resist the urge for a few weeks and you'll see you don't need this and could spend the money on something else.
Click to expand...

You are partially right .. I am an apple wh*re .. there I said it!

..but I have genuinely wanted a very compact MBP for some time, I had a 13 for a while but it was still too large. My current 15" is massively larger than the 11" MBA. When I'm already travelling with a work laptop taking a full size MBP is not an option.

The fact is I'd use an MBA more than I would my current MBP..time to go hands on with one I think. Appreciate the input however, always good to have both sides :)

Cheers,
A
 
If you can get the MBA for less or as much as you can sell the MBP for, then you might as well if the MBP doesn't get used.

It is getting in to embarassment of riches territory though.
 
For me, it's really nice in the iPad sort of way. Oh I would like one but oh I don't need one.

If I travelled regularly and needed a small screen device with a full size keyboard and decent battery life, it would be definitely be a contender.

For me it emphasises the MacBook Air's existence so far, quite a niche product at that price. Make this a normal MacBook and price it like a MacBook of three years ago and the thing would fly off the shelves.

Ultimately I just feel Apple have increased their Apple tax (which I'm well used to paying by now) too much on the pricing of the MBA, you're paying the Apple kind of price with a little on top for the engineering of it.
 
The pricing has me torn on the 11.6" base, on one hand it looks alright, on the other hand £850 for a 1.4Ghz processor seems a bit much. Dual core ION2 equipped netbooks are on the scene now and are only a little over £400.

It just doesn't seem much more portable than the MB or the MBP, lighter for sure but it's not a hell of a lot smaller than the 13.3" models of either of these.

I think they've missed the mark a little bit, I think people would be more interested if the screen was smaller, to me all it seems is a thinner MB/MBP, big whoop. It's not like the current line of Apple notebooks are that thick.
 
yashiro said:
A seemingly fair preview.
Click to expand...

Actually yes, surprising given the registers continuing slide into mediocrity but welcome. Sums it up pretty well.

I'm somewhat tempted by the 11" version myself for when I need to have a laptop with me on weekends but don't expect to use it much (ie. if I need to be available for work or something). It's useable for some serious work unlike my ipad really but is going to contribute significantly less weight and bulk to my bag...

But the lack of a 3G card is seriously off putting...
 
Margaret said:
The pricing has me torn on the 11.6" base, on one hand it looks alright, on the other hand £850 for a 1.4Ghz processor seems a bit much. Dual core ION2 equipped netbooks are on the scene now and are only a little over £400.

It just doesn't seem much more portable than the MB or the MBP, lighter for sure but it's not a hell of a lot smaller than the 13.3" models of either of these.

I think they've missed the mark a little bit, I think people would be more interested if the screen was smaller, to me all it seems is a thinner MB/MBP, big whoop. It's not like the current line of Apple notebooks are that thick.
Click to expand...

Precisely my feeling. Apple have made the 13.3" MBP too portable for their own good. As said in the Apple event thread, I've never really seen the point of the MBA other than to indicate to us MBP fans what features we can expect in the future. I think the SSD is going to be standard on all Macbooks within a year, particularly if they can up the capacity and/or reduce the cost. The MBA is still overpriced at every specification, regardless of what Steve Jobs says.
 
SSDs as standard in all Macs is a little worrying in the sense that it would probably be cheapo mediocre ones, and as the geeks on here know, you want to choose your SSD carefully.
 
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I'm very tempted to get an 11" MBA (1.6GHz C2D, 4GBRAM, 128GB Flash Storage). It'd cost £997.58 incl. VAT on the student store.

Thing is, I've already got an iPhone 4. I've already got an iPad 3G 64GB. I've already got a 2.4GHz C2D 4GBRAM 15" MacBook Pro. And I'm gonna get the Sandy Bridge 15" MacBook Pro in 2011.

The kinda thing I'd use it for is in lectures etc, but then it's hard to justify having it and the iPad :(.
 
adam_m said:
I'm sitting here looking at my current Apple kit thinking of the new MBA :)

- iMac 21" .. my workhorse, will get a pro one day but very happy with it
- iPad 64Gb 3G .. great for the train/plane and quick surfing on the sofa
- 15" MBP Unibody .. doesn't get a great deal of use but good to travel with when I want to play some games and 'proper' OSX apps

...I'm seriously thinking of ditching the MBP for a new MBA. It'd be a 'proper' Mac (in the sense it can run OSX / Windows) etc.. and also ultra portable meaning I'd be more likely to take it on the road with me.

My concern is that it overlaps so massively with the iPad I would most likely stop using that too, as much as I love it, as the MBA isn't that different size / battery life wise but with more functionality.

..what I'd miss about the iPad would be:

- Tiny footprint - on a train / plane it's just too darn cramped to open up a screen of any kind most of the time.
- 3G .. why oh why does a 11" netbook not have 3G built in !!!
- Ability to charge via USB, dont really want to cart the brick around with me

What does everyone else think about this? I could get one of those MyFi gadget things to get around the lack of 3G on the MBA, or carry both iPad and MBA around with me but seems a little pointless.

Confused!!
Adam
Click to expand...


I think you already know that an Air is going to be a waste when you already say that your MBP doesn't get much use.

You either need a laptop with you, or you don't and the fact it's a bit smaller and lighter isn't going to change that.

At the end of the day, it's your money and you do what you like but it looks like you want it because it's new when really you don't need it... especially when you have a recent MBP, an iPad and presumably an iPhone too?
 
Is anyone noting Apple's Mac App Store? As with most laptops with the glass track pad they're moving towards an iOS type interface with it's software and touch capabilities with Lion. We'll see apps on the iPad on the Mac.

This is where the Air is heading, towards that class of laptop meats iPad. With a traditional keyboard.
 
AmTechFox said:
Is anyone noting Apple's Mac App Store? As with most laptops with the glass track pad they're moving towards an iOS type interface with it's software and touch capabilities with Lion. We'll see apps on the iPad on the Mac.

This is where the Air is heading, towards that class of laptop meats iPad. With a traditional keyboard.
Click to expand...

It's not really laptop meets iPad though, the MBA is pretty much the same as it has always been. If it had a touch screen with a slide out keyboard I'd agree with you.
 
I've been playing with the £1349 model a lot lately (we don't have the 11" out on demo for some bizarre reason) and for having 2gb of RAM it's absurdly fast. Presumably because the storage itself is so quick.

I desperately want the 11" one, and I'm trying to work out which. I don't think I'd put either up to 4gb though in all honesty.
 
Margaret said:
It's not really laptop meets iPad though, the MBA is pretty much the same as it has always been. If it had a touch screen with a slide out keyboard I'd agree with you.
Click to expand...

It is at this very moment but with 30 day standby and instant on, ssd storage, a huge glass touchpad for Mac destined apps it will be. It'll be a half-breed running conventional OSX but running more and more apps (i.e. games and such).

Why is it all MacBooks have a huge glass touchpad, why is it the trackpad is out there, we'll be playing Angry Birds soon enough on all the machines I believe!

(Not that I can complete Angry Birds on my iPhone as it is :/ ). Damn Game.
 
Windows

Hi

Does anyone know how this will run Windows? Could both OS's be available at the same time?

Alternatively, are there any windows laptops which have a similiar weight / form factor?

Thanks
 
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