meh. :(

No CD-DVD drive so you either need to purchase the external superdrive, or use “remote disk” which requires you to have a computer with an optical drive already. Wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t so pricey. But it’s still kinda, well, meh.

You can really tell it was built for those on the move. Im still in the air about the no CD-Rom, perhaps if the HDD was a tad bigger it wouldnt be too bad because you could store all the movies on the drive. Im not sure how i feel yet, i will have to go to an apple store and play with one.

Makes my 12 inch Powerbook still feel very very useful in it’s age. =) Man, that thing looks like it can snap in half.

I’d really like to know if you’ll be able to use the multi-touch gestures on a “normal” MacBook Pro.

I’m in the market for a new computer after 22 years in the PC camp. Was thinking of getting an iMac, but I might buy this. For someone with no Mac experience since Elementary school, anybody have advice?

Dear god that’s thin! I feel like if I had one I might accidentaly break it!

I would have been happier if they reduced the screen size and increased the battery life. The device looks to be tailored to those on the go, yet other than the thickness and the weight, it’s the same size as the macbook with less functionality at a greater price. The claimed battery life is also 1 hour less than the macbook. *shrug* color me unimpressed.

I’d have to agree with the “meh.” I mean it’s cool that you can get it with an SSD, however that bumps the price from $1,799 to $3,098. For less you could get something only 2lbs heavier and more powerful that also has a cd drive built in. (especially with a pc as well, but that kind of talk seems unwelcome here :)

my MacBook Pro could eat 5 of those for lunch. and only one usb port, it is sexy, but unless it has more connectivity, it’ll crash and burn with anyone looking for a general use computer. But it is pretty!

I would get one if I had a Mac Pro to do my final cut and what not on (only have a MBP right now). Hopefully I will be able to buy a Mac Pro soon :D.

I want! Of course this is going to set back my saving for a cintiq… but it looks so sexy! Now if they only made a tablet version, I could stop carrying my sharpies around…

And Apple continues to suck hardcore

I think it’s snazzy.

It’s definitely geared more towards the tech literate and/or execs…who have been chomping at the bit for the 12″ Powerbook replacement. If I wasn’t a mac gamer and didn’t have this burning desire to have a laptop that goes Mach 10 with my hair on fire, I would totally get one.

I fear what temperature the casing will end up at, with that size ;/

But really, it seems too stripped down for my uses. Pretty as all hell, but no CD/DVD drive and one USB port hurts. The rest… it’s just too pricey. Put that multi-touch trackpad into a “bulky” model, and I’m sold.

Also, where are the Blu-Ray drives?

I would honestly loose the thing. Looks cool and all but really I would set it down and forget where it is.

Again, Apple does a great design, but I’m afraid it’ll end up like Apple TV. It’s a tad too expensive for the average person in my opinion. A bit more and you can get the MacBook Pro, a bit less and you can get the MacBook. But if I had the money I’d get one.

i wonder if Key will let them make an Air skin for it

while not only would I feel like I’d break it just by picking it up, I’d worry about it breaking if I threw it in a backpack and it was pushed up against two books too hard

It looks nice, but still the price, if it had SSD on the lower end I buy one

The scary thing is that these will probably get thinner soon enough and Mac Air is just at the cramps of a large fart.

I was excited about the new Macbook before but now I’m a bit disappointed. The external Super drive isn’t a big deal to me, in fact I like their wireless solution for it but then it requires you to have another computer on hand. I was expecting flash memory for the HDD as standard instead of optional, and I think it’s a bit too pricey for that option.

Multi touch for the track pad I was interested in but just as I figured its use for a laptop is pretty limited. The power offered by the Macbook air is less than what I was expecting too but I guess that’s because the rumors were really hyping it up so I shouldn’t have expected as much really. Over all though I’d have to say the only thing I really like is the design, it’s nice and sleek looking.

I have to say that I am unimpressed. No Firewire, slow processors, nasty Intel GPU, only .3 inches thinner than the MacBook, a couple of pounds lighter than the MacBook, but quite a bit more expensive. Personally I would have rather seen Apple take on the 10 inch screen ultra-portables instead of just making a super thin and light one that is still half the size of a pizza box.

It’s a very cool design, but I think it will end up being a niche product.

I bought my sister a black MacBook for Christmas, and the lack of an optical drive on the MBAir would be a killer. I have the only other Mac in the family, and since I’m away at college 2/3rds of the year installing software could be a problem.

The single USB port is also a confusing choice, as is the lack of Firewire.

Still, props to Apple’s design team.

This is definitely in the same range than iPod Mini when it went out. Why pay higher price for something that got less features? Because it’s “cute as a button” (to quote PS3 vs Wii fan-ad), smaller, has a totally different feature sets and ideology than the other laptops.

I was curious about the video card. I am glad it’s not a stupid 950; not top of the line but not a dud either. Everything else, you can get through Bluetooth or Wifi. The lone USB can be used for one of the features. The 2GB memory minimum/maximum is adequate for most people.

I would say it’s a decent beast, I wouldn’t mind giving one to my GF, so that I can get back my Mac Book Pro, and I’m sure she would be happy with this computer. Heck, if I wasn’t doing pro audio recording, I would be happy with that beast :)

It’s not that functional. I am going to get a USB hub for my Macbook because two isn’t enough. One is crazed!
The innovative new thing is the thinness. The sharing of the optical drive is sketchy because data transfer depends on how fast your network is.
If you want a laptop that will last forever and will have no trouble doing anything, get a 15.5″ Macbook Pro. ‘Nuff said.

Useless to me, but very awesome. The lack of CD specifically bothers me because there’s no way in hell you can load a CD in good speed wirelessly. Otherwise, it’s pretty neat.

One usb port wasn’t enough in 1997, and it aint enough now. It is nice, but my tablet pc only weighs like a pound more, has more battery life, and more functionality. it seems like an anorexic macbook to me.

Now, if it was cheaper (like, say, $1300 for the bottom end one) and had a tablet display, i could see myself getting one. but to me i just can’t see any advantages over the macbook. the size/weight difference is not a big enough issue for me. Beautiful product, but i think overall this is going to fall by the wayside.

The design is nice and all. I like the shape and the size. It probably has a good feel to it too. But wtf? What’s the point of multitouch other than to scroll through pictures and surf the web.

Plus, the MacBook Air is pathetic spec wise. It doesn’t have a CD drive, only 1 USB 2.0 port. The battery life is meh with 5-6 hours of use max. And on top of the battery life, you can’t even remove the battery, so you’re stuck in wherever you are without an outlet. No ethernet port, the storage is pathetic at best, and putting an extra 64 GB brings the total cost of the Air to $3000. The base price is already outrageous at $1700.

I can see where apple is trying to put style over function in this laptop, but paying $1700 is overkill. The design of the laptop overall is good, but the functions are lackluster at best.

I’d rather get the linux Asus eee for 299 for portability than an apple for 1800 that looks like it’d snap in half if I typed too hard.

I dunno. The 2″ profile of the Apple PowerBook makes me feel more secure….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9ipt957irQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Powerbook_150.jpg

…For instance, I can use it as radiation shielding. XD

Well, I really doubt it will snap in half, because that’s what people said about the ipod nano when that came out, too.

And I have the feeling that Apple is making a gamble by taking out the CD Drive, but it’s a gamble they just might win, seeing the direction in which all media is going.

That said, wow.

Not sure. The solid state drive and thinness definitely has a high coolnessfactor, but my Nikon D200 would eat those tiny drives alive, and I don’t think it would run Photoshop any better than my 12″ Powerbook
And with SSD, no superdrive and a rather puny CPU, would it run hot enough for my cat to be attracted to it? I wouldn’t want to have to search all over the house for the little furball.

I… I think that Apple should make a tablet like the PC companies have!!! I half way detest PCs because, well, my Banana (My Mac) is just so much better with things! LOL And, I would hate to have to lug around a gay PC just so that I could use it at school instead of having to waste all that paper (TREE HUGGER 4EVAR!!!!!!) just so that I can take notes, or do some stinky homework… LET THE TREES LIVE!!! STOP CORRUPTING OUR SOCIETY WITH ALL THESE DANG BUILDINGS!!!! MAKE OUR “COUNTRY” BETTER WITH MORE EFFING TREEEEEEESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -pant pant pant- :-D I am a crazy arse mofo!

Hmmm. A machine for ‘execs’ indeed–the execs who think ‘prettier means it must be better!’.
One thing does stick in my mind looking at the info on it–’slimmer hard drive’. In other words, it uses a proprietary, non-standard storage device that allows Apple to hold users by whatever sensitive part of the anatomy they choose when wanting more space, rather than said user being able to drop in a standard laptop drive from one of a number of affordable vendors?

It’s good for coders I think. It’s supermobile!

I’m not understanding the price. I know someone will come out with the “cost of components” soon, and I’ll compare. I had a laptop that had the CD drive die (and one USB) so I know I could live with it if need be, but I’d be (as others said) much much more attracted if it was touch (not even multitouch) screen capable and NO keyboard. Because then I would mount it inside a book cover portrait wise and use it for ebooks that my college offers.

Honestly, only thing going for it is the solid-state drive. With the versatility of the solid state, I think people are going to buy it purely for that reason. No optical drive, and what seems like only 4 ports (power, mini-dvi, usb and headphones). Seriously. 4 ports? I think they could have sacrificed for an actual dvi port, and a firewire port. The ultra portability is impressive, however i feel like this computer is nothing more than a simple terminal for a much larger system like a 35 story corporation. or even better, a school-laptop. however that price i think it might only appeal to the private sector. Add a blu-ray drive, one more usb on the other side, a firewire somewhere, and even i’d be happy paying $3,098 for it. Although. I think at this exact moment in time, if a 1tb, 2.5ghz, 2500x(whatever) laptop with the above exist…… I’d pay anything approaching 25k :-p

I concur, Solid State tablet. Please?

(for cybertimber)

Solid-State drives are flashed based hard drives that basically make the computer start up ‘instantly’ and saves pretty much everything until you delete it. Its quite awesome. its like RAM, only you get more of it and you can run an OS on it.

I like the look but the price and the lack of a removable battery put me in the “I’ll wait for Air 2.0 camp”.

Now if they’d get around to beefing up the MacBook Pro, I’d sell my current one and buy the new version ASAP. Love my MBP.

I was really hoping for the Mac version of the Asus Eee sub-notebook for under $500. My need is for a glorified word processor that can travel.

If I need a replacement for my MacBook (which shouldn’t be anytime soon), I might consider the Air.

As per the usual, Apple has made another very handsome offering. However the lack of connectivity, especially when it comes to the lack of optical drive really makes me skeptical. Thin is great, but I’m a power whore. I need more power, regardless of how powerful my computer is already.

Despite the price tag, it does scream sexy, and the finger gestures are slick!

~N

I was crossing my fingers that there would be something like this product released soon by apple as i’m scheduled to be getting a laptop on the first week on February. Unfortunately all hopes diminished when I heard the price, even w/my 100 dollar student discount a 700 dollar difference between this and what I consider a more upgradable and higher spec. macbook, I’m sticking with the macbook. Especially since for 168 dollars additionally i can make it a 4gb 160gb hdd macbook. So for me 700 dollars does not justify two pounds lighter let alone the spec differences. :(

So, my current (PC) laptop is somewhat more powerful, has 6x the ports, a dvd burner, 3x the hard drive space, and a better graphics card. It’s also less than half the price. In exchange, I have to carry around more weight in my backpack. Oh, the choices…

Huge meh for me. One USB port, no CD ROM, and $1800+ makes it rather unappealing to me. I have a PC laptop half that price that can trump that. Also, I’m a guy whose always on the go and running around so a laptop that fragile looking simply would not work out for me. If I was going to get a Mac laptop, I’d still stick with the MBP than this thing.

look its a clamshell ibook even with the single usb port(i had a blueberry model)looks incredebelly sexy, but this mac is for fashion statement only or someone in need of a ultralight mac for some reson or another.ill keep y MPB 17 thank you very much

The ability to read other CD drives wirelessly (as seen and demonstrated in the introduction video) impressed me really more than its size (lack’ thereof) and outer streamline shape. Like others have probably said, only one USB port is a turn off, along with the price tag (although probably proportional to the hardware inside).

All and all I’m not going to buy one. But for investment’s sake I hope others do.

wheres the blueray?

I have a MacBook Pro 15-inch, and I still don’t feel like shelling out ~$3100 for a Solid State drive, when a hard drive is fast enough for me. Besides, my MacBook pro is aluminum, and quite sturdy, so I can bludgeon people to death with it, without inflicting any damage on it. So far, not a single scratch.

It’s clearly designed to be some kind of companion computer. You do your real stuff on your imac and use this thing when you want to lye on the couch and read emails or whatever.

The problem is, at that price, it’s no one’s companion.

I don’t get why people are comparing it to a full size laptop, its an ultra portable, apples with apples …

As a high fashion notebook and one which has greater functionality than similar products on the market it will sell well, and Apple will then develop more mainstream laptops with some of the tech goodies passed on.

Remember it’s in a different family to the Macbooks and the Pros, its another market segment in Apples quest to conquer them all …. not really … but it would be cool :P

Actually, this computer is probably ahead of it’s time. I think it opens up a LOT of future possibilities. It’s probably just ahead of it’s time. Apple is looking towards the future, and they’re testing the waters now. The reason for the price is because of the new technology. Give the new technology time and like anything else, it will go down in price because it will be cheaper to make. The production of a processor the size of a dime and the thickness of a nickel, along with making the FIRST MacBook to run completely off of flash based memory are what jacked up prices.

I myself have no use for it because and don’t care about it because I need my MBP for what I do. Typical college students though in the future will just use MacBook Air. This item COULD quite possibly in the future replace the current MacBook. Knew OSs and programs someday will be downloadable without ever having to buy a disk. They’ve made this for the Wireless Generation that they foresee coming. They’re paving the way.

I think another reason why it was possibly announced early was because the Mac Tablet everyone has been talking about wasn’t ready for release. Notice the lack of “One more thing.” Also notice how Steve Jobs tried to build up everything he could and even talked about the Rentals WAY more than what was necessary. You could tell they were missing something.

I think the Mac Tablet would’ve been released if it wasn’t for the wonderful iPhone. Job’s did have the tablet team essentially shrink down a computer to phone size. So that delayed the tablet, and I’m sure the iPod Touch didn’t help too much either. I wouldn’t be surprised if the tablet released this summer as a “SURPRISE!” I also wouldn’t be surprised if Macworld ‘09 blows this one out of the water.

Anywho, there’s my several cents,
Ragz

It’s cool and all, but I’d be scared of breaking it. =\
Seriously, that can’t be very strong.

I was impressed by it both on a personal/aesthetic level, as well as on the engineering level, up until the moment that the price was announced. The optical drive thing is a bit of a put off, but I can understand why they did it and am okay with it. But still…that price…

I’m sure quite a few of you guys remember the G4 Cube (heck, we might even have some people here that modded theirs and are still using them). I kinda see the Air as being the next Cube: excellent design, no market. The subnotebook market I know about is the one that’s priced cheaper than the MacBook and strips out most of the features. Glorified portable DVD players with an OS, basically.

The Air is coming in lesser-featured than either of its siblings, with its only significant benefit being the form factor. “Cool” can only take you so far, and frankly put, both the MacBook and MacBook Pro are already cool enough for the vast majority of people. I can understand people stomaching the $100 to buy the black MacBook back in the day, but you’re talking about a major premium here for a reduced form factor and reduced features. I doubt there will be many takers.

On the other hand, the revamped AppleTV has me salivating (cutting out the computer was great) and I rather like the concept of Time Capsule, as well as the lower one’s price point (not sold on the upper one, honestly, even though I know it’s not a bad price). That they put out Time Capsule now might also explain why they cut the announced AirDisk feature from the last base station model they released a few months back. They were going to allow us to hook up drives to the base station, but then they cut the feature before the units actually shipped…this might be why.

I currently own a Macbook Pro, and I am much happier with it now that I see what Apple has been developing. Yes, it is an attractive look, but with weak processing powers, I am willing to deal with my heavier computer.

Looks like pure sex. But..

No ethernet, 1 usb port, no disc drive, no removable battery. Fail.
Practicality/would I buy this is not amazing even if the design is.

Okay, unlike probably 90% of the people posting on this thread, I was actually holding this computer in my hands a mere hour or two after it was announced. My impression? Really light yet solid. My ONLY beef with the form factor is that it’s back heavy and I’d be worried that it would easily fall off a coffee table or something because it feels like it wants to roll backwards. 3lbs is a lot lighter than you might think, and the metal casing feels like it could take a bit of a beating.

Honestly, the lack of an optical drive is fine by me if it weren’t for the fact that there is no firewire port. One less-known fact is that firewire is bootable, while USB is not. This means that you can plug a firewire hard drive in, and if it has an OS, you can boot from it. This saved my butt when I upgraded to Leopard on my 12″ Powerbook. I was able to boot from the external drive to retrieve all my files so I could do a clean re-install. Honestly, if the Macbook Air fried, you’d have to take it in to a repair shop or send it to Apple because there’s no way wifi will work when you’re stripped down to just the kernel and bios because your hard drive is messed up. Not to mention, firewire just works better. I’ve owned many external hard drives because my powerbook can’t handle a large internal drive, and every firewire one has been fast and responsive, while one USB drive got corrupted and the other sometimes waits as long as a minute before kicking on and searching for the file I need.

One more question to apple though: Why does one of the iPods, a $350 device, have twice the storage capacity of the Macbook Air?

On the subject of “multi-touch”. I like the idea, but not the execution. I saw it working with leopard and let me tell you, I wasn’t impressed. Multi-touch works well on the iPhone because the entire OS and all software is built to use it. Multi-touch on the Macbook seems like a gimmick. I saw it demoed in iPhoto and it was sluggish, when it worked at all. Basically it only seems to work to change how big you’re viewing your thumbnails. Good idea, but what about zooming in and out of a single photo? No support. What about an ability to dig through open windows with two fingers just like if you were doing it physically? No support. The fact is, until Apple completely rethinks their OS and software using the multi-touch paradigm, much as they did with the iPhone, the technology will be a gimmick rather than a truly useable tool.

Bottom line though, better weight distribution, bigger hard drive, firewire. Give me these three things, and I’ll give a macbook serious consideration. Until then, I’ll file this under the iPod Touch and iPhone as really good ideas that still have some major design flaws.

I think something a little more radical would have been nice; I tend to agree with the folks who are throwing the “tablet” word around.

I can see why people are upset about not having a CD drive, but now that you can buy a 4GB Flash Drive for as little as $20 what’s the big deal? I download almost all the software I use on my Mac anyway. I think the only things I ever install off of a CD anymore are the occasional game and Mac OS X.

Needless to say I’m sticking with my 12″ Powerbook G4 for a while. At least until I can’t stand coding on a 12″ screen anymore.

I want a laptop but with so many designs by apple i have real difficulty trying to choose. By the time i afford one a new one comes out it’s all…well more flashy than the last and it drives me nut’s! how do you lot keep up????.

So I have a question. If I understand the whole external super drive thing correct (which I doubt at this moment) is that it lets you connect to a drive or partition on another computer. Which would simply mean it works the same as a wireless LAN and a shared network drive? How is that ‘new and innovative’ as the website points it out? =/ Please correct me if I’m wrong at this.

Also, I have a ‘pc’ laptop (read: non-mac), which has roughly the same specs as the Air, only that it has a faster wireless and isn’t as thin (of course). It’s a year and a half old by now. The thing is, I checked the pricing for an Air in Europe, which is roughly 1700eu.. That’s $2450. Minimum. Now, my current laptop has a pretty big wide screen. It might have a bit less good graphic capabilities, but it still does what I want it to do. It can’t run WoW, but apart from that it’s the same as the Air.
What did it cost me, a 1.5 year back? 670eu. Let’s put that in dollars: $960.
I’m done.

Imagine if u sit on it… ouch

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The general consensus seems to be that it’s not that great, and I agree. Then again, I’m biased against laptops in general (I don’t think of them as “real” computers), and the only reason I’m using one right now is because I can’t use my regular PC (I’m in Japan, and it’s still in the States). I loathe touchpads in general, and I wonder about the need for a 3-finger “swoosh” or whatever for going back and forward through webpages when I can just click the side-buttons on my mouse.

Enough of my prejudice against the faults of all laptops, though. The main thing that bothered me, other than the lack of an optical drive and lack of general connectivity (the subject has been beaten to a bloody stump) (On that note, what’s “Firewire”? I’ve never heard of it before, and I don’t feel like using Wikipedia.), was that in the video tour, the man talked about a full keyboard, which was complete and utter bull. Do you see a numpad? I don’t see a numpad. Real keyboards have numpads; they’re the best control scheme for using ROMs. I haven’t played a ROM in months because because this silly laptop doesn’t have a full keyboard either. I can’t think of any laptop that does.

In closing, I still don’t like Macs, Apple, or Steve Jobs. At least Bill has a charity.

Dear god! don’t accidently sneeze! You’ll rip the screen from its hinges…. Anyway, speaking logically, It would have very little structural integrity. Meaning, you’d always have to be careful as hell with it. Also, no CD? thats rather silly…. what happens when you get somewhere, and… whoops, you forgot to change the CD in your remote comp? Sorry buddy, your S.O.L. I think I will simply wait for the Octo-Core comps to come out and get one of those sweethearts !

Its pretty thin, I am sure of it.

No CD-Drive, ONE USB Port, RJ-45 port only accessible via USB adapter. You need to strike balance between small size and suability…… this lacks usability…

the MacBook Air is ridiculous. The Ethernet is USB. The SuperDrive is USB. And they give you ONE USB port. The RAM is soldered onto the motherboard. The battery degrades, oops!, you’re screwed.

I hate this stupid thing.

I dunno, despite it’s flaws, I have to say I am quite impressed at mostly the size and just how far we’ve come. Even a few years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible, and now look at where we are. Even smaller processors, and I like the ability to have solid state memory. Granted, it still has a bit to go before it has enough space, but the fact that we can fit 64 GB on something that small with no moving parts is incredible. Only two or three years ago, even a 128 MB USB key was running over $50. The touch sensitivity is also amazing.

The cons are, as stated above.. no CD drive, one USB port, no ethernet. I see this computer as being perfect for a businessman on the go who needs something small and light for travel. This isn’t going to work out for those who, like me, basically live off their iBook as a main computer. The lack of optical drive sucks, but it has to be, or we wouldn’t have the same small profile computer. To get a crazy shaped slot-loading optical drive made for that computer would also just drive the price up more. Ethernet could have been worked around, though.

All in all, yes, it’s a bit pricey, but what from Apple isn’t? ;) I am just impressed with the level of tech in such a small package.

Would have been better if it was a tablet laptop. but still, what’s the point? so it’s light, that means there’s not much you can do with it. I mean there’s no freaking CD-ROM drive, only one USB port, and the hard drive isn’t even big enough to back up all you music and movies you’d need to save onto it in order to enjoy them. I mean, iPods have bigger hardrives than this, which makes this a glorified iPod with crappy storage capability. Battery life isn’t even that impressive. I’d gladly take the weight and size of another mac laptop over this any day especially looking at the price, but it is a mac of course and the hefty price comes with the territory.

The CD/DVD/whatever drive I can do without. That’s why you can mount an ISO or use the special remote drive feature. Firewire would be nice since it’s an apple product, after all, but again I can do without. One thing I especially like is the little door that comes down to expose the 3 available ports. The major downsides I see are that it has no removable battery, no onboard gigabit, no expansion card slot, and no upgradeable RAM. I can understand how the expansion card slot would be hard to get in there, but the gigabit? just a door on the back or opposite side would work. As for the ram, some soldered on to the mainboard would be fine, as long as there is at least a single empty slot to put another stick into. A big question that I have is, Why didn’t they just make the entire screen a multitouch interface and ditch the touchpad altogether? I’m also going to have to seriously contest the claim that it can get 5 hours of websurfing. That might imply that it could last 6-8hrs with wifi disabled. Based on the current ultraportable that I have, it would just be something I have to see [charts and data] to believe. That usage data isn’t available AFAIK. I can see the guys that made the modbook going to town with this thing and making an airmod tablet. Tablets are SUPPOSED to be completely untethered like this. Hell, I could buy a tablet version for $3.5K and have absolutely no buyer’s remorse.

Hmmmm. Alot to think about here. Basically, I can see the use and I imagine that we will see lots of very creative extras (3rd party or apple).
I would place money on the fact that you will see a wireless USB/Firewire hub that connects with the Air easily and quickly . I bet u’ll see that within 6 months.

But to be very honest the best thing apple introduced was the time capsule. DID YOU SEE THAT THING? OMG! Ok, we now have a wireless base station that saves every file you ever make. I know alot of people wont need it/care but the ability to save practically every file you ever make to an external hard drive without asking your computer to do it? Great idea, good price for 500gb and you get a wirelss base station at the same time. Thats what im sold on.

3 words: PowerMac G4 Cube

It’s sexy, it’s sleek, but it strikes me as a product looking for an need rather than one filling a need. For $700 less the base MacBook is more functional and practically just as portable.

i like the on-the-go concept. it’s really cool that they made it extra-lightweight. i don’t like the lack of cd/dvd-rom drive and having to spend an extra $99 for it. i also don’t like the pricing they are throwing out for the solid-state drive. you can either get a 80gig parallel or a 64gig solid state. the difference, oh… $999. less size for $999 more is not my idea of a good price. if it was possibly a 160gig solid-state i’d say it was worth the price but not for 64gigs. i have more than that in music on my drive right now.
so i’m sure there will be some improvements over time. so i’ll keep an eye out and maybe i’ll think about buying one in a year or two.

These are going to sell like hotcakes among executives who always want the hottest thing. It will also do well with folk who are often on the road needing to do presentations. Apple aimed at an existing market (high dollar, ultraportable) and seems to have delivered. Cost has never been a big consideration for Apple. The Macbook Air is a big win in my mind.

I used to live in Portland OR, and I gotta tell you, walking into nearly every coffee shop, someone, or damn near everyone, had a MAC powerbook or what not. And a lot of them were the latest in Mac technology. I feel that this product, despite it’s high price, will be a target for audiences who have a little more money than the average working man, as was the iphone and Ipod Touch.

This is why I put up with my PC and the vista that’s on it (that and my parents bought this for me, and I can’t send it back, that would be rude), because it was, well for my parents budget, not really cheap, but it was at a good desktop price. A brand new iMac, probably a good 600-1200$. A desktop PC with about the same hardware (more or less) 400-800$.

I admire Mac for the innovation, but if they were anything like Nintendo, they’d aim their wallet a little lower. I believe the best way to grow in any market, is to target the larger demographic of society, the middle man.

interesting i guess. i mean its convient to carry around, but still small

its very sexy looking but its defiantly in the same category at the iPhone for me, I want one but not yet

Looks like you could snap it in half… and i kinda wanna do just that.

It’s gorgeous.

I’d get one, but the price for it is way too much.

I’d still prolly get one anyway, cuz I’m a sucker. :[

In terms of engineering, it’s quite incredible. However, not something I need, particularly for that price.
What I think is really cool is the new time machine 500 GB wireless backup/ wireless hub. That thing is sweet.

I want one. It fits my needs precisely! I have to say I was pessimistic going into MacWorld… I’m optimistic coming out of it. I’ll be buying an Air soon… despite the fact that I loathe the name.

I’m a bit let down. I was half-hoping for a MacBook with multi-touch SCREEN. This multi-touch trackpad is a bit too…gimmicky.

The Air is…nice, but 7 years into minimalist design, and I’m starting to get sick of it.

It looks like a piece of paper. I wonder if you could use it in school and get away with it?

I think it is kinda innovative in it’s own way. Do ISO files run on macs?

Hmmm. You know,, after looking at the other comments here, particularly the ones on lack of features, a big question comes to mind:

Are we sure that this is actually *supposed* to be used like a normal laptop…or is this thing actually just a super-iPod? I mean, consider this in comparison to the jump from the original audio-only iPods to the Video iPods…

I’m suprised at the large screen size. I though that they might bring back the 12 inch laptops. I’m still running a 12 inch PowerBook, and it has worked really well. Maybe they will make a smaller one next. Ah well.

Well, my first thought was, “Ohh, shiny! I want one, I want one, I want one!” But then I saw how it doesn’t have a cd/dvd drive, and being the type of person that watches movies in the background constantly and not having a tv in my room, I often watch dvds on my laptop, so the lack of a dvd drive is a problem. Also… if there’s no cd drive, how are you supposed to put any cd’s you buy into your itunes? And another thing, I use my laptop for all my various projects (writing, video, web design, graphics) and 80 or 60 gb is just not enough space, and you can’t just replace the hard drive in these ones like you can with the MacBook, right?

I like it, but I’m just not willing to spend all the money I make over an entire summer on one. I like the fact that it’s slim, and as much as people have said “Oh, I think I’d break it!” Well, it is made of aluminum, right? So I think it might be tougher than it looks. The whole “solid drive” thing sounds kinda cool (with the exception of there not being enough space) , but again, I’m not going to shell out an incredible amount of money just for one cool feature.

Basically, my opinion is the same as everyone else’s. Nice, but I going to wait until they improve it.

My first thought was “HOLY CRAP! It just came out of an envelope!” then I was impressed by what it could do for the size, and the solid state HD, however, my major issue is that there is no user accessible battery. When I saw it I thought “that’d make a great travel machine,” however, I’ve gotten stuck in airports for 6-8 hours multiple times, and with a 5 hour battery life, that would mean I’d either need to find an outlet or figure out something else to do for the remaining time until I could get on the plane to charge the battery, so that bugged me a bit, I like having a back-up battery for my notebooks.

I think the innovations are awesome. Solid State Hard-Drive, a Dual Core processor that is 60% of the size of its predecessors, the 805.11n wireless, the remote capabilities, all great, but I’m not impressed with the machine.

Oh, and the fact that you have to actually buy the Apple Remote separate from the machine bugs me… not entirely sure why, but that fact that it isn’t automatically included just bugs me.

However, Time Capsule I’m in love with, a wireless router that works with Time Machine for wireless backups, I want one.

I love how small it is and I personally don’t mind the lack of optical drive. It’s a Micro laptop after all so no biggie there. I also like the solid state drive so there’s pretty much no moving parts. Even with a slower processor the lower seek times should help speed things up.

Though I think it is probably a year ahead of it’s time. If they released this next year with high stats (2.0 Ghz low end processor and at least 80 GB Solid state) I think it’d do better.

While I think it’s a nifty thing it doesn’t fit my usage because I end up hooking up several dozen things to my laptop regularly. There’s not enough ports (unless I add a USB hub to my perifrial list) for my usage. Though if I ever got around to having TWO laptops, then heck yeah I’d get this one as my second. :)

Unfortunately, it’s not what anybody really wanted from the next MacBook idea. It’s not bad, certainly, from a technological standpoint. However, the ultra portable market really isn’t all that lucrative. The big announcements were that Intel did a massive shrink, so that tech is ready, Apple is onboard with SSD which should drive prices down, the remote disk access (think iSCSI from Alcohol-Soft) and it’s the first device with the 802.11n/Bluetooth2.1 EDR built in.

What most people have really been waiting for was a tablet or touchscreen mac. The support has been built in to OSX since 10.3. You’d think with the sheer number of people who use a Mac for their day to day graphical business, that the least Apple would do is put that thing on a decent angle and add a pen to it.

That might be the “next big thing” iMac- with an Optimus Maximus Keyboard and a Mouse that doesn’t make me feel like I belong on the Short Bus.

I’d rather buy a Macbook. Sure, it’s a bit more bulky, but the specs on the base Macbook already surpass those of the Macbook Air, even if you go with the top-end version, to which I feel the +$1000 isn’t justified. Why bother with a solid state hard drive that has less storage space anyway? It’s not like that computer will be able to be used for anything that actually needs a faster hard drive (the option/suggestion of using Logic on that thing makes me laugh like you wouldn’t believe), let alone one that can take some abuse… You’ll bust that computer before you bust the drive.

Another thing is the keyboard. Most people who type stuff at board meetings pretty much have to know their way around a keyboard pretty well, and don’t need much more than the little bumps on F and J to work a word processor like it’s nobody’s business. Unless you’re going to be hunting and pecking in the dark (which really should be an issue since you’ve got a backlit screen, right?), it’s rather pointless.

Also, with only one USB port (which you know that you’ll need more of as time goes by), Micro-DVI (Plus cables! Don’t forget the cables!), a headphone jack (OMG!), limited battery life, a small screen, and an overall lack of anything interesting other than its wi-fi capabilities, this computer is more or less worthless to anyone who actually buys a Mac (or any computer, for that matter) for the actual needs of power and efficiency.

In a nutshell, this computer is going to be the next overpriced (by about $1300, in my opinion) and overhyped gimmick. Give me a computer with some chutzpah and the ability to do something other than sit there and look pretty.

if it were cheaper then it’s good. At current price, it’s inexcusable to not have a cd drive. But for its purpose of being a portable notebook, it is perfect without an optical drive. I have yet to use mine on my Macbook. Looking at the specs, however, it does not warrant $1700. It runs slower than a Macbook with 1.6 ghz C2D instead of the 2.0 to 2.2 ghz in Macbooks, and the Air only has 5 hours of battery life compared to 6 for Macbooks. The most i’d pay for this is $800, and that’s being generous because the only thing going for it is its weight (2 lbs lighter than Macbook).

Oh what a surprise, yet another apple product that ignores function in order to be “stylish”. I used to be a fan of apple back in the PPC days but since the switch to intel the prices have got even higher and for little benifit over windows.

For the same price you could get a windows laptop with a much higher spec and get better performance with the same battery life, and better connectivity. On the other hand you could spend much less and get an unltra portable, which is what this seems to be aimed at. Thing is that the screen size is the same so it isn’t actually more portable.

Why hast thou forsaken me Apple!?

I prefer PCs :)

My god, I have been waiting for this. I currently use a Thinkpad x60, because it’s a solid machine and very very small to boot. Apple hasn’t been an option for me because anything heavier than my 4lb laptop was going to be a downgrade for me. Now they’ve topped it by a pretty noticeable amount, and made it thinner and prettier to boot. My laptop already has no optical drive, so I don’t even care, I’m used to having to attach to a dock or usb to get discs in, and I don’t use one much less more USB ports most of the time.

Excellent work Apple, if I wasn’t broke, I would buy one in an instant.

Meh! I think it would be better as a concept computer. Laptops were made to be portable, and I can’t see how this will last after a day of travel. If someone is getting it as a desktop replacement then they might as well get a regular computer.

One thing to remember, when the MacBook Pro came out they upgraded the whole unit including processor, ports, etc within a few months.

Why do I see the same thing happening with the Air?

I’ll stick with my old blue Sony Vaio laptop. You know something’s good when your cat makes it it’s nightly bed when you’re at home, and it’s not broken yet. I mean, honestly, I bought the old cheap 2003 version (~300), and it runs better than some of my friends’ more recent DESKTOP computers.

Macs are in general a tad too expensive for my taste, unless you go with silly packages or school deals [which here tend to apply mainly for the graphic arts programs]. Acers run great for the kind of usage I put my desktop through. ‘Sides I’m a dirt-poor college kid; where the Hell am I gonna get $1500?

I think a lot of the Windows backlash has more to do with the crap models out [Dell, Gateway, HP, Compaq] and less to do with the system itself. Sure, it can be annoying as Hell, but it takes maybe twenty minutes to turn off the annoying stuff and remove anything else. And Acers don’t come littered with crap all over the desktop like the others do either. My most recent computer it took me maybe ten minutes to uninstall the standard Windows fare [Media Player, Office, etc] and I am by no means a computer whiz. Everything else that came on the machine was your standard fare, none of those stupid annoying games tryouts or nonsense like that. Just the simple basics.

‘Sides, I live off my keyboard. Mac shortcuts are a real pain to learn and implement quickly and efficiently. I also find their “simplicity” claims a bit insulting. Did I mention I’m also too in love with PageFour?

Now if I was an artist, and not a writer; hell yeah, I’d probably get a Mac. Aside from that…Nah, not much to convince me otherwise.

I’d say one of the biggest weaknesses of it is that it comes standard with a 4200rpm parallel ATA drive. That is ridiculously slow. It’s also really old technology at this point. I have no idea why they didn’t put a 5400rpm SATA drive in there. Yeesh.

I think this might be a good idea for students, if it wasn’t so expensive.
Take this little thing to class, type up all your notes, then bring it back to the dorm and transfer everything back to a nice desktop. But again, what kind of student has enough money to buy this and a desktop…
Guess I’ll keep waiting…

I like it. I can not only type up papers. I can also use it to shave, decapitate my nemesis, cut a steak… the possibilities are endless!!!

on a side note (it’s probably already been mentioned, I’m too lazy to read all this) this is at least the second computer that had no drives that apple as released. There was an old Powerbook that (2400 I think) that had all the drives on external hookups. No where near as thin though.

Apple should have just dropped the keyboard and made a tablet that functioned like an iPhone… maybe next year. What I would really like to see is a tablet computer that used all of the multitouch functionality that Jeff Han of NYU has developed (I’m guessing that’s where the current iPhone and Air multitouch capability come from). If you’d like to see what I’m blagging on about, check out http://www.perceptivepixel.com/ – if that doesn’t get your tech motor going, nothing will.

Other than that, well, my friend had a 1st get Titanium macbook – what a joke. After a year of delicate use the case started coming apart. If you get an Air, don’t drop it. Look at what happens to dropped iPhones, and they weigh quite a bit less. Now, an old Powerbook, one of the thick black ones? My same friend drop-kicked one of those. It still works, almost ten years later (though not for much more than booting up and “yep, still works”).

Eh…I’d smash it and I know it. Not worth the cash, and I’d rather have something bigger. However, I already know a string of people who want it and will likely get it. In context, I go to private school with lots of super rich kids, and they all want their parents to buy them new laptops next year (I’m going to make my IBM last another year or so while I save up money for a Powerbook). So, basically all I’m trying to say with this is that the entire Yale freshman class will probably have one. It shouldn’t do too poorly in the market.

i’m a tech in the Oz defence force & we’re forced to use PC’s & MS products but after struggling with them for years i lashed out the lovelies & bought a MacBook Pro two years ago & have been completely converted.
a big part of my job has me flying all over Oz & OS so i have a Seagate USB external drive to augment to 80G on board so I’m ok with idea of external drives.
I bought my daughter a MacBook last month for her to use at Uni (she’s gunna pay me back … one day) & I was impressed that it was better than my two year old Pro & the 13” size was actually better for me as the 15” Pro can get cumbersome on board planes unless I spring to upgrade to business class … the RAAF sends us all cattle class.
So now the Air is out & the size & weight is a very good thing for what I want.
So I’m thinking that my wife might inherit my Pro next year when the warranty runs out.
I can get another laptop & write it off on tax over three years again. I’ll add the external optical drive & a 1TB Time Capsule & that will do me till I retire in about 5 or 6 years & then I can get an iMac & be a happy old AppleGeek.

… & leaving it till Feb 09 will mean they will have been here in Oz for 7 or 8 months & any bugs will be sorted … & hopefully the SSD model will be a less costly option

When I found out that it had no optical drive, that pretty much killed my excitement for this beautiful MacBook. Honestly I’m on the go alot, but sometimes I like to take some DVDs to a hotel room with me, bringing my MacBook along so that I can watch them. However if I had the air, this would mean that I’d have to have movies already loaded onto my comp, or bring my current MacBook with me.

While I love Apple, I can’t be hauling two MacBooks with me everytime I go to a hotel, just so I can watch movies. Especially since I don’t have WiFi in my home to transfer data between comps.

It’s a gorgeous computer, just a couple hundred more bucks than the MacBook Black, but still, without that optical drive, it seems to be reserved for a very small group of people

I just got back from macworld, they didn’t have a working model there, but they did have non-working displays hanging from the ceiling mobile style. The air is sweet, and it’s bomber, as for no optical drive, whatever, cds and dvds are like 8tracks and vinyl, you’ll load everything via remote disc, if you need an op drive 99 bucks and its slick. I was hoping for a tablet too, axiotron? had the mod book there, it’s nice, but bulky and expensive.

Meh. I have a new macbook pro, and I’d rather it had an SSD (although something around 100gigs+), and the multi touch touchpad, but other than that, I think it’s a great design for a laptop. Really I hang on the lack of DVDrom, since every install disk I have now isn’t 3.5 floppys anymore, they’re all DVD’s, and I guess this laptop assumes you have a home computer or something to use on the occasion that you do use the dvd rom (which, other than installing stuff really isn’t often for me, honestly). I love my macbook pro, and coming from the PC camp (but only for laptops), I think it’s the best laptop that I’ve ever had, or really seen.

But really, the air just is… meh. I mean it’s cool piece of technology, but I would really want the rest of the lineup to be updated with the same options as an extra, at least.

Take MacBook. Replace HD with SSD. At the 32Gb level its still cheaper than the MacBook Air. Does that bother anyone else?