Will you buy a MacBook Air ?
Posted by YILKA in Hardware, TechJan 17th, 2008 | 1 Comment
So Apple has introduced the long time anticipated ultra-thin MacBook Air yesterday, now the question is whether you are convincing enough to invest $1799 for it 
Many pros and cons are listed, some of them are worth to mention. I’m tempted to get one for me indeed 
but let’s try to see how well do we know of this Air. (Photos courtesy of Apple and Engadget)
1. Love
- MBA is silvery finish which is following closely the ‘Mac’ style of aluminum casing. I love that design – the same reason why I bought MacBook Pro last time.
- It’s thin, very thin. No one denies that MBA has a striking slim body, its thickest part measured ~2cm
- Its lovable weight of 1.36kg, as half as other Apple’s notebooks.
- 5 hours battery with WiFi and Bluetooth turn on – yeah !!!
- 13.3” LED-backlit glossy widescreen display giving you the clarity and brightness that you wish for.
- Apple pre-installed 2Gb DDR2 RAM for you so MBA is strong enough for almost all daily tasks.
- Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor 144MB with DVI/VGA/S-Video/Composite Output and able to drive 23′ external monitor.
- Built-in iSight and full size keyboard with ambient light sensor.
- Trackpad with Multi-touch gesture; you can use 1, 2, even 3 fingers to perform scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag. Reports said it’s quite a mind-bender to see what we can do with multi-touch trackpad, you can view Apple video intro here.
The following YouTube video demonstrates how you can eventually fit a MBA into an envelop 
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2. Missing features
- To achieve that thickness and light weight, MacBook Air compromises the optical drive. If you do need to install software or watch DVD, you (might) need an external DVD drive, or install ‘Remote Disc’ software in order to remote control the optical drive(s) from your Mac or PC. It’s a good alternative, but if you are on the way and there’s no other computer around, that could trouble you.
- MBA lacks of ports, essential ones: no FireWire, no Ethernet jack, no ExpressCard slot. Honestly, I’m not even aware that my MBP has an ExpressCard slot; but the lack of FireWire port is unacceptable 
I do need it for my external Lacie hard drive and again a converter must be purchased. And heck, single USB port ?! How can I sync my iPod and reading external drive at the same time
- MBA has no Kensington cable lock slot, so make sure that you don’t leave your MBA unattended.
- Space and heat issues limit the choice for processor. MBA is shipped with 1.6Ghz C2D processor (or an optional 1.8Ghz) – just mid-power compares to other subnotebooks range from 1.2Ghz to 2.4Ghz. MacBook and MacBook Pro are equipped with 2.0 to 2.4Ghz processors. Apple employees said that the chip inside MBA is 45 nm Intel Merom 2 years making – too much early to the new Intel Penryn. While I appreciate Apple’ effort in forcing Intel to reduce the processor size by 60%, I just can’t stop thinking “Am I gonna use a laptop 1.xx Ghz processor, I thought it’s already 3++ Ghz nowadays!”.
- Limited choice for storage is another set back. 80GB Parallel ATA 4200rpm is absolutely slowing down the system. 64GB SSD hard drive is far more better but then it’s costly like hell (add $999). FYI, the SSD (Solid Stage Drive) is flash-based drive with extremely fast performance and low power consumption but only last for limited years: 64GB SSD will last for 51 years 
I guess it’s much more than enough for a storage.
- Maybe it’s just me who feel that MBA has too much space around the screen and its keyboard is oddly black. Gosh, I’m feeling lost, that design doesn’t look Apple at all 
- MBA battery is non-replaceable. If something goes wrong, you have to send your MBA to Apple for replacing at cost of $129 – not a good design either.
- And final note: MBA is pricey. I hate to repeat it, but … MBA is pricey. $1799 for a subnotebook is definitely something to consider again (and again) before buying. Not to mention that Apple could (I wish) drop price like they did with iPhone and recently with Apple TV 2 
3. So are you buying?
No one but you will decide to buy or not to buy. If you travel a lot then carrying 1.3kg mid-power notebook is considerably perfect. Or assuming you have an iMac home and you just love the thin and portable (enough) MBA that you cannot live without it.
Why am I saying that MBA is portable enough? Imagine in your hand is a 13.3 envelop-size-Apple laptop, but in your bag are the power charger, one USB hub, an external DVD, one mouse, few video adapters… Now how cool it can be ?!
What I really want is an Apple-made-notebook that has MacBook Pro power in a ultra-thin form factor (something like MacBook Air) at MacBook’s price Then I guess MBA is not exactly what I hope. I understand the trade-offs must be there for an ultra portable device but MBA is only close to what I need. Sometimes, a ‘professional’ patient is recommended 
I’m sure that Apple will upgrade MacBook and MacBook Pro very soon; or simply drop MBA price
MBA will come to Singapore before month ends. I’ll try it out at iStore for final decision. For now, I’m on ‘No‘ side. If you are having some thoughts, fell free to sound off your comments.
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About Me
The Flickr set of MacBook Air unboxing photos are published, from Tokyo, Japan
Suddenly, the Sony Vaio looks soooo thick …
Meanwhile, MacFixIt and other sources confirmed MBA is the first Mac to be able to boot wirelessly.
It means: the new feature called “Remote Disc” allows the MacBook Air to wirelessly use a PC or Mac optical drive as well as boot off from the shared optical drive. If you want to fresh install your OS, just boot it wirelessly without using any external SuperDrive
U gotta admire this Air 