[Dan Frakes]

edmetric said:

If the Air external DVD will only work with the Air and not other USB computers and if the Remote Disc feature is only for Mac software and not access of a remote DVD for other than software install, that almost entirely takes away DVD access to the Air. What about burning iTunes playlists? What about burning iPhoto albums? What about burning GarageBand creations? Would these have to be burned in the conventional manner after the Air wirelessly transferred files to another computer? Or, is the Air DVD toast (pun intended)?

If you truly need disc-burning and DVD-reading, Apple's solution is the $99 SuperDrive.

[Dan Frakes]

Martian said:

I am not talking about reasonable trade-offs like optical drive vs. lots of space saving, or a larger footprint to accommodate a larger screen. I am talking about deleting tiny but useful ports like Ethernet and Firewire and a battery door which were deleted for absolutely no good reason other than for Apple's grand marketing tactic.

Honestly, I don't think it was completely a "grand marketing tactic." As I mentioned elsewhere earlier this week, Apple has specifically said that the overarching goal of the MacBook Air was to make a lightweight laptop with a full-size screen and a full-size keyboard; the company decided that those were the three most important features. Given the latter two restrictions, you can only go so far in reducing the width and depth; beyond that, the only way to significantly reduce weight is to remove components and reduce the thickness of the computer. Adding more ports or making the battery removable would have made the laptop heavier and thicker.

In other words, I think we lost Ethernet, FireWire, and a removable battery mainly because Apple decided that keeping the weight under 3 pounds without shrinking the keyboard or screen was more important.

[fraz]

Wow, Martian ---better keep your head down or those black helicopters will get you. Glad clever guys like you are out there to expose the conspiracy that is Apple.

And are you the self-appointed king of traveling professionals?

Are traveling professionals some sort of monolithic group of suit-wearing automatons that are flummoxed by the use of a USB-ethernet dongle (which of course is highly similar to the video dongles that traveling professionals have had to carry with all Macs for some time now?) And hey-- what about some of those newfangled dual use products like my USB Broadband device that has a slot for a 4GB microSD card -- darn that Apple for not making me switch to an express card that I couldn't share with my PC-using husband or locking me into a single wireless carrier.

Oh yeah -- and that airline tray issue, seems like tons of people on my flight to Chicago last week were using PC laptops that didn't come close to fitting either. Guess they were not able to get any work done.

Get off it already -- just because Apple didn't give you what you wanted doesn't mean that real traveling professionals like myself aren't looking forward to a streamlined, light machine with a real screen and full-sized keyboard that allows us to jettison our extra bag for our MBP when we travel. How do other people's purchases diminish the air you breathe anyway?

Oh, and a tinfoil hat will ward off the helicopters.

[fraz]

KPO said:

Something that hasn't been mentioned much, but could be a "sleeper" feature of MacBook Air is the use of the new BlueTooth 2.1 standard. Perhaps when you get a second one in, it would be helpful to run some file transfer tests to get a sense of the "real world" impact. Hopefully more devices (e.g. mobile phones) start supporting the new platform, although even BT 1.2 is sufficient for downloading contacts to my phone.


BT keyboards, mice, and BT syncing somewhat make up for the lack of USB ports, and it does seem that the port has some extra "kick" to power the optical drive. Perhaps Apple will yet find a way to get a nominal "docking station" of sorts, although realistically, that's probably a MacBook Air 2.0 feature. In the meantime, though, it would be nice if a firmware update brought the full BlueTooth stack to iPhone, enabling quick syncing of contacts and calendar items.

This is an interesting point -- clearly BT is somewhat underutilized at present. I'll bet that improved iPhone connectivity (and I agree that a full BT implementation would help) with the Air is forthcoming.

JT

[John_Scott]

OK you do the bench test then say its too early to make anything of them??
Why did you do them? It would appear that the "Air" is slower then the Mac Mini. In fact their are some much lighter and faster notebooks out there that give up less features. Let's face it. The MB Air was just about making it thin! That's it! I realize MacWorld that unbiased reviews are not what your about when it comes to Apple products. But Come ON! That Laptop is as close to production as it gets! If its slow! Its slow! Best thing for the Air is a solid base for my MacBook. But I already have a desk for it.

[mr.steevo]

Hi Jason,

Can you plug in the external SuperDrive to an other laptop (iBook) and see if it works? I could use a $99 DVD burner for my iBook.

s.

[Macdev8]

To each his own

Why must everything remain the same? Would progress be made if we never took a chance?

For those of us that were around on January 20th 1984 for the introduction of the Mac and has witnessed every iteration ever since, there has not been a single year when Jobs has given us something that just doesn't drive a certain portion of the population up the wall.

Thank heaven that the majority of us are open-minded enough to realize, good or bad, that everything that Steve has offered us has virtually lead Apple and many others to more innovations, to create newer standards and rethink how we do things. Hmm. Sounds much like Apple's 'Thinnovation' strategy and the USP for the MacBook Air, i.e.,

MacBook Air is ultrathin, ultraportable, and ultra unlike anything else. But you don?t lose inches and pounds overnight. It?s the result of rethinking conventions. Of multiple wireless innovations. And of breakthrough design. With MacBook Air, mobile computing suddenly has a new standard.

For the life of me, I can't understand why you want the Air to fail. I certainly don't.

Am I concerned? Absolutely. I am concerned that anybody would suggest that "manufacturers get away with crippling products for their own manipulative marketing agenda?" or imply that Apple has is using the Mac OS to achieve the same.

Your suggestion that Apple deleted Ethernet, Firewire and a battery door is totally erroneous. They weren't there in the first place. The MacBook Air in not a MacBook or MacBook Pro that has been scaled down, chopped up and reassembled in a thinner format. This is a major rethinking of what, why and how we do things. Significant research and development. And lot of foresight.

Parring processors, redesigning batteries, and even extending the functionality of our finger tips is just the beginning. If we want to move faster in an ever-increasing mobile world, we have to learn how to untether our older connections.

[Jason Snell]

John_Scott said:

OK you do the bench test then say its too early to make anything of them??

I didn't say you couldn't make anything of them. I said that we were still investigating some of the quirks of this brand-new system, so if our numbers change a bit later, don't be shocked. I don't anticipate there will be any major changes to the numbers, but I felt it was worth disclaiming in the interest of transparency with our audience. So, y'know, we don't get accused of cooking the numbers if they change slightly after we run the tests a few more times and post slightly different results with the full review.

>It would appear that the "Air" is slower then the Mac Mini. In fact their are some much lighter and faster notebooks out there that give up less features. Let's face it. The MB Air was just about making it thin! That's it!

Well, thin and light, but I don't see why you're being so argumentative about it. I don't think the story says anything to disagree with what you're saying.

>I realize MacWorld that unbiased reviews are not what you're about when it comes to Apple products.

Actually, it's exactly what we're about.

>If it's slow, it's slow!

No doubt about it. And compared to the other MacBooks out there, it's slow. Your point being?

[edmetric]

Dan Frakes said:

Quote

If you truly need disc-burning and DVD-reading, Apple's solution is the $99 SuperDrive.

Well, it is obvious and well know that a special DVD device is available from Apple for $99.

I'm more interested in how Leopard and related software work with the Air wirelessly. I can pull down a menu in iTunes and select burn playlist to disk. I can't select a menu item that says send a playlist wirelessly to another computer. I can select a menu item to send an iMovie 08 creation to YouTube. Where's the menu item to send an iMovie creation wirelessly to other participants in a conference? I'm looking for wireless solutions because Something is in the Air.

The point, it seems to me, is to function wirelessly with iLife and iTunes and whatever else a user wants to put in the Air. What I truly need is not a DVD burner but a wireless solution to tasks.

If the Air is three pounds, it needs to function at three pounds without two pounds of accessories. Help me here. Where is the wireless functionality for Air software? Do you test for wireless performance?

If the Air is thin and light, do you test for bending? Do you test for DIY battery replacement? Do you test for DIY hard drive to SSD replacement?

Have you opened it up and taken pictures and reviewed the internal features?

[Solo500]

You have hit the nail on the head-some people looked at the original iPod mini and the Shuffle and couldn't understand the different uses that some people might have for them. Just mentioning those awful extra laptop bags is enough to make the point.


I personally would prefer a 12" option, since that would be just a bit easier to use when travelling. The specs seem usable for most users.

[n8mac]

We have had plenty of people here repeating the fact that the MBA is limited to installing Mac software from a remote optical drive and can do little else with it (apparently not all possible remote optical drive uses have been tested). And since the MBA is emphasized on wireless use it is understandable to call this feature limiting at best. But no one has yet said why this is so...

Is it a hardware limitation?

Is it a software limitation that can be fixed with an update?

[benr]

I'm not going to bash the Air, I know at least one person who has pre-ordered it, so it clearly fills some gap.
I really want to know, though, why Apple so steadfastly refuse to produce a 12" PowerBook replacement. Just the current MacBook (non-pro) guts in a 12" case with a mid-range graphics card and a FW400 port would be perfect. (The old 12" was really just a souped up iBook, after all.)
Is Steve Jobs against small? Is thin the new small? Is there really no market for such a machine?
I still use my 1.5Ghz 12" as my primary portable, largely because it's the smallest full-use machine I've ever owned. I can pull video off a DV camera via firewire, tether an SLR, use FW audio interfaces and hard-drives, and even get reasonable performance from Adobe and Apple pro-apps, none of which the Air can do.
I really don't mean to debate the value of the Air, I just don't understand why (when the 15 and 17" MBP are a given) the 12" should be such a hard pill for someone to swallow. Perhaps the Air's technology make this a better possibility now, but I somehow doubt it.
If this is the wrong place to ask this question, please point me to the right one.

[edmetric]

benr said:

I'm not going to bash the Air...I really want to know, though, why Apple so steadfastly refuse to produce a 12" PowerBook replacement.

I have no intentions of bashing the Air. I ask questions to try and understand it.

BTW, I found a review that lists specifics from a hands on of the Air at Engadget.

http://www.engadget.com/page/2/

The Air is going to be a big hit with those who live in a wireless cloud like students at a university. There are some issues with the DVD and battery life but if a person lives close to his peripheral stash (inside the cloud), the Air is hands down style and function and fun. It fits the flash based camera and YouTube life. Daddy won't stand a chance when his woman child says she needs an Air for college - and don't forget to buy the Time Capsule too.

Business users in a cloud will love the Air. Travelers will have to haul their peripherals and move between clouds so it's not such a good deal.

That's the reason we don't have a 12in Pro replacement. It's the wrong market. SJ is shooting for the future market share. The 12in PB still has a couple more years of Mac life before replacement. The MB sold a ton and has several more years to run. Apple posted that its profits would not be as high this coming year so you know they don't expect to issue anything but modest upgrades with less than compelling reasons to part with current computers.

[worldboy]

Hi Martin,

I agree with you that it is obvious that the real target market of the MacBook Air is mobile business professionals/sales people/consultants etc. The test results show that the traditional Mac user (graphic artist, student, photographer, musician, film maker, etc is NOT the market).

The activities you listed are mostly what I do as a travelling sales person for a media corporation. I have been provided with a Toshiba 12" Portege tablet, a second battery, a USB thumb drive, a 3G wireless card and an internal DVD drive to do my job. The small footprint of the Toshiba is mostly defeated by the need to use an external battery to get through 1 day, adding dramaticly to the weight. The DVD drive is a waste because I only read/burn media back at the office and I prefer to use the USB thumb drive or email for graphics if possible. (Hard media is too easily lost or damaged in transit).

The MBA is a part of Apple's attempt to change this messy way of working. I predict that 70% of MBA buyers will be coming from Windows laptops/tablets. Here's why:

MBA means:
- no second battery to carry to get nearly 5 hours use.
- Build quality
- full size LED lit display & full size keyboard
- No active viruses, high security
- Most essential business applications will run in OS X or in Windows + Parallels
- Multi-touch trackpad replaces external mouse (and wows clients)
- Flexible video out options
- iDisk replaces USB thumb drive in many situations (and it can't be lost or left behind like an SD card - who uses one of those in business except for photography? And why remove it from the camera/phone anyway?)
- Back To My Mac - remote access from hotel room to home is great!
- Tiny Airport Express is a instant wireless network at the hotel/office or client's premises (or the even smaller ethernet adapter just goes with the CAT5 cable you remembered to bring if Ethernet access is a must).
- Most of us (in Australia where I live) already have a 3G wireless contract - the wireless modem is the only thing that absolutely must go into that lonely USB port. I am so glad Apple didn't lock everyone into the same wireless carrier with an internal 3G card.
- Time Machine backups and file storage on Time Capsule NAS, looking forward to this!
- iSync
- Bluetooth for loading contacts to and from my phone and remote control of presentations.
- Is this enough reasons yet?

Notice I didn't mention "gorgeous, cool, thin, sleek or fashionable" yet? 'Cause they're not the real reasons that this product will be a hit in the long term. The real reason is the"ecosytem" Apple has built.

In any given work day I don't have time or battery life to waste on iTunes, ripping/burning music or DVDs, watching movies, editing photos in iPhoto, playing games, installing software (IT does that) or any of the other tests that the Air performs so slowly. Traditional Mac users, there's nothing here for you, move on.

Corporate/professional business users and IT - there are some new words to learn that describe a new way of working.