You could tell by the look on Apple share holders faces that this was not the highlight they expect from this year’s Macworld Keynote. If Steve Jobs was attempting to ride on the hype of last year’s iPhone announcement, starting the keynote off by revealing software updates and new versions of lackluster products was a step in the wrong direction. When it came time to unveil the newest addition to the Macbook line, Steve removed an ultra-thin light-weight laptop from a manila envelope.
The Macbook Air, weighing in at 3 lbs with a thickness between a minimum of 0.16 inch per side and a maximum of 0.76 inch closed, I immediately pictured all the ways I could break this device by accident. Once opened, the Air sports a full sized illuminated keyboard, a 13.3 inch widescreen LED backlit display delivering 1280 by 800 resolution with webcam, and an iPhone inspired multi-touch trackpad. Under the hood, all 3/4ths inch of it, lies 2gb memory, built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. To make up for sacrificing your optical drive, the Air launches with a software feature called Remote Disk that allows you to utilize the optical drive of any Mac or PC that you install it on. But as always, Steve offers you two choices: a 1.6ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with a 80gb 4200-rpm PATA hard drive for $1,799 or a 1.8ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with a 64gb solid-state drive for $3,098.
If Twitter, a micro-blogging social network, hadn’t crashed at the start of the keynote, it definitely would have after from speculation of what Steve’s “Oh, and one more thing…” would be to make up for all the information that we would have rather simply read in an e-mail. But, alas, once you’ve launched something as innovative as the iPhone, it will probably take awhile to top it considering it was only this past year. Perhaps Steve simply wished to re-ignite manila envelope sales rebranding it as a Macbook Air carrying case in the same fashion that he transformed the paperclip into Apple’s Official iPhone Tool.
Note: Bryan is a proud iPhone wielding early adopter. Who would have known?
good post
Thank you very much! Feel free to send me an email about anything specific you’d like to see discussed or reviewed!
Brian,
This is a really well written analysis of Job’s new product. Thanks for the review.
wow great review.
Totally agree with you I though that the remote drive looked too inconvenient. When I heard about it I though it would retail for about half… then I realised its a mac…
Haha yea, I still can’t figure out why it being a Mac makes it cost more and nobody complains. Wonder if that will ever change!
Apple was retarded to release this product (they are retarded anyways, but thats another story). You either have the option of plugging in the external drive (so much for mobility, now I need two hands to carry this thing around) or using their “new” software. Believe it or not, Microsoft has had this feature all the way back in Windows 98!!!!!!!!!!!!
Down with apple!!!!
Well, honestly, how often do you use your optical drive? I only do if I have to install something and I never do any installs on the road. Don’t get me wrong, I think this product is a waste, but the optical drive missing isn’t an issue with me.
Even though the Air isn’t perfect (and EXTREMELY expensive), it doesn’t really matter that the CD drive is external. I mean, every other laptop that thin or that small (ex. the Eee), doesn’t have an internal drive. The fact that it is USB powered is pretty impressive, so at least that’s a plus.
Oh, and Kevin, WHO CARES! Both Apple, Microsoft (and definitely Linux) had that kind of setup at about the same time. They just gave it a good front end for the average user so the Air would be able to use the feature more easily.
I really think Apple should get it together. This always happens with proprietary software comapnies… sigh…
[...] Macbook Air Underwhelms Audience, Manila Envelope Not Included on Aware Geek; [...]
here’s a nice rewiew on the Apple’s Macbook Air pros and cons: http://www.maconair.com/the_pros_and_cons