Might I buy one in the future? It's possible. I'm just not in the market right now for a portable since my MacBook is just over a year old.

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I just bought a MacBook 4 weeks ago and this new MacBook does not have the oompf I need like the 4GB ram and 250gb hd or the firewire and usb ports. I do need the superdrive, too. I think this macBook air shows where things are going. The MacBook Pro will be updated next and it will inherit the thinness (or some of it) as well as the new keyboard as well. I would still prefer a MacBook in alu though, this plastic gets dirty and scratched up too easy. One other thing is that it just is quite pricey. I dont need to show off thinness, considering you need to thin your wallet to get a thin notebook, hehe. But anyway I think this is a fabulous product!

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Only one usb port-and no firewire! Give me a break. I guess for the average joe who only uses a laptop to surf online, check their e-mail, and occasionally uses a usb flash drive, this is good. But for what you get (or, rather, don't get) this is way too expensive!

I still have an iBook G4, and was hoping for a refresh of the Macbook Pro line this week for a new purchase...and hoping (though not really expecting) blu ray. I understand this laptop isn't geared toward the power-users, but still this is very disappointing.

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It's seems like a fine product, but not for me.

First is the price and value: Too much and not there compared to the rest of the line.

Then I rely on my superdrive every now & then enough to make a difference. Also, I need FireWire and a 7200 RPM drive (wouldn't have said that one month ago ,but since I upgrade my MacBook...)


I still can't wait to use one, and the design is nice.

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I've been waiting years for Apple to come out with an ultra-portable, but this isn't quite it.

I used to have an NEC Mobio (weight: 800 g), and then a Sony Picturebook (1 kg), and that's the size and weight I really want. This wouldn't be my main machine, just as the Air isn't meant to be. But for travel, I really need something small and light.

As for the price, ultra-portables always command a price premium. I paid over USD$2000 for the Sony Picturebook.

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My 12" Powerbook still rocks on. Now with a new larger HD & new Fan, i think it's got some life to go yet. plus- it's dimensions, whilst not as thin, are smaller, when it comes to opening it on a train / plane / coach seat: macbook air=12.80" by 8.94", powerbook 12" = 11" x 8.5" ish. ok, so processor and looks aren't there, but i still believe that it's the best laptop apple have ever made. It runs Leo and does everything i ask of it. - for my real work, i have a proper computer- and proper screens. Sigh... after all that, i still don't deny i will weaken at the knees when i see "mba", however, I know my wallet won't.




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Amen to that!

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Same here... it's nice, but not for me... too pricey. The other things I could deal with. I bought my 12" Pbook when I was starting into college. It was a Mac, and it was small... two of the requirements. the 17" & 15" models didn't even tempt me. Yeah, I'd like more work space when editing photos, but I can deal with that. I travel 100% of the time now, and I hope my Powerbook lasts a long long time.

...that being said, I think I could be convinced to accept a MacBook Air under certain conditions... like if you bought it for me..... :-D It's a pretty sweet looking machine, kinda a "wow, look what my fav. computer company did now!"

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If I was still a suit type going to meetings all the the time then the Air would be on my shopping list. But being I do recording and music editing it is too lightweight for me.

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I had a PB 100 - I have never recovered from the great portability. I had series of Duos and they were easy to move around with. I had a PB 12" because it was the smallest at the time. When it got replaced I had to settle for an MBP 15" because there were no more 12"-ers. I am about to be all over this like a bad rash. The MBP is great for what it is but I just don't need to lug around a whole studio. I can't wait to have an MBA.

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minor quibbles here and there about the features (lack of FW, no wired ethernet, dearth of usb ports, inability to drive 30" monitor), but the dealbreaker for me is the size of the HDD. I have enough trouble with the 100GB drive on my mbp; I can't imagine losing 20% of that.

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Releasing a computer without an ethernet port and a built-in optical drive is a mistake. Sony made that mistake with the Vaios, and Apple made that mistake with the Duos in the 98s.

The thinness is cool, I really like the new touchpad hardware capabilities, the environmentalness is a good direction, and the option for solid state is great. But this is just a bad idea, and it will not garner the response Apple is hoping for. However, leave it to Apple to make the sexiest, fastest, smallest mistake in the industry. :-)

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I'm staying about 4 blocks from an Apple Store at the moment, and I need to go in there anyway... I hope they have some models on display, but it will be to play, not to purchase. My MacBook is a much better fit for my needs at the moment.

Still, I'd like to discover that some of the new trackpad capabilities can migrate to my MacBook, through system updates or 3rd party extensions.

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I'm working on 3.5 years on my 15" 1.5 GHz, and I'd love to have a dual core book. Based on my experience with my quad G5, for a lot of what I do the multicores work really well. I would love to have an intel Mac so that I can use Fusion/Parallels. I know that 2 GB is sufficient memory--I have 8 GB on my quad and that is only taxed when my students do heavy calculations. One negative is the small 80 GB disk, but I just bought a 120 GB LaCie little disk, and it can be bus powered. I'm hoping that the USB port on the Air has enough juice to power the disk, my powerbook requires a powered hub to run the drive (or plugging in the auxiliary USB cable to my second USB port). Another negative is the lack of FireWire. I'm thinking that this means I have hold on to my Powerbook for its FireWire port so that I can still use my video camera.

Basically, there must be compromises made to reduce the size of the machine, and I would love to have a 3 lb computer that is actually up to more than twice the speed of my current laptop. The small size really is significant. I'm wondering whether there is any point in not getting the 1.8 GHz model. With my edu discount, I can get it less than $2K.

One last thing I haven't heard, but on Ebay you can get USB ethernet adapters for $2, so there is probably no need to pay $30 for Apple's adapter. Also, I can mount DVDs from another computer right now, so I agree with Apple, there is really no need for a built-in device. I almost never use the DVD drive on my powerbook, but I will when I need to install software on the Air. I imagine there are a lot of folks who can't tolerate the performance and port limitations, but I have the luxury of several machines for that.

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I would buy the thing if it had two things: swappable batteries and a docking connector. I'd want to be able to plug it into a mini-dock (like you could with the old PowerBook duo) to get more USB ports FireWire, Ethernet, etc. Also, swappable batteries are a must, especially considering other subnotebooks have "up to 12 hours" battery life while this MacBook Air has a seriously underwhelming "up to 5 hours".

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Precisely. With a docking station or mini-docks I would probably have dug into my savings. The puny drive and lack of changeable batteries just give me two more reasons to keep my money.

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You could get a USB hub to provide some of the missing ports. I thought of doing that until I realised that the USB hub plus power supply plus USB to ethernet etc probably brings the weight back up to the MB pro level, so why not get an MB pro especially as you can get a better spec for the same money.

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I'll pass on this one. I think this product is only directed at a fairly small market segment: people who travel a lot and have to lug their laptops around all the time.
Besides, a glossy screen! Brrr. You can see a reflection even in the demo on the apple site! Not to mention the other obvious detractors: no firewire, no separate ethernet jack and of course no DVD drive. A definite pass here.

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I purchased a MacBook Pro after trying out both matte and glossy screens intensely. To me, glossy reflects a perfect superimposed reflected image on top of the screen, while matte blurs out the reflected light sources.

The matte reflection seemed harder to ignore. The human brain is capable of looking at two superimposed images and removing one of them alot better than it can ignore the wash-out effect of matte reflection. This is of course a personal choice, but I am far less distracted with the glossy.

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Seems like a fine machine, just not for me.

I currently use a 15" MacBook Pro. If I went smaller, I would want something similar in size to a 12" PowerBook.

As others have said, the hard drive space is also an issue. I suppose I could move my media to some other device, but them I'd be dragging accessories with me all the time. I also do network troubleshooting, so need the hard-wired Ethernet port.

I am curious to see how you can boot from a DVD drive in a different device, especially a non-Macintosh device.

At the end of the day, my nearly two year old MacBook Pro (ordered shortly after it was announced about two years ago) is still doing the job for me, especially after I upgraded to a 250GB hard drive this past fall.

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I pretty strongly agree with this. This is a really cool machine for certain people, but not for me. Now if I had an unlimited budget to get my wife a brand new machine it would be perfect. She is currently using a G4 iBook, and this would be even more portable, and she only uses one USB port ever. And it has never had its ethernet jack utilized.

The only issue would be getting CD's into iTunes, and the shared CD thing would probably be just fine.

I my self use Pro Tools and Aperture, and often have firewire and USB devices connected. I also need upgradable RAM and HD space so that I can expand when necessary. As far as the general computing population goes though, I'm probably in the minority (although that minority is a majority on a site like MOSXH).

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I carry my 17" MBP everywhere and I need every ounce of processing power and memory for what I do with it (I run multiple databases and multiple application servers on it) so I can't imagine the AIR being powerful enough for me any time in the next few years. I also tend to have two or three USB devices plugged in all the time I'm at home. The AIR is neat and cool and all that but just not a fit for me (and it seems very expensive for what it is with the low chip speed and small HD).

---
"If you're not annoying somebody, you're not really alive."
-- Margaret Atwood


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Apple have an optical drive and an Ethernet adapter that plug into the USB port, but where's the Firewire adapter? Sure, the USB 2.0 port is plenty fast, but I can't plug my camcorder into a USB port.

I'm still looking for a replacement for my 12" PowerBook. Thought this might be it, but on further review it looks like the HDD is too small (as usual) and there is no Firewire. Apart from that it looks pretty cool. Did they at least sculpt the key caps?

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I plan to get one just for traveling, but certainly not to use as my main system (I have iMacs and a MacBook for that). I actually would have preferred a smaller screen so that it's more easily openable when traveling on planes and trains. The hard drive is a little small. But for doing basic MS Office stuff, giving presentations (Keynote, of course!), keeping in contact (Skype) with family, etc. this is going to be an ideal traveling companion. My main concern - having to decide which files not to synch over to it so as to keep size down to the 75 Gb or so that it'll realistically permit.

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What a mess of a product. Too expensive for the average joe and with only 2GB and 144MB of that reserved for the on-board video it will turn the pros off.

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It seems to be a very cool Notebook, but as a pro I'm clearly not the target audience, at least not as the primary machine. There's no 30" support, no integrated optical drive, no FireWire(800), no Ethernet, no ExpressCard Slot and the screen is too small.

It really depends on what you intend to do with it. Well, as I said: A great notebook for sure, but not for me.

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Ultra-thin - yes. Ultra-portable - no.

It won't fit in my pocket. I was looking for something smaller than my 12" albook, and am disappointed. No sale here.



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I really can't see the point of this. It's cool beyond belief, and a real feat of engineering, but why pay more money to get less laptop?

I can see as a device it'll appeal to those who just want to do a bit of surfing and rarely connect anything, but will those people really pay over the top just to get thinness? Maybe they will. For the rest of us, it's far too low a spec.

Mark

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I love the thinness and lightness, I can live without an optical drive and I don't need ethernet, though Firewire would have been nice. But as with robg, the no-swappable battery is the real problem for me. Maybe the second version in a few years will correct this strange decision.

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Because:
- I got an iBook G4 and see no point buying a new laptop until this one dies and/or is not supported anymore.
- Even tho that new laptop is "greener", it would in no way excuse me from getting rid of my actual iBook until its lifetime is over; it would actually be an act of pollution.
- MacBook Air's battery is not removeable (costs & complications involved if ever a replacement is needed).
- No optical drive (unless you buy the expansion or use one wirelessly).
- Too easy to steal in a public environment.

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I don't commute or I might consider it for it's weight. Not likely to get one:

Sorry, I think it's ugly. Expect a form factor redesign.

Too slow

My MacBook Pro is less than 1 year old

HD too small

I was ready to buy before the keynote. I didn't know it would be significantly slower than what I have.

Firewire- don't need. Sorry, time to face the music. It lost the war. Everything with firewire costs a premium. I now buy everything with USB2.

Optical Drive - don't need. I never use mine except to install software. Wouldn't miss it at all.

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A lot of people use notebooks as their main computer, including me, and for many of them, the MacBook Air will not be very tempting for many reasons. However, consider the following scenario: you have a 17" Macbook Pro as your main computer (I wish--I'm still using my original 17" PB). You often travel commute, and you've been lugging the big guy along, and have been spending a bunch of cash on physical therapy for lower back and shoulder pain.

Well, I think you'd be a prime candidate for the Air. With Back to my Mac, you'd have access to all the files, email, and programs on your MBP from afar. You could finally retire the wide suspenders--the Air is definitely cool enough all by itself. And, you'd even end up saving money--physical therapy is expensive!

So, for me, if and when I upgrade my trusty 17" PB, if there is some cash left behind, I would definitely consider the Air--as a second computer.

Greg Shenaut

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The air is a secondary computer, full stop. A colleague of mine uses a Windows PC at work and has a MBP at home, running at 1.8 GHz with an 80 GB drive and 1.5 GB RAM. He needs no Gigabit at home. His Mac is a secondary computer.

For me, the air would also not replace my pimped out MBP but be a secondary travel/daily commute computer.

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the machine is nice but too pricey and not enough upgradeable for me...
one day, i might use this as a second computer but right now, the CD drive, ram and battery are too important (in my recent mac experiences) to ditch my G4. Even as a second computer, I'm using my laptop too much to let go that much features. Personally, I'm nor ready yet for a fancy-air-media-center! ;)

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Before MacWorld I fretted that Apple might come up with something that'd make me regret buying a MacBook last fall. That didn't happen.

The MacBook Air is like an expensive but temperamental sports car. The lack of a full set of ports and a replaceable battery mean trouble. Ethernet is secure. WiFi isn't, not to mention the interference if I tried to use it for large scale backup. Jobs may live in a big house on a big lot. I don't. I can pick up over 20 non-stealth WiFi sources from my hillside apartment. Ditto the built-in battery. Why should an battery that's just a little weak be tossed out as worthless?

If the twits at the Sierra Club had sense, they'd forget looking for traces of obscure chemicals inside iPods and make an issue of Apple's battery policy. Toss-away products with hard-to-replace batteries is Apple's real sin against the eco-puritan ethos of "waste not, want not."

Steve Jobs' speech made me realize that what I really want is a sturdy, less-toy-looking version of the $180 OLPC. Something cheap, rugged, and simple for the writing I do away from my desk. And I suspect when the US version of OLPC begins to eat into Apple's education sales, they'll find they need to create one.

Until then, I'll enjoy my MacBook.

--Mike Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien

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It's the same with two-seater cars. Who on earth would buy them, can't fit more than two people. What were the companies thinking, they must be stupid and arrogant. Think about the person-mileage a two-seater gets, much lower than a four-seater car. I would stop buying cars from companies that make two-seater cars, they really insult one's intelligence. And then this, they have the audacity to sell two-seaters for a higher price than four-seaters.

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bigger footprint, smaller screen than macbook

no firewire

80GB gone in no time

no firewire

no removable battery, a must.

no firewire!

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I have a Mac mini at home for high end computing and I needed a Mac for the road and the airplane. Or the coffee shop. This means space is scarce and I was hoping for a small footprint, a screen as wide as the 12" iBook was but a little less high (so you will get widescreen). The keyboard would still have been normal size, but the handrest would have been smaller. And I would have accepted stripped-down features. Six months ago my old iBook broke down and I had to buy a replacement -- a MacBook. I was not too happy then but I had no choice. Now I have the choice but I would till buy a MacBook. Same footprint, more features, more weight but less price.

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I just bought a MacBook Pro...

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If I were an anthropologist I could convert the poll & comments into a characterization of the Hints community. Simplistically - Over half the results are from those with no interest in a MBA, not enough stuff in it. Hints people like stuff: OS, software, hardware, and what they can do with it. You know who you are. Got a few computers lying around, do you? I can see three from where I'm typing. Now we know there are other kinds of people. Apple obviously thinks there are enough 'others' to make the MBA a financial success. I wish them well.

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I guess I'll have to wait for the MacBookProAir (MacJordan?) before they come out with a matte screen. Those glossy screens are horrible!

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If the results of this poll are any indication, looks like Apple won't be selling as many as they're hoping.

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2GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook
http://www.wesg.ca

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Footprint is the deal-breaker for me. If my old 12" Powerbook hadn't gasped it's last, I'd still be using it.

Even were I to buy one, as the owner of a 1st-gen Black MacBook that came with only a half-gig of memory, 80GB drive and Core (not-2) Duo processor, I will never ever buy an Apple product until at least 6 months after its initial release.

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Personally I think Apple's putting this thing out to get people to buy real MacBook's or MacBook Pros which are much better for the $$.

Now if it were are new Newton, that would be another story!

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I'm not going to get one because all my mobility needs are met with my iPhone.

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Im going to wait a year or so, once the price is like $1499 or so then i may get it as a laptop replacement.

I still want to the $1499 Mac, Pro with just c2d

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Will the remote disk feature support installing XP in BootCamp? That is the only technical question left unanswered.

As is, it will support my new Sony video HDD recorder and my camera, and I'll do any serious work on at my Desktop. I'm finding my MBP15 to clunky to carry around anyway.

Would have preferred something even smaller with touch screen instead of the 13" screen and "big" touchpad.

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I've been wanting a 2nd computer since selling my MacBook to my daughter-in-law a few months back. I waited for the MWSF knowing something new would come along. Sure enough, the MacBook Air...

Wanting a laptop that will run a long time on its battery alone, running Leopard and being able to use the "Back to My Mac" feature to get to my home base PowerMac Dual G5 (June 2004 model), the Air seemed ideal.

I've done a BTO for the Air with a 1.6 GHz processor and SSD to provide maximum battery life whilst I'm mobile and to keep the heat/temps low in the skinny Air's enclosure so that the laptop will last that much longer due to the lower temps during its life time. Heat will kill the electronics over time. My Corp 15% discount will also help. ;)

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Regards... Barry Sharp

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If I had a need for a second laptop doing light-duty stuff, this would be it...if it were about $400 less. As it is, I need a full up Pro laptop to replace my 17" G4 PowerBook. So I'm waiting for the next major MacBook Pro update and will order one on the release date.

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when that sweet docking station option is released... I'll be first in line. I can't remember if I saw the patent for it on Macintouch or MacOSRumors, but it was sweet. Basically an iMac with a vertical slot load on the side for a subnotebook - slide it in, poof, larger display, and you could probably squeeze in another drive for Time Macine too, as well as more USB ports and whatnot.

I was blessed with having a duodock back in the day and that was one of the best machines ever for work/travel/home. A MacBook Air with dock would be incredibly sweet!

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Nope, love the weight, and the cool factor. BUT, I'll stick to my aging 12" G4 PowerBook 80% of the time.

Reasons... I've worked in IT for years I need the optical drive for distribution software, two USB ports at least, I move config files and patches on USB flash drive, while I use second USB for cable to connect to routers/firewalls, and I need a physical Ethernet connection. For Cisco SDM and things which needs windoze software, my 13" MacBook with fusion and XP.

Now a new intel powered 12" PowerBook with all the features the old one had + the new touchpad, ease of memory & disk upgrade the MacBook has, and for the cool/geek factor say a new Carbon Fiber case....... I be in the queue for that.

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