Steve Jobs, what are you doing to me?? First you release the iPhone and now your company has released the MacBook Air....you're killing me Steve....killing me!!
So we all know the (ok, my) reasons for not buying an iPhone. Yet like any good techno-freak, I find myself strangely considering its purchase. Mainly because it's new and very, very innovative. But it's not very practical. I've blogged about this in the past so I'm not going to go over it again. I'd just convinced myself that I wasn't going to buy any more gadgetry and then along comes the new MacBook Air! Typical.
Rumours abound...
In the run up to MacWorld 2008, rumours were flying around about a new superslim Mac Book. It was expected that Apple would try to enter the high-mobility market. Whilst there were lots of rumours ranging from a UMPC to a Tablet Mac, my favourite had to the one that revolved around a very recent patent application. Whilst this isn't exactly what they released, it might be something that hits the shelves in the next few months.
The lo-down
The MacBook Air is the latest addition the Apple MacBook range and it sort of fits in between the lower end MacBook and the higher-end MacBook Pro. But that's only in terms of its price. Steve Jobs touts this as the slimmest laptop ever made and whilst a few people have said different, it doesn't really matter whether or not it lives up to that claim. Unless it's being considered for entry into the Guinness Book of Records. What does matter is that it is incredibly thin! And light. Very light in fact, weighting in at around 1.3Kgs. A perfect companion to the "road-warrior". Or somebody body like me who hates to carry stuff.
But all this thinness and lightness comes at a price. I've read a few previews on the Internet and there are six main points of criticism levelled squarely at the MacBook Air. Whilst they are all valid points, I would like to share with you my feelings on these issues. So here goes;
#1 No optical drive. Not a big deal for me. I used a Toshiba M200 for about eighteen months and it didn't have an optical drive. Personally, I don't see the big deal of needing a built in DVD reader anyway. When I'm out and about, apart from watching a DVD (which I've done once on a bus from Stanstead), my optical drive sits idle.
#2 Only one USB and no Ethernet. Okay, this might be an issue for some people, but again, I can't say I've ever plugged anything into my laptop when I've been sat in some cafe pretending to be a writer. I might use a mouse, but my experience with the MacBook is that the track pad is so good, you never need to. Apart from a mouse, what might you use? I would probably need to plug in my iPod to charge it. Again, wouldn't deter me.
#3 Battery isn't replaceable. Okay, this is a very fair point. Because I have money and not very much sense, I typically don't find myself replacing batteries after they've worn down as the laptop that uses the aforementioned battery also gets replaced. But if I was going on a very long trip I would like to have the option of bringing a spare battery with me. And of course there is the issue of having to send the laptop away to get the battery replaced. I was without my tablet for a week when its hard drive failed and it was very annoying since all my work was on it!
#4 Uses "old school" 65nm chip. Intel produced a special version of its Core 2 Duo for this laptop, with a 60% reduction in size. Intel have released a new 45nm version of the chip, which is more efficient and powerful, but Apple haven't used it. This is probably because the process wasn't perfected when design work began on the Air, but I wonder will the new 45nm chips make it into a revision of the Air at a later stage?
#5 Uses a different power connector. Alright, I don't know who's complaining about this one, but that's being pretty petty in my mind. I have three laptops and three different power adapters. If you were travelling with more than one laptop this, I guess (!) might be an issue.
#6 4200 RPM HDD. My buddy Mark made reference to this. Again, this is something that wouldn't really be an issue for me. But given that the standard speed is 5200 or even 7200, it's hard to understand Apple's decision. I won't comment on the solid state drive since that's out of my price range!
And last but not least, price. Yes I know I said six main points, but I forgot about this one. This very big point. The basic Apple MB Air is £1200! I can configure a Dell M1330 with higher specifications than the Air for about £800. The M1330 comes with optical drive, HDMI port, ethernet, N-Wireless, Bluetooth..you name it. Yes, it's heavier (1.79 Kgs with standard battery) but has more features. This is just one example of a rival laptop. There are plenty of other slim laptops that manage to keep most of the features of an actual computer.
My Conclusion
Personally, I love the MacBook Air. It's another example of Apple trying to reshape the industry. By dropping Ethernet ports and optical drives, they are trying to push the laptop computer forward. Integration into the trackpad of the gestures found on the iPhone is very interesting. You'll be able to zoom and rotate by using two fingers and the trackpad.
If somebody were to offer me a MacBook Air tomorrow I'd take it and I'd probably find myself using it an awful lot. It's less bulky than my little MacBook and much lighter so I know it would find its was into my satchel (yes, I said satchel). But at the same time, despite it's amazing aesthetics, I could get far more bang for my buck.
And besides, I have to wait and see if the gestures will work in a bootcamp installation of Vista ;)