My thoughts on Macbook Air…

January 18, 2008  |  , , , ,
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Initial reactions of the Macbook Air, were all ooh’s and aah’s when Uncle Steve unveiled it to a packed Audience in MacWorld 2008. While half the blogosphere was singing in praises of the Thinnovation that Apple came up with, the other half naturally took up to bashing the Macbook Air, for everything that it was missing.

You might ask me, to which half I belong? Well my answer is somewhere in between, because I believe this is what the Macbook Air deserves. And this is the reason why I held myself from hitting the publish button on this post, so that I could update my thoughts continuously.

Well my verdict is pretty clear, Apple clearly has a winner at its hands, but its not quite complete right now. There is more that can be added to the Macbook Air, that would make it a hot selling cake just like the iPhone.

Apple has once again showed its tremendous design and engineering skills with the Air. Macbook Air feels great, and has the sex appeal to turn heads, where ever you take it. Apart from that Macbook Air is a clever piece of engineering, packing so many features in such a small factor.

But as I said, I believe that Steve Jobs hurried through with the launch of Macbook Air. I believe that it still is an unfinished product.  Surely if Apple had enough time, we would have Macbook Air with much better specs.

Well here are a few places where the Macbook Air falls behind…

  • 80GB hard disk isn’t enough these days. A 120GB or a 160GB would be more ideal.
  • One USB port, seriously guys is Apple kidding us. Atleast 2 USB ports like the Macbook would be great.
  • A FireWire port is missing. I’d love to see one on the Macbook Air. Maybe Apple wanted everyone to use the Wireless Time Capsule.
  • The Audio Output currently is Mono, it would be nice if it was Stereo.

Having Said that Macbook Air, is going to improve lots down the lane, say about 9-12 months from now. I’d expect, the prices to significantly drop, and SSD drives become a lot more cheaper than they are now.

The Macbook Air, was built with portability, sleekness and style in mind, to solve most people’s mobile needs, with much better wireless capabilities than other laptop in the market. Enough said, I believe everyone was expecting little too much from Apple on this one.

Will I Buy it? Well not now atleast simply because I don’t have that kind of money to throw on the Macbook Air.. But maybe in the future, when the Macbook Air becomes more stronger and better.

Until then I’d love to see Apple to work on more thinner and lighter versions of the Macbook and Macbook Pro. That would surely give a big boost to Mac Sales.. Who doesn’t like Style? But the price and features should satisfy it, and right now the Macbook Air doesn’t do its price justice.

If you are wondering what I’m talking about, have a look at this Macbook vs Macbook Air

What do you think about Macbook Air? Sound off your views in comments.

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  • Sparky
    Your wrong about the audio.

    It has one MONO SPEAKER,

    However the 1/8 jack is fully stereo.

    There is no room nor a need to have stereo speakers in it.
  • Joe
    1 USB port.
    Mono sound
    No optical drive

    Did I wake up in 1998??
  • I believe that Apple engineers deserve credit for thinnovating the laptop space, and yup, the MacBook Air makes you wanna drool!

    I own a MacBook, and wouldn't give up on it just yet. MacBook Air is NOT intended as a primary laptop for any person and well honestly, I believe that it's too expensive (at least for people like me) to make it a secondary laptop.

    However, don't give up on it just yet. I am hoping that Apple comes up with a Dock for the MacBook Air, like the ones doing its rounds in all the blogs. If they do, then it truly makes sense to purchase MacBook Air :)!

    Furthermore, I am kinda disappointed that they haven't released MacBook Air with ubiquitous networking! If they can fit in a phone packed with features in an iPhone, MacBook Air is a LOT more space =(! They could have made it a true road-warrior if they had integrated this feature as well..

    So, I am waiting for MacBook Air 2.0 before I decide to make the switch to brand Aluminium :D!
  • Jabro
    It's truly a small Mac, great features and it will serve as an "add-on" computer when you are on the run, because it's so small it even lacks firewire and only one USB port? Hmmm, and to install software I would need an additional hardware. As it's WLAN in it, an additional Mac/PC and "Remote Disc" I can fix most of that... Great, almost.

    But to any European user that are truly mobile it really lacks mobile 3G connectivity. WLAN is great when you are in a city, if you can find an open WLAN or have a subscription to one. With mobile 3G in it I could used it as any connected 3G mobile phone, get broadband speed just about everywhere, as you can easily get 3.2 MBit or more today in many European countries. With a Bluetooth headset I would get a Mac Air as a mobile phone. Now we are talking mobility! Wasn’t that was MacBook Air is all about? Right? ;-)

    You start to wonder how Apple could "miss" this or is it an American product? So Apple, sometimes you miss the little things...

    Other that, a great design, packed into a small nice box! If you need mobility (without mobile 3G), has deep pockets (or a very nice boss with deep pockets), and don’t need to be truly mobile - MacBook Air is great. I might just need one anyway...
  • Guy
    I find it hard to believe, the headphone jack is MONO?!
    (I can't even imagine that apple would bundle a mono output for a major product)

    jeez.
    (is there any reference to that on the air's web page?)
  • mac senomar
    yay how kewl is that? the OS of course is leopard....limited hardware support and limited software support...you cannot upgrade the hardware and no optical drive???=( i can get a better laptop at that cost....dont you know that theres no good product that apple has release the ipod is there for how many years now but the software for it still monopolizing the itunes what a product.....apple users no offense but ill stick with windows....sorry for that but i bought a macbook pro and an imac just to try it out but youll regret youll goin back to microsoft i told you....
  • It's pretty cool, I can admit that, but not at all functional. Mainly for really rich people with low self esteem, who want to be able to say, "hey everyone, look how cool this stylish laptop makes me! I got one first!"

    The thickness of laptops is not what makes them difficult to carry around in the first place, so not much will be gained in the field of mobility; and at 3 grand your gonna want to put it in some bulky padded case anyway.

    1 usb port? mono sound? who is gonna spend 3 k on a computer like that? People who have money to burn and don't care about performance
  • Roland
    Nice post. One thing for sure that the Macbook Air is not for everybody. It's target market is business travellers and those who want some mobility and have a workstation desktop computer at home or in office. It's absolutely well thought out for those seeking mobility and style. And we have to admit, processor speed and 2GB RAM is plenty enough for most mobile task today and probabily in the near future as well. Price wise it's still pretty competitive. I wasn't an Apple fan for long, but this one i believe is top-tier product from Apple. You just have to consider who it is for? If this will be your only computer, then it might not be enough, but i doubt it was meant to be a desktop replacement product anyways. Just my 2 cents.
  • Nate
    Wow, you've nailed the points that I could not explain in words! hah
    As a PC user for 10 years, Apple products are great and I often have to fight the urge to switch.
    But there are just too many things to compromise (one of the most important factor being customizability and expandability..)
    That's why I'm sticking with PC, albeit all the errors, viruses, and BSODs that will be thrown on my way.
  • Hi,
    I think the Macbook Air is not the Macbook replacement, or , a Macbook Pro evolution..
    It serves its own market.. perhaps taking some from buying the other Macbook, that sure, but they are going for the ultra portable end..

    A great thing I see in the Air is the new touchpad, I think it will improve on people who are on the road and really dont want to carry a mouse, but since it is bigger and has the new features of the Iphone screen, people will have a better experience on it!

    I sure would like to have one, but a high spec Macbook is a better option for me.
  • mac senomar
    not quite worth it with the price and functionality of macbookair its quite gay i dont really need it ill better have an alienware laptop if thats the case and besides i have what was apple doing in the monopoly business....
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