MacBook AirHead: why Apple’s new laptop is basically useless
- January 15th, 2008
- Read 10890 times
- 143 Comments
First, let me just say that the Air is an extremely impressive piece of technology. The miniaturization, the optimization of space, the blatant disregard for current standards — it’s everything a revolutionary machine should be. Except it isn’t one. It’s a flight of Apple vanity that is completely impractical for anyone who needs to do more than the most basic functions with their computer. Find out why inside.
Let’s start with the obvious: no optical drive. I don’t think I need to list the many things that are available in spinning disc format exclusively, and the idea that you should pack around an extra drive (however compact) or piggyback on someone else’s kind of defeats the purpose of having an “ultraportable” notebook. I don’t use my drive that much, but in fact it’s indispensable even when I have enough USB drives to fill all my pockets.
Next, the processor. It’s fantastic that they’ve managed to micro-size the Core2 Duo, but for any kind of serious work — video and audio editing, watching HD video, playing games or emulating Vista for work — even my MacBook Pro is barely pulling it, and it’s got the Air under its thumb processor-wise. Not to mention that RAM is totally un-expandable; serious Photoshoppers will spend a lot of time waiting while they use that nifty multi-touch to zoom into their 400MB uncompressed PSDs.
And the inputs. One USB, one Franken-DVI. Hope you like plugging and unplugging things! It says it’s built for the wireless world - yeah, okay, but that world is make-believe right now. Sure, you could bring a hub along, but this goes along with the earlier complaint: what’s the point of a mega-portable laptop if you have to bring along a whole support team? It’s like a ditzy model-actress’s entourage: you just want to take the girl out, but she has to have her make-up guy, her photographer, her PA, and she’s totally incapable of doing anything on her own.
And lastly, let’s be honest: did we really need things to get that much thinner? My MBP is a great size, not too heavy, and it’s thin enough that there’s quite a lot of leftover room in the laptop compartment of my bag. The Air is whisper-thin but it does still weigh three pounds and its not like you can fold it up and put it in your pocket. What is losing that last half an inch doing aside from attracting stares?
There’s no doubt in my mind that a lot of people will buy this laptop, but its capabilities are really more in line with the Eee PC than a MacBook, and the Eee costs thousands less and actually is ultraportable. The price point is so far removed from this machine’s potential that it makes the iPhone look like a bargain. I’m glad Apple is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with current PC tech, but right now this computer looks like a bit of a lemon. A sexy lemon, though.
Edit: Apparently I’ve stirred up the hive, so I guess I need to address this one point more clearly. (I already did in a comment but who reads ‘em?)
The MacBook Air is not a subnotebook. The Eee and Everex, and Redfly are subnotebooks. They are tiny, basic, and are designed from the ground up to be micro-sized and limited. The Air is trying to be a regular notebook but failing - what Apple has done is take a regular notebook and flatten it (very well I might add), while simultaneously crippling it. Everything about it is a compromise except the width, and even the width doesn’t make it small; a real subnotebook is more than thin, it’s small in the other ways too. It may be thin, but with a 13.3-in. screen it’s not going in any cargo pockets. Look, it’s a sexy little thing but at that price it’s an atrocity and it is not a subnotebook or ultraportable. Sorry, but size, price, and hardware put it in budget laptop territory, and it’s simply not competitive there except in sex appeel. (Sexy lemon — get it)
devin - you forgot one additional point - no wired internet by default - that’s another $29 right there.
Here’s a common man’s take:
http://www.centernetworks.com/macbook-air-thoughts
good post though!
Good call. I would have mentioned the non-replaceable battery as well, but I feel that with Apple’s track record on non-replaceable batteries, they’re likely to be more forgiving and fix you for free if something goes wrong rather than risk a media storm.
Actually, it looks like they’re risking the media storm…$129 for them to replace the battery:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/15/macbook-air-battery-replacements-129-free-install/
Actually, it’s $129 FOR the replacement battery, not $129 for them TO replace the battery.
Great post. After the initial shock wears down, I wonder if more people will see things this way.
Its one hell of an impressive piece of technology, but you’re right…I simply can’t live comfortably with one USB and no optical drive.
Hello,
i am a happy owner of a MacBook Pro, and i will never buy this MacBook Air.
But it is extraordinaire, stunning, “other cool words here..”
I think this is not targeted to Prosumers, but i already heard many pc-friends saying: “wow this really rocks, i’ll get one”.
I hate minilaptops, just get a PDA! But this will definitely sell a lot, and many people will enjoy and use it.
Not everyone uses photoshop.
Most people browse internet, send emails and share photos. That’s it! Really, try asking your other non-geeky friends.
Great product, once again Apple is the best company on the earth.
I’m not sure that you mentioned how easy it would be to crack this thing. It’s too much dough to spend on a device that will break soo easily…
I bought a Macbook Pro about 3 months ago. Love it!
I am unimpressed by the “Air”
If it wasn’t for the price, I’d disagree with you on most issues. It’d be a great entry level laptop for surfing the web on the sofa, or taking on holiday for watching some movie rentals whilst you’re away.
Does it need an optical media drive? - not really, I can’t remember the last time a put a disc in my laptop (well, OK, I can - it was when I installed Leopard, but I could easily have done that with a borrowed drive, it’s not something I’d do ‘on the move’). Everyone was up in arms when Apple dropped the floppy drive, then about two days later they were all “Floppy what?”. I think this also ties in well with the new movie rentals, and hopefully it means that Apple software will be available as downloads in the future (which is a greener option too - so ties in with Apple’s new moves in that direction).
Processor? - well, it doesn’t need to be *that* powerful, it’s not a pro laptop, it sits between the MacBook and the MacBook pro. This isn’t aimed at “serious Photoshoppers”. In Theory. But then there’s that price.
One USB? - that’s plenty. I think devices like the EyeFi will become more popular, meaning it’s not too long before we won’t have to plug these things in. Now, if only the iPhone and iPod Touch (well, and all iPods) could sync wirelessly. Hopefully this is a move in that direction, and in the future we won’t have to connect our iPods to our Macs to sync them.
It does cost too much though, and I really really can’t imagine anyone paying so much more for the SSD drive though, especially as it is a lower capacity drive.
Finally, someone that gets this machine. Thank you.
I’m a MacBook Pro power-user too. I’m a little bummed they didn’t introduce a new MBP product today, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna sit here and undeservingly rip apart this new notebook. This is totally a rad machine for the average user. I totally support omitting the optical drive and 1 usb port too. The less the better, They’re ugly and not needed for an ultra-portable machine anyway. I wish they would remove the optical drive from the Macbook Pros as well. That might make the machine slightly cheaper, lighter, and thinner. Wow, what a terrible thing.
Devin, you should apologize for ranting like a douche bag and arguing invalid points.
Tito,
I was going to rise above the slamfest that cheapens this to the level of a myspace page but if you can use the Air with out stretching yourself or imposing on others to get the job done then God bless you. As far as the usb issue goes I have been trying to reduce my need for them only because wires are cumbersome, time consuming and the weakest link in the durability of a laptop as far as I’m concerned. To think that the biggest reason to lose the usb is because it’s ugly is short sighted and elitist to the point of being preposterous. It’s not a matter of “getting” this machine. Oh I get it and it has some limited usefulness in the real world. But for the price it’s entirely not practical for the average joe. I have Bluetooth all over my house. I have Bluetooth hifi, headsets, cameras, scanner/copier, phone. I’m into technology making things easier on us but the price point has to equal the potential to make my life easier not leave me thinking how the fuck am I gonna make this pc of technology work for me. I try to leave the scratching of the heads to the guys who develop the technology. Later.
It sits between the MacBook and MacBook Pro? Really? Perhaps you should check again… the processor is significantly slower than even the cheapest mac laptop.
The problem with that line of thinking is that the floppy wasn’t as pervasive in so many forms of data play back as the CD. I’ll admit that the disc shelf life is limited with new kinds of storage options and applications on the horizon. This will only be the first and the smallest nail in the CD’s coffin, not it’s harbinger of death.
Mmmmmm….. sexy lemons.
You forgot the real missing feature - wireless broadband! Any serious business person / mobile anyone can’t count on WIFI (hundreds of airports don’t have it!) so EVDO or something is required. If this were really AIR, it would have EVDO built-in. As is, requires a USB dongle which is huge constant headache and elegance killer.
I think you hit the nail on the head…it needs EVDO built in, or at least not flapping around in the breeze, that’s a deal killer
I think the review was totally off base. Optical drive? Serious Photoshop editing? You don’t need something so thin and more importantly light??? Expensive??
Shows the reviewer has no clue who would buy this. Its the person that is on the road. Its the person that took five flights on Monday (me)
Has my laptop ever been plugged into Ethernet EVER? No. Would I consider using photoshop? No. Do I even know where my detachable optical drive is? No. (I must have left it somewhere)
In all my years working with technology and travelling on planes I have NEVER met anyone with your unique work profile - no etherenet? no optical drive? If Apple is aiming at the market your represent, I guess they got it right.
I’d be too afraid of bending this exquisite, costly slice of technology in a backpack, briefcase or suitcase and I’d be pissed at the cracked screen.
It is a thing of beauty and no one can deny that.
Erm, you’re insane.
Who the hell wants a rarely used (and heavy) optical drive in an ultraportable machine? What exactly do you use an optical drive for that it’s so important you have one permanently attached to your ultraportable Mac? Absurd.
This thing isn’t for video editing, or Photoshop, or playing games. It’s an ultraportable which will handle the basics: web, email, word processing, watching movies, etc. This isn’t gonna be your main machine, unless your needs are pretty basic. It’s there to supplement a desktop, or a MacBook Pro. It’s a machine you’ll hop into bed with, take to a Wi-Fi café if you want to do some blogging, take on business trips, etc.
An ultraportable cannot get too light and thin, as long as the thing remains sturdy.
Agree that it’s bloody expensive, but what do you expect for a 1st-gen Mac of this nature? The price’ll come down soon enough.
One thing is for sure, Crunch Gear missed the point of the machine.
To whine about an optical drive is ridiculous. Bottom line is, for most users, optical drives simply serve to install, upload, or watch/burn/listen to media. Outside of that–do you REALLY need it? (And if your answer is yes, then either; a) go buy a PC or b) suck it up and order the external drive.)
Clearly, this machine is NOT aimed for the prosumer market. (Hence the reason it’s not called the Macbook Pro Air.) Even more obvious is where it falls in their notebook line-up. As such, unfairly comparing it’s ability to render “400mb photo shop file or edit audio/video” is like comparing the BMW X5 SAV to the rear-wheel drive, 500hp BMW M5 - same brand, but built for two TOTALLY different experiences.
All that said, It’s seems as though you and Crunch Gear took this chance to purposely slam the Mac Air just to be different than the rest of blogosphere covering the Keynote. If so, i say congrats - you hit the top of techmeme’s Mac Air feed list. Even if you don’t quite understand who this specific product was designed for, at least it’s good to see you guys know how to work your own promo system. Although, i have to say–it would have been a hundred-times more funny if you hit the top of the charts for zapping Steve-O’s Keynote.
I never thought I’d hang next to you.
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/steve-jobs-will-be-paying-many-assassins/
Good call.
yum…. thin……
i want to put cheese spread on it and eat it up
is it flexi-thin?
looks like it’d just snap in two part (probably more)
oh wait, but we are talking about specs
One USB port?
WTF?
Pretty lame post.
It’s a subnotebook, guys. It doesn’t replace any of the notebooks Apple sells already. It’s not made to edit videos. It’s not made to play games.
Not even MacBook Pros are really made for editing videos.
You can’t compare this product to a MacBook Pro, much like you can’t compare a MacBook Pro to a Mac Pro.
Is Mike pressing so hard to get more page views to CrunchGear? Damn, the Arrington-properties get really worse, lately.
It is comparable to the MBP… in PRICE!!!!!
…it isn’t priced like a sub notebook, and if it doesn’t play games, edit videos, or copy my mates’ CD/DVDs on the fly, then why is it 4 grand?!?!
It isn’t 4 grand, unless you want the solid state drive instead of the hard drive. I think that very few people will choose that option anyway, since it’s so much more expensive for less storage.
I see that the Maclites are already defending this thing. The design is beautiful but if I can not upgrade my ram, hd or battery then its worthless. Why spend 1700 bones for one shiny Aluminum piece of DRM? One USB port is a joke, I can accept it on my Thinkpad 240X, which is a 500 mhz unit, but not on a new laptop. My ultra portable dollars are going to ASUS and an EEE PC. It will what I need and is smaller and infinitely more hackable.
Apple is not the all mighty and people need to wake up to the scam.
I already thought that it would be a bad idea to NOt add this line to my comment:
I’m not even a Mac fan. I hate most of the things they do. I don’t like the iPhone a lot.
But not being an Apple-fan doesn’t permit me from correcting mistakes when they’re made.
The whole point of an ultraportable is to TRAVEL AS LIGHT AS POSSIBLE. You don’t need more than one USB port because you don’t want extra stuff because……you want to travel as light as possible.
That’s where not having the ability to get cell phone broadband without having stuff (that you don’t want to carry) hanging off the side is a killer.
The EeePC has 3 usb ports, memory card, expandable RAM, SSD, ethernet, etc.
The XO has 3 usb ports, SSD, etc.
They’re both lighter.
There’s no reason to criple a system so much, just because it’s “ultraportable” (which it’s not) and you don’t want to carry around so many accessories. What if you want to plug in a mouse and extra storage at the same time, or swap many files with a server, or connect to the internet where there’s no WiFi?