The oh-so disappointing Macbook Air

I really, really, really wanted a Mac the size of my Asus EEE, even if it cost a little more and lacked a feature or two.

But Apple has gone and broken my Tuscaloosa heart again. Instead of a tiny, more portable Mac with innovative features (WAN internet, etc.), we get a super thin Macbook with a 13" screen that is lacking several things while adding very little.

My gripes:

  • The price. Holy shit, seriously? $1799 for the 'base' model and a whopping $3089 for the model with a 64gb SSD drive? Sorry, but that premium just isn't worth the cost - especially given that it is more expensive than a top of the line Macbook Pro.
  • No option to plug in a high speed card like those available from ATT, Sprint or Verizon.
  • No ethernet. Yeah, that's right...you get wireless or nothing baby. Yes, you can buy a USB to ethernet adapter, but you only have...
  • One USB port. Hope you like to travel with powered USB hubs.
  • No optical drive unless you use an external drive or the new 'remote disc' app, which will presumably require installation on another system.
  • No firewire - way to push those standards, Apple. Hell, even a mini-port would have been better than nothing.
  • No user upgradeable RAM - no one will ever use more than 2gb of memory, right?
  • The battery is not a user replaceable part. Yes, you read it right. It has the same battery situation as an iPhone or iPod. Good thing you can fly anywhere in the world in under 5 hours!

That being said, it is without a doubt the most elegant laptop ever released. But the Cube was also considered evolutionary and look how that ended up.


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Yes, dimension and size-wise it is a marvel, but it has obviously paid a precious price for being so tiny.

I hate to say it, but the only way I can see this being even remotely successful is if it drops in price by about 40%. What do *you* think?

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  • Marko
    Granted $1700 is a lot of money, but it's about average for a three pound notebook. Compare it to what Sony or Fujitsu has to offer.
  • Tim L.
    You left one very important hardware feature off your list: SPEAKERS. I've been told there is a single built-in speaker in the Air, but that's certainly not something most people will want to use for movies, iTunes, or any presentation. So updating the list of really necessary carry-alongs: powered USB hub, Ethernet dongle, external battery, the $99 DVD drive, and speakers and/or headphones and your oh-so-slim, light, and sexy MacBook Air... isn't.
  • Mike P
    Every once in a while, Jobs and crew venture too far into industrial design Wonderland.

    A perfect example of form over function.
  • I think the desirability of this will still mean it will sell reasonably well. There will always be those that are prepared to pay a premium or require a machine that is as small as this. Agree it would have been nice if the price was a little closer to a standard MacBook but in reality Apple have always been about maintaining product differentiation and not killing sales of their existing products with introduction of new ones.

    It clearly isnt going to ship in same numbers as the MacBook and Pro models though as it is aimed a smaller demographic.
  • As much as I'd like to get myself a Macbook Air, it just doesn't warrant the base $1800 price. If it had upgradeable ram and a faster CPU than maybe I'd go for it, but as it stands right now, I'm more than satisfied with my white Macbook with 4gigs of ram.

    The svelte design can only go so far. I definitely like it, but I can hold out a couple of months until they refresh the MBA and incorporate some of the things I mentioned.
  • Definitely got some issues, and I'm right there with you on the exorbitant price.

    However, you can bet that this is the first step toward fitting the macbook pro into the MBA shell. Next year we'll get a tablet air. Two years from now the entire macbook lineup will look like this.
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