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The MacBook Air, Apple's latest Intel-based laptop, is the lightest, thinnest laptop Apple has ever constructed, and according to Apple, it's the thinnest laptop ever made. And in many ways, the story of this laptop is the story of a series of compromises, all made in order to fit an entire Mac in a three-pound package that's three-quarters of an inch thick at its thickest point.
Macworld Review: MacBook Air
Seeded on Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:00 PM EST
Article Source: Macworld- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (3)
A level-headed and detailed review. Well worth the read if you are at all interested in the Macbook Air.
By the way, I saw one in person yesterday, and it seems thinner in person than it does in pictures and video. I couldn't believe it.
- 1 vote
#1 - Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:09 PM ESTIs losing several hundred megahertz, dozens of gigabytes of hard-drive space, an internal optical drive, and FireWire connectivity worth losing two pounds? (Those are the differences between the MacBook Air and the MacBookâif you're considering a switch from the MacBook Pro, the differences are even starker in both directions.) Each laptop user will have to answer that question for themselves.
As a longtime fan of small laptops, I embraced the MacBook Air with some trepidation. But once I slipped that three-pound laptop into my backpack and threw the bag over my shoulders, I realized that sacrificing some storage space and some processor power was ultimately worth it for me.
And there you have it. If weight is of utmost importance to you, then consider the Air. If not, then you have both the MacBook and MacBook Pro to consider.
- 2 votes
#2 - Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:31 PM ESTThat's it, basically. If you spend most of your time at your desk and only occasionally move your laptop, a Macbook or MBP is your best option. If you walk around with your laptop every day, along with other materials such as books and notes, this may be exactly what you're looking for.
I have been thinking about it, and I think I can *almost* compromise enough to use a Macbook Air as my main computer. I am a student, so I need a laptop with an excellent keyboard, great screen, and as light as possible. Space is an important commodity for me, so anything that uses less space interests me. Moreover, I do web design on the side, so my power requirements aren't very stringent -- run Coda and an Illustrator app, run them well, and that's fine.
One USB port is fine -- I only have two on my Powerbook, and I only rarely use both of them at the same time. When I am, though, I am always at a desk, so a USB hub would solve that rare problem quite nicely.
Built-in battery is fine -- I have never switched out my Powerbook's battery, and its battery life isn't as good as the Macbook Air's.
Lack of a built-in optical drive is usually fine. Now that I connect my iPod to my car's stereo, I don't burn CDs very often. I do, however, buy music CDs and import them into iTunes quite a bit. Annoyingly, this is my biggest sticking point. While I use the iTunes store a lot, the limited selection of iTunes Plus music just doesn't make it a complete replacement for CDs. Moreover, friends lending me albums, and ripping them into iTunes, becomes almost impossible without a second computer or the optional Superdrive which, for a student, is a difficult sell.
I am close to saying to hell with it and deciding on getting an MBA toward the end of the year, but the optical drive is an annoyance, since it is such a relatively small issue.
- 1 vote
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