Hands-on with Apple’s MacBook Air (with video)

41 Comments

At Macworld Conference & Expo 2008, Wired’s Jose Fermoso checks out Apple’s new, ultra-thin, ultra-light MacBook Ai:


Direct link via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTcTQsKyrdU

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]

Related articles:
PC Magazine reviews Apple’s MacBook Air: ‘Will captivate millions’ – January 16, 2008
Apple’s new MacBook Air tempts Windows user to make the switch – January 16, 2008
Mossberg’s early impression of Apple’s new MacBook Air: ‘Very attractive product’ – January 16, 2008
Apple posts Steve Jobs’ Macworld Expo 2008 keynote address QuickTime video – January 15, 2008
Apple’s new MacBook Air TV commercial and guided tour (with video) – January 15, 2008
Jupiter Research analyst: Apple’s MacBook Air a new star, Apple TV no longer a hobby – January 15, 2008
Apple CEO Steve Jobs talks stock price, iPhone in China, MacBook Air, iPhone sales – January 15, 2008
Apple introduces MacBook Air; world’s thinnest notebook features multi-touch gesture support – January 15, 2008

41 Comments

  1. During the keynote when Steve was introducing it he reviewed why it was better for the environment. Bunch of stuff inside is being made without many of the bad chemicals that the Greenpeace type complain about.

    Reply

  4. I don’t think most people get what is so revolutionary about the macbook air and other Apple products such as the imac and iphone…

    The innards of these devices are getting so small that the form factor will soon be almost completely up to artistic design. The limitations in form are no longer the innards as they were several years ago, but the I/O hardware (eg screens and keyboards). But as soon as foldable screens, holographic projection, hand gesturing, lip reading and the like go mainstream then Apple will be ready with the software and internal computing to go with them.

    The smaller these devices, ultimately the cheaper they can be produced and the more sturdy they will be. Apple is paving the way to the future tech dreamed of by many for the last 50 years, where there will be cheap ubiquitouslife improving computer techology for all.

    Reply

  5. I’ve heard complaints about the non-removable battery from tech writers. But if the average battery life is 2 hours, and the MBA lasts for 5 hours, why can’t these writers figure out that this is a non-issue? It’s exactly like having 2 batteries with you.

    Reply

  7. I have yet to see anyone really point out what I believe the MBAir is about: a test bed for new gadgets. It is intentionally targeted at a niche market who are used to being on the edge. Primarily, they are using it to work the kinks out of multi-touch interface, gauge the demand and real-world functionality of the SSDs. I’m sure there are an assortment of other goodies they’re looking at as well.

    Once they can gather feedback on the Air and beat the kinks out of it, they will start to incorporate its features into the other portables.

    A good plan if you ask me. Why risk your base portable users by tossing new, untried features into their mainstream products? Instead, make a hot looking niche product and limit the exposure to user’s more accustomed to living on the edge.

    Reply

  9. @Maclover

    The speculation I’ve read is that the MBA’s with the 5 hours of battery life will probably be only the more expensive MBA’s with the 64 GB solid state drive. The battery life in the inexpensive model is not expected to last as long.

    As much as I really enjoy Apple products, the MBA is not that thrilling of a product to me. I was extremely disappointed to recently learn that the battery couldn’t be replaced by the user. That’s fine for relatively inexpensive products like the iPod, iPhone, etc but for a three thousand dollar laptop (or even for $1800) the lack of a user removable battery is inexcusable. There is no way I could ever recommend the MBA be purchased by anyone. People are much better off with the Macbook or Macbook Pro lines. The specs and performance do not justify the price of the MBA. I don’t think the MBA is going to sell all that well IMHO.

    As an AAPL stockholder, I hope that I am wrong. Regardless AAPL seems to be very strong everywhere else and AAPL is worth holding.

    Peace.

    Reply

  10. @ razor
    “i believe the reasoning for having dark keys is to provide better contrast for the character illumination. – its a seriously cool and useful feature imho.”

    I have the MBP with silver keys and find it very hard to see the letters on the keys, so I think you are probably dead on about the contrast.

    Reply

  11. I was just looking at the hands-on photos at maccrazy ( http://www.maccrazy.net/2008/01/17/macbook-air-hands-on ), and I’m impressed to see how much thought has gone into the MacBook design, especially the fact the ports aren’t behind a cover as such, but the whole piece of plastic they are on looks as though it folds down so you don’t have to worry about it snapping off. Can’t wait to see it myself!!! Anyone know if they have demo models in retail stores yet???

    Reply

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