“If you’re a MacBook user and you never quite figured out what all those holes on the side of your laptop are for—and $500 or so doesn’t mean much to you—the Air is a viable option. Even at 1.6GHz and with an iPod drive the MacBook Air is more than powerful enough for office work and presentations. However, if you need more speed, fast I/O, and better graphics, the Air is no match for the MacBook Pro with its GeForce 8600M GT and the ability to drive 2560×1600 screens. The bigger LCD screen also helps, of course. Storage-wise, the MBP not only supports much bigger and faster internal drive options—it also has FireWire800, the ExpressCard slot, and gigabit Ethernet to connect to external storage at high speed, while the MBA is limited to 802.11n and USB2. This makes the MBP a suitable choice for graphics/video work, where the MBA and, to a slightly lesser degree, the MB, would out of their depth,” Iljitsch van Beijnum reports for Ars Technica.
“It’s easy to criticize the MacBook Air for what it’s not. It’s not a fully loaded desktop replacement. It’s not the laptop for the masses. However, it is a machine made for taking with you on the road,” van Beijnum reports.
“If you’re looking for a primary computer, the MBP is probably your best choice if you don’t want to compromise on performance and I/O options. The MB can still be a decent option in this scenario if your needs and budget are more modest. The MBA isn’t an obvious choice as a primary computer unless style is an overriding concern. As a second computer, the MBA is great if you travel around much in places where there’s WiFi, with the MB coming in second—it’s a lot heaver than the MBA, but also a lot cheaper. The MBP is the second computer of choice for the traveling graphics/video professional and for people that can’t live without good connectivity even if there’s no WiFi,” van Beijnum reports.
More in the full article, including a convenient chart comparing and contrasting Apple’s MacBook Pro, MacBook, and MacBook Air, here.
I love my MacBook Pro
It definitely is not going to be the MacBook Air. That thing is so hobbled, it is not even funny. I will just buy the black MacBook when I can next month.
Biggest gripe I have with it… No removable battery. WTF is Jobs thinking?
Thank god there is someone out there to tell me what I need and/or can afford! I’d never be able to figure it out on my own!.
MacBook Air fits well into the expanded product matrix and I’m sure it will sell like hot cakes — based on its good looks rather than the sheer performance stats.
I’m looking to upgrade from my rather old PB G4 @ 1.67GHz and so I’m assuming that I will notice a speed improvement [as well as battery life improvement with the SSD option].
For an email/web/keynote machine which can also run pro creative apps if I’m out-of-office I think this is a killer product.
Does anyone know of the battery life with all the goodies switched off — eg. no wifi, SSD drive, &c;?
The “Bernie” Mac.
MacBook Pro with glorious MATTE SCREEN!!
Less headaches, less eyestrain, no Computer Vision Syndrome.
The MacBook Air is the future of laptops.
Sad to say, but it’s true.
Because processors can’t be made much faster without incurring a lot of heat, too much heat for a laptop.
The MacBook Pro of the future will be a brand new product, a portable tower.
So on one end one has the MacBook Air, the other end the MacPro, a mid-range desktop the iMac and a new iMac Portable. (iMac Air?)
You’ll see.
I can’t wait to put my hands on a new (revised) MacBook Pro!
I use it mainly for work, so I like a fast and efficient machine with a lot of power and storage. Right now, I have a old 12″ iBook, so you surely understand my needs to upgrade. I will get a 15″ screen (to my point of view a 17″ is no longer a “portable” model).
I’ve been waiting since last september for a real upgrade. Last june model was tempting but I prefered to wait a bit longer because of a few things that bothered me (like the closing latch not been magnetic). Now I hope we will get the new trackpad introduced on the Air Book.
I’ll have one of each please. Thank you.
Anybody had any experience running Fusion or Parallels on a machine with 2GB RAM? That’s may main concern with the MBA. Otherwise a perfect complement to my MacPro.
The MacBook Air should sell to the same sorts of people the Black MacBook sells to – people who want to make a statement (with their computer). The glory of the MBA is its size – or, its lack of weight. For executives and sales types on the road, this is worth the premium. Someone who needs serious computing power is better off saving their money and lugging the heavier MacBook or MBP.
The MBA features not only light weight, but serious marks for style. A major point for someone who wears a suit for a living – excluding techies, who often have a suit “on” but generally look out of place in them.
“No removable battery. WTF is Jobs thinking?”
I’ve been carrying a laptop for 5 years and never had a spare battery. I bet the majority would say the same.
“Biggest gripe I have with it… No removable battery. WTF is Jobs thinking?”
AAAAAAgggghhhhhh! Enough with this internal battery thing. I know that having a “not easy to replace” internal battery has just killed the iPod. Since only a few thousand have ever been sold and where the Zune has an easy to replace battery and has sold hundreds of millions, —- the whole user replaceable battery will always be a —- “deal killer”.
Maybe one day, Apple with make a music player (using throw away batteries) with a hard to use interface, sell it real cheap, and become the major seller of music players, but until then, I guess well have to live in a Zune world. 🙁 Oh well…….
en
@posner
I run win xp with vmware fusion on my macbook 2.0 ghz with 2 gig of ram and I can say that it’s amazingly fast. Very nice product.
As for the macbook Air, I think this Van Beijnum is putting his foot in his mouth when he says that “it is a machine made for taking with you on the road,”. How can that be when you can’t even replace the battery. Most road-warriors bring 1 or 2 extra batteries when traveling.
@posner
I’ve run both on my MacBook 2.0 GHz and 2 GB RAM. It’s fine. Since I only run XP for work (internet and spreadsheet type stuff) I now keep it at the default 512 MB setting for RAM allocation. But, I used to run it at 840 to XP. (I just reinstalled Leopard from scratch as opposed to the upgrade I originally did, so all my apps were reinstalled too)
So, you should be quite alright with the 2GB and the processor. Parallels doesn’t take advantage of the multiple cores on the processor anyway so you won’t get too much stress on it. I’ve noticed that since I stopped using Fusion my MB runs much cooler when I’ve got XP up and all my apps open in OS X.
Hope this helps. Have a good day.
Hmmmm, “As for the macbook Air, I think this Van Beijnum is putting his foot in his mouth when he says that “it is a machine made for taking with you on the road,”. How can that be when you can’t even replace the battery. Most road-warriors bring 1 or 2 extra batteries when traveling.”
If one takes a fat laptop, several heavy batteries, cables, adapters, dongles, accessories, etc on the road, how can this arrangement be even considered as traveling light.
By using an MBA, recharging cable and the cd for making other computers (mac or pc) into remote hard drives and cds, you have the best of all worlds and its really light too. OK, so you cannot download those pictures off your digital camera (unless its wireless too
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” /> ) but otherwise, you are golden. ?????? Right???
en
I would like to stroke the MBA, but realise I have to curb my lust, because my trusty MBP is the machine I need, rather than want.
(Sob)
I waited for the Expo before purchasing another computer. The Air looked cool but decided on the MacBook Pro instead. The weight is a non-issue for me and I like a larger screen.
I am one eager Mac user waiting patiently for their arrival. Well maybe not so patiently so if you know of anyway to speed up arrival time, let me know please.
I waited for the Expo before purchasing another computer. The Air looked cool but decided on the MacBook Pro instead. The weight is a non-issue for me and I like a larger screen.
I am one eager Mac user waiting patiently for their arrival. Well maybe not so patiently so if you know of anyway to speed up arrival time, let me know please.
I waited for the Expo before purchasing another computer. The Air looked cool but decided on the MacBook Pro instead. The weight is a non-issue for me and I like a larger screen.
I am one eager Mac user waiting patiently for their arrival. Well maybe not so patiently so if you know of anyway to speed up arrival time, let me know please.
I waited for the Expo before purchasing another computer. The Air looked cool but decided on the MacBook Pro instead. The weight is a non-issue for me and I like a larger screen.
I am one eager Mac user waiting patiently for their arrival. Well maybe not so patiently so if you know of anyway to speed up arrival time, let me know please.
I waited for the Expo before purchasing another computer. The Air looked cool but decided on the MacBook Pro instead. The weight is a non-issue for me and I like a larger screen.
I am one eager Mac user waiting patiently for their arrival. Well maybe not so patiently so if you know of anyway to speed up arrival time, let me know please.
@ @wiipod
beside the extra battery, who needs the cables, adapters, dongles, accessories when traveling. and how are you gonna watch your dvd on the plane with the mba? ho ya, you’re gonna bring along the external optical drive that Apple charges you 100$ for. and where will you put this external drive, on the next seat passenger’s lap?
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Geez Are people that Weak and can’t learn to pack that a Macbook Pro is too Big come on.. If you are that weak honestly pick up a 5 pound dumbell and workout. My MBP goes everywhere never had a problem and I can still run CS3 and Final cut Studio.. The Air can’t even breathe with that Combination….
“No removable battery. WTF is Jobs thinking?”
I first heard this in 2001 when the iPod launched, then again last year with the iPhone. In this case, Apple will replace the battery for $149, the same cost as a replacement battery for a MacBook. The back of the MBA is held on with…wait for it…SCREWS, meaning you will be able to replace the battery yourself with a little effort, and services to replace the battery will spring up, just like it did for the iPod.
“Most road-warriors bring 1 or 2 extra batteries when traveling.”
I don’t. Even coach on some airlines have power outlets now. You will see an accelerating trend by airlines to ban spare batteries anyways as a fire hazard. It’s already started and no airline wants the to be the last holdout. It’s like when smoking of flights got banned in the 80s–first by Air Canada, but it spread incredibly rapidly.
“That thing is so hobbled, it is not even funny.”
It’s not a standalone, its a supplementary computer. Every ultra-portable has compromises, frankly, I like Apple’s choices, and they certainly differentiate the product. I like the big screen, big keyboard (ESPECIALLY backlit) and that it comes with a lot of RAM. Screw the optical drive, they’ve solved that problem with software, all you need is your existing computer.
Drool, drool…