“If there were lingering doubts about how well longtime enemies Apple and Intel would work together, the svelte MacBook Air laptop should dispel them,” Jon Fortt writes for Fortune. “Many observers (including this writer) were unsure what to make of the machine when Jobs introduced it in January, especially given that it lacked two common features: a DVD drive and a removable battery.”
MacDailyNews Note: It also lacks serial ports and a floppy drive.
Fortt continues, “But in the months since, it has taken its place among Jobs’ brilliant if unconventional bets. The MacBook Air has been the top-selling computer on Apple’s online store for most of the year, even though a similarly appointed laptop without the narrow profile sells for hundreds of dollars less. And Intel can proudly say its researchers helped make it possible.”
“‘That was the first time they actually worked together on a custom project,’ says Tim Bajarin, president of the Creative Strategies consulting firm. ‘Before that, everything was pretty much off the shelf. As a result, the relationship grew even further,'” Fortt reports.
What does the future hold for the unlikely partnership? Expect more collaborative efforts like the MacBook Air. Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner says the two companies are working on more projects that are ‘equally aggressive’ – which probably means there are both tough technology challenges and tough deadlines,” Fortt reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
• “That thing’s missing half the things on my PC. Where’s the DVD drive?” – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, commenting on Apple’s new MacBook Air, March 6, 2008
• “There are a lot of flaws with the MacBook Air, and it is unlikely to be much of a success.” – MarketWatch Gasbag John Dvorak, January 25, 2008
• “The Cube, although a stunning piece of industrial design, was a commercial flop, and I think the MacBook Air will be, too.” – CNET executive editor Molly Wood, January 22, 2008
Molly Wood What? I’d like to know more….
Going out of business since 1984.
one of my pupils has one. Very classy indeed. ( the macbook air as well)
Molly’s got Wood. She’s really a dude.
DAGH!! THAT THINGS HEAVIER THAN MY TOSH BACKSTAGE!!1 IT IS GO LOOK AT IT. LET’S GET YOU ON A REAL MACHINEGHABNLBBLAHSDOFNSA! SWEATY
Ballmer doesn’t like the MacBookAir because it weighs as much as his hair.
I have a PowerBook G4. I think I’ve watched maybe 3 DVDs on it in the past 4+ years. If I’m going to watch movies, I’ll rip them to the hard drive so I don’t drain the battery watching one movie.
I still wonder if Apple knew going into the co-development of the mini CoreDuo that Intel would turn around and sell it to Apple competitors, the latest being HP that has a new, thin MB Air competitor.
The Air would be the perfect system for me if and only if it had two of the 80GB HHD or an affordable 120GB – 160GB Flash Drive Option.
“The MacBook Air has been the top-selling computer on Apple’s online store for most of the year”
Just wondering how they substantiate this claim when we all know Apple does not release their sales numbers? Where’s the data to back it up?
FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS? FULLY SUBSIDIZED?!
Amazing Ballmer even has a job.
Wandering joe: “one of my pupils has one.”
Is that the Apple of your eye?
Anyone else agree that the MDN Barchart ticker above the article is terrible?
For an Apple site MDN, we want style and usability. Not Microsoft like fugugliness and distraction from the main purpose…
It sure has been a long time since we heard one of the experts tell us that Apple will be going out of business any day now. I miss the old days…
@Macaday
totally agree. and I’m sick of having to navigate my mouse the the maze of green in-line pop up ads for crap nobody wants.
Ad supported anything sucks
“Just wondering how they substantiate this claim when we all know Apple does not release their sales numbers? Where’s the data to back it up?”
Just look on the home page of the Apple store. They list the top sellers. MacBook Air is number one.
@Brau
Apple has the top selling items list on the right hand side of their store.
RE: Barchart
Yeah, uber ugly. The point of a ticker is to provide a constant stream of information, not 2 bits of into with a bunch of black space in the middle. It would be more interesting if you had maybe the top 20 companies relevant to AAPL in the crawl. As it is, it just doesn’t read. The crawl form-factor is completely unnecessary if you’re not going to fill it up.
Steve Ballmer, John Dvorak, Molly Wood……
“Well, if it does not say Dell on it and have Microsoft Vista in it, just how can it be a good system???”
LOL,………just plain…………..LOL.
en
“The MacBook Air has been the top-selling computer on Apple’s online store for most of the year…”
How many MBA’s have been sold since its first release?
What percentage of total Mac sales and Apple notebook sales are due to sales of MBA in 2008?
How have MBA sales trended since first release (i.e by month of the year)?
How have MBA sales compared over time to that of the updated iMacs released May 2008?
Any fanbois out there know of any links providing quantitative data regarding sales MBA since January 2008?
MacDailyNews Note: It also lacks serial ports and a floppy drive.
Possibly the best Note ever!
The javascript AAPL quote via Barchart.com is a temporary item while we debug. It is there because readers requested that we restore the AAPL quote.
We know it’s ugly.
Thank you.
@ MDN
I never doubted you.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
What, no quote from Enderle? I’m almost positive he had some interesting things about the Air’s chances when it was first announced!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Maybe once they debug this site it won’t take a freggin hour to load on my iPhone – this is a great site but has always been sooooo slow to load.
“The Cube, although a stunning piece of industrial design, was a commercial flop”
It was just released at the wrong time, Molly. The economy took a downturn in late Spring 2000 and the Cube was released in July 2000. If Apple released it today, it would be a smash success. For some reason most of the benchmarks on the Cube are faster than the G4 towers with similar specs. Some Steve Jobs magical pixie dust in there???