“The Apple Blog’s Charles Jade thinks the MacBook Air is on the bubble, citing as precedent the demise of the erstwhile and much-loved 12” PowerBook G4 that Steve Jobs unveiled in 2003’s Macworld Expo Keynote, touting it as ‘the smallest full-featured notebook in the world,”‘ Charles W. Moore writes for PowerBook Central.
“The 13” MacBook/MacBook Pro is a much closer analog to the 12” PowerBook than the MacBook Air is — much more so than the heavier, bulkier black (original polycarbonate) MacBook that initially superseded the 12” PowerBook G4’s price slot in Apple’s laptop lineup,” Moore writes
“The 13” MacBook Pro has a faster Core 2 Duo processor, a faster 5400 ROM full-sized 2.5” hard drive with 40 GB greater standard capacity and upgrade potential to a whopping 8GB, longer battery life, a multitouch buttonless trackpad, and is $300 cheaper to boot. That few millimeters thinner dimension and pound-and-a-half less weight begin to look awfully expensive and crippling by comparison,” Moore writes.
Moore writes, “I would say that if the MacBook Air’s days are numbered (and remember the demise of the Mac mini has been rumored imminent for more than two years now, and it’s still with us and even had a recent refresh), it’s because it pales in raw value and performance to the not-much-bigger 13” MacBook Pro.”
Much more in the full article here.
Well, there is something to be said for having a computer that weighs next to nothing that is purely used for web/word processing.
I’m buying one for my girlfriend for that exact reason, she’s sick of carrying huge schoolbooks to college and a laptop. The air is perfect for what she needs.
That said, you can tell when apple doesn’t give a crap about a certain product by the amount of them in a store (2 airs in the soho store, 1 atv etc).
There are a lot of people (including myself) that are simply waiting for our current machines to get past usefulness (to us) so we can sell them to buy an Air.
I never needed a powerbook, but the flimsier and heavy MacBook and a MacBook Pro made us think – bah… MBP.
Now, for travel, there’s no way i’d ever get a MBP again.. not with the air.
Next they’ll say Apple is doomed because the whole world is copying and imitating them and coming out with competing and better products at cheaper prices and that they all will use Apple’s propriety software and intellectual property whether Apple likes it or not….
Hey idiots – Apple was and is FIRST and Foremost. What don’t you get about innovation?
“Not much bigger” is still bigger. The MacBook Air is definitely a niche product, and it could do with a refresh to beef up its specs relative to the 13″ MacBook Pro, but it fills a role and it sells. As long as it is profitable, I think it will hang around.
People were writing articles about how the MacBook air was doomed right from the day it was launched.
They always cite the same reasons too.
The Air will probably change up to not use HDDs, etc., so that it is a niche product for Apple. The real factor with the Air is the price, which if that could come down (as storage memory prices decline), the Air will be a greater value. I’d love to have one, but can’t swing it just yet.
The other factor may be the rumored MacBook tablet, which could kill the Air, but from which much of the Air’s technology is utilized.
Plausible.
Got a MBA and tired of it’s limitations, moving to MBP 13 and live with the xtra weight
That said, you can tell when apple doesn’t give a crap about a certain product by the amount of them in a store (2 airs in the soho store, 1 atv etc).
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I think Apple “give a crap” the most about products that sell the best…
That being said, the MBA price is hard to justify when compared to the new 13″MBP… Sure, it’s a few millimeters thinner and 1.5 lbs lighter, but it’s also a whole lot less useful.
Who wants to spend $1499 for a web browsing and email machine when an iPhone can do the job for $199?
I think the author hit the nail on the head. I’ve wanted the Air for such a long time but the price difference relative to what you got and in relation to the new 13″ MBP just doesn’t make it viable.
At this point, the only way I’d get the MBA is to have a HUGE (1TB or more) SSD, buttonless trackpad (why on earth that of all laptops has a physical button is beyond me), and lower price point.
I really want to buy the MBA. I really do. But it’s just not good enough yet in it’s current state. Here’s a toast that revision 3 gets it right.
I think the macbook air is in trouble too. I always thought it was an exploratory type of device with the mactouch tablet being the eventual successor.
I guess we will find out soon enough.
I’ve lambasted that expensive piece of garbage from the moment it was announced. That overpriced hunk of junk should’ve been no more than $900.
The price of the new MacBook Pro goes to show that Apple purposely screwed over the pour souls who bought a MacBook Air. It took a near economic depression for Apple to come down to reality.
13″ MacBook Pro has 5400 ROM.
I think ALL LAPTOPS are Doomed….get a HUGE desktop and an iPhone and that is all you need.
@ R2
Coming from someone that’s as regularly and thoroughly lambasted on this site as you are, your opinions hold less water than dried shite on a hot sidewalk.
Just knowing you’ve panned the Air is reason enough to buy one.
Sigh. If only Apple would make a 15″ Air, I’d buy it in an instant. I know I’m one of very few, which is why they won’t make one. But still…
I don’t need huge performance. And having a thinner, lighter computer would be great. But I loathe tiny screens (and 13″ is too small, IMO). So I stick with my first-gen MBP.
come on people… the writing is on the wall. The Air is going to be transformed into this rumoured tablet device
It is incredibly amusing how people get all opinionated here. What I find funny is the alternate reality they live in.
MacBook Air is an incredibly successful computer for Apple. It sells better than the 17″ MBP. It will continue to sell extremely well, and many here don’t seem to understand why.
The answer is actually quite simple: women. The difference in weight, size and style between the new 13″ MBP and MBA is, for this particular (and quite large) consumer group, the night and day. Today’s MBA has performance that is superior to most portable Macs that came out three years ago. MBA will handle any task you throw at its iLife or iWork software, and many others as well. In other words, for vast majority of today’s users, performance-per-dollar isn’t a serious problem.
For Apple, MBA is a very solid performer. It has a very solid market segment, generous profit margin and a stable future. I’m sure there will continue to be people who genuinely believe BMA is an “expensive piece of garbage”, and they (obviously) won’t buy it. Fortunately (for Apple, as well as the large market segment out there), there will be plenty of those for whom it is the best, coolest, most amazing laptop ever to have been made by anyone.
Currently, I have (among other Macs) a 2007 13″ White MB. In about a year, it will be replaced by whatever MBA is offered at the time. That is because that MBA will do exactly everything that current MB is doing, but will be much lighter to move around.
I have an air with 128gb ssd. It has replaced all of my other computers. Remarkable machine. I travel weekly and it can’t be beat.
The 13 inch MBP is tempting but the .5LB weight difference between it and the 12 inch Powerbook doesn’t justify the purchase. I typically walk around with 8-10LBs worth of books along with my laptop so the substantially lower weight of the MBA is tempting, but the price is still just a bit too high. Also quite frankly the footprint of the 13 inch MBA is larger than I want. If the mystery tablet type thing is not launched by Fall, a dell mini 10v will look even more tempting than it already does. Here’s hoping…
The 13″ MBP is probably the true successor to the 12″ PB G4, but the MBA is aimed at a different consumer really.
It is “the” truly mobile, light, super-slim notebook with a decent size screen and full size keyboard, and decent performance too.
The MBA is definitely not for everyone, but everyone wishes it was.
I think for those who can justify it to themselves – they gratefully part with their cash and love it.
“MacBook Air is an incredibly successful computer for Apple. It sells better than the 17″ MBP. It will continue to sell extremely well, and many here don’t seem to understand why.”
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Apple store best sellers in Mac
1. iMac
2. MacBook
3. MacBook Pro
4. Mac mini
5. Mac Pro
6. MacBook Air
http://store.apple.com/us
They need to stop adding power and concentrate on connectivity for the Air.
And come up with a good full-screen apps metaphor – like the new QuickTime but for Safari etc, and then reduce the screen size a bit.
Use smart folders to sideload content from the main drives at home and 3G to top-up on the go.
The MBA isn’t doomed. Apple doesn’t make overly expensive feature limited devices … they’re a “hobby”, of course … just like the the ATV and the Cube before it.
Splat-
“I think ALL LAPTOPS are Doomed….get a HUGE desktop and an iPhone and that is all you need.”
Try working on an illustration or page layout on the road with an iPhone.
Yeah. Not gonna work.
Predrag and airuser have hit it right on the head. I recently purchased my wife, who travels extensively, a MBA with 128GB SSD. She keeps it in her purse and loves it. Around the house I like using it more than my 13″ Al MacBook. If I could afford it I’d sell my macbook and get an Air. If they increased the RAM to 4GB and increased the battery life I’d have no choice but to buy one.