So it is well known that Apple have launched the MacBook Air. It is interesting the response from almost everyone. It’s more sure, it looks good, but it doesn’t bring anything new (even on Digg which I thought would’ve been full of praise for Apple). Apple is trying to tell us all that thin is in. It’s almost like the fashion world telling us thin is in, with the really obvious downside – to be ultra-thin you must have anorexia and have no other functionality at all, but at least you look “nice,” (after the airbrushing hides your bones).
That’s what comes to mind with the Air. It’s thin, looks nice, but lacks functionality. Here’s what it’s got,
- It’s less than 2 cm’s thick!
- 13.3″ screen,
- A pad big enough to do gestures on (nice),
- 2GB of RAM
- [up to] 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (custom).
But then you go, what does it lack then? It doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive, something I can’t see many people getting to grips with. There is a Remote Disk feature, which is actually a neat idea. You install it on your other computer and then your Air will pick it up as a normal disk. If you must have a separate drive (this is Mac town though, just what are you going to install on that thing, Windows!?), you can buy one. It will go into the USB port. The only USB port on the entire thing. In fact, it has one USB port, one mini-DVI port (for hooking up to an external monitor) and one headphone jack. That’s it. If you need more (such as if you do get the external optical drive), you’ll need to buy a USB hub. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t supply one of those.
The kicker is the price. $2,999! The price of luxury I guess. If you want the slightly faster, with less space version, you can spend $5,139.00! It almost made me fall off my chair. You get everything cut, have less features, and pay more for something with all the features.
But then there are the accessories. $159 for the SuperDrive, $48 for the Ethernet adapter. If you want to use both of these at the same time (I think Steve Jobs will have a heart attack at this) you’ll have to get a non-Apple supplied USB hub.
Of course with all these little dohickeys you have to buy, you’re suddenly stuck with something that’s thin but you need a carry case to lug around to actually use it. It’s not something practical for people who are getting laptops because it’s a laptop. It seems more geared to the people who get laptops as an accessory to their desktop system – perfect for Apple faithful, but not for who Apple target towards.
$ prices quoted are New Zealand dollars from the Apple NZ Store
