macbook air = gay
go on, press reply

I have yet to see a macbook make out with another macbook, so it's not Gay!

who would pay $800 more for a MBA when the regular macbook is faster, has many more features (by my count the MBA has 1 on the macbook, which is the multitouch trackpad), and is only marginally thicker?

I'm an IDIOT!

I don't think it's such a big deal. They should have saved the good announcements for MacWorld instead of CES.

My 12" Power Mac could beat the shit out of that thing, and has the scars to prove it.

It's not even THAT thin. It's a cool design, but not worth it.

I think the only major problem/oversight is with the size of the HDD. If I have enough stuff to fill an 80GB iPod, doesn't it make sense that I have that same amount of stuff plus MUCH more I need to keep on my computer?

Why would I want a laptop with so many extra thing I have to carry around like the cd rom and Network adapter. Thats not really an ultra portable. Apple did not do a good job with this one. And the black on metal not that GOOD.

It's hot.

I hate these threads.

It has everything I hate about apple built in.

i think the macbook air is revolutionary like the spanish inquisition. discuss.

Its just a dissapointment. Its only a bit thinner than other ultraportables with the same setup (no optical), lacks a lot of the functionality of those other ultraportables, and is a much larger footprint than the others. Its also not really lighter.

The only real advantage it has over a lifebook, D430, X-series Lenovo, and the like is it comes with OSX. That will make it popular for the hardcore fanboys but all the downsides (like the fixed battery) will drive everyone else off.

I read a comment on another page about the Iflat or something.
A computer so thin, you can't even hold it.

I think most of the people who actually like the new maxbook air will just buy anything from apple.
even if it is -really- air.

As usual,with ALL apple products,they look great, but have so many skeletons in their closet...
Point is, you overpay for what i crap
But gorgeous crap.

It's not built on the 45-nm processor cores is it? That means it'll have slower performance due to the lower clock speeds. Not a big problem for an ultra-portable, but I wouldn't want it as my only machine. It's darned sexy though and I have to say I'm tempted to find some way to upgrade to one. Not having a user-replaceable battery isn't a big deal for me, as I always get Apple Care and I'm pretty handy so swapping out a battery shouldn't be too hard even if it's soldered in. What I do have beef with is the lack of Firewire. Apple was one of the first to include firewire on its machines...I don't understand why they decided to omit it on the MacBook Air. Even Firewire 400 has significantly faster transfer times than USB 2.0, and given the miniscule size of the internal hard drive, it's likely that most users will be wanting to connect to an external drive. Leaving USB 2.0 as the only option sort of kills the deal for me, as I've grown to really appreciate the improved file transfer speeds with FW 400. Even eSATA would have been nice, or an express card slot (which is pretty slim and probably could have fit in the form factor) would have been a welcome addition.

I guess I'll just wait and see if Apple refreshes the MacBook or MacBook Pro lines in the next few months. I'm pretty happy with my 2.16 C2D MBP, but I wouldn't complain about a smaller form factor. The dedicated video card is nice, but I don't find myself playing any games that integrated video couldn't handle at low settings, so I'm willing to make that sacrifice. Just don't cut out all the other features that I need!

I'm a pretty hardcore mac fan, own an Iphone/macbook pro, and was not at all impressed with the macbook air, to me it just seems like a big expensive Ipod touch, as for the rest of the announcements yesterday, I have to say this had to be one of the weakest Macworld in a pretty long time, it was just a a couple of mediocre software updates, and a not very significant update to the airport base station.

@Eric1285: there's no way i'm going to read a comment that long.

If they put a larger hard drive (160GB iPod but 80GB laptop?) in there it would be great for those whose computing needs don't require much in the way of power hungry apps or games.

If you really want a shitty computer whose only selling point is that its tiny, I've got my old circa 1999 SpringBoard... $3000 bucks.

And what kind of person can't manage carrying a normal laptop? The key demographic for the Air seems to be jackasses and people with osteoporosis.

this was just a move to enter the market.

gay sex is gay.

i'd rather have a vaio tz running a hacked version of OSX. i'd take a compact, reasonably powerful notebook with a footprint about the size of a large paperback over an anorexic, overpriced piece of shiny shit any day.

@Sheemo44: = repression of gender issues O.O

Hate it. Love it. Whatever.
Leave the "gay bashing" at home, kid.

@TonySmash:

well there's that. theres also the LED screen, backlit keyboard, 2GB ram standard, not to mention the fact that it's 3 freakin pounds.

that said, i agree with you. It's not worth the extra $800 unless you absolutely need something slimmer/lighter than a regular macbook

My finger's probably a 1/2" thick, does that make me the thinnest person ever? No.

That is all.

...For now.

It's a big waste of money.

Ultrathin notebooks are always more appealing before you buy it. It's sexy tech, but rarely satisfies once you've had it home for a while for regular, um, sex.

In addition to having to worry about it being stolen, broken, run out of battery, etc. etc. wherever you go with it, you just can't simply enjoy it to use to do what you want with it. Touchpad never beats a mouse, so you have to bring that. If you bring the laptop, its only sensible to bring the charger... and the optical drive, most of the time... and load that in a protective backpack or case... In the end you're lugging 8 pounds of crap anyway, and thinking that maybe a 5 pound notebook with a builtin optical drive, and gads of battery life (so that you don't need to bring the charger brick, or drive) would have worked out better...

I've had ultrathin laptops before, and this one looks no different to me in the ways that matter. Tiny bit sexier perhaps, but is not worth the price, even if it is a Mac with multitouch.

This thread is now about which Air Bud movie was the best.

Air Bud: World Pup.

I think is going to be another cube situation, where the design is "cool" but not many people will buy it.

I think it is a waste. I mean who is going to pay that much for a "portable" laptop? Who is the target audience? Is it people who are always on the go? If so, why would they make it without interchangeable batteries? For that price, I see more leaning toward the regular Macbook. Same size screen but with optical, bigger HD, faster processor, more RAM and interchangeable battery. I just cant justify paying that much more just to say I have a thin laptop. I think the Time Capsule is the most overlooked thing. Its a freakin' 1 TB Gigabit NAS router that allows you to wirelessly backup! Was no one paying attention when they announced that?

@TonySmash: I dont really understand people comparing it to the Sony either. Sure its thinner but the sony has WWAN and an optical drive. Its also a lot SMALLER AND LIGHTER. Its footprint is miniscule compared to the Air.

Sure the CPU is slower but that isnt going to matter since the PATA 4200 RPM drive in the Air is going to be a BIG bottleneck.

I don't see why everyone's in such a tizz. Yeah it's pricey and yeah it's pretty much sealed off, but I think it's great that Apple aren't afraid to take the risk. At the very least what will come out of it will be progress in general division of making laptops smaller, easier to use (mac os...) and a lot better looking. Their design is far superior to that of the competition's and you can't deny that those specs aren't decent. If you can fit leopard in a "manilla envelope", who cares about the price?

Also, you guys are such apple fanboys.

It's a sexy beast. Only thing is oh I dunno:

1. NO CD/DVD drive
2. NO ETHERNET
3. 80GB PATA? WTF?
4. ONLY ONE FUCKING USB PORT?
5. NO FUCKING FIREWIRE?
6. MONO FUCKING SOUND?

I'm waiting for someone to get a "paper-cut" from the thinness of this thing.

What if... What if the MBA was $999? Would people still complain about the battery, the lack of ports etc?

I think apple have missed the concept of a ultra mobile laptop. They've just gone out to make the world's thinnest laptop. If they thought about it more they should have included a removable battery and an optical disc drive. Some people may want to watch dvds on it when they are out of the house. Also I think the screen should have been a bit smaller so that it is a portable laptop.

On another note, Apple are wankers! Why should I have to pay to update my ipod touch because I am an early adopter. Other companies offer free updates all the time, adding new features. A prime example is the psp. Its had remote play, internet radio and other apps added for free during its lifetime. What a shit move by Apple.

@formicae: AIR BUD- the original FTW!
laffs.

It's really impressively thin, but I get the feeling that it fits into a line with a much lower price point. Slow/small HDD, no ethernet, 1.6GHz...it seems like the kind if PC you are going to be doing word processing and web browsing on and not much more; this just so happens to be the same tasks the Eee is optimized for, but at $300. It sort of reminds me of the iPod Touch in that it's pretty neat, but entirely unneeded for pretty much anyone.

ehh, it's ok. i like apple, but this thing is just kinda a rip off to me. it does have a pretty slick design, but it's not worth the extra $ for it in my opinion.

@daveedo: I still wouldnt buy one. Id get an old Powerbook. Its smaller. If I really wanted light I would just get an old Dell D420.

^ditto your first comment. But I disagree with you, especially about the Time Capsule/iTunes rentals announcements. From a shareholder point of view.

@formicae:

and Air Buddies was pretty kick ass too

Oh and I liked all the hype surrounding the MBA..."MacBook Nano" renders and all the like was fun to get excited on...too bad it disappointed on so many levels.

I want ScetchBook. screw the thin notebook and bring on the tablet already

@Walter:

No one is forcing you to read his comment. Why the douche attitude? Oh, it's because it's in the flamewar thread.

I think that the Macbook Air is a good idea, but only 1 usb port and not 1 firewire port? Ehhhh ... IDK. The MPA screams "I'm for the corporate white guy".

I don't know what the big deal is. Rampant Apple fanboydom seems to have taken hold as a result of adolescent males viewing tech gadgets as potential sexual partners when they lack the social skills necessary to procure the company of another human being. As people rightfully say, Apple hangs its hat almost exclusively on design. Now, I'm not saying that design isn't important, but Apple very clearly sacrifices functionality for beauty, which is something that I heartily disagree with. For example, Apple insisted on sticking with a one-button mouse until they could make a two-button mouse that still only looked like it had one button, and they putt a little tiny ball in it instead of a wheel. They billed this mouse as innovative, when really it's a complete piece of shit and Mac users instead go out and get a Logitech mouse that doesn't go at all with the aesthetics of that object of their masturbation.
Another ready example presents itself with the Macbook Air. No user serviceability. Why? So the case is seamless and sexy. No disc drive. Why? Presumably because the case is too fucking tiny to fit one. No dedicated graphics chip. Why? Again, probably not enough room. But for what? Is it really enough smaller and lighter to justify these shortcomings? You can get a machine with nearly double the power which will weigh about a pound more, and cost the same or less. So ultimately, all the Air really presents is a glimpse at the form factor of actual functional laptops of the future and the sad geeks sex toy of today.

@Ajay: erm, this is whom I'm referring to.

@DogInYellowCoat: Yeah I'm not counting the spinoffs, because clearly, I mean...talking dogs! Jeez.

While they're working in the right direction, it's nothing special if you really think about it.

It doesn't let you get inside (I hate products that don't let you switch out batteries).

It's not that much thinner than the thinnest laptops out there.

Its specs are poor.

It has no freakin' Ethernet cable.

Your mom.

Carry on.

Come on, let's step it up here folks, we can not be banned for anything on this thread!!!

Here, let me start the festivities:

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, MBA AND ALL YOU FANBOIS CAN GO LICK GOAT ASSHOLES AND THEN PUKE THEN THROW UP IN CUPS, AAAUGUAHGADSOIUASJDGPJHDA[GUSADKM!!!!1!!1!!!!!

Also: hell damn fart!

Considering Giz already has two or three MBA flamewars going on in other posts, I'm going to contend that this is a ploy for them to get more pageviews/clicks to bulk up their ad dollars. Hey, why not? They amuse me. You sons of bitchs, you hear that? Especially the dildo air drumming hilarity. That shit never gets old.