Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing - Gizmodo Comments

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

tang0r — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:06:29 EST

For all of those interested in the MacBook Air (or plan to purchase one in the future), there's an online community and message board forming here: MacBook Air Lounge & Forum [www.macbooklounge.com] It looks like it will have a mods & hacks section when the product starts to get tweaked.

tang0r

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Hiren Patel — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:26:27 EST

I am a big Apple Fan.. but this MacBook Air sucks big time!

Hiren Patel

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Deadalus — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:00:53 EST

I think that company's have lost the point! Smaller is not always better.
A notebook without the parts it takes to work at every day work and to cost as much as it does is a loser in my book!
And every computer I have worked with has not had what it takes to stand up to the normal world. It looks like it will break easy and not stand up to the riggers of the work place. Time will tell on this but I think we will see that I am right.

Mac may make very good equipment , but there cost is always more than it should be, and to find software for a Mac in store's is not easy. And when I do find the software,it will cost at least half more than it does for a PC.
I got a Mac for my daughter for Christmas and I have spent more for software for her computer than I can believe. And it as I said is hard to find.
No Mac is not for me and I still do not know why it is still on the market as is.

Deadalus

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

darkroomdemons.com — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:48:46 EST

Am I the only one who is completely underwhelmed by Apple's latest offering? For months I have been planning my final switch from PC to MAC. The process was hard for a consumer like myself. I almost made the leap in November for a Mac Pro workstation that would have easily drained my bank account before Christmas. But in an effort to curb my enthusiasm, I poured over the MacRumors and AppleInsider sites to figure out what Apple might throw at us in this week's MacWorld. I began speculating, like everyone else, that we would see the new MacBook Pro, a new Tower and maybe some new Cinema Displays. Something worth investing in. So imagine my disappointment when today Steve Jobs tells the world that they need to lose some weight and pay 2 grand for the worlds "thinnest" computer that looks sexy only on a naked girl's lap but doesn't even come close to outperforming the already anemic MacBook. "But it has a multi-touch pad!" So fucking what?!? So does your stupid iPhone. You would think with the announcement of the 8-core Mac Pro last week that they would have a huge surprise in store for us. Well, they did. Everyone is surprised when 3 pounds of flaming shit is left outside your door.

darkroomdemons.com

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

pomophobe — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:08:12 EST

This isn't all that impressive... it's a glorified iPod that had a MacBook rape baby.

MacWorld 2008... The something that was in the air was a fart. Style over substance and way too expensive to justify it's purchase for any reason.

pomophobe

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

ArtNYC — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:47:31 EST

I was about to go ahead and place an order for it till I read there is no optical drive. Intention is to use this for travel purposes only and want to play DVD movies in the plane.

ArtNYC

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

archetype94306 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:23:49 EST

This looks like a natural evolution for Apple and one that I applaud. I was debating which laptop to purchase my wife but I think that decision has been made now.

archetype94306

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Crescent — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:47:03 EST

to every post saying this thing is nice, I wanna write a very aggressive response, but I won`t do it, I am not like that, but don`t push it Gizmodo crew, I don`t know how good Steve is givin' it to ya but don`t be his b.tches

Crescent

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

drmaybe — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:25:18 EST

I really like the look of the thing.... it's not for me, needing more performance and willing to haul around a couple more pounds to get it. But it looks to me like the shape of things to come; it's pretty clear that the idea of local storage, not to mention local applications, is going away in the not-too-distant future, along with wired connections (to anything).

Thin clients, here we come! Someday people are going to laugh at the way we used to haul pounds of computer with us everywhere we went.

drmaybe

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

kiwijaws — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:24:16 EST

So macfanboys explain this to me who is this for? it seems to have form over function overload, yes its thin and light. But when I carry my laptop (couldn't convince my boss to buy a Macbook Pro)to clients I need a optical drive to download their results which are stored on CD and My HD is filled with movies and MP3 I use when I travel (its got 20Gb left for presentations and such its 160GB) so to retain the functions I currently have I would need to carry an optical drive and a USB HD, sort of defeats the purpose of having a thin light laptop

kiwijaws

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

sueanna — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:20:23 EST

A Yahoo article says "(By the way, as great as the MacBook Air sounds, calling this the "world's thinnest notebook" is hyperbole: The Sony X505 was 0.75" thick... and it was released in 2003.)"

[tech.yahoo.com]

sueanna

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

evilR3 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:26:23 EST

I take the Eee PC over this. This is something for the girlfriend.. Not sold on this badboy.

evilR3

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

savager — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:09:44 EST

Alright. What you're about to read comes from someone that owns a santa rosa 2.4 macbook pro, 30 inch cinema display, iphone, 5g ipod, a quicksilver G4, wireless mouse and keyboard, and yes, even the overpriced iphone bluetooth headset, (it was a gift).

I've been an apple fan for a long time, and now.. I'm beginning to wonder if all the recent popularity is costing them.

I consider this a "look what we can do". This thing is probably the most beautiful laptop ever made. If you're going to give it one thing, give it that. It's amazing looking. But.. would I ever use one or pay 1799 for one. no.

Honestly, I wouldn't say I had high expectations for this macworld, but considering recent trends at apple, I thought they were going to come out with something entirely new. Not because of the iphone last year, you can only revolutionize like that so often. But because I thought it seemed that they had their programmers busy on something new.

Leopard is an amazing OS, but it has a bunch of bugs that still need to be ironed out, not little ones either, try calibrating your macbook pro's led display on expert mode.. I've talked to geniuses about it and they admit it's a bug. Time machine is awesome, when it works.. and there are numerous pages of issues on apple's support pages. There is a fast user switching bug that affects color on second monitors that has been around since 10.4.1. so while it is an incredibly fast os, and I love it, it could be better.

The iphone. if I had a woman as great as my iphone, I might not have stds.. i kid, but seriously, the thing is bad ass, I use it all the time, it's very well built, it does everything I NEED it to and more, and I wouldn't trade it for any other phone. BUT,..

how the hell hard is it to program it to send an mms. why is this the only phone that can't send pictures. I don't get it. but more importantly, with how obsessive apple is about design..

WHY OH WHY, IS THE APPLE LOGO NOT CENTERED ON THE SCREEN WHEN POWERING ON. It's slightly too high, and it's ridiculous to me that they wouldn't realize this, and do something about it. It couldn't take a programmer more than a day to fix.

Even the software updates for it have been fairly lacking.. feature wise that is.

Overall, I guess I kind of assumed they'd have something advanced in store for us today.. because of the lack of polish on it's most recent endeavors. That polish is what makes apple apple. I hope they don't forget that.

The macbook air, in my eyes, is perfect for few people. I agree that they chose design over function.. but more importantly they ignored what the consumers want. it's either one thing or another.. it's an ultraportable, or it's not.. it's either really small at a slight cost of performance or it's really powerful and small enough.. where does the air fit in here..

the only thing they could have come out with that would make me upgrade in the next year is 10-12 inch full powered macbook pro. But for now.. i love my apple shit.. just hoped i would have seen a true multitouch laptop yesterday. or a tablet.. i mean, how does this thing have more market than a tablet.. i'm confused..

savager

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

kzooguy — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:07:18 EST

It's cool, but really. It's like the whole cellphone thing: once you get down to a certain size, do you really need to go smaller? Really now. My MacBook is plenty portable, just 2 pounds heavier and what, 1 inch thick? Come on, it fits no problem in a suitcase or whatever already. I'm sure this new laptop is useful for something... but I'm reminded of the Razr. Really really thin = easier to break.
To be honest I was wowed at first but now I think it's definitely too much form over function. It's a celebrity's laptop. But somehow I'll bet they'll convince people to buy them.

kzooguy

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

darkroomdemons.com — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 02:43:28 EST

Am I the only one who is completely underwhelmed by Apple's latest offering? For months I have been planning my final switch from PC to MAC. The process was hard for a consumer like myself. I almost made the leap in November for a Mac Pro workstation and MacBook Pro that would have easily drained my bank account before Christmas. But in an effort to curb my enthusiasm, I poured over the MacRumors and AppleInsider sites to figure out what Apple might throw at us in this week's MacWorld. I began speculating, like everyone else, that we would see the new MacBook Pro, a new Tower and maybe some new Cinema Displays. Something worth investing in. So imagine my disappointment when today Steve Jobs tells the world that they need to lose some weight and pay 2 grand for the worlds "thinnest" computer that looks sexy only on a naked girl's lap but doesn't even come close to outperforming the already anemic MacBook. "But it has a multi-touch pad!" So fucking what. So does your stupid iPhone. You would think with the announcement of the 8-core Mac Pro last week that they would have a huge surprise in store for us. Well, they did. Everyone is surprised when 3 pounds of flaming shit is left outside your door.

darkroomdemons.com

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

timtimes — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:19:52 EST

The sysadmin crowd is unimpressed, the consumer crowd will be wooed momentarily until the second or third million Asus eeePC's are shipped and folks see them in general use. I've had my white 4g model about two months and while I generally like this new mac, I think Asus (and likely others) are going to be quick to exploit the price gap. To be honest, I am going to get a new Imac to replace/augment my Macmini, because it's a solo Intel 1.5 processor running off the rather slow notebook drive they used for the form factor. It's also only loaded with a half gig of RAM. I love the Mac OS/X and my Ipod.

I also love my Asus laptop, and am using it as a second machine. It fits the bill better for $400 (there is even a cheaper one at around $300) than this new thinbook airmac. I'm gonna reserve final judgement on this new Mac until I get to fiddle with one, but for the money they're asking for this you could outfit a third world nation in Asus eee's.

The Asus is a pound lighter, and the seven inch screen means the form factor is much smaller. No offense Mr. Jobs, but those pining for a ten inch screen are spot on. My Asus only has a TWO GIG SDD drive, but nobody in their right mind is going to use solid state storage for media on either this new Mac or an Asus model. I got a WD USB Passport for my Asus and would do the same for the Airmac. Bring this to market at ten inches and under a grand and I'll be more excited.
Of course I reserve the right to completely change my mind if the user experience arouses the kind of deep seated feelings of warmth I got with my first Ipod and Macmini. I didn't get sufficiently tingly over the Iphone to take that plunge. My full review on the Asus eePC and my Macmini are available at Epinions.com under my username.
Enjoy.

timtimes

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Ed - JapanCarBlog.com — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:14:30 EST

no cd or dvd?! what do i do!

Ed - JapanCarBlog.com

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

dekigo92 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:09:21 EST

"Looks absolutely amazing" is an overstatement for the ages. What's with the discolored keyboard? What about the huge screen bezel? I think it looks like a UFO took a dump, to be vulgar. It's just ugly, like something out of the 40s. The only reason they can say it's so thin is because they tapered the front. It would have looked better if they had kept the width constant. The only marketablity here is in size-- otherwise, it kind of sucks. I'll take a Toshiba Portege M700, thank you.

dekigo92

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

G-stylez — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:05:27 EST

I was at MacWorld using this new MacBook Air and for the people that really want super light portablity... It doesn't get better than this. Runs cool... not as hot as the MacBook at all... gestures are very easy to use... perfect screen size... and of course super light. If you have a desktop or pc then you can wirelessy use there optical drive which is cool... you don't need the usb optical drive. Who cares about ethernet... if you do buy the adapter. No firewire to migrate but you can now migrate your old mac to your new MacBook Air wirelessy too. Perfect for me since I have a powerful desktop.

G-stylez

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

DJJS — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:39:17 EST

Yea.. i was Hoping for Tablet.. yea.. its small and good looking. But its missing The Essentials..
I mean come on? No ethernet Port..C I dont need to point of the rest of whats missing because most of you have.. This is Defently not Cool. yes the Trackpad is cool..
yes.. I was Rich i would.. but other then that.. even the faboys are disappointed..
I guess will wait for New Mac Pro's. 3GiPhone, and the( iTablet ) = )

DJJS

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

ecrain — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:26:24 EST

I agree, this is a lot of money for a little power, but when you factor in the pricey Apple logo, and the ability to mail it to yourself, isn't it worth it? Seriously though, 32GB SSD's go for $500+, and good luck finding it in a 1.8" format! The $999 for the 64GB SSD isn't that bad (that's right, it is only a $1300 increase if you're lame enough to only look at the stock SSD unit with the 1.8GHz upgrade selected), and paying for portability is nothing new. My question: when is the dual-processor, 20" MacBook Pro going to drop?

ecrain

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Frizzaper — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:12:03 EST

I'm really lost on what is new or innovative about this product; From the specs it looks like multi-touch input is about it. As many others have pointed out, there are plenty of laptops around this size/weight. When you get down to weights this low, the differences arn't that noticable,especialy in this form factor. Why does it matter if your laptop weighs 3.3 lbs or 5 lbs if it is so large you have to carry it in a bag anyway?

Also, the network drive is not a new concept. Launching a product and toting this as a "FEATURE" is hilarious. Apple couldn't make this product any smaller through miniaturization, so they stripped out components.

The main feature of this product appears to be a LACK of features.

-No ports
-No optical drive

I don't know about anyone else, but I have four USB 2.0 ports on my laptop and wish I had more. I use an emulator for most disks so lack of an optical drive isn't that big a deal, but excluding a mainstream format and then calling it inovative is going too far.

"So this car doesn't come with wheels..."

"Well no, but it does come with a jack and wrench, so you can take the wheels off of any other car you own. Plus, having no wheels, it weighs 200lbs less."

"How convenient and innovative, I'll take two!"

Frizzaper

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

cine229 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:11:41 EST

This thing is why I still have my 12" powerbook. My fiance has her 15" and I find that thing cumbersome for writing, which is what the 12" PB's primary function is for me. I thought they were going to make something that was like 8-10 inches? Is that still on the way? This product is neither here nor there.

I think $1800 is INSANE for something without an optical drive. Why would anyone EVER pay that much? Methinks the success has finally gone to their head and they think they can successfully bring to market anything they dream up... oh, and put a price on it that's twice as high as it should be.

cine229

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Crazyman298 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:27:20 EST

I have to say I am not impressed. So you slim up a laptop and add an optional SSD. The SSD is a whopping 64 GB. If you decide you want said SSD is instantly jumps the posted $1,700 dollar price tag jumps to $2,798… Sad part is if you don't want the SSD the only other option is an IDE drive… Get a friggen clue! In this day and age who would want an IDE drive when SATA is so much faster and does not use any extra power? The touchpad additions are cool but that is about it. This laptop can take a leap out of a plane and meet its demise and I would not be sad in the slightest.

Mac cult members would buy a candy coated turd as long as Steve Jobs pinched it off and it has an Apple logo on it.

Crazyman298

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

someToast — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:55:33 EST

@theorie: "haha considering that 90% of mac users only use their computer for email/web surfing/chat...they'd all be better off getting eee pc's."

95% of statistics posted in blog comments come from the commenter's own ass.

someToast

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

willyboy — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:42:01 EST

1699 with education discount.... Not bad in my book...

willyboy

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

JordyT — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:48:08 EST

You haters can hate all you like, but this thing is gonna sell like a mutha!

JordyT

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

GumbyJump — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:31:44 EST

Thinnest, eh? How about the Toshiba R200 that was .70 inches thick, had more ports, replaceable battery and, oh yeah, came out like 5 years ago. World's thinnest?? STFU and GTFO Jobsy

GumbyJump

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

LLamaStar — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:07:16 EST

lol so basically if you do anything except write and surf the web it's a useless piece of shit.

LLamaStar

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

x23 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:58:27 EST

@theorie: HAHA OMG!1! THAT SI SO TRU! PC USERS R LIKE WAY SMRTER DOING 90% OF PURE SCIENCE ALL THE TIME! NEVER USED FOR MAILS OR INTERTNES LIKE LAME KIDDY MAC USERS!1!

x23

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Delmarc — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:45:54 EST

Is It me or do i feel like this will flop... the price is too much for what you get...

I Love the Apple Premium they put on this... along with the fact that ITS STILL TO BIG to be what is considered a sub notebook... 1 USB please... wireless is cool but its still not standard with everything else you'll buy...

I loved apple back in the days... but with my iBook, PC and OQO (which I'd still take anyday over this)... I'm pretty sure now that I wont ever buy a mac for the simple fact that what is considered revolutionary to them and most apple fans is what apple repackages and holds off on for a few years and releases much later... GIVE ME THIS SIZE and AT MOST 11... and you have me talking... the iBook G3 was 12.1 DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THAT!!!

LAST RANT... HOW many of these will break ???

Delmarc

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

EL_RIEL — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:36:40 EST

im tired of:

- I could duct tape a Car Battery + 15in widescreen LCD + DELL Inspiron Slim case, and get MORE BANG OF THE BUCK instead of a MacBook Air., plus you can carry several charged car batterys and have up to "weeks" of run-time

MEH!!! .... I with the guys that really wanted a sub 13in notebook.. MBP or not, for me an ultra portable is bellow 13, like 11 or 12.. anything bigger is not a good option for mobility

EL_RIEL

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

badfad — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:32:42 EST

There is no denying the sexiness of the MacBook Air, but what I wanted to see was some of that promised action in the MacBook Pro camp.

How long do we need to wait for the next gen MBP? Or at least Penryn processors?

badfad

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

iamrightyouarewrong — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:15:22 EST

This is definitely one for the ladies, and those art & media type people sporting 'edgy' haircuts, sun glasses from the '70's and got funding from the bank of Mum & Dad when they were younger.

Along with candyfloss & popcorn this has to rate as the biggest rip-off since the last apple release.

1 USB port....hahahah
4200 RPM HD....hahahahah
80GB tiny HD....hahahaha
$1000+ for less...in a 64GD SSD....Hahahahaha
Max 1.8 ghz chip.....Hahahahahah
The battery...brilliant....hilarious....

OMG, i've wet myself laughing...it's a spec list from the late 90's!!! And all for the bargain price of...

****pinky in the side of mouth***

1 Million dollars....HAHAHAH....

One born every minute. Pass me the tissues, I need to blow my nose and wipe my eyes :o)

(looks pretty though ;)

iamrightyouarewrong

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

mikochu — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:12:55 EST

So...who is this aimed at? Snooty gotta-have-it fanboys who really just need a Macbook?

mikochu

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Rob C — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:11:27 EST

k, NOT the "world's thinnest" notebook...

Anyone ever seen or heard of the sony X505? released a couple of years ago. CRAZY small.

Rob C

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Jitty — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:44:51 EST

Does it have a disc drive? If no: lame!

Jitty

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Bokusatsu_Tenshi — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:09:00 EST

Looks great! Also: 3D graphics card!
I wouldn't get though, since I already have a 13.3 lappie with better specs but... maybe double it's thickness? (M1330). Prolly heavier too.

Anyways, a nice treat for Apple users. I was expecting for something like this, but not that thin I guess.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

xxdesmus — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:54:32 EST

Sexy? sure.
Practical? hell no.

Buy 6 eee PCs for the same price.

xxdesmus

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

xAppleFan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:47:34 EST

Actually, the world's thinnest notebook is the paper notebook...

xAppleFan

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

livinzlife — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:39:50 EST

a bit dissapointing. I think its a bit ugly honestly, and Im glad to have a MBP that has much more function than this. But I can see why some people would enjoy it so whatever floats your boat

livinzlife

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

aec007 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:12:20 EST

Sony X505 redone... and larger....

aec007

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

jbhitter24 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:09:36 EST

not being sarcastic here, but what is so special about this? its really small, and looks nice, thats it. except it can't be upgraded, costs a helluva a lot for a little laptop, and pretty much requires another computer to get anything done (optical drive among other things).

jbhitter24

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Blah8 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:01:45 EST

Bluetooth 2.1? What the hell is that standard? The screen's a bit larger than I would have anticipated, but that's not a big deal. And, finally, the lack of an ethernet port is, as I said before, a completely idiotic move.

... now that all the negatives are gone, everything else not mentioned here is pretty much perfect. :-)

Blah8

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

NachoBoy — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:37:53 EST

You can use the USB Ethernet dongle if you need wired LAN, and Flash drives are cheap and easy to transfer data. Seems like a good mobile machine and you would hardly know it's in your bag.

NachoBoy

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

stu-rock — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:24:10 EST

I was hoping for something more durable than my flimsy P-O-S MacBook Pro. Wrong direction, Apple.

Apple really needs to start licensing OS X to other hardware manufacturers. In particular, ones that don't make crap notebooks.

stu-rock

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

timwyu — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:23:43 EST

@TommySez:

I too think footprint matters, but my facetious comment was in response to the person who said in effect "it's not the thickness, it's the footprint stupid." I think the thickness is a big deal. Doesn't mean I don't think footprint matters -- that is more a question of what size screen you are willing to tolerate. Want a 10" screen? Fine: would you like tiny text, or a 1024x768 desktop? I personally am happy with the decision to go for a 13" screen. The tiny footprint, Newton Take 2 is a different product altogether. Who knows, it may still see the light of day in 2008. But I think the Macbook Air is what more people will buy, now.

@Xenocide:
I actually mostly agree with you. I don't think lack of an Ethernet port or a replaceable battery are dealbreakers by any stretch of the imagination. But in contrast to many of the other negative comments, at least they represented actual, tangible points.

Personally, the only thing that makes me hesitate is the 80GB hard drive. It sure will be easier to pull the trigger when they release the 160GB option, since my iTunes and iPhoto libraries weigh in together at 50GB.

Bottom line: I work in a research lab, and everyone here who has caught a glimpse of this machine wants one.

timwyu

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

jibbly — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:12:16 EST

@blomster: I just realized something, duh, it's an appliance! Following the iPod's trend they'll give you options...3rd party accessory options for extra $$$.

Look for super special premium anti-glare screen film at the Apple store for $59.99.

jibbly

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Xenocide — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:11:40 EST

@timwyu: Maybe we see things differently but all three of your good points seem to me like the belong in the bad category.

Xenocide

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

iPhoneHellas — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:00:53 EST

The screen resolution should be higher! 1,280 by 720 is to low!!!

iPhoneHellas

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

blomster — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:59:21 EST

Glossy screen = deal breaker. I know a lot of people love glossy screens, but give me an anti-glare option, please!

blomster

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

TommySez — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:56:09 EST

"I've stopped carrying 8.5x11 in paper because the footprint is just too much for me."

But I can fold the paper in half.

The footprint matters.

TommySez

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Luuey — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:54:44 EST

well for $1,799 you definitely arent paying for the specs. Leave to apple to rape your wallet.

Luuey

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

timwyu — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:44:02 EST

Wow, amazing to see all the complainers out there. Most seem reflexive, though a (very) few seem at least slightly thought-out.

GOOD POINTS WORTH CONSIDERING:
* Lack of ethernet port (need USB connector) -- though, I very rarely use mine
* No 160GB hard drive option
* No replaceable battery (I think) -- though, I have very rarely carried extra batteries

BAD POINTS:
* Price -- helllllo, anyone home? the ultralight that the Macbook Air competes against are typically in the $1800-2400 range, are heavier (3.6+ pounds), thicker, and have smaller and lower resolution screens (10 or 12 inches). That said... the Lenovo Thinkpad X61 may be an exception worth considering: retails for $1400, currently discounted to $1100 base. That said, the X61 has less RAM, lacks Bluetooth, has a smaller screen, has 1024x768 pixels vs 1280x800, weighs more (3.6 vs 3.0 pounds), and may be of inferior construction (plastic vs aluminum).

* Lack of GPU -- so, if you want to play Quake, look elsewhere. This isn't for you. This thing is meant to be used IN PARALLEL to a desktop mac. This is not an all-in-one.

* HD rpm specs -- go play with your petabyte RAID array / Radio Shack crystal radio set. If you are going to begrudge Apple the 12 milliseconds of your life you lose waiting for your hard drive, don't buy it.

* "I care about the footprint, not the thickness." Yeah, I agree with you here... I've stopped carrying 8.5x11 in paper because the footprint is just too much for me.

* Size -- "I wanted it to be 7.5 inches" -- yeah, I bet you do...

timwyu

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Tony-E — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:38:22 EST

No optical drive means no watching DVDs on the go either...

Tony-E

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

oysterdock.com — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:33:22 EST

I went back and checked the apple site. No specs on the SSD. Please post if anyone finds them.

oysterdock.com

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

yogibimbi — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:30:30 EST

@jimbeam: my craving precisely. 7.5" and fully touchscreen. Keyboard optional and external.

yogibimbi

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

david — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:30:08 EST

Hmm its slower than any other Mac, including the cheapest Mac Mini and its the same size as my Vaio from ten years ago.

Macbook Pros are starting to look sorely in need of an upgrade.

david

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Mystr — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:25:20 EST

So does it have Bluetooth connectivity? Also I see it support 802.11n. Is it backward compatible with g/b/a? Lastly it is 802.11n 2.1 is this version future proof? if they come out with 802.11n 2.2 tomorrow is it going to work with it? 802.11n is not a offical standard.

Mystr

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

budk11 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:18:08 EST

I'm a Mac guy (G4 PowerBook and G5 iMac), but I have to say that's a lot of money for what it DOESN'T have. I guess there's a price for "you can never be too thin." Off topic: I'm really tired of Jobs' wardrobe!

budk11

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

jonroach13 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:16:52 EST

@JOYCEMAN: MAN, I am glad there are fickle investors like you. Please do dump all your Apple stock so I can pick it up on the cheap! With Mac sales up 40% year to year and the profits Apple is just STEALING from AT&T with the iPhone (forgot that little revenue stream huh???) I am sure the stock is not too worried about your opinion. OH, and I forgot, people are just gonna stop buying music and movies now...

jonroach13

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

xenti — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:13:28 EST

Neat, but I think I'm going to get the eee instead.

xenti

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

darex — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:10:11 EST

LOL What a rip off!

Small is better than thin and slick (which will soon be dropped onto the ground).

The Eee wins over this in so many ways, but especially price. An Eee is 1/5th and 1/7th the price of this LARGE (even though it's thin) computer, with which it shares certain attributes (LED backlighting, lack of optical drive, SSD memory), except the Eee weighs much less and probably has a superior keyboard to touchtype on.

Now I know I made the right decision when I bought my Eee PC.

darex

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Noobs-R-Us — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:04:05 EST

This is an Asus eee PC for the wealthy!

Noobs-R-Us

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

jibbly — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:02:59 EST

@Improbable:

Ah, 4200rpm = low power + slower performance (but I guess you're not looking for performance on a web machine)

No non-glossy? That BLOWS IMO.

I guess the tilt is acceptable? I do like the older G4 style hinge where you could open it 180 degrees.

jibbly

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

LittlepixelTM — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:00:55 EST

There's a term in biking called 'weight weeny' which is where people seriously compromise the structural integrity of the thing by stripping everything off it and drilling holes in everything else to save weight.

All this when all the rider really needs to do is visit the facilities before riding.

The Airbook is a bit like this to me; It's sacrificed too much function for the sake of weight.

LittlepixelTM

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

LittlepixelTM — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:55:09 EST

I've been waiting for this machine but feel let down.

I do like the form factor overall... but feel it's a beta waiting for a bigger higher res screen (look at the bevel size). The list of lacking items make it unusable to me for work in this incarnation... The wired RAM and internal battery being serious oversights. Am beginning to worry about Apple Jumping The Shark with regards to making form follow function. Yes a battery leaves 'shut' lines on the bottom but you need to take the battery out for long flights.

It's like Audi going 'Well we got rid of the doors 'cos we didn't like what they did to the sides of the car. You have to get in via the Sunroof with our special 'iLadder' peripheral climbing device.

I can't believe there is:

NO Firewire in
NO Ethernet in
ONLY 5 hours battery
THAT SSD is not standard option...

and that the ...

built in speaker is flippin MONO!

LittlepixelTM

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

joyceman — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:54:46 EST

This computer is UGLY. Yes it's thin and yes, that's amazing. However the bevel around the screen is too fat and there's too much alu-space around the keyboard. This product is not as visually pleasing as previous apple products. Thinness is the only attractive element.
I'm selling all my Apple stock today. This is not going to be a good year for apple and they are not going to sell many of these things until the price drops...mark my words. Apple wins when the product is pretty, this one ain't.

joyceman

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

willyboy — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:51:18 EST

@scotchtapeloser: Uh,,,, yah, but it runs mac osx.

willyboy

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Benelli — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:43:05 EST

2 comments:

1) I was hoping for a long overdue replacement to the 12" Powerbook (God I miss that laptop) and the MacBook Air simply is not it.

2) Since its not the ultra-portable multimedia laptop that the 12" PowerBook was....what market segment is the MacBook Air aimed at? I can see wealthy college kids and Starbucks wallflowers jumping on these things like white on rice...but who else?

What am I missing here?

Benelli

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

rainfever — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:41:21 EST

I'm not a Mac fan at all. But I do look forward to the standard they are setting for other laptop makers.

Anorexia is so in.

rainfever

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

theorie — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:35:05 EST

haha considering that 90% of mac users only use their computer for email/web surfing/chat...they'd all be better off getting eee pc's.

lol fanboys

theorie

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

CruJones — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:31:47 EST

The good news is shipping on these things is incredibly cheap. They just slip it into a manila bubble envelope and ship it first class postal mail. $4.00 tops!!!

CruJones

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

doctorSpoc — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:31:29 EST

@ItsMrJP: it does and you can

doctorSpoc

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Bash_ — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:29:14 EST

/me lieks

Bash_

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Xenocide — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:29:07 EST

I seriously don't get how this could possibly get buyers over the Dell m1330 or on Mac side a Mackbook Pro! Why I ask you?

Xenocide

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Improbable — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:27:58 EST

@jibbly:
4200 RPM Parallel ATA
No non-glossy screen option
No listing of tilt information, but judging by the pictures it looks like it might stop at about 150 degrees or so: [images.apple.com]

Improbable

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

yogibimbi — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:27:40 EST

aren't there already 160 GB 1.8"ers on the market? Can they be put in there? And why oh why does Apple seem to think that I want a slimmer notebook rather than having one in 7.5" size. Any "Optional external HD for $99, USB-bus powered" - didn't you rather want to write 'external SuperDisc'??? I might actually get the superdisc first for my Powerbook 12" And keep waiting until there is something with a reduced footprint from Apple or try my hand at hackintosh on an OQO or something...
Oh, yeah and the price... It makes sense in a business kind of way, I imagine they have to get some ROI, but I'll get one if my 12" breaks down (still have a second one, though, but am thinking about selling that) or, preferably, if the Air drops to or below 1200. Good looks is not all. Oh, and while I am whining: multi-gesture touch-pad? WOWZER! What's with an entire touchscreen? Even the Newton had one eons ago...

yogibimbi

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

oharag — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:27:22 EST

You PC Dolts are funny. The Sony VAIO TZ, the one compared to in the presentation and I suppose is the standard for lightweights, starts at $2,099!!!! The low end has a 1.06 GHz processor, 11.1" screen, Intel GMA 950. The most expensive ($3,699) has 1.33 GHz, 11.1" screen and 950 graphics. Maybe the Sony has more connections, but come on people WAKE UP.

You guys are DOLTS! Go back to the rock you crawled out of and go back to sleep! Wake up in 20 years, and maybe you'd have a clue by hten.

oharag

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

B@tM@n — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:24:49 EST

Hrmmm... way to go Steve, instead of putting multi-touch on the other models- he wants us to hawk up $1700.00. Wow way to screw your customers. Here lets rent videos we cant touch for $5 too while were at it. Not in my home. If I do get one of these-it will be straight off the truck.

Yes its thin and looks neat-but Apple needs to do more and show the world how it isn't like Microsoft.

lets call it the Macbook Nano- and only design updates for it and not support older generations of Macbooks.

B@tM@n

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

RetepNamenots — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:20:27 EST

It looks like a step back in design, it's INSANELY expensive in the UK (STARTING at £1200? That's over $2400!).

It's not even ultraportable. Thin, light, but not something you could actually class as a 'subnotebook'.

RetepNamenots

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

ItsMrJP — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:20:10 EST

@distantbody: GET EM! Get those Mac zealots. I am an owner of a MacBook but that doesnt mean I have to be an asshat or suck off Uncle Stevie whenever he releases a glossy overpriced POS

ItsMrJP

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

jibbly — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:19:57 EST

Looks great but the non-user replaceable battery and price point are the deal killers for me.

Secondary nitpicks include lack of ethernet, firewire jacks.

Some questions:
How fast is the platter HDD?
How far can the screen tilt back?
Non-glossy screen option available?

I really have to hand it to Apple's design team though, they know how to make things look good (subjective of course, but in the CE world more companies should adopt the "simple is good" approach).

jibbly

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

geeoph — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:17:50 EST

laaaaaaaame.

One USB port? No optical drive?

Good use of technology, but I'm not ready to give up watching my DVDs.

geeoph

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

SunnyDelight — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:17:12 EST

I just showed the MacBook Air demo (its on the Apple website already) to my boss. Joy of Joys, he wants one for himself. Now to try and figure out a way for him to buy me one on the company tab. heh heh >:)

SunnyDelight

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

idhrenion — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:17:09 EST

I wanted to comment on the sizemodo article about it and wished if you GIZMODO could add the Vaio X505 To the comparason as it seemed to be one of the precursors of the ultraportable genre.
Thanks.
And PS Your CES Prank was funny and good luck for getting unbanned.

idhrenion

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

CribbageLeft — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:15:39 EST

@nucreation: @CruJones:

What's with the complaints?
So the SSD upgrade costs $999.
Are you forgetting that "SSD" stands for "Super Sized Diamond?"

You sell me a giant-diamond powered hard drive for less and I'll buy it!

CribbageLeft

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

NNTPgrip — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:15:06 EST

They need to get that multi-touchpad on the other models, pronto...

and ease up a bit and allow synaptics to put at least the whole "two fingers on touchpad + click = right-click" on all touchpads they sell, not just for the mac.

This should have replaced the macbooks, and had the same pricepoint.

NNTPgrip

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Meursault — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:14:44 EST

Fark'n Awsome. I only wish I wasn't so poor. One day sigh ...

Meursault

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

obelix — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:13:31 EST

the external peripherals to make this laptop more useable (like the optical drive and larger HDD) would just negate all the savings that they got on its weight and material usage

obelix

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

diableri — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:13:20 EST

I'm in the same boat as several others, disappointed. I loved my 12" Powerbook. It was hands down the best computer product I've ever used. When it was stolen recently, I figured I'd wait a bit and see what they came out with. Well they put out a larger footprint device that removed two of the things I used most on the road. Headed to ebay for a used Powerbook or maybe the Eee if I am willing to carry a drive around for sites.

diableri

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

distantbody — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:11:49 EST

@MacAddict21: -short battery life
-unattractive asymmetrical design
-too curvy

No. my comment was NOT "shameless hateful". I'll say it again for your thick dumb skull: This looks like a bit of a letdown, for the above reasons and some others.

You username indicates that you are truly pathetic. Apple is a corporation not a lifestyle. You, YOU are the type of scum that will flame other peoples opinions without having the brains to judge a product on its merits. PLEASE DO US A FAVOUR AND STOP FEEDING APPLE PR INTO YOUR PATHETIC AND TINY SHEEP-BRAIN

distantbody

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

devinburn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:11:11 EST

It sounds like "Macbook Error" and i think thats what it is. So little software is distributed through USB drives, and there's only one usb drive?

Its just a big itouch.

I respect apple, but I think they got it wrong here.

devinburn

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

DNABio — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:10:21 EST

If you can't change the battery during a flight, there is no way I would even consider this thing. I was ready to upgrade my Dell X1 but this would cut it as a business laptop. I don't have a single client that would allow me on their wireless network, if they even have one. Most hotels in Europe don't even wireless in the lobby, let alone the room.

DNABio

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

saeder — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:10:04 EST

@nachobel: glad someone brought up the USB ethernet adapter

And I do wonder how much fun an OS install would be via remote disk.

saeder

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

nordicrev — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:10:04 EST

Just what I always wanted! ....almost.

I was hyped all the way through until I realized that they weren't mentioning anything about the GPU. Sure enough, there's just a X3100. Wimpy. Personally, I would have rather had it be a full inch thick, but pack a 8600M in there.

nordicrev

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

alukard — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:09:50 EST

nice design, highly questionable practicality. this will be for show offs only. a tablet would have been better.

alukard

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

x23 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:09:30 EST

@pipper: no.

x23

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

trendspotter — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:09:28 EST

I bet the battery is replaceable.... for $349.99...

trendspotter

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

nachobel — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:08:16 EST

@zakglass: 1) .11n cards will work with b and g networks

2) USB ethernet adapter is $20. A hassle? Yes. Something excessive to carry in your lappy bag? Not really

nachobel

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Chris Rowe — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:07:57 EST

I use a Lenovo X60 Tablet and I never miss the optical drive. On the rare occasion that I do need one it's built into the dock. For all intents and purposes, that's what Apple has done here.

Secondly, I only use a wired ethernet connection when I'm docked. I'm sure Apple will come out with a dock that includes an ethernet jack or USB 2.0-to-Ethernet adaptor.

I think this is going to be very successful for them.

Chris Rowe

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

b33g33 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:07:47 EST

@Riemannian: The point I'm trying to make is that a lot of Apple fans don't even bother find out what else is out there. Its like Unless something is the fruit of his holinesses loins it is unclean. Apple seems to be the only remaining US company that can out-innovate the asians but there is too much hubris around its CEO.

b33g33

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Earthslide — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:06:55 EST

Will it Blend? That is the question.

Earthslide

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

smcallah — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:06:39 EST

@zakglass: 802.11n is backwards compatible with 802.11g/b. You don't need an 802.11n hotspot to use the built in WiFi.

smcallah

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

distantbody — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:05:56 EST

@MACADDICT21:

-short battery life
-unattractive asymmetrical design
-too curvy

No. my comment was NOT "shameless hateful". I'll say it again for your thick dumb skull: This looks like a bit of a letdown, for the above reasons and some others.

distantbody

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

monkeyrotica — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:04:46 EST

Apple needs to license the Tom Waits song "Big in Japan" because this thing is going to sell like crazy there.

monkeyrotica

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

hanspecans — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:04:25 EST

these idiots really got ultraportable wrong. it's not the thickness that i care about it's the fucking footprint.

hanspecans

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

yashichi8bit — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:03:42 EST

Its definitely pretty, but those specs are not that impressive.

yashichi8bit

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

smcallah — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:03:18 EST

@nucreation: A 64GB SSD is $1533 at newegg, and that's for a Supertalent 2.5" drive. The Air is using a 1.8" SSD, probably not a Supertalent either. So $999 seems far from a rip off. It's not even near retail price.

smcallah

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

M_Mickey — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:02:02 EST

This is not a small computer but a thin one!
Size looks the same as other 13 inch laptops, only thinner, so thats what you pay extra $ for, thin not small.

Too much space/edge around the screen.

Keyboard looks very similar to my wireless Apple keyboard.

M_Mickey

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

jonroach13 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:02:00 EST

@HIPHOPOPOTAMUS, Nice try hater.... stock was down prior to keynote AND market is taking a beating...

jonroach13

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Atrahasis — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:01:58 EST

It's not bad as far as Macs go, but you can get a Lenovo with slightly better specs for almost half the price.

I know the design is sexy and all, but money is sexy too.

Atrahasis

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Brandnew70x7 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:01:51 EST

I love apple, i'm the proud owner of a Macbook Pro but this keynote was a blatant failure.

Brandnew70x7

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Riemannian — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:01:34 EST

@b33g33: please there are plenty of Apple fans criticizing them in the comments

Riemannian

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

b33g33 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:00:57 EST

@b33g33: Oops read 'slightly thicker' not 'thinner'

b33g33

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

GusRandall — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:00:19 EST

Love the design but honestly, the Sony TZ sure looks like it has a similar keyboard size and more importantly, it has 3G built in. Its also likely to include 4G Xohm when its refreshed in the near future.

Apple needs to get out of San Francisco and realize that people want to have network connectivity outside of coffee house WiFi networks.

GusRandall

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

mdmadph — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:00:09 EST

Considering the Dell X3 that I used to pine after was more expensive than this, I call the Macbook Air a deal, seriously...

...if you're in the market for a laptop that costs more than I've probably ever spent on all the computer stuff I've ever bought in my life. :(

mdmadph

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

kezratt1 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:59:47 EST

ITS ONLY $1800-IM GETTIN ONE!

kezratt1

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

pipper — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:59:27 EST

Am I the first to point out this thing HAS INTERNAL BATTERY JUST LIKE IPHONE???
(Like it or hate it!)

pipper

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

b33g33 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:58:12 EST

My Thinkpad X61 tablet is slightly thinner has the similar specs, more connectivity, costs around the same and is a TABLET!! For me, Apple computer products continue to be marketing-gimmick-focused with little thought given to real world usability. But I'm sure the fanboys collectively creamed their pants when they saw his holiness holding the 'air'.

b33g33

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

JimBeam — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:58:09 EST

This thing is lighter, but the footprint is the same. It's actually a tiny bit wider than the Macbook. Weren't they supposed to be going the other way?

I really wanted a 10" or 11" display.

JimBeam

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Pope John Peeps II — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:57:48 EST

@RoyalKennebecasisAdventurersSociety:
This is a really poorly thought out product, and the only reason it's being marketed is that Jobs seems to be under the impression that he can create a stable and growing market for the purchase of movies and music on iTunes. I guess it's the same thing windows sort of did with vista - trying to force an upgrade in general hardware.

The ultra-portable market is for those people who want a secondary device to travel with. This isn't a primary machine. Yet it's almost the same dimensions as a primary machine. And it's 1800 DOLLARS!!!!

But if this is to be marketed as a primary computer for professionals, I don't know what professional would want to do away entirely with his optical drive. Especially for such an extravagant price.

This product would be great at 1200 or 1400 dollars. But this is way, way too much.

Pope John Peeps II

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

bandit — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:57:08 EST

Uh-oh. The battery looks to be non-replaceable. Here we go again.

bandit

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

sameoldoctor — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:57:00 EST

hmm, i just bought the fujitsu s6510 that is 4 lbs, 2.4 centrino duo, has all the ports and is a 14.1" screen. Did i mention its only 4lbs?

sameoldoctor

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

graffiksguru — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:56:28 EST

@Brandnew70x7: ditto, plus i need my optical drive. I like the design though.

graffiksguru

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

trendspotter — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:56:19 EST

Apple should throw in an air USB hub...

trendspotter

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

orionburch — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:55:14 EST

if anything, this product makes the Asus EE look even more attractive.

For 600, I can have a win xp machine good for word processing, browsing, and media viewing, that's always connected to a 3G network, right?

orionburch

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Weihovah — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:54:24 EST

$999 for the ssd option?? don't they only cost around $400?

Weihovah

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

slingblade — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:52:09 EST

Let's see the opened version hmm?

slingblade

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

zakglass — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:52:03 EST

@RoyalKennebecasisAdventurersSociety:
Can't imagine business users will be eager to run something without a wired network connection. No optical drive, no problem; but hotels, client sites, and a bunch of offices still don't have wireless and where there is wireless available it sure as hell isn't 802.11n. I'd love to carry this around, but the number of additional items required to make it useful is a non-starter. I lug my machine through 4 flights a week, and there's still no way I'd want this.

zakglass

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Riemannian — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:51:24 EST

It will sell to people with money to burn. I'm pretty price sensitive but I shelled out easily for a 24'' IMac because it was a great value with good usability.

Riemannian

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

kevininstereo — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:50:20 EST

shit. you can put 2 vaio's in that envelope.

kevininstereo

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Hiphopopotamus — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:50:10 EST

And the verdict is in... AAPL stock takes swift kick to the nuts, drops 7%.

Hiphopopotamus

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Splendor — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:50:06 EST

Thank you Jesus!

Splendor

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

mzs — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:49:24 EST

@stephenbb: Sadly only an integrated Intel GMA X3100 same as the MacBook for the suckers which spend $1800 for this:

[www.apple.com]

mzs

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

fawsal — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:49:13 EST

finally... my pb 12 can retire

fawsal

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Riemannian — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:49:12 EST

Sure there'll be a market for it but it's not going to sell incredibly well. It will sell on aesthetics but I don't think that's necessarily what Apple was aiming for. They were aiming for attracting the mobile business warrior with a high-end device. I'm not even remotely tempted by this product like I usually am with all the previous Apple updates. Luckily Apple's other products are reasonalbly strong they can afford some time to drop their prices. I think they should have waited a year or two for SSD and component prices to fall.

Riemannian

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

npvajda — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:49:11 EST

this is basically an ipod that sits on your lap.

npvajda

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

menuhin — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:49:06 EST

Way too expensive for a slow computer like this
only 1.6 - 1.8 G ULV Core 2 Duo
1.8" 80GB hard drive that can only be at 4200rpm MAX
64SSD is not fast and it is so small and expensive at the moment

Not to expensive for Apple item collectors, and designer item hunters though... (these are not really users)

menuhin

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

GoatMonkey — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:47:56 EST

Oh wait. What? What is everyone talking about?

GoatMonkey

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Brandnew70x7 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:47:23 EST

@jwrose:

That doesn't make it worth it or justifiable.

Brandnew70x7

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

stufferino — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:46:52 EST

WHERES MY MOTHERFUCKING TABLET?

this is a colossal let down...

stufferino

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

daftrok — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:46:24 EST

WTF? Macbook Air? Why didn't they just make the Macbook eco friendly and LED backlit? And no optical drive? Seriously how heavy is the Macbook? 4 or 5 pounds? Idiotic in my opinion...

daftrok

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

jwrose — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:45:58 EST

for those ripping on the price:
Smaller laptops are popular in Japan (many of the models never make it state-side) and they're regularly well over $1000 and they don't have the fastest processors available or anything. When you go small and thin- you pay a premium for the components. I'll be sticking with my MBPro, but it's pretty cool.

jwrose

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

tamoko — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:45:20 EST

@greendusk: Ah.. but a Think Pad without a gesture enabled touchpad. Think Pads and UMPCs often feel like their keyboards are for toddler hands, although I still lust after them when I see then in the local Sony store.

@hhaller: Wrong decade...it's 2008 already, lose the floppy fetish... there are flash drives now.

tamoko

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

nucreation — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:45:04 EST

wow...they sure are ripping people off with the SSD upgrade!! $999!!

nucreation

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Brandson — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:44:49 EST

This is going to sell very well. I've never owned a Mac, but $1799 seems very reasonable to me. Similar form factor laptops from other vendors cost more and aren't as portable. This type of product is not for someone looking for performance, but even so I don't see anything terribly deficient with the specs. It's for someone who wants a very portable computer that looks really good and is fun to use. This is the first Apple product I've ever considered buying for myself.

Brandson

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

RoyalKennebecasisAdventurersSociety — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:44:23 EST

There is a lot of poor commenting going on here. Yes the specs are lower than other products, but the point is the size of the computer not the specs. Smaller or thinner size has always equalled higher price, that's just the way the tech market works. There are tons of business users who will lap this baby up. It's not my cup of tea, but I can easily imagine a market for it, I don't know why it's so hard for some to fathom.

RoyalKennebecasisAdventurersSociety

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Singlespeed — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:43:30 EST

It sure is pretty but I think apple really missed on the price point. I want my ultra portable to be less expensive than my desk machine. As a user I don't see the advantage of paying more for fewer features. It's thin, and all, but 1 usb port? Seriously? Apple obviously knew people would miss the optical drive. It seems very un-Apple to tack on a accessory like that.

Singlespeed

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

miburo — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:42:49 EST

Why are people that read gizmodo excited at all about remote disk. That must be the most "Non-feature" announcement i've ever seen to throw people off the fact it has no drive.

This is obviously made for people who are looking for a second computer or even a second laptop and have the money to spend.

I love the thin form factor but overall a 7/10 on total usefulness compared to whats out there.

miburo

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

indiesel — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:41:56 EST

The black keyboard is a bit Titanium Powerbook-esque. Unappealing.

It's a shame. Other than that, it looks good, and has a great form factor.

indiesel

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

someToast — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:41:51 EST

@ItsMrJP: "internet is disabled until future patch. cost: $20.00

cannot install applications until future patch. cost :$20.00"

Yes, yes, we've heard you twice now. You're pissed about the $20 Touch update. We get it.

someToast

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

snitch29 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:41:26 EST

price its not that bad if you really know what your getting, LED screens don't come cheap, 802.11n WiFi is also something you wont find on any cheap laptop

snitch29

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

ScotchtapeLoser — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:41:25 EST

@ripfire4:

People need a wired LAN to to system updates, backups WOL... etc... things you can't do well over wifi...

ScotchtapeLoser

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

Lavallee017 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:41:14 EST

@ItsMrJP: the only thing i could see this being used for is if they add some serious connectivity for the iPhone. the top pics of this thing look so sexy but the side view looks so gross.

Seems that she has already begun to lose my gaze. the soul simply burns to bright to be covered by the shell, lol

I'd Rather have the Sony TZ, Vista Ultimate, and of course my Zune to wrap it all up. Sure it might be just as soulless but at least it's got beauty and brains

Lavallee017

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

npvajda — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:41:04 EST

yes it looks amazing. But what will you actually do with it? No optical drive, small HD, and quite pricey.
if you have a small HD, wouldn't you want more than 80GB storage? This is basically an ipod touch that sits on your lap.

npvajda

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

x23 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:40:37 EST

wondering where the 160GB sized iPod drive is... 80GB or 64GB flash? lame. better be a BTO option.

looks to me like the battery is internal like an iPod / iPhone as well. as much as people bitch about that in a $100 music player ... i'm surprised the internet isn't on fire yet with that fact.

also surprised the external SuperDrive can't plug into the Time Capsule to allow for the optical to be used with Remote Disc. seems with 2 hardware products released today they might have thought to combine them a bit more.

x23

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

JimBeam — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:40:32 EST

Holy Crap! The SSD version is $3098!

JimBeam

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

CruJones — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:40:10 EST

Holy Shnikes!!! The version with a better CPU and 64GB SSD starts at over $3,000!!!

CruJones

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

ripfire4 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:39:46 EST

BTW, could anyone here show me how I can enable a "hibernate" functionality on a macbook?

ripfire4

Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing

BoinK — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:39:45 EST

@brundlefly76: This is gizmodo. The mighty apple is well.. mighty. Saying anything else is asking for a flame.

Love the design but I dunno... I'd be afraid of snapping it in two :P And I'd prefer more options for connectivity so it's not for me.

BoinK