And we have the MacBook Air

So the rumours were partly true, the MacBook Air, the 'upgrade' to the 13" MacBook, was announced by Steve Jobs at MacWorld yesterday. Now the Air is an impressive piece of technology - the miniaturisation, blatant disregard for current standards, make it everything a revolutionary machine should be. Yet, rather than being one, the Air is a flight of Apple vanity that is largely impractical for anyone who needs to do more than the most basic functions with their computer - in other words, those of us holding our breath for a stonking ultraportable have been left disappointed, again.

I, for one, am left scratching my head on this one. Ultraportables represent the fastest growing and most profitable computer hardware business. Think of the boutique motor industry where the cars are where priced where standard models had been 5 years ago. And when you add the wheels of globalisation to this mix, it becomes obvious that ultraportable is what users are after and where the clever vendors are going.

Not Apple. They still love to march to the beat of their own drum, and this bit is no exception. The MacBook Air represents this in a curious mix of underpowered hardware. So where has the MacBook Air failed to realise the promise of the Ultraportable?

Noted, the micro-sized Core2 Duo is a remarkable achievement, but for any kind of serious work - emulating XP or Vista; running an IDE or compiling code; video, image and audio editing - or not-so-serious work such as watching HD video or playing games - even the MacBook Pro is barely pulling it, and got the Air simply cannot compare processor-wise. Not to mention that RAM is totally un-expandable. Photoshop users will spend a lot of time waiting while they open more that second hi-res image, much less use that nifty multi-touch to zoom into their 400MB uncompressed PSDs.

Now, the lack of an ethernet port is quite egregious. This is built for the wireless world, but with respect to data transfer that's a rather dodgy one indeed. So no reliable, fast data transfer, internet access, etc. Combine that with the underwhelming 80GB HD (or expensive yet again impractical 64GB flash drive), and you have a machine that goes long on looks but far short on usefulness.

The inputs, limited to one USB and DVI, underwhelm again. So in making the portable more portable, Apple now expects its users to drag along more hubs and cables. Hmmm, not very portable indeed, when you must bring along a bag of devices, and Apple hopes you like plugging and unplugging things. Again, the answer again is that this is built for the wireless world, but with respect to input, presently that is make-believe. And dropping Firewire completely is truly tragic.

Now, Apple did get one thing right, and dropped the optical drive. Yes, Apple, thanks for paying attention! Optical drives have no place on an ultraportable - they are wretched energy consumers and force you to use media which leaves much to be desired. The true ultraportable user hasn't used an optical drive in donks, having moved on to ripping DVD and HD-DVD content onto their Firewire and USB drives - less again to carry in your bag.

There’s no doubt in my mind that a lot of people will buy this portable, but its capabilities are really more in line with the Sharp Muramasa, Redly, Everex and Eee, and these cost less and are true ultraportables. The price point is so far removed from its potential that the Air makes the iPhone look like a bargain. It's cool that Apple continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible with technology, but right now this portable looks like a bit of a costume jewelry - sexy, but not nearly real enough for its purpose.

Comments

[Jon]

It sounds like you're rating the machine on what you personally wanted from a machine, and you even say you're sure they're going to sell a lot.

The MacBook Pro still exists for all of your firewire/expandability/power/gaming/video needs.

This device is trying to give people the 80% the mainstream wants (which does not include video editing) in the smallest possible package. It did this quite well.

If they had added all the things you wanted, it would basically be a MacBook Pro without an optical drive. And that's not nearly as compelling as the Air.

[phil swenson]

Ha ha, was going to comment and I just realized I used to work with you at webm.

I personally don't care about the dongle issue, but the screen resolution is lame. 1200x800 doesn't cut it. The 2 gigs memory doesn't cut it either. And they need a 120 gig option.... address those 3 and I'm in.

[Charlton Barreto]

My perspective comes from being part of a mobile community which thrives on ultraportables, which seeks to combine power with portability.

We're the community that eschews the MacBook Pro models because they are simply portable desktops - they are simply too large to be practical (or durable) under the pressures of mobility. Apple once shipped a 12" Powerbook which did nicely in its day among the community, but Apple's choice of ignoring the community has led us to ultraportables such as those marketed by Sharp, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo and others, all of whom address the requirements of the mobile user.

The MacBook Air seems to address 80% of the celebrity market - a sexy, cool machine which doesn't do anything too serious, and priced accordingly. My predictions: 80% of basic users will find the MacBook Air too expensive, 80% of power and mobile users will find it too underpowered for their needs.

[michael jones]

Hm, interesting post! There so many different optical solutions and i am not sure what to do with my new machine!