Ultra Slim Macbook Air
The long awaited Macbook Air has finally been announced. The computer includes everything you could want and is a remarkable display of engineering and design from the Apple team.
The new laptop brings some new features to the table. Multi touch is now supported on the trackpad and function just like the iTouch and iPhone. The computer also features two options of newly designed 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors. These processors have been custom fitted for the new engineering standards.
The computer also features some new and interesting battery technology that is half the sizes and still provides 5 hours of wireless use.
The computer does lack a DVD drive. And while this seems to be a downfall it isn’t due to the innovation that has sprung up from it. These new laptops features something called, “Remote Disc.” Remote Disc allows the access of any DVD Drive (Mac or Windows) on the same network or wirelessly using bluetooth.
The laptop is also adopting the N wireless technology cards and Bluetooth 2.1 is used to further the push for bluetooth technology.
The Macbook Air is also continuing the streak of Green Machines in the Apple camp. It’s Energy Star certified, Mercury and PVC free and is fully recyclable.
My favorite features come from the hard drive…
Buyers will have two options-
1) An ultra slim PATA 80GB HD
2) Solid State 64 GB HD
There is no doubt the computer looks sexy and will surely make and impact on the engineering of hardware components. For awhile it has felt like everything has been growing in size in both laptops and desktops. This hopefully shows an alternative.
The only thing I feel consumers will shy away from is the lack of a DVD drive. But honestly- Burning CDs is a thing of the past and anytime I’ve ever installed software I’m at home or work near a plethora of other comps.
Colin said
am January 16 2008 @ 4:36 pm
Those things do look really nice.
The proccessors seem to be a little bit slow. I’m actually suprised that they didn’t go with something faster. Has there been anyword on if they are usiing Silicon Core 2’s or if they are using the new material that Intel is using? The name is slipping my mind at the moment and I’m still out of town.
One problem with a lack of a DVD drive is something that I wouldn’t have even thought of a week ago. On the way down here I noticded a lot of people were actaully using their laptops as a portable DVD player. Why they didn’t just rip movies into their hard drive or download them, I don’t know. I know my sample size here is small but if people still depend on laptops to watch movies while traveling, that could play a factor in a purchase decision. Honestly though if people can’t handlenot having a drive on the computer they should just pick up an external for $20 and pop it into an open USB.
The Remote Disc program sounds really cool and hopefully it launches well. I think the success of this product will depend on a flawless launch of that program. If they run into massive compatability issues people will not be buying these.
Ryan said
am January 17 2008 @ 4:20 pm
I agree that the processors seem a bit low for Mac standards but these computers were never designed for gamers and the processors are still plenty for running production software. I think the lack of a DVD drive for movies is nullified solely on Apples push for digital download content with iTunes. At least for me on my laptop with iTunes I’ve had no need to carry my library with me. But I a limited with HD space and need to store them on external drives.
Billy said
am January 17 2008 @ 11:58 pm
It does look cool, and as far as the absence of a DVD drive goes, it’s not really that huge of a deal. Apple is also introducing the MacBook Air SuperDrive, which will be able to play and burn CDs and DVDs for $99. The only thing that is confusing people about this USB optical drive is that it reportedly will work with the MacBook Air, and… nothing else.