Review: Apple's 2010 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Air - Page 3

Oh really? Do you think the slate can compare with the MBA? Where is the keyboard? And I said as fast ... the slate WILL be a slug!

Not as my primary machine.

The HP Slate comes with a 1.86GHz CPU and the 11 MBA only comes with a 1.4GHZ CPU and cost more money. Plus, the virtual keyboard on the HP Slate is backlit, which you cant say for MBAs keyboard.

(I really hope you dont take my post seriously)

I was under the impression you were looking for something "as small, light, fast, and capable [as the iPad], and has all the inputs and outputs everyone is talking about".

That's why I answered as I did. I didn't think you were talking about netbooks. Obviously, netbooks have a keyboard, and best the iPad in pretty much every respect.

Yup. That basically reflects my experience. Also reflects my disappointment that "blacks" are not as black as they should be. The screen bezel is blacker than the on-screen black, which has often resulted in me color-correcting images incorrectly to make them too black.

My 17" PowerBook G4 had true blacks.

While I definitely like the brightness of the MacBook screen, it seems that Apple merely shifted the brightness to a higher level, rather than actually increasing the dynamic range (color gamut?? not very well-versed in the right lingo).

Why are millions still buying iPads then...?

That's a product that is not yet widely shipping, tested nor reviewed.

Speaking of thought-to-be-dead tablets, Notion Inks Adam Tablet looks like it could be a competitor to the iPad on price and capabilities. Well, the closest Ive seen from a competitor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_tablet

I was on my way to buy a 13 and learned that they'd dropped the backlighting, which is a dealbreaker for me. I'm sure there's a reason, but I depend on it in low-lighting. If the market is the mobile crowd, it doesn't make sense; I've lost count of the number of times I've been stuck on an overnighter in cattle class and didn't want to disturb a seat mate dozing fitfully two inches from my elbow by turning on my reading light. The only thing to hope for is that a 15" MBA is in the works that will start at 256 Mb, have 4 Gb of memory, a faster chip AND a backlit keyboard

I don't understand what's so important about backlit keyboards. Until something like 8 years ago, nobody even knew backlit keyboards. Plus, if you're typing black on white background, the screen is plenty bright enough to let you see the keys too, if you absolutely need to see them. I applaud Apple for shaving off more thickness instead of adding the illuminated keyboard on top. I don't miss it at all.

I do miss the backlit keyboard. Okay, I just have a unibody MB, not an MBA, but still, it has no backlit keyboard. My 17" PBG4 had one, and it was really convenient for working at night. Not critical, but convenient.

There's going to be a limit to how practical it will be to make a notebook any thinner without seriously sacrificing power and battery life. That being said, the previous MBA had the backlit keyboard -- some are upset that Apple ditched it in order to trivially shave off a few mm on thickness to the 13" model.

It's not that hard to understand, so I don't know why people are complaining to the complainers about a feature that was included on the old MBA and all other MacBook Pros but dropped this go around.

If Apple had kept the feature, no one would be bitching. But since they did remove it, you have people like me who are upset and those who will defend every Apple decision to the death.

Nice review. I love my new 13" Air. It performs very well and has incredible battery life. More storage is a matter of time. as flash RAM prices go down.

I think Apple will thin out some of its notebook offerings around the $1000 price point, or differentiate them a bit more. I also think Apple will boost the screen resolution of the future 13" MBP. The plastic MacBook will either disappear or drop in price.

And no, I don't miss the backlit keyboard or the lack of ambient light sensors. I'm not even sure the MacBook Air has accelerometers like the Pro. Those things, while nice to have, are less important than the portability and long battery life.

You don't need an accelerometer in a notebook if it has an SSD, right?

The original use is to attempt to protect HDD data, but there are now other uses for the SMS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_Motion_Sensor

Well, I can understand its use for something like an iPad or an iPhone, but I'm still puzzled how an accelerometer/SMS would be useful in an notebook with an SSD. Since the only other moving part in the system would be the system fan, and OS X doesn't support motion sensing for the U.I. (as far as I know), then it wouldn't be of any benefit.

That was the point of my post -- the loss of the accelerometer in the MacBook Air doesn't seem like something anyone would complain about anyway. And to that end, the MacBook Air never even had GbE or Firewire, so the lack of those features on the new model shouldn't come as a surprise.

I didn’t read that it was removed from these new MBAs… or I forgot, since it’s a non-issue. You’re right, there are no parts that would require the SMS to stay, but there are some apps that can use it to interact with the environment/user. I guess there could be some users that would be upset to find out that the SMS is removed, but I don’t that number would be high enough to make Apple care.

Yeah, I agree. The care factor would be low.

That being said, even with all of my bitching, I'm still going to get a 13" MacBook Air I'm just waiting for MacMall to come back in stock with them. After the additional Apple Insider 3% discount, you can get the 128GB, 4GB model for $1,309 -- so you're basically getting the 4GB upgrade for $9. You can't pass that up.

And then I'm gonna turn around and sell my 13" MacBook Pro with its upgraded 160GB X25-M SSD and 4GB of RAM.

There's always someone who complains. If they had left the backlit keyboard in, people would be complain about it now having gotten any smaller or having poor battery life when they type a letter on it in a perfectly dark room, using the one finger at a time method. Or they'd complain about the keyboard reflecting on the glossy screen or something else.

Your completely wrong here.

I am basing my opinion on using and working with many, many, MacBook Airs over a long period of time. I work as a tech and have to service and repair them (or attempt to) sometimes.

MacBook Airs are delicate (the old model is anyway). Everyone knows this. Every one I've seen who has one has had it replaced or repaired at some point in it's career. There are so many broken MacBook Airs going through where I work (and not that many people order it), that I made my own working model out of the leftover broken bits I found lying around.

The main failure points are the hinge, the little door, and the hard drive. Also a lot of them just have random failure (as in just stopping dead one day), which is usually down to the hard drive but not always.

The new model eliminates the little door, and replaces the hard drive with a solid state model as well as reducing the amount of heat overall. For that reason there is every likelyhood that this means the new one is more durable, but it's definitely something worth talking about, and something worth mentioning in a MacBook Air review. It's a well-known thing that should have been mentioned is all I meant by my remarks.

I could have picked a number of posts to reply to...


Gigabit Ethernet is NOT important for web surfing, downloading and email almost anywhere. Where do you find internet access faster than 100Mbit? I have a theoretical max of 24Mbit at home (I only get 11Mbit), my internal network is a mix of 1Gbit 100Mbit 802.11N and 802.11G, the 1GBit is certainly very very good for large file transfers but for general surfing bloomin' 802.11G is fast enough.
So: modern WiFi is enough, USB Ethernet dongle at 100Mbit is enough. Yes, it is annoying to carry the dongle, but we all carry loads of other USB devices anyway. I see people at the local Borders Cafe with laptops at every table most with things plugged in (phones, mice, cameras) and some even pulling out a power board so they can plug multiple devices into power outlets! Quit y'r complainin' and harden up.

World internet speeds: http://www.speedtest.net/global.php#0

Oh: I don't really put huge files onto my 2009 Air, not enough space! :-)

Has anyone held up an ethernet cable to the side of an Air to see if there is enough space for it? (I have not)
Would you give up a USB port for one? (to be honest: I would)

A sim card slot would be nice but then I would have 3 mobile bills: iPhone, iPad and an Air! Tethering is fine and enough for general surfing - heck, recently I downloaded Eclipse (Java IDE, 160+MB) while 2009 MBA was tethered to my iPhone 4, it took a while, but it didn't take sooooo long that it upset me.

Anyway, have fun!

Ethernet and Firewire connectors will not fit on the MacBook Air. It would have to be thicker. As it is, the lower (less height) USB connectors barely fit. If you need these, get a MacBook Pro.

From the article: "$199 iPod touch" Perhaps someone sells the iPod touch at a discount, but the lowest list price is $229. While that's only $30 for the buyer, it's 15% for the seller and would make a huge impact on margins.

I might have missed someone else already pointing this out, since I just skimmed through the comments. But..

The nvidia GeForce 320M is NOT a dedicated GPU. It is an integrated chipset. Just like the 9400M was. It takes a GPU and all of the various system chips and integrates them all into one giant chip. It does NOT have dedicated memory.

And as others have pointed out, the iPad only has 256MB of RAM. Not 1GB.

It sounds to me like you just hate Apple.

Hell, what functionality? I touch-type (on Dvorak, and previously on QWERTY). I pitty those who speaks about backlit function - they are so unproductive. (well, me too, when I read AppleInsider )

So I guess that Apple is just wasting its time including the backlight on every MacBook Pro and the previous MacBook Airs?

no, but it's a gimmick, just like itunes control buttons on the keyboard or an ambient light sensor.

That's sort of my situation. I wanted the 4gb upgrade since I use Parallels to run windows and like to run lots of programs simultaneously.

I have a 13" macbook pro w 4gb ram and 160gb drive.

My new MBA came today, been using it for 1 hour.

Initial thoughts...

1. first time I used migration assistant, it took only 22 minutes for about 80gb of data!
2. WOW to the screen - same screen size as the macbook pro but feels like 50% larger due to resolution - now I see what the comparisons to the 15" model were about...
3. anyone using Parallels to run windows xp and/or 7, like me, is in for a surprise (I have both 7 and xp installed). A pleasant surprise..... the virtual machines definitely run FASTER and load FASTER due to the ssd's. Love it!
4. I tried to get the 6 month no interest deal for $1309 from macmall - their bank turned me down even though I have a great score and excellent credit history. So I went to apple, got the education discount (which also applies to the ram upgrade) and I received the same package for $1338 - $30 bucks more - but the barclays deal gives you 12 months interest free so it seemed comparable.

So far I think the MBA 13" is great!

In your opinion...

That being said, just about every review of the new MacBook Airs has bitched about the backlit keyboard being deleted and it seems like a valid concern.

AnandTech:

Engadget:

Gizmodo:

Notebook Review:

Laptop Magazine:

Boy Genius Report:

CNET:

I guess all of those people are "newbs" using a "gimmick" feature

Today (well, technically yesterday seeing as it's 2AM), I received my maxed out 11.6" 'Air from Apple via FedEx. I'd sold my 13" 2.4Ghz MacBook Pro the week before to get it. Even though I checked out the new 'Air at my local Best Buy, I still cannot believe how stunning it is in person; how such a powerful machine (considering its size) could possibly be packed into something so incredibly svelte. The details and the lines are so refined and beautiful. This is easily one of the most gorgeous pieces of Apple hardware I've ever owned. Photos of the machine cannot begin to describe the real life experience of sitting in front of it.

As far as performance, I haven't had a chance to push the 1.6Ghz processor yet, but the nVidia 320m is just as swift as ever. The four gigabytes of ram will surely come in handy when I get into some heavy projects. It feels very different using this computer compared to my other Apple notebooks in the past for a variety of reasons, but especially in knowing that inside of the computer are components I've not yet had on any of the others. After installing all of my pro Applications, such as a select few from Adobe and Apple (from Final Cut Studio), I still have about 100GB of storage space available. Start up time is so low that I turn my computer on whenever I think about it, rather than deciding to wait until later to perform a trivial task as I did with my hard disk-based machine.

The Intel HD Audio processor is just as good as I'd hoped paired up with on-ear Bose Tri-Port headphones. All in all it's a great machine that practically begs to be used.

...In which case one would probably just go with a MacBook Pro; a 15" MBA would naturally defeat the purpose of having an 'Air in the first place.

Probably not newbs, but succumbing to the usual media hype about a negative aspect of an otherwise widely appraised apple product. You know, as a journalist, you're always supposed to write a balanced story or review, so you feel a lot of peer pressure not simply raving about something, but instead, apparently writing a "solid" review that lists pros and cons. With Apple's media attention and coverage being widely very positive, you're hard pressed to actually find something to complain about.

Same thing happened with the iPhone4, if you recall. The antenna issue turned out to be about 1000 times less of an issue than it was reported widely in the media. Do you remember ANY other negative comment about the new phone apart from the antenna issue and the proximity sensor troubles?

Do you, from the top of your head, recall any other negative aspect of the 11" MBA apart from the lack of backlit keyboard and maybe the lower battery life?

You're quite wrong if you think that journalists, bloggers and other writers on the internet are not influenced by their, albeit digital, environment. If you were to write a review on the MBA and not at least mention the lack of a backlit keyboard, who do you think would take you seriously?

On the internet, if something is repeated a million times, that does not mean it is any more correct or relevant.
Want more proof? Google the word "judgement", then google "judgment". Now guess which one is the correct spelling.

You seem to be missing the point though. As I said before, I am purchasing a new MacBook Air 13 as soon as the 4GB models come back in stock.

And yes, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives... but the backlit keyboard is HIGHLY disappointing to me. I have the right to voice that concern. Just because I don't agree with Apple's decision not to include it doesn't mean that my opinion on the matter isn't "relevant". I just take issue with the fact that some of you folks seem to jump instantly to Apple's defense on every product decision they make and seem to think that such a feature doesn't matter to people.

It's the same way I don't agree with Apple's decision to change the orientation lock on the iPad. Just because Apple deemed it "justified" doesn't mean I have to agree 100%

I think the orientation lock on the iPad going software only is alright.

But I do wish the MBAs had a backlit keyboard. That would be the real icing on the cake. I would say it had to do with profit margins, they had to draw the line somewhere. Pity.

In any case as much as I love the design of the 11" I already have a MacBook Alu 2ghz with no backlit keyboard as my main OSX device so I don't need another OSX device. iOS is HUGE going into the next few years, OSX is great but has to be retrofitted heavily over the next few years for all the clueless new users coming on board to the Mac.

It could be, but I still cant my queries answered as to how much the backlit keyboard costs, if their is room in the current design for the backlit keyboard system used in the other Mac notebooks.

Its possible that they could add it, but at a cost that is much higher than the current system as it would be need to be reengineered to be smaller, thus affecting their target price points. But if that is the case, then why not offer it as a BTO option for the higher-end models? Its possible that its just not feasible at this time with that chassis.

While I dont see it as a deal breaker feature, one thing to note is that what set the MBA apart from other light, ultra-portable notebooks is the full-sized keyboard so I fully understand if others dont like it. My advice to them is to not buy a new MBA.

I look forward to a really sweet 13" 1440x900 MBP that drops the HDD and SuperDrive thereby shaving off at least 1/3 the weight. Which I think... will be the next MBP 13". The MBP 15" will also drop the SuperDrive and be slimmed down. 17" hmm I don't know. Maybe a product cycle later.

I think it was profit margin but admittedly also space/engineering. It's a bloody ambitious design.

That's where I think Steve comes in. He's very good with managing feature creep.

You know what was probably the dealbreaker with the backlight? It didn't "feel" right with whatever they attempted. Maybe the lighting felt "cheap" or didn't shine through the keyboard properly or something so they axed it for now.

Best part? If it is in the next MBA then that's one of the big things that will compel you to upgrade!

Either way, Apple wins! They are in the f***ing zone, man.

Fictitious scenario: Cost of new backlighting too costly, Apple decided to hold off but plans to incorporate it into all future Mac notebooks with backlit keyboards thus lowering the costs of engineering and components and making it possible for next MBA revision from economy of scale and also giving new MBPs a little more room to spare.

Excellent theory.