The Haswell MBA is a nice bit of kit. I picked one up last week for one of our office users, CTO with i7/8GB/256GB. Delivery was under a week direct from China.
Moving some files around between it and an older 13" C2D the improved battery runtime was very evident. The older unit dropped from 100% to 88% charge level while the MBA barely slipped to 99%. Booting from the new PCIe bus SSD is also notably fast compared to the SATA SSD in the old MBP.
I wish Apple had not been quite so parsimonious with the MBA's ports, but it's nothing that can't be worked around. I bought a third party gig-ethernet to USB3 dongle that seems to work well, plus a T-Bolt to FW800 dongle for maintenance purposes. (The T-Bolt/MDP is already in use for a desktop monitor.) The ideal solution for the port shortage would be a 27" Apple T-Bolt Display, which provides a full range of ports all driven off the single T-Bolt connection. However I'm not ready to whack out another grand for that.
I bought macbook air two days ago and I am definitely returning it back to Apple. I think it's a fine laptop but I find myself using my iPad... I don't really need a Macbook... i use mac mini for content creation. Would rather get a new iPad than a MacBook.
My plan is to buy the Air and Thunderbolt Display this fall, put my 2012 iMac in the den for the kids. Still hoping my old Dell will just die so I don't have to hear it from the Missus. :-)
My plan is to buy the Air and Thunderbolt Display this fall
Any MBP or MBA plus the T-Bolt display makes a very nice combo. Another of our office users has just that setup and loves it. The display takes care of any port shortcomings and the power supply — and of course what's not to like about a giant display?
Any MBP or MBA plus the T-Bolt display makes a very nice combo. Another of our office users has just that setup and loves it. The display takes care of any port shortcomings and the power supply — and of course what's not to like about a giant display?
Yeah. If only a had a couple grand laying around I would love to get a nice 13" MBA and a T-Bolt display, but alas no.
7.2lbs is the shipping weight, the laptop itself is somewhere around 5lbs, which is lighter than the entry 15" MBP at 5.6lbs. The entry MBP also has a 5400 rpm hard disk.
I've seen a few people over the years that just wanted a basic spec 15" and the difference between entry 15" PCs and entry Mac laptops is night and day: <$500 vs $1800. I think Apple could do with offering a lower spec with a larger display. People who need the MBP will get the MBP anyway. When someone looking for an average 15" laptop sees an 11" starting at $999 and 15" PC laptops starting below $500, it's a big disincentive to even venture into the Mac world. A 14" $999 would at least bring them into consideration and things like the PCIe SSD, better software, metal enclosure, battery life, resale value etc sell them on the extra $500 they need to spend.
The PC market is dying, this is where Apple can afford to be aggressive and pull people over that are tired with what PC manufacturers are offering.
You are definitely correct in that Apple would have a very serious seller on their hands there. The reality is however, that I don't think Apple could even pull that off right now if they wanted to. I don't know just how much markup there is on the MBA lineup, but I seriously doubt there is enough to support a new 14" model at the same price point as the current 11" entry model.
You are definitely correct in that Apple would have a very serious seller on their hands there. The reality is however, that I don't think Apple could even pull that off right now if they wanted to. I don't know just how much markup there is on the MBA lineup, but I seriously doubt there is enough to support a new 14" model at the same price point as the current 11" entry model.
Right now, the entry 11" is priced at $999 and the 13" is $1099 so assuming they both have 30% gross margins, the build costs would be $699 and $769. If a 14" costs $799, that could drive gross margins down to 20% but on the plus side, 14" is the most popular laptop size in China, which is a large market:
With 14" and 15", they'd be selling the two most popular sizes in the world. SSD and memory prices will drop over time so if they stick to 128GB, they can make up the margins with that.
I want a new iMac, but my 2009 iMac is still working as it did the day I opened it. Longest I ever owned ANY computer. I want it to show problems so I have an excuse to buy a new iMac. Damn apple reliability!!!
You could just sell your current iMac on eBay and get a new one. That damn reliability is one of the reasons Apple products retain such high resale values!
I just ordered my first MBAir today. Looking forward to mobile computing.
Comments
The Haswell MBA is a nice bit of kit. I picked one up last week for one of our office users, CTO with i7/8GB/256GB. Delivery was under a week direct from China.
Moving some files around between it and an older 13" C2D the improved battery runtime was very evident. The older unit dropped from 100% to 88% charge level while the MBA barely slipped to 99%. Booting from the new PCIe bus SSD is also notably fast compared to the SATA SSD in the old MBP.
I wish Apple had not been quite so parsimonious with the MBA's ports, but it's nothing that can't be worked around. I bought a third party gig-ethernet to USB3 dongle that seems to work well, plus a T-Bolt to FW800 dongle for maintenance purposes. (The T-Bolt/MDP is already in use for a desktop monitor.) The ideal solution for the port shortage would be a 27" Apple T-Bolt Display, which provides a full range of ports all driven off the single T-Bolt connection. However I'm not ready to whack out another grand for that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by allenbf
My plan is to buy the Air and Thunderbolt Display this fall
Any MBP or MBA plus the T-Bolt display makes a very nice combo. Another of our office users has just that setup and loves it. The display takes care of any port shortcomings and the power supply — and of course what's not to like about a giant display?
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilM
Any MBP or MBA plus the T-Bolt display makes a very nice combo. Another of our office users has just that setup and loves it. The display takes care of any port shortcomings and the power supply — and of course what's not to like about a giant display?
Yeah. If only a had a couple grand laying around I would love to get a nice 13" MBA and a T-Bolt display, but alas no.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
7.2lbs is the shipping weight, the laptop itself is somewhere around 5lbs, which is lighter than the entry 15" MBP at 5.6lbs. The entry MBP also has a 5400 rpm hard disk.
I've seen a few people over the years that just wanted a basic spec 15" and the difference between entry 15" PCs and entry Mac laptops is night and day: <$500 vs $1800. I think Apple could do with offering a lower spec with a larger display. People who need the MBP will get the MBP anyway. When someone looking for an average 15" laptop sees an 11" starting at $999 and 15" PC laptops starting below $500, it's a big disincentive to even venture into the Mac world. A 14" $999 would at least bring them into consideration and things like the PCIe SSD, better software, metal enclosure, battery life, resale value etc sell them on the extra $500 they need to spend.
The PC market is dying, this is where Apple can afford to be aggressive and pull people over that are tired with what PC manufacturers are offering.
You are definitely correct in that Apple would have a very serious seller on their hands there. The reality is however, that I don't think Apple could even pull that off right now if they wanted to. I don't know just how much markup there is on the MBA lineup, but I seriously doubt there is enough to support a new 14" model at the same price point as the current 11" entry model.
Right now, the entry 11" is priced at $999 and the 13" is $1099 so assuming they both have 30% gross margins, the build costs would be $699 and $769. If a 14" costs $799, that could drive gross margins down to 20% but on the plus side, 14" is the most popular laptop size in China, which is a large market:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/09/hp-popular-laptop-screen-sizes-us-china/
With 14" and 15", they'd be selling the two most popular sizes in the world. SSD and memory prices will drop over time so if they stick to 128GB, they can make up the margins with that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordio
I want a new iMac, but my 2009 iMac is still working as it did the day I opened it. Longest I ever owned ANY computer. I want it to show problems so I have an excuse to buy a new iMac. Damn apple reliability!!!
You could just sell your current iMac on eBay and get a new one. That damn reliability is one of the reasons Apple products retain such high resale values!
I just ordered my first MBAir today. Looking forward to mobile computing.