I figured I’d chime in on MacBook Air. To be honest, it’s not what I hoped for. And, no, it’s not because it doesn’t have WiMAX (though, that’s a letdown too).
The real reason that I am not happy is because Apple is still missing out on the market that wants to be small on size, but big on power. This used to be somewhat satisfied by the 12-inch PowerBook G4. Apple is still playing the game of trying to push Pro customers up to the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
The 13-inch MacBook lacks durability and graphical performance. In short, it’s something Apple could fix with a new case, and a Configure to Order option for dedicated graphics (which would mean an alternate Main Logic Board, but enough would buy I don’t see that as a valid objection).
So, Apple made the MacBook Air. Okay, it’s certainly a Pro offering. It’s a subnotebook, okay, I could see it complimenting my MacBook Pro for when I don’t need all that power. But, cost comes into play. To be a Pro ultraportable customer, I now need to buy a MacBook Pro ($1999), and a MacBook Air ($1799). Now, you might say “Chris, you really don’t need two laptops.”
In Apple’s world today, I do. You do if you need to run Final Cut, CS3, or any graphically demanding application… and still have ultraportablility.
Apple could fix this, they really could. Apple could simply repeat history, and take the 13-inch MacBook, give it an aluminum body, more powerful CPU and graphics… and call it the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Now, I’m not saying MacBook Air isn’t going to sell… it just missed the largest hole in Apple’s product portfolio. I’m not alone in this opinion, it’s something that I know for a fact is still debated inside the leadership at Cupertino. Unfortunately, indecision has led to my having to lug around an aircraft carrier… and I’m not going to buy another machine to compensate.
Oh, and I still haven’t gotten a clear answer on Target Disk Mode. With no FireWire port, I’m assuming they re-routed it to do the same functionality over USB 2.0… it’s going to be a royal pain to troubleshoot when things go bad otherwise. I’m not taking one apart… I’m just going to throw it at the nearest Genius Bar.