Laurent’s Weblog

Apple unveiled yesterday the MacBook Air, the thinniest laptop in the world.

For sure nice and pretty , but what you should know about it , comparing to other Apple’s laptops :

- Two versions for the Core 2 Duo processor inside : 1.6GHz & 1.8GHz – Less than the first MacBook, coming with a Core 2 Duo 2GHz processor.

- 13″3 Display (as the MacBook)

- No Optical device onboard, but presence of the Remote Disc feature, allowing you to access the DVD Player of a remote Mac / PC. You can buyan external Optical Drive (as an option on the Apple Store)

- Coming with 2GB RAM onboard (welded) : Warning, you could not extend this amount of memory to 4GB, as on the new MacBooks and MacBook Pro based on Santa Rosa.

- The internal (1″8) Hard Drive is a PATA Disc (on the 1.6GHz config.) and a SSD 64GB (only) Hard Drive (on the 1.8GHz config.)

- A new TrackPad MultiTouch (as on the iPhone tablet) , allows you to play with two fingers to Zoom in or Zoom out your photos, or to play with the CoverFlow.

- Apple Keyboard Backlight – as for the MacBook Pro (The MacBook keyboard has no backlight)

- WiFi N support…as for the last Macs … problem, wifi routers of our beloved Internet Providers don’t support the norm N … you’ll need to buy a new Airport base Station (as relay), linked by Ethernet (ideally 1Gb) to your ADSL Modem/Router.

- As an iPod, forget the “Do It Yourself” to upgrade HardDrive , Memory and even the battery : you can’t open the box (and even when opening it, it can break the warranty..to verify)

SuperDrive, Ethernet Adapter, Apple Remote are (not free) options.

For the price:

MacBook Air (Version 1.6GHz ) : 2499 CHF

MacBook Air (Version 1.8GHz ) : 4248 CHF !!!!

So more expensive than a MacBook (upgraded to 2GB of RAM) : 1789 CHF

For the 1.8Ghz version (coming with the SSD Drive) , you have a great difference (4248CHF vs 2849CHF) with first Mac Book Pro (Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM, 120GB HDD, SuperDrive, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 128 Mo SDRAM)

It’s clear that when you buy a MacBook Air , you pay for the (extreme) miniaturization and the SSD Technology

But can we really compare the machines as i did?

For me MacBook Air should be seen as a iPod : you get it, but you can’t crack it (except the iPhone )

MacBook Air is interesting for people having constraints for the transport (MacBook Air weight is around 1.3 kg only, and of course very very thin)

MacBook Air could be seen as a second machine in your home (for your wife or children)

Here is a guided tour :

The only thing i was interested in yesterday evening is Time Capsule :

But finally :

- Apple defines Time Capsule as the designated Backup Drive for Time Machine .. it seems interesting too because storing additional personal files from other machines (Mac/PC) is possible.

- Time Capsule can be the only Backup Drive (seen as a server) for all your Macs at home

Where i’m not so confident is for the WiFi feature , because for big back up (in the Air) taking the night and longer, the norm 802.11n is a prerequisit (5x performances). For older Macs having a WiFI 802.11g card , you’re limited to the 54mbs (max). Airport Extreme 802.11n card can be bought , for upgrading MacBook, Mac Book Pro and Mac Pro (and what about older macs as G5 and Mac Mini?)

An alternative to the WiFi N in Time Capsule is the Ethernet Link : Time Capsule comes with two Ethernet 1Gb slots for the LAN (and one for the WAN).

Finally , don’t forget Apple TV owners can upgrade to version 2, supporting Podcasts, YouTube, .Mac & Flickr galleries, Movie rental (including HD movies).

For iPod Touch owners, you’ll can buy missing iPhone applications on the iTunes Store : Mail, Google Maps, Stock Quotes, Notes, Weather.