Apple Media Event: Back to the Mac (Here comes Lion!)

[silentsim]

Size has always come at a premium in the Macbook Air. Why would they change it? For some people it is incredibly worth it.

if it doesn't for you, get the Macbook.

But you would want an SSD to compete with the Flash.

[Rathji]

Size is always at a premium with any full power laptop. Most netbooks don't count in that determination because they are seriously underpowered compared to the other models each manufacturer offers. The Air has a slightly less powerful build than the other Mac offerings, but it still beats the pants off every other netbook on the market. There are similarly priced, and speced laptops from Dell (Adamo), but the price on those models is way higher than the Dell Mini offerings.

It still is a lot to pay for a laptop in my eyes, but so are pretty much all Macbooks. Mac isn't cheap and if you haven't figured that out yet, perhaps you need to look elsewhere for a computer.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Size is always at a premium with any full power laptop. Most netbooks don't count in that determination because they are seriously underpowered compared to the other models each manufacturer offers. The Air has a slightly less powerful build than the other Mac offerings, but it still beats the pants off every other netbook on the market. There are similarly priced, and speced laptops from Dell (Adamo), but the price on those models is way higher than the Dell Mini offerings.

It still is a lot to pay for a laptop in my eyes, but so are pretty much all Macbooks. Mac isn't cheap and if you haven't figured that out yet, perhaps you need to look elsewhere for a computer.

Yep but $600 (if you want the same specs as a basic macbook) is a ton for 1 cm thinner, and minimal difference in width and depth.

I'm just really not sure what to do with respect to getting a new computer right now. I have a Mac Desktop and a Macbook right now but the screen is cracked and there's no way it'll hold up travelling overseas for 6 months starting in December. I was hoping that the MBP 13 inch got an upgrade to the i3 chip or the 11 inch MBA was priced a bit lower.

Anyone got any advice? (I'm open to both PC and Mac laptops)

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

Yep but $600 (if you want the same specs as a basic macbook) is a ton for 1 cm thinner, and minimal difference in width and depth.

I'm just really not sure what to do with respect to getting a new computer right now. I have a Mac Desktop and a Macbook right now but the screen is cracked and there's no way it'll hold up travelling overseas for 6 months starting in December. I was hoping that the MBP 13 inch got an upgrade to the i3 chip or the 11 inch MBA was priced a bit lower.

Anyone got any advice?

Well, the flash memory is huge. Flash memory is awesome, SSD's are worth the price and the new Macbook Air looks like it will perform extremely well. If you are set on a Mac, and you want the -power- more so then the portability, the 13" macbook pro is still a great computer. You may look at the lack of an i3 chip, but for most people who buy the 13" it makes no difference to them over the Core 2 Duo in terms of what they will actually use it for.

If i were to get the 11.6" MBA i would get it with the 128GB flash memory.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by silentsim

If i were to get the 11.6" MBA i would get it with the 128GB flash memory.

And 4GB of RAM. With the slightly lower CPU speeds, you want the extra RAM to compensate.

In fact, with 4GB of RAM, it’s unlikely that the average user will end up using the swap file much, if at all.

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

And 4GB of RAM. With the slightly lower CPU speeds, you want the extra RAM to compensate.

In fact, with 4GB of RAM, it’s unlikely that the average user will end up using the swap file much, if at all.

Yeah, true that. The 90-100$ upgrade is worth it, IMO.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

You get a smaller screen, slower processor, less battery time, a smaller hard drive for the same price as a mac book. I'm not sure the reduced size is worth it.

Some of my clients spend as much time travelling as they do in the home office - for them its worth it, trust me. The Macbook Air isn’t meant to be one-size fits all (pun intended). It’s definitely too slow and too small, and has too little storage capacity for a number of different use cases.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by silentsim

Well, the flash memory is huge. Flash memory is awesome, SSD's are worth the price and the new Macbook Air looks like it will perform extremely well. If you are set on a Mac, and you want the -power- more so then the portability, the 13" macbook pro is still a great computer. You may look at the lack of an i3 chip, but for most people who buy the 13" it makes no difference to them over the Core 2 Duo in terms of what they will actually use it for.

If i were to get the 11.6" MBA i would get it with the 128GB flash memory.

Yeah i'm not overly concerned about the core 2 duo being to slow. My only concern is that they update the the chip to an i3 a month after I buy the thing, since the MBP are due for an update soon.

[fleudian]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

Yep but $600 (if you want the same specs as a basic macbook) is a ton for 1 cm thinner, and minimal difference in width and depth.

I'm just really not sure what to do with respect to getting a new computer right now. I have a Mac Desktop and a Macbook right now but the screen is cracked and there's no way it'll hold up travelling overseas for 6 months starting in December. I was hoping that the MBP 13 inch got an upgrade to the i3 chip or the 11 inch MBA was priced a bit lower.

Anyone got any advice? (I'm open to both PC and Mac laptops)

I'm a big fan of ASUS laptops -- I've got one with an i7 and 4 gigs of RAM and it's been great:
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX27213(ME).aspx

Around the same price point as the entry level Macbook. Mostly better specs, although the Macbook is definitely sexier and kills it in the battery life department.
ASUS has the best warranty for new laptops... two years including one year of accidental damage coverage which could be good to have if you're travelling.

[sclitheroe]

I was thinking about something neat with the App store - MobileMe can already synchronize bookmarks, passwords, dashboard widgets, email accounts, etc. And iDisk currently sucks, but does represent a way to move documents around. Wouldn’t it be interesting if App store purchases followed you around too. Even a large app like Pages downloads pretty quickly on a modern broadband connection.

Imagine sitting down at any Mac, and having not only your profile, but all your apps and their settings and preferences available too.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

I was thinking about something neat with the App store - MobileMe can already synchronize bookmarks, passwords, dashboard widgets, email accounts, etc. And iDisk currently sucks, but does represent a way to move documents around. Wouldn’t it be interesting if App store purchases followed you around too. Even a large app like Pages downloads pretty quickly on a modern broadband connection.

Imagine sitting down at any Mac, and having not only your profile, but all your apps and their settings and preferences available too.

I'm pretty sure that's the way it's going to work already. No need for MobileMe, apps can be downloaded multiple times from the app store - provided the machine you're at has been authenticated against your Apple account.

Edit:

You can install Mac apps on every Mac you use and even download them again. This is especially convenient when you buy a new Mac and want to load it with apps you already own.

http://www.apple.com/mac/app-store/

Is that what you have in mind?

[silentsim]

Wonder if that means the limit of 5 "Devices" is not in play for Mac App Store.

Anyways, the more I think about it the more I like the idea. It will really help find some great software that otherwise would not be known.

[FlamesPuck12]

I didn't watch the streaming today but I've heard from couple friends that they're introducing Mac App Store.

Apparently, the main concern with this is, they're one step closer to locking down the OS (Like the iOS) to only allow software that are digitally signed by Apple, where Apple is taking 30% of the profit from the developers.

Can anyone give me a quick summary of what was said regarding the App Store? Was it implied that Apple is going to lock down the OS in the near future?

[KTrain]

It also means that you'll be able to buy another version of Angry Birds and Plants Versus Zombies for the Mac.

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

I didn't watch the streaming today but I've heard from couple friends that they're introducing Mac App Store.

Apparently, the main concern with this is, they're one step closer to locking down the OS (Like the iOS) to only allow software that are digitally signed by Apple, where Apple is taking 30% of the profit from the developers.

Can anyone give me a quick summary of what was said regarding the App Store? Was it implied that Apple is going to lock down the OS in the near future?

No, not even close to implied. They will never lock down the OS. This is an OPTION for Mac developers to put their apps into the store. Traditional methods will still be there. This will help small developers significantly.

[FlamesPuck12]

How can we know for sure that they will never lock down the OS?
Apple loves closed, regulated system. I also heard that the Intel TC processor (or something like that, I can't quite remember what it was actually called) will only execute digitally signed software, so if Apple decides to lock the OS down, they could use the TC processor.

[silentsim]

Because they would lose a significant amount of larger developers who refuse to give Apple the 30%, such as the Creative Suite, and probably even the Microsoft Office suite. It won't happen, amongst other things.

All that Apple is doing is taking the successful features from iOS and bringing it to OS X. The New Macbook Air was built based on successful hardware build of the iPad.

[Russic]

That would be suicide. No way apple would ever do anything that stupid. It would probably go down in history as the greatest blunder in computing history.

[corporatejay]

This may seem like a stupid question but don't you think the lack of SD card on the 11.3" kind of lame?

Seems like something I use all the time and seems standard on so many devices. I suppose you could just bring your camera's USB cable but that seems annoying if you wanna see pics on the go.

[Russic]

I imagine when things get that small something has to give. That slot is useful but easily replaced by a single cord. Sure it would be ideal to have, but not at the expense of something like battery life (I'm using battery as the example as they seem to take up the most space).