New MacBook Air - competition for iPad?

[wrecklass]

I don't see the new MacBooks competing with anyone. The 11" looks like a netbook, but at more than twice the price of a Windows based net book. I have a 12" net book with nVidia ION GPU and dual core processor, 250GB drive and 2GB RAM which cost me $499. Most 10" netbooks are in the $250-$299 price range. I would never have considered the new MacBook at $999.

And for that price it won't replace the iPad for sure.

IMHO, Apple has really missed the boat with these new machines at those prices.

 

[deckyon]

IMHO, Apple has really missed the boat with these new machines at those prices.

I dont know. Add SSD instant on to that $500 netbook you have and all of a sudden, you would also be approaching the $1000 mark. now, take the dimensions of that netbook you have and squeeze them down to an Air - see what I am doing here?

Is it an iPad replacement? Nope. Is it a netbook replacement? Nope.

I think what they were looking at was something that brought the boot speed of the iPad with the overall power of a higher end netbook into something that is neither. This will fill that niche of people who want an iPad but need a laptop.

Personally, I wont be getting one - not until I can trade all my Windows licensed, high-dollar software in for the Mac equiv, but that wont happen. And even then, it wont be an Air.

 

[Hasty]

Lying bed I've just read an interesting analysis of the new mba's and apples vision of future computing. Converging Operating Systems, the MacBook Air and Appliances | TightWind

I commend it for your edification......

 

[wrecklass]

Lying bed I've just read an interesting analysis of the new mba's and apples vision of future computing. Converging Operating Systems, the MacBook Air and Appliances | TightWind

Interesting article but I see some issues with the strategy. A computer appliance makes good sense and in many ways it has been one of the trends we see happening. However a simple appliance for limited applications will most likely reach end of life faster than a general purpose device that can be upgraded and extended.

For most such devices the expectation is that the device will cost less, not more than the expandable device. If I have to replace a consumer appliance because it has become obsolete or some portion stops working, I expect that device to be cheap to replace.

Apple is developing a very simple appliance that will likely face end of life sooner because it is not upgradable. Yet asking a higher price than more flexible systems are selling for. I think about the very first Macintosh, which had a built in monitor and no expansion slots at all, it was priced higher than most PCs of the time and people failed to buy them in the numbers Apple had expected. Apple corrected this with the Mac II, but at an even greater price tag. And they eventually lost the market because of the perceived premium cost.

I just don't think Apple has fully learned that lesson.

 

[Seadog]

The buying public will decide the viability of the new MBA. Consider how many people buy a MacBook for that same price. It is likely that this will be a decent product for Apple, but maybe not to the same level as the iPad. It has a decent processor, a big enough screen, very compact, and combines many proven attributes. It does not have a large storage capacity, but that is a limited advantage for a device designed for travel.

 

[The_stig1990]

This is an interesting thread, I personally don't see the new Air as ipad competition, the MacBook air is still a laptop, where as the ipad is not... I love the ipad... I use it all the time... But I would also love the new MacBook air, I think the MacBook air and the ipad together could give everyone all they would ever need as portable devices, the MacBook does many things the the iPad will not do.... And the ipad does many things a MacBook won't do, but i agree with other posts, a combination of the two would be very interesting.

Yes OS X Lion is in a way suppose to be be a combination of the two but a Mac is never going to have touchscreen functionality (as jobs has said) like the iPad and the iPad is never going to have full computer functionality (because that's not what it's meant to be)

 

[iVan]

I'd love to see an iPad fitted with the MacBook Air innings and software. Before the iPad I had been waiting ages for a tablet. I'm NOT going back to laptops...

 

[NateEssex]

I have a MBP and an iPad, but a small, light laptop is appealing for Excel and PowerPoint work on the go...

 

[Seadog]

I enjoy my iPad to a fault, but there are also times I prefer my MB Pro. I could see the need to have a MBA if I travelled a lot, and needed more than an iPad.

 

[jkhonea]

The new MacBook Air would be perfect for doing my onsite measurements. It would be great to take out instead of the MacBook Pro. Been trying to find a developer to work with on an onsite measurement app for the architecture field but no luck on that yet. So the Air may become viable.

 

[EODtech]

I think it will be as popular as the iPad. It's small like the iPad, but it will be faster and it supports flash.

Sorry mate, the new MacBook Air no longer has Adobe Flash included in 10.6.4, nor will other Macs !

Apple will stop bundling Adobe’s Flash with Mac OS X, the company confirmed Friday.

The new MacBook Air , which debuted earlier in the week, is the first Flash-less system from Apple. Other systems will follow suit as the company clears out inventory of Mac desktops and notebooks that include Flash.

Mac users will still be able to install Flash themselves, and Apple has done nothing to block Flash from running.


LINK = Apple dumps Flash from Mac OS X | Software | Macworld

 

[Seadog]

Pre-loading flash on a Mac is foolish. At the rate they change flash, it is already obsolete. Better to accept that and let customers do a flash download when they need to.

 

[bdegrande]

I think it will be as popular as the iPad. It's small like the iPad, but it will be faster and it supports flash. Not to mention it has a USB port along with some other things the iPad is missing. If the iPad had all these features the iPad would be in more peoples hands.

I like both and may end up owning both, but this is simply wrong. Apple is selling iPads faster than it can make them, ther is simply no way it would be "in more peoples hands". Now that the supply has ramped up, it will be in Best Buy, Target, etc, and will be in a LOT more hands.

Anyway, the iPad still has many advantages

MUCH longer battery life. Andy Ihnatko just used a new Air for 5 hours of normal use and 2-3 hours of heavy use, not even half of what an iPad can get.

No 3G option, an iPad can access the Internet from anywhere.

Much easier to use OS.

Touch interface.

Much cheaper software AND a greater variety. all sorts of specialized apps which aren't on OS X/Windows/Linux. If you own iPhone apps, you can use them without buying therm again.

An intelligent virtual keyboard. If you are entereing a web address, there is no space bar (impossible character), but you can enter .COM with one keystroke,

The Air has some advantages as well, for those who have wanted an Apple netbook (myself included) it will be a good solution. I would have preferred a faster processor but at least you can special order 4GB of RAM.

 

[TJK]

Along with a new version of the 13" MacBook Air, Jobs unveiled an 11" MBA. At $999 for a 64GB model, could this be a competitor for the iPad in certain quarters, especially with the blending of iOS features into OSX Lion? If they were to offer it with built in 3G and the same iPad price structure?

I spent quit a bit of time with both the 11 and 13 at the apple store yesterday. Overall I thought they were overpriced......can't do much more than what I need in a mobile device and not powerful enough to justify as a laptop / desktop replacement for the serious work. My iPad and a keyboard can do an awful lot of what I need. My HP laptop has not left the house in months!

Slick machines though...light weight, solid, balanced, and well designed. What a net book really SHOULD be IMHO but at the same price point as a 13" MacBook pro.

 

[pallentx]

I dont think windows has ever included flash from the factory...