Apparently we haven’t made it far enough into the big time to get pre-release review units of Apple products, but USA Today, Newsweek, and the WSJ have, and Gizmodo was kind enough to summarize them all for us. So, what are the biggest complaints? What are the biggest pluses?
So the rumor is that the MacBook Air didn’t just jeer off the beaten path of an Intel ultra-portable at the processor stop, but also at the USB stop. Basically the reason the external SuperDrive will only work with the MacBook Air is due to power requirements that only the MacBook Air’s supercharged USB port can supply.
WaterField Designs just announced the HardCase, a new line of custom-fitted computer cases and bags for the super-hot-super-sleek-super-thin MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro and the MacBook. The new HardCase is minimalist in design, yet rugged enough to protect your precious cargo. It’s made from fine leather and ballistic nylon.
I’m going to whine a little and say how dare Apple to give the world’s first unboxing of the MacBook Air to the Japanese market. Why couldn’t Steve also include the unboxing of the MacBook Air as part of his presentation?
So, we know from the keynote that the MacBook Air has a Core 2 Duo that is 60% smaller than the normal Core 2 Duo chip, and we know that this came out of a partnership with Apple. What we don’t know too much about is anything else including the how or why.
Well I can’t decide if having a manila envelope laptop sleeve is humorous or taking it too far. I shudder to use the word fanboy, but who else is going to buy this?
Part of the MacBook Air announcement was regarding just how environmentally friendly it is. They’ve lost the arsenic in the glass, and there is no mercury in the display either.
You can’t help but fall in love with the MacBook Air for its beauty, slim and lightweight form-factor. That being said, it deserves the best protection money can buy when moving about. WaterField Designs, a San Francisco manufacturer of custom-fitted computer cases and bags wasted little time introducing a new sleeve case made specifically for the MacBook Air. The company claims that the size 13-2 SleeveCase is made of a sturdy ballistic nylon shell and a high-grade neoprene interior that is customized to the MacBook Air dimensions for a glove-like fit.
Word from the scrummage on the Macworld floor is that, smoothly beautiful as it might be, that achingly slender case of the MacBook Air carries with it some compromises. Of course, having to use adaptors for most things – VGA, ethernet, modem, etc – is to be expected, but less pleasant is the fact that the bottom panel of the notebook is fixed: there’s no way to swap either the battery or the hard-drive yourself.
If the $1799 price of the MacBook Air didn’t dissuade you from picking up “the world’s thinnest notebook” and, as a bit of a road-warrior, you were tempted by the 64GB SSD option, prepare to hack away at that spare piggy-bank. Apple’s spec customisation page shows just how much you’ll have to pay to swap out the standard 80GB 4200rpm hard-drive for the solid-state alternative, and it’s a whopping $999.
SlashGear Japan
