The 11 Inch Apple Air is Doomed

[Jason]

Seems like every time I see a product that could be breakthrough the manufacturer always fumbles the ball. The 11 Inch Air is doomed. Apple screwed up the processor choice because they didn't want to deal with the Integrated GPU which could have increased battery life. Plus selecting the i3, i5 would have added a lot of additional computing power. Come on apple, integrated Ram? Really? Proprietary SSD? Really? No backlit keyboard? Really?

No don't get me wrong I like the screen, like the form factor, like the idea of your restore disk finally becoming a USB drive. But the 11 Inch Air seems like an otherwise lackluster entry by Apple into the Netbook arena at 3X the cost.

Never fear though Apple die hards will be running in droves to give Steve their cash. You Apple fans give the cattle a run for their money in the mindless stampede arena.

[Dan]

I wouldn't go that far. Apple products are for those that do not know how to handle computer power...They are like potheads...they like shiny things...

[Omega]

I'd imagine their choice of CPU was dictated by a combination of one or more of: price (i.e. profit margin--cheaper/older CPU means more room for markup), power (both battery use and heat generated), and physical size/form factor. The SU9400 in the 11" MBA is an ULV (Ultra-Low Voltage) SFF (Small Form Factor) chip that weighs in at only 10W TDP, whereas the lightest-weight Core i3 (330UM) is ULV, but not SFF, and has a TDP of 18W--nearly double that of the chip they chose.

Is it possible they could've used the i3 in the MBA? Possibly. But it strikes me as a much harder sell to the target demographic to explain the performance benefits of an i3 over a c2d and explain away why it only gets 2 hours of battery life than it does to just gloss over the CPU choice and boast 5 hours of battery life.

It's all standard Apple fare, as far as I can see. Non-upgradable RAM is a dream for them, since they can show the "low" price for the low-spec model, but know that nearly everyone will pay tons to upgrade to the model with reasonable RAM. It's possible it was even necessary to fit into the space constraints. You might also find people claiming that the new onboard flash is somehow different (better!) than SSD, but of course it's still going to speak SATA, just using a different physical connector--mainly goes to fuel the "think different" (i.e. "Apple is better!") mantra they like to push.

Do I want one? No. Will tons of people buy it? Of course.

[swethazxc]

Looks like shiny unbelievable product from APPLE .The Apple MacBook Air 11-inch pushes into a new space for Apple, slotting between the existing Air 13-inch, and above the iPad. It means Apple now has a compact and extremely portable format of computer.Thank god ohhh sorry,,thank APPLE for providing best product

[ChanelWoods33]

i think the 11 Inch Air of apple was designed not for heavy use.

[briantitus]

Originally Posted by swethazxc

Looks like shiny unbelievable product from APPLE .The Apple MacBook Air 11-inch pushes into a new space for Apple, slotting between the existing

Great Product no doubt. But I would rather prefer buying iPhone5 or iPhone4s.

[adyhooper]

Originally Posted by ChanelWoods33

i think the 11 Inch Air of apple was designed not for heavy use.

Exactly! It was not design to do serious stuffs, it was design to make our regular online chores more flexible. It have lovely design, simple features and one can easily organize their stuffs.

[Guerin_Aron]

Apple is giving small gadgets a new definition. They are making history in all their products.

[geradarys]

Originally Posted by Dan

I wouldn't go that far. Apple products are for those that do not know how to handle computer power...They are like potheads...they like shiny things...

Couldn't agree more - Apple will sell the 11 incher reasonably well... Potheads!..

[Shenika65]

HI Guerin_Aron!
I agree with you.