So as I noted earlier today, I was rudely awakened by a FedEx man desperately looking to rid himself of a box that conveniently contained the MacBook Air I ordered from Apple two weeks ago. Being the great guy that I am, I took the box from him, signed his little digital doohickey, and sent him on his way with a smile and a threat that if he ever wakes me up that early again, I’m going to throw hot coffee in his face.
Nice guy.
Anyway, I asked for any questions you might have about the MacBook Air that weren’t already answered in other reviews, and I gathered ‘em up and answered them as best I could. Click on to read my enlightening responses.
If you still have questions, post them in the comments here, and I’ll do my best to keep on lauding over you the fact that I got my Air before you got yours. Sucker.
Tell me, good sir, does the MacBook Air come with Mac OS X 10.5.2?
That’s a negative, good buddy. The Air comes with 10.5.1, the current release of OS X. Nothing to see here, move along.
Is it durable? Can you safely sit on it?
It’s crazy thin, and that appropriately concerns many that maybe this thing isn’t the most durable and rock-solid machine for a roughin’-it traveller. Admittedly, I worried a bit about that too.
But after holding it, knocking it with my fist, carrying it around in one hand, lifting it with my index finger and thumb, and gently trying to bend the bottom and the screen, I’m impressed at just how tough this little guy is. As soon as you open it up and put it on your lap, you can sense its sturdy and durable design, and you won’t be caring for it as if you were caring for a small puppy.
I actually think the small enclosure makes it seem tougher than Apple’s bigger notebooks, just because of the clean distribution of its miniscule weight. I don’t feel like I’m stressing the aluminum when I’m lifting it, like I do with the heavier 15” MacBook Pro.
And while there was no stomping, I did, in fact, sit on it.
It survived but, uh…not a good idea. Definitely not.
Can you upgrade the RAM and/or hard drive drive?
Negative.
Does it have a Kensington Security lock?
Negative again.
Why did you yours arrive before mine did?
Because I’m way cooler than you.
Obviously.
Are all the compromises worth it?
That’s something you gotta decide for yourself.
For me, the answer is a resounding “hell yeah.” I have a 24” iMac that acts as my Primary Machine, storing all my media, running all the heavy apps like Photoshop and iMovie, etc. It is the resource beast needed these days to really do everything one would want to do with their computer.
The MacBook Air is basically the satellite machine. It’s a complement to the iMac, acting as the detachable portable, carrying only The Stuff I Need, When I Need It, and doing nothing more than word processing, web browsing, and emailing.
It’s perfect for taking to school, since my backpack is already loaded with big expensive books I don’t read, and the last thing I need is a weighty laptop damaging my spine more than is educationally necessary. The Air slides right in, and the bag’s difference in weight is barely noticeable.
If you’re looking for an Apple notebook to be your sole machine, I’d recommend against choosing the Air. It’s a great machine, but you’ll find yourself running into its limitations in no time, regretting that you don’t have a faster processor, a better video card, a FireWire port, more hard drive space, an actual disk drive, etc. Both the MacBook and MacBook Pro are better for that.
If, though, you’ve already got a computer you’re happy with as your Base, an Air is a perfect portable accessory, especially for those of us who like to avoid too many trips to the chiropractor.
Any problems so far?
Well, aren’t you nosey.
So far, I’ve only run into one “woops”: my iTunes library is 50GB. The MacBook Air’s HD is 80GB.
That ain’t gonna work.
I’m having to strip my library of movies, TV shows, and music I don’t think I’ll want on the go, which sort of kills the idea of a consolidated media hub. It also prevents me from using the Air as a station for iPod/iPhone syncing, as I want my iPod to sync with all my media, and I want my iPhone tethered to one machine — and it’s better that be the machine (in my case, the iMac) with all my media, in case I ever want anything on the phone that isn’t on the Air.
Welp, that’s it for now. Again, if you have any other questions, spew ‘em below, and I’ll do my best to answer as soon as I can.
Does the Superdrive work with other Macs?
Dan, will you now be selling the MacBook Pro?
how does the remote drive software work? download speeds? Can you watch a DVD successfully?
Many of the third party external hard drives need to use two USB ports to get enough juice to run, but the air has only one, albiet possibly with more than normal power. Is there enough power to run an external big HDD, or a non-Apple DVD burner?
Do you have the version with the hard drive or the flash drive?
What are the boot times like?
Can you drink coffee and watch a rented video safely in your Air? (at the same time please)
Can you drink a coffe and watch a rented video in your air at the same time safely?
My only question is one of heat. How would you compare the MBA to the MacBook Pro after an hour of it sitting on your lap? I really disliked the MBPro's heat level. Thanks!
Is the hard drive proving to be a bottleneck?
Apple should make clear to new MBA owners that use of Migration Assistant over networks (wireless or ethernet) is slow and subject to errors should the connection drop during the process. The preferred method is to use Time Machine to backup the older Mac to an external USB HD that can be hooked to the MBA. Migration Assistant will allow one to select a Time Machine backup as the source for migration of data from your old Mac. Beware that any bad .plist documents in the Library folder can cause problems on the MBA and it might be safer to exclude the Library folder during migration.
Why bring this up? I basically hosed my MBA during migration and it had to be returned to Apple after a technician at a local Apple Store spent over 2 hours trying to recover the MBA.