Macworld 2008: Apple Unveils World’s Thinnest Notebook January 16, 2008
Read more Apple , Gizmodo UK , Laptops , Mobile Devices
In the least surprising announcement at Macworld Expo 2008, Steve Jobs took the covers off a much-rumoured and ridiculously thin laptop called, MacBook Air.
Apple, always one for inventing new words, described the process as “Thinnovation”. The notebook is just 0.16in at its thinnest point and 0.76in at its maximum, which is very thin indeed. It sports a 13.3in LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight video camera, big trackpad with “multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe”.
It is powered by a 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and comes with 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1. Users can also opt for a 64GB solid state drive (SSD). Battery life is rated at 5 hours and prices start at £1,199.
“We’ve built the world’s thinnest notebook—without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “When you first see MacBook Air, it’s hard to believe it’s a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is.”
That said, Apple’s quest for a Size Zero notebook means that certain sacrifices did indeed have to be made. There’s only one USB port, no Ethernet, no Firewire and no optical drive.
Ah, the price of fashion. Jump for another shot.-Martin Lynch
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
Comments
surely a step backwards. Yes it's thin but it's also lacking a few essentials for a notebook, not to mention the price. A step too far, fashion over function
Is this not just a very big fancy PDA?
Don't get me wrong, I like apple a lot and this looks like a sexy piece of kit, but isn't this pretty useless, especially at that price? I could think of more useful things to buy with £1200. There isn't that much price difference between this and a MacBook Pro, which is far better despite the size and weight. I didn't think the market was screaming out for a really thin laptop? and I don't think the public are ready to let go of their optical drives.
steve jobs has lost the plot. no doubt Apple will still sell a stack of these cause the idiots out there will fall for the marketing that apple seem to do so well.
I'm not sure I agree. For those people that travel a lot the prospect of a super lightweight laptop is very tempting. I'm not arguing the fact that it's pricey but I think there is a market for this. Jobs' point about our world being increasingly wireless is fair.
As far as the optical drive is concerned it is possible to use the drive on a separate computer over the network (I think it's called Remote Disk and works on both OSX and Windows). Should you crave a dedicated drive you can buy an external one for 65 squids.
I'm not a fanboy, just pointing out that it's not as ludicrous as you may think.
if you are doing a lot of travelling then you won't necessarily have access to an optical drive on another PC. If you buy an external one that will mean your single USB slot is taken up. The market for this is probably there but it doesn't change the fact that those who buy it are wasting there money when they can buy a much cheaper laptop, have a better spec and spend the left over on more usefull equipment
you people really dont get it do you, if its not right for you and you use an optical every day and dont need a fully functional laptop everywhere then dont buy it, people who buy this wont be 'idiots' as you say, they will be techies who dont really use cd/dvds or plug in for internet and size means a lot to somepeople, obviously an on location final cut operator isnt going to buy this.
As usual, the biggest problem with this Apple device is the size of the price tag, but, people will buy anything with a freakin' Apple logo on it.
El Jobso has actually put me (a fanboy) in quite a tough spot...
For £100 more I can get an infinitely better machine in the MacBook Pro, but, now that I know the technology is out there, it's only a matter of time (maybe Q4?) before it will be applied to the Pro, making it very difficult to fork out for the Pro at this stage. damn.
we know size means a lot to people but you can buy a range of other laptops that match the screen size, anyway, but are much more fully specd (more ports, interal optical drive, changeable battery etc). I still can't see the point in this product from Apple. I certainly won't be buying it but can't understand why anyone else would either, unless they fall for Apple's marketing hype.
One Question.... why? OK so its super thin and light but is that really worth the lack of actual product or the huge dent in the wallet? This is effectively a big "look at me" sign for idiots to sit in starbucks with and pretend they are working....
If you really want to feel bad about being european then check the prices on the american site, £300 more to buy it from the British store. Does Steve Jobs just think we are more gullible over here
yes that's exactly it. we are more gullible here because we allow the government to tax the living smoke out of businesses which they inevitably look to make back by heaping it onto the final sales price. It's not just Apple that hike UK prices.
You could fit 3 of those in one of these Solar powered laptop bag
"Jobs' point about our world being increasingly wireless is fair."
Then why the lack of EVDO, EDGE, 3G or HSDPA? As a user of an ultraportable notebook myself I can happily say I would NOT carry this around with me. The footprint is far too large, I like having an optical drive, the device looks far too fragile to survive a day in my bag with "The Elements of Physical Chemistry" plus not having a user replaceable battery rules this out for any sort of road warrior.
I love the Apple re-branding of the words "full-size":
It has a "full-size" 13.3" screen... well, yes, it is indeed "full-size". It's not half-size, or quarter size. It is a full-size 13.3" screen.
And its "full-size" keyboard too. Brilliant.
I am also a fan of the boast that the laptop has an "instant-on display". Hell, the last time I had to wait for a display to come on was in 1974 when I was in front of a black and white television waiting for the valves to heat up.
if you dont like it then dont buy it.