Sweet Jesus, this thing is fucking sexy! If it weren’t for the price, I’d definitely spring for one in a heartbeat (and probably get my GF one as well).
All things being equal, it is an engineering and design feat. But once you factor in the price, things get pretty hairy quickly.
For one thing, it’s priced too close to a MacBook Pro. And if you factor in the features that truly set it apart aside from the size (e.g. solid-state drive) you easily push past a MBP pricepoint for a computer that has much less features and performance to give.
Now if that still doesn’t put some perspective, try this; for an extra $200 you get the following:
- A CPU that’s literally a couple of releases ahead (1.6-1.8GHz was the range of the MBPs when they were first launched in 2006) 1 Sure, it wasn’t a Core2Duo, but you get my point.
- Almost double the hard disk space.
- Optical drive
- I can’t comment on screen size since the point of the air was it to be physically smaller, but I can comment on resolution; you’ll be upgrading to 1240×900 from 1024×800. 2 Which, if you get to compare practically in real life, DOES make a difference.
- Dedicated video card (which again, if you compare a Macbook to a Macbook Pro, gives a noticeable performance boost)
- Wired ethernet. 3 You think that you’ll never be in a situation wherein you’ll need a wired connection? There are hotels out there that ONLY have wired means to connect to the internet, trust me.
- More USB (and FW) slots; I personally need at least two especially when syncing my iPod to iTunes, who’s library is on an external hard drive. 4 However, Time Capsule might be a solution for that; I’ve yet to research more about it.
The only “downgrades” you’ll be doing is that you lose the form factor and multi-touch.
Or if you want to look at it another way how bout this:
$200 is the price you pay to simply upgrade a mid-level Macbook to the black [top] model. That’s essentially $200 for the color and 40GB more of HDD space alone. This is from Macbook to Macbook. For that same $200 value, you get to upgrade everything but the size and touch-pad in the Macbook Air – to a MacBook Pro.
If you prefer to go yet another way: If you decide to save that $200 and get an Air instead of a Pro, you’re basically downgrading everything in exchange for form factor and that new swanky touch-pad.
That’s in context of comparing an Air to a Pro, when the Air should really be compared with a regular Macbook (since it’s really just a Macbook)… so lets do the math…
Comparing the two cheapest configurations (of a MacBook and MacBook Air) here’s the tally; you pay an extra $700 for the following upgrades:
- Form factor
- 1GB more RAM
- Multi-touch
But you also downgrade the following in the process:
- CPU speed
- optical drive
- Wired ethernet port.
- Extra USB (and FW) slots.
So the question would be, is it really worth the price? Obviously when on a MacBook budget, adding $700 more for an improved Macbook is bit much. But from a MacBook Air budget, adding $200 more for a full blown (albeit bigger) Macbook Pro seems to be a sweet deal… at least for me.
I guess Apple is unlucky in the sense that the MB and MBP lines are priced so competitively, that putting the Air in the middle makes it seem that you’re paying too much for less when comparing it to the MB. And when comparing it to the other end (the MBP) it makes the prospect of purchasing a Pro seem like you’re paying less for so much more.
Am I making sense?
If you really want to spend that much for an Air, you better be really sure that you’re after the sexiness and bragging rights that comes with the Air; because that’s really what you’re paying premium for. There’s nothing groundbreaking as far as performance goes (in fact it’ll be a slower experience for even the newer Macbook users).
Personally, I’d still be keeping an eye on the Air a few months down the line. Hopefully the Macbook line will get cheaper, allowing the Air to penetrate the 1.5k pricepoint. Maybe then I’ll think about getting it.
What I am thinking about getting though is the Time Capsule. 1TB NAS, 5 Network Attached Storage [Wireless] Router, Print Server for $500… interesting.
Notes
| ⇡1 | Sure, it wasn’t a Core2Duo, but you get my point. |
|---|---|
| ⇡2 | Which, if you get to compare practically in real life, DOES make a difference. |
| ⇡3 | You think that you’ll never be in a situation wherein you’ll need a wired connection? There are hotels out there that ONLY have wired means to connect to the internet, trust me. |
| ⇡4 | However, Time Capsule might be a solution for that; I’ve yet to research more about it. |
| ⇡5 | Network Attached Storage |
Yeah it’s all about the form factor, in my opinion. I’d buy this in a heartbeat if I had a desktop Mac as my workhorse. But right now I have to hold off till I get a desktop Mac (or get a MBP muna just to get Logic Pro running at home). Needs before wants, hehe.
For me, the MBA is the Nano of MacBooks. People don’t choose the Nano over the Classic for its capabilities, but because its size and form factor are so appealing.
By the way how do you use an external HD to store music files (and still see them in iTunes), and automatically sync them to the iPod? Is it as simple as changing the storage preferences in iTunes? (Sorry for the question, I won’t mind if you just point me to a site or something).
This is true, I myself have a Nano so I can feel what you’re trying to say.
You are forgetting one thing though: The Nano, even if its appeal is for its size (not it’s features), is still cheaper than the classic or touch. 😉
//
To use an external drive, yes, you just set it via iTunes preferences and it will give you an option to copy the files in your library to the new disk. That’s it 🙂
You’ll just have to make sure the HDD is connected whenever you launch iTunes because if it adds anything to the library without the hard drive, it’s going to put it on your default iTunes folder in your machine.