Word is that the first round of shipments for the Macbook Air are touching down today (and some even yesterday). If you were one of the few who got an order off minutes after the announcement, expect your super-thin, super-breakable laptop to arrive sometime soon.
I was excited for Macworld. I really was. I’m sad to say, I was disappointed. I was looking forward to the release of a new 12” Powerbook with the sexy Macbook Pro finish. No such luck. Instead, I was greeted by an oddly clamshell-esque ultra lightweight laptop that looks like little more then a child’s toy.
The guts are not bad for such a slender notebook, but the price isn’t cheap. A $3000 price tag nets you:
When the rumors got to flying, the Air name meant a whole lot more then weight. My Sony Vaio X505 weighs a whole lot less then this thing does and I find it quite a bit more attractive. I was looking for wireless power (a pipedream, I suppose) and at a bare minimum, integrated cellular internet. Not only was there no such luck there, it doesn’t even have an expansion slot for such a card! Aesthetically, I was a little surprised at Apple’s decision to use a set of black keys on a light silver notebook. That looks ugly and out of place, in my opinion. What is it, a TiBook?
All things considered, I’m disappointed. Apple could have done so much more with the Macbook Air but they scarified everything for thin.
Wired.com is not one to print frivolous rumors, so when they break out the “breaking” title and create some (awesome) mockups, this is serious. Once you’re finished drooling at the pictures, you can enjoy this little tidbit:
“But the Air seems more like a ultra portable with a physical keyboard and multi-touch screen, according to our source (who we promised not to name but confirmed works at an Apple third-party vendor).”
When it comes to Apple, nothing is ever set in stone until Steve says so. With that said, quite a bit of credibility has been lent to the idea of a new ultraportable from Apple, with the possible moniker of “Macbook Air” or perhaps the “Airbook”. Interesting speculations include the possibility of integrated WiMAX technology from Intel, wireless charging capabilities, the lack of an optical drive and the inclusion of a solid state drive.
Why, you ask? A search for the term “macbookair” on the search engine DogPile reveals a yet to be run ad from Apple for the Macbook Air that leads to the Apple online store. It also looks like Apple is the owner of the macbookair.tld domain set.
9to5mac reader Jon Cotton discovered someone using a computer titled “MacbookAir” using the Adium program BEFORE the “something in the air” banner was unveiled.
Even Apple.com is getting in on the hype with a tantalizing “Something in the air” banner across their home page. The only sure thing is that Tuesday will bring us something interesting.
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