The Apple thread

[Cloudane]

£12 non-brickage insurance was the way I saw it, not that I really enjoy being kept in line by them threatening to make the unit non-functional. I'm gradually losing my love for those guys.

[jshawnd]

Some info on the MBA CPU. Someone was asking about it a few pages back...

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3201

[Dave]

Not being able to replace it, for a notebook, is retarded. UNLESS Apple has a replacement plan for the battery which:

1) Lets you go into an Apple store.
2) Drop off the laptop for 1-2 hours while they swap the battery in-store (nobody likes losing their computer for days/weeks on end - not acceptable in today's society).
3) It costs about as much as a new battery would ($100-ish).

Engadget is reporting that you can get the battery replaced by Apple for $129, including install:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/15/macb ... e-install/

It does sound like you have to send it away for a bit to get it done, but that's not confirmed.

This definitely makes it sound less worrisome.

I was thinking that if a 3rd party offers an external battery which attaches to the bottom of the unit, and feeds power in via the power port, you'd have the issue of swapping batteries mid-travel covered.

Still kinda a bad taste in my mouth, but not as bad anymore.

[Jimaroid]

I've forked over my £12 for the January Software Update. Yeah, I'm a sucker. Install went painlessly although it was very odd - its not very obvious how they get installed, it just happens sneakily once you've purchased them and you next sync the iPod.

As for why they're charging. I suspect it's because of some weird deal they've got into with Mobile operators and the iPhone. The apps were iPhone exclusive and I'm sure that the various operators weren't happy that would no longer be the case. I'm certain they're not a quiet voice in that decision.

Edit: Haha, for fuck's sake. Just check my Apple invoice and it's charged me twice for the January Software Update.

Cunts.

[Kemper_Boyd]

Maybe it's different with notebooks this time, but this thing is definitely in a very niche market due to it being so expensive for so little power.

It is different with notebooks. You can't show off a desktop to anyone
other than those that pass your desk but a laptop can go to every
meeting with you. There's a whole layer of management in business
that demand status symbols. The flashiest laptop will sell and sell well,
even if many of its users would get buy just fine with something a
fraction of the price. I mean Powerpoint is not a taxing application.

[Kemper_Boyd]

Some info on the MBA CPU. Someone was asking about it a few pages back...

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3201

I'd looked up the dimensions myself. So it's a mobile Penryn SFF package
but with a mobile Merom core otherwise Apple would have to delay the
launch by six months. A mobile Penryn based MacBook Air looks like a
dead cert around autumn and other companies will have that same
chip to use.

[Rod_S]

There's a whole layer of management in business
that demand status symbols.

Exactamundo, and the guys buying the Air as prestige devices certainly aren't going on the Apple Store, configuring their BTO option and buying it themselves. They'll instruct their PA "Suzy, go and tell whatever his name is in IT purchasing that I need one of those new Apple laptops that I saw on the BBC news last night. Oh, and a skinny decaf iced Frappuccino and a donut. Make sure the laptop is here by the end of play today. Thanks".

I've seen this kind of behaviour in corporate management, it's just a completely different method of purchasing and usage than you're used to. I mean these guys buy fucking yachts without thinking twice about it, a laptop doesn't even register.

There's a target market for this product, and I suspect 99.9% of us aren't it.

[benedictw]

The flashiest laptop will sell and sell well

Yeah my skint boss bought a Macbook Pro 'because it would impress the clients'. And it did. Right up until he couldnt run his presentation because he didnt have the DVI->VGA converter so he had to use my Olde Worlde Sonye.

[tufty]

The flashiest laptop will sell and sell well,
even if many of its users would get buy just fine with something a
fraction of the price. I mean Powerpoint is not a taxing application.

ITYM "Keynote", although most "power management" types I've come across didn't seem to have got much further than minesweeper - failure of apple to include minsweeper and solitaire as part of the OSX bundle may be the achilles heel of the macbook air...

Personally, it's not for me. I don't need a laptop any more, or at least, I don't need anything more powerful than my current 400Mhz G4 powerbook when I'm roaming. I can see it selling like hot cakes, though, despite being slower etc than the equivalent macbook - it's nearly a kilo lighter, and it's *the new thing*...

Simon

[corrosive]

I wonder what the swapfile will do to the flash memory in the SSD

[Kemper_Boyd]

I wonder what the swapfile will do to the flash memory in the SSD

Nothing much. I'd be more worried about trusting an iPod drive with data.

[Rod_S]

I wonder what the swapfile will do to the flash memory in the SSD

Nothing much. I'd be more worried about trusting an iPod drive with data.

http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/

[Deckard]

I am loving the web apps for the iphone - got bt phonebook , uk train timetable and flights down as home page icons and just about to try this - http://www.apple.com/webapps/socialnetw ... phone.html - even on dial up these come up pretty quick.

For sheer usefullness this makes my old Nokia N95 look like a piece of crap

[corrosive]

I wonder what the swapfile will do to the flash memory in the SSD

Nothing much. I'd be more worried about trusting an iPod drive with data.

That surprises me, even with write balancing (not sure if that's the right term, but you know what I mean), I'd have expected a file as active as a swapfile to really bring down the life of the Flash.

[kalmar]

That skyhook thing doesn't work in the UK does it?