The Apple thread

[gravy]

I thought the Macbook had a GMA965 (X3100s) too, thesedays? Unless you mean that the specific macbook used in that test is an older GMA950 model?
Either way, the macbook air is starting to look like a bit of a lemon in the cost-to-performance stakes.

Mine must be an old one, I've a GMA 950

EDIT

Yeah they did at the end of last year

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbook

[Atty]

I thought the Macbook had a GMA965 (X3100s) too, thesedays? Unless you mean that the specific macbook used in that test is an older GMA950 model?
Either way, the macbook air is starting to look like a bit of a lemon in the cost-to-performance stakes.

Mine must be an old one, I've a GMA 950

EDIT

Yeah they did at the end of last year

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbook

Ah, cool. 2 and a half hours on a charge is a tad sharty for a laptop supposedly designed for travelling, especially when there's no way to swap in a new battery without using a screwdriver. It seems like you can get atleast another hour or so off a macbook, plus you can swap batteries without cracking open the case.
Two more reasons to buy a laptop that's already more powerful and almost half the price of the MBA.

[Kemper_Boyd]

I had a play on a MacBook Air. I know that it seems expensive, well it is
expensive, but we used to pay a lot more for a lot less. It wasn't that long
ago that any laptop with a TFT was more than a thousand pounds, and
spending three, four or five thousand for a good laptop was not unusual.

Forget the CPU, disc space, screen size and so on; that is not the point of
the MacBook Air, it is the size, shape, weight and materials that matter.
It makes the very good MacBook and MacBook Pro look like dinosaurs.
It's genuinely amazing that a dual processor, 64 bit Unix box with a very nice
GUI, a solid state drive and a decent amount of RAM can apparently be
shrunk down to a thin slice of metal. Maybe you have to be of a certain age
to appreciate this.

[GeeZa]

Forget the CPU, disc space, screen size and so on; that is not the point of
the MacBook Air, it is the size, shape, weight and materials that matter.
It makes the very good MacBook and MacBook Pro look like dinosaurs.
It's genuinely amazing that a dual processor, 64 bit Unix box with a very nice
GUI, a solid state drive and a decent amount of RAM can apparently be
shrunk down to a thin slice of metal. Maybe you have to be of a certain age
to appreciate this.

Nope, I played with an Air a little while ago, a developer here nabbed one (that's right, a hairy-arsed Linux freak), and in the flesh, using it for real, it totally won me over. And this is the first Apple product in a long time that I've been reasonably sceptical about. I've got a black MacBook and a 17" PowerBook G4 at home, both now feel like utter crap compared to this thing. I didn't notice any performance problems or anything I particularly missed. Both the screen, and the keyboard, were about the right sort of size. It can be shrunk of course, but keeping the usability is really hard the smaller you go. The design and feel of it (the gestures work very well, but then I'm quite used to the iPod Touch now) is world class.

It just felt like an ambitious product, not lifestyle fluff like I thought. The silence, the lack of weight or bulk, absolutely critical really. It even comes with the mini-DVI adaptors and a cleaning cloth. When the price comes down for the full solid-state version, the Air is most likely going to be my next Mac. You really do need to use it to appreciate it.

[Kemper_Boyd]

It's funny but I was sure I wouldn't be impressed, put off by what you
get for the price. But damn it when you see it it really is nice.
Instead of enumerating what's missing I found myself thinking that
maybe I could get one of them. Do I really need an optical drive?
Wouldn't an SSD be nice? Is is really that expensive?

I agree with you Geeza it is an ambitious product, currently I'd say it
has some flaws, such as the performance and price of the drive, short
battery life and no expansion or serviceable parts. Then again the first
iPod was expensive and had a funky 5GB 1.8" drive, and was slated by
a lot of people, but it was the best Apple could do at the time not the goal.

If this time next year there's a new model with a mobile Penryn,
ONFI flash drive with something like the new Intel/Micron NAND or
Mosaid HLNAND, a bigger chunk of memory and a lower price they will
sell loads. I think the shortcomings can be solved quite soon.

[Cloudane]

Just got meself a 16GB iPhone, this is what I've been waiting for

Guess my Touch is going on eBay! (unless of course anyone here wants first shout)

What a machine, and it'll be made sooo much sweeter when the SDK apps start to come out, so long as Apple don't restrict them too heavily.

[GeeZa]

Instead of enumerating what's missing I found myself thinking that
maybe I could get one of them. Do I really need an optical drive?
Wouldn't an SSD be nice? Is is really that expensive?

You and me both. I think your advice to wait for an iteration or two is wise. It's what I'm going to, at least try, and do.

[Dio]

Is is really that expensive?

That one I can answer .

[RiK]

Ooh, pleasant surprise in my inbox just now.

Just had a shipping notification to say my new Mac Pro is on it's way

[Jimaroid]

Great stuff, RiK.

I'm in a dilema. My Macbook Pro is dying. It's developed a problem where it randomly wakes up from sleep. It can happen in the middle of the night when nothing has touched it, or it can happen when it's packed away in my bag. I've suspected a dodgy lid sensor or a weirdo movement sensor problem but it's not either of those as it can wake itself up without being touched. I've turned off wake-on-lan and wake-on-bluetooth and it's still doing it. It's most annoying when I take it out of my bag and it's burning hot becuase it's powered on in an enclosed place.

This is on top of the problems I'm having since upgrading to Leopard. I've done an archive and install and it's not solved some bits of general weirdness. Next on my list is to do a clean install and see how that fairs.

Thirdly, the magsafe connector has now fucked itself over and there are bare wires exposed. A common problem but I'm generally pissed off with Apple's portable power supplies after having to buy 2 replacements for my powerbook and now the macbook will make a third.

So, replacements. I like the concept of the Air but it's too much of a portability compromise away from what I feel I have in the MBP as a fully functioning portable computer. The Macbooks are tempting but again the hardware cuts compared to the functionality of the MBP are not something I'm comfortable with. I still have my 12" Powerbook which is without doubt the best computer I've ever owned, and I still use it, the problem is it just doesn't cut it in the power stakes for more recent applications. Whilst I've loved my MBP over the last two years I've always thought that 15" was slightly too big for my portability desires, yet conversely it's perfectly suited to my productivity needs in application and screenspace which is something the 12" Powerbook never managed to get right.

I'm stuck. I'm basically looking at the current range of Apple laptops and thinking that they're all missing the mark somewhat. Across all of them I feel there's a sweet spot of productivity, portability and power (P TRIPLE!) that Apple aren't hitting. That's a really odd scenario. Right now I think my dream Mac would be something that has the form factor of the Macbook, the screenspace and power of the MBP, without an optical drive and some of the weight savings of the Air. For the first time, possibly ever, I think Apple may have spread their computing options too thin across too many products.

Weird.

[Fuseball]

I still have my 12" Powerbook which is without doubt the best computer I've ever owned, and I still use it, the problem is it just doesn't cut it in the power stakes for more recent applications.

Same here. I have a Macbook now, which has enough grunt for most things... but I just don't love it like my old Powerbook. Tina has the 12" Powerbook now, and I sorta secretly want it back.

[ravuya]

I'm in a dilema. My Macbook Pro is dying. It's developed a problem where it randomly wakes up from sleep. It can happen in the middle of the night when nothing has touched it, or it can happen when it's packed away in my bag. I've suspected a dodgy lid sensor or a weirdo movement sensor problem but it's not either of those as it can wake itself up without being touched. I've turned off wake-on-lan and wake-on-bluetooth and it's still doing it. It's most annoying when I take it out of my bag and it's burning hot becuase it's powered on in an enclosed place.

Had this problem with my Core 1 Duo Macbook Pro -- the magnetic sensor had come loose from its mount and the machine was waking itself up from ambient vibration. In the meantime you can turn "lidwake" off using the pmset command line utility, but Apple should fix it under warranty.

While you're in the shop, they should also check the thermal paste and the case alignment; I guess I should've waited for the C2D machines, but everything's fine on my machine now.

[Gilby]

Thirdly, the magsafe connector has now fucked itself over and there are bare wires exposed.

I've had two replacement power supplies for my MBP, as the insulation on the thin wire has melted through. Both times, I just turned up to the Genius Bar (with appointment) and showed them the browned, burnt, melted cable and received a free replacement (out of warranty) immediately.
All they asked for was the serial number of the lappy. (Apple menu / About This Mac / click grey text under "Mac OSX" twice).

[tufty]

Okay. I'm a :macwanker:, and everybody knows it...

...but, until now, and despite having played with various iPods and mp3/4/wma players, I have neither really wanted, and certainly not needed, an mp3 player of any type. The nearest I've come to cracking was seeing one of the new-style "clip" shuffles for not much money in duty free.

That was before. This is now.

We have friends staying, and there are 2 iPod touches floating around the house.

Un-fucking-real. It's not just "I want one of these", but "my life will not be complete until I have one of these". And that's without even playing with the mp3 capabilities.

Simon (will debase self for iPod touch)

[Kemper_Boyd]

We have friends staying, and there are 2 iPod touches floating around the house.

Un-fucking-real. It's not just "I want one of these", but "my life will not be complete until I have one of these". And that's without even playing with the mp3 capabilities.

Simon (will debase self for iPod touch)

But what about the Newton^2?