Who is buying MacBook Air?

Apple had better not do its market research at Betanews, and executives should hope that you, our readers, aren't the measure of interest in MacBook Air. In response to last week's question "Will you buy MacBook Air," the majority responded "No." However, as usual, there was a marked difference between those folks commenting to the story and readers responding by e-mail. A slightly greater number of e-mail respondents say they will buy one of Apple's two thin-and-light models.

Apple unveiled new MacBook Airs -- in new 11.6-inch and updated 13.3-inch display sizes -- during an October 20 media event dubbed "Back to the Mac." Standard configs for the 11.6-inch model sell for $999 and $1,999 and $1,299 and $1,599 for the 13.3-inch Air. Many respondents used the more typical speeds-and-feeds measure to evaluate the, ah, Air quality. Nicholas Gerstenberger expressed sentiments shared by many other Betanews commenters responding in comments: "Old CPU tech, 64GB max drive (even if it is SSD) and a $999 price tag place way over a fully optioned laptop with optical drive 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive and loads of RAM. Sorry I'll pass."

By What Measure Performance?

Both MacBook Air models pack aging Intel Core 2 Duo processors -- ranging from 1.2GHz to 1.86GHz in standard configurations. Apple swapped out hard drives for sold-state storage, which some Betanews readers observe are puny. Apple offers 64GB or 128GB storage on the smaller Airs and 128GB or 256GB on the 13.3-inch models.

Speeds-and-feeds is one way of measuring a computer's worth, and it's most certainly the method PC manufacturers and retailers push. But should speed be measured by the processor or by the storage disk? Richard Windmann, who has a computer sciences PhD, answers by e-mail: "The legacy processor will be fine for these laptops. The bottlenecks in these devices always have, and probably will remain to be, the non-volitale storage and bus capacity/speed."

I was shocked just how fast the 11.6-inch Air feels. I've been to my local Apple Store a couple times to play around with both models. I went in with absolutely no interest in the smaller MacBook Air. Like many Betanews readers answering the question, I dismissed the 11.6-incher because of the older, slower processors. But experience changed my perspective. Windmann makes a very good point.

So will he buy MacBook Air? "My work is done on a Macbook Pro 15-inch, 640 gig drive, 8 gigs of RAM. So will I buy one of them for me? No. But I will buy two this Christmas -- one for my daughter and one for my wife. If they make a 15-inch Air with at least 8 gigs of RAM and 512 Gig SSD for under $2000, I will buy one."

iMac G5 with iSight Syndrome

My problem with the specs is different from most readers responding to the question. I call it the "iMac G5 with iSight syndrome." In October 2005, Apple released the first iMac with built-in WebCam. I bought one of these computers, which my mom now uses (she gave up Windows after wrongly being accused of software piracy). In January 2006, Apple announced Intel-based iMacs about a half-year early, making obsolete the three-month old iMac G5 with iSight. Apple switched chip architectures. My mom's iMac can't run the newest Mac OS X version because PowerPC processors aren't supported.

I strongly expect to see a similar scenario unfold with MacBook Air and, hopefully, not as soon as January 2011. I believe that a chip architecture change is coming as soon as the next release cycle, with Apple switching to its own A4 chips. All the reader complaints miss something: Apple clearly chose Intel Core 2 Duo processors for a reason. None of the current crop of mobile Intel processors met Apple's design criteria. Wired's "Why Apple Saddled the MacBook Air with Weak CPUs" is an excellent primer for the reasons. Big one: Apple made graphics processing priority over CPU. Read the Wired story for the details.

Apple's challenge will be getting people to see past the processor and looking at other features -- size, weight, portability, full-size keyboard, speedy storage and robust graphics, among others -- as buying measures. If I hadn't experienced the new Airs, I would more likely share most Betanews readers' sentiments. Like many other commenters, Tenoq Xentuli sees the Air as offering too little value for $999 (or more depending on configuration): "I'd love to own one, but I wouldn't pay the asking price."

Nathan Key would take an Air for free: "These new models are pretty damn thin, which is awesome but the prices for 6 month old hardware are just ridiculous. I don't think I'd get one. If someone were to give me one then that would be a different story."

"I'd be happy to buy one if it was sold for what it's actually worth -- about $400," says Keith Watt. "As usual, Apple overcharges and the people lap it up." I must disagree with Watt. One analyst's estimate puts the low-end MacBook Air's product cost at $718.

Ken Fose has no doubts: "Absolutely not, never, no way." But like many commenters, he gives no clear reasons why not Air.

Seeing Past the CPUs

Other Betanews readers see value in MacBook Air. "I have already purchased an 11-inch MBA (4GB RAM, 128GB HDD)," Jim Cooper explains in e-mail. Like me, Cooper owned the first MacBook Air -- Rev. A -- and experienced two hard drive crashes. "After the last crash, I refused to buy another Mac. Until now." Cooper, who is a chief information officer, views the 11.6-inch model as being like a netbook. "I currently carry an ASUS netbook with me, and hope to replace that with the 11-inch MBA," he explains. Among his reasons for buying:

1. I agree with the shift to Flash drives. I have had great experiences with iPods (three -- all still working) and iPhones (two, both still working). No reason to suspect these drives will behave differently.

2. There seems to be no significant 'price premium' for the flash memory vs. the previous generation Macs. Try pricing out a MacBook Pro with SSD....$1,549 is the cheapest you can get.

3. 11-inch form factor. Expensive for a 'netbook', but it does what I need -- and for travel, you can't beat the size, weight and durability.

4. I think this may be the transition machine from 'computer' to 'device.' Having replaced numerous hard-drives, processors, memory, etc. on lots of computers, there is something elegant about not doing that. A 'self contained' device that functions as a computer, not a 'sum of its parts' -- I think this is the part of the draw of the iPad. Techies want to tweak; consumers just want it to work.

5. Two USB ports.

6. 5-hour battery (seven on the 13-inch MBA).

7. Instant ON.

8. Already have the accessories I need from the Rev. A MBA (ethernet, SuperDrive, video out, etc...).

Is iPad Better Choice?

"If I were in the market to replace my present MacBook, I would definitely go with the smaller, lighter Air," Lou Miller writes by e-mail. "I was given an iPad for retirement, and it doesn't have a good keyboard or the type of word processing I need. The Air looks like I could use it like any other computer, but it would be lighter. Being an amateur, I don't know the innards well, but I think the big revolution is leaving hard drives behind. Mine is subject to bangs, my wife dropped hers and had to get a new computer. The little Air seems familiar, sturdy, light, adequate [and] cheap."

Miller wasn't the only reader to bring up iPad. The question: Is iPad enough, particularly for people who already own one? "While the iPad satisfies the 'highly-portable, instant-on, and always connected requirement, it meets very few, if any, of the other needs," Alex Peltzer explains by e-mail. "Word documents are still impossible to do any serious work on through the iPad, and presentations from the iPad are not there. File access is possible, but not easy, and the same goes for printing. Serious note taking is only possible with a bluetooth keyboard, which ruins the 'portability' aspect."

Peltzer is considering buying the 13.3-inch MacBook Air, "not because it is 100 percent of what I need, but because it's the nearest approximation." Air's "instant-on" capabilities appeal to him, but something is missing: "The one problem is the 'always connected' feature. An iPad is not only instantly available to pull things off the internet on command, it has a built in 3G modem that works in the background, when the device is 'off,' none of which is possible even on the new Mac Book Airs."

Mark Spanner shares similar sentiments: "If the new MacBook Air had 3G, I would have purchased it yesterday, but without, it is a no-buy for me."

What about you?