Just in case you missed anything, here is all of the news from Macworld 2008:
•Apple Announces Time Capsule Backup Server •Hands On With the TIme Capsule Backup Server •Apple Adds Mail, Maps and More to iPod Touch For $20 •Details on the New MacBook Air •Hands on With the New MacBook Air •Hands on With the Apple Multitouch Gesture Pad •Adding a 64GB SSD To the MacBook Air?$1300 Extra Please •MacBook Air’s Fatal Flaw: Battery, RAM, HD Sealed Like an iPod •Apple’s Official 60 Second MacBook Air Tour
newVideoPlayer("macbookair360.flv", 475, 286,""); Want a sense of how thin the new Macbook Air really is? Here is full rotation of the Macbook suspended in Air, showing you all sides, and providing a perfect visual reference to how surprisingly thin the computer is. [Full Macbook Air Coverage on Gizmodo]
newVideoPlayer("macbookairtour_giz.flv", 475, 286,""); Why sit through all 7+ minutes of the MacBook Air guided tour when we have what you need right here? Take a look at the Air’s thin frame, check out a hand gesture or two, and learn how to install software via Remote Disc, from a Windows PC or a Mac. Stay until the end for two bonus shots of the MacBook Air up close. If you can handle more, hit Apple’s site for the full-length video. [Apple]
The MacBook Air is an amazing piece of hardware. It’s iPod sexy, but there’s an iPod catch. Because just like an iPod, you can’t just crack it open to replace the hard drive, memory or even battery, according to the Apple employees on the Macworld floor. Obviously a slew of services and devices will fill this battery replacement gap, but just know that when Apple pitches you 5 hours of runtime with the Air, that’s all you get.
newVideoPlayer("appletv2.flv", 473, 326,""); Apple TV’s new interface is looking really fantastic, sucking only the best parts of Cover Flow for eye candy, while keeping the interface efficient and large-scaled for plenty of data accessibility. The biggest surprise? Streaming is lightning quick.
newVideoPlayer("macbookairtouch3.flv", 475, 306,""); Using the multitouch gesture pad felt like the next step in Apple’s trademark Macbook mouse replacement (the Trackpad/Touchpad), rather than an iPhone screen being shoved into a laptop (as it was pitched at the keynote). For the most part, it’s responsive. We found hiccups when scrolling through an image in iPhoto (zoomed), but our guess is that such issues were do to processor power and not the pad itself. Pinching (zooming) in to photos is fantastic, especially when you are in a multi-picture view in iPhoto (allowing you to scale the photocentric UI with ease). Rotating seems fairly flawless. Two second verdict: great, but not an iPhone. It’s more like Touchpad 2.0.
PS. The Macbook Air feels like a giant iPod Classic. So good. Video by Chris Mascari.
Apple’s Time Capsule backup server is a great idea, and looks great as well. It’s the same size as the Airport Extreme, but seems heavier. It has the exact same ports as the Airport Extreme (four Gigabit Ethernet ports, normal power ports) and has 802.11n. The top is different and has a chrome reflective Apple logo. There’s not much else to say until we get our hands on it at home and test it ourselves, so check out the gallery to see how it looks. Bad news: The hard drive isn’t user replaceable and it doesn’t like you can use it for NAS.
Here’s our take on the MacBook Air. It’s super light, super fragile, and super small. If you just tap the screen lightly, the whole thing closes because it’s so light. The keyboard looks a little weird because it’s black on the aluminium, but the keyboard feels great. It feels just like a MacBook (normal) keyboard. The screen looks gorgeous—very bright and clear (and better than the Sony). It’s even better looking than the MacBook’s, most likely because of the LED backlit display.
I hope you didn’t have your heart set on that sexy 64GB SSD that Steve teased as an “option” during his keynote: the 1.8GHz version with the SSD drive standard costs a whopping $US3,100. For comparison’s sake, adding a 64GB SSD to a Dell laptop with a 128GB SATA drive standard is a $US1,000 option. At Alienware, you’ll pay $US900 to upgrade to a 64GB SSD from a 320GB 5400RPM drive. Those are probably 2.5-inch SSDs, however. The 1.8-inch SSDs used in the Macbook Air are pricier, with prices looking to be around $US1,300 on their own around the web. [Apple Store]
It’s real. The fabled MacBook Air actually exists. It’s ultra-thin, can have normal hard drive or a solid state one and, except for a couple ports, it’s all about wireless connectivity. It’s an stunning .16 inches thick at the bottom and .76 inches on the top. The black keyboard (reminds me of some of those black-over-aluminium Braun designs) is LED backlit, sightly recessed MacBook-style, with rounded edges all around. The latch is magnetic and has a gorgeous 13.3-inch screen with ambient-light sensor and, get this, multitouch trackpad. Check the full specs, 20-image gallery and continuous updates after the jump:
