'Cutting-edge' MacBook Air silicon getting old
The cutting-edge MacBook Air is not so cutting-edge these days. The high-profile, ultraslim notebook still comes with the same hardware that was offered initially by Apple nine months ago.
The sleek silver 3-pound notebook was announced with great fanfare back on January 15 with configurations that sported older Merom-class Intel low-voltage processors and a 64GB Samsung solid-state drive.
"I think everyone had widely anticipated that there would be some other product announcements in Steve Jobs' address (on Monday) on the notebook or computing side," said Patrick Wilkison, vice president of marketing and business development at STEC, a supplier of high-performance solid-state drives.
"But it's gotta be coming. They're certainly very committed to the notebook space," he said.
Apple observers claim that a notebook refresh is coming in October, and it is anticipated that updates to the Air will include larger solid-state drives and newer Intel processors.
Whether Apple will turn away from Intel chipsets is a rumor still in play, though Apple is expected to stick with Intel for the main CPU.
On the processor front, Hewlett-Packard may offer some guidance. HP has just refreshed its 3-pound ultraportable lineup with the newest low-power Intel silicon based on the Centrino 2 platform. The EliteBook 2530p line offers Core 2 Duo LV (low-voltage) and ULV (ultra-low-voltage) processors including the 1.6GHz SL9300 and 1.86GHz SL9400. Both are 45-nanometer processors that come with large 6MB caches to speed performance. Current processors in the Air are based on 65-nanometer technology and have smaller 4MB caches.
The EliteBooks use Intel's Mobile Intel GS45 Express Chipset with integrated graphics.
Solid-state drives are the other big question mark. New solid-state drives are hitting the market in quick succession. "Our drive was in mass production in early Q2. Looks like Samsung had theirs ready for the Dell launch, maybe mid to early Q3 timeframe," Wilkison said.
STEC's drives come in capacities up to 256GB. Dell offers a 128GB SSD with its new ultraslim Latitude E4200. (Dell E4200 "fits in an envelope too" video here.)
Meanwhile, Intel is shipping high-performance "X" series SSDs in 80GB capacities now. The drives achieve up to 250MB per second read speeds and up to 70MB per second write speeds.
The 80GB version is priced at $595. Though expensive, these drives deliver performance far better than the standard 4200rpm hard-disk drives used in ultraportables to date.
Dell's 128GB SSD option on its XPS M1530 notebook goes for an extra $450, though performance numbers are unknown at this point.
Wilkison said high-volume 128GB SSDs may get "closer to the $400 range."
Brooke Crothers is a former editor at large at CNET News.com, and has been an editor for the Asian weekly version of the Wall Street Journal. He writes for the CNET Blog Network, and is not a current employee of CNET. Contact him at mbcrothers@gmail.com. Disclosure.
This is why the Mini notebooks are doing so well. Most of them still have what a roady needs and they are cheap to boot! Something Apple really needs to address.
Just thought u should know
I have to say that my opinion is that only an absolute idiot would buy a ultra-portable, period and done with, at the high prices they are marketed at right now.
Lower it to about 300 dollars, then maybe I will look at an ultra-portable for web browsing..... oh wait.... I do more than web browsing on ANY computer..... (clicks his tongue).... it's desktop replacement quality or nothing for me.
the same overheating issues...
the same lockup issues...
I'll pass.
Sorry, totally could NOT help myself. Move along, then. Nothing to see here.
That said, like every other company, I'm sure that they will have new releases by Christmas Shopping Season.
Clue: Nothing out there can touch the Air for what it was built for, period.
Clue #2: if my crappy but still running old Sony Vaio Z1RA is any indication, most folks don't bother buying notebooks every 6-9 months.
The funny thing is, it makes perfect sense for Apple (or any OEM, really) to not spend obscene amounts of cash constantly re-tooling their products every six months without a damned good reason. Doing so would be stupid financially, and sometimes pointless. Sort of like the article I just read...
Answer to Clue #2: The Sony systems were one of the first entries into the sub notebook market and they demonstrated that you have two different classes- those systems that compromise on functionality/usability for the sake of looks / ego, and those systems that are coming out now that are just as small or smaller that lack none of the functionality or features, which makes them a better choice for sub notebook mobility.
The funny thing is that Apple wasn't the first to do this. They are nearly a decade late to the market and even then their claims of the lightest/longest battery life/size were immediately proven to be complete bunk. Don't believe it? Just look at the Toshiba Portege 2000 that was out some six or so years ago. It was lighter, smaller, longer battery life, had built in ethernet, plentiful USB ports, etc, etc, etc. Look at the new Dell, HP, and Toshiba systems. There's plenty that cost 1/3 the cost of an Apple product that can do 3X the work. That demonstrates to me that the Air is a status symbol- and a very successful one at that. If you want to look like you are important or are too important to be seen with a working laptop, then you can have the Apple Ego- err, Air.
I wish I could say otherwise, but the product's 9 month history is hard to dispute.
Seems like a fanboy comment. My 5 year old Toshiba Portege R100 is lighter (2.4 lbs), lasts 7.5 hours on batter with "strap-on" battery, smaller (but just a bit thicker), built in LAN, built in modem (yes it is true that when working on the road, sometimes you end up at hotels with no internet connection - modems are still good to have), AND it fits in an envelope!!! Ooohh, ahhh, eeeehhh! It fits in an envelope! It must be great!
I put my hands on a macbook air a few days ago. I thought, oh god, heavy, big, and overpriced. I can get my r100 nowadays for $850 CDN.
http://cnet.nytimes.com/laptops/toshiba-portege-r100/4505-3121_7-30425845.html
And check out the new Toshiba Portege - UltraThin WITH DVD/CD onboard!!
http://www.toshiba.ca/web/product.grp?section=1&group=1&product=7170
Toshiba Portégé R500
R500-02G
? One of the world's lightest notebooks
? The world's first notebook with the slimmest optical disc drive
? The world's first notebook with transflective LED
? One of the world's thinnest notebooks
? One of the world's longest battery operating times
It also fits into an envelope, onboard DVD/CD and all!!!
With LAN, wifi, bluetooth, and still ONLY 2.4 pounds (less than the Macbook AIR). 120Gb or 160Gb HDD, OR 128Gb SSD.
So, I wonder about your statement, "nothing touches it". Really out of line.
And if you want to bash the fact that it has windows vista in it, you can always upgrade to linux or move sideways to OS-X. (Yes, if you REALLY want to, you can install OS-X in a PC.)
D.
The Air isn't there to be the be-all-end-all to mobile computing. Desktop-like performance comes in those 9+ pound desktop-replacement laptops.
As for other laptops in the same category, if they come with an optical drive then they almost certainly have a ULV 1.1/1.2 Ghz processor with 2 Mb cache and cost at least $2,000 (like the mentioned R500). Half the cache and a 30-50% slower processor for $300 more just to have an optical drive? Quite the trade off...
Despite being a pretty avid Mac user at home, I didn't find the Air very compelling for my needs. (I vastly prefer using a desktop system whenever possible, because I want things like a big 24" LCD display, more drive space and better video capabilities - plus a full-size keyboard that's easy to type on. When I do take a portable with me, a Macbook Pro fits the bill much better for me. I want something that's reasonably light-weight and thin, yet can actually be considered a "desktop replacement/substitute" in as many ways as possible).
Still, I can see a definitely niche for the Air. It's not a good "only computer" or "main computer" for almost anyone (at least at its price). It's possibly a great 2nd. computer for someone (especially a Mac user) who uses it as more of a complimentary system to their main desktop.
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by Joliet Eddie
September 12, 2008 11:53 AM PDT
- $1700 for a lightweight super portable laptop when the new netbooks are $400 and less? Gimme a break. Apple sucks you in again with overpriced one-source hardware. Open up Apple, it's the 21st century and we don't need to go single-source-supplier anymore.
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by witheredmind
September 14, 2008 12:13 AM PDT
- A "netbook" is called so because it is best at doing that one thing: getting on the internet. I don't think a 1Ghz processor, 8Gb Hard Drive and 256Mb of memory lets you do much more than that. For $400, I think you get what you pay for.
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