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WSJ's Walt Mossberg Reviews the MacBook Air

online.wsj.com — Apple's MacBook Air is a beautiful, amazingly thin computer, but one whose unusual trade-offs may turn off some frequent travelers.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jan 25, 2008

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  • letierri, on 01/25/2008, -3/+21I just watched the video and don't get why people are bitching about Mossberg's fanboyism for this review, he gave more reasons not to buy the thing rather than to buy it
  • Urkel, on 01/25/2008, -10/+28Me too. It's like reading a press release but dipped in chocolate.
  • usingpond, on 01/25/2008, -15/+28Listen, I love Apple. But all Mossberg does is fellate the company.

    Also just want to point out I saw him at the iPhone launch! Along with that robot guy from the initial ads (who waved back).
  • pxa270, on 01/25/2008, -6/+17I like Fake Steve Jobs' take on Goatberg:

    So how do we do it? No, we don't pay him. Walt takes himself very, very seriously and would never cop to a bribe. The solution for us has been a combination of hypnosis and flattery. Basically we bring him in, let him hang out with me, all very casual, and here's the key: I ask all the questions. I'm like, Dude, what do you think of this design? Where do you think the Internet is going? ***** stuff like that, but he waxes on and on, feeling all important because the Great Steve Jobs is asking for his advice. Beauty of it is that Walt is as dumb as a box of rocks. But he thinks he's like super-duper brilliant. (It's an affliction common to employees of the Wall Street Journal. Something about the water in the newsroom. "Ego juice," they call it, or so I've been told.) Sometimes we videotape old Walt going on and on, waving his arms and getting all worked up. We tell him we're taping so we can study his ideas later, but really it's just so we can laugh our asses off.

    Anyway it works like a charm. Walt actually believes he's had a hand in creating most of our products. So of course he's not gonna dump on them.

    http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/01/managing-mos ...

  • Kyrra, on 01/25/2008, -1/+11I don't get why people bitch about the cost of the SSD drive. Go to Dell.com, price a D630 laptop and checkout the price of the harddrives:
    80GB Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM [Included in Price]
    64GB Solid State Drive [add $1,040]

    SSD harddrives are farking expensive, and it's going to be that way until they can refine their manufacturing process.
  • anderzole, on 01/25/2008, -3/+13Walt gives us the review, but we don't get to see the actual device out in the wild on his desk. What gives Walt?!
  • mdude85, on 01/25/2008, -0/+9Why is this guy and so many others constantly surprised that a laptop measuring 14.5" at its diagonal would open to contain a 13.3" screen?
  • shockingbird, on 01/25/2008, -3/+11I agree. I'm not sure who exactly this notebook appeals to. Definitely not road warriors. Students maybe? Girls who want a pretty laptop? I really don't know.
  • roberto_deneero, on 01/25/2008, -11/+19This is a good, fair, unbiased review. He points out both the good and the bad in the product. Those of you with Windows colored glasses obviously only see the bad in the MBA and in Walt's review. Go back to your hours upon hours of tinkering with Vista. Cancel or Allow?
  • blackmage439, on 01/25/2008, -12/+19Personally, I think the biggest problem with the Air is the lack of something new. "But, itz teh THINEST MAC NOTEBOOK EVAR!!!111!" you say. Well... the problem isn't with that, or the frickin ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR SS drive... The problem is I, like most people, were expecting a TABLET. Imagine that... a Mac Tablet. That would have been cause for celebration. Not a notebook that gets it's thin profile from gutting the Ethernet port and optical drive, and not a rip-off of something Sony had attempted years ago...

    People were expecting a soaring eagle of a machine; what we got was a lame duck.
  • mrBitch, on 01/25/2008, -0/+7This is a better take on this thing : " Heavier than Air " - http://fishbowl.pastiche.org/2008/01/22/heavier_th ...
    FTA : " Ever watch Top Gear review a car? There’s always the point in the review where they run through the list of cars that are cheaper, more powerful and better fitted-out… but just aren’t half as fun to drive. If it were up to most tech pundits you would buy a car from a spec sheet — horsepower, miles per gallon, price, optional extras — without ever sitting behind the wheel and giving it a run around the block.
    Enter the MacBook Air, a device that is under-powered, has too small a hard drive, has only one USB port, lacks firewire, a replaceable battery, wired ethernet and an optical drive.
    Sure-fire flop, right?
    ... I think the step that Apple is taking with the MacBook Air is much like the one they took when they decided to ship the iMac without a floppy drive. They know where the world is going, and they want to be there first. "
  • atdigg, on 01/25/2008, -8/+15First Mossberg's professional integrity is beyond any doubt.
    Second, it wasn't a thumb down, he mentioned that's a very good laptop if you don't need couple of things and he enumerated them, what's so hard to understand?
  • inactive, on 01/25/2008, -1/+8I thought that Walt would be biased with this review as he always is but his conclusion is pretty much the same as mine: "If you value thinness, and a large screen and keyboard in a subnotebook, and don't watch DVDs on planes or require spare batteries, the MacBook Air might be just the ticket. But if you rely on spare batteries, expect the usual array of ports, or like to play DVDs on planes, this isn't the computer to buy."

    This is a key part "If you value thinness, and a large screen and keyboard in a subnotebook"

    Steve Jobs is a great salesman and in the MacWorld he made those specs sound as if the other manufacturers got it wrong making the screen of their laptops at 11" and below. They got it right, for me that is what make an ultra-mobile notebook ultra...
    The remote disc as a great feature but that is only useful if you are in your house or someone's house but if you are outside you will need the external DVD drive, yet another thing to carry on.
  • lnxfi, on 01/25/2008, -3/+9What, 4 lbs for a laptop is too heavy to carry now? If you can feel the difference between 3 and 4 lbs, you should have eaten your greens like your mother told you to.
  • Bensch, on 01/25/2008, -1/+7I'm a frequent traveler, and I could care less about the battery - when was the last time I pulled the battery out of my MacBook? Never.
    What I care about is being able to take everything with me in carry-on. The Air certainly helps with that, and it's fast enough that I can do my job. I'm sticking with my MacBook (older) for now, but when the Air gets faster or more memory, I'll probably get one.
  • covertbadger, on 01/25/2008, -1/+6You're assuming that other people want to do what you do, or want their laptop to do everything other laptops do. The thing people are missing is that, quite often, an "ultra thin notebook with a nice screen and a big keyboard" covers everything. I'm a software dev that has targeted mobile apps often, so normally have all sorts of things plugged in to my PC, but I am in fact in the market for a something I can use to idly browse the net or write blog posts whilst commuting. I don't need 3G, as the train I use has wifi. I don't need an optical drive. I don't need an ethernet port. My journey isn't long enough to wear the battery down if I have a full charge when I leave in the morning, so I don't need spares. I don't even need any USB ports, at all. I just need something lightweight, with a full-size keyboard.

    Would I use a Mac Air as a dev machine? Hell no. Would I use it as an all-purpose tool? Hell no. Would I find it useful? Yes, I would, on a daily basis. By no means have I actually decided to buy one, but it's on the list of potentials.
  • Tanbo, on 01/25/2008, -5/+10the comments here about walt are unduly harsh. He gave what I felt was an honest review. Its a beautiful looking machine, which is consistent with what other reviewers have said, but because it lacks certain features its not for everybody. I think in the TUAW video interview at macworld walt even mentioned his last 2 computers purchased were Vista machines, so don't call him a shill.
    As for the Air, without the ssd option it's price is pretty comparable to similarly sized ultra portables by the other major manufacturers, with perhaps a very slight premium for the design aspect of it.

    Anyhow, let's face it. All the haters on here work at Dell.
  • luchid, on 01/25/2008, -3/+8Except 2 GB is plenty for an ultraportable -you know, the one you use for light tasks and not ultra-intensive work- and OSX isn't a RAM gobbling OS like Vista.
  • inactive, on 01/26/2008, -0/+4Honestly, Mossberg should have stressed the lack of a mobile broadband solution in the MacBook Air just a little more. Any true road warrior is going to already have a mobile broadband card. The lack of an ExpressCard slot is terrible and Apple should be ashamed. The ONE USB port is not really a solution. Who wants a nice slim laptop with a big ol' USB broadband card sticking out the side.
  • posure, on 01/25/2008, -0/+4A Mac Air tablet would be awesome and would probably make a thin system like this much more useful...but I can't see that many people (other than Apple enthusiasts) buying this machine because it is way too gimped (no optical drive, no ethernet, one usb port), plus if the aluminum case is anything like the one on the MacBook Pro, the WiFi could be unstable.
  • corripio, on 01/25/2008, -0/+4Agreed.

    I travel often (with a 15 inch MacBook and in the past 12 inch iBook) and hardly ever run just on battery for an extended period of time. Aside from email/web stuff, most of the work I do is very processor intensive, so even having a spare battery would only give me about 2hours of "wireless" uptime. If I'm on a plane, I read papers and try to avoid working on my laptop since those airline seats certainly don't give you much room. Apple is definitely going after people like me that just want portability, not necessarily "mobile computing" (i.e. working off battery for extended periods of time in the middle of nowhere). I've actually never considered getting a subnotebook because the small screen, keyboard and slow processors just seemed like huge tradeoffs.

    Pretty much everyone I know owns a laptop, and of these people, those that want truly mobile computing have Blackberry's, iPhones, and Treos, not subnotebooks. The MacBook Air is all about portability.
  • chkdg8, on 01/25/2008, -0/+3I mean, is anyone surprised? The mac air is not for average consumer. At this point it's only a vanity portable.
  • Tanbo, on 01/25/2008, -1/+4hmmm, just a thought but if you spent more time designing a better laptop for your employer than wasting your time on here, it would benefit your employers stock price and, most likely, any options you might have as well.
  • inactive, on 01/25/2008, -2/+5travelers also want something usable. travelers spend hours on the road, at airport check in, then security etc. when i sit in my seat on the plane i don't want to put up with any more *****. I want things my way. just because I'm on a plane doesn't mean i should put up with less. The mac book air is a collection of work-arounds and compromises. Frustrating garbage.
  • johnpaul191, on 01/25/2008, -1/+4that fact that you dreamed something and Apple did not release it seems more like a personal issue to me.
    the thing i like about the MBA is the new touch pad... and i can't wait for that to come on the rest of the laptops. the rest of the MBA is cool, but not what i'm looking for.
    The MacBook i was hoping for was pretty much something like the 12" powerbook with updated parts. i could take the old case (metal or ibook plastic), and even the old dimensions, but i want that 12" screen. i still keep my old 12" ibook around because it's so portable. I would love a revamped take on it, but i want the superdrive so i can burn DVDs from it when i'm not home (it's a work thing). i guess an external superdrive would be ok. to be honest i have not used the one in my ibook since i put 10.4 on the machine, and that was a when it was first released.
  • Urkel, on 01/26/2008, -1/+4I like this quote. "the MacBook Airs battery lasted 3 hours, 24 minutes. That means you could likely get 4.5 hours in a normal work pattern, almost the five hours Apple claims."

    So the guy who is reviewing a product that is physically in front of him has to make up a guestimate on how long a battery runs just so he can justify Apple's claim. What do you expect him to do, actually test out battery time for accuracy?
  • zaklampert, on 01/25/2008, -2/+5did he say anything about the computer that we didn't already know?
  • johnpaul191, on 01/25/2008, -2/+41) it has USB ports
    2) why do you need a CD-Rom built in? i NEVER use mine in my laptop. i last used it to insall an OS over a year ago.
    3) while i can swap out my battery fast, i don't have a spare, so who cares?
    4) external media feeds? what does that mean that is not covered by your other gripes? missing SCSI ports?
  • covertbadger, on 01/25/2008, -0/+2I use my commute to write up essays for the part-time degree I am taking, or to draft blog posts, or just to goof around on the web. That 3 hours is almost solid laptop use. I use my ultramobile far more often than my fully-featured Lenovo dev laptop, or the desktop PC in my home office. It's just that, for the relatively simple tasks I need it to do, USB ports and ethernet ports and optical drives are entirely superfluous. Do I need them on my dev machines? Certainly. Do I need them just to fire up vim and write a blog post? No.
  • covertbadger, on 01/25/2008, -3/+5I travel for 3 hours every day. I don't need any of those things, no matter how often you put 'need' in capitals. I need a decent screen and a decent keyboard on a lightweight laptop. My current travelling laptop has never had anything plugged into a USB port, and I've used the optical drive ONCE - when I installed Linux over Windows. As long as the battery lasts 3 hours, that's ample and I don't need spares. Of course, my dev laptop is a different story, but I don't take that everywhere with me.

    Is the Air the only thing that provides a decent screen and keyboard in a ultra-mobile package? No, of course not. But, since it covers all my needs, it's something I will consider when buying a laptop later this year.
  • VSLOATHE, on 01/25/2008, -1/+3Your reply makes absolutely no sense. That is ***** awful grammar.
  • inactive, on 01/25/2008, -0/+2I travel 1 week out of 4 and I do need those things. You travel 3 hours a day? Do you even need a laptop at all?
  • roberto_deneero, on 01/26/2008, -2/+4It's hilarious reading these people bitch about the MBA like little girls. Nobody is forcing you to buy it. You do not have to buy it. No pressure. Relax. The Apple Ferry is not going to come take money out of your wallet tonight and magically deliver a product you can't afford anyway. What's the worry??? Stop your whining. Here's your pacifier and warm milk. Go back to sleep now.....sleepy sleepy time.....go on.....

    The only people who have the right to bitch is someone who actually paid money for the product and doesn't feel they got what they paid for. So far, I am 100% certain that NONE of you whining girls have purchased one so STFU already.
  • rspeed, on 01/25/2008, -1/+3Did you RTFA? He pretty well spells out that most people shouldn't get it.
  • YodaJones, on 01/29/2008, -0/+2I would buy the Mac Book Air. It seems like a nice light little system.
  • mrBitch, on 01/26/2008, -0/+2mobile broadband solution :

    1 x MacBook Air
    1 x iPhone
    1 x software to connect to iPhone via wireless ( already built in to OS X )
  • johnpaul191, on 01/25/2008, -2/+4there are people that will pay a premium for a product that is exactly what they want. i don't know one person that carries spare laptop batteries with them (and i know some nrrds), most people rarely use optical drives. I do know people that do not want o carry a lot of bulk, and have the money to pay for something like this. Look how many people paid that extra $ for the black MacBook. if you have the money, and it makes you happy, then who the hell cares?
    I realize Digg users are a crowd far more likely than the public to carry a computer tower to a friend's house for marathon gaming sessions. many people use a computer as a tool to do work, and want the smallest tool to get the job done. If they use OS X, this is the smallest thing available.
    You also know the slimming effect will trickle down to other Macs (and that rad multi-touch pad i want right now).
  • luchid, on 01/25/2008, -1/+3Wow you're really mature...
  • Boondoggle, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1Microsoft employees represent 95% of all tablet users.
  • Toxigen, on 01/25/2008, -1/+2That was really educational, apparently the screen and keyboard are large contributors to a sub notebook's weight (watch the video 1:00). Who would have thought?
  • Urkel, on 01/26/2008, -1/+2The bigger question is "how anyone can review a 'travel notebook' without actually traveling with the notebook"

    Reviewing a notebook from your home is like reviewing a yacht from your garage.
  • pintomp3, on 01/25/2008, -1/+2i know, that's why many of them work on their laptops in flight. hence the need for spare batteries.
  • joe361, on 01/25/2008, -6/+7Totally agree.
  • corripio, on 01/25/2008, -1/+2I travel quite often (with a 15 inch MacBook and in the past 12 inch iBook) and don't need any of those things you listed (and yes it had a usb port). Even when I'm not traveling I don't use the optical drive much (basically only to rip a cd or dvd)...about the only time I plug into the USB port is to sync my iPod or a digital camera, every once in a while. The last time I used the ethernet port on my laptop was like 2 months ago, but only to test if a cable was working properly...I use WIFI like most people in this decade. Aside from email/web stuff, most of the work I do is very processor intensive, so even having a spare battery would only give me about 2hours of "wireless" uptime. If I'm on a plane, I read papers and try to avoid working on my laptop since those airline seats certainly don't give you much room. When I travel, I used my laptop to give presentations, work on code, demonstrate concepts, run simulations. None of these things require an optical drive, spare battery, or an ethernet port. My laptop is a mobile workstation. If I wanted truly mobile computing, I'd get a Blackberry, iPhone, or a Treo. The MacBook Air is all about portability.
  • inactive, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1Ok you're doing a part-time degree, well done, but you are hardly the target market that matters.
    Real professionals and corporate workers is where the money is at and is where apple wants to be, this is the reason for the macbook air as laid out by jobs himself.
  • Boondoggle, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1I think it is so cool that you can speak for all business travelers.

    Obviously with your keen insight and interpersonal skills, you must be a true asset to your organization.

    Keep up the good work!
  • Boondoggle, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1He is an idiot for not coming up with a more credible story.
  • jakem1, on 01/25/2008, -2/+3People aren't complaining about the price of the SSD - they know they're expensive. What they are complaining about is the unreasonably high price of the MBA which only gets more ridiculous once you add the SSD. This laptop is not good value for money and it would be a waste of time sticking an expensive SSD in it.
  • Tanbo, on 01/25/2008, -3/+4Frequent travelers are usually travelling for business, and don't have time to watch ratatouille on their flight.
  • Bensch, on 01/25/2008, -1/+2I think you must be an idiot not to run Vista ON the Mac Pro...
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