Got to play with a MacBook Air Today

Posted on by


Josh On Air, originally uploaded by TiEsQue.

At today’s Ignite Portland planning lunch, Raven brought his wife Mara’s MacBook Air – the one he ordered from her from the expo floor at Macworld, immediately after it was announced in Steve Jobs’ keynote.

We’ve all be following the shipping and arrival date vicariously through Twitter, and yesterday morning, it arrived.

Somehow, Raven was able to convince his wife to let it out of her sight, and brought it to show off at lunch today. Todd snapped this pic of me with it, and I have a bunch more I’ll upload soon, as well as pics posted below, and a short video tour I’ll upload soon.

It really is an amazing computer. It’s only marginally thicker than an iPhone, and it’s almost sharp on the edges, where the bezel is so thin. I was impressed by the keyboard, and how bright the LED-backlit display is. Raven says that it puts out almost no heat at all, and says he and Mara are happy with the performance.

My favorite feature after drooling for 30 seconds? The magnetic closure. There’s no button or slide or hook or latch to open it. You just lift the edge of the screen, and it opens smoothly. Like butter. ;-)

Here are the rest of the pictures, which you can also view in this photoset on Flickr (full size images are available – just click “all sizes” on the one you’re interested in).

The MacBook Air
MacBook Air - So Thin!
MacBook Air vs iPhone
MacBook Air Open
MacBook Air Open
MacBook Air - dropdown door reveals ports
Raven, MacBook Air, iPhone
Raven and the MacBook Air

  • Pingback: - Silicon Florist

  • Thomas Han

    Love the way you describe it, “like butter” :-)

  • http://sarahmcarr.com Sarah Carr

    Hey! Thanks for sharing the pics. I can’t WAIT to see one in person. Enjoy your precious time with the Air ;)

  • http://simple-is-beautiful.pblogs.gr/ Mark Papadakis

    It sure looks beyond sexy. I am concerned about the performance and the power of the integrated GPU, though.

  • http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com Josh Bancroft

    @Mark performance of the integrated GPU should be no worse and no better than the current MacBook, Mac mini, and just about anything else with Intel integrated graphics.

    That is, you probably won’t want to run World of Warcraft on it, but it will be fine for anything that’s less 3D intensive than that.

  • Mike

    Jealous-ss-s-s….

    But, an iPod/iPhone or a Newton? I guess only time will tell whether this design is on time , way too early, or just wrong. Interesting reports that some other PC makers are lining up to purchase the same cpu.

  • http://www.oleoptene.com Mara Collins

    Hey, I recognize that computer! I’m glad you enjoyed getting to play with it. I will admit that my computer usage is mostly email, blogging, social networking (twitter, facebook, flickr) and downloading podcasts along with watching the odd dvd’ed tv series in bed at night (waiting now for the external superdrive) so without being a power user, I am grateful for the great screen and was surprised at the speakers giving me better sound than my old Mac book. I trail kids around the house and so the lightness and how good it feels is nice. I am not worrying about being worthy of the computer, but it is working for me.

  • http://blogan.net Brent Logan

    How well does the keyboard work? Does it have sufficient travel or does it feel funny?

    Where’s the manila envelop? ;-)

  • http://blog.clintecker.com Clint Ecker

    Awesome Josh! I convinced Jacqui to come to work with me today and all the guys were standing in line to get a chance to hold her Air ;)

    Also, the MacBooks have had the magnetic closure since they came out, I have no idea why Apple keeps the Macbook Pro stuck in the old and crufty design aesthetic of the Powerbook.

  • http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com Josh Bancroft

    @Clint – cool – I didn’t know the MacBooks have that kind of closure, too. The pushbutton latch on my MBP has always been a little fiddly, and requires a LOT more force than normal, in just the right spot, to pop it open. It’s just never been worth having it in the shop for a few days to have it fixed. :-)

    And yes, I should have found a manilla envelope. Actually, that company that announced the sleeve for the MBA that looks like a manilla envelope is here in Portland. Raven and Mara, you should hit them up for a “review sample”. ;-)