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MacBook Air

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Tried this out today in the mac store... truly a remarkable bit of construction. Would make a great laptop to carry on your back all day as a photographer. Looks like it's about $500-700 more than the PC counterparts, but if you're dropping $2k on an ultraportable you probably can afford it.

Definitely a niche product, but a pretty attractive one, at least in flash (which is apple's lifeblood).
 
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jwins,

Could you tell if the exterior shell was exposed titanium or aluminum or something, or is the exterior finish paint and/or plastic veneer?

The white MacBooks from last gen were beautiful too, until you actually rested your sweaty palms on them and stripped all the paint off after a year of use.
 
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Trying to find a picture of the problem on the old ones, but haven't uncovered anything. I've got a friend that has one of the 1st gen white MacBooks, and I am 99% certain it is black anodized aluminum (or its titanium) then was painted white. Either way, it looks like crap now.

Now, the NEW MacBooks are polycarbonate, but they have a veneer on them to protect the polycarb. That peels off too. Also looks like shit once you finally buy it, bring it home, turn it on, and the heat causes the veneer to bubble up.

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This has been an ongoing problem with Apple's products. Every fucking thing they make has something wrong with it, and was one of the reasons I didn't buy another Apple product after having issues with a Powerbook G3 (Wallstreet version) almost from the day I got it back in 1998.

Hence my question to jwins whether he could tell if the exposed finish was the aluminum, or whether Apple put some shit-ass contact paper on it again.
 
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Why Anodizing?
"Anodizing gives aluminum a hardness greater than that of hard chromium plating and corrosion resistance equal to zinc plating. It?s also a chameleon. With relatively simple additions of dyes and sealants, anodized surfaces can mimic the appearance of stainless steel, copper, bronze or pewter. Organic dyeing, mineral pigmentation and electrolytic coloring techniques make custom color possibilities unlimited."

But, there are different grades of the process. The case appears, from their description, to be an anodized aluminum.
I believe that the "Air" is a "niche" product. And not suitable for most people.
 
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Taosman;1115719; said:
Why Anodizing?
"Anodizing gives aluminum a hardness greater than that of hard chromium plating and corrosion resistance equal to zinc plating. It?s also a chameleon. With relatively simple additions of dyes and sealants, anodized surfaces can mimic the appearance of stainless steel, copper, bronze or pewter. Organic dyeing, mineral pigmentation and electrolytic coloring techniques make custom color possibilities unlimited."

But, there are different grades of the process.
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Anodizing aluminum is not a cure-all. The anodic layer has a hardness of about 52 on the Rockwell C scale, which is higher than most grades of raw aluminum (~35), but lower than steel (~58). Anodizing prevents corrosion, rust, and oxidation, and it makes aluminum (especially aluminum, because it's so soft) more scratch resistant. It does not unequivocally resist scratches though. The anodic oxide surface itself is very, very thin -- about .002 inches thin.

This surface provides a buffer which helps the aluminum resist most scratches from common handling, such as contact with rings, bracelets, or wrist watches. It's still quite easy to scratch though, because it doesn't take much to penetrate the oxide layer completely and gouge the underlying aluminum.

Do you have any real world experience with milling aluminum, anodizing, (or MacBooks) or are you just going to quote some Web sites and not provide any of the sources and references, like you usually do? :roll1:
 
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I've played with one of these. The case is made of the same materials as the MacBook Pro. My girlfriend has had a MacBook Pro for two years now - and in my opinion she kinda treats it like crap. However, it still looks pretty good for a two year old laptop (the same can't be said for the old iPod I let her borrow for several months.) With the way it conducts heat the bottom of it feels like a hot griddle if you run it for any appreciable amount of time, but at least it still looks sharp. I wouldn't worry about the durability of the case on the MacBook Air one bit.
 
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I've had a black MacBook for a couple months shy of 2 years now and it hasn't shown any signs of discoloring, peeling, or cracking - one of the reasons I went with the black one. The matte finish is pretty resistant to scratching and it has survived a year at Ohio State, along with several plane trips and vacations, without any noticeable wear.

I've heard the latest generation of MacBook Pro's with the new intel chips run much cooler.
 
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Dryden;1115717; said:
Hence my question to jwins whether he could tell if the exposed finish was the aluminum, or whether Apple put some shit-ass contact paper on it again.
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I'm not positive, but I think it was the former. It reminded me of the macbook pro...

The only durability concern would be passing out on the couch with an infinitely thin screen to roll over on :p
 
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jwinslow;1115816; said:
I'm not positive, but I think it was the former. It reminded me of the macbook pro...
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Sweet, that's what I was wondering.

If the exterior shell is ano'ed aluminum without a veneer layer, then it'd be possible to take one apart and dye the shell to something else. :sneaky:
 
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