08.02.06wed
MacBook Air Misinformation
I keep reading reports about the new MacBook Air, and I’m getting quite frustrated by the writers inability to get their facts straight. This is in reference to the price of the Solid Sate Drive (SSD) option...
Using technology similar to that in the iPod nano and other Flash-based products, MacBook Air introduces a solid-state drive. This drive has no moving parts and can access data more quickly than standard hard drives, so you’ll enjoy a boost in performance when starting up your computer and opening files and applications. In addition, solid-state drives offer greater durability and improved resistance to data loss in the event of an accidental drop.
As you can clearly see from this screenshot of the Apple store, the $1,799 base model MacBook Air comes with a 4200 rpm 80GB Parallel ATA Drive. As an option, for $999 you can buy the 64GB Solid State Drive.
Ars Technica’s review of the Air titled, “What does $1,300 extra really get you?”...
We picked up an SSD Air so that we could try it out, run some benchmarks, and report back to you on how much (or little) of a difference that extra $1,300 makes.
Then Engadget promptly reprints the bogus information...
All said, Ars says the extra $1300 for the SSD MacBook Air just isn’t worth it – but c’mon, you know that’s not stopping the people who are buying Airs in the first place.
Oft quoted Gizmodo, in an article entitled, “Adding a 64GB SSD to the Macbook Air? $1,300 Extra, Please.” offers this poor comparison...
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 $3,100. For comparison’s sake, adding a 64GB SSD to a Dell laptop with a 128GB SATA drive standard is a $1,000 option. At Alienware, you’ll pay $900 to upgrade to a 64GB SSD from a 320GB 5400RPM drive.
Gizmodo uses the above image to point out the huge difference in price, suggesting you go from $1,799 to $3,098 simply for the SSD option. However, they are not taking into account the second option shown also includes a $300 processor upgrade.
Gizmodo continues...
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 $1,300 on their own around the web.
Continuing to point out their own ignorance, they mention that 1.8-inch SSDs are typically more money than the 2.5-inch SSDs offered by Apple’s competitors, yet Apple’s SSD option is actually $1 less!
Finally, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, in his ZDNet hardware blog offers this opinion...
Is the $1,300 solid state drive (SSD) for the MacBook Air worth the money? Doesn’t seem so.
I would ask, did Ars Technica, Engadget, Gizmodo, or ZDNet bother to check their facts before publishing their articles? Doesn’t seem so.
