A maxed out 11" MBA (which unfortunately comes to a mere $50 less than the comparable 13") with a 27" Cinema Display sounds like my dream rig - complete flexibility between portability and comfort/expandability (when connected to the spacious and port-packed display).
New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
101–110 of 197 posts
Re: New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this has been discussed a number of times, both on and off HN, and the final word on this is that the difference is made up of VAT and various importation taxes levied by the UK government. So, blame Her Majesty, not Apple...
I have seen it discussed but I'm not sure its as clear cut as that.
The UK HMRC charges no customs duty or import duty on imports of computers, but does levy 20% VAT (sales tax).
Using today's exchange rate of 1.6149, here are the UK like-for-like premiums for several Apple products in the UK:
7.6% - ipad 2
13.4% - ipod touch
14.4% - mac air 11 64gb
12.1% - mac air 11 128gb
13.9% - mac air 13 128gb
13.5% - mac air 13 256gb
12.1% - mbp 13
21.1% - thunderbolt display
Therefore, the UK premium is much larger when you consider that in some US states there is no sales tax, but the entire UK is subject to 20% sales tax.
Also note that VAT is only a sales tax on items for personal use. Business users do not have to pay the VAT (they reclaim it).
Here therefore are the premiums comparing US states with zero sales tax to the UK:
29.1% - ipad 2
36.1% - ipod touch
37.2% - mac air 11 64gb
34.6% - mac air 11 128gb
36.6% - mac air 13 128gb
36.2% - mac air 13 256gb
34.6% - mbp 13
45.3% - thunderbolt display
Re: New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, quite a bit: http://ark.intel.com/compare/54617,54618,56858,36697
Interesting that the wattage is much higher. Does this mean that a bigger battery was required (possibly explaining the minor bump in weight)?
Yep, the battery was bumped from 40-watt-hour to 50-watt-hour.
Re: New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
#104Still glossy display only.
There's a big difference between the MBA glossy display and the macbook pro glass display. I use the MBA daily but when I got a chance to play around with a friend's 17" MBP glossy... it was terribly unusable.
Re: New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
#105I'm really not a fan of their non-US pricing, it rarely works out well for international buyers. For example the $1,199 model costs £999 in the UK. $1,199 is equal to £744. So to buy it from the UK store you're paying 34% more? For the cheapest option, $999 in US store, the UK price is 37% more. And I'm too lazy to work out the 13" price differences.
For once we didn't get shafted in Canada. Our prices start at $999 too instead of $1099.
Re: New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
But the max screen is still only 13" max and not a significant price drop on existing models so I'm glad I didn't wait for this release before buying.
Apple never does price drops. They have a fixed product line and while the hardware changes over time, the price stays the same.
Sometimes they bump the price up and down here and there, but rarely enough to cause even a stir. For the most part it is pretty constant though.
Re: New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
#107Still no Gigabit Ethernet adapter ?!? Even with the thunderbolt port ? Come on Apple, you can do better .... Apart from that slight pet peeve of mine, those looks like really great replacement for my now aging MacBook unibody.
You can buy a third party one based on this chip:
Re: New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
#108I'm going to be purchasing the 13" MBA, and I'm trying to decide between the baseline version and the maxed out version. I would pay the $100 to upgrade to the i7, but one can only do so by also paying $300 for the 256GB of memory.
Honestly, the 256GB memory vs 128GB isn't important to me (most of my stuff is small files or in the cloud), so I'm finding it hard to justify $400 for the better processor.
Any advice from those with MBA in the wild? This is replacing a 3 year old MB I use as my primary machine, and my laptops tend to last me at least 2 years.
Re: New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have seen it discussed but I'm not sure its as clear cut as that.
The UK HMRC charges no customs duty or import duty on imports of computers, but does levy 20% VAT (sales tax). Using today's exchange rate of 1.6149, here are the UK like-for-like premiums for several Apple products in the UK: 7.6% - ipad 2 13.4% - ipod touch 14.4% - mac air 11 64gb 12.1% - mac air 11 128gb 13.9% - mac air 13 128gb 13.5% - mac air 13 256gb 12.1% - mbp 13 21.1% - thunderbolt display Note: these premiu…
I think Apple are actually being far too greedy, one of the reasons I don't buy Macs is the premium you have to pay...I don't like being ripped off quite so explicitly.
Re: New MacBook Air Now Available on Apple Store
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm pretty sure apple is anything but lazy with these types of things.
Saving time doesn't necessarily mean laziness, especially if one has to meet tight deadlines (which may or may not be the case here). I don't understand why the grand parent is being down-voted, he just offered an different view.
I suspect it's because Apple are generally seen as sticklers for perfection when it comes to presentation and people think it's unlike that they've cut corners on something like this for a new product launch.