Omitting the backlit keyboard was a HUGE mistake on your part. Additionally, the Macbook Air was the last bastion at Apple for those of us who prefer (and rightly so) MATTE finish displays. A glossy display on an ultraportable is like Christmas in July - it just doesn't belong.
I'll be holding out until someone at Apple comes to their senses and re-installs the backlit keyboard. I guess I'll get quite a few more miles with my Rev. C Macbook Air after all......... 8-(
Macbook Air Rev. C,
Mac OS X (10.6.4),
no backlit keyboard = NO SALE!
Apparently the MBA does not use the "glass front" that the MBPs, iPad, iPhone use. The screen is still touchable and "squishy" like the earlier model. Ric Ford from MacInTouch reports that it is not as glossy/glare-prone as the other models.
However, please let Apple know about how basic the need is for the backlit keyboard. Supposedly they don't read these discussions, so the best way is the direct way:
Last night I discovered that if the screen is at slightly less than 90 degrees, the keyboard characters have some decent lighting.
But today the LED keyboard lamp arrived. It has 10
RED LEDs on a bar so it spreads muted light across the MBA keyboard. I like it. It's the "Logiix USB LED 10 Red Light" (sold by Amazon).
I would really like to know reasoning behind removing backlit keyboard ?! surely it is not battery life related, because you can always switch it off. also the apple logo is still lit. the only thing is saving cost on producing another keyboard with backlit, maybe they just didn't get them in time.
New to Apple after over 25 years in the PC world. A month after getting an iPhone 4, I decided to try a Mac and just got a maxed out 11.6 model. I produce HD videos as part of my job and am not a touch typist. The glossy screen is spectacular and I don't notice any glare in normal use (which doesn't include much outdoors I admit). No problems there.
I am typing this reply in a very dimly lit room and I have no problems whatsoever seeing the keys via the reflection of the white lettering which is lit by a very bright screen (at factory default settings). I've had dozens of matte screens and a half dozen lit keyboards, I don't miss either, especially given all the positives with this machine. Furthermore, I have found lit keys in some instances to be annoying and from a professional standpoint, I hate matte screens.
As for the 1.6 Core Duo, while I won't be running any 3D apps or doing heavy rendering, I never intended to with the MBA. However, it does fit my travel and portable home use perfectly. If I need more power, I'll use my screaming custom WIndows i7 machine...until I can replace it with a 12 core Mac Pro.
My take on the 11 inch Macbook Air, I'd say it is a home run, and it sure beats lugging around my 18" 2,500 dollar Vaio "laptop." I'm impressed enough with this and other recent Apple creations that I put my money where my mouth is with 50 shares of the stock too.
One theory is that when they went from .16 inch minimum thickness to .11 inch, that something had to go. I'd rather have a 1.6 inch thick MBA with backlit keyboard, if that's really true.
Meanwhile, if you want an MBA with backlighting, it's not too late to grab a factory refurb 2009 MBA with 2.13GHz C2D and 128G SSD on the Apple online store for $1099. Nice deal of you can live with a slower GPU and only 2GB of RAM.
I would have ordered one if it had backlit keys. MacBook I have now works fine, the only problem is it's hard to see at night. Not being able to see well at night is a recent problem for me, so maybe the new MBA is targeted towards the under 30 crowd 😉
I have changed my mind about cancelling my order as I have just tried my current (2009) macbook air with a UDB LED light with 3 bulbs and I can nowsee the keyboard fine. Only cost £2.99 including postage. Without the LED light I can hardly see the keyboard - am impressed by the light - its not obstrusive and have no problems reading the keyboard at all. Am pleased as I thought the light wouldn't be very good. Would still prefer the backlit keyboard but am gonna go for the new one as want the extra storage and RAM. (The salesman said the keyboard colours etc are same as old macbook air.)
I just had a terrible thought... Most of us here are hoping (and expecting) that Apple is going to return to backlit keyboards in the next revision of the new MacBook Air models, but have any of you wondered what MBA feature Apple is going to remove to get us to buy the revision after that?
Perhaps no SD port... or no USB port... or maybe no backlit display. You'll just have to hold the entire computer in front of a bright light so you can read what's on the screen. But at least we'll have our backlit keyboards back. 🙂
I've been comparing netbooks in an effort to find an ultra-portable to replace my stolen 17" MBP. That thing was too heavy! I decided I would get something cheap and light, because the new computers are about as fast as my old one, and I want more portability. The screens on the little iPhones and iPod touches aren't big enough for me, and I'd rather have a 12 inch netbook instead of a 10 inch one. The problem is most 12 inch netbooks weigh 3.2 lbs, and they cost about $450 or more if they have 2 GB of RAM (a minimum for me). I can't see spending that much, except that the MBA is more than twice that, has a smaller hard drive, and only has a 1" bigger screen. I like the fact that Apple gives a more portable alternative, but the little 2 lbs. 11 inch MBA, which might fit the bill for me, has not SD card slot, and frankly it has a hard drive that is just too small. If it had that 264 GB HD available in the 13" MBA, and a back-lit keyboard, like my $49 prepaid Motorola flip cell phone has, it would be such a winner that I might actually go for it. Still, it's very expensive, but probably worth the money. With the netbook I was thinking about getting, I was planning to spend $100 to replace the 160 GB HD with a 500 GB HD anyway. The thing is I was going to have to pay even more for an upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate Home Edition or whatever it's called. I HATE Windows 7 though, and I can just see myself regretting the $400 savings I would experience by not buying an 11" MacBook Air. I think the Mac OS might just be worth the extra $400, especially since the netbook is 3.2 lbs vs. the MacBook Air at 2 lbs. The main problem I have is the fact that if I go Apple, I will have to get the heavier model, because I want a larger hard drive (hopefully I can replace the current one with a 500 GB drive). I just don't want to do without a built-in SD card slot. I connect too many devices (printer AND external HD). One thing that's nice is the fact that the 13" MBA now has that SD card slot while having the extra USB port vs. the earlier model. The fact that I can upgrade the RAM to 4 GB (my 17" MBP was maxed out at 3 GB) is awesome! It looks like I might just have to save up some and get a 13" MBA. I wish the little one had an SD card reader, the ability to go to 4 GB and had a bigger hard drive. That would be one amazing little dude!
Wow! I just saw that you CAN get 4 GB in the 11" MacBook Air! It only costs $100 extra too! I see you can get the one with the 128 GB flash drive for $200 more. That's a bit pricey! I guess when buying Mac, that's to be expected. They ARE the premium computers afterall, right?
What an amazing machine! Now I have to seriously consider what to do. Spend a bunch more money, and just have to rely on external hard drives and an external card reader, which unfortunately makes the 1 lb lighter extra portability a moot point, or get the 13" one with the bigger hard drive for even more money. I think it'll be the 13" MBA for me, though I guess I could survive with just 128 GB of HD space. I'd be shuffling files a lot though.
Now if they'd just up the size of those flash HD capacities and add an SD card slot to the little one, add backlighting to the keyboard (like all cell phones have), and increase the screen size somehow to 12" then the home run would be complete, even at $1,000! I doubt this will happen before the end of 2011.
I guess there are benefits for those of us who learned to touch type a long time ago. Backlit keys are a non-issue: had them on my 17" but never needed them. I can't imagine cancelling an order of the Air because of this one item. Do you really type that much in the dark?
