Happy to note the following about the latest Apple MacBook, dubbed the "Air":
10:32 a.m. Jobs talks about progress on environmental issue. Says Air has an all-aluminum case (recyclable), first mercury-free display, arsenic-free glass.
That new display consumes less power, too, contributing to a battery life of over 5 hours (full use with all wireless options on). With special RemoteDisc software installed, it can read optical discs from other computers (it doesn't come with one of its own) - I've always thought it was bunk to have more than one DVD drive in a home, especially with Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11n networks in place - it's only an issue if you want to rip a CD the same time someone else wants to install a new program from disc, and who uses physical media anymore? In both cases, it would probably be faster to download anyways!
Of particular interest to anyone who cares about the environment is... the bromide and PVC-free circuitboards and the fact that the packaging is 56-percent smaller [than current MacBook].
Apple pushed Intel to produce really, really tiny chips for this particular computer, and everyone benefits when Intel makes smaller chips that consume less power - you can bet this technology will find its way into Sony, Dell, and HP laptops soon enough. Also of note is the option for a 64GB SSD, though at $999 it's no bargain.
It meets Energy Star 4.0 standards and attained a Silver EPEAT rating. Someone check my math, but 5 hours out of a 37 watt-hour lithium polymer battery would mean it consumes about 7.4 watts... that's in the same consumption category as some of the Super-Green Linux Machines we've been covering, and it blows everything else at its productivity level out of the water.
via ZDnet and Slashgear and Apple Store
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Comments (16)
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written by Lillian, January 15, 2008
Thanks very much for covering this. As soon as I heard apple had released its new notebook, I checked ecogeek to see if anything was written about it. Y'all rock!
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written by Dannah, January 15, 2008
Ohhh! I need one! It looks wonderfully light and compact.
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written by Johnny, January 16, 2008
finally an apple that addresses being green :D. the one final deterrent keeping me from buying an apple was their lack of interest in making environmentally friendly computers. but those days are over. macbook air, here i come!
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written by Johnny, January 16, 2008
why is ecogeek.org the only website on the internet with up to date information about the macbook air? if you google macbook air, it comes up with a bunch of blogs that are still in the 'well all weve heard are rumors' stage. youd think that as soon as the slightest piece of information was released, everyone would be all over it. strange.
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written by smith, January 16, 2008
In both cases, it would probably be faster to download anyways!
I can only assume that you have a marginally familiar relationship with computers since you run a blog, but seriously! I have a dedicated T1 line at work and 700MB is still a lot of data.
Yes, this is a machine to be excited about but let's not be ridiculous.
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written by Jonathan David Jackson, January 16, 2008
The MBA (Macbook Air): great concept and design. But, as for the functionality, see this review: http://culturegarage.com/2008/...ectations. But the real issue with the MBA revolves around this question: Like vegetarian and vegan food (I'm a vegetarian), why do healthy and environmental-friendly items always have to be drastically more expensive?
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written by doubleut, January 16, 2008
It's a beautiful laptop, sure, and it looks like it will help individual computer users reduce their own environmental impact. But what's missing for me is any clear commitment from Apple to reduce its own climate footprint in the design and production of its products. The company could literally revolutionize the way people think about climate change, but as yet, hasn't even indicated that it knows its climate impact or has goals to reduce it. Until then, this is just another seemingly green product made by yet another company that has chosen marketing over meaningful action.
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written by Carl Foner, January 16, 2008
A few other thoughts about the MacBook Air: One other thing that hasn't been mentioned here about the display is it has LED backlighting. This contributes to the reduced toxicity and reduced power usage. (Much has already been mentioned on EcoGeek about LEDs.)
Using less materials overall is obviously great, which helps lead to the reduced packaging, reduced fuel usage for transport, etc.
The SSD is a great, but incredibly expensive option. SSDs (Solid State Drives) have no moving parts. This means that they have less chance of breaking down than a traditional hard drive. This means the computer can last longer, which means less laptops thrown into the landfill.
As far as Apple and their environmental impact. Apple is not perfect. Apple could do better. But it has already done a lot. It's consisently designed and redesigned products and packaging to be smaller and use less materials. It's been promoting LCD displays (much more energy efficient) over CRTs. Also, if you look at EPEAT (http://www.epeat.net), a lot of Apple's products are EPEAT rated. There's much more information available at Apple's environment page (http://www.apple.com/environment/). I would like to see them do more, but we should also take notice of what they have done already.
As far as price, I don't think the MacBook Air is expensive because it's green. It's expensive because it's new and it's thin. It took a lot of R&D for Apple to make something that thin, so they're looking to recoup that cost. That's true of all thin laptops.
Using less materials overall is obviously great, which helps lead to the reduced packaging, reduced fuel usage for transport, etc.
The SSD is a great, but incredibly expensive option. SSDs (Solid State Drives) have no moving parts. This means that they have less chance of breaking down than a traditional hard drive. This means the computer can last longer, which means less laptops thrown into the landfill.
As far as Apple and their environmental impact. Apple is not perfect. Apple could do better. But it has already done a lot. It's consisently designed and redesigned products and packaging to be smaller and use less materials. It's been promoting LCD displays (much more energy efficient) over CRTs. Also, if you look at EPEAT (http://www.epeat.net), a lot of Apple's products are EPEAT rated. There's much more information available at Apple's environment page (http://www.apple.com/environment/). I would like to see them do more, but we should also take notice of what they have done already.
As far as price, I don't think the MacBook Air is expensive because it's green. It's expensive because it's new and it's thin. It took a lot of R&D for Apple to make something that thin, so they're looking to recoup that cost. That's true of all thin laptops.
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written by Evan B, January 16, 2008
The nice MBA is $3100, but if you get a burner and an ethernet adapter and applecare (dude, you do need it) it's more like $3600.
My big question is why the Vaio TZ90 didn't get as much attention. Much better laptop in my opinion.
Vegan/Vegetarian food isn't more expensive, unless you're shopping like a meat-eater.
My big question is why the Vaio TZ90 didn't get as much attention. Much better laptop in my opinion.
Vegan/Vegetarian food isn't more expensive, unless you're shopping like a meat-eater.
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written by 2 JIgga bytes, January 17, 2008
This computer is a radical redesign and Apple is one again pushing the envelope and dropping obsolete technologies to drive the future. Any comparison you make of the VAIO TZ90 to the macbook air is misguided at best. I find it amazing that people can critique a computer that they have never even seen or used. The thing hasn't even been released yet. Your comparing specs on two machines and that too is misguided, the fact that this machine runs OSX gives it a advantage over the VAIO regardless of hardware features. Just like with USB 2.0 and LCDs Apple is one again pushing the envelope on technolgies that are actually needed for the average consumer. Most people dont plug their laptops into ethernet anymore, thats reality.
Think about what this machine is pushing.
NO more discs, boxes, manuals for software. No producing and shipping all that software most likely all the way from China.
NO DVD discs to watch movies, you can rent them digitally with itunes. Same benefits as software.
NO Wired ethernet cords running to every machine, wireless technology allows us to share connections and work from anywhere.
Amazing energy efficiency and technologies.
Is the MacBook Air going to solve the worlds problems? Of course not, but it is a giant step in the right direction. We neeed to seriously rethink our priorities and this includes computing too. Most people now have machines that are more powerful then they even use, wasting energy and their money. Apple creating a smaller more efficient machine that is more than capable of running many demanding tasks that the average consumer will do is an innovative approach that they should be applauded for. There is still a long way to go but this is progress.
Think about what this machine is pushing.
NO more discs, boxes, manuals for software. No producing and shipping all that software most likely all the way from China.
NO DVD discs to watch movies, you can rent them digitally with itunes. Same benefits as software.
NO Wired ethernet cords running to every machine, wireless technology allows us to share connections and work from anywhere.
Amazing energy efficiency and technologies.
Is the MacBook Air going to solve the worlds problems? Of course not, but it is a giant step in the right direction. We neeed to seriously rethink our priorities and this includes computing too. Most people now have machines that are more powerful then they even use, wasting energy and their money. Apple creating a smaller more efficient machine that is more than capable of running many demanding tasks that the average consumer will do is an innovative approach that they should be applauded for. There is still a long way to go but this is progress.
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written by Jimster, January 17, 2008
I wonder if since its smaller its toxic footprint is smaller too?
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written by future technology, January 22, 2008
The best part is, this is not just a concept, it is here and ready to use ...
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written by banana, March 07, 2008
Its fantastic! Firstly I didnt want to buy it, but when I looked through this site ( http://www.maconair.com ), I had changed my point of view and bought it! Rly enjoyed this model
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written by Damien, April 06, 2008
Yes, this is a green laptop and it comes from a green company. Apple's computers and environmental practices surpass any other's. Go to apple.com/environment and see what they're doing. The MBA (MacBook Air) is the first laptop ever to not use mercury and arsenic. That sounds green to me!
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