What no 3G?
Though you may think I am talking about the lack of a second generation iPhone with 3G, no I am talking about the lack of 3G on the MacBook Air.
Yes it has 802.11n, but how many 802.11n wifi hotspots have you seen on your travels? Also from an internet perspective, 802.11n is a bit of overkill for a typical internet connection. Not everywhere has wifi hotspots, they never seem to be available when I am out and about or they fall over a lot from too many clients.
So there you are with this beautifully thin MacBook Air and either you need to use a Bluetooth to a 3G phone, which kills the battery both on the MacBook Air and the phone, and a lot of mobile phone providers in the UK now no longer allow you to use your 3G phone as a modem (or they charge you a fortune) they all now seem to want you to use a USB dongle.
Now an USB dongle though has less of an impact on battery life on your laptop (and no impact on your phone’s battery life) is a dongle and it dangles from the beautifully styled and thin laptop you just bought!
All of this could have been avoided if Apple had provided 3G functionality with their beautifully thin MacBook Air.
I’m not the only one thinking like this, as you can see here and here.
I think Apple missed the boat on this one, though maybe they didn’t want to get into bed with another phone provider!
The 802.11n is surely for speed of use when working with Time Capsule rather than WiFi on the move.
I agree that 3G tech should be in there (and I was surprised that even the awful EDGE wasn’t present). 3G will probably hit the iPhone first, but I’m sure that 3G will come in future versions of MacBook Air.
3G wireless and Back To My Mac is a killer app for a small laptop like this IMHO and Apple will make a share of the associated monthly contract too so it makes sound business sense.