The Flagship of the Mac Fleet

A little while ago the new MacBook Air came out amongst a wave of excitement, and for good reasons. It’s also being touted as the new flagship Mac, and compared to the rest of the Mac line it’s not hard to see why. However, I find it interesting that the heir to the Mac throne is the system that is most vulnerable to the iPad. 

If the MacBook Air is on fire right now, the iPad is a raging inferno. There could be 40 million of these things sold already. That in and of itself isn’t a threat to the MacBook Air, but the fact is that they’re both gunning for pretty much the same audience too. The iPad is a small PC with a superior OS and great portability. The MacBook Air is a small PC with a superior OS and great portability. The MacBook Air has USB/Thunderbolt ports, more capable multitasking and a keyboard. The iPad has the more user-friendly OS, twice the battery life, and half the price.

Of course, there are things that the MacBook Air can do better than the iPad, but the list isn’t long. You can type a lot easier on the Air because the keyboard isn’t parallel to the screen, but add a bluetooth keyboard to the iPad and that advantage now only means anything when you’re mobile enough that there’s no surface to set the keyboard on. Development and work stuff is much easier to do on the Air, but you’ll want a bigger screen for that. Add a Cinema display and the price disparity becomes even more pronounced. 

There is value to be gained if that MacBook is the only machine you use, certainly. The idea here is that you carry around the Air during the day, then at work or home Thunderbolt it to the display. The form factor changes to suit your needs. It’s not a new idea, but it is the one that greatly simplifies your experience because you don’t have to manage multiple systems, and that makes it a very Apple idea indeed.

What we have, then, is two very similar products with two completely different value propositions. The iPad does everything within its capabilities better, faster, and cheaper than the Air or any Mac. The Air is much more versatile when it comes to doing work, but without an external monitor work is often difficult anyway. However, the iPad currently needs another computer to function. The MacBook Air can stand on its own quite easily.

I don’t think this discussion is over until iOS5 comes out, because that’ll change the independence game, but unless you either commute a lot (and need a keyboard) or have a Cinema display, few CPU-intensive tasks and no other system, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the Air is a better value than the iPad.

For the new flagship of the Mac fleet, these seem like pretty turbulent waters to be in.