1. The processor. Intel is late on their delivery of their ultra-low power 45nm laptop chips. Clearly, the MacBook Air is the exact computer that these types of chips belong in. So Apple and Intel spun it as going out of their way to do something special. That something special was jimmy-ing a 65nm chip onto a board that was made for a 45nm one. The 45 nm chips will be arriving by mid-year and will likely be put in rev 2 of the MacBook Air. They will use less power per CPU cycle and that five hour battery life could easily turn into six - and with the reduced power consumption, they might be able to crank the processor speed up to and beyond 2 Ghz or maybe even fit in some more wireless options.

2. Wireless. I am not talking about Wifi which the Air has the best money can buy, I am talking about 3G/WiMAX here. It isn’t built in. For the road warriors that this device is made for, having 3G Internet access is almost a prerequisite. Of course you can get a decidedly unsexy USB 3G “dongle”, but Apple is going to eventually have to cave to pressure and start including these things in its products. Dell, HP and others have included this functionality for years! Apple could even partner with their iPhone buddies, AT&T on this and offer a seamless package. Or how about WiMAX with Intel? Intel is building WiMAX into its next round of CPUs. Again. Rev 2

3. As much as I hate to say it about Apple - or any company - Rev 1 parts are glitchy - especially the first ones off of the assembly line. I pre-ordered/picked up one of the first MacBook Pros out of the factory a few years ago. Over the course of that first year, nearly every part on it had to be replaced (Motherboard, HD, battery, etc). It is almost a whole new machine after all of the part swaps. That doesn’t mean Apple wasn’t quick and happy to replace everything - and it is still a solid machine: I am typing on it now as a matter of fact. However, it was a pain to lose it for a few days at a time and my early impressions of it shot my confidence in its quality. These MacBook Airs are going to be going to the people who don’t really have that much patience and desire to send it back to Apple for a few days while they swap defective parts - especially at the price premiums.

4. Option 1: 80Gb Hard Drive.

5. Option 2: That $1000 64Gb SSD drive.

6. Docks.

7. Overall speed.

8. Expandability.

9. Size.

10. Price drops.

This list has been severely abridged. To read the full list and full descriptions, view the original post at it’s source:

MacBook Air recommendation: 10 reasons to wait (Computerworld)