The biggest green item here is the design; this will be the last computer you buy. It is stylish and supremely functional. It will have a high resale value.

Like all of Apple's products, the choice to be green is yours - if you're not thinking of keeping of one these for 10-15 years, don't buy one.

' the last computer you buy'???

I highly doubt it. There is no such animal, and no computer will be valid for 10-15 years. Technology is progressing too rapidly for that.

Mark, i can't tell if you are being extremely sarcastic, or extremely naive. the only 'truth' in your comment is that the design is stylish... after that...

10-15 years??? are you joking, you must know that a non-upgradeable computer such as this will be obsolete within at the very most five. if it follows the path of the ipod with a non-replaceable battery, then it might be a paper weight before that. resale value, come on.

Apple has removed many toxins from it's production and we should hail that as a good trend, however a truly green computer is one that both reduces it's power comsumption and that can be upgraded (CPU, RAM, HDD etc). If you can't do any of that, then it's just another product with planned obsolescence.

since when is treehugger a mac fanboy blog?

did you all wait in line for your iphones too?

consumerism != green

I like how Jobs talks about being all green while he takes swigs from his bottled water periodically through the whole keynote.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/02/01/suzuki-water.html

the ironing is delicious.

' the last computer you buy'???

10-15 years??? are you joking, you must know that a non-upgradeable computer such as this will be obsolete within at the very most five.

>>>These are typical initial reactions. Try and get past the planned obsolescence thing. Apple's products are decent enough to end the upgrade cycle; you are the weak link.

Can we stop the sale of laptop computers? No.

Is this better than the alternatives? Yes, by quite a bit.

There's a bit more green cred here that people are too busy complaining about to realize: The battery is replaceable by Apple. That means every single battery that goes dead gets taken back, which means they're going to work toward solid processes for getting as much value out of those batteries as possible - anything less would lose them money.

Look, if I can buy a machine that's got only three pounds of material, an LED backlight instead of a cold cathode, and no mercury or lead? Yeah, that's going to be my next computer. It's the same price as the competition - machines that small come at a premium, whether you're getting them from Lenovo, Sony or Apple.

And of course there's exploitative labor going on here. But there's less - and less chemical exposure for those laborers - than the equivalent alternative products.

I believe that no computer will last more than 5 years or so. I think that the LED backlit and mercury-free, lead-free, and PVC free nature of the computer is a step in the right direction.

Although Ipods were not designed for a consumer to replace the battery, there are places where you can get the battery replaced by a technician. The same will probably be the case with this computer where a trained technician will replace parts for people. And there will be do-it-yourself guides on the internet as well.

Explore your options before making generalizations. You have access to the internet at your fingertips so Search It!

"the last computer you buy." priceless!

I think Mark meant to say "The last computer you buy this year." When Steve Jobs announces the MacBook Air Nano at next year's convention, these will be obsolete. Hmm, my MacBookPro is suddenly looking very big and clunky. Must. Upgrade. Now.

This may not be the last laptop that you buy, but you may not need another one for several years (provided that its fragile form factor can handle years of use). People are running some of the newer releases of OS X on Macs that they purchased a decade ago, so who knows what is possible in regard to future upgrades. It is unlikely that your average Winbox (eMachine, Dell, etc) will be able to run the next version of Windows at all, so if you're not Open Source friendly, you will be upgrading or purchasing new computers every few years for the foreseeable future.

This is a step in the right direction above all else. When high-end PC manufacturers (Apple, Lenovo, Toshiba, HP/Compaq) start making strides to more environmentally sound PC design, the others will eventually follow in suit. Let's not forget that SSD and some other components that will make these sub-notebooks and UMPCs real power sippers are limited in size and extremely expensive. By making these features available in the Air, Apple can do its part in popularizing them which will lead to increased demand and lower cost.

I find it difficult to read through so much cynicism and so many haters that are missing the point. This will make people and PC manufactures change how they think about mobile computing and open up the market for sub-notebooks and other machines that buck the traditional laptop design.

Thank you Rajio for noticing the disposable plastic water bottle in Steve Job's hand during his presentation. That was bothering me too.

My Sony sub-notebook is 9 years old, and I still professionally design internet/print graphics, web pages and print catalogs for "Top-50" online retailers with it. So, yes a computer can last a long time. But my trusty sub-notebook has finally run out of room for more memory, and software is now either too large or processor intensive to continue using it. The computer is still perfect otherwise. The software is making my machine obsolete. I was hoping Apple would build a replacement for me, but this beautiful gizmo (the Air) can't be upgraded beyond the memory it has, and the processor is mid-level to begin with. So, I can't see it as a green computer on the longevity issue. Just a neat-o one. But the industry is getting better, and that pleases me. I'm giddy about the LED/LCD displays.

Also, the fact that my tiny iPod Shuffle flew from China, to Alaska, to the Mid-West, to the West coast - and finally arrived with more packaging than product - was a big disappointment too. If Apples are going to be expensive, at least make them worth it. I don't want to pay more for imported products to be flown half way around the planet (thrice - it was a refurb). I AM willing to pay more for products that offer more value. Albeit my sense of value may differ from the popular view. Local is valuable to me. Durability (longevity) is also valuable to me as I'm not a shopper or stuff collector.

mark and bill... yes it is planned obsolescence, or even perceived obsolescence on their part. granted there are third party methods to replace your dead ipod battery, but how many 2nd gen ipods do you see in use today. that product is only 5 years old!! apple is on to the 6th gen right now with each new model making the older one fit for a hand-me-down.

this new macbook air also introduces a completely new micro DVI adapter rendering all other previous accessories useless. who stands to gain? the planet? or the 3rd party retailers chomping at the bit for your cash.

i'm not bashing apple, i think they have by far the best industrial designers in the marketplace. but don't go spouting off silly remarks like 'this is the last computer you'll buy' or 'go search the internet'... you're just being ridiculous.

It takes a while to get used to the concept; obsolescence is a myth, the term itself being obsolete. We have the technology to build high quality long lasting electronic technology. What's so surprising about that?

Fact is, iPods MacBook Airs are going to be here in 20 years, and people are going to be using them. Just like the 80 year old desk I am using now, quality was a habit of hanging around - It's up to you whether you are going to buy value or quality.

wouldn't it be cool if the lid had solar panels to power it?

Oh, yeah! My comment's winning!

Just give old ones to poor people or something.

/sarcastic

I want the software programmers to let me get more performance out of my OLD hardware, not write bloatware that demands I buy NEW hardware!

In reference to the third option on this survey, please, its the 21st century, were trying to green the planet the best we could, nobody said anything about going back to the dinosaurs. We aren't cave men anymore!

As far as I know, this is Apple's FIRST RoHS compliant model. Big whoop. This thing sucks, anyway. I will not bash how lowsy and weak the specs are, but in short: Apple did not just make practical portable product. No, they just made a *thin* product. Anyone who needs a super mobile computer would look for something thicker with a smaller footprint. This thing, the 'MacBook Nano', is nothing but a design statement, and will only see a niche market. WHAT THEY NEED TO DO is improve the regular MacBooks and the Pros. Give everything LED screens, remove the chemicals from ALL products. The fanboys might adore this, but the fact is that Apple is being lazy and needs to take the chemicals out of everything.

And by the way, get a voting system that lets us see results before voting. Some people are interested in the stats but do not have a firm opinion.

Props to SolaSalsa! All this laptop is, is an inflated PDA. It's not upgradable. It can't possibly be the "last computer you buy." I completely agree with SolaSalsa on:
"Give everything LED screens, remove the chemicals from ALL products. The fanboys might adore this, but the fact is that Apple is being lazy and needs to take the chemicals out of everything."

It's not actually functional for real computing. It doesn't even have a CD/DVD Drive. How are you supposed to install anything on it? With only one USB port how functional can it be. I mean maybe it could be if you carry around your USB connected HDD or large USB key, mouse, CD/DVD player, USB port expansion, etc. Which seems not portable at all. How do you make large file transfers when your laptop is only limited to wireless internet. Or when you need a faster streaming capability. Wired connection is much faster, which means your laptop needs to be turned on for less time when compared to wired.

I rather have a RoHS compliant PDA that uses even less materials, than a laptop that can't be used for computing.

Oh please Josh, don't use the caveman line!

I like my gadgets too, but I'm sure it was possible to have a fun & fulfilling life BEFORE we got electricity :)

Why is there so much anger from commenters on this site? The thing is small and has materials which are easily recyclable.

It might not be the dream that you have of a future where all computers are made of broccoli that you can eat when you're done using, but it's okay.

Be nice and calm down for once, it'll help your stress levels and you won't cost us to much on health care. :)

Is this advertising by Apple for it's latest notebook? It may seem eco-friendly, but about actually testing it before making hasty decisions?

And I'm not saying that pretty aesthetics are bad - but I can't help but think Treehugger flounces Apple to pull in the fanboys in support. I can't help but wonder if this poll was even rigged.

I use a Sony Vaio TZ, and to me, it's like the smallest 'real' computer that actually works.

This is the biggest bunch of BS spin that I can imagine.

It is a typical, built for obsolescence, consumer electronic device manufactured in the land of green tech - China, which then must be shipped THOUSANDS of miles.

Honestly, this is a joke - if Haliburton were pitching this, you guys would be ripping it. This is nothing but spin and since it is a "Mac" and Jobs calls it "green" you guys give it a free pass.

LA: Um, this is a survey, nobody is pitching anything.

This is only a small move in the scale of corporate responsibility for waste and toxic material production, but a significant one nonetheless. Apple is the industry innovator, now since Jobs has stepped forward, even if only slightly, the rest of the industry will outdo each other in order to outdo Apple.

Personally, I applaud this action, and pray that the entire line of Apple products follows suit within the year.

Less material used to build it... improvement. However, until Apple builds me a laptop that does not require external power to run, does not utilize ANY harmful known chemicals, and offers the consumer the option to upgrade virtually any component infinately, I will not label it as a "green" computer.

My thoughts are that "Green" is something that Apple should run with before Microsoft wakes up.

MacBook Air GREEN? Ridiculous!

While I applaud Apple's move to make some of their products somewhat less destructive to the environment during production, this product in particular is in many ways one of the LEAST GREEN devices you can buy.

A truly green product is durable and expandable, insuring that it will have a long lifespan before entering our landfills. The MacBook Air is neither of these things.

Instead, it appeals to the worst aspects of our consumerist tendencies. It has relatively outdated specifications, emphasizing style and form over practicality and actual need.

How many of us coveting it, I wonder, do so already reading from perfectly functional laptops that we might readily cast aside for this new shiny model just to say to others that we are somehow MORE STYLISH, MORE CLEVER, MORE RICH, or somehow MORE OF AN INDEPENDENT THINKER than everyone else around us?

It is exactly this kind of wasteful mentality that drives people to buy big new SUVs every few years that they never need to take off-road. Want to be green? Keep your existing laptop another five years and leave this one on the store shelves.