I work on the go a lot, which means I've grown accustomed to having different devices that can connect me to the internet when I know I'm not going to be near a public Wi-Fi hotspot. That used to include a dedicated mobile hotspot, but I've since found that, on most days, my iPad is more than enough to handle the task of keeping me connected when I need it. And, in a pinch, I'll use my phone to do the same thing. But in all honesty my tablet has become my mobile hotspot, and that's typically just fine.
Except when it isn't.
I don't usually like to use my phone for my mobile hotspot because I may need to use it for something else and I don't want to unnecessarily tax the battery. After all, of all my devices it's my phone that I want to keep on trucking throughout the day. So that means either a public Wi-Fi hotspot or my iPad for when I need to get back online. And the iPad does a god job of handling that job, but of course it does. I'd be a little worried if it didn't.
Sometimes I just don't want to rely on another device to get the job done, or have to try and find a public hotspot. There have been instances when I wish my MacBook Air could just connect me to the internet all on its own thanks to built-in wireless connectivity. And one of those instances was earlier this week.
Now, I have to preface this by saying that I wasn't really paying attention so part of the issue was my fault. I can admit that -- but it doesn't change the fact I wish Apple's notebooks had built-in cellular connectivity. Here's what happened: I was visiting a family member on Monday and I thought that I had previously connected to their Wi-Fi, which meant that it would automatically connect during my visit. However, apparently that wasn't the case, and so my MacBook Air didn't connect to anything.
But, like I said, I wasn't paying any attention because I didn't think it was going to be an issue. So I went on with what I was doing, which didn't actually require me to connect to the internet. However, I was waiting for an email before I could start doing the thing that did require me to connect to the internet. It took me about 40 minutes to realize that I wasn't connected to the Wi-Fi in the house at all, and, when I did finally connect I saw the email had arrived a half hour earlier.
Great!
In this case, the built-in cellular connectivity in my MacBook Air would've been a nice redundancy, and some might think that's not really worth it. But honestly it made me realize just how great this feature would've been all over again. It's a small thing, but it could be a big deal for someone given the right circumstances. Just like mine yesterday.
Not that it would be cheap, though. If Apple did ever welcome built-in cellular connectivity with a MacBook I would not be surprised to see the company charge a hefty sum to get it, just like the price hike between the non-cellular and the cellular-equipped iPad models.
But I'd probably pay for it. What about you? And it doesn't have to just be a Mac notebook, of course. Would you like it if your laptop of choice had built-in cellular connectivity (if it doesn't have it already)? Let me know!