Apple Adding 11-Inch MacBook Air Model and More to Obsolete Products List

[EugW]

Since people brought up the 11.6" MacBook Air vs 12" MacBook comparison.

I personally did not like the 11.6" MacBook Air. The keyboard was OK but the screen was not good. It had poor viewing angles which did not significantly improve over the years, and IMO the pixel density was "off" for macOS at the time. It was too high compared to the Pros, meaning that with default settings, text was quite small, with not very good text quality. I had been arguing for a 12" MacBook for a long time before that but when Apple finally released the 11.6" Air, I was so disappointed. And once the Retina MacBook Pros came out, the 11.6" Air's screen looked even worse in comparison.

The 12" MacBook came out in 2015 with a MUCH better screen that not only was Retina, but had excellent viewing angles as well. Too bad the keyboard sucked, so again, I was very disappointed. The 2015 was also a bit slow, even for the era. I waited until 2017 and got one with the improved keyboard, but admittedly the 2017 MacBook keyboard was still just mediocre. However, in terms of speed, the 2017 ran circles around the 2015. The 2017 MacBook is still the laptop I use today.

Note though, this is typed on a 2017 13" MacBook Air, which also has a poor screen. However, this is not mine; it's my wife's. Some people don't seem to care much about viewing angles or Retina. So it was either get a 2015 MacBook Pro with much better screen but that will go vintage soon, or get a 2017 MacBook that has the crappy screen. Last year I decided on one of each, the former for my daughter whose needs will grow over time, and the latter for my wife who still doesn't seem to care after many, many years. However, the 2015 MacBook Pro will likely go vintage within the year, whereas the 2017 MacBook Air likely has a couple more years before it goes vintage.

 

[iHorseHead]

The greatest, most portable Apple work machine ever.

what's wrong with the M1?

 

[EugW]

BTW, those claiming the 11.6" MacBook Air is the smallest most portable Mac laptop ever are incorrect. The 12" MacBook has a smaller footprint, is shorter, and is significantly lighter.

 

[laz232]

I never had one - went for the slightly larger 13" for the screen real-estate. but the 11" was really a great formfactor as a non-work travel device. Battery life was also really good for the time IIRC.

 

[bsbeamer]

Amazing the 2012 Mac Pro is still just labeled as vintage 10 years later. Those processors are EOL'd by Intel and security vulnerabilities will never be patched. Officially cannot update to the latest OS.

 

[B4U]

2014 11" user here.
Still a lovely machine.

Interesting fact: can run Big Sur, but still considered "obsolete" by Apple. ?

 

[PlayUltimate]

i LOVE my 2015 11" MBA.
it's a great little machine.

i bought it because there were things that just work better in macOS compared to iOS,
and that's still true.

i'd stick it into my backpack and bring it to and from my office. at 2 1/2 lbs, it's easy peasy.
now it sits on my desk next to my imac pro and is the 2nd machine i use while i'm working.
similar to the way i used it for before, but without the commuting.

i guess i still have another year and a half before they 'obsolete' it.

I still have two 2015 13" MBAs in the house. Sadly don't use either very often.

 

[DFZD]

what's wrong with the M1?

Macbook Air 11 - 2015
Vs
Macbook Air 13 - 2020

 

[Daedalus65]

I still use my 2012 11" MBA, Battery is at 82% after a decade of use.

Impressive! I have to charge mine daily… ?

 

[dannyyankou]

IMO, the 15" Mid-2012 MBP Unibody (non-retina) was one of the best Apple laptops of all time. One of the last Apple laptops that was hardware configurable (Memory, HDD/SSD, Battery).

I had the 13 inch version of that. I had the cheapest model because my parents got it for me for college, but I bought ram upgrades and an SSD when they went on sale, made a backup, and swapped them out with a screwdriver. It definitely saved a lot of money compared to if got the laptop with those upgrades from the beginning, and that's obviously why Apple started gluing components to the board.

 

[reyesmac]

Its technically possible to update OS9 and create a browser for it that could surf the modern web. I say that to say that obsolescence is forced on the end user simply because capitalism demands it. Not saying thats a completely bad thing, just saying that any computer from the last 20 years is still technically capable of doing many common tasks computers today do if they had an open source community constantly updating it like linux has for example. They just wouldn't do it as fast. But most are technically capable of doing it. I'd love to see what a world like that would be like just because I personally like old nostalgic tech and I really dislike so much ewaste simply because company X wants to make another few billion this year. In that regard windows is much better for the environment than Mac OS has been because old windows machines are everywhere still being used.

 

[chucker23n1]

I'd love to see what a world like that would be like

Until last year, you could use a somewhat recent Mozilla fork: http://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-final-official-release-of-classilla.html?m=1

In that regard windows is much better for the environment than Mac OS has been because old windows machines are everywhere still being used.

This is true in some specialized areas, but I don’t think it’s a mass-market to use Windows PCs longer than Macs. (And enthusiasts will instead run a special low-end Linux.)

 

[kmm333]

These are still perfectly useful machines today.

I still use my late 2013 MacBook Pro instead of my brand new iPad Air for certain tasks. If only iPadOS was more like MacOS.

 

[Applicator]

Crazy.
2014 feels like yesteryear but it's already been 8 years.

 

[UMHurricanes34]

Truly one of the best devices Apple ever created. I loved taking my 11” around campus for class and studying. It had all of the I/O I needed built in. When they revised the 11” and added the backlit keyboard, I jumped on the upgrade. Truly wish Apple would bring this device category back and go back to offering models in different sizes, besides the top-end of the product line.

 

[Bodie CI5]

I was working for Apple (Creative/Trainer) when the 11” MBA was released and there were a lot of first time Mac users that bought it. The Apple culture was on fire in those days, but alas nothing lasts forever…

100% true for me, too. The 2014 11” MBA was my first new Mac. It was an excellent gateway unit and led me to buying a retina iMac later that year etc. I was hardcore PC and Amiga back in those days and the MBA really shook me up. Have been considering going 100% PC again, but I just can’t seem to give these machines up, all because of that purchase back in 2014.

 

[Lloigorr]

I bought a 11” Air last year just for the joy of repairing it (there were some issues with it) and sold it after using it for a couple of weeks.
That was a fine machine, even on Big Sur. Battery lasted multiple hours.

 

[entropys]

I installed Monterey on my 2015 11 inch the other day after not using it for about three years. Great little machine although the poor screen resolution was a bit off putting to start. Everything works well

Perfect opportunity to revive and revise the 12” rMB.

Or bust out that unicorn 15” Air. Or both.

The only thing the rMB had over the 11 inch was the screen. Only one port, butterfly keyboard and a very high price meant I never, ever saw an rMB in the wild. I suspect the reason the 11 inch MBA was killed earlier than the 13 inch MBA was to try and increase sales of the rMB. Everyone just switched to buying more 13 inch MBAs instead.
rMB = HomePod, Airpods Max
(Edit, on the list of rMB like products the latest is the Apple Studio).

 

[GalileoSeven]

Mine's slightly older (Mid 2013), but it's still been the best MacBook I've owned bar none. Yeah, the screen's small and low res, but the keyboard/trackpad are solid, it's thin/light and I've done just about everything with it - including some photoshop work (which, with 4GB of RAM was doable, if slightly slow).

Recently wiped the HD and reinstalled macOS and it's smooth as butter - have yet to see a spinning beach ball.

For casual use, I doubt I'll ever buy another MB - just can't justify the larger size/cost (and no, an iPad isn't a replacement for it in my eyes)

 

[entropys]

IMO, the 15" Mid-2012 MBP Unibody (non-retina) was one of the best Apple laptops of all time. One of the last Apple laptops that was hardware configurable (Memory, HDD/SSD, Battery).

Got my father one of these in 2013 and he still uses it everyday. He has never put it under heavy load and babied that thing and and it still doesn’t have a scratch and the battery is still around 90%! The macs back then (trash can MBP excepted) truly were superior to wintel machines of the time and importantly, price competitive.

 

[Joe Rossignol]

Why does anyone need to know that they’re screwed? What’s the point of these notices?
By the time they find out - it’s too late.

Hey. I wrote the story. It is mostly a conversation starter for nostalgia's sake. In this instance, people see 11-inch MacBook Air in the headline and enjoy discussing a Mac screen size that Apple no longer offers. And honestly, it's also just Friday filler content during the slow season between Apple's spring event and WWDC. I wish the news cycle was super exciting all of the time, but that simply isn't the reality.

 

[Hombre53]

Got my father one of these in 2013 and he still uses it everyday. He has never put it under heavy load and babied that thing and and it still doesn’t have a scratch and the battery is still around 90%! The macs back then (trash can MBP excepted) truly were superior to wintel machines of the time and importantly, price competitive.

I agree completely. My wife's laptop, 2012 15" Unibody MPB doesn't have a scratch on it either, in pristine shape and battery is around 94%. She just got through doing our taxes on it (Turbotax) and it keeps reminding her to upgrade to BigSur for next year's taxes as Catalna will no longer be supported. I think OCLP Big Sur will run on it so I'll probably try to update it soon if that will work. If not, it might be close to retirement. Great machines.

 

[junkmail509]

The 2010-2013, 11.6“ MacBook Air series were to me the ideal computers of their time. The portability and power was incredible. The improvements year-over-year for these machines resulted in the only time period that I have upgraded to a new computer every year. These machines saw me through multiple consulting projects and two graduate degrees—my dissertation advisor couldn’t believe that I was running both a 27” Cinema Display and a 24” portrait display (USB-3) at the same time with such a small computer. Sometime in 2017/2018, I moved on to a 13” MacBook Pro, and my 2013 Air was relegated to the junk drawer until I traded it in on a new 2020 M1 Air (trade in was $175). I thought that I was set for years with the 2020 M1 Air … until Apple released the 14” MacBook Pro M1 Max … now I’m set for years …

 

[icymountain]

Still using daily my 2015 11"MBA. I do not carry it everywhere anymore (using a 2017 13"ntb instead), but still the 11" is doing many things at home. Battery still going strong at 400 cycles. And nothing ever broke on that machine...

When I got it, I decided against the 12" rMB that was just released. I believe that, if I opted for that one, it would be very likely dead now, as it had so many keyboard and mother board issues... So happy with my choice for the (already then) proven 11" design.

 

[DFP1989]

Loved my 11-inch MacBook Air back in the day!

I paired it with a 17-inch MacBook Pro that I used for video and photo editing, so I always had something light and long lasting to take to meetings and working on documents and the like at a coffee shop.