Apple Says 11-Inch MacBook Air and Two Other Macs Are Now Obsolete

[Lounge vibes 05]

I don't recall having problems with the 11" screen + keyboard.

I think their point is that the 11 inch MacBook Air when it actually comes to the size of the design is more similar to today’s 13 inch MacBook Air than it would be a theoretical 2025 11 inch MacBook Air, because of the different size of bezels.
If Apple made an 11 inch Air today with modern thin bezels, it would require compromise on the keyboard, much like the magic keyboard for the 11 inch iPad Pro does with half-size enter, shift, function and arrow keys.
The original 2010-2015 11 MacBook Air didn’t require any compromise in the size of the keyboard because of its massive aluminum screen boarder.

 

[Lioness~]

Personally would prefer the small form factor, my 13" M4 Air is too big

Agree totally, my M3 Air is way too big.
But I checked the weight at some time between my M3 MBA and the snaller 11-12", and older smaller MacBooks was heavier though. But a remake with todays tech would be totally awesome.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

aka Bezel City. It was like a 12.5" laptop with an 11" screen.

ah so it was the 12 basically, okay

 

[russell_314]

Most people watch movies on their phones. I used to watch movies on my iPod nano.

I had to think but I’ve watched one movie on an iPhone. That was an unusual situation where I was on a high speed train watching a movie with a very nice lady. Brought back some good memories.

I don’t ever see a situation where I would do this again. I have an iPad, a MacBook and a television if I’m home. It’s not that I can’t watch a movie on such a tiny screen, it’s why would I want to. Theoretically we could watch movies on an Apple Watch, but the movie watching experience would be poor just like it is on the iPhone.

 

[adib]

This 11" MBA was cute. My dad had one. I wanted one. But since 2019, I've settled on the iPad mini with a keyboard case to fill the role of a personal travel laptop.

 

[filmbuff]

I recently got one of the old 12" Macbooks to mess around with and I'm surprised how much I actually like it. I always thought the screen would be too small but it's really not, and it's impressive that Apple got a full-size keyboard and nice retina screen in that small of a package. It makes my 13" MBA feel big and clunky. Hopefully rumors are true that Apple is bringing this size back with A-series processors.

 

[mrgraff]

"obsolete" is one thing but unusable is quite another. These devices can easily go for 12 years or more

Wholeheartedly agree. I'm typing this on a perfectly fine MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017.) My MacBook Pro bought in 2014, is also still perfectly usable, even if it is stuck on Mojave.

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[Jarman74]

It's pretty sad that they just make these still capable devices obsolete. You can have a 2008 PC running windows 11, or a chrome OS laptop from 2011 running the latest version of chrome OS or a PC from 1985 running the latest version of Linux. I hope when the M series macs fall foul to the planned obsolescence greed of Apple, they open up the architecture to at least allow Linux builds to fully optimise the chipset. One can only hope!!!

I’ve got a 2008 Mac Pro running Windows 10 just fine, thanks to its Intel chipset. Honestly, I’m not holding out much hope for M1 Macs offering the same kind of flexibility—especially if Apple isn’t even releasing security patches for relatively recent OSes like Big Sur.

 

[BitBLT]

My 2017 13" MBP still runs fine with Ventura (after Apple replaced the battery that expanded and the top part of the laptop it warped). I used to use it for traveling but really have no use for it now. I bring an iPad. The worst thing about it is the stupid touch bar and no physical escape key.

 

[Hedkandi]

The MBA 11" was my favourite Mac ever. Some mofo stole it, and never got attached to any other Mac like I did with that one.

 

[MacMediaNet]

11-Inch MacBook Air - the best MacBook ever.

 

[maerz001]

All these devices mentioned were great workhorses... respect. 🫡

I had the 11“ when it was released 2015 with 2gb and intel duo. it was the slowest piece of s… struggled to even stream videos in full screen. Sold it after 6months for half the price

The first 12“ was miles better. Even with the by many unloved keyboard i was able to use it for 7 years without issues. E.g. 3D CAD on windows in parallels running smoothly.

 

[Runaway Train]

Have a MacBook Pro 2017 15 inch. Just went obsolete as well but truth be told it’s very long in the tooth. What I am finding is the « obsolescence » manifests itself in the cut off from new features. It’s more a software thing than anything else. My wife is going to update her legacy iPhone for (2) key apps that she can no longer use due to the requirements for new IOS. My MBP can indeed keep chugging along but there comes a time when it needs to be retired.

 

[kerr]

Colleague had an 11” Air, it looked weird, maybe because it was too wide.

 

[Max_G]

It's pretty sad that they just make these still capable devices obsolete. You can have a 2008 PC running windows 11, or a chrome OS laptop from 2011 running the latest version of chrome OS or a PC from 1985 running the latest version of Linux. I hope when the M series macs fall foul to the planned obsolescence greed of Apple, they open up the architecture to at least allow Linux builds to fully optimise the chipset. One can only hope!!!

Here is your (free) solution: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/
I have a Macbook Pro 15" mid 2015 running Sonoma smooth as silk.

 

[svish]

Good to know. Have the 15" 2015 Air. Still working fine. Have got no issues with it except that the battery is not lasting long.

 

[snipr125]

Apart from needing a new battery (87% ish), my 8 Plus works like new and still a part of my collection. Great phone just a bit bulky.

 

[thettareddast]

And it was one of the best computers that Apple ever designed; mine quite literally travelled the world with me.

I bought (ordered) a maxed out CTO, and, it was honestly the best computer I have ever owned. Loved it.

...

Personally, I loathe, loathe, loathe, detest, abominate touch screen keyboards; for writing, nothing beats the feel and function of a proper keyboard, with decent tactile sensation and proper travel on the keys.

An amazing machine. I used one as my *primary* computer, actually running Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop (no joke!). For traveling, it slipped in a shoulder-slung camera bag where a tablet would. For work, it fits inside a handheld leather portfolio!!!

And it worked so much better for me than an ipad for those same reasons - i needed a real operating system with real disk management and full-blown applications and a legit keyboard.

Sadly that line got progressively worse as time went on, including through to the 12" Retina version. Felt like the physical build got more squeaky and creaky, and there was the debacle over the butterfly keyboard.

Overall, the earlier MBA11" were my favorite Apple computers of all time, until the M1 came out and deservingly took the mantle.

 

[Happy_John]

I don't recall having problems with the 11" screen + keyboard.

No, It's full sized. And there’s a lot of bezel round the 11” screen to allow for a full-sized keyboard.

Having a full sized keyboard on a Mac Book Air was one of the big selling points Jobs pushed in the original MBA reveal.

Just like all other current MacBooks, there would be far thinner bezels on a revamped 11” MBA - so either the screen would be bigger or the keyboard smaller.

 

[thettareddast]

Honestly I kinda don’t understand how people liked 11’ MacBook Air....

I get the idea of portability but probably the iPad is enough nowadays for most things. Can’t imagine how editing photos was like on it or watching movies.

Most people don't realize, but the lower pixel pitch of the 11" had some advantages when it comes to editing photos.

When you punch in to 1:1 resolution to view photos "at the pixel level", it was easier to make out those details. What this means is your image was actually enlarged relative to real life dimensions. It helps for assessing editing changes to edge sharpness and etc.

(Obviously the trade off is that you need to pan around a lot. Whereas a higher resolution display on a larger screen allows you to view more of the image at 1:1)

The enhanced portability also made it more suitable for photo work. I had a 15" MBP at the same time. But the 11" MBA traveled with me where I actually shot the photos, allowing me to edit during the trips, rather than waiting to do it at home.

And it was easier for watching movies in an airplane because you could watch it despite a coach seat reclined into you. Even business / first cabins, the laptop could be slipped in the magazine compartments or "hidden" on the footrest, so you wouldnt have to always stow/retrieve your computer from the overhead compartment.

At home I would simply watch movies on the big TV instead.

 

[MacFarmer]

Nice! I like my MBA11, recently I needed to dust it off and load up High Sierra. I needed to add my apps to old iPod Touch 4, and none of the new macs could do it. F* apple music. Air 11 is nice little machine. I just need to replace battery maybe. Doesn't last full day anymore. Obsolete <3 Vintage ^-^

 

[Lioness~]

Loved those smaller MacBooks, but they were heavy, at the time, comparing to latest MBA’s.
My M3M acBook Air are light but I would’ve gone for a smaller if they existed.

See what the new 12.9-inch MacBook with the A18Pro chip, will be about. Not enough different in size, for me to buy it now. But next time...

 

[Quackington]

Still using my 11” MBA from 2011 as a spare. Would love a new laptop this size again. Please!

 

[AppleTO]

Could we please get a new phone where the back and sides are like the iPhone 8 Plus? It just looks so clean and polished. I’ll happily take lesser quality cameras for that look.

 

[leifp]

The only laptop better than the 11” MBAir was the 12” MacBook. For me, obviously. The only laptops I ever appreciated as laptops.

The rumours for the 12.9” entry level MacBook leave me quite cold but they could in fact herald exactly what I’ve missed in laptops: thin n light to an extreme that doesn’t impact what I want the device to do. The A series chips absolutely have the chops for what I want the device to do but if it’s a crud screen (the 11” MBAir was absolutely atrocious in pretty much every quality metric) or the same basic dimensions as the present MBAir it will probably not replace my MBPro when the time comes.

I have a friend who wants the cheapest macOS capable laptop and thus the rumours suit him. Personally, I prefer thin and light and high quality.