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

ngextreme said:
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!!!
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Not quite. Linux is 64 bit now, even Debian.

"Debian 13 (Trixie) does not support full 32-bit x86 (i386) systems for new installations;"

At the moment you can trick Windows 11 into running on unsupported PCs, but that could go away at any time.

I agree with the sentiment that Apple needs to open up the full hardware documentation when the M1s are no longer supported so Linux can properly support the machines. They should do it now for that matter.
 
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russell_314 said:
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.
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I used to watch movies on my iPod Classic. Mostly to make commutes more bearable.
 
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adib said:
Similar to how they handle the A-series chips in iPhones and iPads.
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Yep. When to cut support for M1 Mac in a future version of MacOS is going to be an arbitrary decision by Apple - while M1 Mac hardware might not be able to run all features of new version of Mac OS, I can't see any validity to claiming that the M1 hardware will not be able to support the core of MacOS. New versions of Metal may be an issue, but only if there is no backwards compatibility whatsoever. It's not as if they are swopping between 3rd party CPUs and GPUs as they were in the intel days. So far, M1-M4 have been iterative changes and extra, but non-essential, functionality.

On the plus side, this implies that it won't be impossible to have the equivalent of OPLC for M1 Macs to run versions of MacOS that no longer officially support M1 Macs.
 
adib said:
I used to watch movies on my iPod Classic. Mostly to make commutes more bearable.
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If you have a long commute to work and can’t bring a larger screen than you have to make do with what you have. From seeing what other people watch on their phones, most people watch TikTok or some other short video format.


I had an iPod classic and the special cable to connect it to a TV so I can watch movies on a TV from it. I think I’ve watched two movies that way. I was just amazed that I could store a movie in this little device.
 
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Astuces iOS said:
It is :

- Same screen size

- More powerfull

- Touch screen

- And more !!
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That would be Apple's argument - the iPad is Apple's product that is the alternative to a Chromebook.

But it doesn't run MacOS. So it isn't comparable, really. An iPad is a device that you could do many of the things you can do on a laptop, but it isn't a laptop and it's not running a laptop/desktop OS.
 
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Astuces iOS said:
It is :

- Same screen size

- More powerfull

- Touch screen

- And more !!
Click to expand...
As @russell_314 points out, it doesn't have MacOS.

More to the point, the touch screen is a massive minus for me; I loathe touch screens (yes, I deeply dislike the iPhone,as well) and detest the unpleasant experience of writing - attempting to write - with them.

Personally, I want a proper keyboard, one with tactile sensation and key travel.

In any case, I see the iPad as a device that consumes content, whereas, for content creation (especially writing) one needs (well, I need) a computer with a functional keyboard
 
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Agent007 said:
aka Bezel City. It was like a 12.5" laptop with an 11" screen.
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Yep, the problem was that they wanted both a full-sized Apple macbook keyboard but also a small screen.

The oversized bezels were the workaround.

The non-retina 13 MacBook Air is almost the same size in length and width as the current M4 MacBook Air. The 11" non-retina MacBook Air is almost the same size in length and width to the M4 13" MacBook Air.

If you want a full-sized keyboard, the smallest form factor you can go to was the one Apple used for the 12" MacBook. You can't go smaller without shrinking the keyboard, which is a problem, as the "full sized" keyboard was one of the big plus Jobs pushed at the launch of the MacBook Air, criticizing "palmtops" / "netbooks" for having shrunken keyboards.

Personally, the keyboards on the non-retina Mac Book Airs are still my favorite keyboard on a MacBook ever. It's only my view, but I wouldn't buy a MacBook with a shrunken keyboard. For me, the keyboards ( both Apple's and 3rd party) for 10.9"/ 11" iPads are not comfortable to use.
 
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iHorseHead said:
Most people watch movies on their phones.
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Is there a term for this?

You know, when someone generalizes from their individual or friend circle experience and declares their behavior to be the universal truth and how most people behave!

If not, there should be.

Would love to see data backing up such a sweeping declaration. Doubt it exists and doubt it supports the sweeping assertion. Carl Sagan was right:

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”​
​
​
 
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Saturn007 said:
Is there a term for this?

You know, when someone generalizes from their individual or friend circle experience and declares their behavior to be the universal truth and how most people behave!

If not, there should be.

Would love to see data backing up such a sweeping declaration. Doubt it exists and doubt it supports the sweeping assertion. Carl Sagan was right:

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”​
​
​
Click to expand...

It's called the "Hasty Generalization Fallacy".
 
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The model year is a bit problematic - while, say, a 2017 MacBook came out in that year, it likely wasn't available until late September of that year, and was the current model through most of 2018. Even when the next year models came out (again, in the 4th quarter of the year), chances are very good Apple (and its resellers) continue to sell the 'old' model as a cheaper option for the following year. If not longer.
Vintage or Obsolete date designations should only apply to devices based on the year they no longer sold them through any approved retail channel as new.
 
MacMediaNet said:
My 11-inch MacBook Air works great. Bought in 2011, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, Intel Core i7 (1.8 GHz), OS X 10.13.6. The battery was replaced once. It weighs 1.08 kg (2.38 lbs). Please Apple, bring it back - the same form factor, smaller bezels, 12-inch.
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Was yours the August model? That’s the one I have, similar to what you’ve listed here except I got the 256gb model. I also had to have the battery replaced as the original failed, got swollen.
 
Saturn007 said:
Is there a term for this?

You know, when someone generalizes from their individual or friend circle experience and declares their behavior to be the universal truth and how most people behave!

If not, there should be.

Would love to see data backing up such a sweeping declaration. Doubt it exists and doubt it supports the sweeping assertion. Carl Sagan was right:

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”​
​
​
Click to expand...
It was on some YouTube video about some service that failed back in 2020. I’ll post it once I find it
 
Quackington said:
Was yours the August model? That’s the one I have, similar to what you’ve listed here except I got the 256gb model. I also had to have the battery replaced as the original failed, got swollen.
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I have MacBookAir4,1. According to Mactracker introduced in July 2011. And exactly the same - got swollen.
 
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Sorry... I have not been using the Air for a long time, I have just turned it on and checked - I have 256 GB SSD as well.
 
pshufd said:
I saw the first couple of title words and was hoping that they're bring out a new MacBook 11 or 12.
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That would be something, for sure.
I’ll probably love-buy it, even though my MBA is quite new.
 
My MB Air 11" runs fine with a Upgraded internal 1TB SSD and with Thunderbolt 2 to my 32" LG Monitor since 2015. The Monitor is the Hub to all external stuff.
 
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russell_314 said:
You forgot one.

- Doesn’t run macOS


I like my iPad, but I also say it’s not a Mac replacement. It’ll work in a pinch, but not the same. That could be just because I’m a little bit older but I don’t know
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Haha I know that but iPadOS 26 is better than monterey… And the cheap MacBook will have difficulty to run apps like Xcode sooo there you have it…
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
As @russell_314 points out, it doesn't have MacOS.

More to the point, the touch screen is a massive minus for me; I loathe touch screens (yes, I deeply dislike the iPhone,as well) and detest the unpleasant experience of writing - attempting to write - with them.

Personally, I want a proper keyboard, one with tactile sensation and key travel.

In any case, I see the iPad as a device that consumes content, whereas, for content creation (especially writing) one needs (well, I need) a computer with a functional keyboard
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I replied to him + iPad keyboard is very good… I use everyday
 
Happy_John said:
That would be Apple's argument - the iPad is Apple's product that is the alternative to a Chromebook.

But it doesn't run MacOS. So it isn't comparable, really. An iPad is a device that you could do many of the things you can do on a laptop, but it isn't a laptop and it's not running a laptop/desktop OS.
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Well iPadOS is very good and better than chromeos !
 
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