MacBook Air Turns 15 Today: 'The World's Thinnest Notebook'

[macduke]

Oh man I wanted one so bad when they came out, but I was a poor college kid who had saved up two years based on rumors just to afford the first iPhone the year before. Then my Dell was dying and I needed something more powerful for school, so I financed the early 2008 MBP as my first Mac as I was switching majors to go into the design program.

They were definitely a vanity computer at first. Pretty underpowered and the HDD was slow as beans. Also expensive! Over $2400 in 2022 dollars. More of a thing to show off than to get work done.

I still have never owned a MacBook Air. Probably never will now that they have such a powerful 14" MBP, which will be the form factor I'm going with next. Might get one for my kid some day when she outgrows her iPad and needs a real computer.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I miss the 11 inch model.

A superb computer; I miss it too.

In fact, I'm writing this post on one......a maxed out CTO (8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD, i7) dating from 2014, and, while both the battery and keyboard were replaced last year, it still works wonderfully well.

 

[VirtuallyInsane]

The MBA 2014 11" was my first Apple laptop. I got it secondhand, and it did the job, and it lasted me for a few years. It actually managed to make HD videos in Premiere Pro and browsed the internet fast, but it started showing its age a year or two back, so I got upgrades. It was a good machine for what I wanted it for, though.

I'm on an iMac 2019, and an M1 Mac from 2020 now. Both great machines also.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Oh, come on. The original MacBook Air was $1799, outrageous for a 1.6Ghz Core 2 Duo 13" notebook at the time. It was the pure definition of a luxury good.

Apple didn't get the Air right until the next version that started at $999.

But power (and value for money) are not the only metrics involved in such a calculation.

Portability is (was) also a factor.

I have mentioned that I believe that professional women love this form factor - and I certainly do; how many guys/dudes on these very fora write - or have written - of how their significant others still use a MBA on a daily basis?

Now, I will grant you that the original (stunning, exquisite) computer was expensive for the power and memory it offered, and that subsequent models improved.

My own first MBA was purchased in 2010, the old "Rev-C" version, and yes, of course, it was a considerable improvement on the first MBA; but, it was (and remains) the only computer where, when - that night - when I watched that exquisite device being eased from that envelope, I swore to myself that I would buy one, the very first minute circumstances (geography and finance both relevant) permitted, and I did.

 

[Piscestg]

Nope. Palm themselves called their devices PDAs and they were largely unsuccessful at being the easy to use general purpose computer for everyone. Instead of being the first smartphones, PDAs were what a few crazy people had in the days of old before smartphones. They were the airships to the airplanes. And once the smartphone was invented, PDAs were completely replaced for obvious reasons.

View attachment 2142772​

Oh the humanity!

 

[TalkieToaster]

I want the 11" footprint back! It was better for carrying places.

 

[jeffreyg]

My MBAs - I'm writing this on a perfectly functional, maxed out CTO 11" MBA from 2014 - have, quite literally, travelled the world with me, working (flawlessly) in some of the most challenging, and difficult, places on the planet.

The maxed out 11 inch MacBook Air from that era was a fantastic laptop (2015 model was the apex I think). I used one as my daily driver until very recently. If you could cope with the tiny screen, they were a wonderful little device, and very capable too. But you really needed to max them out, with 8GB RAM and the i7 processor. I still have two of them, not in use now though.

 

[KPOM]

The MacBook Air was my first Mac. The biggest selling point to me was the weight. I recall all the complaints about how it lacked an optical drive and that anyone who preferred the lighter weight vs the 4 lb MacBook “needed to exercise more.” And “why would anyone purchase this when for just another 1 pound you can get a much faster processor etc?” It didn’t matter. It redefined what a notebook was.

It also had a few innovative features. As I recall, it could “borrow” another Mac’s (or even PC’s) optical drive to install software. It had the single USB port and mini-DVI port but shipped with display adapters.

Also, a few months after the original release, Apple updated the MacBook Air with an updated processor and much more affordable SSD. I paid $2499 for that one in November 2008 and kept it longer than any other Mac. In 2010 Apple took the Air mainstream and established the $999 pricepoint.

 

[KPOM]

I want the 11" footprint back! It was better for carrying places.

That was the purpose of the 12” MacBook. Unfortunately Apple released that device with the underpowered Intel processor. Had they released the MacBook in 2020 with the M1 and the “Magic Keyboard” it probably would have been a success.

 

[jaw04005]

But power (and value for money) are not the only metrics involved in such a calculation.

Portability is (was) also a factor.

The original MacBook Air was still a luxury product at the time. In fact, it was the biggest criticism levied on the device (along with how slow it was and the battery life not being the greatest). It was basically $700 extra for 2 lbs of less weight. Like I said, they fixed it in version 2.0 of the device a couple of years later.

In fact, the MacBook Air 11" was one of Steve Jobs' last product announcements. He previewed Lion and passed away a year later.

 

[_Spinn_]

I remember at the time being amazed that a laptop could fit inside a manila envelope.

 

[svish]

An excellent laptop. Looking forward to seeing the 15" version this year.

 

[coolfactor]

Maccbook Air was Classic Jobs. Incredible piece of engineering and design. 15 years later they still use the same wedge design in the M1 Chip Air.

Packing the 2001 M1 Air here. Best Mac for me yet. Sad that it is the last wedge-design form factor. Nothing beats it, but I suppose there are engineering benefits to the new flatter design used for the M2.

 

[coolfactor]

Good ol‘ think different and innovative times.
Sad what Apple has become.

Apple hasn't lost their innovation touches. The world is just filled with so many copy-cats now, and China has the ability to quickly replicate any design, Apple no longer stands out. It's no fault of Apple. Their incremental, evolutionary approach to product releases is their strength. We all benefit from that. It's not a flaw.

 

[coolfactor]

It was way too expensive and underpowered at the time. Every smart shopper bought a MacBook Pro instead and 15 years later, I still never had a MacBook Air. With this ugly notch I won't buy the M2 MBA either.

You're not alone in that false assumption. The Air was plenty powerful enough for the target market of which you clearly weren't. And the notch is not ugly. All future designs will have it. The Dynamic Island is coming to the Mac next. Your notch will grow at a glance! 🤣

 

[aleni]

I remembered I paid a lot of money for the original air. It was a painful experience, cpu throttling down even just watching youtube making the video and mouse choppy. There was an app made specifically for that air, it lets you undervolt cpu but it didn't help much.

Love my m1 air now. it's cheap, it's super powerful and the design is still not outdated.

 

[Rychiar]

The M2 should just be called a MacBook

 

[mxrider88]

Now we have the m2 air that for 8 months couldn't even go into hibernation when the battery ran out, how far (behind) we got..

 

[Gudi]

Apple definitely cares about marketing. ...

Marketing describes the entirety of presenting your product to potential customers and highlight its (unique) selling proposition versus the competition. A necessary part of business. But when people accuse a company of marketing, they usually mean advertising only pretends a product to have certain properties, when in fact it doesn't.

With Apple it's the exact other way around. People don't buy a twice as much product because of a clever commercial. The design also needs to be pleasant to look at to even enable a purchase decision, let alone trigger it. But then when you have it and use it every day, you begin to realize how amazing the usability is. How the design only lures you in, but the functionality keeps you on board. No iPod commercial ever showed iTunes or Podcasts, only stupid people dancing in front of colorful backgrounds. That's not why we love the iPod.

A typical conversation with a fellow 24" iMac owner revolves around how surprised we were by the performance of this little machine. We remember and laugh how reluctant and skeptical we were at first, how we unnecessarily worried about the screen size. How we only bought it, because we really needed a new computer. And how absolutely amazing the iMac turned out to be in reality. We recall what first brought us to the Mac, what we admire about the platform and what a crazy guy our deal leader Steve Jobs was.

It absolutely must look like a cult to outsiders. I pity you for not being in to the flock. Maybe you are more of a car guy and can better relate to two car enthusiasts standing by the side of the road and talking shop about the curve handling and acceleration of their Porsche Taycan. Those poor marketing victims! It's just an expensive car.

 

[Abazigal]

Such innovation, like the MacBook Air, that happened under Steve Jobs has never happened under that mediocre MBA suit Tim Cook. If someone cares about corporate profits and shareholders much more than innovation, then of course Cook is the best CEO that Apple ever had. But for people who care about the creation of products meant to be the most effective computing tools for the common man (i.e., not as luxury goods for the wealthy that are priced so high and with compromised functionality), then Cook is a horrible CEO.

And we will never go back to those days again.

Steve Job's Apple was one borne out of desperation, with nothing to lose.

Apple today has far more to lose than it did two decades ago, and that means less of a focus on doing what is best for non-Apple stakeholders, not more. Even if Tim Cook were replaced with someone else today, his successor is still going to focus on doing more of the same.

This doesn't mean that Apple is doomed though, because they are still in the business of selling products that people must want enough to be willing to pay a premium for, and they are not going to forget how to make nice things overnight. And personally, I find I still like their products enough to justify spending good money on them. But there is no going back to the days of the iPod or the iPhone, simply because the conditions that necessitated the creation of both just don't exist anymore.

I am neither angry nor upset. Circumstances changed, and the company changed, and that’s just the way she goes.

 

[DPUser]

An M1 MacBook Air has served me extremely well for the past year+. It was the first computer that offered the right combination of power, portability and price for this musician who now uses the Air as the heart of his live keyboard MainStage performance rig.

All In have to do is make sure to keep it under the umbrella out of the sun when doing outdoor shows.

I also have a 2015 Air that is still functional but for a failing keyboard. Worked great for casual web surfing, emails and office apps, but no where near powerful enough for the audio calisthenics I put the M1 through.

The Air form factor is, for me, perfect for the computer around the house. The Mac Studio stays out in the studio, where it belongs.

 

[franzkfk]

Miss you, Steve🥲

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The MacBook Air was my first Mac. The biggest selling point to me was the weight. I recall all the complaints about how it lacked an optical drive and that anyone who preferred the lighter weight vs the 4 lb MacBook “needed to exercise more.” And “why would anyone purchase this when for just another 1 pound you can get a much faster processor etc?” It didn’t matter. It redefined what a notebook was.

It also had a few innovative features. As I recall, it could “borrow” another Mac’s (or even PC’s) optical drive to install software. It had the single USB port and mini-DVI port but shipped with display adapters.

Also, a few months after the original release, Apple updated the MacBook Air with an updated processor and much more affordable SSD. I paid $2499 for that one in November 2008 and kept it longer than any other Mac. In 2010 Apple took the Air mainstream and established the $999 pricepoint.

That was the purpose of the 12” MacBook. Unfortunately Apple released that device with the underpowered Intel processor. Had they released the MacBook in 2020 with the M1 and the “Magic Keyboard” it probably would have been a success.

For a lot of women, the biggest selling point was the weight (or lack of it).

Yes, we were perfectly aware that in the earlier models that power, processor and battery had been sacrificed for weight, and we didn't need to be constantly and endlessly reminded of this - but - and this is key - this was an exchange many women were prepared to make because the lack of weight made transporting this device - carrying it around - an absolute delight, especially when compared with the heavy bricks that had preceded it.

Of course, the later models of the MBA were a considerable improvement, and the eventual maxed out models were even better still, and, when they became available, that was what some of us chose to buy; nevertheless, for many of us, that portability - that wonderful lack of weight - was the main attraction of the MBA (that, and the stunning aesthetics).

 

[AppliedMicro]

Maccbook Air was Classic Jobs. Incredible piece of engineering and design. 15 years later they still use the same wedge design in the M1 Chip Air.

The Air only got this design in 2010.

The first and second generations released in 2008 and 2009 didn’t have it and weren’t great designs:

Too expensive, running to hot, spinning hdisplay hinges prone to failure, awkward folding out mechanism for the lone USB port. And yes, one USB port isn’t enough. 👉🏻 Same things that plagued the 12“ MacBook as it’s spiritual successor (except that the keyboard being its structurally weak point, not the display).

They knocked it out of the park with the (wedged) 2010 MacBook Air design though.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The original MacBook Air was still a luxury product at the time. In fact, it was the biggest criticism levied on the device (along with how slow it was and the battery life not being the greatest). It was basically $700 extra for 2 lbs of less weight. Like I said, they fixed it in version 2.0 of the device a couple of years later.

In fact, the MacBook Air 11" was one of Steve Jobs' last product announcements. He previewed Lion and passed away a year later.

Luxury product or not, and lacking power or not and with a limited battery, (and yes, the battery on my original MBA barely gave me three hours, even when new) misses the point that for many of us, (women, especially) - we knew all this, and still bought it - we still chose to buy it - because of the weight.

This was a fully functional computer, with a full sized functioning keyboard, (another important consideration, and a reason why iPads will never cut it, not for me) and yet was exceptionally portable.

This mattered, and the point is that it mattered more than either computing power or battery duration. Power and battery duration are nice (very nice, and when they became available as an option, I added them, hence my later purchase of a maxed out CTO 11" MBA, with 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and a Core i7), but, given a choice between power or weight, I will always choose a computer that is lighter to carry.

You could carry this thing all day without strain - and for me, this is a vitally important consideration - which could not have been said for almost every other computer on the market at that time.