I have been holding on to my 11″ MacBook Air in hopes that Apple might someday reintroduce a smaller model. Does anyone think it is possible Apple might introduce a smaller MacBook Air anytime in the not-too-distant future? I thought I read a rumor about a year ago but haven't seen anything recently.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Smaller (<13″) MacBook Air
- Thread starter MrMojoRising
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Anything's possible. But I haven't seen any credible rumors.
That said.... a M3 13" MacBook Air isn't all that much bigger than your 11".
11" MacBook Air
13" M3 MacBook Air
That said.... a M3 13" MacBook Air isn't all that much bigger than your 11".
11" MacBook Air
- Height: 0.11-0.68 inch (0.3-1.7 cm)
- Width: 11.8 inches (30 cm)
- Depth: 7.56 inches (19.2 cm)
- Weight: 2.38 pounds (1.08 kg)
13" M3 MacBook Air
- Height: 0.44 inch (1.13 cm)
- Width: 11.97 inches (30.41 cm)
- Depth: 8.46 inches (21.5 cm)
- Weight: 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg)
Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize the 13″ M3 MBA is that close to the size of the 11″ Intel MBA.
I don't think an 11″ laptop is too small. Yes, it's a bit cramped but I think MacOS and Mac apps in general use the screen real estate very efficiently. Windows on the hand and MS Office in particular are terrible at this. My work laptop (a Thinkpad X14 with Windows) has a 14″ screen and it's extremely annoying to use with only the laptop screen because the toolbars, ribbons, and side panels take up 80% of the screen.
In any event I usually plug into an external 27″ monitor at home. I like the smaller size laptop for travel.
Well, in any event, I won't be holding my breath for Apple to introduce a smaller model.
I don't think an 11″ laptop is too small. Yes, it's a bit cramped but I think MacOS and Mac apps in general use the screen real estate very efficiently. Windows on the hand and MS Office in particular are terrible at this. My work laptop (a Thinkpad X14 with Windows) has a 14″ screen and it's extremely annoying to use with only the laptop screen because the toolbars, ribbons, and side panels take up 80% of the screen.
In any event I usually plug into an external 27″ monitor at home. I like the smaller size laptop for travel.
Well, in any event, I won't be holding my breath for Apple to introduce a smaller model.
You're not alone - I'd welcome a smaller MBA as well. I had an 11" for a long time, and if it had a retina screen I probably would have installed Linux on it once the MacOS security updates ran out.
I look at my M1 MBA and think of how they could reduce the width and depth just by reducing the bezels around the display and keyboard - essentially a 12" MacBook with a screen that goes to the edges. With Apple Silicon, I don't think performance would suffer like the Intel version did.
That said, I think we'll have to keep dreaming.
I look at my M1 MBA and think of how they could reduce the width and depth just by reducing the bezels around the display and keyboard - essentially a 12" MacBook with a screen that goes to the edges. With Apple Silicon, I don't think performance would suffer like the Intel version did.
That said, I think we'll have to keep dreaming.
I loved my 2010 11" Air (64GB!!) and my 12" MacBooks but I must agree the 13" Air nowadays is close in size. They chopped off quite a lot of bezel compared to the old models.
Sub-notebooks were popular years ago because the processor was so power hungry, you needed a smaller display to make up for the battery life. MacBook Air even had a 4,200 rpm drive to save power. Those sub-notebooks weren't popular because consumers wanted a cramped keyboard or tiny display. Those small features were a necessary compromise to get a half-day battery life.
These days, especially with Apple Silicon, that's not needed. I doubt Apple is seriously considering launching a new 11- or 12-inch product.
These days, especially with Apple Silicon, that's not needed. I doubt Apple is seriously considering launching a new 11- or 12-inch product.
I think, 11” MBA has been replaced with ipad (plus magic keyboard), assuming the machine should be capable enough to run typical tasks (office, entertainment, simple video editing).
I really loved my 11" Air when I was in university, perfect for stuffing into a bag with my work and hauling to class to take notes. As previously mentioned, the dimensions are so close to the newer MBA M2/M3s that I don't see them doing it. The bezels are a third of the size of the ones on non-Retina Airs is the key reason. The 13" 2017 Air I'm daily driving right now is bigger physically than the 13" M2/M3 Airs. The other reason is netbooks were in-vogue when they introduced the 11" Air, and even though it was better than just about any Wintel netbook you could buy, the screen was still pretty cramped and too low a resolution for anything more than basic use.
If you can't part with the form factor, try and find the last 2015-ish variant of the 11". It should run Sequoia no problem with OCLP as long as it's got 8GB of RAM.
If you can't part with the form factor, try and find the last 2015-ish variant of the 11". It should run Sequoia no problem with OCLP as long as it's got 8GB of RAM.
Another reason the 11 inch MacBook Air makes no sense today is the iPad.
Yes, macOS still has plenty of advantages.
But in 2010 when the 11 inch Air was introduced, the iPad was still on iOS 3.2 with 256MB of RAM, and video on the internet was still heavily reliant on Flash.
These days, for basic things you’d use an 11 inch screen for, those netbook/ultrabook tasks, even the iPad is wildly overpowered.
Yes, macOS still has plenty of advantages.
But in 2010 when the 11 inch Air was introduced, the iPad was still on iOS 3.2 with 256MB of RAM, and video on the internet was still heavily reliant on Flash.
These days, for basic things you’d use an 11 inch screen for, those netbook/ultrabook tasks, even the iPad is wildly overpowered.
So basically you want iPhone size MBA with keyboard… 😂
One thing I really like about the 11″ MBA is the shallower front-to-back depth. With my older 13″ MBA, the front edge of the laptop is right under my wrists, which gets uncomfortable. With the 11″, the front edge is under the heel of my palm, which is much more comfortable.
The shorter height of the screen is also helpful as I use the laptop in front of my external monitor with the monitor elevated so that the top edge of the laptop screen bezel is just below the bottom edge of the monitor bezel. With this arrangement, the external monitor is just the right height. If I had to raise the monitor further because of a larger/taller screen on the laptop, that would be less comfortable.
These factors are particular to my (probably slightly weird) use case, but are reasons I would prefer a smaller MacBook Air apart from just having a lighter and more compact computer.
The shorter height of the screen is also helpful as I use the laptop in front of my external monitor with the monitor elevated so that the top edge of the laptop screen bezel is just below the bottom edge of the monitor bezel. With this arrangement, the external monitor is just the right height. If I had to raise the monitor further because of a larger/taller screen on the laptop, that would be less comfortable.
These factors are particular to my (probably slightly weird) use case, but are reasons I would prefer a smaller MacBook Air apart from just having a lighter and more compact computer.
I had a couple of generations of the 11" Air and miss it quite a lot. That short depth also made it a perfect machine for an airplane tray table, and it was just generally a very good little travel companion.
Apple could do an incredible version of it now with Apple Silicon and modern displays, but I've got a bad feeling they intend ultraportable Mac users to just suck it up and use an iPad. I want none of that rubbish and am just making do with an M1 Air. Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing and capable machine and fairly light -- but it's not quite "I forgot it was in my bag" light.
Last edited:
I wish they would make 11” MBA because as much as I like the latest 13” MBA design, for basic daily tasks I find myself using the iPad Mini 6 more often due to its size, while using the MBA more for work-related tasks.
I still use both my 2015 11" Air and a 2016 12" rMB. I love small laptops that I can just tossing a bag and forget that they're there. What I wouldn't give for an Apple Silicon 12" rMB.
Last edited:
I'm still using my 2015 11-inch Air whenever I want to grab my laptop and take it with me when going somewhere. I love the portability of this little laptop and how light it really is. I still have decent battery life with only 291 cycles on it. I'm currently running MacOS 15.2 Sequoia using OCLP 2.2.0 and have not had any issues with this so far. I have added a Samsung 970 EVO 1TB for storage and for my use case this laptop is perfect. Performance is not lightening quick on the current OS as it is using my 14 inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro laptop but for a 9 year old laptop it does a great job running the OS that I can type this response without any delay in performance. I can stream YouTube videos without any gapping or lagging in performance and can pretty much do web surfing and emails.
Since Apple won't be making an updated ultra light book laptop as this 11 inch Air, I will continue to use this laptop as long as I can continue updating the MacOS onto it. Yeah . . . I know the writing is on the wall for all these Intel MacBook laptops. Might as well continue using them as they are still very useful and still have plenty of life in them
Since Apple won't be making an updated ultra light book laptop as this 11 inch Air, I will continue to use this laptop as long as I can continue updating the MacOS onto it. Yeah . . . I know the writing is on the wall for all these Intel MacBook laptops. Might as well continue using them as they are still very useful and still have plenty of life in them
I ended up installing Linux (elementary os 8.0) on my old 11″ MBA. Super easy installation and everything seems to be working great except the webcam. Need to find the right driver for that. Now I have an up-to-date operating system on my favorite little laptop. I'm happy.
I adored that 11 inch. I had a 13 inch of that era since I do a lot of coding but that 11 was something I wanted bad.
since makes iPads, which are getting more computer-ish every year
while computers are getting iPadish every years as well!
At best I could see them shrinking the 13" Air a bit with the next redesign. If they narrowed the screen border closer to what the MacBook Pro looks like now, and reduce the size of the display from 13.6" to 13.0" you'd probably be approaching the point where the width of the keyboard limits making the computer any smaller, as with the 12" MacBook.
