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Whilst I never had any interest in owning one ( I prefer desktops and have no need of laptops especially now with iPhone and iPad), I don't think anyone could fail to be impressed with this device. An amazing feat of engineering and so beautiful. Its interesting to see in the video how passionate about Apples products he was, the pride he had in the Air is written over his face. Also watch the section on TmeCapsule. Come on Apple lets get some updated Airport products.
 
It was fine and my husband loved his for travel, but he was in the process of becoming more of an executive and less of a tech guy by then. Apple went too far and tried to make all of their laptops too minimalistic and alienated people with more varied needs than office suite software, who wanted the big laptops with everything on them and not dongles and adding functionality back via peripherals.
 
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There should be a 14inch rMB as a worthy (and real) successor to the MBA. Instead of that, they cripple the MBP, and keep the 13inch MBA as a low-cost laptop that has not evolved in 10 years. A shame.
 
I bought a 2011 MBA for my wife, she loves it.

She originally needed it for her new job, and was upset that they didn't tell her that she needed a laptop before accepting the position. She thought that they should provide a laptop to her.

Two years later, her job provided laptops that were mandatory to use with a new database that was purchased.

Then she complained non stop that the giant, slow, glitchy HP laptop had the battery life of about 45 min to an hour.

She has quit that job, and now has one that she can use her Mac.
 
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Even as this computer aged, I always felt like it had a certain allure. I still do. Even when the new MacBooks came out and then MBPs, the Air always had an appeal, despite its shortcomings. I just never found it practical enough to actually get one.

Both of my teenage daughters have them - at the $999 (new) pricepoint it was very easy to buy refurbished ones at even less than that - I don't remember the price but got them somewhere around $700 each. The older one is from 2013 and still used daily for everything from basic surfing and email to video processing and school work. She also has a school-provided PC that's two years old, and there have been many times she's given up trying to get something to work on the PC and switches over to the Air. The thing is solid, can take abuse well, and is covered with Hamilton stickers.
 
Kind of funny that 11"-12" display was a "compromise" and then they introduced the 11" MBA, which IMO was/is one of the best macs - I continue to use mine for travel as it's so light and compact.
 
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Apple should really refresh the Air.
The new MacBook Pro basically is a MacBook Air -- the most impressive Air ever made.

"Let's rewind time for a moment. It's Thursday, October 27, and Apple's event is under way.

Imagine that instead of introducing the new MacBook Pro, Apple unveiled a new MacBook Air. One that's 12 percent lighter, 13 percent smaller by volume and practically the same weight -- but manages to cram in a faster Intel processor, faster graphics, plus the far sharper, brighter and more colorful Retina Display the MacBook Air so desperately needed.

Sure, it starts at $1,500 rather than $1,000, but you get twice the solid-state storage for the price -- and you can double the RAM, quadruple the storage and get the awesome new Touch Bar secondary screen with Touch ID fingerprint sensor if you're willing to pay even more.

How long has your MacBook Air had a 1.6GHz processor? This new one is 2.0GHz or 2.9GHz; there's even a 3.3GHz option.

And sure, it's got a thinner keyboard and only two (or four) general-purpose Thunderbolt 3 ports instead of handy full-size USB ports and SD card slots. But we, Apple, figured you'd rather have a more accurate keyboard and amazing single-cable Thunderbolt 3 docking options to go with your mobile MacBook Air lifestyle.

Now, you can pull your MacBook Air right out of your manila envelope and plug in a single cable to charge it, dock with your peripherals and power multiple monitors all at the same time.

Oh, and one more thing: we knew you'd like the MacBook Air so much, we built a 15-inch model. You won't believe how fast it is -- this Air has a quad-core CPU that's 50 percent faster than last year's MacBook Pro! The graphics are over twice as fast, and yet we've kept the same 10 hour battery life as the 13-inch version.

If you've ever wanted to edit photos or home videos on a MacBook Air, this computer's for you. Oh, and it comes standard with the Touch Bar and Touch ID, too.

We think you're going to love the new MacBook Air. It's the best MacBook we've ever made."
 
Never understood this product line...
Think of all the limitations of the iPad, remove them, and you have the Macbook Air.

My mother, 76 years old, uses one every day.

I tried showing her the iPad, and she asked those nagging questions the 'iPad is a computer replacement' folks shy away from...
  1. Can I get the same apps as the MBAir?
  2. Where are the files stored?
  3. What do I do if I DON'T want my files in "the cloud"?
  4. How do I use my USB devices?
 
The last truly great laptop Apple built.

*Edit* I should clarify the i5 version of the Air was the last great laptop Apple built. :)
 
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What a great device for its time. Not only was it revolutionary then, but it directly led to the development of the laptop market as it is today.
 
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I should have clarified that the i5 version was. Sorry about that.
 
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The last game changer Apple released. Every notebook since has just been a bit thinner or a bit lighter, this reduced it by over 50%.
 
I don't understand why they don't just swap names between the Macbook and Macbook Air lines. Since the Macbook is thinner and lighter. Shouldn't it be the Macbook Air now? I'd argue they have updated the Macbook Air several times. They just changed the name.

"That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet" - Romeo and Juliet
 
I love all the revisionist history about the MacBook Air. Had Tim Cook announced that exact product people would have called for the board to fire him.

Yep and remember people's reactions when the first rMBP was announced. Previous one was thin enough, muh upgradability, etc. Even when the unibody MBP was announced, people preferred the older one for the keyboard/Superdrive location.

Now they're saying the 2012 form factor was the best MBP and this new one is crud. Previous one was thin enough, muh legacy ports, etc. In 5 years' time it'll be the same thing again.
 
I have a mid-2013 that I bought used in 2015. The thing is perfect and looks like it will be solid for the next decade unless it loses some iCloud support services. Best laptop I've ever purchased.
 
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I love all the revisionist history about the MacBook Air. Had Tim Cook announced that exact product people would have called for the board to fire him.
The first one that came out had some tradeoffs for those that wanted to pay the steep price and live those tradeoffs. As technology and price got better over time it became an excellent product line. Right now, it's tough to see the MacBook or MacBook pro getting better with tradeoffs that people don't really see getting better such as the keyboard or Touch Bar. Time will tell of course and we could be wrong.
 
I don't think so. It had its issues at launch, but the direction was spot on. The 2014 i7 version of the Macbook Air was the last Apple laptop I owned. I wish they hadn't gone the way of the Macbook and kept the Air alive, I loved the 11" version.
 
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