Steve Jobs Introduced the MacBook Air Exactly 10 Years Ago Today

[Guy Clark]

Apple Store Genie said MacBook Air is only for email and browsing fotos. And here I am using it as my main business computer. Editing 1080p videos, layouting entire books in InDesign, Photoshop, it does everything. Oh, and did I mention it has MagSafe, SD-Card Slot and two USB-A connectors?

MacBook Air 2011/2013: Best OSX laptop ever built in terms of value/cost

MacBook Pro Graphics issues aside 2011 was a sweet spot for Apple.

For Example the 2011 21.5" iMac

Intel i5 Quad Core (Sandy Bridge) CPU
Maximum 32GB RAM (user upgradeable)
Built in Superdrive
Thunderbolt 2 and Firewire 800
Easily (user upgradeable) internal Hardware.
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Apple Store Genie said MacBook Air is only for email and browsing fotos. And here I am using it as my main business computer. Editing 1080p videos, layouting entire books in InDesign, Photoshop, 23" screen on Thunderbolt 2, it does everything. Oh, and did I mention it has MagSafe, SD-Card Slot and two USB-A connectors?

MacBook Air (mine is 2011): Best OSX laptop ever built in terms of value/cost

Lets not forget the awesome 17" MacBook Pro.

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[Toru-kun]

My mid-2013 13" i7 1.7Ghz 8GB RAM is hands down the best Mac I have ever owned ... and I've had iMacs, Mac Minis, PowerBooks, and MacBook Pros. It is super light, portable, performant beyond expectations, still has great battery life, boots in about 6 seconds (only occasional reboot anyway), and runs on the latest OS.

It really is the best investment I ever made.

My thoughts exactly! I won A MBA since 2013... and couldn't be happier!!

 

[theluggage]

Not true - at the time the Air was announced, both Mac Pros and MacBook Pros were really professional computers. Adding the Air didn't affect the professional consumer base.

Bingo! ...and after selling the original MBA (which was, frankly, a bit of an executive toy) to a niche audience for a year os so, they listened to feedback and produced the "modern" MBA, which (bar a few spec bumps) we know and love.

Yep and remember people's reactions when the first rMBP was announced. Previous one was thin enough, muh upgradability, etc.

...but also remember that, alongside the 2012 rMBP, Apple released new versions of the "classic" MBPs with up-to-date CPUs so that people who weren't ready to dump their spinning rust, optical drives and ethernet ports, or pay the new higher price, still had an option. Plus, their decisions on what to leave out of the rMBP were actually sensible - in that it was becoming increasingly practical to leave your optical drive and ethernet port at home. Plus, in my experience, those slimline optical drives had a six month half life (esp. when it came to writing discs) so, good riddance.

...c.f. today when Apple's only alternative to the "courageously" re-designed 2016 MBP was the chance to buy the lowest-spec 2015 model, already 18 months and a couple of CPU generations out-of-date, at an increased price... and the design decisions include such classics as "the most ubiquitous connector in the history of computing, the USB-A connector, is suddenly obsolete" and "20% smaller batteries in a machine aimed at creative pros is OK because the new CPU optimises power consumption for web browsing" or "sorry you can't plug in a USB flash drive, SD card or HDMI projector into your ultra-portable laptop without a bagful of dongles but you can connect two 5k displays and two 40Gbps RAID enclosures... to the thermally-throttled CPU and mediocre mobile-class GPU".

...more or less ditto for the Mac Pro: wait until the old model is thoroughly obsolete before "replacing" it with something designed for a different market.

Its not so much that the new products are bad (well, maybe the keyboard is bad) its that, if they don't meet your needs, Apple don't offer any choice - or if they do, the "choice" is to pay full price for year-before-last's model.

 

[Snappers]

Get rid of the MacBook.

Update the MacBook Air with a Retina Display.

Retain a logical Keyboard.

No Touchbar and No USB-C.

I think the Macbook has more cons than pros, and if I had it my way, I would want an 11" Macbook Air with retina screen, OR a 12" MacBook with at least one USB-A port and at least two USB-C ports (one for charging and one for general i/o).

I have managed to shoehorn the Macbook as my new daily machine, but with lots of compromise, relative to the Air.

 

[Schnegg]

I‘m still amazed how the Air went from expensive prestige gadget to computer for the masses in two iterations.

With the display of the 13" Pro, modern silicon and a Thunderbolt 3 port it could rule the world.

 

[Toru-kun]

Best laptop that I've ever had! 2013 MacBook Air! Just wish I had chosen the larger-capacity model to get me through another four years!
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Practical in what sense? I've been touting a 2013 Air for four years.... never had any limitations. It's a full-blown Mac in all the right ways!

I bought mine in 2013, from the refurbished Apple Store section. It only had a 128GB capacity. One year later I upgraded with a 500GB SSD. As of today, couldn't be happier. Never had any problem and I am using it every single day.

 

[Beligerent]

Just bought one Saturday

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

It was a great keynote. People were pretty blown away by the size and the ability to stuff that much into such a small package. Even today we don't see many putting that much into such a small consumer laptop.

 

[Guy Clark]

Steve Ballmer wasn't impressed.

Yes and Steve Ballmer also laughed at the iPhone.

 

[just.jon]

I remember several of my friends referring to it as "the $2000 MySpace machine."

 

[newdeal]

and it could and should still be a great computer today if they had just given it an IPS display with better colour and non-retina resolution

 

[jav6454]

Yes and Steve Ballmer also laughed at the iPhone.

To be honest, this is a reason (there are several in fact) why Ballmer isn't Microsoft CEO anymore.

 

[dogslobber]

This was ground breaking design but it never came into its element until the 2010 MBA release. And, wow, what a keynote from SJ. Apple's current top brass could take some lessons on how to make a presentation from this.

 

[ghost187]

It wasn’t until it got the 12 hours of battery life that this became the best Mac ever!

 

[mi7chy]

Amazing device and a brilliant introduction that instantly changed the industry. Now MacBook Air ripoff designs are everywhere.

MacBook Air is a rip off of the magnesium Sony VAIO superslim from 1998.

 

[DocMultimedia]

I've got the latest MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, Trashcan Mac, and a 2017 iMac. But my 2012 MacBook Air is the one I still take with me everywhere.

Awesome little machine.

 

[longofest]

That was the year I went to MacWorld and covered the keynote with Arn. Hard to believe its been 10 years.

 

[scrapesleon]

TOO bad Tim Cook and his accompanies kill the poor MacBook Air

 

[Tozovac]

It wasn’t until it got the 12 hours of battery life that this became the best Mac ever!

I still love my 3.25 year old MBA but wow, I haven't gotten 12 hours of battery life in a looooooong time. I think I'm lucky to get 6.5 hours, and only if I turn the brightness to below 50% and if I cautiously watch the Activity Monitor! Thinking this will be the plan soon, assuming it will work for my MBA i7 purchased in August 2014.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAP13MBA55/

 

[dogslobber]

Macbook is a great update. Lack of ports, no SD slot, no USB, need to carry around dongle if you need to use a device and charge your macbook.....

I'm lying, it wasn't a great update, it was an awful update.

The current MB was an attempt by the Apple top brass to capture the spirit of the original MBA but they failed miserably. A measly one port? What were they thinking because it's not what Steve would have done.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Low-power processors are still about 1.5-2 years away from offering enough power to make the MacBook an everyday machine. Icelake and it’s successor should do wonders for the MacBook!

 

[sdz]

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?

There is this clever comment from "Count Blah" and his old mom.

Definitely a game changer in the industry and it was something we all needed to move on from legacy tech. I never had an Air, but went from a MacBook Pro to the MacBook to iPad Pro. I think the iPad Pro is what it is today based on the progressive nature of the Air.

And there is this guy (again) spreading nonsense about the iPad.

 

[DNichter]

There is this clever comment from "Count Blah" and his old mom.



And there is this guy (again) spreading nonsense about the iPad.

What nonsense?

 

[sdz]

What nonsense?

"I think the iPad Pro is what it is today based on the progressive nature of the Air."

Those are two completely different product lines. As if Porsche for example thinks about the evolution of the 911 Carrera while looking at their Bicycle offerings...