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Steve Jobs Introduced the MacBook Air Exactly 10 Years Ago Today
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Agreed. I bought a 2013 max-spec Air, and the thing is still rock solid today. In hindsight, it makes me wonder why I upgraded to a 2017 15 inch touch bar MBP
I love watching the old SteveNotes. He just had such an honest, heartfelt joy for the products the company was selling. Something as simple as introducing the Macbook Air in a manila envelope was genius. He was the greatest salesman on the planet.
Why is the MacBook Air the best Allrounder laptop ever made:
1) the longest battery life with a decent cpu
2) the best non-tiring and quiet Keyboard for extended typing sessions
3) enough ports to interface with most encountered peripherals
4) light enough to not worry about carrying in backpack for a full day
5) classic design that’s defined the ultra portable segment
6) adequate screen for mobile work and DisplayPort for interfacing with up to 4K Color accurate Monitors to satisfy pro photographers
7) current price!
Furthermore, you can renew the battery without needing a heat gun, upgrade the SSD with the 2015+ models enjoying fast PCIe 4x xfer speeds.
It may be Apple’s entry-level model these days but it covers what most average mobile users need.
1) the longest battery life with a decent cpu
2) the best non-tiring and quiet Keyboard for extended typing sessions
3) enough ports to interface with most encountered peripherals
4) light enough to not worry about carrying in backpack for a full day
5) classic design that’s defined the ultra portable segment
6) adequate screen for mobile work and DisplayPort for interfacing with up to 4K Color accurate Monitors to satisfy pro photographers
7) current price!
Furthermore, you can renew the battery without needing a heat gun, upgrade the SSD with the 2015+ models enjoying fast PCIe 4x xfer speeds.
It may be Apple’s entry-level model these days but it covers what most average mobile users need.
Obsessively thin, under powered, skimpy storage, expensive, and a single USB port. If it were released today, it's the perfect example of what would have people screaming that "Steve never would have done this!"
It was good for what it was. Portable and sufficient for light workloads. The new Macbook is a worthy replacement, with a great retina screen.
It was good for what it was. Portable and sufficient for light workloads. The new Macbook is a worthy replacement, with a great retina screen.
Frankly we shouldn't care about this product because Apple doesn't.
The Original MacBook Air is "obsolete". Apple doesn't support it, and it is vulnerable to Meltdown, Spectre, and KRACK.
The Original MacBook Air is "obsolete". Apple doesn't support it, and it is vulnerable to Meltdown, Spectre, and KRACK.
Yes, Apple reduces prices. Over just the last 12-15 months there were plenty of price cuts.
1) It is common for Apple to reduce prices for a prior generation product after a new generation is released. iPhones and Apple Watch are easy examples.
2) Sometimes they drop prices to shore up waning demand for a product, even without a new generation having been released. Price cuts to the iPad and iPad Pro in Nov 2016 and the iPad mini 4 last March, for instance. The cuts to the Mac Pro last April are another example that comes to mind.
3) Sometimes costs drop and/or Apple wants to encourage customers to buy a certain option, and will cut the price. For instance, 512GB/1TB SSD upgrades came down a couple hundred dollars in late 2016.
4) Occasionally Apple will cut prices (often temporarily) to increase customer satisfaction, especially after a PR hit. USB-C adapters in Nov 2016 and iPhone battery replacement fee dropping from $79 to $29 last December are obvious examples.
5) Sometimes Apple will re-engineer a product to cut costs, especially to create demand at a new, lower price point. The iPhone SE is a decent example of that, $399 at intro in 2016 and it dropped further to $349 last September. A better example might the $329 2017 9.7” iPad, when previously $499 had been the lowest priced iPad in that form factor.
Rarely, Apple will get new product pricing wrong, but it’s rare to see price cuts due to that. It was over 10 years ago the original iPhone was reduced from $599 to $399, about 8 months after its introduction. I don’t remember a similar price correction recently.
btw AirPods were actually underpriced (another Apple rarity), resulting in a lack of inventory and shipping delays for the better part of a year after their introduction. They ramped supply but demand seemed to continually outpace their forecasts.
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It seems like Apple's product line was an attempt to fill Steve's needs. He was user #1.
Without him, Apple is lost. Sure they make lots of money, but they've lost their mojo.
The only hope is that it's Apple. It's reinvented itself so many times that it's in Apple's DNA. It just needs someone to take charge.
What ever happened to those Apple University courses that taught Apple's methodology? They should put those on iTunes U so the rest of us can benefit.
Without him, Apple is lost. Sure they make lots of money, but they've lost their mojo.
The only hope is that it's Apple. It's reinvented itself so many times that it's in Apple's DNA. It just needs someone to take charge.
What ever happened to those Apple University courses that taught Apple's methodology? They should put those on iTunes U so the rest of us can benefit.
Though the very first MacBook Air can no longer run a supported OS, the 31 subsequent models of the MBA, all the way back to those released in October 2008, are still supported. So I guess we can keep caring about those, if not the original.
It's hilarious how people are praising Steve Jobs today.
Go back to the day the original Macbook Air was announced, the story was different. Many were complaining about the lack of optical drive, ethernet jack, firewire, etc. Worse, there's only 1 single USB2 port that were put inside a hatch, making it difficult for certain plugs. Then there are the overheating complaints and how the laptop throttled down. All these issues are not fixed until Apple redesigned the Macbook Air.
Heck, even on the redesigned second gen, still under Steve Jobs, the first revised Macbook Air (which design is used until today) lacks backlit keyboard and used a core 2 Duo (instead of the core i series).
So I don't get the utter hatred towards Tim Cook today. The only difference is that the it seems Steve Jobs emitted a much much stronger reality distortion field than Cook. The retina Macbook imo is a great spiritual successor of the Macbook Air. And for those complaining about ports, watch again the keynote in the article about the wireless vision that Jobs talked about. Tim Cook only fulfilled what Steve Jobs visioned. The original Macbook Air featured only 1 USB port, hidden in a hatch to streamline the look. Jobs caved to the mass market wanting more ports, so we have the beloved second gen Macbook Air. The retina Macbook only solidified what Jobs started, streamlined look, 1 port.
Go back to the day the original Macbook Air was announced, the story was different. Many were complaining about the lack of optical drive, ethernet jack, firewire, etc. Worse, there's only 1 single USB2 port that were put inside a hatch, making it difficult for certain plugs. Then there are the overheating complaints and how the laptop throttled down. All these issues are not fixed until Apple redesigned the Macbook Air.
Heck, even on the redesigned second gen, still under Steve Jobs, the first revised Macbook Air (which design is used until today) lacks backlit keyboard and used a core 2 Duo (instead of the core i series).
So I don't get the utter hatred towards Tim Cook today. The only difference is that the it seems Steve Jobs emitted a much much stronger reality distortion field than Cook. The retina Macbook imo is a great spiritual successor of the Macbook Air. And for those complaining about ports, watch again the keynote in the article about the wireless vision that Jobs talked about. Tim Cook only fulfilled what Steve Jobs visioned. The original Macbook Air featured only 1 USB port, hidden in a hatch to streamline the look. Jobs caved to the mass market wanting more ports, so we have the beloved second gen Macbook Air. The retina Macbook only solidified what Jobs started, streamlined look, 1 port.
I miss SteveSteve was the best on stage.
Even AMD is vulnerable to Spectre, and just about everything Intel is vulnerable to all of the above. The hardware snafu with Minix and predictive execution is industry-wide. It will affect future hardware design, current hardware performance, and overall marketing of Intel driven products right now on the shelf waiting to be sold. That 8th generation I7 hot laptop is about to go bargain.
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A synopsis - Jobs and Gates over the years:
My 2014 MBA is still going strong. When it croaks it I’ll have to get the 12 inch MacBook but it’s not a patch on the MBA.
Still using the mid-2011 13" i7 1.8Ghz (4GB RAM 256GB SSD, max. config.) hooked up to a 24-inch display. Looks like new and battery is absolutely ok for its age. If it wasn't for the RAM limitations and the (now) slow internal graphics, I'd keep it for another two years. Never had a computer that has held up this well.
6.5 hours of real world usage is still pretty good, even compared to the newest macs.
And people should listen to Jobs where he said to stop looking backwards and to invent for tomorrow.
And Apple is still that. Yet we want a PC box from Apple?