Steve Jobs unveiled the MacBook Air - and Apple's future - 10 years ago today
When Steve Jobs showed off the MacBook Air to a collective gasp from the tech industry one decade ago, nobody could yet know its importance as a harbinger of Apple's future.
The original, teardrop-shaped MacBook Air was not long for this world. It was expensive, underpowered, prone to overheating, and came with a fiddly flip-down door that hid its meagre selection of ports.
None of that mattered.
The MacBook Air that Steve Jobs slid with his characteristic flourish out of manila envelope was seemingly designed to be as much an object of lust and technical showpiece as it was a shipping product.
Its svelte physique was made possible in part by Apple's innovations in production-scale CNC machining, a practice now widely used but unheard of in consumer products of the day. The bespoke Intel chip whose descendents would later power an avalanche of ultrabooks was, for that moment in time, an unbeatable technological advantage.
Yes, it was Apple's way of saying "shut up about netbooks," but it wouldn't be until the 2010 release of the second-generation Air with better processor options and more ports that the laptop truly came into its own. That first MacBook Air was for something different - it was a coming out party.
It was a bold pronouncement of Apple's mobile-first future.
The company no longer saw people chained to a desk. It saw work (and play!) being done in the living room, on a beanbag, in a park, or in the sky.
To be sure, inklings of that vision were first revealed with the iPhone a year earlier. It took the MacBook Air, though, to fully articulate it.
That vision continues to flourish with the iPad, iCloud, larger iPhones, and the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil.
Today, the MacBook Air survives largely thanks to inertia. It never got a Retina display and has been surpassed as Apple's best thin-and-light option by the 12-inch MacBook and even the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Windows-based Ultrabooks perform acrobatics the Air could never dream of.
That means that when the MacBook Air is inevitably removed from shelves, few will mourn its loss as a product. Some of us, though, will remember it fondly as the standard bearer of a new era.
The original, teardrop-shaped MacBook Air was not long for this world. It was expensive, underpowered, prone to overheating, and came with a fiddly flip-down door that hid its meagre selection of ports.
None of that mattered.
The MacBook Air that Steve Jobs slid with his characteristic flourish out of manila envelope was seemingly designed to be as much an object of lust and technical showpiece as it was a shipping product.
Like the now-famous song that came with it, the MacBook Air truly was "a new soul."
Its svelte physique was made possible in part by Apple's innovations in production-scale CNC machining, a practice now widely used but unheard of in consumer products of the day. The bespoke Intel chip whose descendents would later power an avalanche of ultrabooks was, for that moment in time, an unbeatable technological advantage.
Yes, it was Apple's way of saying "shut up about netbooks," but it wouldn't be until the 2010 release of the second-generation Air with better processor options and more ports that the laptop truly came into its own. That first MacBook Air was for something different - it was a coming out party.
It was a bold pronouncement of Apple's mobile-first future.
The company no longer saw people chained to a desk. It saw work (and play!) being done in the living room, on a beanbag, in a park, or in the sky.
To be sure, inklings of that vision were first revealed with the iPhone a year earlier. It took the MacBook Air, though, to fully articulate it.
That vision continues to flourish with the iPad, iCloud, larger iPhones, and the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil.
Today, the MacBook Air survives largely thanks to inertia. It never got a Retina display and has been surpassed as Apple's best thin-and-light option by the 12-inch MacBook and even the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Windows-based Ultrabooks perform acrobatics the Air could never dream of.
That means that when the MacBook Air is inevitably removed from shelves, few will mourn its loss as a product. Some of us, though, will remember it fondly as the standard bearer of a new era.
Comments
It lives on not because of inertia, but because even with higher weight, generations older processor and an outdated screen, the MBA’s longer battery life, additional ports, superior keyboard, reliability and better price make it a vastly better value proposition. Especially for schools.
I can honestly say I have never seen a MacBook outside a shop, while MBAs are everywhere.
edit PS: I don’t have to wait until it is removed from shop shelves to mourn the loss of the MBA. The MBA/MacBook comparison is a symbol all on its own of the state of the Mac today.
One other thing to add to my rant: The iPad Pro could eventually replace the MBA, once it gets proper file management, and the ability to access peripherals as easily as a laptop (you know, widely used ports). iOS 11 helps, but the circle is still only one quarter closed.
While todays machine are nice... IMO they are 90%-er machines and did not seem that way before. Don't need that this or that for one reason or another because only 10%(or what ever) use that feature. So in the end its a hunk a metal with poor keyboard and a great screen... and oodles of dongles! I mean come on--- Apple, you got rid of the magsafe!!! (granted there is a 3rd party version to use with TB3... another dongle!!!)
The MBA could fill that void left in the rush to the ultra thin & light laptop with few ports....
... That may be old fashioned and I know that Apple doesn't go that way -- but I suspect that there are many who would welcome an updated version...
I bought a new MBP with Touchbar and as superior as it is to all other notebooks I've ever owned (it's my 2nd MBP), I long for an updated MacBook Air with a Retina display. Had they just put in a retina display, that would have been a good start. I don't understand Apple's mentality for not updating the MBA to compliment the rest of their notebook offering.
The dongles are only optional and for various use cases. Just like the ethernet port dongle on the entire line which nobody is whining about.
Just like the pundits critical of Face ID who said the exact same shit about Touch ID when it launched. The haters and critics just never learn.
Whaaaat!? You’re crazy! It’s STILL a great machine. I have the early 2015 13” MBA and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I would definitely pass up the Pros again (sorry, no MagSafe is the #1 deal-breaker for me) and buy another MBA if they updated it. Unfortunately, it seems they are doing away with the “Air” moniker so I will be buying another MBA soon as a backup while they’re still on the shelves. I hate how Apple quietly discontinues products and you only hear about it AFTER you can’t buy it anymore. At least give us a chance to run out and snatch up your remaining inventory, geez. Wouldn’t they rather sell it than take it back?
Otherwise the MacBook is not the MBA people are looking for.
Really? I have never seen one. Somebody must be buying them I suppose. And no, the non touch bar 13 inch is not a replacement, based on price alone. And if I had to buy a lapto today, that would be th model I would get, if I didn’t jump ship to a HP spectre or Dell XPS.
First I’ve heard of battery problems. If you don’t like an ultra portable with few ports, try one of the multiple alternatives. I prefer a MBP myself.
Not upgrading the perfectly serviceable form-factor of the Air with a better screen and timely other guts upgrades sure feels like cut off your nose to spite your face approach to me.
Somewhat like somebody's sig here says, I use gear from all kinds of companies - whatever it takes to meet my needs in a cost-effective, pleasant-enough and good enough way. Apple keeps depending on ecosystem lock in, but I just haven't chosen to use any of their lock-in products. And think that's ultimately gonna turn round and bite 'em. Mac's the last Apple thing I use, and mostly because Windows is still a hot mess.