10 Years of the MacBook Air (theverge.com)

Ten years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the MacBook Air. "Apple's Macworld 2008 was a special one, taking place just days after the annual Consumer Electronics Show had ended and Bill Gates bid farewell to Microsoft," The Verge recalls. "Jobs introduced the MacBook Air by removing it from a tiny paper office envelope, and the crowd was audibly shocked at just how small and thin it was..." From the report: At the time, rivals had thin and light laptops on the market, but they were all around an inch thick, weighed 3 pounds, and had 8- or 11-inch displays. Most didn't even have full-size keyboards, but Apple managed to create a MacBook Air with a wedge shape so that the thickest part was still thinner than the thinnest part of the Sony TZ Series -- one of the thinnest laptops back in 2008. It was a remarkable feat of engineering, and it signaled a new era for laptops. Apple ditched the CD drive and a range of ports on the thin MacBook Air, and the company introduced a multi-touch trackpad and SSD storage. There was a single USB 2.0 port, alongside a micro-DVI port and a headphone jack. It was minimal, but the price was not. Apple's base MacBook Air cost $1,799 at the time, an expensive laptop even by today's standards.

Comments

Best *laptop* I've ever owned

[mykepredko]

When I say *laptop* I use it for email, presentations, business operations and demonstrations. I don't use it for software development or any kind of network or processor intensive tasks.

It's thin, light, rugged with a good screen. Works well with projectors with 6+ hours of battery life (after four years). Microsoft Office's operation is fair (but I think that's more of Microsoft's issue than Apple's OS X).

I'm not an Apple guy (although I am a vehement Win 10 hater), just that this laptop has done what I've needed of it for years for my business, in a variety of different locations (and countries) without a glitch or problem of any kind.

Re:Best *laptop* I've ever owned

[Midnight Thunder]

When I say *laptop* I use it for email, presentations, business operations and demonstrations. I don't use it for software development or any kind of network or processor intensive tasks.

It's thin, light, rugged with a good screen. Works well with projectors with 6+ hours of battery life (after four years). Microsoft Office's operation is fair (but I think that's more of Microsoft's issue than Apple's OS X).

I'm not an Apple guy (although I am a vehement Win 10 hater), just that this laptop has done what I've needed of it for years for my business, in a variety of different locations (and countries) without a glitch or problem of any kind.

There are plenty of people who do use the MacBook Air for development and it does well. Maybe this is more amongst web developers?

Back in 2014 I bought my MacBook Air because I needed to replace my ageing MacBook Pro that had suffered a coffee spill and I was on a tight budget, but still wanted to stay with an Apple branded computer. We are now in 2018 and it is still doing a good enough job. Certainly if graphics processing matters then it isn't a great choice, but otherwise it is a good general use computer. I am a developer and I use mine mainly for NodeJS and Java development.

I wish they were still trying

[silverkniveshotmail.]

They really don't give a damn about anything that runs OS X these days and it's a shame. You'd think with all the money they have they'd be willing to take some risks and innovate.

Re: I wish they were still trying

[jellomizer]

Actually cutting costs is a game to prolong failure.
Gateway 2000 back in the early to mid 1990s were well known for its quality. Sure they cost a bit more but it was worth the extra price. Then they started to cust costs and make cheaper products which made people to hate the product.
Dell in the mid 1990s to mid 00. Play the same story.
Mid 00 - mid teens Apple has the spot.
Now the question what is the quality computer line up that is coming up next?
Lenovo the think pad line has consistently kept its quality. HP? Acer? Microsoft?

In general while the tech crowd is more or less happy with getting a lot of cheap hardware. Most consumers want a good piece of hardware even if it costs extra money and even if it has a higher total cost of ownership.
Because we can get a computer at half the cost and during its lifetime we just need to replace half of its components. We still save money. But that is for the people who likes to fix these things. For average person such issues stress them out and having to fix their box is scary and resent having bought the product in the first place.

Re:How many of them still boot and run on battery?

[another_twilight]

Glued in batteries, soldered down RAM and flash storage are all complicit in the prime example of planned obsolescence.

Or a recognition that the need to constantly upgrade CPU/RAM/storage has slowed to the point where a decently specced laptop can remain useful for years without needing anything upgraded.

Most people do not open their laptops to upgrade anything. Of those that do, most will only do so to add RAM and even then will not do it themselves. Those who want or need a machine that they can maintain themselves are a small niche that's growing smaller, even if we've been around longer than what is now the majority - people who want a laptop as an appliance.

The Air is not aimed at you. Or me. Or a bunch of folk on this site. But there's a large chunk of people for whom it's ideal and very well designed for _their_ needs. Serviceability is not a priority to that market segment and that has nothing to do with planned obsolescence.