Apple Executives Discuss MacBook Air Redesign and Reflect on 12-Inch MacBook

Apple's industrial design chief Evans Hankey and VP of hardware engineering Kate Bergeron recently spoke about the redesigned MacBook Air, the former 12-inch MacBook, and more in an interview with British GQ, spotted by 9to5Mac.

M2 MacBook Air Lifestyle
Hankey has fully led Apple's hardware design since Apple's former design chief Jony Ive departed the company in 2019. Ive remained a consultant to Apple through his independent design firm LoveFrom, but on Tuesday it was reported that Apple and Ive mutually agreed not to renew their contract, marking the end of a 30-year partnership.

The new MacBook Air does away with the notebook's iconic wedge-shaped design in favor of a flatter design, which Hankey described as "quite honest and simple."

"We don't really have to play any kind of games with shape or form to make it look thin," said Hankey, regarding the new design. "And I think that's one of the most lovely and remarkable things: it's quite honest and simple."

Hankey said the new MacBook Air was designed alongside the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models that launched last year. "It was the first time we ever set out to do a family of products together," she remarked.

Hankey also revealed that the MacBook Air's new Midnight finish "came from the volcanic rock Basalt," adding that her dad was a geologist.

As for the 12-inch MacBook, which Apple discontinued in 2019, Bergeron admitted that the notebook had a "polarizing" design for some people.

"It was ahead of its time, on the cutting edge of the USB-C transition and it didn't have MagSafe," said Bergeron. "There were definitely some things that we weren't able to fit into the product, because of its size."

Introduced in March 2015, the 12-inch MacBook featured a thin and light design that weighed just two pounds, and it was also Apple's first notebook with a fanless design and a USB-C port. The original model was powered by Intel's underwhelming Core M processor and introduced Apple's issue-prone butterfly keyboard design.

The new MacBook Air has some similarities with the 12-inch MacBook, including a fanless design, but the MacBook Air is still larger and heavier.

The new MacBook Air launches this Friday, with embargoed reviews of the notebook expected to be published tomorrow. In the United States, pricing starts at $1,199 for a configuration with the M2 chip, 8GB of unified memory, and a 256GB SSD.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Top Rated Comments

ian87w Avatar
19 months ago
The wedge shape design of the Macbook Air is iconic, and it literally set up the whole PC laptop world to utilize that design. I mean every one literally copied the Macbook Air design. The slanted design was also more ergonomic.

Not saying the current design is bad, but it's obvious what Apple is doing. Cutting cost. Designing the Macbook Air alongside the new Macbook Pro will save Apple money in tooling and manufacturing cost. The non-wedge design will also save Apple cost from not having to use layered battery. It's all about cost savings, while selling it for more money. Tim Cook is happy.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
19 months ago
I honestly miss the wedge-shaped/tapered design of the MacBook Air. The wedge-shaped/tapered design is what made the MacBook Air so unique. The New MBA design looks like a slimmer version of the MacBook Pro.

Hopefully, in the future, Apple will consider bringing it back.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ian87w Avatar
19 months ago

There's just not enough "Courage", yet.
Tim Cook already have the courage to sell a 2 year old laptop for the same launch price.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
19 months ago

As for the 12-inch MacBook, which Apple discontinued in 2019 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/09/12-inch-macbook-discontinued-three-years-ago/'), Bergeron admitted that the notebook had a "polarizing" design for some people.

"It was ahead of its time, on the cutting edge of the USB-C transition and it didn't have MagSafe," said Bergeron. "There were definitely some things that we weren't able to fit into the product, because of its size."
So now that we have come further technology wise, particularly what the M1 offers compared to substantially slower dual core Intel processors, what’s stopping you from producing a significant better 12” MacBook?
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
19 months ago

"There were definitely some things that we weren't able to fit into the product, because of its size."
In that case it should have been cheaper than the Air, not more expensive!
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
19 months ago

So now that we have come further technology wise, what’s stopping you from producing a significant better 12” MacBook?
There's just not enough "Courage", yet.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 16 4 Web Push

Apple Confirms Governments Using Push Notifications to Surveil Users

Wednesday December 6, 2023 5:06 am PST by
Unidentified governments are surveilling smartphone users by tracking push notifications that move through Google's and Apple's servers, a US senator warned on Wednesday (via Reuters). In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden said foreign officials were demanding the data from the tech giants to track smartphones. The traffic flowing from apps that send push notifications...
best buy snowflakes

Best Buy's New Weekend Sale Has Record Low Prices on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air

Friday December 8, 2023 7:37 am PST by
Best Buy's month-long holiday sale continues this weekend with multiple all-time low prices on Apple's line of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers. In addition to Apple notebooks, Best Buy's event has discounts sitewide on home appliances, TVs, video games, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive...
iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
beeper mini

Apple Puts a Stop to Beeper Mini's iMessage for Android Feature

Friday December 8, 2023 2:24 pm PST by
Apple appears to have closed the loophole that Beeper Mini used to bring iMessage to Android, putting a stop to blue bubbles from Android devices. Beeper Mini quit working earlier today, with users receiving "failed to lookup on server: lookup request timed out" error messages. Beeper said on Twitter that it is investigating the issue, but Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky told TechCrunch that "all ...
maxresdefault

Review: Two Months With the iPhone 15 Pro Max

Thursday December 7, 2023 12:04 pm PST by
Apple's iPhone 15 lineup came out in September, and while most reviews are done shortly after a new device launches, we like to follow up with a longer term review that gives us an opportunity to provide a deeper dive into what it's like using these phones on a day to day basis for months. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been...
apple watch black friday

Apple Watch Ultra 2 Hits New Record Low Price of $699, Alongside Series 9 and SE Sales

Friday December 8, 2023 8:55 am PST by
Amazon has a few big discounts on Apple Watch today, headlined by a new all-time low price on the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Many of these watches can be delivered by Christmas, with delivery dates around the middle of next week for most models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site ...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 May Reuse Existing iPhone 14 Battery

Wednesday December 6, 2023 1:17 pm PST by
Recently, MacRumors has received details on the battery currently being tested on the upcoming fourth-generation iPhone SE, and the information corroborates previous findings in relation to the device. The iPhone SE 4, known by its device identifier D59, is expected to use the exact same battery found in the base model iPhone 14. Partially assembled prototypes of the next iPhone SE have been ...
iOS 17

35 Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 17.2 Coming Next Week

Wednesday December 6, 2023 5:57 am PST by
Apple made the first beta of iOS 17.2 available to developers in October. Since then we've seen three more betas, and with each iteration Apple continues to add more new features and changes, many of which users have been anticipating for quite a while. Below, we've listed 35 new things that are coming to your iPhone when the finalized version is publicly released in mid-December. 1....