The MacBook Air Turns 17 Today

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the MacBook Air 17 years ago today at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, captivating audiences with a groundbreaking design that set new industry standards.

MacBook Air 17 Years Feature 1
Jobs famously revealed the ‌MacBook Air‌ by pulling it out of an interoffice envelope to emphasize its unprecedentedly slim profile. The original model featured a 13.3-inch display, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and an optional 64GB solid-state drive, which was a rarity for consumer laptops in 2008, in a sleek aluminum unibody design. It lacked features considered standard at the time, such as an optical drive and Ethernet port. The single headphone, USB, and Micro-DVI ports popped out of a small door on the right of the machine. Jobs said:

We've built the world's thinnest notebook — without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display. When you first see MacBook Air, it's hard to believe it's a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is.

Seventeen years later, the ‌MacBook Air‌ remains a cornerstone of the Mac lineup, providing the entry-level point for customers who want an Apple laptop. In 2020, Apple brought its own custom silicon processor to the ‌MacBook Air‌ in the form of the M1 chip, enabling a massive leap in performance and energy efficiency. It completely redesigned the machine in 2022, and added a 15-inch model in 2024. In the first half of this year, Apple is expected to bring its latest-generation M-series chips to the device.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Related Forum: MacBook Air

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Top Rated Comments

captain kaos Avatar
14 weeks ago
The days of exciting new hardware, shown to us in a really entertaining way....
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Icelus Avatar
14 weeks ago


Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TurboJobo Avatar
14 weeks ago
I dont think Apple or anyone on tech has reveal products like steve jobs. I know it sounds dumb in these days but when he took the laptop out of the yellow envelop that was jaw dropping. The same way he took the iPod out of the small jean pocket asking who ever uses that. We need that again....
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Godspeed8230 Avatar
14 weeks ago
I really miss this design. I also miss the backlit Apple logo, the LED indicator on the charging cable, even those tiny little flaps for winding the power cord around the adapter. And I also miss an actual power button.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BelgianChoklit Avatar
14 weeks ago
I'm sad they got rid of the tapered design. The new MacBook Airs are fantastic, but I did prefer the old design.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tig_one Avatar
14 weeks ago
Incredible how a 17 year old design is still better than today's "design".
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)