New MacBook Air Quietly Fixes This Decades-Long Design Oversight

In a move that probably won't make headlines but should delight detail-oriented Mac users everywhere, Apple has quietly corrected a 26-year-old design inconsistency on its keyboards.

Apple MacBook Air hero
The Mute key, a staple on Mac keyboards since the PowerBook G3 'Lombard' debuted in 1999, has finally received a logical redesign on the new MacBook Air with M4 chip. As spotted by iCulture, the key now displays a speaker with a strike through it – matching the actual on-screen indicator that appears when you press it in macOS.

For over two decades, the Mute key has confusingly shown just a speaker icon, providing no obvious visual indication that it silences your Mac. Meanwhile, pressing it would display a completely different but more accurate symbol on screen: a speaker with a line through it. To be fair, it is a toggle key that both mutes and un-mutes audio, but the new mute icon more recognizably informs what the key does – just like on the Apple TV Remote.

old mac keyboard mute

Mute key symbol on previous Mac keyboards

This small but meaningful correction resolves a surprising design inconsistency that has persisted through countless keyboard iterations across dozens of Mac models.

new mac keyboard mute

Mute key symbol on new ‌MacBook Air‌

The redesigned Mute key isn't limited to the ‌MacBook Air‌, either. The new iPad Air's Magic Keyboard also incorporates the corrected icon. In fact, you could call this a "double upgrade" for ‌iPad Air‌ users, as previous Magic Keyboard models have lacked function keys entirely.

The keyboard change is typical of Apple's meticulous attention to detail, even if it took more than a quarter-century to implement.

It seems likely that all future Mac models will adopt this revised Mute key design. The next expected release, a MacBook Pro with M5 chip anticipated around October, will presumably incorporate the updated key icon.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Related Forum: MacBook Air

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Top Rated Comments

Enclavean Avatar
17 weeks ago
Post title made this sound so much more dramatic than what it was lol
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ChrisMac47 Avatar
17 weeks ago
Wow! That's what I call innovation!
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fwmireault Avatar
17 weeks ago
I’m so glad they’ve finally fixed this. The MacBooks were completely unusable until today.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JSRinUK Avatar
17 weeks ago

For over two decades, the Mute key has confusingly shown just a speaker icon, providing no visual indication that it silences your Mac.
I didn’t realise I was supposed to be confused by this. I shall go back to my MacBook and be confused immediately! ;)
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SVTmaniac Avatar
17 weeks ago
Can’t imagine the amount of courage a change like this took. Innovation in its finest!
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThisIsHowITakeMyEggs Avatar
17 weeks ago
I registered an account just to make this incredibly pedantic point: “In a move that probably won't make headlines but should delight detail-oriented Mac users everywhere” It’s literally in the headline right there. In the article for detail oriented Mac users.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)