since its release in 2008 the macbook
air has seen some incredible changes
it actually went from being one of
apple's most expensive notebooks
at eighteen hundred dollars in 2008 to
being the most affordable at 1 000 today
but none of that happened without a
little criticism and controversy along
the way
so in this video we're going to take a
look at the history of apple's most
popular notebook the macbook air this is
greg with apple explained
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so the macbook air debuted in 2008 when
apple decided to compete in a new
category of notebooks called ultra
portables
there were already many pcs in this
space but apple thought they could do it
better with the
air in fact steve jobs outlined the
industry
averages for ultra portables at the time
with
most weighing in at 3 pounds achieving a
thinness of about
0.8 inches featuring 11 or 12 inch
displays
compact miniature keyboards and
underpowered
processors he admitted a three pound
notebook would be a good target
considering the 2008 macbook was five
pounds
but he didn't want to make compromises
to achieve that goal
he wanted apple to create an ultra
portable that was even
thinner with a full-sized display and
full-size keyboard
and a powerful processor and that's
exactly what they accomplished with the
air and it's why the product was so
disruptive
it featured a level of thinness that was
genuinely shocking
just listen to the audience's reaction
to seeing it for the first time
[Applause]
the original macbook air was just 0.16
inches at its thinnest point which was
not only dramatically thinner than
any other ultra portable but almost 90
percent thinner than apple's
other macbook models it was a dream
designed for travelers and business
people who carried around their
notebooks
often and used them on flights but the
air's radical new design
did require a few compromises first it
didn't have a cd
drive which some people went crazy over
i remember people saying why would
anyone buy a computer that can't burn
cds play dvds or even install
software from disks that's crazy and
while that may have been a deal breaker
for a few people
apple tried their best at remedying
those issues
for example they created a software
solution called remote disk
where a mac with a disk drive could
share it with the air
allowing it to install software from a
disk over a wireless network
but of course this required the user to
have access to another mac
second apple introduced a hardware
solution with their external usb
superdrive which retailed for 80 dollars
and continues to be sold today
with this accessory users could simply
plug in the superdrive when they needed
it
and left it behind when they didn't but
the lack of a disk drive wasn't the only
compromise
the air also featured an 80 gigabyte
hard drive
which was painfully small even back then
considering the 2008 macbook offered 120
gigabytes
and the macbook pro offered 200. i
actually remember tech reviewers back
then complaining about how difficult it
was to transition from their macbook pro
to the air
since they had to pick and choose which
files they'd include on the smaller hard
drive
and which they'd leave behind and this
is an issue mac users still have today
which is why i recommend using
cleanmymac x to clear out old clutter
and prepare it for new mac os releases
like big sur coming this fall
macs do accumulate junk files that you
may have only needed temporarily
but permanently take up space that's why
i run a smart scan on my macbook
pro every week which removes about 10
gigabytes of clutter
every time it also helps you view and
manage application permissions
scans your system to identify and remove
any malware
and gives you an overview of what files
and applications are taking up the most
space so you can easily remove large
files you don't need
you can try out clean my mac x for free
using the link in the description
and if you like the product the upgrade
is only
dollars annually now you might be
thinking why didn't customers just
upgrade to a larger hard drive on the
original macbook air if they needed more
space
and it's because there was only one
upgrade option which got you
even less space 64 gigabytes instead of
80.
and while it doesn't make sense that
you'd pay more for less space
it all came down to performance the
included 80 gigabyte hard drive was much
slower and more fragile than the 64
gigabyte
solid-state drive but ssd technology at
the time was still in its early stages
and therefore came at a premium
upgrading the air to that 64 gigabyte
ssd
cost an extra 1
dollars and yes that's on top of the
notebooks eighteen hundred dollar base
price
totaling three thousand one hundred
dollars and that's something else many
people today
may not realize the macbook air wasn't
apple's low-cost
notebook like it is today in fact at
eighteen hundred dollars
it was closer in price to the two
thousand dollar macbook pro
than the eleven hundred dollar macbook
so for many people
the macbook air appeared to be a
terrible value
because based on specs alone you were
paying more for less
compared to the macbook which was 700
cheaper
you were getting less power less storage
less
ports and no disk drive but as i always
say
products are more than a box of specs
you have to consider the experience they
deliver
and the macbook air delivered an
experience that no
other notebook could it was super light
super thin super portable and with the
optional ssd
super fast and durable and because of
those strengths
many people had no problem with its
eighteen hundred dollar price
but controversy surrounding the air went
deeper than this
because apple didn't just release the
macbook air as a side project or a hobby
or to satisfy a few travelers who wanted
a super portable notebook
they referred to it as the future of
apple notebooks
which made a lot of people uncomfortable
because many users liked their huge hard
drives wide array of ports and
integrated disk drives they just
couldn't imagine living without those
things
but the original macbook air really was
a sign of things to come
because since then every apple notebook
has
lost their disk drive adopted solid
state drives
and become thinner and lighter but
what's even more incredible
is how the macbook air has changed its
first refresh came in mid 2009
and addressed some of the original
model's limitations like more processing
power in the base model
128 gigabytes of hard drive storage
better graphics performance
and a lower base price of fifteen
hundred dollars
but the bigger second generation update
came in 2010
and helped position the macbook air to
become apple's best-selling notebook
these models ditched the awkward i o
port door
in favor of an open design and included
an additional usb port
stereo speakers improved battery life
and a higher resolution display
it also featured a 128 gigabyte solid
state drive in the base model which was
a big deal
plus an even lower starting price at
thirteen hundred dollars
but something no one expected was the
addition of an
11 inch model which sold for just one
thousand dollars
making it one of the most affordable
apple notebooks ever
and that's exactly why in 2011 the
macbook air became
apple's best-selling notebook but this
was only the beginning
for the next six years apple continued
to refresh
both macbook air models with updated
processors more memory
and even reduced their pricing every
year until 2014
when their costs settled at one thousand
dollars for the thirteen inch model
and just nine hundred dollars for the
eleven inch
so in just six years the macbook air
went from being a premium notebook that
mini considered a rip-off
to becoming the most affordable and
best-selling apple notebook
ever now unfortunately all the air's
price reductions it received over the
years caught up with it in 2018
when apple decided to raise its price
for the first time ever
by 200. plus they eliminated the more
affordable
11 inch model which meant the price of
apple's cheapest notebook went from 900
with the 11 inch air
to 1200 with the new 13-inch model
something
many people voiced frustration over but
at least the macbook air's price hike
was accompanied by a big
upgrade it received a new design for the
first time in eight years which was even
thinner and lighter than before along
with a retina display
touch id and two usb-c ports
there was another refresh in 2019 where
apple added a true tone display and
butterfly keyboard
and dropped the price by 100 to 1100
its price dropped again in march of this
year to 1000
and apple switched out the butterfly
keyboard which was experiencing
durability issues
to what they call a magic keyboard which
uses traditional scissor mechanisms for
each key
since they're not only more durable but
provide more travel
so as it stands today the macbook air is
apple's most affordable notebook
and in my opinion the best value macbook
ever which would probably shock some
people if you told them that back in
2008
and if you are planning on buying one i
highly recommend
upgrading its processor from the
standard dual core i3
to the quad core i5 it'll make the
machine twice as powerful
increase its longevity and it's only a
hundred dollars
more which will be cancelled out if you
qualify for apple's education discount
of a hundred dollars
which will bring the price back down to
a thousand anyway
alright guys thanks for watching till
the end don't forget i do have a podcast
channel that i upload to every friday if
you'd like to hear my thoughts on more
current apple topics
and i'll see you in the next video