Technology-History
Today, 13 years ago
The first Macbook Air was the beginning of the end of the DVD
Steve Jobs showed off in January 2008, the first Macbook Air
© Jeff Chiu/ / Picture Alliance
15. January 2008 presented Apple’s Macbook Air. It was so slim that it fit in an envelope. However, the thin Notebook caused a lot of Controversy.
It was a simple, but impressive effect: The 15. January 2008, Apple founder Steve Jobs pulled the first Macbook Air from a standard letter envelope. He just wanted to show how thin and slim the Laptop is, you should invent the new. Apple made with the Mabook Air for a boost in the market of ultra-portable Notebooks, which require a low weight and a slim body. 0.4 inches, it measures at its thinnest point, and even at its thickest it was 1.9 centimeters still slimmer than most of the other manufacturers boasted of the Jobs at the time. With the one-piece aluminum machined Unibody casing, it is distinctly different from the plastic Macbooks.
Low weight, less connections
The slim weight was, however, at the cost of many compromises: While the Macbook Air had a full-size keyboard and relatively large screen, but almost all the major ports have been deleted. There was only one USB Port, a Micro-DVI socket and a headphone port. Besides, Apple is renounced for the first Time in a laptop to a optical drive for CDs and DVDs. Instead, an optional external DVD was offered to drive for around 100 euros. This caused a lot of Controversy.
The reactions to the Macbook Air were mixed: The portability for many users, but the few connections, the waiver of the drive, the non-replaceable battery and high price were criticized.
+++ Click here to read: 40 things you probably knew about Apple +++
While Apple corrected some of the weaknesses in later models. The basic principle has not changed, however: The Macbook Air was a harbinger of the wireless future, as presented by the group from Cupertino. Therefore, absent consistently also an Ethernet connection. From the house of Apple in the air could only go by means of Wi-Fi access to the Internet. Who would want to use an Ethernet cable, had to buy a USB Adapter. An issue that many users are familiar with today.
The Macbook Air has been updated
Since then, Apple provoked in this regard, a number of times: The redesigned Macbook from the year 2015 had only one USB-C and a headphone Jack. 2016 Apple dash on the iPhone 7, even the headphone Jack, which was again strong criticism. 2017 has been removed at the iPhone X and even the iconic Home Button. On the sales figures, none of the radical steps had, however, noticeable.
30. October 2018 before the Apple I in New York after a long break, a completely redesigned Version of the MacBook Air for the first time, it’s got a high-resolution Retina screen. This variant was replaced a few weeks ago by a new model with the first in-house Mac-processor that provides a significant Performance increase and, simultaneously, increase battery life (read here the Test of the current Macbook Air with M1 Chip).
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