Regain clarity with CleanMyPhone by MacPaw — the new AI-powered cleaning app that quickly identifies and removes blurred images, screenshots, and other clutter from your device. Download it now with a free trial.
Yesterday’s introduction of the M3 MacBook Air meant the discontinuation of the M1 MacBook Air – and with it, the very last of the models to retain the iconic wedge shape …
The wedge shape of the original MacBook Air was first seen in public in Steve Job’s famous reveal from the envelope (below), and it remained an instantly-recognizable feature all the way through to the M1 model.
The tapered design not only made the machine look thinner than it really was – because our eye was drawn to the thin end of that wedge – but it gave the MacBook Air a really cute look which many of us instantly loved.
It’s a design approach which was later copied by PC laptop brands, but none of them succeeded in looking anything like the real deal.
The Verge’s Victoria Song said the loss of the design in Apple’s line-up saddened her.
Now, it really is the end of the wedge era and I can’t help but feel bereft […]
I still feel the same fuzzy feeling when I unzip my backpack and see that wedge waiting in the laptop sleeve.
Though, it’s more than nebulous design preferences. To me, the wedge represented a clear and distinct identity for the Air.
I must confess, I kinda feel the same way. I still have an elderly MacBook Air gathering dust in a drawer, my excuse for keeping it being that I can’t do my job without a Mac, and in case anything ever happened to my MacBook Pro, the Air would tide me over until it was repaired or replaced.
Indeed, exactly that happened back in 2015, and it gave me a renewed appreciation for the machine.
Top comment by PJS
Last summer I bought a 15-inch M2 MacBook Air.
This computer is fantastic and makes me forget about any computer I ever owned prior to it.
The industrial design is the best I’ve ever experienced in a notebook computer. It doesn’t need a wedge shape to disguise its thickest poijnt because it is astonishingly thin and sturdy everywhere!
The M2 MacBook Air did away with the wedge in favor of a design that was more MacBook Pro-like, but at least the M1 model was still sitting there in the line-up.
All that changed yesterday, however. The M1 MacBook Air is gone, leaving the 13-inch M2 model, and the 13- and 15-inch M3 models. The wedge is no more.
Do you also miss it? Please take our poll, and share your thoughts in the comments.
Photo: Kris Mendoza | Background: Alexander Grey on Unsplash
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments