Apple MacBook Air M1 officially discontinued, putting the iconic wedge-design to rest

For years, the MacBook Air has painted a pretty clear picture of the ultimate thin-and-light laptop. While the newer MacBook Air laptops, including the recently launched MacBook Air M3 series still follow this formula, what set the iconic MacBook Air look in stone was the original wedge-design on the laptops, last seen on the MacBook Air M1.

Now, Apple is retiring that very MacBook Air, officially putting to rest the older MacBook Air design. This means you can no longer buy the MacBook Air from Apple. Launched first in 2008, the original MacBook Air was one of the later designs introduced to the world by then CEO Steve Jobs, before his untimely passing.

Why the MacBook Air wedge-design was so sought after

The MacBook Air wedge-design is one of the examples of an Apple product inspiring countless other products. The Air’s tapered edges quickly became the defining trait of thin-and-light laptops around the world, and many brands adopted their own versions of the design for their laptops.

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Apple was never the first brand to adopt this design either, with brands like Sony having already made commercial laptops that were sloping towards the user when set flat on a desk. However, it was the 2008 MacBooks that popularised the design, partly due to how thin Apple managed to make the design.

This was even cleverly presented during the launch, as Steve Jobs pulled out the first MacBook Air from an inter-office envelope. Jobs also mentioned how the thickest part of the wedge-shaped Air was still thinner than the thinnest part of previous laptops to adopt the design.

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While small changes have been made to the Air design since, the wedge-shaped design had been a staple till the 2020 MacBook Air M1, even though the series threw in a new fan-less cooling mechanism.

Can you still buy the M1 MacBook Air?

Having said all that, at the time of writing this story, the M1 MacBook Air continues to be available at Croma. You can visit croma.com or the closest store to get your hands on the laptop. You might want to hurry though as the stocks could run out very soon.

Now, with the wedge-design left in the past, Apple hopefully opens the door to the next major step in portable computing. Oh, wait a minute, that’s where the Apple Vision Pro comes in!