March 2021 • Macworld 17in the days of the 11-
and 13in MacBook Air
models, I preferred
the 11in model. Casual
observers of the
MacBook Air might
not realize that it
downsized during
the transition to
the Retina display
model, but it did. The
Retina MacBook
Air measures
304.1x212.4x16.1mm
and weighs 1.29kg.
In fact, the Retina MacBook Air
is only 4.1mm wider than the 11in Air.
That’s not nothing, but it’s much
closer to the size of the 11in Air than
the 13in model. It’s deeper, to be sure
(10.4mm), so it’s not quite halfway
between the two models in that
dimension. In terms of weight, the
1.29kg Retina MacBook Air is slightly
heavier than the 1.08kg 11in Air.
What I’m saying is, users of the old
13in MacBook Air have found that the
Retina model is a little bit lighter and
more compact, which is great. But
former 11in MacBook Air users like
me will find switching to the modern
MacBook Air a bit disconcerting. It’s
better than the old 13in model that
we opted against, but it’s not as goodas the old model, either. Fortunately,
Apple has already designed a Retina
successor to the 11in MacBook Air.BRING BACK THE
MACBOOK
When it first appeared, many of us
thought that the 12in Retina MacBook
was a preview of the Apple silicon
Mac revolution to come, all thin and
light and fanless. It wasn’t. Instead, it
was powered by slow, low-power Intel
processors and was discontinued a
couple of years before Apple finally
made the move to its own chips.
And yet the MacBook’s dimensions
make it clear that there’s still a smaller
Mac laptop to be made. Measuring
280.5x196.5x13.1mm and weighing
920g, the MacBook was smaller andThe 2016 MacBook.March 2021 • Macworld 17in the days of the 11-
and 13in MacBook Air
models, I preferred
the 11in model. Casual
observers of the
MacBook Air might
not realize that it
downsized during
the transition to
the Retina display
model, but it did. The
Retina MacBook
Air measures
304.1x212.4x16.1mm
and weighs 1.29kg.
In fact, the Retina MacBook Air
is only 4.1mm wider than the 11in Air.
That’s not nothing, but it’s much
closer to the size of the 11in Air than
the 13in model. It’s deeper, to be sure
(10.4mm), so it’s not quite halfway
between the two models in that
dimension. In terms of weight, the
1.29kg Retina MacBook Air is slightly
heavier than the 1.08kg 11in Air.
What I’m saying is, users of the old
13in MacBook Air have found that the
Retina model is a little bit lighter and
more compact, which is great. But
former 11in MacBook Air users like
me will find switching to the modern
MacBook Air a bit disconcerting. It’s
better than the old 13in model that
we opted against, but it’s not as good
as the old model, either. Fortunately,
Apple has already designed a Retina
successor to the 11in MacBook Air.BRING BACK THE
MACBOOK
When it first appeared, many of us
thought that the 12in Retina MacBook
was a preview of the Apple silicon
Mac revolution to come, all thin and
light and fanless. It wasn’t. Instead, it
was powered by slow, low-power Intel
processors and was discontinued a
couple of years before Apple finally
made the move to its own chips.
And yet the MacBook’s dimensions
make it clear that there’s still a smaller
Mac laptop to be made. Measuring
280.5x196.5x13.1mm and weighing
920g, the MacBook was smaller andThe 2016 MacBook.