Newly redesigned MacBook Air laptops are seen displayed during the WWDC at Apple Park on June 06, … More
With the next version of macOS expected to debut during WWDC 20205 in June, Apple will leave behind several older deskbound Macs and the MacBook Air. That will leave a handful of Intel-powered Macs still able to run the latest version of macOS. This is expected to be the MacBook Pro models from 2019 onwards, iMacs from 2020 onwards and Mac Pros from 2019 onwards.
Naturally, all of the Apple Silicon-powered Mac hardware remain current.
Which MacBook Air Models Will Disappear?
It’s worth noting that while the professionally focused Intel Macs remain inside the support window, Apple has removed the consumer-focused MacBook Air.
Given the comparatively low processing power of their Intel Core chipsets and the heavy demands being placed on modern computing thanks to generative AI and other processor-intensive artificial intelligence techniques, the MacBook Airs have finally passed the point where they simply can’t accommodate Apple’s vision of a modern operating system. Even the 2020 MacBook Pro laptops will be struggling and owners should expect this to be the last update they will see.
The Power Of The MacBook Air M1
This speaks to Apple’s decision to introduce Apple Silicon across the full range of Mac hardware. Back in 2020, the increased power and performance of the M1 saw the entry-level MacBook Air leap ahead of the Intel-powered competition. That advantage has been clawed back now, but it allows Apple to fully support those older machines with the upcoming version of macOS.
It has taken time, but Tim Cook and his team are close to ending their dependency on Intel and the excess resources required to support two platforms in macOS. One more year, and the focus can be 100 percent on its own proprietary platform and leverage all the advantages that this offers.
Now read the latest MacBook Air, MacOS and iPhone headlines in Forbes’ weekly Apple news digest…
