Is the original MacBook Air usable in 2021?
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- Опубліковано 2 кві 2021
- This video is sponsored by Dashlane! Try Dashlane for free on your first device; head to www.dashlane.com/miani and if you decide to upgrade to premium use my code MIANI for 10% off
It's been 13 years since the first generation MacBook Air went on sale, and it has not aged well if I'm honest... in today's video we're going to take a look back at this very unusual device and see if it can still be used in 2021!
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What do you think? Is this thing still good in 2021? Or was it even good to begin with? Also, check out Dashlane for free on your first device! head to www.dashlane.com/miani
There's a patcher for macOS Big Sur on older unsupported devices........
What about 2010 MacBook 15" in 2021 ??????????
put this against my shitty intel celeron dell laptop, it'll probably beat it
@@iPodee I really doubt that
I think it was good if you either wanted to flex your thin metal laptop to all the peasants who know nothing about computers or if you just didn't care about performance like at all and wanted something really thin and portable (and didn't need more than one usb port XD)
My daily driver laptop for the past few years is a mid 2007 MacBook 2,1 and it's been serving me very well. I obviously don't use snow leopard or lion because those OSs are both horribly outdated and anything newer would require a lot of effort to get working, not to mention they would also be way too resource intensive, so I use 32 bit Windows 7 and I can do almost everything I need - even gaming lol. But I mostly play DOS games and games like GTA San Andreas, the Sims 1 to 3 and maybe a bit of online halo combat evolved now and then. Great laptop, it's my baby.
Edit: and thank goodness I can kind of play Minecraft😂
"So you basically spent 3500 bucks on an iPod with a furnace in it" I literally spilled my coffee when you said that. LOL.
On your Macbook? 🤣🤣🤣
Lmfao! 😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@cgi2173 The macbook cooled down because of it
@@gauravgarg8990 underrated comment :D
@@gauravgarg8990 HAHAHAHAHAHA
I just remember the envelope shot... truly epic!
my mind was blown
Ipod Specs with a screen lol and iPad had mos more balls
@@pablonaranjo also that was 2008
Yeah it’s funny how that envelope shot turns out to be a university gift for a generation
I worked at the Apple Store when this thing came out. I agree that it was very much like a beta test or proof of concept. We all knew it sucked but we all loved it and some customers would come to the store just to see it. So in that respect I'd say it was a success. Sucks for those that actually bought it though what with all the hinge issues and throttling.
@@markodern789 u dont have to attack people personally like that! the person just said that it sucked back then! did not say anything else ! dont be a fuckkkking boomber bully like that !
It was super light & likewise made for light tasks, no other laptop came close design wise at the time. I had it and I loved it! 🤑🥰
I can't imagine the disappointment some people had after dropping $3000 on this machine back in the day.
@@nnnnnn3647 I didn't think about that. Did you purchase one of these early airs?
I actually did buy this back in 2008. I remember carrying it around in my backpack instead of my 15 inch 2007 MacBook Pro. I mainly used it in college for taking notes and study, browsing the internet when I had some time off, listening to music and play some games. It was ok. Personally, I bought it for the portability and I wasn't disappointed. Granted, when I say "playing games", what I really mean is watching frames drop as I wished to play games, but okay. I could still slap it in a backpack and carry it around on buses and trains and in class and it didn't really weigh that much. It had its highlights.
Just get a pro instead
to be fair, most computers back then had pretty similar specs to this. i doubt anyone was nearly as disappointed as luke is making it seem.
@@vihaansingha8340 ?
I remember having the option to go from a 500GB HDD to a 120GB SSD on my 2011 MacBook for $500.
What did you choose
Wait, isn't this the MacBook Air that you bought by accident?
Edit: 4:21 love how you edit in the Mac boot Chime
Nope, that was a 2009
@@imeepysleepy Oohhhh
by accident*
@@jonnymaxwell1537 right. Imma change it
It's really interesting to compare this to my 2015 macbook air, cuz you can really see how they kept the good things from this original one (basically just the overall design) but then updated everything else to make it an actually decent computer with ports and a good hard drive and processor and stuff. In this way, this first one really was like beta and then they were able to iron out the kinks in future generations of MacBook airs.
Well I wouldn’t say _good_ processor. If you got the i5 basically everything runs at least somewhat badly and at >105° or the i7 running better but at >120°. And it was still really expensive. But I do agree the ports are pretty good and it’s still ok for some moderate stuff, even gaming as long as you don’t mind burning your lap occasionally.
For some reason the screen on this looks vibrant like a Retina one despite the fact every 2015/2017 non-retina MacBook Air I see in real life being incredibly washed out with terrible viewing angles.
@@User-cb4jm it’s probably because it’s filmed with a camera, they may have done some color adjustments that make it look more vibrant and since the camera doesn’t move vertically too much the viewing angles aren’t as obvious.
@@myrealusername2193 I had the 2013 i7 Air and it never went above 93 C... I did replace the thermal paste tho.
@@jayc.landgraf6828 maybe I should try that! It doesn’t seem to transfer heat that well right now since it never really gets above 50°C surface temperature.
UA-cam is getting too comfortable with those unskippable ads, next year its prolly gonna get up to 3 bruh
Yes correct I dont even wanna THINK ABOUT THREE
thats when the touch bar on the macbook pro gets really useful since you can just skip it on clicking on idk what
adblock becomes your best friend
i have gotten 3 ads
It’s easy to dump on the original MacBook Air, especially when you assess it based upon innovations and trends that the device itself spurred. It was definitely as much a device of compromise as it was innovation. I think the device is best considered in the fashion you start to allude to later in the video-it was a proof of concept piece and definitely a first revision offering (though ridiculously lust worthy and visionary). The point wasn’t to build a laptop that was still crushing it 13 years later, but rather devise an almost fantasy showpiece that became pretty exceptional within just a couple years-the 2010 model was a fantastic device that was my workhorse for several years (and still serves a family member that I handed it down to when I picked up my 2013 MBP). We have to remember that 4,200 RPM drives weren’t altogether uncommon at the time-especially in Apple hardware-and that booting and using Snow Leopard on a device like this is surprisingly fast. I have a 2007 iMac that I still have running Snow Leopard with a 5,400 RPM laptop drive (the original drive failed long ago) that rivals some of my modern SSD boot times.
“To quote top gear”
Oh yeah, it’s all coming together now. I knew I caught references in past videos.
Reference top gear? ...and SUBSCRIBE
I've got a 2010 MBA, which I used a lot for around 6 years. It was my first ever Mac, and I was impressed with how much that tiny machine could do. I could run multiple Linux VirtualBox instances which I used for doing demos and presentations at the office. It currently lives on the garage workbench, running Xununtu Linux and is handy for googling stuff and watching the occasional youtube video.
That was a great video luke. Funny, informative, and very interesting. Most youtubers would have spent the 12 minutes drooling over how it performed in 2008 but you weren't afraid to say how bad it was then and now.
hey luke, been following you for about a year and thought i'd finally drop a comment :) when the first gen mac book air launched, i totally wanted one and still do to this day!!! for me at the time the size was the most appealing thing to me and just made me want it even more... and totally loved the commercial you reference and the fact that it fit in that envelope made me fall head over heels for it!!! living in canada i could never afford one as the cost up here was going for about $3000 at the time... i knew the specs and performance was not that great but for the size and looks alone just made me want it even more!!! keep up the good work mang!!!
I remember the first time I ever saw a MBA in 2008 and thinking it looked like a really high quality piece of jewelry or something. There was nothing on the market at that point that was even close.
I remember buying it in 2008, It was my first Apple computer and fell in love with it. I still have it somewhere tucked away. So many good memories!
The geekbench graph at 10:00 is labeled "Late 2008 MacBook Pro" instead of "MacBook Air" in the left column. Not sure the two top labels were needed here.
This is going to sound crazy, but I use the original Air running El Capitan as my daily laptop. Granted, it is the 2009 which has a 128 Gb SSD. I’m actually able to run multiple apps at once such as the entire Office 2016 suite, safari, and Firefox.
I bought one of these second hand in 2009 as my very first Mac for $AU700. For the time it was pretty good, although it was extremely prone to throttling with the fan screaming. I used to carry a portable USB hub with me for additional devices. I used it for 6 months or so and sold it for more than I paid for it, upgrading to a 13” MacBook Pro. I’d have one again as a collectible if the price was right, but would rather an M1 Mac for actual use.
That being said, I’m still using my 2013 13” Retina with Catalina, which does everything I ask of it despite being 7 or so years old.
My 2010 2nd gen MacBook Air just died and the battery bloated suddenly when I was doing an emergency backup that the keyboard warped. So I'm impressed you still have a mint 1st gen.
I remember the keynote for this, was amazing at the time!
I watch all of your videos on a 2007 iMac; my first mac. Love the nostalgia of your videos. I coveted this Air so much back then.
I've had my Macbook Air since 2011, Christmas day I was surprised with a new M1 Air! I was able to use the old one with no problems (except battery life).
I got the SSD upgrade for free at launch of the late 2008 MBA because of production delays. I remember being exstatic as a student who barely afforded the MBA at all! 🙂
I think you should put it in an envelope and make it a prop in the background in your videos.
I knew Luke was a TG fan the second he used the phrase "near as makes no difference" a while ago.
I still remember how steve said on the stage that the SSD was "a little pricey"
A LITTLE?!
Well he wasn’t going to say “a big pricey” for marketing concerns
Well you need to understand that the laptop is from 2008 SSDs were extremely expensive at the time $1000 was the average price for 64 GIGABYTE
@@phantom_wolf5274 I know, but a 1000$ still isn’t “just a little pricey”
@@randomtech787 well back then it was literally a little pricey lol
The MacBook Air line is 13 friggin' years old already? Holy Jeez, I feel I have one leg in the grave already.
UA-cam just notified me that luke posted this video while I was watching it 😃
ultimate flex
Omg YES Luke I've been wanting this vid for 2 years lmao
I have a 2010 Air with High Sierra side loaded and I use it as a music server/streamer. Works well enough and can run it from my phone to my stereo.
I bought the top-end one of these with the 64GB SSD. ($3300.00!!) Honestly, too me, one of the best Mac laptops I've had over the years. It was so nice to carry day-to-day and I used the heck out of it. It did all I needed at the time--mostly web, email, Word and some minor networking tools for my job. Also, that SSD was very fast for the times--think it was like the first SSD available in a consumer laptop. I did have to work to maintain available space though. When I sold it a couple years later to get the 11" Air, the next person used it for a few more years and then gave it to a relative that used it for like 4 more. So, it had a good productive life. :) Thanks for the vid.
I had the 2014 model until January and I really loved it
I just watched your other video about this MacBook and was wondering if this would be 'usable' in 2021, then this video came up on my feed.. that timing tho
I remember literally dreaming about getting my hands on a MacBook Air back in 2008 (I was 15 so there was no way I could afford it).
Funny to see how bad the experience actually was even back in the day lol. It still holds a special place in my memories though, I'm glad you made a video on it !
Wasn’t bad. He’s overacting for a video. You missed out
@@tbfit7808 i own one, it sucks and overheats
@@reisenImperishableNight yeah obviously it will overheat now
@@rochitgurung9090 no, it overheats sitting on the snow leopard desktop with nothing open except a singular chrome tab
I'm surprised that you got it to Catalina! I think I kinda like this computer. Maybe I can get it as a secondary thing for quick things.
Came across one of these in 2016 at my eWaste job. Came in with the original box, manuals, but needed a charger. Machine booted right up w/ the SSD, got a charger, blanked out the drive to a clean install & boom $300 for a "collectors" Mac Air. Boss tried it for a few days b4 sale, but brought it back bc it was slow on web.
Worked in Mac IT at a doctor’s office for a little while and they had a 1st gen air at the reception. What was wild is that the calendar and contacts still synced with iCloud just fine, even tho it thinks it’s still MobileMe 🤣
Despite all these shortcomings, it still is a beautiful machine. I swear a lot of today laptops still aren't as thin as this one.
No? There’s thinner laptops for cheaper
I'd say many laptops are as thin or thinner these days, at it's thickest point, the OG MBA is 19mm, where you standard high end thin&light like a current M1 MBA or a Dell XPS 13 is in the 15-20mm region.
That envelope ad was crazy, I remember being stunned when I saw it.
Also I like interesting videos about interesting things
I'm writing this comment on a 2013 MacBook Air, It's been in storage since around 2015 and I found it about a week ago, but it booted up no issue. I even managed to update it from Mountain Lion to Big Sur (With some difficulty) and it still chugs along.
I wonder if this laptop will be a little more useable with Snow Leopard and a modern browser like Arctic Fox (Firefox fork for older macs). I assume Snow Leopard would use less resources than Catalina.
Your videos is like a review of all my gears!
8:24 You can also tap with two fingers on the trackpad to right click - maybe you have to configure that for using it, but i had that on my early 2008 macbook pro and it's a lot more comfortable than the control-click thing.
It’s a great collector’s item. And it introduced us to Yael Naim :)
Will also say it. The start-up sound made the whole video even better.
I still have MB Air from 2013 with only 4GB memory. Now my daugther uses it for homeschooling~ it is slow but works. 😁
If you add 4 more GB memory , that will be far better
@@zackfair8407 can't it's soldered
Try upgrading to ssd of applicable
What a classic machine... I remember when they came out!!
I would like to see a video on the white plastic macbook, since a lot of the other macs of the era are being shown on the channel recently.
one has to start somewhere and this was the start for apple when it came to the air models. When prices of chips and storage became less and higher capacity, Apple moved on to better air models and pricing. I remember this in 2008, was very impressive as to how a full working computer could be so thin and light. Essentially an Ipad with key board
love Your videos!
I still have 2 of the original 2008 MacBook Airs. Still work and good condition, and every few years I take them out and contemplate what I can do with them. It always ends the same way. Nothing I can do, so I just put them back in the box. I want to keep them as they are a time capsule. They do represent everything Apple was when Steve Jobs was alive. Ambition and drive to push the industry. You can see that even in 2008 they were hoping for intel to get their act together and create smaller, less power hungry silicon. Just imagine if we has ARM chips in these machines at the time. It's exactly what Apple wanted to explore.
I actually just bought a 2014 macbook air today from a friend. It really sucks you cant upgrade the RAM in these things because they'd so much more useful.
After watching some videos, I decided to go with the Powermac G5. It sits on my desk next to it's little brother, the Dell mini tower
I’m rocking a Mid 2012 MacBook Air that I’m finally about to retire whenever my 2021 MacBook Pro shows up.
It’s still a very usable machine, it just gets too hot and isn’t as fast as it used to be.
It’s served me well, and it’s a quality product, it’s just time for an upgrade after all these years.
I have a 2017 MacBook Air based on this original design and it is excellent. I split 2 user accounts, one for personal and one for work.
Can’t believe this came out in 2007 🤯 it looks so modern
Hey ! Could you make the same 2021 usability test for the 2010 11" macbook air ?
My very first Mac was a MacBook Air (not that one, the one with good ports and a lot of improvements), when the first one came out I though "it's cool but useless" 60GB or 80Gb was good in the 90s not in the late 2000s, still I love the design. I still have my 2013 MacBook Air, working fine.
Ha, 10 minutes ago i was watching macbook for a 130$)) "air 2009 in 2019"
Elmo had a stroke and died trying to read this comment
Still using a base model 11" late 2010 MBA 1.4 Core 2 Duo with 4 Gb RAM. Have upgraded the SSD to an OWC 256 Gb. It's fine, but has been used so much, it lacks any battery life. Keeping it on High Sierra. Entirely adequate, though a backlit keyboard would be nice. Really liked the 11" form factor; they'll never make that again, since the sub 12" sizes are all reserved for the iPad.
Truly outstanding how far the MacBook Air has come since the original!
I have the 2013 version on the Air and it works great for basic tasks.
You’re officially my fav UA-camr
This video was a blast
They've been collectors items for years. I had the revised Late 2008 version in 2017 and they were collector's items then. Sure was fun trying to get macOS Sierra working on mine though.
i have this thing, i put 128gb ssd in it, installed mac os sierra, bought new battery and its doing great
Considering the Geekbench score it looks like a perfect mobile device to accomodate the baseline 21.5 inch iMac. 😄
My best friend has a 2011, she upgraded it to mavericks when it first came out, then she had to install 10.6 because it was too slow on newer versions. if a 2011 is slow on anything newer than 10.6/windows 7, I can't imagine 2008 model
Looks like that's a late 2008 model.
The real Early 2008 with GMA graphics is just like hell.
I'm still on an early 2009 17"mbp. Def still useable, but only just in my case. Come ooooon M-series 16". Need that upgrade now.
"Top Gear, one of my favorite shows of all time".
Luke Miani you are officially my favorite youtuber
I just wanted to say thank you because today I bought my first MacBook because of you
I’m watching this on a 2017 MacBook Air great laptop
i have the 2010 air and it's still fine, yeah I know its can be really easy overheated but like him
I will have to disagree on some points that were made. If I take the late 2008 model, starting with a core 2 Duo 1.6GHz, and with 120GB 4200RPM, it wasn’t really powerful even compared to other laptop in it’s time... the entry MacBook was a core 2 Duo 2.0GHZ, 160GB 5400RPM.... and yes, in term of ports... it was lacking (the era of adaptors really started :P ). However, I remember working at the Apple Store during the 2008-2010 time and selling a few of them, the MBAir wasn’t for people doing pro work, but really for people doing productivity suite, navigating on the internet, emails - oh and didn’t mind paying a premium for the lightweight and format! For that usage, the laptop was capable. Is it still usable in 2021... well it’s a 2008 computer....
I have the base 2015 air. Got in December to upgrade my 2009 Unibody MacBook that died.
The MacBook Air was mind blowing from a technical level. People were talking about it everywhere and there were rumors it would bend in your bag.
The reverse open at 6:34 was amazing
I still use my 2011 macbook air occasionally. 2 yrs ago it was my daily personal laptop and fine for daily use, incl autocad 2013, latest office, with a great keyboard. I didn't use it for 6months when I was abroad and the battery went from 95% a year ago, to 5% now with no use.
Plugged in it is still great.
Not powerful but nippy in daily use, even with 4gb of ram.
The LoFi Music intro is so awesome!
I had that one for a brief moment back then. Got it only because it was a 40% off clearance sale.
Did you like it?
Appreciate that you're a Clarkson/May/Hammond Top Gear fan. "Ambitious but rubbish" an all time classic
I used to have one of those with MacOs 10.7.5 and SSD, I only was able to use Google tools like Docs, Slides, Drive, etc. and was very usable in my day by day job (copywriter), I miss my 2008 Air u_u
Watching and typing this on an original base model MacBook Air running Lion. The original, original one: MacBookAir1,1, with the Micro DVI port. The fan is running at full throttle and the video takes a good 20 seconds to load, but once it gets settled, it plays at a constant 720p30. Windowed of course, not fullscreen. As bad as it is, at least it's not a netbook.
2031: *Is the 16GB RAM M1 MacBook Pro usable in 2031?*
It probably will be tbh lol
Y e s
𝗬 𝗲 𝘀
Makes a good door stopper
Ok that was a smooth transition
It's still usable.
I have a pair to give as courtesy laptop to my customers while they are waiting for other machines to be fixed.
YOU LIKE TOPGEAR?!!!? Been watching the channel for like a year at least & seen a majority of your vids. Now I watch like literally every new one put out. Never knew you were a fellow petrol head! I KNEW I liked you!
Also another glorious Intel ad during this vid! Bash the colors Intel! Real nice....
Also "an iPod with a furnace" 😂
I watch you on 2008 imac but I chicken out and put Linux in it and it is the best machine I have ever had thanks for what you do
I switched the thermal compound in the early 2008 and the throtteling went down, because the compound which was used sucked. Still, the ZIF-drive sucks extremly.
And the hinges fail on the early 2008, it is a known bug. Original battery: Mine goes down from 99% to 30% within 10 minutes.
I got mine as a cheap collectors item on ebay, just wanted one because it is the first ultrabook known...
I remember using 2013 MacBook Air which was a corporate computer.
Even that version was very slow and buggy. I kept dropping it (accidentally, of course, haha) in the hopes it will stop working one day.
Thankfully, eventually this computer stopped working and I got a better machine. It was truly bad.
I remember mine - I couldn't let it sit with Outlook running else it would shut off a core for the heat. Returned to Apple.
The last gen i7 air released in 2017 is so good tho. And refurbished ones are still pricey, like £700
when it first came out i even thought about how the specs do not meet that price
I had the original 128k Mac with no hard drive in 1984. It was state of the art. I couldn’t even save anything I wrote. I had it from 10th grade to my senior year of college.
I got a 2011 air for $160 for my wife, to replace a chromebook. It works a lot better than the chromebook, which had substandard lcd, sound and wifi. It has ssd. It fits the mission profile, which is internet surfing.
I use a Late 2008 MacBook (Aluminum) for school. Works great. Would love to see a video on one of those...
Is this intentional or you're thst broke 🤣
I have the 2017 Air no complaints.
I don't think it sucked. It was revolutionary but with every first generation product it did have compromises but it did not suck.