Steve Jobs introduced the MacBook Air in 2008.
Jobs unveiled the original MacBook Air during his keynote at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco on January 15, 2008. To emphasize its slimness, he famously pulled the computer from a standard office envelope during the presentation. Apple marketed it as the world’s thinnest notebook computer at the time.
The first model used a 13.3-inch display and prioritized portability. Its thin design required compromises compared with Apple’s larger notebooks, including limited built-in ports and no internal optical disc drive. The product helped establish the premium thin-and-light laptop category that later became common across the industry.
The MacBook Air was not the same product as the MacBook Pro. The Pro line emphasized higher performance, while the Air was designed around light weight and portability. Earlier Apple laptops such as the iBook and PowerBook belonged to different product families.