Retina MacBook Air
Retina MacBook Air was a concept render from early 2015, produced before Apple's March event that year. The MacBook Air line had been running without a Retina display since the Retina MacBook Pro launched in 2012 — a gap that had become increasingly awkward as Retina spread to the iMac, iPad, and iPhone.
By early 2015, it felt like the Retina MacBook Air was overdue. The non-Retina display on the Air was noticeably worse than the screens on every other Apple device in the lineup. Apple had managed to hold the price by keeping the Air on non-Retina panels, but the gap was getting harder to justify.
The render worked through what it would take to fit a Retina display into the existing Air chassis. The 13-inch model had enough thermal room — the Retina MacBook Pro 13 had shown that — but the 11-inch was tighter. The concept focused on the 13-inch, keeping the existing wedge form factor and adding a Retina panel with slightly reduced bezel.
What Apple actually did
Apple didn't ship a Retina MacBook Air in 2015. Instead, at the March event, they announced the 12-inch MacBook — a completely new product that was thinner and lighter than the Air, with a Retina display, but only a single USB-C port and a fanless Core M chip. It was a different answer to the same question.
The MacBook Air didn't get a Retina display until 2018, when Apple released a redesigned model at a higher price point. The 11-inch Air was discontinued quietly the same year.
Covered by
- MacRumors
- AppleInsider
- The Verge