Argh... I can't talk about the Macbook Air without getting angry. Angry at Apple's direction.

I bought the second generation MBA (the first good one) in 2011. It was a fantastic laptop. It was pretty much the right compromise of power vs weight vs cost. I loved how you could get a pretty darn usable Macbook for (eventually) like $1200.

For the first couple of years other manufacturers just couldn't compete with that much hardware for that price.

But then it got a bit long in the tooth. I, like many, was waiting for a screen upgrade (particularly to a retina screen). Other manufacturers were increasingly producing better hardware and smaller bezel displays. Yet no update from Apple (after about 2015 or so).

And then... the Macbook came out, which spelt the end for the MBA (a 12" MB and 11/13" MBAs were too many SKUs for Apple). And the MB was a terrible compromise. One port (also for power!). Terrible keyboard. Horrible performance.

And now we have Macbook Pros that have:

- Removed the super-useful Magsafe connector

- Added a stupid touchbar no one cares about

- Used a much worse keyboard and trackpad to save like 0.5mm in width; and

- Cost 2x+ as much.

Thanks for that, Apple.

All I wanted was an updated Macbook Air.