The One That Got Away

In 2010, Apple introduced its smallest and lightest Mac ever: the 11-inch MacBook Air. Officially, it lasted in Apple’s lineup until 2016, though new and refurbished models remained available for years. Now, fifteen years later, the tech world has moved on, but there’s still something about the 11-inch MacBook Air that sticks with me—even though I never actually owned one.

It always felt like the perfect ultra-portable Mac. Small, but with a solid keyboard. Decent battery life. Capable enough for everyday tasks like web browsing and email. And maybe most notably, it was the last truly serviceable Apple laptop, built before the company fully embraced glued-together, soldered-in-place components.

By today’s standards, the 11-inch MacBook Air is an absolute relic. If you live in Chrome with dozens of tabs open or regularly edit 4K video, there’s nothing for you here. The same goes for anyone who expects a laptop to last all day on a charge. In the past expectations for portable computing were different. Battery life wasn’t expected to get you through a whole day, you had a couple of hours, enough so that you could get through a few tasks before needing to plug in again. Back then “range anxiety” was about your proximity to an outlet to plug into. 

The 11-inch MacBook Air was never meant to be a desktop replacement—it was an ultra-portable companion, built for getting things done and then moving on. And maybe that’s why, all these years later, I still find it so compelling.

Revisiting the Concept

Over time, Apple’s Intel-based machines got dramatically better, especially at the high end. Haswell and Broadwell processors made the Airs faster and more efficient, but the same rules applied: you needed to max out the specs to get a responsive machine, and even then, a comparable PC could outperform it.

When push came to shove and I was no longer getting free hand me down corporate computers I could neither bring myself to buy a Mac or a PC.  I would spend the next two years of post corporate life on a  high-end Chromebook—a thin, light machine that only costed me $100.  For a while the Chromebook scratched that itch. It was small and fast, but at the cost of being entirely tied to Google’s ecosystem I felt yucky every time I used it. For someone who values some privacy that tradeoff eventually became too much.

The Perfect Moment

Fast forward to 2025, and the 11-inch MacBook Air is officially obsolete by Apple’s standards. The last supported macOS version is Monterey, which—at least for now—still gets security updates.

At this point, the top-of-the-line 2015 model (with an Intel Core i7 2.2GHz) is no longer outrageously expensive, but good-condition units are getting rarer. You’ll still pay $350–$500 for a clean one, too much for my blood btw. The real sweet spot? The 2013 Core i7 model with 8GB of RAM, which you can find for $200–$300, or even cheaper if you don’t mind some patina or shopping in the back channels. 

The Restoration Journey Begins

So here’s my plan: I’m finally getting one, er… Actually, I’m probably getting two. When I dive into a hobby, I always want a “good” specimen and a “salvage title” unit—something cheap that I’m willing to wrench on. One will become my daily driver; the other will be the machine I experiment on without fear.

Maybe it’s just nostalgia. Maybe it’s an obsession with finding the last great version of something. Or maybe—just maybe—the 11-inch MacBook Air is still the perfect ultra-portable Mac, waiting to be rediscovered.