Der 11-Zoll-Apple MacBook Air ist endgültig vom Markt verschwunden. Hat das Tablet den Kleinbildschirm-Notebook-Computer getötet?

Apple's attempt with small-screen notebooks is finally over.

On September 1, 2025, Apple officially classified the 11 - inch MacBook Air (Spring 2015) as an obsolete product. From now on, Apple will no longer offer technical support and customer service for the 11 - inch MacBook Air. In the eyes of Lei Technology, however, the era of ultra - small screen notebooks actually officially ended on the day the new iPad Pro 2018 was released.

Small - screen notebooks are not Apple's unique feature

To understand the inevitable end of these small - screen notebooks, we need to start from their "golden years." In fact, the market for notebooks with a screen under 13 inches was once the most intense competition in the entire PC field. Many well - known notebook brands have launched such small - screen notebooks.

For example, the VAIO notebook, which is now in other hands, was the synonym for such ultra - small screen notebooks ten years ago: Products like the VAIO P and the VAIO X created a new product category of "pocket notebooks" with their extreme portability.

Image source: VAIO

Of course, there are not only such high - end "luxury items" like VAIO. Asus also launched its own EeePC, a lightweight netbook, in the past - inexpensive, small, and pre - configured with Linux or a low - configured Windows. This made many people think that "notebooks can also be very cheap." Subsequently, manufacturers like Acer, HP, and Dell followed, and netbooks once occupied every corner of airports, classrooms, and cafes.

But the problem is that small - screen notebooks also have their own problems as the other side of lightness.

First of all, the design with a small screen and a small case has lowered the upper limit of computer performance and cooling capacity: For the CPU and GPU to perform well, they need sufficient power and cooling space. However, this is almost a dream in an 11 - inch case.

To prevent the computer from overheating, manufacturers had to reduce the processor's performance to get a quieter fan and a cooler armrest. The result is a forcibly restricted performance. These problems are nothing new. More than ten years ago, the Sony VAIO P was so small that you could put it in your jacket pocket, but its performance was so weak that it might not even be able to play HD videos smoothly; The fanless 12 - inch New MacBook that Apple launched a few years ago has the same problem.

Image source: Apple

Secondly, there are the compromises in user experience caused by the small case. In an 11 - inch or even smaller case, the keyboard has become the victim of lightness. The keys are smaller and the keyboard travel is shorter. Typing for a long time is almost a torture. We must consider that the target group of small - screen notebooks are mainly text processors. Many people buy small - screen notebooks to write documents. But those who have actually typed a few thousand words will find that typing on a small - screen notebook is not as pleasant as using a full - size keyboard. If only the keyboard were restricted, it would still be okay. But even the trackpad, which is so important for Mac, has to be restricted in a small case.

Of course, there are also "exceptions" in the keyboard experience of small - screen notebooks. The reason why the ThinkPad X series can hold its ground in the small - device market is largely that it focuses on the feel of the keyboard and optimizes the limited space as well as possible. But products like the ThinkPad remain the exception. The compromise for maximum portability still remains the "main theme" of small - screen notebooks.

In addition, the battery life of small - screen notebooks is also a bottleneck that restricts these devices. Compared with the Windows notebooks at that time, the battery life of the 11 - inch MacBook Air was already one of the best among small - screen notebooks. But even so, it was far behind the real "daily battery life" of the later iPad.

Tablets become the killers of small - screen notebooks

It can be said that small - screen notebooks were a dead - end path from the start. In the eyes of Lei Technology, however, there was another force that "stirred up the waves" on the way to the end of small - screen notebooks: In 2010, Apple introduced the first iPad. At that time, Jobs said on stage: The iPad is a "third device category" between smartphones and computers and can meet the light requirements of surfing the Internet, receiving emails, watching videos, and playing games.

Image source: Apple

And exactly these requirements are the market that small - screen notebooks most wanted to target. So, in just a few years, the iPad has replaced most use - cases of small - screen notebooks. Do you want to be portable? A tablet is lighter and more compact than a small - screen notebook. Do you want long battery life? The iPad can run all day. Do you want entertainment? The touch experience is far superior to that of a small - screen notebook. Not to mention the natural interaction advantage of the touch screen in the entertainment industry.

Besides the hardware advantages, the app ecosystem is also a key point for why tablets are replacing small - screen notebooks. Small - screen notebooks rely on traditional PC apps, but the lack of performance means that many programs cannot run. In contrast, the App Store and the Android app ecosystem offer a variety of apps optimized for touch operation, and the user experience is better. When users compare, they naturally turn to tablets.

Image source: Apple

Apple itself knows very well: It is better to equip the iPad Air and the iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard to meet these users, rather than continuing to produce 11 - inch MacBooks. And the result of this product strategy is, of course, that small - screen notebooks are "self - buried" by Apple's own products.

Is the increasing miniaturization the trend in consumer electronics?

If we look at the development of personal devices in the past fifteen years, we will find a very clear trend: Becoming increasingly smaller and more portable has become a long - term trend in the consumer market.

The emergence of small - screen notebooks was essentially aimed at meeting the users' requirement for a "portable computer that can be written on and used." Although they made many compromises in terms of performance, keyboard experience, and battery life, they reflect the strong demand of consumers for convenient travel and efficient work.

The rise of tablets can be seen as a natural continuation of these requirements. The success of the iPad lies not only in its better battery life and touch experience, but mainly in that it frees the "computer" from the traditional keyboard, fan, and hinge axis, and allows users to use it anytime and anywhere. This easy user experience has completely defeated small - screen notebooks in the market for entertainment, learning, and light office work.

Image source: Samsung

As we enter the era of foldable displays, this trend towards "miniaturization" becomes even more obvious. Foldable smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and the Huawei Mate X are trying to "fold" a large - screen device into a pocket. Their logic is more about making a tablet more portable, rather than making a large - screen smartphone. From small - screen notebooks to tablets to foldable smartphones, the users' logic remains consistent: People always strive for a lighter and more portable device that can retain as many core functions as possible at the same time.

So, in the eyes of Lei Technology, the cessation of the production of small - screen notebooks does not mean the disappearance of the demand for small devices. On the contrary, it has simply passed the baton to a form that better suits the times - first to tablets, then to foldable displays. It can be said that becoming smaller and more flexible continues to be the main theme of the development of consumer electronics products.

The end of an era or the evolution of form?

From this perspective, the withdrawal of the 11 - inch MacBook Air is more of Apple's realization that small - screen notebooks were never the future, but only a transition.

The demand for portable work has not disappeared, but has been divided by more meaningful product forms. The iPad has completely taken over entertainment and light office work, and the foldable smartphone has taken the concept of a "tablet in the pocket" to the extreme. In comparison, users of small - screen notebooks are left with only the embarrassing experience of a too - small keyboard, weak performance, and a high price.

From the manufacturers' perspective, they also cannot meet performance, battery life, and interaction requirements simultaneously through notebook miniaturization. Instead of staying in a dead - end, it is better to invest resources in tablets, foldable displays, and even AI - enabled devices. Only the form has changed, but the core problem remains. The challenges in weight, thickness, and battery life that foldable smartphones face today are actually similar to the difficulties of 11 - inch notebooks back then.

What the market ultimately wants is never "who is smaller," but "who is more useful while being small." Manufacturers still need to look for solutions.

This article is from "Lei Technology" and was published by 36Kr with permission.