MacBooks are a line of laptop computers designed and manufactured by Apple. This is the company’s third family of laptops. The MacBook line of computers remains the best-selling consumer laptop of all time.
History of the MacBook
The original MacBook started as the merging of the PowerBook and iBook lines of Macintosh laptops in 2006. The merger also included Apple switching to Intel processors instead of PowerPC processors beginning in the same year.
MacBook
The first MacBook laptops were released in 2006. Apple ceased production of the original basic MacBook model in 2006 but relaunched in 2015 with a few key updates, such as a Force Touch trackpad, Retina Display and a new, lower-profile keyboard design. By the end of 2016, all MacBooks were built with solid state drives (SSDs) instead of hard disk drives (HDDs).
MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro was released alongside the MacBook in 2006. It was anywhere from 1 to 4 inches larger than the basic MacBook and was built with their fastest processors for more intensive, creative software, such as the Adobe suite of products. The MacBook Pro also offers the largest screen of this line, coming in either 13, 15 or 16 inches. This made it a popular choice among college students. In 2011, the Pro model became the first Apple computer to use the Thunderbolt port, which allows users to connect their laptops to external displays and can accommodate high-speed external memory storage and wired network connectivity through a single port.
MacBook Air
The latest addition to this family of computers, the MacBook Air was released in 2008. It’s a thinner, more lightweight and inexpensive option compared to its relatives. It was designed for users who primarily need to carry out more basic tasks. It used the same gesture-based multitouch functionality first introduced on the iPhone.
Apple Silicon
In 2020, Apple announced they will be transitioning all newly manufactured laptops to their proprietary Apple Silicon processors in place of Intel. Silicon offers advanced capabilities and will establish a common architecture across Apple products to help developers optimize apps for all Apple technologies.
