The evolution of the Mac: All Apple MacBook versions in chronological order

The Mac may have been the first computer from Apple but in the following years, the company made laptops under the ‘PowerBook’ series. The saga started with the PowerBook 100 in 1991 relying on a Motorola processor and over the years, Apple made the transition to PowerPC chips. PowerBook G4 was the last of this lineup but it was a peek into the next-generation MacBook laptops, flaunting its metal body and a big 15.2-inch TFT display. 

We also can’t forget the trendy iBook that made a bold fashion statement in 1999 with its translucent panels and funky colours.

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The MacBook Pro marked a paradigm shift for Apple’s laptops. Launched in 2006, the first MacBook Pro switched from the PowerPC processors to the Intel Dual Core processors, promising an incremental improvement in performance. Then there was the premium aluminium body that added to its appeal. The laptop also featured a backlit keyboard and Apple’s iconic MagSafe power connector. 

Apple also gave it a 67 per cent brighter display, a scrolling trackpad and Apple’s Sudden Motion Sensor technology that promised to keep the hard drive safe in the event of an accidental fall. The 15-inch MacBook Pro was launched at a price of USD 1,999 and Apple later announced a 17-inch variant with an even higher price tag.

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A few months after the MacBook Pro, Apple released the regular MacBook in the summer of 2006 as a more affordable alternative. This one also used the new Intel Dual Core processors, assuring notable increments in performance and power efficiency. However, the MacBook was introduced to primarily replace the iBook and 12-inch PowerBook. 

Hence, the display size was limited to 13.3 inches but got a glossy widescreen TFT panel with a 79 per cent higher brightness than the models it replaced. Apple also ditched the metal body in favour of a plastic unibody construction to keep the costs in check. Like the MacBook Pro, it got an iSight video camera, the MagSafe charging connector, the Sudden Motion Sensor and a scrolling trackpad.  

The MacBook came with a price of USD 1,099 for the white variant and USD 1,499 for the black variant. 

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The MacBook Air stole the show at the Macworld 2008 when former Apple CEO Steve Jobs took it out of an envelope. It was unlike any other notebook that the world had ever seen. The extremely sleek profile was made possible largely due to the lack of an optical disc drive as well as the loss of most of the ports. The overall dimensions of 13.3 inches made it feel compact. The display used an LED backlit LCD panel and Apple somehow managed to stuff an iSight video camera in the extremely slim dimensions. It also had a backlit keyboard and a new multitouch gesture trackpad.

At USD 1,799, it sat in between the existing MacBook models. 

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Two years after the introduction of the MacBook, Apple updated the standard model with a new design and overhauled specifications. It ditched the plastic clamshell design of the older model with a new metal unibody chassis and a multitouch gesture trackpad. Apple also updated internal specifications, using Intel’s newer Core 2 Duo processors, a new energy-efficient LED-backlit display and pro-performance notebook graphics.

The 2008 MacBook was launched in three sizes and the range started at USD 1,299.

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In 2010, Apple updated the MacBook Air 13.3-inch with a slightly updated design, higher screen resolution, better battery life, a second USB port, an SD card capable slot, stereo speakers and the inclusion of solid-state storage (SSD) as standard. However, the most prominent highlight was the addition of a new 11.6-inch model that popularised the concept of netbooks.

It had a low starting price of USD 999 and offered a lightweight chassis, good battery life and no compromise in performance compared to the standard model. 

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The year 2012 was all about the Retina Display. Compared to the HD resolution screens, the Retina Display offered 5 million pixels to play with on the MacBook Pro. Similar to the MacBook Air, the laptop ditched the optical Superdrive and as a result, was now as slim as the MacBook Air and noticeably lighter than the outgoing model. The HDMI port made its first appearance on the MacBook Pro this year, only to be dropped in the next generation (and later re-introduced on the 2021 MacBook Pro).

A 13-inch variant was introduced a few months later (the standard MacBook was discontinued prior to this launch) and in 2015, all the MacBook Pro variants were updated with the Force Touch trackpads. 

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After a long absence, Apple brought back the standard MacBook with an entirely new formula. With a thickness of 13.1 mm and a weight of 0.9 kg, the 2015 model beat the MacBook Air to become the thinnest and lightest Mac ever made.

The 12-inch Retina display was small but one of the best in its segment. The infamous butterfly mechanism keyboard was introduced on this model along with the Force Touch trackpad from the MacBook Pro. The Intel Core M processors allowed for a fanless design and users had to totally rely on the Thunderbolt 3 port for charging (a USB-A port was present for data transfer).

Throughout its four years of presence, Apple kept updating the processors annually and it was discontinued just before the next-gen Apple MacBooks were introduced. 

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In 2016, the MacBook Pro got another redesign that brought it on par with the MacBook Air in terms of being lightweight and thin. The 13-inch and 15-inch models got the Touch Bar as a new unique addition that replaced the Function keys with a slim OLED Touch Bar. This small display was able to show contextual options for individual apps instead of the fixed keys and promised great opportunities for users. Sadly, Apple and the developers lost interest in this feature and in 2023, Apple discontinued the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar. The base 13-inch variant got the Touch Bar later in its lifecycle.

Touch ID was also introduced for improving the on-device security. The Thunderbolt 3 ports replaced all other ports and a larger trackpad made its way. A newer butterfly mechanism keyboard was introduced along with a brighter and better quality display. Apple also added a faster PCIe SSD and better-quality speakers. 

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2018 saw Apple give the MacBook Air a completely overhauled design, bringing it up-to-date with modern design trends. The Air got a new 13.3-inch Retina display with slimmer bezels, two Thunderbolt USB-C ports, up to 16GB RAM and 1.5TB storage and Touch ID for stronger security. 

It offers up to 1.5TB of storage, up to 16GB of RAM and has two Thunderbolt 3 ports. Apple offered the MacBook Air with dual-core Intel Core i5 processors running at lower clock speeds for improved battery life. The price started at USD 1,099 for the base variant. 

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The MacBook Pro 16-inch was a significant upgrade over its predecessors. Apple finally fixed the troublesome Butterfly keyboard with the newer Magic keyboard, which relies on the traditional keyboard mechanism. The display was among the best for professional creators and it could be ordered with up to 64GB RAM and 8TB of SSD storage. The thermal performance was improved and Apple included a new six-speaker audio system along with an upgraded microphone.

This was the last of any MacBook laptop that launched with Intel Core processors. 

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The 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro marked the start of a new era for Apple’s MacBook lineup. An era where performance and efficiency were stars.

The MacBook Pro got a huge boost in performance and power efficiency with Apple’s first-generation M1 chips. Built on the same ARM architecture used to build smartphone chipsets, the M1 chip gave the 13-inch MacBook Pro class-leading performance in critical tasks like video and photo editing, thanks to the cooling fans. The laptop could last up to 20 hours on a single charge as well. Apple retained the Touch Bar strip as well as the rest of the design from its predecessor but gave it the new and more durable Magic Keyboard. 

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Alongside the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air also got a new lease of life with the Apple M1 chip. The performance and power efficiency improved drastically over the outgoing model. In fact, the M1 chip was so efficient that Apple went for a fanless design with the 2020 update without affecting the raw performance. Other than the new Magic keyboard, the rest of the design remained unchanged from the 2018 MacBook Air. Compared to any other laptop in its segment, the M1 MacBook Air offered the best battery life without sacrificing top-notch performance. 

The M1 MacBook Air continues to sell in 2023 as Apple’s most affordable laptop. 

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After the revolution that the M1 chipset brought, Apple maximised its potential and gave us two souped-up versions of the chip, namely the M1 Pro and M1 Max. Both of these chipsets offered huge improvements in terms of overall performance and efficiency, outclassing high-end Intel and AMD processors from that year. But Apple did more than just putting these chipsets in the bigger 2021 MacBook Pro models.

An entirely new chassis with an updated design was introduced for the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro variants. The keyboard deck ditched the Touch Bar for conventional function keys and went for a larger trackpad with a spacious overall layout. The display on both models was upgraded to mini-LED Liquid Retina panels, promising greater colour accuracy. The bezels were shrunk and Apple’s infamous notch made it to the MacBook for hosting the 1080p front camera. 

However, professionals lauded Apple for bringing back I/O ports to the MacBook Pro. The 2021 models offered three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, an SDXC card slot and an HDMI port.  It also brought back the iconic Apple MagSafe charger connector from the older generations. 

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A year after the MacBook Pro, Apple filtered down the changes to the more affordable MacBook Air. Ditching the wedge-shaped design, the M2 MacBook Air got a sleek design with curved edges, a new and better quality 13.6-inch Retina display with a narrow bezel and a display notch for the webcam, the MagSafe charging port, a quad-speaker system and the next generation M2 chip. The new chip offered marginal improvement in raw performance but did nothing to improve the battery life. Apple, however, increased the price to position it above the older M1 variant.

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The 13-inch MacBook Pro was also updated with the new M2 chip and Apple promised a noticeable increment in raw performance. However, unlike the MacBook Air, this 13-inch MacBook Pro continued to reuse the design established by its predecessor, holding on to the Touch Bar and the older Retina display. It didn’t even get the MagSafe charging port. 

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In early 2023, Apple silently released the updated versions of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The core features remained unchanged from the 2021 model, but Apple gave these laptops the newer and faster M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. Still based on the 5nm architecture, the M2 generation chips showed marginal gains in performance on benchmarks, but they remain barely noticeable in the real world. 

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In 2023, Apple gave the MacBook Air series a huge advantage over its rivals by launching a bigger 15-inch variant. This 15-inch model was essentially a bigger-sized version of the standard 13.6-inch model, with the only difference being a larger Retina display. There was no improvement in the battery life despite an increase in the volume of the chassis. Similarly, the 15-inch model was restricted to the M2 chip, thereby limiting overall raw performance on par with the compact variant.

With the 15-inch MacBook Air, Apple cleverly filled the gap between the entry-level MacBook Air and the more expensive MacBook Pro., paving the way for discontinuing the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

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Before 2023 wraps up, Apple announced its next generation of M3 chips for the Mac lineup. The first devices to get the M3 chip are the updated MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch models. While the basic feature set remains unchanged from its predecessor, the core focus is on improved performance. The M3 chip is based on the new 3nm process and hence, promises greater performance and efficiency gains. A new feature called Dynamic Caching along with hardware-accelerated ray tracing makes the GPU vastly superior to the outgoing model. These new M3 chips will be better suited for gaming and video editing than ever.

With the new lineup in place, Apple discarded the 13-inch MacBook Pro and replaced it with an entry-level variant of the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the standard M3 chip and support for just one external display. The M3 Pro and M3 Max chips are available for the higher-end variants of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro only.

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