“With the release of new models later this month, Apple is set to reinstate a feature to its MacBook Airs that went missing when the company overhauled the ultra-thin notebooks into more cost-affordable products late last year,” Kasper Jade reports for AppleInsider.
“According to people familiar with the matter, backlit keyboards will join the string of hardware enhancements planned for the new 11.6- and 13.3-inch notebooks, which are also expected to adopt high-speed Thunderbolt ports, an upgrade to Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture, and possibly high-speed 400MBps flash memory,” Jade reports. “The omission late last year of keyboard backlights… from Apple’s current lineup of MacBook Airs was particularly glaring given that all three iterations of the first-generation of MacBook Airs (Early 2008 to Mid-2009) included them as standard features.”
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“The new Airs [will] make their debut sometime during the week of July 21st,” Jade reports, citing “people familiar with the matter.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Jax44,” “Lynn Weiler,” and “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
I really like the back lit keyboard of the Mac Book Pro when in a dim room. It is one practical feature that makes using the Macs so much better.
That’s so true. Unless you have it, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s like driving in the dark without headlights. I occasionally switch off the backlight on my MBP to save power and when I eventually come to use the computer again it’s like groping around in the dark. It’s one of the most essential luxuries on a MacBook Pro that makes it a joy to use.
I agree.
It’s like dialing the Stargate.
Nice, stargate!
Miss that series…
I don’t need a new laptop now, but if true… My MBP will be replaced at some point with the air.
Backlit keyboard is something I couldn’t live without now.
I totally agree. I used to wonder why people would pay an extra $200 for a Pro over a White book, until I decided to splurge on my last Mac purchase, and after having a Pro, there’s no going back to the lower model.
This may be my next computer – an ‘upgrade’ from a 4-yr old MacBook Pro.
I am often accused of being in the dark, so the backlit keyboard on the Air is very welcome…..it is a very practical and helpful feature.
As an owner of a 1st generation MBA which includes the keyboard backlight, I am at a complete loss why this essential feature was dropped in the sophomore iteration. Then again, I don’t understand why Apple doesn’t release backlit keyboards for their desktop Macs, as well.
I’m still worried about security issues with the “Cloud,” i.e. Apple, Inc. holding all my info. Anyone have security info on this? Still, I love the air. Such a bargain. So cool.
No different than dropbox or carbonite or pick any other online storage site.
Word on the street (three feet of sidewalk in front of my house) has it that Apple brought it back to the Air when the company discovered it could money by using only one wire by hooking up the keyboard lights in series.
But like old Christmas-tree lights, when one key burns out, they all go out. So you’ll have to remove and replace the keys one by one to find the culprit.
The good news: You can replace a burned-out bulb with a Christmas-tree bubble light. Or an angel if it’ll fit on the head of a pin.
dsfwef
Oh, I hope this rumor us true. When I saw they eliminated it from the current line-up, I knew this MacBook Air (without backlit keyboard) would not be purchased by our household. I would love to get my wife an updated Air (she has the original) but she too said, “Not without a backlit keyboard!”
When are the NEW Air Books going to be released, and are they going to be: “GOOD or GREAT”?