The MacBook Air family is a line of ultraportable Macintosh notebook computers created by Apple Inc.

The first-generation MacBook Air was a 13.3"-only model, previously promoted as the World's Thinnest Notebook, introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 15, 2008. It featured a customIntel Merom CPU and Intel GMA graphics. In late 2008, the CPU was updated to a faster, non-custom Penryn CPU and integrated Nvidia GeForce graphics while the hard drive capacity was increased and the micro-DVI video port was replaced by the Mini DisplayPort. A mid-2009 refresh, introduced alongside the MacBook Pro family, featured a slightly higher-capacity battery, and a faster Penryn CPU.

Steve Jobs introduced the first MacBook Air during a speech at the 2008 keynote. The MacBook Air was greeted with a mixed reception when it was introduced. The portability of the MacBook Air was praised in reviews, however the compromise in features was criticized. The full-sized keyboard, weight, thinness, and Multi-Touch trackpad were appreciated in reviews, while the limited configuration options and ports, slow speed (in non-SSD models), non-user replaceable battery, small hard drive, and price were criticized.

Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (/ˈdʒɒbz/; February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, designer and inventor. He is best known as the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Through Apple, he was widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution and for his influential career in the computer and consumer electronics fields. Jobs also co-founded and served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, when Disney acquired Pixar.

In the late 1970s, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak engineered one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC's mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of the Apple Lisa and, one year later, the Macintosh. During this period he also led efforts that would begin the desktop publishing revolution, notably through the introduction of the LaserWriter and the associated PageMaker software.