I think the simpler answer for making the change — rather than the Air name becoming identified as the Meh product tier — is that (1) it just isn’t as communicative of anything anymore in the laptop space and (2) they made a mistake with regards to the iPad Air moniker that they wanted to correct sooner rather than later.

When Apple moved the iMac from the CRT version to the thinner flat screen version, they just called it iMac. It was the next evolution of the iMac. The MacBook Air was not the next evolution of the existing MacBook or MacBook Pro. It was its own thing. The original intent was for it to be a prestige device and push a revolutionary design strategy. A branding distinct from existing product lines was useful. Launch a new MacBook with basically the same unique selling propositions as the MacBook Air and ‘Air’ becomes meaningless.

Assessing the iPad in this light, what ended up being called the Air was really just the next evolutionary step of the iPad. It didn’t have a product strategy distinct from what was already on the market from Apple. If they introduced an iPad Air that used (for example) flexible glass and case materials, thin-film batteries, color e-ink, etc., then that could be a distinct class of iPad. Instead it was just a cheap marketing tactic for a slightly thinner, lighter tablet to glom on to customer awareness of the laptop Air. They screwed it up and (maybe not so coincidentally) the iPad has been stagnant-to-down ever since.

I also think they might want the Apple brand itself to be associated with the qualities currently assigned to just the ‘Air’ nameplate. Meaning, all Apple products will shoot for a sort of magical, technology-defying form and function, and then coincidentally they also make high end versions of a couple products for the professional market.

“Light” and “professional” are still a dichotomy – new Macbook is shy on ports, expansion, and CPU compared to the rest of the line-up just like the original MacBook Air was in its age.

And the “Air” brand is dying not because this dichotomy disappeared – rather because lightness is no more a stand-out feature in consumer electronics like it was few years ago.

Anything consumer-grade is already very thin and light nowadays.

So there’s no need to differentiate on that in the naming, not like there was when the optical-less, low power MBA debuted alongside the old MacBook.

Which was kept in the line-up for a while more just because it was the $1000 entry point.

Just like the MBA now.

I actually meant it as a brand, not a product, but that wasn’t too clear in the post. ‘Air’ kind of implies the product has been stripped down/is slow (Remember Windows 7 Starter Edition?), it adds nothing of value in 2016. The product name ‘MacBook’ is “Good” because it implies it’s just a regular laptop, compared to the ‘Air’ brand that signals compromise at face value.