Why no backlit keyboard on new MacBook Air?

I do honestly believe that most of the people that are aware that a lit keyboard was offered , if polled will say they would have preferred to have it. does it really help, probably not, it may be of limited assistance, and those that never knew about it probably don't curse it's absence. It does however give a sense of completeness of a well thought out higher end product that dotted it's I's and crossed it's T's, and inspires confidence, yielding a positive consumer experience. When expectations are fufilled, brand loyalty is generated. Which generated perpetuality of the entity is ensured. It is more economical to win a customer over once, that had a positive experience, and will buy the next three products ( in my case , my daughters macbook, then my wife's i pad, now my air) than to have to try to win him over three times, as in the case my daughters chevy, my wife's honda, and my mercedes. I am generally satisfied with the benz, and will probably buy another, but the chevy and the honda didn't inspire loyalty, although i had no big problems.

So not having a lighted keyboard wasn't a deal breaker, the deal for the air was sold by windows, whom did not yeald a positive experience, or I wouldn't have looked any further than MS. Brand loyalty is a vary valuable commodity, that I think no manifacturer wants to overlook.

Nice post, Mr. Wolf.

Something that surprises me is the polarization of opinions (about other people's opinions). Just to be clear, I understand everyone's passions about the matter. I own a late 2010 MBA, the tiny one. I love it. Just wished it had a backlit keyboard like the one before, voilà! Wasn't a deal breaker, and unlike some other poor souls, I knew it was gone on this model revision. It's a good thing I still have another Mac, because I would be sad to have had an IR remote with no iTunes-compatible machine to remotely control.

I was surprised that the ambient light sensor was gone though, didn't see that one coming.

I do understand that cost-reducing measures might have weighed in to keep the MBAs cheaper than... the previous 3 revs for sure! They are indeed cheaper. But even if it would have been a silly bait-and-switch decision, I would have paid the extra 50$ or so to have the backlight, IR, and ambient sensor... It can't possibly cost more than that in overhead, especially for features and technologies which have existed for years now!

I suppose it might be too cramped up inside indeed, although I have a suspicion that (some of) those features will come back soon...

Love the MBA, the MBP, the iPad, the iPhone, the nano I use as a watch. Silly me.

Like I said: total tool.

I'm surprised you're still allowed to post on these forums. Some people are clearly more indulgent than I am. Isn't this against some sort of forum rules? The insults, I mean.

Having posted my share of wrong posts on such hot topics as jailbreaking, I only got the gentle Apple emails telling me to hush hush. Perhaps you will get one of those emails yourself? I won't bother 'complaining' about it though. Some of us are big boys.

You know, maybe we could resolve this matter around beer in a pub, who knows. Perhaps you're a nice guy after all. But the veil of anonymity shrouds it all. It's easy to insult others on the internet. It's much harder to admit to one's own wrongs. If I have offended you, I apologize. If I have wronged you, likewise. But I don't think at any one point I deserved to be insulted.

Peace out.

On a more humorous note:

http://xkcd.com/386/

Just another voice in the choir saying that I never knew how much I missed the light until I bought my first Mac (MBP 2009). There has been a lot of pro's and con's about whether you really need this or that and whether it is worth the trade-off. I still haven't seen anyone (credibly) explain what the trade-off actually is and, since I am over 45 years old, I just want to say that the day Apple puts the keyboard light back, I will buy one of these machines as well. Maybe we won't have to wait too long anyway/ By the way, thanks to Dr Sly for trying to keep this thread at a civilized level.

Sorry McHeron, I doubt there ever will be an explanation. This is not Apple's way! Same as with the choices of our conservative government here in Canada ;-)

In all seriousness, I think it will come back. Apple knows when fans are unhappy, because there's nothing as vocal as an Apple fan scorned. They will quietly reintroduce it later on, just like the adjustments they made on a plethora of other devices (iPod Shuffle without controls, aluminum (non-pro) MacBook, sacrificing firewire ports every now and then, antennae on iPhone, subpar displays on a few generations of MacBooks/Pros and original MacBook Airs, etc.).

Apologizing for something is admitting some idea was bad to begin with, and they have magical and revolutionary PR, advertisement, and business strategies to make sure they never have to apologize for anything (e.g., the whole unencrypted geolocation database controversy of the last few weeks).

Having said all of the above, I still love 'em!

;-)

on the apple website if you click on macbook air it says there is a backlight keyboard????:s i'm sooo confuzed

This refers to 2010 Macbook Airs.

Yes, as rsannie says, it was the previous model. They put it back in this 2011 model and I have yesterday bought it, just as I promised ....

thanks for clearing that up do you know if you can still purchase the older model with the backlit keyboard from the apple website? sorry if this sounds stupid but i'm new to this sorta stuff and they put it back on the 2011 model??

Ella, I'm not sure why you would want to obtain an older model, let alone one from two generations ago (i.e., the former one with a backlit keyboard)?

Apple only sells their newest models, although they might still have some refurbished units on their refurbished web page on the Apple online store.

I have the newest MacBook Air (and had two former ones, from 2009 and 2010), and suffice it to say that it's utterly awesome!

Cheers,

Dr Sly

Just to clarify...

Original MacBook Air: Has backlit keyboard

MacBook Air released in 2010: No backlit keyboard

Newest MacBook Air: Has a backlit keyboard once again

thanks

Thanks for the reply. It's late Nov. 2011, and I'm looking to buy a 2010 Macbook Air "close out" model. I never had a backlit keyboard and truly don't understand why it's important. I find that the screen provides an ample amount of light on the keyboard, even at night with all the lights in the house off. Perhaps it's because my MacBook has white keys with dark letters? And the Air has dark keys with white letters? If anyone out there has gone from a white MacBook to a 2010 MacBook Air, let me know if this is a problem. And, thanks.