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Every “One More Thing” from Steve Jobs’ Keynotes

• October 25, 2023

Table of Contents

Apple Gazette proudly presents an exhaustive collection of every single “One more thing” moment from Steve Jobs’ many keynote speeches. More than thirty of them, in fact, and we’ve got embedded videos cued up to the exact moment, so you can watch them all on a single webpage.

A Few Things I Noticed…

• MacWorld almost always had a “One more thing.”
• WWDC almost never had one.
• Jobs employed a different transition effect almost every time those three words showed up on his presentation screen.

Steve Jobs was a master of the keynote presentation. If he was an artist, the keynote was his canvas. When he stood in front of an audience, be it the enthusiastic crowds at WWDC or a special press briefing, he had them eating out of his hand. (He could’ve pronounced himself the King of Whoopee and they would have given him a standing ovation with cheers and hollers.)

Jobs’ signature feature was to wrap things up, and then tack on “One more thing” at the end, complete with a giant slide bearing those words on the big screen behind him. The items promoted during this epilogue ranged from minor accessories to significant new product announcements. Over the years, Apple fans started watching for Steve’s “one more thing” in each presentation he gave. (Watch for their increasing swells of approval and excitement in the videos below.)

Jobs viewed his presentations as a form of storytelling, and his job as the storyteller was to wow his audience and get the buzz started. Anytime he put together a keynote that he feared might not have quite the level of pizzazz he was after, he pulled out the “one more thing” trick to top things off with an exclamation point. But not every presentation he ever gave included a “one more thing” moment. The unveiling of the original iPhone at MacWorld 2007, for example, didn’t need one because the iPhone was the biggest and arguably most important product launch Apple had done to date.

Among other things, it’s fascinating to watch Jobs’ evolution as a speaker and a CEO (he starts off below as Apple’s “interim” CEO). And then there’s his tragic physical deterioration in the last five years or so of his life; it’s sad to see, but amazing how it never dampens his skills at working a crowd. Jobs was at his best when he was on stage, presenting Apple’s latest and greatest devices to the world, and that remains true right up to the end.

Entries that don’t quite fit with the rest of this list, for one reason or another, are denoted in yellow .

Let’s get started.

January 8, 1998 MacWorld San Francisco

The very first “One more thing” Jobs gave was not the kind that Apple fans are used to today. Reportedly, he was walking off the stage at the end of his presentation when he stopped and offhandedly remarked to the crowd, “Oh yeah, we’re profitable.” After years of struggling through declining sales — and the media declaring Apple all but dead — Jobs returned to helm the company he co-founded, and quickly turned things around, putting Apple back on its feet. As you might imagine, the crowded room full of Apple fans were ecstatic. This is the only “One more thing” I was unable to find video footage of. There is some video of this keynote available to watch, but it cuts off before the end. [Image source]

https://youtu.be/sXhCxSmEsQc?t=3m56s

July 21, 1999 MacWorld New York

After showing off the first iBook, Jobs rolled out the first consumer-friendly wireless base station to go with it: the AirPort. The plug-and-play device’s data transfer speed topped out at 11Mbps (!), and it required that you pop an AirPort Card inside your iBook (via an easily accessible panel, natch) for the laptop to be able to access the wireless network. Unlike most other “One more thing”s, this one was not accompanied by a slide bearing those words.

https://youtu.be/jG-mVUzCvwY?hd=1&t=1h26m2s

August 31, 1999 Seybold San Francisco

Jobs announced the Apple Cinema Display to a room full of oohs and aahs. The 22″ LCD flat panel display was, to the best of my reckoning, Apple’s first-ever display with a widescreen ratio. (But I know I can count on you to correct me if I’m wrong about that, fanboys and girls.)

October 5, 1999 Special iMac Event

At one of the first “special events” Apple created, where the press were invited and it wasn’t the kick-off of a convention, Jobs wrapped things up with the iMac DV, a souped-up iMac made to handle desktop video editing. Among its video-friendly features were two Firewire ports instead of just one, and the launch of the very first version of iMovie.

After this was done, Jobs came back again for a second “One more thing”: iMac DV Special Edition. This one was the same as the DV, but tricked out even further with more space and faster components. The Special Edition came in a “special color” called Graphite made just for this computer.

January 5, 2000 MacWorld San Francisco

After a few years of serving as Apple’s interim CEO, following his return to the company, Jobs announced that the company had decided to drop the “interim” from his title, making him Apple’s full time head honcho.

July 19, 2000 MacWorld New York

The PowerMac G4 Cube was the subject of this “One more thing.” Did Jobs have a thing for cube-shaped devices? He’d also launched the “NeXTcube” computer in the early 90s during his time away from Apple. Neither one proved terribly popular among consumers.

January 9, 2001 MacWorld San Francisco

Jobs stunned the world with a sexy laptop that boasted a titanium casing, and was just one inch thick. The PowerBook G4 set a new standard at the time for thinness — and how much power could be squeezed into such a narrow frame. It redefined the entire notebook industry, and was one of the most lusted-after computers in the world.

https://youtu.be/XUd_yE1Ghrk?hd=1&t=1h34m21s

February 22, 2001 MacWorld Tokyo

Jobs showed off two new patterns — instead of colors — for Apple’s new lineup of iMacs with CD-RW drives. They bore the unfortunate-in-retrospect names of “Flower Power” and “Blue Dalmatian.”

https://youtu.be/LgMO9TYitso?hd=1&t=1h43m20s

July 16, 2002 MacWorld New York

The iMac G4 was Apple’s first major redesign of the popular consumer desktop, replacing the cathode ray tube shape of the original with a 15″ flatscreen on a swivel arm. For this “One more thing,” Jobs introduced a new version with a 17″ flatscreen. (Note: despite the YouTube title claiming this video is Jobs’ keynote from “WWDC 2002,” it is, in fact, his keynote from MacWorld New York 2002.)

https://youtu.be/13n98rSaYp4?hd=1&t=1h42m25s

January 8, 2003 MacWorld San Francisco

After introducing the first 17″ PowerBook, Jobs used his “One more thing” to mention that they decided to apply the same technology they used for the 17″ aluminum laptop to also build a petite 12″ PowerBook. Touting it as the world’s smallest full-featured laptop, it’s clear now that this tiny laptop fed Jobs’ obsession with “smaller and thinner is better.” As usual, the audience was enthusiastic about the new product’s features — except its 5-hour battery life.

https://youtu.be/_ItdjM32FK8?t=18m41s

April 23, 2003 iTunes Music Store Special Event

Stepping outside of tradition, Jobs put this “One more feature …” just 18 minutes into the hour-and-20-minute event. It was the announcement of a version of iTunes for Windows. Jobs boasted that it was “the best Windows app ever written.”

https://youtu.be/3S0HlCgfNeM?t=1h9m19s

June 23, 2003 WWDC

In the concluding moments of this event, the brand new Power Mac G5 rose up dramatically out of the stage floor. Jobs’ announcement followed a leak from the week before, when the specs for the G5 were accidentally posted early on the Apple Store website.

https://youtu.be/c_4hOJWAVmc?t=3m33s

September 16, 2003 Apple Expo Paris

Apple’s first wireless mouse & wireless keyboard were shown off at this one. The mouse was the direct precursor to the much-derided Mighty Mouse, sharing its same basic design. The main missing feature was the scroll ball.

https://youtu.be/6rkaumS8FQM?hd=1&t=1h56m20s

January 6, 2004 MacWorld San Francisco

After introducing the iPod Mini, Jobs used his “One more thing” to show that these anodized aluminum music players came in 5 colors. To this reporter’s eyes, this keynote marks the first visible signs of Jobs’ weight loss due to his cancer, though opinions on this issue will surely vary.

https://youtu.be/Dy7p2q7gj0s?hd=1&t=1h28m23s

August 31, 2004 Apple Expo Paris

I include this one apocryphally, since it was given by Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller. Near the end of his presentation, Schiller remarked, “There’s one other thing I want to talk about today…” It was the new iMac G5, which featured the same design as today’s iMacs, but with a white plastic enclosure instead of metal.

https://youtu.be/1mNQIO4huS8?t=31m2s

October 26, 2004 Music Special Event

Jobs showed off a special edition “U2 iPod,” a departure from the standard white iPod. This one was black with a red click wheel, and the signatures of all four band members were laser-etched on the back. Following the announcement, Jobs introduced U2, who took the stage beside him.

https://youtu.be/0Y8J0S6hxC4?hd=1&t=1h34m22s

January 11, 2005 MacWorld San Francisco

While the iPhone was still in development , Jobs bided his time with smaller releases like the iPod Shuffle, the first iPod that had no display. It was a super-small device, with a similar design to Apple’s remote control for laptops, desktops, and Apple TV.

https://youtu.be/O023nGtNgdI?t=5m10s

September 7, 2005 Music Special Event

After announcing the iPod Nano, there’s a moment when Jobs  very casually says “there’s one other thing,” and then he shows off a black version of the Nano. The whole thing happens so fast — and there’s no slide behind him to echo it — that I don’t believe it follows the spirit of Jobs’ typical use of “one more thing.” But I include it here for completion’s sake. Interesting side note: this was the same event where Jobs launched the disastrous Motorola ROKR, aka the so-called “iPod Phone” that was critically panned and ended up a commercial flop.

https://youtu.be/ZIJtqQCkExk?t=1m49s

October 12, 2005 “One More Thing…” Special Event

TV show episodes came to iTunes for $1.99 an episode. Initially it was announced only with Disney/ABC shows, but other networks signed on not long after.

https://youtu.be/iMDTOBsFens?t=1h18m33s

January 10, 2006 MacWorld

Jobs introduced the first MacBook Pro, Apple’s first Intel-based laptop. It was also the first laptop with an iSight camera built in, the now-standard MagSafe power connector, and Front Row with a remote.

https://youtu.be/MJc9jMMuva8?t=33m50s

September 12, 2006 “It’s Showtime!” Special Event

Movie purchases arrived on iTunes with this one. But after a recap, Jobs announced another “One last thing”: a sneak peek of “iTV,” which later became “Apple TV.” A third “one more thing” was used to introduce John Legend, who performed on stage.

https://youtu.be/Shu6_lO1PW8?hd=1&t=1h5m39s

June 11, 2007 WWDC

A beta version of Safari for Windows was announced.

September 5, 2007 “The Beat Goes On” Music Special Event

At this post-iPhone event, after he introduced the iPod Touch (and new models of the other iPods), Jobs unveiled “iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store,” which allowed users to buy music straight from our iPhones and iPods for the first time. No more syncing to a computer necessary for music purchases. A second “One more thing” moment (sans slide) was the announcement of Apple’s partnership with Starbucks. Their deal allowed Starbucks customers to find out what music is currently playing in the store and immediately purchase it over Wi-Fi.

https://youtu.be/M63VCmsTIrI?t=2m35s

March 6, 2008 “iPhone Software Roadmap” Special Event

At the end of this event geared specifically toward iPhone app developers, Jobs introduced John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to the crowd. Doerr announced “iFund,” a $100 million capital fund for new startups that want to build iPhone apps.

October 14, 2008 Notebooks Special Event

After introducing the new “unibody enclosure” for MacBook Pro, Jobs trotted out a “next-generation” MacBook that also featured a metal unibody. The unibody aluminum enclosure is one of Apple’s least-celebrated but most important innovations, I think.

January 6, 2009 MacWorld

Phil Schiller stood in again for an ailing Steve Jobs at this annual event, though listening to the presentation, it seems obvious that Jobs at least had a hand in writing the script, because his presentation style is on display throughout. Late in his speech, Schiller invoked “one last thing”: three new features for iTunes. 1) a 3-price tier of $.69, $.99, and $1.29 replaced the single-price structure for song purchases. 2) iTunes Plus: eight million songs became DRM-free. 3) iTunes Music Store for iPhone/iPod Touch was made 3G-enabled, so customers could buy songs that way in addition to the existing Wi-Fi.

https://youtu.be/5Ue0MB5J4co?t=6m40s

September 9, 2009 “It’s Only Rock & Roll” iPod Special Event

A video camera was added to the iPod Nano, in response to the popularity of Flash storage-based camcorders like the Flip. The best part of the presentation came at its beginning, when Jobs returned to the stage after his liver transplant and received a standing ovation that lasted a full minute.

June 7, 2010 WWDC

After introducing the iPhone 4, Jobs’ “One More thing” was FaceTime video calling. He unveiled it in the same manner that he’d showed off voice calling on the original iPhone: by calling Jonny Ive. (He also ranted about people in the audience not turning their Wi-Fi devices off, which caused the video quality on the call  to be jumpy.)

https://youtu.be/mtOkWjBrJ48?hd=1&t=5m25s

September 1, 2010 Apple Music Special Event

The second generation, much smaller Apple TV was revealed.

https://youtu.be/SHllK_hKFxY?hd=1&t=1h11m48s

October 20, 2010 “Back to the Mac” Special Event

Jobs introduced the second-generation MacBook Air, the first MacBook ever to use all Flash storage. While cuing up this product, he got a big laugh from the crowd when he said, “So we asked ourselves, ‘What would happen if a MacBook and an iPad hooked up ?”

June 6, 2011 WWDC

At Jobs’ very last keynote address, he mentioned that “there’s one more thing,” but there was no slide to go with it. The announcement, which followed the first details on iCloud, was iTunes Match. Even though his health had deteriorated to its worst point yet (he would pass away just four months later), he was as dynamic a showman on stage as ever.

Editor’s note: Presumably out of respect to Steve Jobs, Apple seems to have retired the “One more thing” moment from its presentations following his passing.

[Front page article image source ]

7 thoughts on “ Every “One More Thing” from Steve Jobs’ Keynotes ”

You couldn’t have made just one video of all the ‘Just one more thing’?

I considered that, but the question I came back to was where to cut it off. A collection of quick-cuts of Steve saying “But there is one more thing…” thirty times, would be fun. But a lot of our readers appreciate thoroughness, and I thought it would’ve left a lot of them wanting more. More details, more context, more of the videos they came from. So for the events where it was available, I used videos of the entire presentation for my embeds. That way, Apple Gazette readers would have the option to rewind and watch more if they want. (I confess I found myself watching other, equally compelling parts of some of these keynotes while putting the article together!)

But maybe we can attempt to do a compilation video like that in the near future. We’re open to requests. 😉

Steve Jobs died in 2011 – WTF?

My bad. Typo.

Really enjoying this post. After watching one or two, I was so intrigued that I went back and have been watching the full presentations. It’s fascinating to see the evolution of Apple.

Yeah, ditto that. Nicely done article. Thanks for the retrospect.

I thought maybe the press made too much of the “one more thing”, but looks like he really did use it a lot. Was curious as many Apple faithful were hoping for a “one more thing” today during the iPhone 5S and 5C keynote.

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Full transcript of Apple’s ‘08 Keynote Address

Continue reading a full play-by-play transcript of Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote address from the 2008 Macworld Conference and Expo. Most of the announcements found in this transcript are explained in further detail in separate news articles; photos from the event can be found here . 10:41 Song ends, Newman leaving stage after shake from Steve Jobs. Jobs: go see the new products. Thanks for reading our transcript, guys!

10:36 Continued political/economic diatribe, how media is focusing on the companies but not the poeple who are being hurt. He won’t be railing against Apple. It’s not the same sort of company. Also praises Fox because it’ll help him make some money. He’ll be playing a song from Toy Story, jokes that it was a love theme for Buzz and Woody. Says he was impressed by audience knowing about the notebook before it was announced – says he was impressed. Song is You’ve Got a Friend in Me.

10:31-10:35 am Randy Newman playing piano and talking. Says that in Europe, people don’t like us very much so he wanted a quick song to make people like us. An apology for our awful leaders, who aren’t the world’s worst—look at some of the bad leaders from history. “I’d like to say a few words in defense of our country” is the song. Caesars making horse vice-president, Spanish Inquisition, Hitler, Stalin, King Leopold of Belgium destroying Congo. We have bad Supreme Court justices, he notes. Says our empire is ending, like all the rest. We’re adrift at sea. Quite a political statement for a keynote.

10:27 am That’s the fourth thing. It’s 2008. In the first 2 weeks, Apple intro’d Mac Pro with 8 cores across board, Time Capsule, iPod touch and iPhone software upgrades. iTunes Movie Rentals, reinvented Apple TV, and MacBook Air. Fifty more weeks to go in 2008. That’s it, he says. Special treat today: someone who can bridge gap between Hollywood and music, Randy Newman. Academy Award winner nominated 17 times, won 5 Grammies and 13 nominations. Does scores for Pixar and a lot of other movies in the future.

10:25 am Ad shows the manila envelope. Glossy screen is shown off. One other side of MBA is the environment: case is fully recyclable aluminum. Also has fully Mercury-free display. Arsenic free glass. All of the Apple-designed boards are PVC and bromide flame retardant. Box is 56% smaller in volume than before. The world’s thinnest notebook.

10:23 am Battery life: 5 hours of battery for web, email, with wireless on. What are the features: 3 pounds, 0.16-0.76 thickness. 13.3” display, full size keyboard. Backlit keyboard. Multi-touch gestures. iSight built in. 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB memory standard. 80GB hard drive. Option of 64GB SSD. 802.11n wi-fi. Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. MagSafe. Price: $1799. Will be shipping in 2 weeks. Will take orders/preorders today.

10:21 am A new feature on MacBook Air is called Remote Disc. When you go to the Finder, you’ll see in the left column all of the Macs and PCs in your vicinity, and can use the CD drive of any machine with Apple’s included software installed. You can use a PC to install Mac software wirelessly. Just as if you have a local optical drive.

10:19 am One side has MagSafe. 45w comes with it. Flip down door for USB 2 Micro-DVI and headphone jack. Includes 802.11n, plus Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. One thing it doesn’t include is an optical drive. Apple is selling it separately – USB SuperDrive. $99.

Apple doesn’t think people will want it. It’s built to be a wireless machine. Apple offers all this stuff over the Internet, uses wireless devices.

10:17 am Apple wanted a special version of the Core 2 Duo in a 60% smaller processor package. Intel delivered it. Paul Otellini of Intel coming up to talk.

10:15 am How is a Mac fit in there? Battery, hard disk, and electronics. 1.8 drive inside. Same as in iPods. 80GB or 64GB Solid State Disk. Real magic is in electronics. Complete Mac fit into a slightly more than pencil-length board. No compromise on performance. Core 2 Duo. 1.6GHz standard, and option to 1.8GHz. See pictures on Flickr from iLounge.

10:14 am Lets you use all sorts of other gestures, like double-tap to select a window, pan around in image with two fingers, rotate photo with two-point finger rotation. Next photo is just three fingers, pan right or left. Use pinch commands for zoom.

10:11 am It looks like a super thin MacBook Pro. Full size black keyboard and display. Just imagine a MacBook Pro that has been flattened to the point you’d never believe possible. 13.3” widescreen, LED backlit, gorgeous, latched with a magnet. Built in iSight. Flip it down, keyboard is the best they’ve ever shipped, says Steve. It’s backlit, too. A very generous trackpad, with multi-touch gesture support.

10:08 am Apple thinks weight is right, but no other compromises are acceptable. Thinness of MacBook Pro is 0.76” tapered to 0.16”. It is thinner at is thickest than the thinnest part of the TZ series. Fits inside a manila envelope. He takes out a manila envelope.

10:08 am Number four. There’s something in the Air. What is it? As you know, Apple makes the best notebooks on the planet. Today, we’re introducing third kind of notebook. MacBook Air. What is it? The world’s thinnest notebook. They looked at all the thin notebooks – shows the Sony TZ. They’re not _that_ thin. They generally weigh 3 pounds, are .8 to 1.2 inches thin. They compromise on display to get to 11-12 inch display. And have miniature keyboards. And they’re typically 1.2 GHz Core 2 Duos.

10:07 am They developed the Digital Copy – a way to put their movies into a format you could download onto your iPod directly from a DVD. Family Guy Blue Harvest has the digital copy you can move into iTunes. No added price for the feature.

10:03 am Focused on business models of movies, he says it’s simple – make great movies and make it as widely available as you can. People want a lot of choice, easy access, convenience, portability – how where when they watch it. He thinks this will be a transformative version of the rental model. Fox also wants to work on DVDs because the next-gen format war is not resolved (but looks like Blu-Ray, he jokes).

10:00 am Price for Apple TV was $299. Make it more accessible. Starting in 2 weeks, it is $229. Free software upgrade and new $229 price in two weeks. The new iTunes rentals work on all current iPods, Apple TV, iPhone, and computer/iTunes. Apple really appreciates support of 20th Century Fox. Introducing Jim Gianopulos, CEO/Chairman of Fox.

9:59 am The interface for the iTunes Store via Apple TV is entirely redone, using similar elements without the wrapping of a web page or iTunes window. Free software upgrade to the new features.

9:58 am Flickr is live right from their server, can access people’s accounts, and even their friends. Unfortunately the flickr download glitches.

And it went totally black.

9:56 am Access photos and movies from .Mac accounts, as well as Flickr – all through widescreen TV.

9:54 am Movies, TV Shows, Music, Podcasts, Photos, YouTube, Settings on left pane, context-specific choices on the right pane. The pans are in a box that floats in front of whatever the prior screen’s graphics were, including multiple piece of album art, etc.

9:50 am Full DVD quality for standard videos, and HD quality for the $4.99 rentals. There is now a search feature so you can search the Store from the device. Very fast and has nice covers for the titles. New interface uses zoom-out effects and very image-heavy look. It’s a two-panes-of-text design from the main page, but when accessing the store it is very graphic-heavy, with lots of album and other cover art.

9:47 am The new interface is on our Flickr account. Sort of clean but simple look. Jobs uses Blades of Glory to preview it. One button to rent it. Confirm the rental, and it has a simple downloading process going. You can play as soon as the download starts, even as HD. Takes a second to start.

9:43 am All companies have all tried to figure out how to get movies over Internet and widescreen TV. All have missed. Apple tried with Apple TV. Designed to be an accessory for iTunes and your computer. Not what people wanted. People really wanted movies, movies, movies. So we’re back with Apple TV Take 2. No computer is required. Rent movies on Apple TV on widescreen TV in DVD quality or HD quality with Dolby 5.1. Can see podcasts, photos from Flickr and .Mac as well. Can buy TV shows and music directly from Apple TV. Will sync back to computer. HD quality rentals are $4.99 to rent. Entirely new user interface.

9:41 am See pictures on our Flickr account. So just to re-mention this to readers, iTunes gets videos 30 days after stores get them, and you have 24 hours of viewing. It launches today as a free software update for iTunes, iPods, and iPhones. U.S. starting today, international later this year. What about Apple TV?

9:40 am What’s the deal: Over 1000 movies on launch at end of February. 30 days after DVD release is when videos will show up. They can be watched on Macs, PCs, all current gen iPods and iPHone. Watch instantly after hitting rent – less than 30 seconds. Rules: you have 30 days to start watching, and can watch as many times as you want in 24 hours. You can transfer from one device to another in the middle of watching. To rent library titles, $2.99. New releases, $3.99.

9:37 am Today: iTunes Movie Rentals. People want to own music, but movies people watch once or a few times. Less expensive. New section of store – Harry Potter, Simpsons, Ocean 13. Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, New Line, Lions Gate. Fox, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony. Every major studio is on board for iTunes Movie Rentals. All the great first-run films now out on DVD will be available. Also great backtitles.

9:35 am Number 3: iTunes. Four billion songs now sold as of last week. Christmas Day sold 20 million songs. 125 million TV shows. Way more than everyone else put together. 7 million movies. More than everyone else put together. That’s still below expectations.

9:34 am iPod touch can use maps via Skyhook Wireless’s wi-fi transmitters, doesn’t need GPS. iPod touch users need to pay $20 for the upgrade! New buyers get it for free.

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Live from Macworld 2008: Steve Jobs keynote

Thanks for joining us for our live Macworld 2008 keynote coverage! We're in, so click on, all our real-time updates are posted just after the break.

Bonus: You'll also be able to read it in Spanish this year!

8:05AM - We're in line, and what a line it is. The press crowd is absolutely enormous. Apple won't be admitting for a little while yet, so stick close! 8:18am - Bomb-sniffing dogs; that's a new one for Macworld! 8:20am - They just pointed to the hall doors. 8:33am - Looks like they're about to open the doors to the conference hall. 8:35am - Media signs are going up. Any minute now. 8:39am - Music is pounding from the other side of the doors, things are running late.

8:46am - Doors about to open, security in place. 8:48am - Camera crews entering, rest of press still waiting. 8:55AM - We're in! They're playing some new New Order, it sounds like. Mixing up the usual Coldplay / Gorillaz soundtrack. 9:03AM - Green Day, Kanye West, lots of buzzing about, you might say there's something in the air. 9:08AM - Does Gnarls Barkley do a cover of The Smiths's Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before? Because that's what it sounds like. We've been told by the RCRD LBL -master that it's Mark Ronson. Playing Feist from the iPod nano commercial now. 9:13am - Lights dimming, cheers coming up, music fading. Here we go!

9:15am - It's a a Mac / PC commercial. "Happy New Year! -- It's a terrible year. 2008 is the year of the PC -- I'm going to copy everything you did in 2007!" 9:15am - Steve! Huge cheers. 9:15am - Welcome to Macworld 2008! There is clearly something in the air today. Before we dive into all that, I just wanted to take a moment to look back to 2007. 2007 was an extraordinary year for Apple. The amazing new iMac, awesome new iPods, and the revolutionary new iPhone.

9:16am - It was an extraordinary year for Apple, I want to take a moment and say thank you. Thank you, for an extraordinary 2007. Huge applause. I've got four things I'd like to talk about today. The first one: Leopard. I'm thrilled to report that we have delivered over 5 million copies of Leopard in the first 3 months. It's the most successful release of OS X EVER. Almost 20% of the OS X install base has upgraded. Unprecedented. We're really thrilled by this. Steve's quoting Mossberg, Pogue, Baig... all their positive reviews of Leopard.

9:18am - "One of the things being announced today, Microsoft is now shipping Office Mac 2008 -- this is the last big app to go native on Intel. We're finally there, all the big apps are native on Intel. Thank you. Adobe, thank you, Microsoft, thank you. ... he's going over Time Machine, back ups. "Today we're introducing a companion product to Time Machine -- it's called Time Capsule." "It's really clever, it's a backup appliance. What it has in it is an Airport Extreme base station and a hard drive -- 802.11n wireless and a server grade hard drive in it."

9:18AM - "These two things together make up Time Capsule -- really nice. You can back up your notebook wirelessly to TC. You can backup ALL the Macs in your house wirelessly to one Time Capsule. It's really wonderful. We're gonna sell it in two versions." "One with a 500GB drive, one with a 1TB drive inside it -- $299, and $499. Very aggressive prices because we want people backing up! Ships in Feb." Mild applause. "We've got an ad for Time Machine -- I'd love to run it now." This is the ad released last week. 9:22am - "So that's TC, a perfect companion to Leopard, and that's the first thing." Applause. Number two! "It's about the iPhone." A hush...

"I've got some great news. Today happens to be exactly the 200th day since the iPhone went on sale. It's been shipping exactly 200 days. I'm extraordinarily pleased to report that we've sold 4m to date." Daaamn, Steve! Applause. "That's 20k iPhones per day, on avg. We're really pleased with this." "What's this mean in terms of the overall market?" Chart time! It's first Q shipping it garnered 19% market share, Palm 9.8%, RIM 39%, other 20%, Nokia 7%... Palm, Moto, Nokia together -- "We equaled all them in the first 90 days..."

9:24am - "This is our first 90 days, 4m iPhones to date." Big applause. Steve's obviously looking pretty happy up there. "What everyone's excited about is the SDK we're releasing in late Feb... a chance to write incredible apps on the iPhone. We wanted to give everyone something today, too." "We've got some great new features today. First: maps with location!" "You know have the ability to find your current location in maps. Webclips, right on the home screen. Up to 9 total home screen. SMS multiple people at once." Big applause on that one. "Chapters, subs, langs in videos, lyrics in iPod." Demo time! 9:26am - Maps demo now -- page curls up, search and directions buttons now -- if you've seen the 1.1.3 demo vids, this is exactly it. "Schoom. And there we are." as it locates Steve in the Moscone. "I can flip right into directions, and it uses my current location to start..." calcing the route back to Apple HQ. 9:28am - "We love working with Google. So... I want to SMS more than one person at once!" Let's bring up a new message here. I want to send it to Phil and Scott, maybe Tim..." they're all coming up, just like an email to multiple people. Friggin finally. Still no sign of MMS, though. 9:29am - The list shows an icon to the group -- "It's pretty nice. So that's sending SMSs to multiple people. Webclips! I'm gonna go to Google because they have really cool apps that work with the iPhone -- now I have a plus button and I can just push this and I can just hit add to home screen."

9:30am - I want to customize my home screen -- I can touch any icon for a couple seconds, and they start to shake!" Chuckles. "They start to get restless!" Icons move around, new pages, dots on the bottom just like the Summerboard hack.

9:31am - "I can create up to 9 home screens, and I can move between them with the flick of my finger. So how do we do some of this stuff? Let's take maps... how do we do that? Well, we're working with two companies. Google, and Skyhook wireless -- we've driven the US and Canada and mapped WiFi hotspots, they have 23m hotspots in their database." 9:33am - "They pick up beacons, triangulate the beacons, and tell you where you are -- and Google is doing the same thing triangulating cell towers -- we're using both of them, and it works pretty doggone well. We have this new add to home screen button... add our apps right to the home screen." Demoing lyrics, chapters, languages, all the new multimedia features on the iPhone. "All of this is vailable today as a free software update for every iPhone." Big applause. v1.1.3! 9:34am - "The iPhone isn't standing still, we keep making it better and better. That's the iPhone. But what about hte iPod touch. What can we do for the touch? We decided to add five apps to the touch. Mail, maps, stocks, notes, and weather!" [ About freaking time! - Peter ] 9:35am - "All the same stuff we just heard about on the iPhone -- on the iPod touch. Starting today we're going to build it into every new iPod touch, for existing iPod touch users it's going to be just a $20 upgrade." EXCUSE me?! You have to PAY for this? This is SO weak. "iPod touch, and the iPhone -- major software updates. And that's the second thing I want to talk about." Big applause. 9:36am - "Ok, number three. This is a good one, too. Number three is about iTunes."

"I'm really pleased to report that last week we sold our 4 billionth song. 4 billion songs. On Christmas day we set a new record -- 20m songs in one day. Isn't that amazing? That's our new one day record. We've also sold 125m TV shows -- that's WAY more than everyone else put together." 9:37am - "And we've sold 7m movies, again, more than everyone else put together. But it didn't meet our expectations, I have to tell you. We think there's a better way to deliver movie content through iTunes. So today, we're introducing iTunes Movie Rentals."

9:38am - "We've never offered a rental model in music because we don't think people don't want to rent music. But your favorite movie -- most of us watch once, and renting is a great way to do it. It's a great way to do it. We've got participation of great studios. Touchstone, MGM, Miramax,... and these six too. Lions Gate, Fox, WB, Walt Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony..." Everyone! Huge applause

9:39am - "We're gonna have all the great first run films -- REALLY, really great films. I'm sure you saw a lot of these in the theater. We've also got great library titles, Red October, Matrix... lots of library titles, all the great new ones from this last year..." 9:40am - "Now, so what's the deal? We're gonna launch with 1k films by the end of February -- 30 days after DVD release. Watch anywhere, PCs, Macs, iPods, iPhone..." 9:41am - "Watch instantly! In less than 30s..." it streams. "The rules -- you have 30 days to start watching it, and once you start you have 24 hours to watch and finish it. As many times as you want. You can transfer films to another device in the middle -- transfer to your iPod and watch the rest on the iPod on your flight."

"What's it going to cost? To rent a library title will cost $2.99 -- new release? $3.99" Big applause.

9:42am - "Here's how it works -- I'm on iTunes, looking at a movie I want to rent, I hit rent movie, and it adds to my rented movies category in my iTunes library...." Sorry for the technical difficulties everyone! We're at 10x the traffic of our last keynote, but things are coming back online.

9:43am - "It launches today! Free software update for iTunes, iPods, iPhones to support rentals. Rolling it out in the US today, we're dying to get this out internationally. But what about this? What about the flat screen TV? I'd like to watch the movies there too." 9:44am - "I'd like to say all of us have tried. We have, MSFT, Amazon, TiVo, VuDu, Netflix, Blockbuster -- we've all tried to figure out how to get movies over the net onto the TV. We've ALL missed. No one's succeeded yet. We tried with Apple TV -- it was designed to be an accessory for iTunes and your computer. But that's not what people wanted."

"We learned what people wanted was about movies. Movies. Movies. We weren't delivering that -- we're back with Apple TV Take 2 -- It still syncs to your computer, but no computer is required 9:45am - Here's what you can do with Apple TV: rent movies directly on widescreen TV with Apple TV. Rent them in DVD quality, rent them in HD with 5.1" HUGE applause! Screaming. "Dolby 5.1 surround. The quality is unbelievable. You can also view audio and video podcasts right on ATV, choose from 125k podcasts and see them right on your widescreen. Get photos from your computer... get them also right over the internet from Flickr and .mac." Flickr support, good gawd yall. "And, of course, YouTube -- we've expanded the selection. There's now over 50m videos from YT, This has worked out so great, our customers love this. Buy TV shows and music right from your TV. And if you're using a computer it'll sync BACK to your computer." 9:46am - "And, of course, play iTunes content. So all of this stuff on the new Apple TV. Let me focus on the HD movies for a minute... the library titles are $2.99 and $3.99 -- for just a dollar more rent them in HD, $3.99 and $4.99 -- there are over 100 titles available today. 9:47am - "All these features and an entirely new UI." Demo time! "This is the new UI -- one menu, it couldn't be simpler. Let's go into movies..." Man, this is a sexy interface, no doubt. 9:48am - Star Trek! I love the old Star Trek movies..." Chuckles. Blades of Glory: "Fun movie -- I can read about the movie, see the actors, directors..." shows recommendations based on what others have viewed. 9:49am - "So you get the idea..." He's renting the movie, downloading, "it'll tell me when it's ready to play. So I hit the play button and it'll play!" Looks pretty friggin good, even on this absolutely massive screen.

9:50am -This is full DVD quality -- it's great. Now I'm gonna play some HD." And, of course, it looks marginally better, as HD should. Live Free or Die Hard. Where's Justin Long at?

9:52am - "Let's go to genres... G, PG, romance, sci-fi, western... I just want to go ahead and show you search. We're just populating the database, ingesting these movies from the studio and encoding them right now. I want to find Shakespeare in Love, really fast search... and there it is. It's that simple. So now let me go back up... we have over 600 TV shows you can buy for $1.99." 9:54am - "Music: again, we've got 6m songs in iTunes, you can buy any of them on your widescreen TV, lets go ahead and search for something here... there they are right there, and there's the music video. Let's go to podcasts here, this is really cool. HD podcasts! We have a lot in HD now, which is really amazing." Veronica Belmont was on screen!

9:55am - "This is streaming off the server -- this is free." Skiing video with totally rawkin music. Stoooooked dude. 9:56am - "Incredible!! Let me go to photos now, don't know if I can top that one -- again, this is all live. Set these things up as screen savers, or just look at the photos. So let's go to the vacation here... streaming off .Mac, live."

9:58am - "Let me go to Flickr now -- this is Flickr live, right from their servers. I can show you all the photos, but I can do something even more fun, I can see not only their photos, but their friends' photos!" [ Can't we just hurry up and get to the new laptop? - Peter ] 10:00am - "I'm afraid Flickr's not serving up the photos on that one..." Sorry Steve! Flickr still loves you, and we still love Flickr. "Movies -- preview it, rent it, genres, boom -- TV shows, buy music... automatically sync it to your computers. Podcasts -- over 125k podcasts in the directory. And photos from .Mac and -- when they're serving up photos -- Flickr." Har

10:01am - "So this is where we're at with Apple TV. I think it's a revolution. Certainly we've made some progress since our first try. Apple TV -- this is a new, free software upgrade. We want EVERYONE to have this new software."

"This is a free upgrade to every ATV owner. Given the fact that we have all new software and we've got the support from EVERY major studio. We want to make it even more accessible. Right now it sells for $299 -- but not anymore."

"The new price of ATV is just $229." 10:02am - "We are shipping the free software upgrade to existing owners and the new $229 ATV in just two weeks." Mild applause. "Let's come back to iTunes rentals, you can watch them on your computer, watch them on all current gen iPods, your iPhone, and you can watch them on your widescreen TV. Order them for your computer, iPods, iPhone -- right off of iTunes. Order them for your widescreen TV right ON your widescreen TV. We've got support from EVERY major studio. We've got it all together." "The first studio to sign up with us... 20th Century Fox. We appreciate that, we've developed a great working relationship. Let me introduce to you Jim Gianopulos, chairman and CEO of Fox." Big applause.

10:04am - He's talking about he's getting excited just hearing Steve talk about this stuff, but he already knows. Well, you know, Macworld's an exciting event. Jim: "Make great movies, give it to people in as many was as you possibly can. When you talk to people about what they want, it's the same thing: variety of choice, easy access, convenience, control over how they watch it, and portability." Sure, so why the DRM. "Basic enough that even a studio guy can understand it. So we go to our in-house tech dept and I think we have a slide with the result -- woohoo!" Homer's on screen in a faux-iPod ad. 10:06am - "The real back story, when Steve came to us, it was a no-brainer. It was the most exciting, coolest thing we've ever heard. VoD isn't a new thing. But there was music, and then the iPod. There was a phone, then the iPhone. Apple does things in an intuitive, insightful way... this will be a transformative version of the rental model. We're incredibly excited about it." "There's another idea we've been talking to Steve about. There are other formats -- DVD. And there are next gen formats, like Blu-ray." Laughter and applause. "People still want to buy hard media, but we don't want to deny them the benefit of watching the same movie. So we developed a digital copy that will be on discs going forward." 10:07am - "I have a copy of the first one today. We planned this date a long time ago, The Family Guy Blue Harvest video, but this contains a digital copy that you can instantly move to iTunes." 10:08am - "We're really excited about this as well, today is an exciting beginning for movie rentals on iTunes. We couldn't be happier and prouder of our partnership. Thank you." Jim's off, Steve's back. "Thank you Jim. Well, iTunes movie rentals. That's the third thing we wanted to talk about today." "What is it? Well, as you know, Apple makes the best notebooks on the planet. The MacBook and the MacBook Pro."

"These are the industry standards. Today we're introducing a third -- The MacBook Air." "What is the MacBook Air? In a sentence, it's the world's thinnest notebook."

10:09am - "What's that mean? Well, we went out and looked at all the thin notebooks -- most people think of the Sony TZ. They're thin. We looked at ALL of them, tried to distill the best of breed. They generally weigh 3 pounds, about 0.8-1.2-inchs thin, wedge shaped, they compromise to get the weight down. Things like the display.

10:10am - an 11 or 12-inch display, they also compromise on the keyboard, they make mini keyboards. They don't run the mas fast as they could. We looked at this and said what do we like? Where can we compromise? The weight's a good target, 3 pounds. But too much compromise to get there. Less than a full size display, keyboard, and we want to put even more performance in this product. This is that Sony product -- one of the best in the field. This is the macbook Air. 0.76 - 0.16-inches 10:11am - Unprecedented 0.16-inches -- the thickest part of the Air is still thinner than the thinnest part of the TZ series. It's so thin it fits in a manilla envelope. Let me show it to you now. He pulls out a manilla envelope. Huge applause. 10:12am - "This is the new Macbook Air, you can get a feel for how thin it is. There it is." Unreal, that's almost invisible from the side. "Amazing product here, full size keyboard, full size keyboard, full-size display. Isn't that amazing?"

10:13am - "It fits inside the evenlope, it's that small. This is what it looks like, isn't that incredible? World's thinnest notebook. Magnetic latch, 13.3-inch widescreen display." 10:14am - "The display is gorgeous -- LED-backlit display, it says power, and instant on the minute you open it. It's got iSight for videoconferencing right out of the box. Flip it down, there's a full-size keyboard. This is the best notebook keyboard we've ever shipped, and it's full-sized. And it's backlit." 10:15am - We've got a very generous trackpad, which is great. We've also built in multi-touch gesture support. We've taken that even further, you'll actually be able to turn on all sorts of new gestures." "You can double-tap and move the whole window, not just the cursor. When you're in a large photo you can pan around with two fingers. When you want to rotate a photo, just rotate your fingers. We learned in the iPhone and we're putting it in our notebook computers." "If you want to go between photos, pan right, pan left -- if you want to zoom, pinch in and out. Isn't that great?" Rumbling applause.

10:16am - Pretty amazing. Again, you can see how beautiful and thin this product is. Now, how did we fit a Mac in here? I'm still stunned our engineering team can pull this off. There's three things in here -- battery, hard disk, and electronics. We went to a 1.8-inch hard drive." Same as in iPods. "Ships with 80GB drive, option of 64GB SSD."

10:17am - "They're a little pricey, but they ARE fast. But the real magic is in the electronics, this is a complete mac on this board. What's so special about that? This is how big it is." It's the size of a pencil. "We didn't compromise on performance. It uses the Core 2 Duo, this is a really speedy processor."

10:18am - "We've got a great relationship with Intel -- they're engineering driven, we challenge each other. We said we want the Core 2 Duo, but we need to go to smaller packaging. It sounds easy -- it's not. They invested a lot of engineering to create this for us. The same chip in a package that's 60% smaller -- one of the reasons we can build the MacBook Air. I'd like to say thank you, Intel." 10:19am - "I'd like to invite Otellini on stage..." Paul O gets up there, another appearance. Paul: "About a year ago you challenged us to get the world's best CPU into this machine. When we started this project we didn't think it was possible. What we built for you is the width of a dime, thick as a nickel... it's been a challenge, we sweated over it, and we did what we do best together. Innovate." Paul gives Steve the chip as a "souvenir." Aw, shucks.

10:20am - "This is AWESOME technology. Thank you Paul, thank you Intel. So that's the electronics -- how we fit a Mac inside the world's thinnest notebook. On one side we have MagSafe -- a smaller 45w power adapter, on the other side we have a door that exposes a USB 2.0 port, Micro-DVI, and a headphone jack." "And, maybe most importantly, we've built into the most advance wireless... 802.11n, along with Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. The latest and greatest in wireless, built to be a wireless machine." 10:21am - "What you're NOT going to find is an optical drive. You can buy this accessory, it's USB powered, it costs just $99, it's very compact. But you know what? We don't think most users will miss the optical drive, or will need the optical drive." 10:22am - What do we normally do with these drives? Play movies, install software, burn CDs... guess what, we have a much better way. We can wirelessly rent movies, we have a much better way than burning CDs -- most of us have iPods in our car. For making backups we have Time Machine and Time Capsule to wirelessly back up our laptops. What about installing software?"

"We're going to do that wirelessly too. We have a new feature built into the MBA called remote disc." "You'll see in the finder called Remote Disc -- it will show you all the Macs and PCs that have some special software on them, and you can pick one of those machines and ask to borrow its optical drive.

10:23am - "Once they've accepted your request you can see what's on their optical drive -- a PC can read a Mac disc and send it wirelessly over to your MBA and it's just as if you had a local optical drive. It's amazing" Big applause. Well, we'll be damned. "We don't think users are going to miss THAT." DVD disappears. "We didn't want compromise on battery life -- 5 hours battery life in that TINY little notebook."

10:25am - "A lot of others only get 1.5 hours -- this is phenomenal battery life. 3 pounds, 13.3-inch full size display, full keyboard, multi-touch gestures, 0.16-inch thickness, iSight... 1.6GHz C2D, 2GB RAM standard, 80GB drive, 64GB SSD option, 802.11n standard Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR...

"All these and more in the thinnest notebook in the world -- we are pricing this at $1799." "Lots of woos, huge applause. We commence shipping MBAs in just TWO weeks. Pre-order today, we're shipping in two weeks." "The thinnest notebook in the world -- we made an ad. Run the ad!"

10:29am - "It's 2008 already! In the first 2 weeks, let's just review the new products and innovations. Last week we announced the most powerful Mac we've ever made. 8 CPUs, it's a SCREAMER. Today: Time Capsule."

10:26am - Manilla envelope... pulling out, that thing is so absurdly thin. Disgusting. "There's a few things we've done on the environmental side. It's enclosed in a fully aluminum case -- it's easily recycled, highly desirable by recyclers. It's our first mercury and arsenic-free display. All of the circuit boards are bromide and PVC free. We're very happy about that as well... the retail packaging is 50% less volume, this helps a great deal in energy expended in transporting and disposing the materials." We're very conscious of this. Thank you. The thinnest notebook in the world. And it joins the other two great notebook families -- the MB and the MBP, the best notebook in the industry. And that's the fourth thing I wanted to talk to you about today."

10:30am - "Software upgrades for the iPhone and the iPod touch -- bundling 5 new apps on the touch as well. iTunes movie rentals, a whole new way to enjoy rentals on your computer... and a completely reinvented Apple TV where you can order movies right on your widescreen. Unbelievable." "AND, the MacBook Air -- all this in the FIRST two weeks. And we've got 50 more weeks to go!" Big applause. Oh Steve, you kill us. "This, ladies and gentlemen is what we have to share today, thank you SO much for coming. We have a special treat today."

10:31am - "I wanted someone who could help us bridge the gap between iTunes movie rentals and our relationships with movies and music -- one of our heritages now. The best person in the world to do that was gracious enough to come and do a few songs for us. Randy Newman." "He's won and Academy Award -- nominated 17 times. 5 Grammies, 13 noms -- I first met Randy when he was doing scores for our Pixar films -- he's done scores for ALL these films for Pixar. He's simply extraordinary, it's my pleasure to introduce you to Randy Newman." Huge applause!

10:33am - Randy: "I was in Europe a year ago, and I noticed they didn't like us very much... I wanted to do something to sum up America in 2:27." Laughter. "I'd like to say a few words in defense of our country... the people aren't bad!" 10:37am - Randy's finished his first song. "Goodbye... goodbye... In many ways, that was about the toughest act to follow of ANY act. This was hard, it's not Rockefeller or Carnegie, I mean, you can tell when someone's a human being." "I'll always root against corporations -- because that's the way I am. But not this one, this one's different."

10:39am - "But Jim G's the best studio head... really. But that's a little thing just to make me some money. This is from Toy Story, it got cut, Buzz and Woody's big love scene."

10:41am - Randy's singing "You've Got a Friend in Me."

10:42am - Song's done -- huge applause. "That's Randy Newman! We can't wait for you to get your hands on these new products, thank you SO MUCH for coming this morning. We look forward to a very innovative 2008. Thank you very much." Aaaaand we're done!

Photography by Engadget bestest buddy, JD Lewin . Much love!

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Steve Jobs changed the future of laptops 10 years ago today

10 years of the macbook air.

By Tom Warren , a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

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“It’s the world’s thinnest notebook,” said Steve Jobs as he introduced the MacBook Air 10 years ago today. Apple’s Macworld 2008 was a special one, taking place just days after the annual Consumer Electronics Show had ended and Bill Gates bid farewell to Microsoft . Jobs introduced the MacBook Air by removing it from a tiny paper office envelope, and the crowd was audibly shocked at just how small and thin it was. We’d never seen a laptop quite like it, and it immediately changed the future of laptops.

At the time, rivals had thin and light laptops on the market, but they were all around an inch thick, weighed 3 pounds, and had 8- or 11-inch displays. Most didn’t even have full-size keyboards, but Apple managed to create a MacBook Air with a wedge shape so that the thickest part was still thinner than the thinnest part of the Sony TZ Series — one of the thinnest laptops back in 2008. It was a remarkable feat of engineering, and it signaled a new era for laptops.

Apple’s original MacBook Air only had one USB port

Apple ditched the CD drive and a range of ports on the thin MacBook Air, and the company introduced a multi-touch trackpad and SSD storage. There was a single USB 2.0 port, alongside a micro-DVI port and a headphone jack. It was minimal, but the price was not. Apple’s base MacBook Air cost $1,799 at the time, an expensive laptop even by today’s standards.

It took Windows laptop makers years to catch up to the MacBook Air, all while Apple’s laptop kept winning praise from reviewers. It wasn’t until a few years ago that rivals even managed to surpass Apple’s laptop and introduce superior designs with better displays, specifications, and equivalent trackpads. Even today, Apple still sells the MacBook Air at a starting price of $999 with a design and display that now feels too dated against the modern competition.

Apple has so far refused to redesign the MacBook Air to compete against the Surface Laptop , Dell’s XPS 13, and other rivals. Apple introduced the 12-inch MacBook instead, but it hasn’t had the same impression on the industry as the MacBook Air. It’s still possible Apple might surprise us with a new MacBook Air, but given its position between the 12-inch MacBook and the 13-inch MacBook Pro options, it feels unlikely. The existing MacBook Air hasn’t been updated for nearly three years, and it certainly looks like it’s now living out its final days after being so influential for so many years.

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10 years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the MacBook Air

When Steve Jobs introduced the first MacBook Air, the ultra-light laptop came with many compromises in terms of power and ports. I bought one anyway, of course. So did many other writers, managers, travelers, and futurists.

It was glorious. And painful. I loved how light it was and easy to carry. That the ports folded down like the ramp on the Millennium Falcon was delightfully annoying. But it was slow and every once in a while I ended up with more stuff to plug in than places to plug it.

A couple of years later those compromises largely disappeared and it became not only the most flexible MacBook ever, but one of the most popular and least expensive. Oh, and every other vendor in the industry raced to copy it.

Since then, Apple has only given MacBook Air minor, manufacturing-necessitated updates and, absent a Retina display or updated chipsets, it's hard to believe the MacBook Air is long for this world. But it's equally uncertain what will replace it.

The current 12-inch MacBook seemed like the spiritual successor, especially when it came to power and port compromises in the name of accelerating the future into the present. But it faced a strong challenger in iPad Pro.

We're now almost four years post-12-inch MacBook, though, and while it's clearly helped mold the current generation of MacBook Pro, it hasn't really done much to pull the MacBook Air forward. iPad Pro, on the other hand, is racing.

The current 12-inch MacBook is still constrained to one USB-C port. It's still throttled by Intel's Core M (no one is fooled by the new branding, Intel. No one.) And it's still expensive enough that Apple has to keep the venerable MacBook Air in the lineup.

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There's no official word yet on what 2018 might hold for Apple ultra-lights, but I know what I'd love to see: MacBook getting its wedge redesign moment. Keep the Retina display, of course, but make that USB-C also Thunderbolt 3 and put one on either side. Then toss a USB-A adapter in the box. (Being able to charge from either side is one of the biggest small wins of the higher-end new MacBook Pro design.)

And then figure out how to start moving it all down to the $999 price point. (Everything is easy when all you have to do is blog it and not actually engineer and sell it, right?)

I'm not advocating for a clamshell that runs iOS on Apple's A-series ARM processors — though every time my MacBook sees my iPad Pro, I can hear Core M sobbing inside — since I'd rather see iPad continue to expand up than MacBook force its way down.

But I am advocating for a MacBook that's as cutting edge as an iPad in every way possible, including price.

I loved the magic of that moment when Steve Jobs pulled the original MacBook Air out of an envelope at Macworld 2008. But I loved the moment when Apple made it a compelling mainstream option in 2010. And now, I'd love to see Apple work that magic again.

Happy 10th birthday, MacBook Air!

○ MacBook review ○ MacBook buyers guide ○ MacBook news ○ MacBook forums ○ Buy at Apple

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

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Ten Years Ago, Steve Jobs Introduced the MacBook Air →

Every new Apple notebook — and many products from other companies — owe a lot to the original MacBook Air, as I write this month over on MacStories:

Today, all of our notebooks are thin and light. We’ve traded our optical drives in for a series of dongles and our spinning hard drives for fast, silent SSDs. It wasn’t always like this. Once upon a time, notebooks had optical drives and a full array of ports, complemented by features like removable batteries. A decade ago, we entered the current era of notebook design when Steve Jobs pulled the future out of an envelope.

I took a look at mine over on YouTube:

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MacBook Air

15 years of macbook air: the iconic steve jobs unveil, the troubled years, and the future.

The MacBook Air was announced by Steve Jobs 15 years ago today, on January 15, 2008. The event has become one of the most iconic Apple events ever, thanks in large part to the moment Jobs pulled the MacBook Air out of a manila envelope.

Beyond the event itself, however, the MacBook Air has also become of Apple’s most important and successful products – despite some speed bumps along the way…

The MacBook Air announcement

The MacBook Air was announced as part of Apple’s keynote at the Macworld Expo trade show. Alongside the MacBook Air, this Apple keynote also included the launch of the Time Capsule , updates to the iPhone and iPod touch, and much more. The MacBook Air, however, stole the show, and its introduction was Steve Jobs at his very best.

“We’ve built the world’s thinnest notebook—without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “When you first see MacBook Air, it’s hard to believe it’s a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is.”

Here are the original specs of the entry-level MacBook Air announced by Steve Jobs, which became available to consumers January 29, 2008.

• 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with 1280×800 resolution;
• 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache;
• 800 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM;
• 80GB hard disk drive with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100;
• Micro-DVI port (includes Micro-DVI to VGA and Micro-DVI to DVI Adapters);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• one USB 2.0 port;
• one headphone port;
• multi-touch TrackPad with support for advanced multi-touch gestures including tap, scroll, pinch, rotate and swipe; and
• 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Those were relatively decent specs for the time, but the MacBook Air was clearly limited by its thin and light form factor. After all, it was the “world’s thinnest notebook” according to Jobs, measuring in at 0.16 inches at its thinnest point.

The MacBook Air was iconic for another reason, too: It was the first Mac that Apple offered with an optional 64GB solid-state drive… for an extra $1,300. As notable as it was for Apple to offer a MacBook with an SSD inside, the early MacBook Air reviews generally said that the benefits didn’t outweigh the cost.

In general, the first version of the MacBook Air recovered mixed reviews, with praise for the design, and criticism for the performance and battery life. Many reviews acknowledged, however, that the MacBook Air was the first step toward the future of the MacBook lineup. Here are some fun lines we’ve pulled from those first reviews:

Engadget’s Ryan Block :

• “It’s the thinnest, and if we may say so, sexiest laptop around today.”
• “The Air simply doesn’t have the power to be many users’ primary machine, while also lacking many of the features considered a necessity by business travelers.”
• “There simply isn’t any way to transparently replace all the functionality of an optical drive yet.”
• “Perhaps the largest side-effect of the Air won’t be ditching optical drives, though; for the rest of Apple’s consumer base it’s now just a matter of time before other Mac laptop lines benefit from the technical and engineering advances that made this thing so thin and light.”

Macworld’s Jason Snell :

• “As someone who uses the optical drive in his laptop so rarely that I sometimes forget whether its slot is on the front or the side, I don’t really consider the lack of an optical drive a major omission.”
• “The MacBook Air is the slowest Mac in Apple’s current product line, though its Intel Core 2 Duo processor is fast enough for general use.”
• “But once I slipped that three-pound laptop into my backpack and threw the bag over my shoulders, I realized that sacrificing some storage space and some processor power was ultimately worth it for me.”

Arstechnica’s Jackqui Cheng :

• “One way to look at the MacBook Air is as the largest and most capable iPod in Apple’s line—think of it as an iPod touch Extreme with a built-in keyboard.”
• “I found the Air’s size and weight to be nothing less than absolutely delightful.”
• “Despite all of the Air’s (sometimes glaring) flaws, I plan to keep it and use it as my notebook from here on out (maybe with a hard drive upgrade in the near future, and  definitely  with a battery upgrade when they become available).”

Other reviews:

• Pocket-lint
• NotebookCheck

The future of the MacBook Air

Following the initial introduction of the MacBook Air in January of 2008, it became a mainstay of Apple’s laptop lineup. It was updated with a number of spec and performance improvements just nine months later. It was redesigned with a tapered unibody enclosure a year later, which also marked the introduction of a new 11.6-inch form factor.

The MacBook Air received regular spec bumps through 2011, 2012, and 2013, but went without updates in 2014 and received a minor spec bump in 2015. Two years later in 2017, the 13-inch MacBook Air saw another performance boost, but the 11-inch model was discontinued.

9to5Mac’s Take

Apple clearly lost the vision for the MacBook Air somewhere around 2015, when it sat neglected as the company focused on the 12-inch MacBook instead. It saw scattered (and minor) performance improvements, no changes to the design, and was clearly on the way out the door.

That 2017 MacBook Air hung around in Apple’s lineup for a long time (perhaps too long). It wasn’t discontinued until July 2019, at which point it was the last laptop sold by Apple without a Retina display and with USB-A ports and a backlit Apple logo.

The 12-inch MacBook was the star of the show starting in 2015, and it wasn’t until 2018 that Apple realized it might have made the wrong decision. At that point, the MacBook Air had featured pretty much the same design for eight years. That’s a long time for what many viewed as Apple’s most popular laptop.

One thing I think Apple learned over the years is that the “MacBook Air” name holds a lot of power. The attempt to phase out the MacBook Air in favor of the 12-inch MacBook was a clear failure (it wasn’t the only failure for the MacBook lineup around that time).

But starting in 2018, Apple started to make changes. The 12-inch MacBook received its last major update in June of 2017 and Apple unveiled a major update for the MacBook Air just over a year later. This MacBook Air finally offered a Retina display, a new design that maintained the iconic thinness and lightness, and notable performance upgrades.

The 12-inch MacBook was unceremoniously discontinued on July 9, 2019. There are rumors it may return, but this time in addition to the MacBook Air – not as a replacement.

In 2020, the MacBook Air became the first Apple laptop to switch from Intel to Apple Silicon, alongside the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Apple Silicon has proven to be a game changer for the MacBook Air, allowing Apple to pack more power and efficiency into the machine than ever before.

In 2022, the MacBook Air was redesigned to ditch the iconic tapered design in favor of a flat-edged unibody form factor. This redesign also saw the introduction of the M2 chip inside, for yet another boost in performance and efficiency, as well as the return of MagSafe for charging.

Looking ahead, the future of the MacBook Air is brighter than ever. Apple Silicon has proven that even a small and light computer like the MacBook Air can offer incredible performance and battery life, without compromise. There are rumors that Apple might even expand the MacBook Air lineup to include a new 15-inch model sometime in 2023 .

The MacBook Air has come a long way over the last 15 years, despite some neglect around the halfway mark. Hopefully, Apple learned its lesson and the MacBook Air will be a well-supported option in the Mac lineup for years to come.

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Steve Jobs Unveiled Apple’s First MacBook Air 15 Years Ago Today

The range of notebooks available in 2008 was the complete opposite of the iconic MacBook Air that Steve Jobs unveiled at Apple’s keynote. Today marked the 15-year anniversary when the sleek machine was announced and how it likely gave inspiration to the company’s competitors to up the quality of their products in both build quality and thinness.

Crowd was in awe when Steve Jobs revealed the first MacBook Air by removing it from an envelope

Before the unveiling of the first MacBook Air, Apple had two portable Macs in its lineup; the MacBook and MacBook Pro. With Jobs providing the presentation, the co-founder said in a sentence, ‘it is the world’s thinnest notebook.’ Shortly after, he started comparing competing products based on their thickness and performance, starting with the Sony TZ series.

After providing the physical differences, Jobs was seen unwrapping the 13.3-inch MacBook Air from an envelope, featuring a full-sized keyboard with a white backlight. One area that the press gasped to hear was that the thinnest part of the competing Sony TZ notebook was still thicker than the thickest part of the MacBook Air, and that certainly created a statement in the large room.

The right side touted a flip-down tray, providing access to a single USB-A port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a micro-DVI port for attaching an external hard drive. The first MacBook Air was also running a dual-core Intel processor, meaning that while it may not have compromised on performance, it definitely ran into thermal constraints due to the lack of thickness.

Compared to today’s standards, where Apple’s M2 MacBook Air launched at $1,199, the first model carried a hefty $1,799 price, and that too without an SSD option. In 2023, Windows 11 notebook manufacturers have achieved their goal of churning out incredibly thin laptops, but in terms of build quality, the MacBook Air is still a rock-solid piece of hardware.

There are rumors that Apple intends to launch a 15-inch MacBook Air later this year , so we will keep you posted on the latest. In the meantime, you can watch Steve Jobs unveiling the ‘thinnest notebook ever’ as well as the first MacBook Air ad in the videos given above.

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10 Years Ago Today Apple Took Something Out of an Envelope

10 years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the Macbook Air—still maybe the best laptop ever and definitely one of the best uses of props in a presentation ever.

Watch it all below.

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These 5 Steve Jobs Keynotes Will Inspire You to Better Sell Your Ideas The late Apple CEO turned the product launch into an art form, and leaves a legacy for public speakers to follow.

By Carmine Gallo Edited by Jason Fell Apr 19, 2015

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

A Steve Jobs keynote was a tightly choreographed and relentlessly prepared presentation, according to the new book Becoming Steve Jobs, by Brent Schlender.

Jobs turned the product launch into an art form. He also leaves a legacy by which entrepreneurs can learn to dazzle their audiences. The following five keynotes will help anyone give the presentation of a lifetime.

1. The Mac launch

Every Steve Jobs presentation had one moment that people would be talking about the next day. These "moments" were tightly scripted and relentlessly rehearsed. Remarkably, Jobs' flair for the dramatic started before PowerPoint or Apple Keynote were available as slide design tools, which proves you don't need slides to leave your audience breathless.

Related: Former Apple CEO John Sculley: This Is What Made Steve Jobs a Genius

On Jan. 24, 1984, Steve Jobs introduced the first Macintosh with a magician's flair for the big reveal. He showed a series of images and said, "Everything you just saw was created by what's in that bag." And with that Jobs walked to the center of a darkened stage that had a table and a canvas bag sitting on top it. He slowly pulled the Mac from the bag, inserted a floppy disk, and walked away as the theme from Chariots of Fire began to play as images filled the screen.

The lesson: A presentation doesn't always need slides to wow an audience.

2. The iPhone

The rule of three is one of most powerful concepts in writing. The human mind can only retain three or four "chunks" of information. Jobs was well aware of this principle and divided much of his presentations into three parts. Sometimes he even had fun with it.

For example, on Feb. 16, 2007, Jobs told the audience to expect three new products: a new iPod, a phone and an "Internet communication device." After repeating the three products several times, he made the big reveal -- all three products were wrapped in one new device, the iPhone.

The lesson: Introduce three benefits or features of a product, not 23.

3. The first MacBook Air

When Jobs introduced the "world's thinnest notebook," the MacBook Air, he walked to the side of the stage, pulled out a manila envelope hiding behind the podium and said, "It's so thin it even fits inside one of those envelopes you see floating around the office." With a beaming smile, he slowly pulled it out of the envelope for all to see.

Most presenters would have shown photographs of the product. Jobs took it one step further. He knew what would grab people's attention. This did. Most of the blogs, magazines and newspapers that covered the launch ran a photograph of Steve Jobs pulling the computer out of the envelope.

The lesson: Don't just tell us about a product, show it to us, and do it with pizzazz.

Related: 5 Things I Learned About Successful Startups From Steve Jobs

4. The iTunes Store

Every great drama has a hero and a villain. Steve Jobs was a master at introducing both heroes and villains in the same presentation. On April 28, 2003, Jobs convinced consumers to pay 99 cents for songs. Jobs began with a brief discussion of Napster and Kazaa, sites that offered "near instant gratification" and, from the user's perspective, free downloads. On the next slide he listed the "dark side." They were:

• Unreliable downloads
• Unreliable quality ("a lot of these songs are encoded by 7-year-olds and they don't do a great job.")
• No previews
• No album cover art
• It's stealing ("It's best not to mess with karma.")

In the next section of the presentation Jobs replaced each of the drawbacks with the benefits of paying for music.

• Fast, reliable downloads
• Pristine encoding
• Previews of every song
• Album cover art

The lesson: Great presentations have an antagonist -- a problem -- followed by a hero -- the solution.

5. The genius in their craziness

In 1997, Jobs returned to Apple after a 12-year absence. Apple was close to bankruptcy at the time and was quickly running out of cash.

Near the end of Jobs' keynote at Macworld in August 1997, he slowed the pace, lowered his voice, and said: "I think you always had to be a little different to buy an Apple computer. I think the people who do buy them are the creative spirits in the world. They are the people who are not out just to get a job done, they're out to change the world. We make tools for those kind of people. A lot of times, people think they're crazy. But in that craziness, we see genius. And those are the people we're making tools for."

The lesson: Don't forget to motivate your internal audience -- your team, employees and partners. Give them a purpose to rally around.

When I wrote The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs , I argued that Jobs was the world's greatest brand storyteller. When I watch these presentations over again, I'm convinced he's still the best role model for entrepreneurs who will pitch the next generation of ideas that will change the world.

Related: Top 10 Ways to Make Your Presentations More Memorable

Keynote speaker and bestselling author of The Storyteller's Secret and Talk Like TED

Carmine Gallo  is the author of  TALK LIKE TED :  The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of The World's   Top Minds.  He also wrote the international bestsellers The Apple Experience  and  The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs,  among other books. A popular keynote speaker and communication coach for some of the world's most admired brands, Gallo is a former CNN journalist and his ideas have been featured in  The Wall Street Journal , 20/20 and CNBC.  Click here to preview  a clip from the TALK LIKE TED audiobook read by Carmine Gallo.

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Watch Never-Before-Seen Footage of Steve Jobs Discussing the Future of Computers in 1983

The Steve Jobs Archive today shared never-before-seen footage of 28-year-old Steve Jobs speaking at the 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen, Colorado. His speech was focused on the future of computers and how they would change daily life.

The new page features an introduction from Ive, who led design at Apple for over two decades and was a close friend of Jobs:

Steve rarely attended design conferences. This was 1983, before the launch of the Mac, and still relatively early days of Apple. I find it breathtaking how profound his understanding was of the dramatic changes that were about to happen as the computer became broadly accessible. Of course, beyond just being prophetic, he was fundamental in defining products that would change our culture and our lives forever. On the eve of launching the first truly personal computer, Steve is not solely preoccupied with the founding technology and functionality of the product’s design. This is extraordinarily unusual, as in the early stages of dramatic innovation, it is normally the primary technology that benefits from all of the attention and focus. Steve points out that the design effort in the U.S. at the time had been focused on the automobile, with little consideration or effort given to consumer electronics. While it is not unusual to hear leaders talk about the national responsibility to manufacture, I thought it was interesting that he talked about a nation’s responsibility to design. In the talk, Steve predicts that by 1986 sales of the PC would exceed sales of cars, and that in the following ten years, people would be spending more time with a PC than in a car. These were absurd claims for the early 1980s. Describing what he sees as the inevitability that this would be a pervasive new category, he asks the designers in the audience for help. He asks that they start to think about the design of these products, because designed well or designed poorly, they still would be made. Steve remains one of the best educators I’ve ever met in my life. He had that ability to explain incredibly abstract, complex technologies in terms that were accessible, tangible and relevant. You hear him describe the computer as doing nothing more than completing fairly mundane tasks, but doing so very quickly. He gives the example of running out to grab a bunch of flowers and returning by the time you could snap your fingers – speed rendering the task magical. When I look back on our work, what I remember most fondly are not the products but the process. Part of Steve’s brilliance was how he learned to support the creative process, encouraging and developing ideas even in large groups of people. He treated the process of creating with a rare and wonderful reverence. The revolution Steve described over 40 years ago did of course happen, partly because of his profound commitment to a kind of civic responsibility. He cared, way beyond any sort of functional imperative. His was a victory for beauty, for purity and, as he would say, for giving a damn. He truly believed that by making something useful, empowering and beautiful, we express our love for humanity.

Head to "The Objects of Our Life" page to learn more about the speech that Jobs gave, and to view some related photos and exhibits from that time.

The full video of Jobs speaking can be found towards the bottom of the page.

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Top rated comments.

Without Jobs, Woz would have had a long, unremarkable career as an engineer at HP (and maybe Agilent if he'd worked long enough to still be there at the split). Which isn't to dump on Woz - it's just that he had no passion to sell products the way Jobs did.

Every time I get a new mail from Steve Jobs Archive, I understand my dislike Tim Cook more and more.

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Steve Jobs and the Apple MacBook: The laptop that changed (almost) everything

See how the MacBook line of laptops has managed to be both contrarian and influential at the same time.

• Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings

It's hard to open a Web browser right now without running across one or more stories about Steve Jobs and his departure as the CEO of Apple, and rightfully so. Jobs is a hugely influential figure, and his products have had an unmeasurable impact on mobile phones, personal computers, and media players. One of the most influential Apple/Steve Jobs product designs is actually one of the most traditional, at least on the surface: the MacBook laptop.

The MacBook line of laptops has managed to be both contrarian and influential at the same time. Its first appearance was in 2006, with the MacBook Pro announced in January of that year. This product replaced the older non-Intel PowerBook G4 and was followed several months later by the familiar (and recently discontinued) white polycarbonate MacBook, which was intended to replace the consumer-targeted iBook.

Related links • Steve Jobs resigns from Apple (roundup) • MacBook Air (Summer 2011) review • MacBook Pro (2011) review

Let's remember what was happening around that time. Laptops were not nearly as ubiquitous as they are today, and the personal computer product mix included a lot more desktops, which still offered a very compelling price to performance value proposition (laptops would not eclipse desktops in global sales until 2008). It's hard to imagine now, but half a decade ago, a $1,000 laptop was almost considered a budget system, and we regularly saw and reviewed ultraportable systems that sold for $2,000 and up without batting an eye.

The following year, we started to see a huge shift in laptop prices, influenced by small, low-cost, low-power systems such as the Intel Classmate and the first Asus Eee PC (Linux-powered, with a 7-inch screen for $399). The trend moved beyond Netbooks, and soon PC makers were focused on undercutting each other with $500 plastic laptops for price-sensitive shoppers. As a contrarian move, Apple refused to move into the lower-price strata, and even doubled down on high-cost premium laptops with 2008's original MacBook Air, fighting the industry's natural urge to engage in a race to the bottom, price-wise, which has turned many laptops into commodity items --essentially, undifferentiated products you buy primarily on price.

Today, you see other laptop makers continue to focus on value products, but also pushing out systems clearly inspired by the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, such as Dell's Adamo and XPS 15z , HP's Envy line , Samsung's Series 9 , and Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 . Most of these were worthy products in their own right, but the need to tell consumers, "Hey, we've got our own version of a MacBook" was clear.

Beyond issues of design and price, the biggest long-term influence of the MacBook family is certainly its gesture controls. By moving from a traditional touch pad to a larger buttonless design, and embracing a larger vocabulary of multifinger gestures for navigation and control, Apple removed the almost universal need to pair a laptop with a separate mouse for serious tasks. This idea of touch as the ultimate control method has expanded across different product categories, from the original iPod to the iPhone and iPad. As I pointed out last year, we're already living in the post-mouse world , we just don't fully realize it yet.

That desire to emulate the ease of use of Apple's excellent multitouch controls has been evident in laptops from Dell, HP, and others with their own clickpad-style touch pads and gesture controls, although no one has come close to Apple's functionality (sources tell us the difficulty in matching Apple is because of the proprietary manner in which the MacBook prioritizes finger input data). Even tiny Netbooks added basic two-finger scrolling and pinching gestures, again to limited success.

There are other examples. Apple did not invent the island-style keyboard, with its flat-topped, widely spaced keys (Sony, for example, has used that style for many years), but the popularity of MacBooks has no doubt been behind that island-style keyboard's trend toward being the industry standard (we've seen maybe two laptops this year with traditional tapered keys). Likewise, the Mac software dock wasn't the first time anyone laid a strip of quick-launch icons along the edge of a screen (most credit IBM and Stardock in the early '90s), but very similar-looking docks from Dell and others are clearly modeled on Apple's version, although some unfortunately choose to pack their docks with annoying advertising and product sales links. Another example: optical drives in laptops aren't exactly an endangered species yet, but that will eventually happen, and when it does, the MacBook Air will get a big part of the credit or blame.

There are still things about MacBook laptops that drive people absolutely crazy : the prices that never dip below $999, the lack of common ports such as HDMI and (in some cases) SD card readers, the shift to nonremovable batteries, and more. But it's hard to argue, especially after Netbooks turned out to be more of the fad than a trend , that there's been a more influential personal computer line in the past half-decade than the MacBook.

11 Presentation Lessons You Can Still Learn From Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is still the word’s greatest corporate storyteller. I’ve seen plenty of talented speakers in the past year and I’ve written about many of them in this column but I have yet to find someone as good as Steve Jobs. This is why I have spent so many years reviewing, analyzing and sharing Jobs’ presentation techniques because leaders and entrepreneurs today need to carry on his legacy if we hope to inspire the world with our ideas. His keynote presentations continue to attract thousands of views on YouTube and he has profoundly impacted the way leaders communicate.

Earlier this year a Wall Street Journal article titled Bio As Bible featured managers who are imitating Steve Jobs based on what they’ve learned in Walter Isaacson’s biography and also from one of my books, The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs . While I’m very proud that the WSJ highlighted my content, dressing like Jobs is not going to inspire your audience. However, there are many other presentation techniques that you can and should copy from Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was an astonishing presenter because he informed, inspired, and entertained. In this article I outline 11 techniques from one presentation, the iPhone launch in 2007 . If your presentation is tomorrow and you only have time to incorporate a few ideas, then spend 7 minutes to watch this video where I highlight just three techniques from the same presentation. If you want the whole enchilada, read on.

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Express your passion. Steve Jobs was passionate about design, he absolutely loved his new product, and he wore his enthusiasm on his black-mock sleeve. “It looks pretty doggone gorgeous,” he said with a big smile after showing the iPhone for the first time. Jobs often used words such as “cool,” “amazing,” or “gorgeous” because he believed it. Your audience is giving you permission to show enthusiasm. If you’re not excited about your idea, nobody else will be.

Create a Twitter-friendly headline. Jobs used a technique I’ve labeled the “Twitter-friendly headline,” a one-sentence summary of a product that perfectly captured the main message he wished to deliver. Shortly after showing the new phone, Jobs proudly proclaimed, “Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone.” The headline, “Apple reinvents the phone” was the only sentence on the slide. He repeated the headline several times during the presentation. A Google search for the phrase turns up about 25,000 links, most of which are directly from articles and blog posts covering the launch presentation.

Stick to the rule of three. Jobs instinctively understood that the number “3” is one of the most powerful numbers in communications. A list of 3 things is more intriguing than 2 and far easier to remember than 22. Jobs divided his iPhone presentation into three sections. He spoke about the iPod functions of the new iPhone, the phone itself, and connecting to the Internet. Jobs even had some fun with three. He stepped on stage and said, “Today we are introducing three revolutionary products. The first, a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second, is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device.” As the audience applauded, Jobs repeated the three ‘products’ several times. Finally he said, “Are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, they are one device and we are calling it iPhone!”

Introduce a villain. All great stories have a hero and a villain. A Steve Jobs presentation was no exception. In 2007, why did the world need another mobile phone, especially from Apple? Jobs set up the narrative by introducing a villain—a problem in need of a solution: “Regular cell phones are not so smart and they are not so easy to use. Smartphones are a little smarter, but are harder to use. They are really complicated…we want to make a leapfrog product, way smarter than any mobile device has ever been and super easy to use. This is what iPhone is.”

Sell the benefit. After expanding on the villain (the problem), Jobs introduced the hero (the benefit). The benefit included the new user multi-touch user interface. According to Jobs, “It works like magic. You don’t need a stylus. It’s far more accurate than any touch display that’s ever been shipped. It ignores unintended touches. It’s super smart. You can do multi-finger gestures on it. And boy have we patented it.”

Build simple, visual slides. The average PowerPoint slide has forty words. In the first three minutes of Steve Jobs’ iPhone presentation, he uses a grand total of nineteen words (twenty-one if you include dates). Those words are also distributed across about twelve slides. For more tips on using ‘picture superiority’ in your slide design, please read my earlier article on Jeff Bezos and the end of PowerPoint as we know it.

Tell stories. Before Jobs revealed the new phone, he spent a moment to review the history of Apple, telling a story that built up to the big event. “In 1984, Apple introduced the first Macintosh. It didn’t just change Apple. It changed the whole computer industry. In 2001, we introduced the first iPod. It didn’t just change the way we all listen to music. It changed the entire music industry.” Stories can be brand stories, customer stories, or personal ones. In one very funny moment, Jobs’ clicker failed to advance the slides. After a few seconds of trying to fix it, he paused and told a short story of a how he and Steve Wozniak used to pull pranks on students at Wozniak’s college dorm. Woz had invented a device that jammed TV signals and they used it to tease students when they were watching Star Trek. It brought some levity to the keynote, the problem was fixed, and Jobs effortlessly moved along.

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Prepare and practice excessively. The clicker snafu that I just described teaches another great lesson for all presenters. Jobs casually laughed off the glitch, told a story, and got back to his presentation when his team resolved the issue. He never missed a beat and certainly didn’t get flustered. Jobs was legendary for his preparation. He would rehearse on stage for many hours over many weeks prior to the launch of a major product. He knew every detail of every demo and every font on every slide. As a result the presentation was delivered flawlessly. People often tell me, “I’m not as smooth as Jobs was.” Well, neither was he! Hours and hours of practice made Jobs look polished, casual, and effortless.

Avoid reading from notes. The introduction of the iPhone lasted about 80 minutes. Not once did Jobs read from a teleprompter or notecards. He had internalized the content so well that he didn’t need notes. During the demos, however, he did have a very short list of bullet points hidden from the audience’s view. Those bullets served as reminders and they were the only notes he relied upon.

Have fun. When Jobs first told the audience that Apple was going to introduce a mobile phone he said, “Here it is.” Instead of showing the iPhone, the slide displayed a photo of an iPod with an old-fashioned rotary dial on it. The audience got a kick out of it, laughing and clapping. They had been played and Jobs was enjoying their reaction. There were many funny moments, including a crank call. Jobs was demonstrating the maps feature to show how easy it was to find a location and call the number. He found a Starbucks nearby and called it. A woman picked up the phone and said, “Good morning, Starbucks. How can I help you?” Jobs said, “I’d like to order 4,000 lattes to go, please. No, just kidding. Wrong number. Bye bye.” The audience loved it. I’ve never seen Jobs enjoy himself more in a keynote.

Inspire your audience. Jobs liked to end his keynotes with something uplifting and inspiring. At the end of the iPhone presentation he said, “I didn’t sleep a wink last night. I’ve been so excited about today…There’s an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ We’ve always tried to do that at Apple since the very, very beginning. And we always will.”

Steve Jobs educated, entertained, informed, and inspired his audiences in every presentation. So can you. It takes work, planning, and creativity, but if someone is willing to listen to your ideas it’s worth the effort to make it great.

Read more: Untold Stories About Steve Jobs: Friends And Colleagues Share Their Memories

Carmine Gallo is the communications coach for the world’s most admired brands. He is a popular keynote speaker and author of several books, including the international bestsellers The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs . His new book, The Apple Experience , is the first book to reveal the secrets behind the stunning success of the Apple Retail Store. Carmine has recently launched an eLearning course titled, The New Rules of Persuasive Presentations . Follow Carmine on Facebook or Twitter .