- Apple’s MacBook Air M5 is largely the same
- Eagle-eyed reviewers noted a small but important keyboard difference that removes some words
- Adaptation to the iPhone and the global market are the reasons
It’s a change so subtle and subtle that you might not notice it at first. In fact, most reviewers missed this design switcheroo on the new Apple MacBook Air M5. It’s on the keyboard, where a handful of keys no longer have words, only images or glyphs.
How and why this happened is a subject of some debate, but Apple’s reasoning is pretty obvious.
First of all, it turns out that MacBook keyboards can look different depending on where in the world you buy them. Even between the US and UK there have been differences. Now, however, there is some adaptation.
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On the new MacBook Air M5, these keys have changed:
- Cap Lock
- Move
- Delete
- Return
They are now all represented by glyphs; the words are gone. In the UK, that’s just how it’s been on some previous MacBook Airs, like the first one with Apple Silicon, the M1 (although apparently not consistently).
To be clear, there was no situation where on the previous MacBook Air we had words and images, and so in this new laptop we only get the glyphs.
Aesthetically, it’s a cleaner look and shouldn’t cause any confusion, especially for touch typists who aren’t looking at the keyboard anyway.
Glyph descent
Picture 1 of 4
If you’re a typist of sorts, you’ll probably navigate this change just fine, too. After all, these glyphs should look pretty familiar. Apple based them all on the virtual keyboard in iOS.
Look at Delete on your iPhone’s keyboard. It’s the same thing. Double tap the Caps key and yes, you will instantly recognize the Cap Lock key on the new MacBook Air.
It’s the same for the Return and Shift keys.
It’s not a big deal or the kind of change that will sway your decision to buy your laptop, but it’s interesting to see how usage and design decisions bleed through Apple’s ecosystem and around the world.
Apple and its customers thrive on usability and consistency. These changes will likely bring a small measure of both.
Familiarize Mac
Consistency has another advantage, and one that may favor Apple’s future market aspirations: it makes the transition to the Mac from other platforms easier, especially if you’ve been using an iPhone.
An aging state claimed 70% of Windows users owned iPhones, meaning there could still be a huge addressable and untapped market that could base their familiarity with a Mac on how well they know their iPhone.
Imagine if a subtle change could help tip the scales in favor of the Mac, which by some measures still has single-digit desktop market share. And in case you’re wondering, the new, new MacBook Neo has the same keyboard glyphs.
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