MacBook Air M4 just finally solved a keyboard problem after 25 years — here's what's fixed

MacBook Air M4
(Image credit: Future)

While everyone is talking about the powerful specs and excellent new features of the MacBook Air M4, a small corner of the internet is focused on a change to the keyboard that fixes a minor issue on Apple's keyboards since 1999 (no, I'm not talking about the beautiful Sky Blue color)

The keyboard fix, which iCulture first spotted, finally puts a line through the mute icon on the MacBook keyboard. The icon used to be a speaker symbol without the sound waves on the volume up and down buttons.

Users accustomed to the best MacBooks intuitively know that the button mutes the volume, but if you look at the keyboard for the first time, you might be a little confused about what the button does. With the MacBook Air M4, the line through the speaker symbol makes it clear that it'll mute the volume.

Not only was the old button confusing, but when you clicked it, the symbol on the screen showed a line through it, meaning what was on the button wasn't reflected in the operating system.

While it might not seem like the most significant change, it's one of those little tweaks that makes an already fantastic laptop even better.

It's not just the MacBook, as Apple also changed the icon on the Magic Keyboard that comes with the refreshed 7th-generation iPad Air tablet.

If Apple took the time to change the symbol on the keyboard of both new devices, then we expect the company to continue rolling it out to future laptops and tablet keyboards.

MacBook Air M4 review on the way

If you're on the fence about buying a MacBook Air M4, we're working diligently on the review. In the meantime, check out the MacBook Air M4 vs MacBook Air M3 to better understand what to expect.

We've already said it could be the laptop of the year just based on the specs, so I'm confident it'll receive mostly praise in its review.

More from Tom's Guide

Dave LeClair
Senior News Editor

Dave LeClair is the Senior News Editor for Tom's Guide, keeping his finger on the pulse of all things technology. He loves taking the complicated happenings in the tech world and explaining why they matter. Whether Apple is announcing the next big thing in the mobile space or a small startup advancing generative AI, Dave will apply his experience to help you figure out what's happening and why it's relevant to your life.

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