New MacBook Air shipping without Flash installed
Users are reporting that Apple's new MacBook Air models, announced yesterday at Apple's 'Back to the Mac' press conference, are shipping without Adobe's Flash player plug-in pre-installed. Traditionally, Mac computers have shipped with Flash preloaded - so users wouldn't have to worry about installing it. Now, new MacBook Air users will have to download and install the plug-in themselves, should they wish to view Flash content on the internet. It's not a biggie, but it does send a strong message.
It is well known that Apple has concerns over the performance of Adobe's Flash plug-in, that's why Flash is not supported on iOS portable devices. Although Apple has made known it's qualms with Flash on Mac OS X in the past, this is the first move Apple has made on the Mac to indicate that it is distancing itself even further from Adobe's internet plug-in.
Back in April of this year, Steve Jobs penned "Thoughts on Flash," an open letter explaining Apple's concerns over Flash and why Apple does not support it on its iOS devices. You can read the letter here, or for a fantastic summary by our own T.J Luoma, click here.
At this stage, it's not clear whether all new Macs are shipping without Flash or if it's just the new MacBook Air models. Either way, Apple is sending a pretty clear message to web developers and consumers alike: they don't like Flash.
[via AppleInsider]
Share
Categories
Users are reporting that Apple's new MacBook Air models, announced yesterday at Apple's 'Back to the Mac' press conference, are shipping...
Add a Comment
Good. I block Flash in Safari anyway.
October 21 2010 at 7:28 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySo i guess you dont surf the web on your favourite browser huh?
let me guess html 5 who is so fragmentated..
ie chrome uses a different codec than safari..and yea firefox uses i guess the same codec as chrome...
or let me guess.you boot into windows to surf the real web ?? (with flash..)
:D
The Macbook I bought nearly two years ago did not have flash installed when I opened it for the first time.... this is not news... nor is it even worth my time to read this article.
October 21 2010 at 7:19 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyhmm... I've never had a new Mac come with Flash already installed, even my newest MBP that's 2 months old.
I've never heard of Flash being preinstalled.
Why would Apple even ship 3rd party software preinstalled, unless you pay for it (like Office, iWork etc.)
so you`re saying that if i get the new macbook air i have to "gasp" download it myself and "gasp" restart my computer. alright, now lets here some news that people care about.
October 21 2010 at 5:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWait a tick....most PCs I've installed in the last few years don't have Flash on them either....
October 21 2010 at 3:57 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThat's how they got such good performance time, not using flash
October 21 2010 at 3:50 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhy WOULD Apple ship software they don't control that will likely be out of date by the time it hits the shelves?
This way, if your 1.4 GHz processor performance suffers while running Flash, it's self inflicted. Blame Adobe.*
As my English friends say, "Brilliant! Absolutely Brilliant!"
* To be fair, 10.1 on OSX is a damned sight better than previous versions. Just not enough to get me turn off my Flash blocker. ;^)
For a sec i thought you meant flash memory
They talked about how good office looked. wish they had announced iwork
10.6 shipped with a vulnerable version of flash. I think Apple is attempting to get away from shipping anything that they do not control.
October 21 2010 at 1:51 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYeah, and Adobe came out and blame Apple for it.
October 21 2010 at 1:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThey blamed Apple because the fixed version had been out for some time.
October 21 2010 at 4:33 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyDeals of the Day
more deals- Cases for New iPad at HandHeldItems: Extra 20% off, $2 credit, from $3 + $3 s&h
- $15 Apple iTunes Gift Card for $8 for new Saveology customers
- Philips Fidelio Docking Speaker Station for iPhone / iPod for $38 + $6 s&h
- Retro 80's Case for iPhone for $11 + $2 s&h
- HHI 360 Dual-View Stand Case for new iPad w/ $2 credit for $12 + $3 s&h
- HHI ReElegant Smart Cover Companion Case for new iPad from $5 + $3 s&h
Software Updates
more updatesFeatured Stories
more stories
Popular Stories
TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
15 Comments