No Flash on the new Macbook Air


Recommended Posts

Users are reporting that Apple's MacBook Air models, which were unveiled Wednesday, are shipping without the Adobe Flash plugin installed.

The lack is a departure from previous Mac products, which came with Adobe Flash preloaded, although it remains unclear whether all future Mac computers will ship without the software. Engadget noticed the missing plugin, reporting that Flash content worked fine after Flash Player was installed on Apple's new ultra-thin notebook.

Apple announced the new 11.6-inch MacBook Air models and an updated 13.3-inch MacBook Air version with instant-on capabilities at its "Back to the Mac" event Wednesday. AppleInsider broke news of the 11.6-inch model well in advance of Wednesday's announcement.

Apple and Adobe have been at odds lately, with the two companies' CEOs exchanging barbs in a public war of words earlier this year. This spring, responding to criticism of Apple's choice not to support Flash on its iOS devices, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs spoke out.

"Flash has not performed well on mobile devices," wrote Jobs in an open letter in April, noting that Adobe at that time had yet to ship Flash on a smartphone. "We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it."

Continuing to defend the lack of Flash support on the iPad and iPhone, Jobs claimed that Flash is the No. 1 cause of crashes on the Mac. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen quickly denied the claim, pushing the blame onto Apple's operating system, calling Jobs' comments a "smokescreen." Narayen told the Wall Street Journal Jobs' accusation that Flash drains the battery life of mobile devices was "patently false."

In May, Adobe responded to Jobs' open letter with an open letter of its own and an advertising campaign. "We [Heart] Apple," the ads read. "What we don't love is anybody taking away your freedom to choose what you create, how you create it, and what you experience on the web."

Despite the tense words on both sides, Apple decided to 'play nice' last month when it relaxed restrictions on third-party development tools. Adobe had developed a cross-compiler to convert Flash apps into iOS apps, but decided to stop work on it after the tool was blocked when Apple banned intermediary tools in its iPhone 4 SDK license.

After Apple lifted its restrictions of third-party development tools in early September, Adobe revealed that it would continue development of its Packager cross-compiler for iPhone.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/10/21/new_macbook_air_ships_without_flash_installed.html

I guess it makes sense... if you really care it can easily be downloaded

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/947340-no-flash-on-the-new-macbook-air/
Share on other sites

Just thought I should point this out.. http://www.adobe.com/licensing/ .. you have to pay for a royalty fee if the system is embedded. Maybe they are trying to skip the fee by getting people to download it themselves. I think they are doing the same thing with the Bluray players because they dont want to pay another company...

We should make a new topic for every OEM Windows PC in the world that also doesn't include Flash by default...

Exactly what I was thinking. This has to be the dumbest article I've ever seen from Engadget (and AppleInsider for reposting what they wrote). It is FUD, pure and simple, and it is purely intended to drive page views.

How shocking! When I installed Windows 7 I also had to manually download flash... a few seconds of my life got wasted and now Apple isn't any better! :angry:

No but seriously, I don't even expect for flash to be pre-installed on anything, as others already said, why this is newsworthy is beyond me :blink:

As far as I know, Flash doesnt come preinstalled on anything.

Yea, as far as I understand, this has been pretty common in the PC industry for a while. Ironically enough (considering Apple's rampage against Flash), every OS X install comes with Flash already. This is the first Mac in a long time without Flash.

Very silly move IMHO.

User gets Macbook Air...

User turns it on to do some browsing...

User is presented with the need to install Flash...

Adobe are provided very useful stats that argue their case!

Or it'll go like this:

User gets MacBook Air...

User saves ample amounts of battery life by browsing without Flash!

:p

Yea, as far as I understand, this has been pretty common in the PC industry for a while. Ironically enough (considering Apple's rampage against Flash), every OS X install comes with Flash already. This is the first Mac in a long time without Flash.

Ahhh, I get ya. Just Jobs sending another statement to Adobe which is stupid. That guy just cannot play nice.

Anyway, I normally wipe systems that I buy anyway and do a fresh install of the OS. And with how often Flash is updated, I dont really care if it comes preinstalled or not on any system. Chances are, you will have to update right away anyway.

Yea, as far as I understand, this has been pretty common in the PC industry for a while. Ironically enough (considering Apple's rampage against Flash), every OS X install comes with Flash already. This is the first Mac in a long time without Flash.

Most likely it's the first but it won't be the last. I'd say we've seen the end of OSX including Flash by default.

A few years ago I would have been shocked but nowadays I don't use flash anymore anyway

Most likely it's the first but it won't be the last. I'd say we've seen the end of OSX including Flash by default.

Agreed. I doubt we'll see Flash come preinstalled with Lion.

A few years ago I would have been shocked but nowadays I don't use flash anymore anyway

Same here. I just use Flash for the few things that force me into it: most web video players. Luckily, Vimeo and YouTube have HTML5 alternatives and Jilion SublimeVideo is awesome for other content providers looking to start using HTML5. Brightcove (a big player in the industry) also has experimental support for HTML5.

Agreed. I doubt we'll see Flash come preinstalled with Lion.

Same here. I just use Flash for the few things that force me into it: most web video players. Luckily, Vimeo and YouTube have HTML5 alternatives and Jilion SublimeVideo is awesome for other content providers looking to start using HTML5. Brightcove (a big player in the industry) also has experimental support for HTML5.

Maybe they're doing it to specifically show how flash isn't as necessary as it used to be. This would bolster their "HTML 5 is enough" argument.

Agreed. I doubt we'll see Flash come preinstalled with Lion.

Same here. I just use Flash for the few things that force me into it: most web video players. Luckily, Vimeo and YouTube have HTML5 alternatives and Jilion SublimeVideo is awesome for other content providers looking to start using HTML5. Brightcove (a big player in the industry) also has experimental support for HTML5.

maybe when YT activate it by default for capable browsers

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • New AMD graphics driver fixes install issues and FSR 4.1 crashes on RX 7000 GPUs by Taras Buria AMD is rolling out yet another graphics driver. Version 26.6.4 is now available for download, bringing two important fixes. One is for those still using Windows 10 and having trouble installing driver 26.6.2. In fact, this patch is coming from the recently released hotfix, so it is not new if you are already running version 26.6.3. The second fix is for RX 7000 owners. AMD recently brought FSR 4.1 support to the previous-gen graphics cards, but there was a bug with certain games crashing when using FSR 4.1. I experienced this issue with Forza Horizon 6, so today's driver should take care of that. Here is the official changelog: Intermittent install issue seen when installing AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.6.2 on Windows® 10 systems for Radeon™ RX 7000 series and above graphics products. Intermittent application crash may be observed in some games with AMD FSR Upscaling 4.1 enabled on Radeon™ RX 7000 series graphics products. Known issues include the following: Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing Battlefield™ 6 on AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. AMD is actively working on a resolution with the developer to be released as soon as possible. Texture flickering or corruption may appear while playing Battlefield™ 6 with AMD Record and Stream on some AMD graphics products. AMD FSR Upscaling and AMD FSR Frame Generation may show as inactive in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition while playing Battlefield™ 6 when enabled on Radeon™ RX 9000 series graphics products. Failure to install may be observed while installing AI Bundle components in some regions with limited access to HuggingFace and GitHub. Model flickering or rendering failure may be observed in Maxon Cinema 4D and Blender on Radeon™ RX 7000 series and above graphics products. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to install AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.3.1. Intermittent application crash may be observed on some models while running Blender on Radeon™ RX 7000 series and above graphics products. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to install AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.3.1. You can download the AMD Radeon driver 26.6.4 from the official website here. Full release notes are available on the same page.
    • Amazon may use OpenAI and Nova models after Anthropic reportedly raises costs by Karthik Mudaliar Amazon is reportedly considering to use OpenAI models and even its own Nova family of AI models after Anthropic raised the cost of using Claude inside Amazon services. According to a report from The Information, Amazon is weighing its options to reduce costs under a new arrangement with Anthropic. But back in April, Amazon said it would invest $5 billion more in Anthropic, with the possibility of adding up to another $20 billion if certain commercial milestones are met. That investment actually came on top of another $8 billion Amazon had already put into the Claude maker. Anthropic, meanwhile, committed to spend more than $100 billion over 10 years on AWS technologies, including Amazon’s Trainium chips. Amazon isn't just a customer of Anthropic but also one of the most important backers and cloud partners. This is why it makes it interesting that Amazon is considering other alternatives to handle its internal workloads. Although Amazon has been building its own options for a while now. Its Nova family of AI models was announced in late 2024 for Amazon Bedrock, with models aimed at text, image, and video tasks. Amazon pitched the model around cost and latency at that time. With that said, OpenAI has also become a more realistic option recently for AWS customers as well as for Amazon itself. Earlier this year, OpenAI brought its latest models and Codex coding agent to Amazon Bedrock, after changes to its previously more restrictive Microsoft cloud arrangement. This allowed AWS to serve even those customers who wanted other alternatives from Claude, without having to move workloads out of Amazon's cloud. Evaluating alternatives could also be due to commercial pressure and not necessarily a sign of a damaged partnership between Amazon and Anthropic. Whether or not Amazon is actually considering switching entirely to OpenAI's models or its own Nova models remains unknown at this moment.
    • Samsung introduces new AI classroom tools and interactive displays at ISTELive 2026 by Fiza Ali Samsung has announced several new education-focused software features and interactive displays for schools during ISTELive 2026, taking place in Orlando, Florida, from 28 June to 1 July. The focus of these updates is on making shared classroom displays easier to use for teachers while giving IT administrators more control over managing devices. One of the key additions is the Samsung Account Management Solution (AMS). In many schools, multiple teachers share the same interactive display throughout the day, which means signing in and setting everything up can become repetitive. With AMS, teachers can log in by scanning a QR code or tapping an NFC-enabled ID card. Once signed in, their personalised workspace, including wallpapers, bookmarks, app shortcuts, and files, can be instantly accessed through Home Personalisation. Samsung has also included a screen lock feature, allowing teachers to lock the display if they need to step away briefly. Furthermore, the company is also updating its Education Portal with new tools designed for school IT administrators. The portal will allow IT administrators to register teachers, enrol devices, and manage user access from a central dashboard. Administrators can also link NFC cards to teacher accounts, making sign-ins quicker across shared displays. Another addition is a Tags feature that lets schools organise displays by building or classroom. Those tags can also be used to send emergency notifications to selected Samsung Interactive Displays through compatible platforms such as InformaCast and Raptor. Moreover, the tech giant's AI Assistant is gaining several new features aimed at supporting everyday classroom tasks such as lesson planning and classroom engagement. One of the features is Circle to Search, which lets teachers circle text or images on the display to quickly find related information, videos, or web results without interrupting the lesson. The content can then be brought into Samsung Whiteboard. Another feature, Live Transcript, converts spoken lessons into real-time captions, which could be useful for students with hearing impairments or those in multilingual classrooms. The AI Assistant also introduces AI Summary and AI Quiz. The summary tool creates summaries of recorded lessons, while AI Quiz generates questions based on lesson content so teachers can quickly check how well students are following along. Teachers signed in through Samsung AMS can also return to their previous AI-generated lesson materials without logging in again. Alongside the software updates, Samsung has expanded its Android-based Interactive Display range with three new models: the WAF-S, WAFX-PS, and WAHX-M. The WAF-S and WAFX-PS ship with Android 16, bringing updates to security, accessibility, and overall usability while maintaining compatibility with Google's education services including Google Classroom and Google Drive through EDLA certification. Meanwhile, the new WAHX-M is the biggest addition to the lineup, introducing a 98-inch display for larger spaces such as lecture halls and conference rooms. It will also be available in 65-inch, 75-inch and 86-inch sizes. Samsung says the WAHX-M further includes on-device AI features such as voice commands, text-to-speech, and an AI calculator, alongside support for Samsung AMS and AI Assistant. Samsung AI Assistant has been available since April, while Samsung AMS and the updated Education Portal will begin rolling out in July.
    • It's been $24 (single) or $89 (4-pack) for many days on both Amazon and Walmart as far as I know. That isn't a big discount. If these end up like the 1st gen, the 4-pack will routinely get down around $80, give or take a dollar. I think they have even hit $69 at times.
    • Microsoft brings Claude to its own Azure infrastructure, powered by Nvidia GB300 Blackwell by Karthik Mudaliar Anthropic's Claude models are now generally available in Microsoft Foundry on Azure and are running on Nvidia's GB300 Blackwell Ultra systems. Nvidia wrote in its announcement that the models are hosted on Microsoft Azure and accelerated by GB300 Blackwell Ultra GPUs, with Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking used to support larger agentic systems and specialized sub-agents that can operate across business domains. This is great for customers and enterprises that want to build autonomous and domain-specific AI agents using Claude without moving outside Microsoft’s cloud platform. Microsoft currently offers Claude models in Foundry in two forms: “Hosted on Azure,” which runs end-to-end on Azure infrastructure and is generally available, and “Hosted on Anthropic infrastructure,” which remains in preview. This separation is quite important for organizations that have procurement, compliance, data processing, or internal governance requirements tied to Azure. Anthropic currently has 11 Claude models listed in Microsoft Foundry, including Opus 4.8, Sonnet 4.6, and even the unavailable Mythos and Fable models. Billing is handled through Claude Consumption Units (CCUs). Microsoft says CCU is an invoicing unit for Claude models in Foundry, with token usage converted using Anthropic’s published per-model token rates. The usage is billed through Azure Marketplace just like models from other distributors and appears on the customer's Azure invoice, while eligible spend can count against a Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment. For starters, GB300 NVL72 is a rack-scale, fully liquid-cooled system that combines 72 Blackwell Ultra GPUs and 36 Grace CPUs. Nvidia has listed 37TB of fast memory, 130TB/s of NVLink bandwidth, and FP4 Tensor Core performance of up to 1,440 petaflops with sparsity. The deal is also part of a three-way partnership between Microsoft, Nvidia, and Anthropic. Under the deal, Anthropic has committed to buying $30 billion in Azure compute capacity and contracting additional capacity up to one gigawatt. Nvidia and Microsoft also said they would invest up to $10 billion and $5 billion in Anthropic, respectively.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      BA the Curmudgeon earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      536
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      269
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      150
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      65
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!