- The Mac mute button now matches the on-screen graphics
- Keyboards for MacBooks and iPads have been updated
- It's the first tweak to the button design since back in 1999
Apple unveiled some shiny new MacBook Airs for 2025 earlier this week – and as well as featuring the latest M4 chipsets inside, they also correct a keyboard oversight that's been around since the last century.
As spotted by iCulture (via MacRumors), the mute button on the keyboard now shows a small speaker with a strikeout line through it. Previously, the icon was just a speaker, with none of the sound waves next to it that the other volume buttons show.
Why does this matter? Well, as you'll notice if you're reading this on a Mac, if you tap the mute button on an Apple keyboard, you get a speaker icon with a strikeout line through it on screen. The keyboard graphics now match the macOS visuals.
It's not much of a change in the grand scheme of computing upgrades, but it's nice to now have some consistency. The old mute button icon has been around since the launch of the PowerBook G3 all the way back in 1999.
Looking good
Apple hasn't said anything officially about the updated iconography, but the change has also been made on the new Magic Keyboard that comes with the refreshed 7th-generation iPad Air tablet, powered by the M3 chipset.
That would indicate the new look is here to stay, and will continue to feature on Mac keyboards going forward. The next computers we're expecting from Apple are the M5 MacBook Pros, due before the end of the year.
Judging by the comments on the MacRumors article linked above, this isn't something that has been particularly confusing or frustrating for users – but given Apple's usual attention to detail, it's strange that the inconsistency has persisted.
Our full review of the M4 MacBook Air is still in the pipeline, but we have managed to get some hands-on time with the updated laptops already – and the fresh Sky Blue color is definitely one that catches the eye.
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