Apple CEO Tim Cook stands in front of an MacBook on display after an Apple special event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on March 9, 2015 in San Francisco, California.

Apple discontinued its standard 12-inch MacBook on Tuesday, while at the same time introducing new lower-cost MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro computers.

The MacBook design, introduced in 2015 as the smallest and lightest laptop sold by Apple, no longer makes much sense in Apple's current computer lineup. Until today, it was more expensive than the MacBook Air, but it was slower and offered fewer features. Because of that, Apple said customers preferred the MacBook Air over the regular MacBook, even though the latter was slightly smaller.

The MacBook also faced some of the same keyboard issues that users have experienced on the 2018 MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Apple has since worked to alleviate some of those problems in the Air and Pro by changing the materials used underneath the keys, but it didn't update the keyboard on the regular MacBook.