Adobe is currently testing an "optimized" version of Flash for the MacBook Air in hopes of mitigating whatever battery life or performance problems Flash might be causing on the device. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen told Engadget of the company's plans during the Web 2.0 Summit on Tuesday, noting that Adobe now has a new MacBook Air in its labs for the testing.
Ars unwittingly set off a firestorm of discussion about the effect of Flash on the new MacBook Air's battery life earlier this month. As part of Ars contributor Chris Foresman's review of the device, he noted that upon installing Flash, the battery runtime was cut by as much as 33 percent. (The new MacBook Airs no longer come with Flash preinstalled—a controversial move by Apple that prompted us to do the testing in the first place.)
Adobe has vehemently denied that Flash affects the MacBook Air's battery life in any way, and Narayen's comments toed the party line during his interview. When asked about our findings, Narayen said, "when we have access to hardware acceleration, we've proven that Flash has equal or better performance on every platform." Translation: Apple should have given us a unit to test before launch.
Still, the promise that Adobe is working on a MacBook Air-optimized version of Flash indicates that the company is aware that there's room for improvement. We look forward to seeing how it affects battery life when the final product is released.
