Apple seems to have settle on the Air as the name for their consumer laptops.
Look: Apple tried to be cute with the 12” MacBook. If they wanted it to replace the MacBook Air they should have discontinued the air. But the main problem was the obsession over thinness. In order to accommodate that thinness they resorted to a slower processor than the Air had + it had only 1 port. Not only were you paying a premium for a MacBook that was opting to be the Air’s heir replacement you had to fork over more money to add back the Airs functionality with a bag of USB-C adapters. So Apple painted themselves into another thermal corner & they had to save face by reworking a brand identity in the air that didn’t have a negative connotation to the compromised 12” MacBook.