We originally reported that Apple was preparing to release a redesigned 12-inch MacBook in January and the company made the device official during its Spring Forward event. The 12-inch MacBook doesn’t go on sale until tomorrow, April 10th, but reviews have already started pouring in today.
The all-new 12-inch MacBook has been completely redesigned and is the thinnest MacBook Apple offers. The laptop sports a 2304×1440 resolution display and is just 13.1mm thick at its thickest point. To get the laptop this thin, Apple made compromises and those compromises have made many potential buyers worry. The new MacBook only features a single USB-C port, with Apple encouraging users to use adapters to fulfill their other needs. Performance concerns also arose when benchmarks allegedly emerged from the laptop showing performance on-par with that of a 2011 MacBook Air. You can read our roundup of all the 12-inch MacBook reviews below:
Mashable:
Engadget:
The Verge:
CNET:
Recode:
Techcrunch:
Macworld:
Ars Technica:
Yahoo Tech:
USA Today:
Fast Company:
Bloomberg:
Wired:
The Wall Street Journal:
The Loop:
The MacBook, as it exists today, is really for a very particular group of people who want the thinnest, lightest MacBook they can get. It’s not intended to be a professional machine — though I can see this as a new standard issue for some executives, those who value portability above all.
This is the notebook for people who love their iPad but want something with a real keyboard and a bigger screen. It’s a great second computer to compliment an iMac or a larger MacBook Pro.
Here’s a crazy surprise I didn’t expect: my 13-inch MacBook Air felt big and clunky after I went back to it. And make no mistake, the MacBook Air is itself a wonder of engineering. Yet compared to the new MacBook it felt like a heavy, kind of ugly throwback with a mediocre screen. I really didn’t want to go back to that Air.
But I still went back.
You see, the problem with the future is that it isn’t here yet. Instead we live in the now, and the now doesn’t have the ecosystem of adapters and wireless peripherals I need to use this laptop with its single port. The now doesn’t have the right processor to power through the apps I need without ruining battery life. And right now, this laptop is far from cheap at $1,299.
“The design is revolutionary, but Apple’s MacBook Air will appeal to a smaller, more specialized audience than the standard MacBook, thanks to a stripped-down set of connections and features.”
Likewise, this new MacBook will also be the right fit for a smaller segment of a public than the more universally useful 13-inch MacBook Air or Pro. But those who can work with the limitations — primarily a lack of ports, shorter battery life, performance that’s not suited for pro-level photo and video editing, and a shallow keyboard that takes some getting used to — will love its sharp display, slim and light body, and responsive touchpad.
My primary caveat is this — if history is any guide, you can count on a near-future generation of this laptop boosting its utility by doubling the number of USB-C ports to at least two. So like many new technology products, it may be worth waiting for the next version, even if having a 12-inch, two-pound gold MacBook right now will make you the coolest kid at the coffee shop.
But if you rely on USB ports and SD card slots, this MacBook’s single port for charging, storage transfers and other functionality will really bug you.
In a few years, we may look back on this laptop’s missing USB ports like we look back on the original MacBook Air’s absent Ethernet port or missing optical disk drive (here’s that 2008 review by Walt Mossberg), thinking, “Who needed that?” We’re just not quite there yet.
It’s true that for users who treat their notebooks as their sole computers, and who like to plug a lot of things into those computers as a result, this probably isn’t the best option. But for people looking for a mobile Mac to complement their desktop machine, and for those who aren’t sending their whole day on their Macs for work (meaning likely the vast majority of general consumers), this is a future-oriented notebook that is just as effective in the present, too.
This is a laptop that will serve its audience well. That audience is one that prioritizes size, weight, and stylishness over compatibility and ports and computing power. I’d say that this isn’t a laptop for power users, but I don’t think that’s true—there are whole classes of “power users” who don’t actually need more power than the MacBook can provide.
But if your workflow includes lots of USB flash drives and external hard drives, if you’ve invested in Thunderbolt hard drives or displays, or if your work really does require 16GB of RAM and the very fastest processors around, the MacBook won’t be a good fit. Fortunately, Apple’s isn’t ceasing production of the MacBook Pro—and it offers all of that and more.
Ultimately the new MacBook feels like a first-generation product—a very good first-generation product, but a first-generation product nevertheless. It’s got some promise and a couple of major shortcomings and you don’t need to be the first person who takes the leap into the Brave New Future it represents. I use an iMac as my primary computer and a 13-inch MacBook Air when I’m sitting on the couch or in a café or on a plane, and perhaps 90 percent of the time this MacBook can replace the Air without issue. If this is going to be your main computer or only computer or if you’re one of the bare handful of people who use Thunderbolt for something, it’s hard to recommend.
We know what this is: This is the 2008 MacBook Air. Today, the MacBook Air is frequently cited as the best laptop on the market — but the first model, in 2008, was also called overpriced, underpowered, and amazing-looking. In the same way, the 12-inch MacBooks of 2016 and 2017 will lose their flaws, enter a new era of USB-C compatibility, and seem much more at home in a more wireless world.
Even Apple is allowed to start with a 1.0 version. But you don’t have to buy it.
My problem is that aside from a headphone jack, this is the new MacBook’s only connector. If the USB-C power cable that Apple supplied is already plugged in and you want to plug in any other USB accessories at the same time you’ll need an optional adapter. And those don’t come cheap–a USB-C to regular USB dongle from Apple fetches $19. A multiport USB-C adapter (with ports for full-size USB, an additional USB-C port, and HDMI) costs $79. Of course, you’ll see cheaper adapters from third party suppliers but now you have another accessory to travel with and keep track of.
That’s the thing about the new MacBook: It doesn’t cater to exactly the same audience as any existing Mac. It’s a really good laptop—assuming you can figure out how to make USB-C make sense for you—and yet its size, weight, and overall minimalism give it an iPad-like persona. The thinking behind it is a different, more subtle way of mixing PC and tablet than all those other devices that try to be both at once. But like the original 2008 MacBook Air before it, this specialty Mac could also be a blueprint for the next generation of mainstream notebooks.
Apple’s real bet is that you won’t need that port for much of anything. Ditch your external hard drive, the USB-C port begs, and use Dropbox instead. (Well, it would probably recommend iCloud, but don’t use iCloud.) Forget about your second monitor, because look at this screen! Oh, and that thing you do where you plug in your laptop every single damn time you sit down? Stop doing that. This’ll last you all day.
That last claim is so close to being true, too. I can work a full day at the office on the MacBook with no problems. Granted, this consists largely of using Office and a web browser, neither of which are terribly taxing. Those simple tasks are also exactly what the MacBook’s Intel Core M processor is designed for. But as soon as I open Photoshop, fire up Steam, or even crank up the brightness to watch The Tudors (great show), the laptop slows and the battery drains quickly.
Our grueling Web browsing test brought similar results. The MacBook lasted only 6.5 hours—the 13-inch Air made it five hours longer. (Dell’s XPS, which crams a 13-inch, 3200×1800-pixel screen into a 12-inch laptop chassis, didn’t make it to 6 hours. However, its lower-resolution sibling, which starts at $800, was able to keep pace with the MacBook Air. (Remember: Screen resolution makes a huge difference!)
In actual daily use, the MacBook ran for about 7 hours, two hours shy of Apple’s 9-hour claim. A few years ago, that sort of battery life wasn’t to be scoffed at, but we’re now accustomed to better—largely thanks to Apple. We now have a choice, the difference between always having to keep an eye on the laptop’s battery meter—and never having to.
The new MacBook also isn’t as fast as the Air. It’s rather snappy at managing my basic routine—checking email, surfing the Web and running various messaging apps. But the Intel Core M processor, even backed by 8GB of RAM and a 256GB fast solid-state drive, struggles at performance-intensive tasks, like managing lots of open apps and browser tabs while editing photos. When I have over 25 tabs open in Chrome (which happens more often than not), I can feel it wanting to keel over.
The MacBook runs completely silent and fits perfectly into my workflow. I haven’t touched either of my other two computers since I started using this one, and I’m very happy. This is my workflow now.
The good news is that if you need more ports or more power, Apple has two other MacBook product lines that may suit your needs. For me, I’m sticking with MacBook.
