So, who is the new MacBook really for?

nStyle said:

Like, really?

Am I missing something?

It's $1,299 for a very small laptop with a permanent keyboard attached that isn't very powerful at all and requires adapters out the @$$

Power users? No, because they already have a rMBP, and it's not even a powerful laptop.

Casual users? No, because it's priced out of their reach or they likely already have an Air and can live without the screen.

Apple addicts? This is the only category I can see actually buy one, but I can't see them recouping their R&D with sales to this demographic at all.

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The reason you buy the MacBook instead of the MacBook Pro is if you value less weight, less size and excellent screen-to-size ratio compared to performance.

I have a 11" MacBook Air and a 13" MacBook Pro Retina and this new MacBook will definitely replace the MBA as a travel computer and when I want to travel light as possible.

It might even replace my rMBP since almost nothing I do while away from home is CPU and GPU intensive. If I do need to heavy workloads I will do those on the iMac or just be patient and let the MacBook work on it for a few hours.

And if Apple had doubled the battery life I would have easily paid $2000, maybe even $3000.

TEBnewyork said:

Surprise surprise.....

MBP vs. MBA. MBP is hardly clunky these days. MBP has a smaller footprint than a MBA. Just weighs 1/2 lb more.

Have a look at the current specs.

Height: 0.11-0.68 inch (0.3-1.7 cm)
Width: 12.8 inches (32.5 cm)
Depth: 8.94 inches (22.7 cm)
Weight: 2.96 pounds (1.35 kg)3


Height: 0.71 inch (1.8 cm)
Width: 12.35 inches (31.4 cm)
Depth: 8.62 inches (21.9 cm)
Weight: 3.48 pounds (1.58 kg)2

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Thank you for the information. Much appreciated. I'm using 11" MBA and I love it. Some things just appeal to me.

My post was not intended to down MBP or Chevy. I should have worded it differently.

Thank you again!

whiteonline said:

It's a second Mac that I use in demand. Charge it like a tablet and take it everywhere. It by no means is a workstation or desktop replacement.

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Me too. I keep my 15" rMBP plugged in on my desk, and use this new little Macbook at the coffee shop, in bed, on the couch...just about any travel scenario. While working on the couch at home, I've yet to go back and drag the 15" out...in fact, I've barely used the 15" at all.

The new Macbook is what many of us wanted: an iPad'ish laptop that is tiny and runs OS X. Love it.

FWIW, a girls was sitting next to me with an 11" MBA the other day, and I couldn't believe how old and relatively large it looked, especially for that screen.

Maclee2010 said:

Actually, according to the early benchmarks, it was not a dumb idea getting the 1.3. It turns out to be the real workhorse of the new macbook line. The benchmarks are right in line with my old late 2013 13" i5 rMBP....Not bad performance at all....

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I agree my choice of a 1.3 was smart as it truly is fast enough to handle my workload. I tend to be an "open and forget" person. When I look back half way through the day I have 5-6 Safari tabs open, 10-12 Chrome, my Parallels Windows 8.1 open to word, outlook etc. Of course than Word email and possibly Outlook open on the OSX side.

There are drawbacks however... The lack of connectors at present has left me high and dry for client presentations. I was able to buy a USB-C to get some of my programs off my back-up. I will write a bit more later for anyone interested or with questions about performance, feel free to ask.

I will NOT perform Benchmarks however. They are almost worthless beyond getting a basic idea on performance. Best I can say buy what you feel will best work for YOU and run it like you mean it to get your own performance feel - Within the 14 day return policy.

So the answer to the OP is, its for the people who want it, and not for the people who don't want it.

Nothing else to say except to feed the trolls. Stop feeding the trolls.

nStyle said:

Like, really?

Am I missing something?

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ME! I've had it for two weeks today, and it's my favorite laptop I've ever owned.

#1 - Portability. I travel internationally 2 weeks out of the month, and having this compared to a pro's weight is a life saver.

#2 - Screen. Retina = yum! Coming from an 11" Air, which takes up about the same space in my bag, the screen is gorgeous. If Apple didn't put such a crappy screen in the Air, this wouldn't be such a big differentiator, but it is. It's going from the worst of screens to the best. Love it.

#3 - I'm a business professional not a gamer, not someone who's editing video on a tiny laptop screen. Not someone who is rendering photos on a 12" screen. The people who talk garbage because they say you can't use photoshop or final cut, who cares? This laptop is designed for home\casual users and business professionals who check email, surf the web, create documents. That's what most ultrabook users do on their laptops.

The minority seems to be so vocal here, and it's funny to me. They're hurt because Apple didn't (read: couldn't) have the tech specs to include their minority want-list into this size. Face it, the technology doesn't exist today to make this laptop compete with the Macbook Pro without sacrifice (a fan, gross).

I don't want a gross fan. I don't want a horrid non-retina screen. I don't want some fat laptop just so 1% of Apple's users are happy they can sit at Starbucks and play a video game.

I'm very happy with Apple's product decision on the MB. Loving my 1.2\512

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usernames.taken said:

So the answer to the OP is, its for the people who want it, and not for the people who don't want it.

Nothing else to say except to feed the trolls. Stop feeding the trolls.

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Clearly nobody wants it, since Apple Stores have such huge piles of stock of these units that nobody wants to buy. LOL LOL LOL

PittAir said:

Who's it for? Me.

25,000 air miles in the last 12 days with this thing. Three continents. Two oceans.

I use a Citrix client over a VPN, the MS Office suite (PS--Office 2016 for Mac is still half baked for me, so I still use 2011), various and sundry web browsers and extensions.

I'm guessing that I represent 90% of the business traveling public here with my needs.

I want thin, light, and powerful enough to do what I need to do.

I've had every 11 inch MBA they have ever made, trying to get to this sweet spot. This machine does it all for me, as I have found on this road trip.

Dropbox, Plugbug for an extra USB power port on the 29W USB-C power adapter to power my iphone, and wireless tethering to my iphone hotspot have made the ports for me unnecessary--that was my biggest concern.

I have the USB-C to USB adapter (for the occasional key drive) and the USB-C to video adapter (for presentations only). Didn't use them that much.

I'm still trying to figure out how long the power lasts on battery only. Looks like about 8 hours, same as my MBA.

Is it expensive? Yes. But that's the early adopter tax.

Two years from now this form factor and laptop will dominate the market, and will be cheaper.

I'm loving it.

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What is a Plugbug?

jazz1 said:

What is a Plugbug?

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https://www.twelvesouth.com/product/plugbug

paulyjay said:

https://www.twelvesouth.com/product/plugbug

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So this works perfectly well with the 2015 Macbook's USB-C charger module? Neat!