12-Inch Retina MacBook Receives Mixed Reviews From Early Adopters

[utacity]

After briefly using one the other day, I really feel like the biggest compromise is the keyboard and let me explain why. Most people who buy a machine like this don't need the fastest machine out there, or many ports—but the primary benefit of buying something like this over an iPad Air 2 is having a built-in keyboard for sitting down to get work done, in addition advanced multitasking and professional apps. Having gone from the old keyboard to the chiclet keyboard back around 2009, that transition was different but not this severe. I'm usually not sensitive to differences in keyboards like some people are, but this keyboard just feels weird. Maybe with a lot of time I could get used to it, but I feel like something like this would be much better matched with an iPad Pro Smart Cover. It would be there if you need it, and provide a faster typing experience than a touch keyboard, but it shouldn't be used full-time on a Mac. Or maybe I'm completely wrong, and this thing is supposed to be used like a tablet that just happens to not have a touch screen that comes in a laptop form factor. I don't know. I really like the idea of it, but it's going to be a few years until it matures. I think what I really need instead is an iPad Pro that has a keyboard Smart Cover and pressure sensitive drawing stylus paired with some more professional apps for photo editing and drawing.

just buy a zagg keyboard case for your ipad, TA-DA you just saved yourself $700.

 

[johngordon]

Its all subjective of course, but I have gotten used to it really quickly - i.e. after couple of days use.

Going back to the MBP keyboard that is the one that feels weird already - they keys just feel like big chunky wobbly things in comparison.

My wife seemed to prefer the keyboard on the Macbook straight away, which surprised me as I mentioned it to her before getting it, and she said she liked a keyboard with a bit of travel.

So I would say if you have reservations, try it out at least. And if its the only thing making you think twice about the Macbook, order one and see how you get on and return it if you don't see yourself getting used to it.

 

[newellj]

just buy a zagg keyboard case for your ipad, TA-DA you just saved yourself $700.

And you are going to run OS X on your iPad exactl how...?

 

[bobob]

Lenovo LaVie Z just made Macbook 12" obsolete.

Good news, Lenovo fans - - it's discount time!!!

Lenovo knowingly ships LaVie Z laptop with flaws, offering 5 percent discount

 

[SockRolid]

the entire analogy is flawed. but keep flogging it.

I certainly will.

 

[riverfreak]

Whilst I have a certain sympathy for your situation, it doesn't really move the world forward by hanging on to antiquated interfaces such as VGA. Most projectors in my building are HDMI which is very convenient for rMBPs, requiring no adaptor. Often, it is the less prepared Dell / Lenovo users who have forgotten their HDMI adaptor!

The USB-C situation will almost certainly improve, and I don't see it being like Firewire & Thunderbolt.

Technological improvement generally involves replacing older technologies with newer, superior ones. At some point, you just have to stop supporting the older ones, and Apple is a proponent of this strategy. They removed 3.5" floppy drives, CD-ROM drives and wired Ethernet before anyone else, and large numbers of people claimed the sky was falling at the time. Nowadays, nearly all ultrabooks lack these devices. I will admit I do miss wired Ethernet and consider it still a mainstream technology for desktop computers (including office-bound laptops).

If we didn't simply cull the older tech, it would create a stagnation in device vendors, who would never innovate.

Maybe with the rMB, Apple is simply showing us a taste of the "wireless future" - not quite reality yet, but it may be in the next few years.

I'm sorry, I am on a flight now with spotty gogo and turbulence. I think I mistakenly repied to the wrong post. Sorry, everyone.

Well stated, and I hear your concerns. Better yet that you got my reference to Syquest. 135MB that's why they were so much more superior to Zip disks.

But there is a perfectly good option: the exceptional MacBook Air. Had Apple axed that machine and only have the Retina MacBook in production, I could better understand concerns.

I just finished reading the article about Jony Ive in the New Yorker. Therein, one of the design lab engineers states something to the effect that for awhile, they leave new prototypes sitting out alongside current offerings. If the new prototype doesn't feel like a move forward (and make the current offering feel old), they will revisit.

For me, switching back and forth between the Retina MacBook and an Air feels like a big transition. The tiny keys on the Airs, for example, just feel and look like a toy once you get used to the rMB.

 

[Mackan]

All we wanted was a Macbook Air with Retina display. Apple over-designed this one.

I suspect it was on purpose, due to some product differentiation scheme. They will discontinue MBA next year, and have a crippled MB to make the step to the 13'' rMBP even farther.

In any case, those who just wanted retina MBA got the finger. Now we'll have to endure 2-3 years of incremental hardware upgrades to the MB until it barely reaches the performance of the MBA. I can call it already: Another microphone. Better webcam. Another USB-C port. Plus more.

Remember folks. The reason why don't find all features on this MB is because of technical reasons. :roll eyes: Next year, it's suddenly magically overcome. You just have to buy new again. There's an obvious scheme to Apple making $$$.

 

[end user jutsu]

Umm.. Why does everyone keep acting like you can only purchase a usb-c multi-port from the Apple mothership?

USB-C is not proprietary. Stop alleging that $80 is the only price going.

Please do not complain for complaints sake-- it obscures real, useful information that potential buyers (like me) are here to get.

 

[Abazigal]

The new 12" macbook seems overpriced compared to the other macbook lines. If it was priced at $999, with the $79 usb adapter included in the box, that would be a better deal.

Overpriced compared to what?

Spec out a MBA with 8gb ram and 256SSD and the price is just $100 less (for the 11" model) or about there (for the 13" model). The Macbook also gets a better screen and better portability, albeit with a weaker processor.

I also had to buy my mini-display to VGA and HDMI adaptors separately. They certainly didn't come out of the box. If you don't want Apple's pricey adaptor, there are always kickstarter projects like this one.

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-Display Ads&gclid=CNXcz9iC68UCFVQnjgodLU8A7g

 

[rmt52]

can someone please enlighten me?

several reviews and individuals are saying that the MacBook is noticeably slow. looking at geekbench results I'm seeing the following:
Assuming we get 256gb and 8gb of ram for each,

*MacBook air i7 (2.2 ghz -3.2 ghz turbo) ($1449) gets a single-core score of 2886 and multi-core score of 5115
*Retina MacBook pro 13 i7 (3.1ghz -3.4 ghz turbo) ($1799) gets a single-core score of 3180 and multi-core score of 6736
*Retina MacBook pro 13 i5 (2.7ghz-3.1 ghz) (base) ($1499) gets a single-core score of 2938 and multi-core score of 6077
*Retina MacBook M 5y71 (1.3 ghz-2.9 ghz turbo) ($1549) gets a single-core score of 2827 and multi-core score of 5607

So asides from spending 250 dollars more to get the top chip for the 13 inch rMBP, memory/storage specs being held constant across all the comparisons), is the base chipped rMBP which only had a single-core score difference of 111 and a multi-core score difference of 470, or the top chipped MBA which had a single-core difference of 59 and a worse multi-core score, actually better/noticeably faster than the top chipped MacBook?

If I were to go based off these geekbench comparisons, it doesn't seem like that machine is really as underpowered as a lot of people are making it sound. Am I missing something?

 

[captobie]

can someone please enlighten me?

several reviews and individuals are saying that the MacBook is noticeably slow. looking at geekbench results I'm seeing the following:
Assuming we get 256gb and 8gb of ram for each,

*MacBook air i7 (2.2 ghz -3.2 ghz turbo) ($1449) gets a single-core score of 2886 and multi-core score of 5115
*Retina MacBook pro 13 i7 (3.1ghz -3.4 ghz turbo) ($1799) gets a single-core score of 3180 and multi-core score of 6736
*Retina MacBook pro 13 i5 (2.7ghz-3.1 ghz) (base) ($1499) gets a single-core score of 2938 and multi-core score of 6077
*Retina MacBook M 5y71 (1.3 ghz-2.9 ghz turbo) ($1549) gets a single-core score of 2827 and multi-core score of 5607

So asides from spending 250 dollars more to get the top chip for the 13 inch rMBP, memory/storage specs being held constant across all the comparisons), is the base chipped rMBP which only had a single-core score difference of 111 and a multi-core score difference of 470, or the top chipped MBA which had a single-core difference of 59 and a worse multi-core score, actually better/noticeably faster than the top chipped MacBook?

If I were to go based off these geekbench comparisons, it doesn't seem like that machine is really as underpowered as a lot of people are making it sound. Am I missing something?

You're not missing anything, for day to day use the computer works just fine. Most the people complaining about it being underpowered don't actually own one. The MacBook is my daily driver and I never have issues with performance.

 

[rmt52]

You're not missing anything, for day to day use the computer works just fine. Most the people complaining about it being underpowered don't actually own one. The MacBook is my daily driver and I never have issues with performance.

thanks.

 

[mikehoward]

can someone please enlighten me?

several reviews and individuals are saying that the MacBook is noticeably slow. looking at geekbench results I'm seeing the following:
<snip>
If I were to go based off these geekbench comparisons, it doesn't seem like that machine is really as underpowered as a lot of people are making it sound. Am I missing something?

No - the sky is not falling. It is not the end of the world. Yes - the 12" Macbook does actually boot up and run. The TRANSFORMERS HAVE NOT YET ATTACKED because of the lack of ports. Does USB-C work? Seems to (I've had only one issue which p**sed me off, but unless you're trying to drive an ASUS USB display you probably won't see anything unusual [only the 1366x768 works and that only works with the USB-C to USB adaptor, not the USB-C to power/HDMI/USB - I've traced it down to a power issue which - oh never mind])

Is the processor upgrade worth it? Have no idea. I opted to buy the base model [in space gray, if you must know. I didn't think gold would make it run faster or the battery last longer]

It replaced a 15" MBP early 2013, maxed out from Apple [16 Gig, 1/2 T drive, fastest processor I could get] because I wanted the light weight, didn't need the power [not doing the video editing I thought I was going to].

Is it slower? Depends on the job mix. I could have more s**t running on the MBP. I get more beachballs now. Do I care? Not in the least. I'm not rendering video in the background nor processing stills. Does my Adobe CS6 suite still run? Yes. Does Capture One 8 run? Yes - with no noticeable slowness. (maybe I'm more patient than I used to be). Can I edit in Microsoft Word? Yes - but only if forced to. Does Scrivener work? Emacs? Browsers? Yes, yes, yes. How about the C compiler? Don't know and don't care any more.

Do I like the MBR? Yes. Battery life is great. Recharge time is so short I can barely make coffee (slight exaggeration, but it's close from 60% to 100)

Will your experience be different from mine? Absolutely.

 

[darngooddesign]

The MacBook is slower for prolonged tasks because once the temp rises the chip slows down.

Day to day use and moderate tasks don't strain the core-m so it is a pretty quick laptop.

 

[bobob]

...but what a lot of people here are really saying is that "what works" would be an Air with a retina display, which Apple has chosen not to offer.

The future is now...

The new MacBook Pro basically is a MacBook Air -- the most impressive Air ever made.

Let's rewind time for a moment. It's Thursday, October 27, and Apple's event is under way.

Imagine that instead of introducing the new MacBook Pro, Apple unveiled a new MacBook Air. One that's 12 percent lighter, 13 percent smaller by volume and practically the same weight -- but manages to cram in a faster Intel processor, faster graphics, plus the far sharper, brighter and more colorful Retina Display the MacBook Air so desperately needed.

Sure, it starts at $1,500 rather than $1,000, but you get twice the solid-state storage for the price -- and you can double the RAM, quadruple the storage and get the awesome new Touch Bar secondary screen with Touch ID fingerprint sensor if you're willing to pay even more.

How long has your MacBook Air had a 1.6GHz processor? This new one is 2.0GHz or 2.9GHz; there's even a 3.3GHz option.

And sure, it's got a thinner keyboard and only two (or four) general-purpose Thunderbolt 3 ports instead of handy full-size USB ports and SD card slots. But we, Apple, figured you'd rather have a more accurate keyboard and amazing single-cable Thunderbolt 3 docking options to go with your mobile MacBook Air lifestyle.

Now, you can pull your MacBook Air right out of your manila envelope and plug in a single cable to charge it, dock with your peripherals and power multiple monitors all at the same time.

Oh, and one more thing: we knew you'd like the MacBook Air so much, we built a 15-inch model. You won't believe how fast it is -- this Air has a quad-core CPU that's 50 percent faster than last year's MacBook Pro! The graphics are over twice as fast, and yet we've kept the same 10 hour battery life as the 13-inch version.

If you've ever wanted to edit photos or home videos on a MacBook Air, this computer's for you. Oh, and it comes standard with the Touch Bar and Touch ID, too.

We think you're going to love the new MacBook Air. It's the best MacBook we've ever made.​