12" Macbook review, after having used every single laptop in Apple's lineup since 2006

[brookter1]

The RMB is a wonderful design, but what can you do on it you can't do on an iPad I wonder (iPad being even more portable) RMB seems to me to be a bit pointless in this regard

You've got an iPad that can split screen pdf and note taking software side by side, can run Scrivener and DevonThink and Tinderbox and Vim and Emacs and Xcode, screen share with the computer upstairs and can fit comfortably on your lap while touch typing on a decent keyboard?

I have an iPad and a bluetooth keyboard. It's OK for casual use (a bit of typing now and then, reading a PDF now and then) but it's a very limited and frustrating experience for my needs compared to the Macbook. The two don't even come close in usability for me -- in fact I'm considering selling the iPad because I don't use it much any more.

My Macbook is more powerful (for most of my uses) and nicer to use than the mid-2010 MBP 17" I also have. It's an excellent second computer and I couldn't be more pleased with it.

I wouldn't get the MBA because it doesn't have a retina display. I nearly got the top of the range MBP 15" this time, but in the end decided it was just overkill for my needs. I'm really pleased I got the Macbook -- it's certainly not pointless for me.

 

[smallcoffee]

since the redesign of the MBP, making the bezels thinner and sides as thin as they can be for ports I think its very sleek looking - the old mbp with the thicker bezels was not as nice.

To me the 13" MBP seems to be the perfect all round laptop - its portable and is powerful enough to do anything. I had photoshop, dreamweaver, many tabs open, powering a 4K external TV, running logic pro with multi tracks and the thing was running without any fan noise at all. Its so capable yet small and scaling to 1680 x 1050 makes it ideal for a large resolution of work space on the go. (personally 13" is on the limit to me for size, another thing that made me choose it over 12" MB)

(14" might be better, but I think 15.4 becomes cumbersome to carry easily)


The RMB is a wonderful design, but what can you do on it you can't do on an iPad I wonder (iPad being even more portable) RMB seems to me to be a bit pointless in this regard

I had actually tried to go strictly iPad at one point because I'm a bit of a minimalist.

Suffice to say, there's a ton I couldn't do, or if I could do it wasn't a great experience. Edit a resume in LaTeX? Nope. Screw around with Xcode or android studio? Nope. Efficiently work with numbers or excel? Nope. Really I think the question is, what can you do on an iPad that you can do on the iPhone 6+?

 

[Flunkyturtle]

Absolutely. I foresee that as soon as a Skylake rMB gets released, something that all reviewers and major tech media outlets will praise, even the general public will hop on the train and these will be flying off the selves.

If Apple, perhaps after retiring the long-overlived Macbook Air, ever releases a 14" rMB, I could also see both models over time obliterating the rMacbook Pro market, even more so as Cannonlake comes out and performs much better than Skylake, with even less power consumption.

The rMB is definitely the foundation for the Macbook of the future.


Indeed. This is going to be even truer as more USB type-C peripherals get released, like USB-C to USB-C hubs, screens and audio devices with USB-C input and so forth.



Thanks for reading!
I am not sure about what your use-case entails, but I think you will be just fine in most cases. With the Cloud as a backup, even more so.

For me, most of my everyday *nix stuff runs natively no problem, so really all I am using it for, is occasional isolation testing, sometimes when I just need a linux distro locally and don't want to deal with delays on a slow network, or when I need Windows.

And for that, it works well. Even as I write this, I have a Windows 10 VM running some of my office internal software, and a Debian one running some server debug stuff. That's on top of Safari with 12 open tabs, the appstore pulling some updates, and evernote, messages, sunrise and spotify in the background. With all this, I am at 60-70% CPU and just 57°C.
Pretty impressive for a mobile processor if you ask me.

Note sure if you are looking for a USB C hub - But i've just ordered one of these.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cateck®-Dev...IB9Q/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A2071U4930RVPV

 

[kingtj]

I decided to order one of the new Macbooks myself, when I heard our local store finally had ample supplies of them in stock. Went with the space gray model with the 512GB SSD and slightly faster CPU in it.

I'm using it daily as my office/work machine (replacing a 2010 Macbook Pro 17" which was also upgraded with a 512GB SSD and had the same amount of RAM in it; 8GB).

This is, honestly, kind of an experiment, as I work in I.T. and order Macs for the other employees here, as needed. Our "standard issue" laptop (if there really is such a thing) would be the high-spec Macbook Air 13" (because we don't want to buy anything that's limited to only 4GB of RAM maximum). Users actually working with heavy graphics or video would have a case for us to order a 13" or 15" retina Macbook Pro for them.

I wanted to see if the new Macbook might be a viable alternative to the Macbook Air for our users, and figured in a "worst case" scenario, it couldn't really be much worse than using a 5 year old laptop -- even if that was a high-end model for its day.

So far, I like the machine but definitely see some weaknesses too. Unlike the person who originally reviewed one of these at the start of this thread? I'm finding that I can definitely tell I'm using a mobile CPU. I've had several times in the last week where I got a temperature warning message popping up, telling me the CPU speed was being throttled down and naming an application that was the culprit I should consider closing. (In one case, it was an instance of VMWare running Windows 7 Pro that pushed it over the edge. I was doing a lot of software updating in the VM at the time. In the other case, it was the FireFox web browser giving it problems. Still not clear why that happened except I imagine a plug-in or extension had a memory leak, or was acting abnormally.) Overall though, in general use, it feels "fast enough". I'd say it performs on par with the core i7 CPU I had in my 2010 Macbook Pro when using apps like Office 2016.

On my desk, I've got it docked into a jCreate "Ultra Station" USB 3 laptop port replicator. After loading jCreate's drivers for video and ethernet, it lets me access a wired ethernet network, an external USB optical drive, run a second display (with primary running off of Apple's USB-C to HDMI/USB/USB-C charging adapter), and use an attached Apple wired keyboard. This arrangement works well (with the jCreate Ultra Station even color-complimenting the Macbook pretty well). Only disappointment is the jCreate video driver for the second display. It doesn't support monitor rotation and the video refresh rate with it is very slow. Some applications you drag onto that display will even appear to flicker because it updates so slowly. Not the Macbook's fault though....

I've found I don't care for typing on the Macbook's own keyboard, but it'll work in a pinch. Everything's just crowded together more closely than I like on a machine this small. The lack of key travel takes some getting used to, too. I currently dislike that, although I do realize that people using it enough tend to get used to it and eventually claim they prefer it. It's retina display is quite good though for being only a 12" screen. Coming from my Macbook Pro 17", it still feels small -- but it's razor sharp and bright, and resolution is all you can really ask for.

At the end of the day? I could *almost* recommend this to our other employees, if portability is a prime concern for them. But I'm soured on Apple's high price for dongles. If you intended to travel with this to places where you might need to attach it to a projector, you'll really want both a USB-C to HDMI and a USB-C to VGA type of adapter. And these adapters are $80 each! Then, say you want a second power adapter so you can put one in your laptop bag and leave the other on the office desk? The little tiny charger cube it uses costs another $50, with $30 more for the USB-C cable portion of it! That makes an extra $240 spent on cables and adapters, right up front.

 

[zhenya]

I've found I don't care for typing on the Macbook's own keyboard, but it'll work in a pinch. Everything's just crowded together more closely than I like on a machine this small. The lack of key travel takes some getting used to, too. I currently dislike that, although I do realize that people using it enough tend to get used to it and eventually claim they prefer it. It's retina display is quite good though for being only a 12" screen. Coming from my Macbook Pro 17", it still feels small -- but it's razor sharp and bright, and resolution is all you can really ask for.

At the end of the day? I could *almost* recommend this to our other employees, if portability is a prime concern for them. But I'm soured on Apple's high price for dongles. If you intended to travel with this to places where you might need to attach it to a projector, you'll really want both a USB-C to HDMI and a USB-C to VGA type of adapter. And these adapters are $80 each! Then, say you want a second power adapter so you can put one in your laptop bag and leave the other on the office desk? The little tiny charger cube it uses costs another $50, with $30 more for the USB-C cable portion of it! That makes an extra $240 spent on cables and adapters, right up front.

I have found that if you are used to banging on the keyboard the way many people are, and keyboards with a lot of travel have accommodated fairly well, then you will not like the Macbook keyboard because there is no travel at all and no cushion when you bottom out the keys. If you type lighter though, and can type just to the activation point of the keys, it you will probably learn to like it because the activation point is so crisp (something you may not even notice if you are bottoming out hard). I don't know what you mean by 'crowded'? It's a full-sized keyboard.

I've said this numerous times in this forum, but if you think of the Apple adapters as mini docking stations instead, the price suddenly seems a lot more reasonable. It's also worth noting that you will need adapters to get HDMI and VGA out of a Macbook Air as well, sure, only $60 instead of $160, but I can't see $100 making or breaking a business purchase one way or the other when it comes to choosing a computer. And really, do you need both of them? VGA will suffice anywhere HDMI will for projectors. And again, the power adapter is the exact same price as a Magsafe one, so no + or - there. The plus comes in that if you have an iPad or other 2amp+ charger, you can use that as a charger for the Macbook with the purchase of an $8 cable.

 

[smallcoffee]

Ideally you just don't use adapters, that's the entire point of limiting/removing ports. If you're buying one of these machines and loading it to the brim with extensions, you're not really using it as designed. If that's the case, honestly get something different.

 

[Theozz]

Ideally you just don't use adapters, that's the entire point of limiting/removing ports. If you're buying one of these machines and loading it to the brim with extensions, you're not really using it as designed. If that's the case, honestly get something different.

I don't fully agree. For example, I plan to plug my rMB to an external display. It's way more convenient to have just to plug one cable to an adapter or hub (keyboard, mouse, display) than to plug every single cable for each thing

But I need it to be portable for when I'm not home, so that's exactly the point of the adapters

 

[smallcoffee]

I don't fully agree. For example, I plan to plug my rMB to an external display. It's way more convenient to have just to plug one cable to an adapter or hub (keyboard, mouse, display) than to plug every single cable for each thing

But I need it to be portable for when I'm not home, so that's exactly the point of the adapters

That's what Bluetooth is for. lol

But I understand what you're saying. It's just that complaints (omg not enough ports) are kind of unwarranted for a machine that is designed to minimize or eliminate port usage. If you use adapters and stuff, I mean that's ok, it's America, but this device isn't designed with that kind of usage in mind. It's like buying a compact car and being mad that there's not as much usable space as a minivan or something. Well, of course not. What did you expect? Need ports and your angry that Macbook doesn't have many? Well, get a Macbook Pro/Air that has those ports because that device is what is targeted toward you.

 

[wchigo]

I don't fully agree. For example, I plan to plug my rMB to an external display. It's way more convenient to have just to plug one cable to an adapter or hub (keyboard, mouse, display) than to plug every single cable for each thing

But I need it to be portable for when I'm not home, so that's exactly the point of the adapters

In my mind, plugging in one adapter in order to gain access to a certain number of external devices like what you're doing is fine; personally, I own a USB-C to USB adapter for the times I want to plug in my phone or an external hard drive. But when people are daisy chaining adapters in order to get their required numbers of ports, at a certain point it's like why didn't you just go with an Air or a Pro if that's what you needed?

 

[majkom]

In my mind, plugging in one adapter in order to gain access to a certain number of external devices like what you're doing is fine; personally, I own a USB-C to USB adapter for the times I want to plug in my phone or an external hard drive. But when people are daisy chaining adapters in order to get their required numbers of ports, at a certain point it's like why didn't you just go with an Air or a Pro if that's what you needed?

maybe because they want portable, ports and retina together i believe, that if apple would make air with retina, then everyone will be happy - pro for those who needs power, air for those who wants slim and powerfull enough (with ports) and mb for those who only need ultra portable... but, it is clear that this wont happen, air will die in few (2?) years and mb will get more power and maybe more ports, mb is new air

 

[zhenya]

In my mind, plugging in one adapter in order to gain access to a certain number of external devices like what you're doing is fine; personally, I own a USB-C to USB adapter for the times I want to plug in my phone or an external hard drive. But when people are daisy chaining adapters in order to get their required numbers of ports, at a certain point it's like why didn't you just go with an Air or a Pro if that's what you needed?

I disagree. The Macbook fits perfectly as an ultra-mobile computer that then docks back at your desk as your full workstation. With only the one port, it is as small and light as possible for when you are out and about, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to connect whatever you want to it. As mentioned, that single point of connection is a huge plus - at my desk I keep the Digital AV adapter connected to all my peripherals and I have a single point of connection for power, video, keyboard, mouse, and all of my accessories. Yet the rest of the time when I'm not at my desk, I don't have to be weighed down by those ports I don't need right then.

 

[majkom]

Yet the rest of the time when I'm not at my desk, I don't have to be weighed down by those ports I don't need right then.

weighed down by ports? can you elaborate please

 

[zhenya]

weighed down by ports? can you elaborate please

Every port requires additional space in the chassis, additional wiring, additional boards to support them. This is why even the Macbook Pros don't have VGA or DVI ports anymore, and even the Airs don't have Ethernet or HDMI ports. The Macbook, by having a single port, is able to be made as thin and light as possible. Which is exactly how a laptop should be made, IMO, because when I'm on the go, I generally have no need for ports so why carry them around with me?

 

[wchigo]

I disagree. The Macbook fits perfectly as an ultra-mobile computer that then docks back at your desk as your full workstation. With only the one port, it is as small and light as possible for when you are out and about, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to connect whatever you want to it. As mentioned, that single point of connection is a huge plus - at my desk I keep the Digital AV adapter connected to all my peripherals and I have a single point of connection for power, video, keyboard, mouse, and all of my accessories. Yet the rest of the time when I'm not at my desk, I don't have to be weighed down by those ports I don't need right then.

I think you misunderstand me slightly. I'm fine with adapters like the Digital AV adapter; in fact, I thought about picking that up for myself at one point.

What I was referring to was people who are using something like the Digital AV adapter to plug in power and an external monitor, then plugging a USB hub into the USB port, then using the hub to connect mouse/keyboard/SD card reader/Ethernet/possibly another external display/etc. When you're plugging in like 5+ things, at that point maybe you should consider that the rMB isn't for you?

Yes, the one port makes it easier to disconnect when you need to go and connect when you're back but it seems a bit excessive in this way. However, to each their own. I'm not saying people can't do that, who am I to tell people what they can or cannot do, just wondering aloud is all.

 

[zhenya]

I think you misunderstand me slightly. I'm fine with adapters like the Digital AV adapter; in fact, I thought about picking that up for myself at one point.

What I was referring to was people who are using something like the Digital AV adapter to plug in power and an external monitor, then plugging a USB hub into the USB port, then using the hub to connect mouse/keyboard/SD card reader/Ethernet/possibly another external display/etc. When you're plugging in like 5+ things, at that point maybe you should consider that the rMB isn't for you?

That's exactly how I have mine connected. Digital AV adapter to usb hub/Ethernet with connections to my usb peripherals and an hdmi monitor. Works perfectly.

 

[wchigo]

That's exactly how I have mine connected. Digital AV adapter to usb hub/Ethernet with connections to my usb peripherals and an hdmi monitor. Works perfectly.

Haha! Well, more power to you, sir.

 

[xPad]

I've found I don't care for typing on the Macbook's own keyboard, but it'll work in a pinch. Everything's just crowded together more closely than I like on a machine this small.

The key pitch (distance between keys from key center to key center) is the same as all of Apple's other keyboards. This is a full sized keyboard, not a scrunched up one like you'll find on other small PCs.

At the end of the day? I could *almost* recommend this to our other employees, if portability is a prime concern for them. But I'm soured on Apple's high price for dongles. If you intended to travel with this to places where you might need to attach it to a projector, you'll really want both a USB-C to HDMI and a USB-C to VGA type of adapter. And these adapters are $80 each!

Third party options abound. I don't really understand this complaint from a business standpoint. It's a small one time cost if this is something that you need for business. Presumably, any event where these adaptors are needed you are spending far more just to have the employee be there, and if these things are so important, presumably that means your employees are expecting to use them multiple times.

These will be standard going forward. An investment know will pay off for years to come.

And you can always just buy any of the cheaper, third party options.

Then, say you want a second power adapter so you can put one in your laptop bag and leave the other on the office desk? The little tiny charger cube it uses costs another $50, with $30 more for the USB-C cable portion of it!

Which is $1 cheaper than the charger for a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. Or you can buy any standard USB 3.1 Type-C charger of sufficient wattage, as this is a fully standards complaint charging system.

That makes an extra $240 spent on cables and adapters, right up front.

Yes, Apple supplies options for people who need/want them. If you're complaining about them, you're buying the wrong product. Either you're getting a good value (better than the value you get from the 13" Air), and the price is worth it, or you aren't, and should be buying Airs, like you've been.

 

[xPad]

What I was referring to was people who are using something like the Digital AV adapter to plug in power and an external monitor, then plugging a USB hub into the USB port, then using the hub to connect mouse/keyboard/SD card reader/Ethernet/possibly another external display/etc. When you're plugging in like 5+ things, at that point maybe you should consider that the rMB isn't for you?

I don't understand your point. These adaptors are for use at your desk. You just unplug one cable and you're off.

So you get the full benefits of all those ports when and where you need them, but when you are away from your desk, they don't follow you around, and you get all the space saving, weight saving awesomeness on the go.

Yes, the one port makes it easier to disconnect when you need to go and connect when you're back but it seems a bit excessive in this way.

Docking stations have been a thing for decades. That was one of the things people liked about Thunderbolt, you could connect everything you need with just two cables, one for power, and one for everything else.

USB-C goes one better, and you only need just the one cable! This is such a wonderful design that Thunderbolt 3 will follow suit, using just one port for power and data, and will even be the exact same connector.

 

[spiderman0616]

I recently decided to ditch my Mac Mini and get a Macbook of some kind. I tried a rMB at the Apple Store the other day, and I have to say--I was really impressed with it as well. I didn't mind the keyboard at all, and the trackpad is pure witchcraft. I can't believe they got that thing so thin and light. I can see them eventually being able to bring down the price on that machine and then ditching the Macbook Air altogether. The Air seems like the redheaded stepchild at this point--no retina, no force touch trackpad, etc.

However, in the end, I went with a 13" rMBP. I needed something that could drive my two big work monitors when needed, so I needed all the video out ports, and I needed more power for recording. If not for those two things though, I would have very seriously considered the rMB. It's a fantastic machine.

 

[wchigo]

I don't understand your point. These adaptors are for use at your desk. You just unplug one cable and you're off.

So you get the full benefits of all those ports when and where you need them, but when you are away from your desk, they don't follow you around, and you get all the space saving, weight saving awesomeness on the go.

Well, my point is that it seems excessive in my eyes, but like I've said I'm not going to tell people who like to do this that they're "using it wrong." However, it seems likely that if this was the intention, Apple would've come up with an adapter that gives you access to all those ports without daisy chaining, like what some Kickstarter projects are aiming for. Most likely I am projecting my own thoughts onto Apple, as they'll probably release more adapters in the future which include those ports, and I'm fine being called out for it.

Docking stations have been a thing for decades. That was one of the things people liked about Thunderbolt, you could connect everything you need with just two cables, one for power, and one for everything else.

USB-C goes one better, and you only need just the one cable! This is such a wonderful design that Thunderbolt 3 will follow suit, using just one port for power and data, and will even be the exact same connector.

I know full well of docking stations and while I've never had a need for one, I'm glad they exist for those that do. It just seems that there are some, not all, who are running into issues being able to run everything they want through the one port (whether it be power issues or otherwise) and then blaming the rMB for failing at something which it [may or] may not have been intended for.

Yes, I do agree; USB-C is a wonderful direction for the future, in numerous ways. And I'm looking forward to the day that it will get even better when we are able to get our hands on USB 3.1 Gen2.

 

[mpainesyd]

Wireless / Bluetooth mice are pretty good, and should be irrelevant to the discussion of the Macbook's ports (or lack thereof). The exception is if you game, but you shouldn't get a Macbook if you're planning to game....

This tiny Logitech bluetooth mouse works well with the rMB:
http://www.logitech.com/en-au/product/ultrathin-touch-mouse-t630
I bought it for times when it is too hot and humid to use the trackpad (sweaty fingers) but I find I am using it more and more for "precision" mouse work at other times.
(it was on sale for less than half price from Myers!)

 

[petvas]

I got my Retina MacBook yesterday and I would like to post my impressions here.
My main computer is a Retina iMac. I also have an iPhone and till yesterday I also had a 13" rMBP early 2015. I always wanted a thin, light laptop, iPad like, running OS X and with a Retina Display. I do not need the extra power of the 13" rMBP, so I decided to sell it and get the rMB.
My worries about performance were not justified. The rMB is fast, at least for normal web surfing with many open tabs in Safari, Mail, Photos, Omnifocus and movies. I do not want more from my mobile device.
The things I really love about the rMB after two days are:

• The design. I love it. In Space gray it looks really amazing
• The backlight keyboard. Much better than the previous backlight Apple is using in the rMBP laptops.
• The keyboard. At first I thought that it is really difficult to type with this keyboard, but after only two days I am getting used to it and I love the way it feels when typing.
• The sound. The rMB has the best sound I have ever heard from an Apple laptop.
• The weight. This laptop is really light and I love using it all the time.
• The display is amazing, even compared to the 13" rMBP.

What I don't really like:

• I miss the glowing Apple logo on the back
• I would like to have some kind of indication if my Macbook is charging or if it is fully charged, as with the Magsafe on the rMBPs. The USB-C cable is ok, but it doesn't have any indicators on it.
• The battery: Compared to the 13" rMBP there is a noticeable difference in battery life. With the rMBP I used to get at least 8 hours of battery life with my usage. It is pretty early to tell for sure, since a lot of background processes are still running, after the initial setup, but I get the feeling that the rMB will have a shorter battery, something in the lines of 5-6 hours, which is not good. I need at least 7 hours battery life.
• The rMBP has a frame on the sides, so many times I would grab it from the sides and move it. The rMB has almost no bezel on the sides and many times I caught myself grabbing the laptop from the sides,thus pressing many keys on the keyboard at the same time. I hope I can get used to that in the future and start grabbing the laptop differently..
• The iSight should have a 720p resolution.

Overall I am very happy with my purchase and I can say, that despite the couple drawbacks, that the rMB is all I ever wanted in a mobile device. I do not think I will use an iPad again, at least not in the next months. The rMB covers all my needs and I use it on the couch, in bed and when I commute.

I can only imagine how much better the second generation will be. Having said that, I do not recommend people to wait for the second generation, because they shouldn't miss the first gen. Make no mistake, this is a great laptop.

I also do not care about the single port. I almost never use external storage and I don't care how many ports the rMB has.

 

[zhenya]

Give it a few weeks. I suspect your battery life will get better. I generally get 9-11 hours as long as I keep brightness below 50%.

 

[petvas]

Give it a few weeks. I suspect your battery life will get better. I generally get 9-11 hours as long as I keep brightness below 50%.

I have auto brightness on, starting from 50%. As I wrote before, I suspect that the reduced battery life had to do with the many background processes running after initial setup.

 

[sk1wbw]

My wife just bought one the other day. It's her first Mac ever. After playing with it, I admit it's a nice ass laptop. I wouldn't mind having one but I would want to connect it to my external monitor. Is there a way to do this?