2016 MacBook Review Roundup: SSD Performance is Much Improved, Lack of Ports and 480p Camera Are Still Negatives

[happyslayer]

I ordered the new 2016 12" rMB m7/256 to replace the 2015 rMB 1.2/512 I sold to a relative. I can't wait. This has been the best laptop Apple ever made for me. Now it will be at least 25% faster than the best For me, in my use patterns, I am perfectly fine with the single USB-C port (I have a USB-C to USB-A adapter with Ethernet that I use once or twice a month and a couple Kingston and one Sandisk USBC-USBA memory sticks) For me it's all about weight and size and portability with the good screen. The MacBook is perfect for that, and for me.

As an aside, the 2015 model replaced my 2014 13" MacBook Pro and I never missed it.

Again, for some of us, this is the best choice out of Apple's various offerings. If it's not for you, buy one of the others.

 

[El Cabong]

The very successful PowerBook Duo had just one port way back in the early 1990s. Customers willingly sacrificed multiple ports for ultimate portability, and paid handsomely for the privilege. The same is true today.

It also had a huge dock connector and a network port. Also, it wasn't powered via the serial port. Also, it's not the 1990s anymore.

 

[Mac 128]

It also had a huge dock connector and a network port. Also, it wasn't powered via the serial port. Also, it's not the 1990s anymore.

I agree the combined power port is troubling, which is why I support a redundancy, whether the market for this notebook needs one or not. The PowerBook Duo, had exactly one data port and power port in the base configuration. The 14.4 modem port was optional. There were all kinds of docks for the Duo that met a particular users needs. The same is true here with the rMB. And, at the end of the day, the 1990s have nothing to do with it. Customers are still looking for the smallest lightest notebooks that meet their needs, and with that comes compromises. Just like in the 1990s. And, what worked in the 1990s, still applies today. The USB-C port is miraculous by comparison to that single serial port the Duo had. And expansion is easier and cheaper than it ever was then for the Duo. A simple port hub offers users whatever customizable options a customer could want, including breaking out power.

But I agree. I'd prefer two ports instead of one. If Apple removes the 3.5mm jack from the iPhone in September, then we'll likely get a second data port on the rMB.

 

[Soccertess]

Sure there is, just get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack, and replace it with a second data port, and use an adapter or wireless for headphones.
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I had thought that they would add lighting ports to there lap tops in 2016, to help transition towards headphones without 3.5mm, but they haven't yet. Maybe we will see that in the 3rd quarter. Personally I would rather they adopt a wireless charging protocol like Oasis Cota.. that would be a game changer!

 

[mantan]

Honestly, get her a 13" rMBP. They are only marginally thicker and heavier than the MBA, but 1) they are much more powerful so future proofing won't be an issue, which is a concern you mentioned, and 2) the current MBA lineup is the exact same model that's been on the shelf for over a year, for the exact same price, only now they've bumped the RAM from 4GB to 8. If you're ok paying an already-premium price for outdated tech, by all means go with the MBA, but if you want a machine that's going to be humming along 5 years from now with a much better display to boot, go with the rMBP.

Good point. I think that'll be the best overall long term solution....

 

[PBRsg]

I was shocked that the iPad Pro bested all those laptops. On those terms, yes it's a laptop replacement. It's just held back by the current limitations of iOS.

These benchmarks from Apple's Ax chips make it inexcusable for iOS not to be multi-window.
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Do you mean like the lifespan of the MacBook Air? Which started out under Steve Jobs leadership in 2008 with one port, slow cpu, poor performance, poor storage, 2 GB of slow RAM, poor camera, more expensive, etc. It was called a "flop."

Look how the MacBook Air has been incrementally improved over the years. Just like the original iPhone since launch. The retina MB will be no different, the Watch, too.

I still don't see why someone would buy a MacBook over a MacBook Air.

 

[Kaspersky]

This CPU is a deal-breaker.

 

[DakotaGuy]

The A9X blows those Intel chips away (at least in this benchmark). It's just a matter of time until we'll find those ARM-chips in our MacBooks.

And yeah, I know that the software is made for x64 and its not that easy to convert everything to run on ARM. But Apple never had easy tasks to sollte (but still did)!

Sure in single core scores, but the Intel chips have an advantage in multi-core scores. Throw a much heavier OS like OSX on top of that A9X and watch it struggle against the Intel chips. It's possible they could start throwing some ARM chips in the low end models, but it'll be years and years before ARM chips catch up (if ever) to Intel x86 processors when you get to higher clock speeds and multi-cores.

So if Apple goes that route then they have to start making everything universal again like in the PowerPC-Intel transition days. I don't think it's worth the time or money.

 

[Jethrox]

Based on specs alone, the next update of 13" MB Air will probably crap all over the regular MB, and will probably cost $200-300 less. Only downside will be 1lbs more in weight, and no retina screen. For an extra pound and a half of weight, the 13" base rMBP craps all over the MB, and costs the same amount.

I'm sure that no one would miss the MacBook if Apple suddenly dropped it from production tomorrow, and added a retina screen to the Air line instead ... even if they raised their prices by $200-300.

The real question is WHEN???
I've been waiting for well over a year! I had the MBA but it was stolen early '14, thought I'd wait for an upgrade. Apple promised it with the rMB, but the technology was actually 2 steps back. No sale!
Then the iPP (claimed to replace my laptop) still doesn't have a useful file system. No sale again!
I want a small, light all purpose computer and I'm tired of waiting, updates are long overdue!

 

[Barry Bishop]

Whilst you might be correct, I just can't consider going back to Windows. I've looked and tried, but it's not for me. And for that reason, I wouldn't be better off with the XPS 13, regardless of its extra power/battery life or whatever.

What is it that's not for you? I own a MacPro trashcan and a Macbook Pro laptop so I have my reservation as well, but if they start pulling this with the Mac Pro line and the I'm out.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

My girlfriend just traded her 2015 MBP 13" for the 2016 MB. Why? because she values ultra portability and light weight (which she benefits from every day) over sheer performance (which she never uses to its full potential).

So, for the average consumer who never edits RAW photos, or renders videos at 4K resolution, or crunches autoCAD with thousands of polygons on screen, the truth is that 2016 MB is more than powerful enough. In fact, the MB 2016 can handle some mid-level video edition or Photoshop without a problem.

In my opinion, the only real problem is the single port. Power is OK, camera is OK, keyboard is OK. But one port?!

 

[peterdevries]

can you explain to me why I am wrong, other than saying does it run OSX?

Well, you did not explain why the other computer was supposed to be better. I'm pointing out that the MacBook -with its deficiencies (e.g. 480 camera etc..)- is still better than anything similarly sized from its competitors due to the fact that those run Windows (and yes, I work with it and it is a nightmare in terms of consistency and use of touch and click interfaces) and are not honest about battery life and specs.

 

[johngordon]

I still don't see why someone would buy a MacBook over a MacBook Air.

The screen on the MBA isn't very good.

The screen on the rMB is superb.

Possibly?
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My girlfriend just traded her 2015 MBP 13" for the 2016 MB. Why? because she values ultra portability and light weight (which she benefits from every day) over sheer performance (which she never uses to its full potential).

So, for the average consumer who never edits RAW photos, or renders videos at 4K resolution, or crunches autoCAD with thousands of polygons on screen, the truth is that 2016 MB is more than powerful enough. In fact, the MB 2016 can handle some mid-level video edition or Photoshop without a problem.

In my opinion, the only real problem is the single port. Power is OK, camera is OK, keyboard is OK. But one port?!

Exactly - I don't know why people struggle with that. Different people have different needs.

I work on my maxed out iMac at home, and we share the rMB - I take it to meetings or to coffee shops to do a bit of work (up to and including web site stuff and light Illustrator / Photoshop), and my wife mostly uses it at home for internet / email / a little bit of Word / Pages etc.

If it has no problem with anything we use it for, I'd still love to know why people think I should give up the weight and portability for additional power that won't be used.

 

[Keane16]

Still can't figure out why anyone would by this crap. If you're spending this much on a laptop, get a MacBook Pro. One port is unacceptable!

I own a late 2011 MacBook Pro. I never use the ports. Recently popped in an SSD, so it's still performing fine. But when it kicks the bucket the Retina MacBook will be its replacement.

At work I use a ThinkPad - all I plug in is a dock - to which I have power, a monitor and mouse connected (as the trackpad sucks). 1 port would be enough.

Some of us are fine with one port. I'm even more fine with fanless.

 

[Barry Bishop]

Well, you did not explain why the other computer was supposed to be better. I'm pointing out that the MacBook -with its deficiencies (e.g. 480 camera etc..)- is still better than anything similarly sized from its competitors due to the fact that those run Windows (and yes, I work with it and it is a nightmare in terms of consistency and use of touch and click interfaces) and are not honest about battery life and specs.

I know film directors who use the Dell XPS 13 and 15, they have cut films on it, commercials, use it for trailers. Same I guess could be said about some macs too. Every item has its qwerks. Dell's spot on with its specs and battery life. Who cares about the camera...no one uses it. You don't have to believe me, but the new mac It is not better than anything similarity in size, just because it runs OS X doesn't make it the better choice. It's just a tool. Spec wise the dell is far better. Spec wise. So again back to what I originally said, can you tell me other than the OS X why the mac is better?

Don't get me wrong I love macs, but this...this...was just an incremental updated that should have been put off till tb3 would be included

 

[peterdevries]

So again back to what I originally said, can you tell me other than the OS X why the mac is better?

IMHO there is no "other than".. They cannot and should not be seen separately. I have a top notch touchscreen Lenovo at work that is a disaster to use because the OS is not touch optimised and contains too many ways to do the same thing. A great piece of hardware with a bad OS still makes a bad computer.

On a mac I can choose to use OS X and / or Windows, but on a PC I'm confined to using Windows.

The MacBook might come with a number of trade offs to the small form factor (one port etc), but for many use-cases this works fine. I use my MB for basic on-the-go computing for my private business and use my mac mini at home to do the heavy stuff. No USB sticks or anything of the sort are needed. Your comment about the camera doesn't make sense. You might not use it but many people (including me) do for video conferences.

I'm a typical switcher (even though it is a long time ago). I noticed that I needed 2 evenings to configure a Sony Vaio laptop to do what I want and need (through much tweaking of settings and drivers all over the OS). That is just plain ridiculous. I took it back and bought a MBP. It was up and running in two hours. True there are higher performing machines out there for the same or lower price. The fact of the matter is that Apple gear retains value longer, is well built and does what I want.

As soon as there appears a good Windows version with a good piece of hardware I will consider that route, but in 8 years of Mac for me that moment hasn't come close.

 

[Tech198]

I guess Apple treating better images thoughout. 720p on Macbook Pro Retina... 480p on Macbook 26016

 

[UltimaKilo]

I'm not sold that Kaby Lake will make this a viable computer. It should have some CPU improvements along with a large bump in iGPU performance, but it will still require a Core M.

Cannonlake seems like a natural fit. With its low-power consumption and improved CPU performance, I think we could see an i3 MacBook in 2018.

 

[1SUFI]

so - I bought one of these but why was for a reason you might not consider in full, and I have not seen it anywhere, so I thought I'd add a couple thoughts here. To keep a long story simple, I am moving my principal personal computing set up from WIN to OS X to avoid Win 10 and as a vote for privacy. I decided to buy two Apples: a 2014 mac mini with 16GB RAM and all the ports I could dream of and the rMB, with only one port and the m7 processor. Kinda weird extreme thinking, some may think, but a mac mini will do everything I need probably for a decade or so.

So, the reason I also bought the rMB was highly akin to why preppers are willing to spend a lot of money on a gun that they may never use: emergencies. The low wattage is such that I have a reliable computing system should there be an earthquake or other natural disaster that takes out the grid for days or weeks. IMHO, the rMB is the perfect emergency kit companion (with a non-powered hub + the type C RAV Power pack that is chargeable from a solar panel).

 

[nvmls]

People are gonna complain always about Apple products. Mainly too expensive. Mainly by people who can’t afford to buy. Sort of illogical. Akin to someone who can’t afford Lexus always complaing about the price.

Sure, because if Lexus was an ultrabook, it would come with a 480p cam.

It must be that I can't afford a $1300 ultrabook with 480p and sub-standard hardware, clearly looking at the future as an improvement in power & performance > thinness & consumption is mistaken. My bad, thanks Apple for showing us the correct & "unaffordable" path.

 

[Essaux]

€ 1.449 euros is just way too expensive for what is supposed to be a budget entry level macbook?
Granted, it looks good, but the specs are just a huge disappointment when one needs to shell out that amount of money. There are simply much better laptops out there for that price tag.

 

[boast]

So, for the average consumer who never edits RAW photos, or renders videos at 4K resolution, or crunches autoCAD with thousands of polygons on screen

And those people should be using a Desktop/Workstation instead of looking for a laptop, no?

 

[Chase R]

I'm underwhelmed by this refresh. One port and the same inflated price tag. No thanks. Maybe gen3 will get a true update and bring the price down to where it should be.

Edit: I should add, I CAN afford this machine (some here like to say the complaining comes from people who can't), the value just isn't there.

 

[yticolev]

I'm underwhelmed by this refresh. One port and the same inflated price tag. No thanks. Maybe gen3 will get a true update and bring the price down to where it should be.

Edit: I should add, I CAN afford this machine (some here like to say the complaining comes from people who can't), the value just isn't there.

The value isn't there for you. For millions of others who have already bought the rMB, it must be there for them.

 

[applegeek97]

You know this is a good computer when all they can really complain about is a lower resolution video camera.... Lol, I love my new macbook!