Apple Announces 12-Inch Retina MacBook With Revamped Trackpad, Starting at $1,299

[thejadedmonkey]

^^^ THIS

I messed around with the XPS 13 at the MS store in a local mall. It has better build quality than the usual DELL's, and definitely better than most other Windows laptops in its class. But it doesn't compare to any MB's [IMHO]. Id have to see it running Windows 10, but I wasn't overly impressed with 8.1 on it. I don't really care much about touch screens, so it's a feature that means nothing to me...

It's about as nice as a macbook air, they each have their pros and cons but it's in no way outclassed by the Air. The touch screen (what I have) make it feel "futuristic". My other half "forced" me to get it with the touch screen. Windows 10 on it is fantastic. Battery life is "meh", but "meh" of 12 hours is still quite respectable. "meh" of 15 hours if you go non-touchscreen is even more respectable.

 

[idkaboutthat]

Don't like it?
Don't buy it!

a lot of the fan boys here are pumping up the stereotype, big time

You're right. I just wanted a colored macbook air 13. with at least a magnetic charger.

 

[atlatnesiti]

Trying to find a standard USB port (which is all I need) from product photos, there doesn't appear to be any ports at all. Am I missing something?

Cd drives and floppy disks are not present as well...

 

[erasr]

So I think I've got it in my head now...

Macbook Air is the low end Macbook model, visually obvious by the cheap looking bezel and screen.

MacBook is the mid range model. Similar in looks to the Pro but thinner and more portable.

MacBook Pro is the high end model.

 

[djpuma]

Crap!!
Maybe apple should finally give away adapters instead of price gouging for 1st gen *****.
Innovative my ass.

 

[cult hero]

Can't use my mouse while using a flash drive?

Not that I necessarily love the single port thing (although unlike a lot of people here, I don't much care about carrying adapters and I have a bunch for Thunderbolt) but Apple is pushing toward mostly wireless peripherals. That basically said as much during the introduction. When it came to connecting, the focus was on WiFi and Bluetooth. They didn't even discuss the USB-C connector until CHARGING was the issue.

Anyway, I don't need people jumping down my throat as some Apple fanatic who loves all their decisions for pointing this out. I don't care whether you like their decision here or whether I do, but Apple is definitely pushing in a very specific direction with all of this.

 

[Zippitydont]

I'm confused. If this isn't replacing the MacBook Air and it's THINNER than the Air, then doesn't the Air kind of lose its meaning?

They should've called it the MB Altitude; Like the Air, but thinner

 

[Mr. Gates]

ive owned a macbook air for 5 years and never used any ports. except for headphone jack.

im curious why you need ports on a portable machine?

You DO REALIZE the power jack it the ONLY port ...right ???

No more plugging in your phone while plugged in , no USB hard drives, and I have to imagine you don't do any photography either because the missing SD card reader would really irritate the heck out of you.

No more USB 4g LTE dongles (Many of us who work and travel use these)

There's a lot more I could mention but the most concerning is the fact that you can't look outside of your own experience and try to imagine why other people take issue with this change.

It's like as if a car company released a car without an Air-Bag today and you said "My 60 year old Chevy doesn't have an Air-Bag , I don't understand why anyone would ever need one"

 

[Wild-Bill]

Seems to me that if purchase the new MacBook 12in Retina I will need a USBC hub. Maybe Apple will include the hub in the box?

No, but they'll be happy to throw an adapter in the bag during checkout, for another $79.00.

 

[DerekAndonian]

The gold one looks amazeballs

Yeah, but I'm not paying 10 grand for it. Err- oh, wait...

 

[cult hero]

So I think I've got it in my head now...

Macbook Air is the low end Macbook model, visually obvious by the cheap looking bezel and screen.

MacBook is the mid range model. Similar in looks to the Pro but thinner and more portable.

MacBook Pro is the high end model.

I sense the Airs, as we know it, are going to be phased out as the production costs on the MacBook go down. It seems incredibly silly for the "Airs" to not even be the lightest laptops anymore.

I'm almost hoping for a smaller Pro at this point. (Although, really, what I want more than anything from Apple is a 13" Pro with dedicated graphics.)

 

[greytmom]

Anyone who is amazed by this is clearly drinking the kool-aid. (and I love most Apple products)

Let's review:
- a single port for all purposes

Say you're at an airport, and your battery is nearly dead. A client wants you to email them some large files that are on a USB thumb drive in your pocket, and they need it fast. Now you have to plug it in and charge it, waiting to get up to maybe 10-15%, and then unplug the charger and plug in the USB drive.

This is just silliness. I hope this model flops.

People who have that type of responsibility where they must always be connected "just in case" would do well to A) make sure their battery doesn't decline that much during a work day, even a travel day, and B) have a backup plan for important files, like Dropbox.

Having said that, if this isn't the machine for them, they shouldn't buy it. Lots of other options out there. It's not a betrayal if any company makes more than one product to meet a variety of needs.

 

[mgipe]

They should've called it the MB Altitude; Like the Air, but thinner

Good one. But judging from some of the comments here, it would have to be MacBook Attitude.

 

[zhenya]

What a wonderful design and beautiful notebook. What a shame, just like the first Thunderbolt port MacBooks, this will have a useless port for external storage peripherals. First there will have to be a USB C to USB adapter which adds bulk - assuming one will be available. Then we will likely wait months if not ears for any affordable USB C peripherals. First there was FireWire, then Thunderbolt and now a generally useless USB C for much of anything except power.

As for those who say there will be "tons of USB C devices because it is a standard" - history is not on your side, certainly not in the near term.

Except this is usb. Not some alternative standard that Apple is trying to make more popular. These connectors will be all over the place soon.

 

[vandammage]

Yeah, you're missing the joke. We the consumers are the punchline while Cook and Ive are laughing their asses off right now.

ports on portables are going the way of the optical drive.

 

[nefan65]

It's about as nice as a macbook air, they each have their pros and cons but it's in no way outclassed by the Air. The touch screen (what I have) make it feel "futuristic". My other half "forced" me to get it with the touch screen. Windows 10 on it is fantastic. Battery life is "meh", but "meh" of 12 hours is still quite respectable. "meh" of 15 hours if you go non-touchscreen is even more respectable.

When 10 comes out, I'll give them another look. I'm not really a Windows guy, but I'd give it a shot. Like I said, of all the Win portables out there I think this one is definitely the best one I've see in some time. I used to have good luck with DELL years ago, but that was a long time ago.

 

[iMacmatician]

Did anyone notice the lack of RAM options? And the 480p camera? There's a lot of compromises being made for this form factor.

The USB 3.1 is Gen 1, which means that is is 5 Gbps instead of 10 Gbps.

 

[OS X Dude]

I hope this isn't MagSafe's death knell. It's a great feature, although if they all start charging over USB-C and it gives Ive reason to kill a port then it's pretty much a done deal, sadly.

Fun trivia - this is the first Mac to be released since 2010 to not feature Thunderbolt.

 

[BrentD]

You have to keep in mind this is made for people that are constantly on the go.

I am constantly on the go. And I carry a portable hard drive or thumb drive that I use constantly, too. Not to mention needing to top my phone off during the day on occasion due to heavy use....because I'm constantly on the go.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

my god, that gold netbook is so tacky.

You're absolutely right. Apple really should have classed it up with some cubic zirconia

 

[idkaboutthat]

i wonder if my port will break if i buy it? i hope not. that was the main reason i switched to apple laptops.

 

[zhenya]

You DO REALIZE the power jack it the ONLY port ...right ???

No more plugging in your phone while plugged in , no USB hard drives, and I have to imagine you don't do any photography either because the missing SD card reader would really irritate the heck out of you.

No more USB 4g LTE dongles (Many of us who work and travel use these)

There's a lot more I could mention but the most concerning is the fact that you can't look outside of your own experience and try to imagine why other people take issue with this change.

It's like as if a car company released a car without an Air-Bag today and you said "My 60 year old Chevy doesn't have an Air-Bag , I don't understand why anyone would ever need one"

No, it's like complaining about the Miata not being able to carry your 3 kids and a dog when the there are 50 sedans, wagons, suv's and minivans to choose from on the same lot.

People who want this kind of device will be able to accept that they might want to carry a 1oz hub in their bag for those occasions where they need more connectivity.

 

[lowercaseperson]

Hold on there sir.

That was just one of many usage scenarios where it would be more favorable to have at LEAST two ports.

For example, my current set up is that when I get home, I connect my Macbook to an external, 19" monitor. I close the lid, and plug in my USB Mouse/Keyboard and plug in the power. That way, I have more screen space.

I could buy a bluetooth mouse/keyboard... But then, it doesn't stop there anyways. Then I plug in my USB 3.0 HDD and do backups, for example.
Can't plug in the MBA when it's backing up? Oh crap.

Can't use my mouse while using a flash drive?

Cloud transfer isn't easy especially across eco-systems. Nor do I have a cloud service common between my School computers and my home computer.

There are many reasons that you'd want more than one port. I don't think it's fair to say that having one port and only one port is advantageous or even feasible.

I agree with you and entirely understand the setup you have - my point: this is simply not the computer for you. If you know you need USB ports, don't buy a computer lacking them. I have used a USB port maybe a handful of times in the last year, and *needed* one, literally only a single time.

I'm not saying your needs are irrelevant, just that this computer isn't what you need...and, furthermore, that I believe there a many, many people who could buy a computer with a single port and go on almost indefinitely using that computer without needing to use the USB port at the same time as the charger. The example I gave was simply to show how it could be done.

 

[lakaiordie]

new macbook, lighter than macbook air.

makes sense.......

 

[eddjedi]

Yeah as others have said I really don't get it personally. The current MBA is as small and light as you would ever need, and it also has a huge border around the screen so they could have just used the existing body and made the screen bigger/retina. And no matter how hard they try, they are not going to convince people like me who prefer wired peripherals to go wireless, it's not about tidiness or portability, it's about reliability and speed. So the lack of ports is a deal break for me.