Apple Introduced Its Most Controversial MacBook 10 Years Ago Today

[XboxEvolved]

It was interesting at the time, but it kind of shows that period of Apple where design was truly taking priority. I’m not sure how it would fall in Apple’s line today. I could imagine if they did come back out with a 12in it would use whatever the 2 prior gen processors were, 16gb ram, 256gb, one usbc, MagSafe, and price it at $800 possibly.

 

[Cervisia]

when it comes to pricing lack of features and reduction in ports the controversy still continues

Apple’s strategy is going to be keep on milking the masses as much as they can in the years to come , not able to upgrade ram and storage on your own with high cost is a crime as well

You can't make an ultraportable with upgradable ram and storage. It would be perfectly justified in a device like this. Not so much in the Pro's, especially with the new ugly design.

 

[Cervisia]

Yeah bring back a sub 1kg laptop please. 🙏
The current Air is just 2 centimeters deeper and wider, which is less than 10%.
But it's 35% heavier.. 😮‍💨

It's really disgraceful for Apple to hold the title of 'only major manufacturer without a sub-1kg notebook'. The Air name is almost a joke by now, they only seem light compared to every other manufacturers cheaper notebooks, because everyone else make 14.1" ones, not 13.6".

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Yeah, I agree on that, but today’s MacBook Air is a different form factor. And maybe the new “old” scissor keyboard could fit in.

For sure most of the Mac notebooks never needed to have the butterfly keyboard as evidenced by the M1 Air and 13 Inch Pro they had great keyboards in the same form factor as the old Intel/butterfly models.

Would love to see them make the current notebook line a bit slimmer and lighter, I think it can be done. It's only when you start making laptops impossibly thin that you have to start making major tradeoffs.

 

[macbookj0e]

Such a lovely form factor. I’m sure this could be a much better product in 2025 with AS and would love to see it back.

 

[chars1ub0w]

I still have the sleeve from mine. Someone should have figured out how to gut one and replace the insides with Apple Silicon. The form factor and weight were perfect for travel on trains.

 

[hans1972]

The best MacBook on Intel I ever had.

Wish Apple made a similar, small notebook again with Apple Silicon.

 

[Cervisia]

It was interesting at the time, but it kind of shows that period of Apple where design was truly taking priority. I’m not sure how it would fall in Apple’s line today. I could imagine if they did come back out with a 12in it would use whatever the 2 prior gen processors were, 16gb ram, 256gb, one usbc, MagSafe, and price it at $800 possibly.

That would kill it. Make it get the newest CPU as soon as it comes out, give it two usb-c, and hdmi, same upgrade options as an Air/Mac mini. And forget that stupid Apple pricing strategy that it MUST be proportional to screen size. Look at the industry, sub-1kg notebooks go for way more. This thing could be priced at what the M4 Macbook Pro is and still be considered cheap.

 

[t0rqx]

Also one of the first devices that was dropped, like Apple Car, Airpower, HomePod, AVP...next in line command hub.

 

[d686546s]

Even moreso than the original MBA, how many other companies would have dared to offer such a lopsided offering? Yet somehow, Apple is able to get away with it, and it's thanks to this that we are able to get differentiated experiences in the market today.

This is why I continue to be an Apple fan.

Basically every company offering a netbook in the mid to late 00s.

Don't get me wrong, the OG MacBook Air and the push for thinner and more portable laptops that followed has definitely left a lasting impact on the market, but the 12" MacBook was hardly the first attempt to sacrifice features for portability. Those tiny netbooks were pretty ubiquitous at universities around that time, for a while anyway.

I think what is 'uniquely Apple' about this is that they iterated and improved, because the ideas were sound, but the tech wasn't quite there. Not even for Apple.
L

 

[abatabia]

I had a 2016 and I still miss it quite often.

 

[EUnifiedMemory]

The USB-C Port aside, I don't think it was super controversial. I still have my sec gen m7 and besides the Keyboard I am be happy to use it as a browsing and writing device.. Apple should resurrect it with an m3 processor, call it MacBook Air and give the MBA the "MacBook" name it deserves.

 

[hans1972]

It didn't even have a touch bar, hardly the "Most Controversial MacBook".

Did you even read Macrumors back then? The horror of only one port including for charging, high price, no fan, low performance CPU, and a keyboard many people didn't like.

Read the thread of the original article:

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

At today's "Spring Forward" media event, Apple announced its much-anticipated ultra thin 12-inch MacBook, with prices starting at...

www.macrumors.com

 

[hans1972]

The only real problems were the CPU (mostly Intel’s fault) and keyboard. With a new keyboard and an M4 SoC, would be interesting at the right price point (which is something rarely seen in Apple’s catalogue).

So many people hated it because it came with only one USB-C port, no MagSafe, a high price and no fan.

 

[tuckerjj]

Update it with Apple Silicon and a proper keyboard, give it another USB-C port on the other side, and it is a total winner.

And / or MagSafe

 

[Dreamail]

Despite what others may say, and being an Apple Macintosh user since 1989, the 12" MacBook was - and still is - the best Apple product I have ever owned. Hands down. And I owned nearly every Macintosh category from Mac Portable to Mac Pro.

The 12" MacBook is what the iPad with Keyboard wants to be: the small universal device that is easy to carry around and can do *real* work.
While the iPad hardware may be capable, the iPadOS is a terrible OS in my opinion. I cannot get used to it. Half the things I need to do professionally cannot be done on it. I do own an iPad Pro but end up using it only for media consumption. For real work I still vastly prefer my 12" MacBook. Especially on commuter trains.

The nicest thing about the 12" MacBook is its slim and light design. In fact it is so light that I often forget I carry it in my purse!
In comparison my 10" iPad Pro with keyboard is thicker *and* heavier! So why would I want to carry that bulky and heavy thing around? I don't.
Also the MacBook Air, supposedly light like "air", is nearly 40% heavier and larger. It is bulky and heavy in comparison. No thank you!

While some people had issues with the butterfly keyboard, I never had any. Not in 8 years of using it.
Although mine did get a free Apple replacement keyboard which had some fixes apparently.


What most Apple users today don't know or forget about is the fact that the 12" MacBook was a *marvel* of engineering.
It had so many "Apple firsts":

- an amazing new speaker design incorporating the WiFi antennas which _dramatically_ improved sound over any laptop that Apple had released before. They sounded massively better than the abysmal speakers on my high-end 2015 MacBook Pro at the time.
- layered battery design to make use of every nook and space inside.
- a completely fanless design - it is 100% quiet in day-to-day use as it also used SSDs.
- USB-C ports, both for data and charging.
- a new flatter keyboard.
- a static trackpad with no moving surface using only vibrators for a "virtual" click.
- high-speed SSDs which boosted performance dramatically, the first Apple laptop without a physical disk HD.
- an anodized aluminium body in 4 different colors

No other time in Apple's history - before *and* after - was there ever a product from Apple that had so many "firsts" in one release.
And most of these "firsts" are now considered standard on Apple laptops and the reason why people love their Apple laptops.
Yet it was the 12" MacBook which had them first and for which all of these were originally developed!
It is a true engineering triumph.

Sadly, Apple never managed anything even close since...
To me the 12" MacBook hardware was *peak Apple*. Hardware engineering went downhill from there, playing it safe rather than being innovative and cutting edge.

 

[hans1972]

when it comes to pricing lack of features and reduction in ports the controversy still continues

Apple’s strategy is going to be keep on milking the masses as much as they can in the years to come , not able to upgrade ram and storage on your own with high cost is a crime as well

You only need ports if you connect stuff to it. The MacBook was a very mobile, lightweight computer running OS X and worth the high price.

I also don't care about upgrades It's only to save money.

 

[Dekimasu]

I'm still writing on my first-gen 12" right now. I had a key cap (down arrow) break for the first time last week, but every butterfly mechanism is intact. Third battery (from 2022) is still at 79% health...

Because my commute is so long and I spend so much time in crowded meetings, this has always been the ideal form factor for me. A new version of this with Apple silicon and another couple of ports would be an instabuy.

 

[tuckerjj]

My work provides MacBook Pros to Mac users as standard. Since my laptop usage is 99% docked, although switching/travelling often between various locations, I requested and have instead a MacBook Air due to weight, size, and not needing the nice screen, extra power or ports of the Pro. If an updated (Apple Silicon, keyboard, MagSafe) Macbook were available I’d grab this instead in a heartbeat.

 

[NachoNoir]

Never forget:

 

[loby]

I loved it. The 12” MacBook screamed for
Apple Silicon. Intel couldn’t do it justice.

I still have a 12" MacBook 2015 and IS my daily driver still....I have a M3 MacBook Air (fully loaded) and a M1 Max MacBook Pro 32GB RAM with 2 TB SSD.

Yes...10 year old MacBook with butterfly keyboard is STILL my daily Mac. Replaced the battery at Apple two years ago.

Apple...why not put a M-Silicon chip in a 12". Some DO NOT WANT AN IPAD. We want a Mac with macOS.

It will sell....fix the keyboard and IT WILL SELL.

 

[loby]

Still, up to this date, the only sub 1kg Apple laptop.
I wonder what Apple could do if they wanted to bring back such a computer with the Arm architecture and the higher energy efficiency that it brought...

Apple "believes" that the iPad replaces the 12" MacBook.

Not the case...

 

[DrJR]

I can't forget.....and I will never forgive.

 

[Dreamail]

That it was a great form factor, especially because of the reduced weight, and I’ve hoped that Apple would reintroduce it now that they have the appropriate silicon for it.

But I’ve already lost hope. If they haven’t introduced it with the M4, which represents a major milestone in the Apple Silicon evolution, they probably won’t reintroduce it in the future.

Nowadays Apple is like “bigger, bigger, bigger”

The main issue I see is that the 12" MacBook is actually *much* better than an iPad with keyboard. At least for most people.
Unless you are someone who prefers touch or pen input.
An iPad with keyboard is thicker and heaver in comparison. Why would you want to carry that heavy, bulky thing around? And don't even get me started on iPadOS...

Sadly, profit margins on iPads are higher than on Macs...
And the Apple from today will *always* choose profits over better products.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Maybe it was meh using it, but I fell in love with the idea. My macbook pro just looked like a bulky monster next to the pm's macbook.

For the vast majority of consumers it was fast enough

People criticized its speed. But I thought it was more than adequate, it ran cool too and no fans.

It was more than powerful enough for productivity, coding and web browsing.

And now I have a surface laptop go as its replacement.