Apple Introduced Its Most Controversial MacBook 10 Years Ago Today

[tsubikiddo]

The design was much further forward than what Intel could offer
also, this was the design that necessitated the butterfly keyboard to reduce key depth travel

cannot see this design which requires the butterfly keyboard coming back again

12" MacBook would be nice, popcorn🍿 ready for "the iPad Pro has a bigger screen than the Mac" internet comment riots 🤣

 

[wanha]

It was all Intel’s fault.

Now now, impotence isn't a choice, it just happens

 

[mk313]

Every laptop is a combination of trade-offs. I get why a lot of people didn't love this one, but man I would buy an updated version in a heartbeat. If Apple came out with another version that was exactly the same, but with an M series processor, I would pick it up today, at the same premium that iPad for my previous 12" MacBooks.

I'm actually typing this one one now & the 12" was my daily driver until last year. I had the battery swell on my high end 2017" version, couldn't find another top end one, and had to move on to an M series as my daily driver. But I still have one that I use as my travel machine & would move back in a heartbreak, even without any fixes to the # of USB-C ports or the keyboard.

 

[oink_oink]

I'd get this in an 18" form factor weighing under 2lb.

 

[wanha]

Really surprised to see all the love this is getting here. It was pretty meh at the time.

The love is for the form factor and design.

The meh is for the screen and performance.

People are envisioning the former without the latter. What's not to love?

 

[flybass]

Soon to be re-released with a m2 processor. 2.5x faster (since they love to advertise comparisons with outdated hardware).

 

[UltimateSyn]

Soon to be re-released with a m2 processor. 2.5x faster (since they love to advertise comparisons with outdated hardware).

Would be more like 6x faster in Geekbench multi-core score!

 

[Rene Bos]

Bought first gen on preorder and unless battery died it was perfect.. still works on charger though

With M CPU and last gen keyboards it would be superstar again

Have the battery replaced! I did that and it works like a charm now!

 

[DustinJohns]

I’m still using my 1st Gen!

 

[Mr. Heckles]

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

I still have my Pro with the Touch Bar. It was fun for a week and quickly got sick of it. I use a Bluetooth keyboard, so now I don’t have to deal with it.

 

[robertcoogan]

Well, dongle hell still exists and the keyboard still sucks. It would be nice if Apple would give up its obsession with thinness.

 

[batsai]

I had the first generation 12" MacBook. I remember when I unboxed it and plugged it in to charge the battery. Then MacOS prompted me to plug in my Time Machine backup drive... DOH!

I LOVED the form factor- just amazing for taking it back and forth to work. Unfortunately, I had 3 keyboard failures, and I finally got sick of taking my computer to the Apple Store and having it shipped off to Texas to get fixed and be without a computer for a good portion of the work week...

It was slow for sure, but I loved it despite its flaws.

 

[Trausner]

I think the problem here was the naming convention. This should have been the new MacBook Air at that time. It was higher priced than the air, but it was “only” the MacBook. What they call the Air now, should be called only MacBook. And a thinner, model should be the air, and a bit thicker and more powerful should be the pro. Simple. And then do the same with iPads and iPhones and we are all set.

 

[odousse]

My most beloved MacBook. Can’t understand why they discontinued it. I would buy a new one instantly. Especially now that MacOS has switched to ARM, it could finally have a decent processor.

 

[Dreamail]

I appreciate people's desire for a laptop of this size, but just hate the direction it set for the rest of Apple's laptop range. Hope Apple offer a similar size again for those who want it

This is one area where Apple went wrong. But it is not the key area, in my opinion.

The fact that Apple cancelled the 12" MacBook yet applied its design philosophy to high-end professional machines proved to me that they stopped to understand the ultra-portable market.

Sony created this market, culminating in its premium Vaio X505 ultra-portable model from 2003.
Apple was 5 years late to the game with the MacBook Air, but Jobs at the time also understood that market.
Few people remember that the 13.3" Air originally cost $1,799, at a time when 13" MacBooks started at $1,099.

Sadly over the following years, and in an accelerated fashion after Jobs' death, the "Air" was morphed into a cheap "student laptop", and dropped to $1099 by 2013. The introduction of the 11" MacBook Air for $999 underlined this.
That change of strategy ultimately caused problems for the 12" MacBook.

I am absolutely sure the 12" MacBook was originally designed to best and replace the MacBook Air as the new ultra-portable Apple laptop.
Yet the Air was no longer the premium ultra-portable device that it was originally introduced as, and the entrenched marketing people at Apple did not want to kill off their golden goose "student laptop" that the "Air" label became by 2015, which resulted in the 12" MacBook becoming an off-kilter new product line that didn't fit anywhere anymore.

If Apple had released it as the 12" MacBook Ultra, re-introducing a new high-end ultra-portable product line, it likely would have been more successful. But the "MacBook" moniker signaled that it was a consumer machine and hence people did not understand why it would cost more than the larger 13" "MacBook Air". Nor did Apple marketing.

Ever since around 2010, when the strategy for the "MacBook Air" changed from a premium ultra-portable to a cheap student laptop line, it was clear that Apple no longer understood the ultra-portable market.

Which does not bode well for any re-introduction today.
Today's Apple neither understands nor cares about the premium ultra-portable market.
And the interest in that market stopped with Joni Ive leaving Apple.

 

[EugW]

My 16 GB 2017 m3 MacBook is still my primary Mac laptop. I'm still on my original battery, with about 89% health.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

I think the problem here was the naming convention. This should have been the new MacBook Air at that time. It was higher priced than the air, but it was “only” the MacBook. What they call the Air now, should be called only MacBook. And a thinner, model should be the air, and a bit thicker and more powerful should be the pro. Simple. And then do the same with iPads and iPhones and we are all set.

I wonder if they have only an Air and Pro for this reason. You tell someone you have a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro, but if you just say MacBook, which one?

 

[Slix]

I remember seeing this get introduced, thinking it looked super cool because I like smaller form factors, and I went to an Apple Store to check it out, and after 30 seconds with the keyboard, I said nope.

 

[ghanwani]

Bring back Jony Ive.

 

[DaniTheFox]

I have the feeling in the early stages of this development (shortly after the introduction of the MacBook Air), Intel showed Apple a promising roadmap. However, as they approached production, Intel was unable to deliver a more powerful processor within the 5W range. It is evident that this endeavor signaled the commencement of Apple’s transition to Apple Silicon for Macs.

The introduction of USB-C hubs, also in monitors, significantly reduces the need for multiple ports. I personally bought a MacBook in gold edition on the first day of its release and am currently running the latest beta with the help of OLTP. For me, I have no problem with the keyboard.

Now we have this: people cannot understand why it is not coming back.

 

[kellen]

Love my 12”. Perfect size. Bring it back!

 

[Peitjah Puck]

Most controversial? This MacBook? Have we already forgotten the dustbin Mac Pro?

 

[Fuzzball84]

I’m not the most familiar with Microsoft offerings, but my understanding is that the initial criticism of the surface was less because it had a keyboard and trackpad, and more because it was trying to shove a full desktop operating system built for keyboard and mouse onto a touchscreen.
Apple has explicitly not done this, even using an iPad with a keyboard and mouse is a significantly different experience than using a MacBook.
The iPad doesn’t require a trackpad for anything, everything is still touch optimized, it’s just a second option.
Meanwhile, my understanding is that windows, even 13 years after that first surface, is still mainly keyboard and mouse first, touch is just there.

Yet so many on macrumors want Mac OS on iPad

Microsoft did it. And some people loved it. I certainly appreciated it, using the surface pro tablet was awesome for some aspects of usage. And the interface isn’t so bad, it can be modified so it’s more touch friendly.

 

[EugW]

Today for my "laptops" I use that m3 and an M4 (iPad Pro).

Most controversial? This MacBook? Have we already forgotten the dustbin Mac Pro?

Last I checked, the Mac Pro isn't a MacBook.

I remember seeing this get introduced, thinking it looked super cool because I like smaller form factors, and I went to an Apple Store to check it out, and after 30 seconds with the keyboard, I said nope.

Same. The trackpad and keyboard were subpar on the 2015. They both improved by the 2017, and the 2017 got hardware h.265 HEVC decode acceleration, so I bought the 2017. The keyboard and trackpad still weren't great, but more acceptable.

My main complaint with this model is the single USB-C port. There are actually TWO ports, but the other is a stereo jack. If we can only have two ports, I would have much preferred the stereo jack removed and replaced with a USB-C port, since you can convert USB-C to stereo, but not stereo to USB-C. Or at least provide a charging port. Having only a single USB-C port for both charging and peripherals is a major PITA.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Love my 12”. Perfect size. Bring it back!

Unlikely, Apple rarely give their consumers what they want. They’d rather sell you three devices instead of one.