Apple May Still Be Planning to Reintroduce 12-Inch MacBook

[Tyler O'Bannon]

12” and 13.6” need to be Air

15.x” needs to be MacBook or MacBook Studio.

and, of course, 14” and 16” MBP’s.

 

[2ilent8cho]

I would buy one again, loved my little 12" but sold it once I had multiple newer faster Mac's.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I don’t think this will ever happen. They make a 13” for $999 right now. If this model goes away, maybe they replace it with a 12”, but it would probably have to be at that price point, and I don’t see the reason for doing this. Plus, it would confuse the Mac line. Maybe this is an iPad rumor?

 

[dustin_]

Nonsense. The thing is only 11.9" wide and weighs only 2.7 lb. There is no other level of portability to achieve here. The next level beyond that is pocketable, which no laptop is.

Have you used both devices? I replaced my 2015 MacBook with a 2022 MacBook Air. I absolutely love my Air, don't get me wrong, but I'd drop it tomorrow for an updated MacBook. There absolutely is a difference in portability between the two. To say otherwise is simply wrong.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

It's not any more portable than the 13" MacBook Air.

There’s a huge difference. Our family had 3 12” MacBooks at one point. We still have 1 in use as the primary machine for my wife. My dad uses M2 Air. There is a HUGE difference in portability. Weight, size, space in a bag, the 12” is bar none for portability.

 

[Xand&Roby]

12” and 13.6” need to be Air

15.x” needs to be MacBook or MacBook Studio.

and, of course, 14” and 16” MBP’s.

Air Mac are SE iPhone/Watch: cheap ones.
12” MacBook was another type of product, as the 12” PowerBook vs the 12” iBook.

 

[Populus]

This is a day 1 purchase for me!

Even if they used it as a receptacle for excess M1s it would be a remarkable ultraportable in terms of weight/performance

Same, same for me. I’ve been delaying the purchase of an Apple Silicon Mac, and was going to get a Mac mini BUT I’ll wait another year or so just hoping to get a 12” M3 MacBook. Day one purchase, definitely.

 

[Tim Cook's Pool Boy]

The old me would have been all over this but I have my M1 2020 MacBook 13” and that’s close enough (size wise) and light enough for me to keep and not go 12”

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Air Mac are SE iPhone/Watch: cheap ones.
12” MacBook was another type of product, as the 12” PowerBook vs the 12” iBook.

Also, the 13.3” Aluminum unibody MacBook (which I had) was the middle, and air was the thinner, lighter, less powerful counterpart, while Pro was the larger more powerful counterpart. The name has been muddied. 12” MacBook was phenomenal, we had 3 at one point, still have 1. But it being a MacBook sitting below the MacBook Air was strange nomenclature. Same with current iPad.

 

[Lucas Curious]

No one is going to buy it for $1300 in 2024. It sold so poorly in 2015 that Apple discontinued after 2 years. 2 years!!

A $599 iPad Air M1 can easily replace it as a media device that can occasionally edit an Excel and write an email. In fact, an iPad can do a lot more than a 12" Macbook can.

it existed for 3 years and I had the 2015 and the 2017 versions. I loved it and it was a true portable laptop. What held it back was the processor and the experimental flat keyboard. These issues are gone now and a low power 3nm M3 chip would be a perfect match for a no fan laptop.

The iPad is a consumption device and not a work/typing device. It's a guaranteed buy from me when it comes in a 12-13" form. The average person can buy a laptop like this and pair it with the apple studio display and have both of the best worlds. Thats how I used it use it with those Ultrafine displays that came out in 2017.

It would probably sell for $999 and traveling pros as well as students would benefit form it.

 

[Xand&Roby]

MacBook 12” was introduced on March, 9 and shipped on April, 10 2015. No longer available on July, 9 2019.

2 yrs for haters.

Update in 2016 with new cpu, new font on bezel logo, 2 gen butterfly keyboard, new rose gold color.
Update in 2017 with new cpu.
Update in 2018 with new gold 2018 who replaced the old gold and rose gold colors.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

it existed for 3 years and I had the 2015 and the 2017 versions. I loved it and it was a true portable laptop. What held it back was the processor and the experimental flat keyboard. These issues are gone now and a low power 3nm M3 chip would be a perfect match for a no fan laptop.

The iPad is a consumption device and not a work/typing device. It's a guaranteed buy from me when it comes in a 12-13" form. The average person can buy a laptop like this and pair it with the apple studio display and have both of the best worlds. Thats how I used it use it with those Ultrafine displays that came out in 2017.

It would probably sell for $999 and traveling pros as well as students would benefit form it.

It existed for almost 5 calendar years. It introduced in 2015, updated in 2016, updated in 2017, didn't update in 2018, didn't update in 2019, and then was discounted in it's 5th year from when the first one was introduced.

This machine will THRIVE with Apple Silicon. We had 2 1st gen and still have 1 second gen. Very underpowered. Very slow.

Apple Silicon will make these machines powerhouses for their size. The portability is bar none.

 

[Takeo]

With the redesigned MacBook Air this would make no sense whatsoever.

 

[Klapper.cz]

Would make sense with 3nm M3, maybe with some binning.

 

[Dydegu]

the lineup is getting messier and messier

This is such a confusing take.

Options are good for consumers.

The 12” MacBook was a design challenge for Apple. It was a niche product and it would be interesting to see what they can pull off this time around.

They’ll try and make the smallest and lightest laptop possible. I think we could see a sub 2lb portless device.

The MacBook is their ultra portable and the price will reflect that. It will be more expensive than the entry MBA.

 

[xraydoc]

With the redesigned MacBook Air this would make no sense whatsoever.

Probably true, though an 11" MacBook might be cheap for Apple to produce...

Use the same 11" LCD panel as the iPad Pro. Use the same keyboard and trackpad mechanism as the iPad's Magic Keyboard. Apple already has the manufacturing down for these, so they wouldn't have to spend money to spec out new parts. The iPad's 11" panel would give macOS a retina screen resolution of 1194x834, or higher with fractional scaling.

Have TMC produce a 3nm version of the M1 processor (Apple can call it the M1X or something). It would save on power and heat, and would still give the MacBook Air a relative performance differential to maintain the product categories.

Wrap it up in aluminum, put one TB4/USB-C port and one MagSafe 3 port on it, and call it a day.

It would have a decent size differential from the 13" MacBook Air.

I bet it'll sell. Might cannibalize some iPad sales, but would be a good alternative to those who would rather use macOS instead of an 11" iPad Pro.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

Although I was never personally interested in this laptop, it seems that Apple Silicon would fix the problems the original had so now would be the time to bring it back.

At the same time, Apple seems to be moving away from smaller products and offering additional big ones (iPhone Plus, 15" MBA), so this might be a non-starter.

 

[boak]

How will it be confusing? Assuming it sits below the MBA, it will be exactly the same as the iPhone and iPad lineups (till the iPad 10 was released and iPad Air getting the M chip).

 

[CarAnalogy]

I don’t know. Are you sure the high refresh can be added without the upgraded chip or at least active cooling?

I'm not certain but I think they can do better than 60 Hz at least. It seems to be fairly well established technology at this point.

 

[RowellE]

It's not any more portable than the 13" MacBook Air.

The M1 MBAs just barely fit my backpack. The 12" is smaller and .77 pounds lighter, which is almost a pound. That makes it more portable for me. It's great that the 13" works for you. I want something smaller and lighter, even if it's less than a pound lighter.

 

[pacalis]

Why would anybody need that?

You really need that ONE inch less than the 13-inch MacBook Air?

That ONE inch makes the difference between too big and just right for some people?

I‘ll never understand that, I almost find steps of two inches between models too small. 🤷‍♂️

One inch less... and somehow 0.75 lbs less too.

It's an exceptional form factor for travel.

 

[Gengar]

I just said in that other thread that they need to bring the 11" Air back. That's more favorable than this. A 12" model wouldn't be that much noticeably smaller than the current 13.6" Air.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'm surprised how many 12' MacBooks I see at UCLA even today. (Saw a few last week walking around campus).

 

[3xBoom]

Bring it on, Apple!

 

[JakeAsher]

Remember those rumors and renders a year ago of the MacBook Air with white bezels, white keyboards, in the current iMac array of colors with a 13" inch screen? Yes -- that's what is going to become the MacBook.
And honestly I'm here for it.