Apple Updates 12-Inch MacBook With Skylake Processors, Faster Graphics, Longer Battery Life, and Rose Gold

[Rogifan]

Only the ignorant would think that. A quick look at the teardown and at the edges of the case show theres simply no room without redesigning the whole thing.

Yes there are people that really believed (or hoped) Apple would completely redesign this machine one year after releasing it. Outside of iPod (buttonless shuffle and fat nano) Apple has done that next to never. MBA was announced in January 2008 but a redesign wasn't announced until October 2010.

 

[Alphabetize]

I think a lot of people have it wrong when feeling frustrated that the MacBook only has 1 USB port. The whole point of this machine is to push for the advancement of wireless technologies. It will force users to find other methods of performing certain tasks where they would use a conventional USB connector/adapter. As far as I am concerned, that USB port is just for charging it.

It has AirDrop for transferring files, Bluetooth for files and wireless headphones and accessories, Wi-Fi for connecting to the internet, AirPlay for wireless presentations on a large screen.

I'm not saying that these wireless technologies are great yet, they still need a lot of work and need to be more open, but the MacBook is pushing for an era where these technologies will be really great. Hopefully competitors will try to copy this approach and wireless technologies will really move forward.

If you really want more USB ports, get a MacBook Pro.

 

[aristobrat]

It's rather strange why they don't offer the same iSight/Facetime camera as their MacBook Air and Pro's.

IIRC, the depth of the screen <in which the front camera must fit> of the rMB is slimmer than the MBA and MBP. I think there's a chance that the MBA and rMBP's camera may not fit.

IIRC again, the original MacBook Air got three spec bumps (Early 2008, Late 2008, Early 2009) before Apple went back and physically redesigned it. Not sure what set the expectation that Apple would be redesigning the rMB on the first spec bump to change things that probably require a physical design change.

 

[Cartossin]

Even the Air is better than this crap, only better thing in this is the display...

It's also smaller. That's sort of the whole point of it.

 

[toke lahti]

Because it doesn't use the not-yet-released 15-W TDP Skylake chips with the Iris 540 (6260U, 6360U, 6560U, 6650U, and 6660U)?

No, because it has a screen from last decade.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Looks almost perfect for me. I already have a 27" iMac to handle my heavy processing needs (research) so this MacBook fills the need for a portable machine with good battery life and enough power to handle lighter processing tasks. I'll still wait until refurbs hit the store.

 

[ISanych]

Guys. GUYS. Guys. You're missing the larger picture here... Rose jold. #jif

Yep, gold is best, rose gold is bester

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

What's the reasoning for Apple still sticking with a Gen1 USB 3?

 

[wsc9005]

Why not just upgrade the MacBook Pro line already

 

[Serban]

"simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 3840 by 2160 pixels at 30Hz on an external display"
UP TO, so you can have 1 display at 4k @60hz pr 2 @ 30hz !!!

 

[Marx55]

Just one port. Cannot believe it. Please, all Macs with Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1 (Type C) Generation 2.

 

[b0nd18t]

I guess we have to wait for the 3rd gen to get the extra port(s) and HD webcam

 

[consoleboi]

To all you whiners out there: if you didn't like the whole concept of this machine when they released it in 2015, did you really think the 2016 update would somehow turn things around 180 degrees to your liking?

Yes IF it came with at least 720P webcam, TB3, another USB C port. Then I would buy one.

Just because some of us like Apple products it doesn't mean we swallow all ****** upgrades...baaaa.

 

[deeddawg]

It's rather strange why they don't offer the same iSight/Facetime camera as their MacBook Air and Pro's.

The rMB lid is mighty thin compared to the MBA, maybe nobody makes a higher res webcam that'd fit?

I don't know what webcam components are available to Apple and haven't bothered to check the ifixit teardowns, but I'd think the thinness of the lid has an effect on what webcam components would fit.

 

[redheeler]

I don't think I've ever seen a Retina MacBook in the wild. Apple needs to lower the price so they can become more mainstream, as they are perfectly speced for a mainstream consumer Mac.

It took Apple longer than a year to lower the price of the MacBook Air though, and they certainly aren't moving any faster when it comes to Macs these days...

 

[Rogifan]

The biggest idiocy is the single USB port. I understand it's meant to be wireless-everything, but just one more port on the other side would solve SO MANY real life usability issues.

The new Google Chromebook Pixel has one port on each side. So simple and elegant! You can even charge it from either side - this is also a real life usability success, because for portable devices it often makes a lot of difference in convenience (depending where you are and where the wall socket is!).

Right because Tim Cook doesn't want to sell any products. He wants to release stuff that nobody will buy. I'm sure the executive team spends every Monday thinking of products they can design that nobody will buy.

 

[albebaubles]

One of the worst things you could do to your battery (phone, laptop, iPad) is to constantly plug and plug it; and that's exactly what a single port does for this one.

Wonder how bad the battery will be after a year or so of use

Can this still possibly be true? I do this hundreds of times a week with iPads and iPhones -- I've yet to have a battery go back on any of the dozens of iOS devices (I'm a developer) - and have yet to have a battery go bad. The battery in my original 3G is still going strong as well as my original iPad.

 

[Attirex]

updated macbook gate, tuesday april 19th macrumors forum edition

 

[NufSaid]

Understand that the Rose gold and Gold are not for increased sales in America. Oversees buyers LOVE that....we don't have to love that.

I use wireless 90% of the time and cloud and everything else but the number of times I need a second port (or more) is staggering.

 

[toke lahti]

It's rather strange why they don't offer the same iSight/Facetime camera as their MacBook Air and Pro's.

I guess Apple bought a million of outdated webcam leftovers (or contract to buy them) from some other vendor few years ago with a huge discount.

 

[Steve121178]

Why would that be insane when this is marketed as "this is the generation of wireless device"? Have you been paying attention to anything?

How can it be when it's incapable of wireless charging?

 

[deeddawg]

I guess we have to wait for the 3rd gen to get the extra port(s) and HD webcam

Pick up a rMB and show where you'd fit additional ports without redesigning the thing.
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I guess Apple bought a million of outdated webcam leftovers (or contract to buy them) from some other vendor few years ago with a huge discount.

Or nobody makes a higher res cam that's thin enough?

 

[TMRJIJ]

And a profit marvel too- partially because having only 1 USB-C port motivates the sale of high profit adapters.

The people who buy these MacBooks wouldn't need to have an adapter. That one port is basically useless to that demographic. Honestly look at young people for a change, they don't even use USBs anymore. I see hundreds of people at my college with their laptop ports filled with dust. Google Drive is all they would really use.

 

[Wyvernspirit]

One of the worst things you could do to your battery (phone, laptop, iPad) is to constantly plug and plug it; and that's exactly what a single port does for this one.

Wonder how bad the battery will be after a year or so of use

Actually that's the opposite of truth... Modern lithium ion batteries like to be charged, the more they are discharged the worse they get (cycles). What you are referring to is old battery tech, as the new computers using the proper charger and the proper battery will not over charge and will properly maintain the battery conditioning.

 

[TechZeke]

Still a single USB-C port (FFS!)
Intel HD Graphics 515
480p FaceTime camera (is this some sort of sick joke?)
No DDR4 RAM

No TB3 is quite shocking this late into 2016, and there's simply no excuse for any machine in 2016 having a 480p camera. The Skylake iMacs did't get USB C nor TB3 so I guess it isn't quite so shocking. Still...