Sounds like that Apple is trying to go head to head with Chromebooks...
a mostly online cloud based system...
except for 10x the price?
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First Impressions of New 12-Inch MacBook: Ridiculously Light, but Thin Keys and Trackpad Take Getting Used To
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Sounds like that Apple is trying to go head to head with Chromebooks...
a mostly online cloud based system...
except for 10x the price?
my point exactly.
its got too few ports imo but a nice looking machine but for what it offers it seems closer to a chromebook than a mbp yet the price is ...
what exactly is the full os x experience?
this machine isnt that powerful. it seems to push you towards interacting over the internet rather than cables and in situations like that you use less and less of the actual os.
I was replying to a post where he compared it to a Chromebook. It's not like a Chromebook where you pretty much need an always-on connection to do anything. It's full OS X.
It's more than powerful enough for a thin & light machine. Anyone saying otherwise is wrong.
If you need serious horsepower then get a MacBook Pro.
I own a Chromebook. It has full-sized USB, SD, and HDMI ports. I've looked at many Chromebooks and don't know of any that have as few ports as the rMB.
You're far from the only one to compare the rMB to a Chromebook and it leaves me wondering how many actually know what a Chromebook is and what it can do.
I'm assuming by "full OS X experience" the poster is referring to having a full desktop operating system capable of running desktop apps, as opposed to running a mobile OS like iOS and function-reduced apps.
my point about it not being powerful was in context with the full mac os x experience not that a more powerful alternative didnt exist.
sure its more than enough for the regular user (an ipad is) but then i have to take issue with the price.
btw chromebooks are getting less reliant on an internet connection with the exception of the hard drive sizes.
the casual user is using more and more of web apps. all the limitations of the machine i would think pushes away people that are more likely to use desktop apps.
i just have a hard time seeing who this machine is for.
Did you mean that you ARE having a hard time seeing who this machine is for?
If so, I think that it will primarily be useful as an "office assistant"... emails, project plans, documents, occasional video conference, etc. At least initially, and at that price. Taking it to meetings would be great. I could certainly use a device like that... but not at that price.
MS Office 2016 for Mac on this device is going to be killer. There is no Chromebook that could come close to the rMB for this purpose.
I couldn't see it being used for coding, graphic design, or any resource intensive content creation.
I don't see this being a good product for that possible use scenario. Mac Office still seems more limited then its PC version.
The world operates on MS Project, which there is none for the Mac. Office Assistants don't go to meetings to take notes any longer. Project Managers who run a work effort needs something more robust.
Personally, I'm still having trouble seeing who could use this over an MBA.
sorry. i obviously left the "dont" in there after i changed the sentence. i had hoped my edit was quick enough.
agree with you on the price and its limitations.
libreoffice and google drive has proven to be enough for me but obviously im not tied in the whole ms office ecosystem.
who do you see this machine for then?
Since the rMB doesn't appear to be intended to be one's primary system, there will be the need to a 2nd system that IS... and percentage-wise, there's a great probability that it will be a Windows device.
This rMB could be an additional foothold into the Enterprise space. Coupled with MS Office, using the rMB for meetings and on the go it can make document interchange with the primary system (via OneDrive) pretty seamless.
For my purposes, iWork 09 and LibreOffice are fine, but having to collaborate with others and exchange documents with others requires that I use MS Office. (Which will probably be a requirement for many who would be looking at the rMB).
The same road warriors that use the MBA, which begs the question, why buy an MBA? The product overlap between the MBA and the MB is so great that I think its going to hurt both computer lines.
The MBA has a faster CPU, decent battery and standard USB port. The MB has a better display, its thinner and its battery is a bit better.
I wonder who well the keyboard will be received in the MB as well. The travel of the keys being depressed may be a lot less then traditional keyboards and that might throw some people off. We'll have to wait and see on that.
This is classic Apple. Pay more to get less - both in terms of weight and functionality/flexibility. People that care so much for portability don't like to carry around dongles. I see this as a luxury item for people that like to have to own more than 1 laptop, or that collect the latest and greatest hardware - not for the discerning consumer. It is probably a look into the future of design, but just not a practical bang for the buck buy for today.
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-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums
I'm not much of a road warrior anymore, only have to visit clientsites once in a blue moon.
But when I did more, I needed to use USB devices a LOT for data transfer. Clients never want to allow us to connect to their own WiFi's, meaning, if I have files that need to get ionto a client machine (i install software, so this is frequent), I need the ability to use standard USB devices at the client site.
Often while also outputting to projector/display. And charging as well, since sometimes if i'm at a client site its for a 12+ hour implementation.
so as a former road warrior, this doesn't really meet a lot of those requirements either. having a 2nd USB-C port would have been ideal. One? just too limiting. Especially since they want additional $80 for the adapter just to have additional ports. that $1549 laptop is really a $1629 laptop when alll things considered.
now tell me, does this laptop look/feel and offer anything that really shows it's worth paying a near $600 premium for over a MacBook Air.
Remember, for that $600 you are losing overall system performance from the MBA. but gain retina display.
It's so odd to me how people can get so offended by a new product offering. This has been said millions of times on this forum, but no one is forcing anyone to buy or use this machine. Not that I'm even a big fan of it.
I do see someone like my wife loving it for several reasons.
1. Size and colors - She would love that it's smaller than a Macbook Air and comes in gold
2. Battery life - It would have the battery life of an iPad, but way more functional
3. Connectivity/Performance - Plenty of power for her needs (surfing, word, excel, text, email) and I don't think she has never connected a device to any port on any computer she's ever had.
I do see someone like my wife loving it for several reasons.
1. Size and colors - She would love that it's smaller than a Macbook Air and comes in gold
2. Battery life - It would have the battery life of an iPad, but way more functional
3. Connectivity/Performance - Plenty of power for her needs (surfing, word, excel, text, email) and I don't think she has never connected a device to any port on any computer she's ever had.
That's really nice. It's also entirely unrelated to what I was replying to you about. You probably replied to the wrong person.
You see more Airs than anything. Fine, even with an upgrade or two on the cheapest model, you get close to the $1300 figure we were talking about. And the Pro wasn't always $1099 either. Lots of people buy $1300 computers.
"High-end piece of hardware"? Other than the screen and trackpad, the hardware in this new Macbook is inferior to the Macbook Air, which is $400 less! It doesn't even have a full implementation of USB 3.1... it's only 5Gbit/s, the same as a normal USB 3.0 connector (and there's no Thunderbolt option on this model).
Forget Dells or any other Windows computer. It doesn't stack up very well in Apple's own lineup!
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I think the MBA is still around as an alternative to the new MB for much the same reason the oldschool MBP is still being sold, despite the rMBP being its obvious successor. It works as the tried and true standard while Apple streamlines and lowers the price of their Next Big Thing.
In two years, the new Macbook is going to be sold at $999 for the entry level. When that happens, Apple will remove the MBA from their lineup.
I myself am not as well, though I do travel. For my traveling, I use a SP3, which is a lot easier to travel with then a laptop. No need to take it out for security. I'm traveling with a tablet, that works like a laptop and I have a USB port and mini display port.
I see your point about the USB, and that would require an inclusion of the dongle.
Perhaps this is not a good fit for some or many road warriors. I'm a lot loss of who could use this over the existing apple line up.
Can anyone tell me what the text size will be like on the new 12" rMB.
Will it have the same text size as the cMBP and rMBP and the original Air's, which have the same size text as most MacBooks have had over the years, or will it have tiny text like the wedge shape 11" and 13" Airs, which i believe is due to their odd 1440 x 900 resolution, or will it be somewhere in between.
Anything smaller than the current rMBP's text would be too small for me.
I know you can change resolutions and everything like that but it never looks quite right, so i am talking about their default settings, which will say best for retina.
Will it have the same text size as the cMBP and rMBP and the original Air's, which have the same size text as most MacBooks have had over the years, or will it have tiny text like the wedge shape 11" and 13" Airs, which i believe is due to their odd 1440 x 900 resolution, or will it be somewhere in between.
Anything smaller than the current rMBP's text would be too small for me.
I know you can change resolutions and everything like that but it never looks quite right, so i am talking about their default settings, which will say best for retina.
the only real users I can imagine right now who could use this without being impacted by the port limitations are well, my mom or dad. they facebook. They play the odd game like clash of clans, look up the odd website and do some reading. Maybe the occasional word document.
The problem with that, $1500 starting price is an extremely hard sell when the MBA can do everything in that list for $999, and likewise, if you're willing to go non Apple, there are more than enough ultrabook options in the < $1000 category that can do all of that, but with better performance and more expansion options. Heck, even Apple's iPad with a keyboard dock would offer just about the same, if not better overall experience for this use segment.
I love how small this thing is, I think thats a true good chunk of good clean design and its cool that Apple has pushed the boundaries a little. But I'm seeing a real hard time just seeing where this laptop fits into current realities.
it will be slower than any of the 2011 and onwards MBA's due to the Core M (not saying it's a bad processor, but it's a step backwards for performance). it will required additional Dongles if you want to ever plug it in.
And that pricetag. I think most of the people here who question it like I am, wouldn't be so quizzical on the decisions if it didnt cost $1549 to start!
Something like the new MacBook seems like it would be great for running Xcode on the go. For me I think it would be great for dumping photos to Lightroom on the go and making quick edits and organizing things, and making web updates on the go with Coda. Until Lightroom Mobile on my iPad allows RAW importing from the camera roll I can't completely rely on it.
I really want this MacBook to have a baby with an iPad. The hardware and software is really converging. Just a couple more years
i think you are confusing offended with amazed and disappointed.
a $200-300 cheap chromebook or windows laptop seems to be enough for your wife.
lol, not sure if you're married, but use the word "cheap" and the wife's not interested.
