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First Impressions of New 12-Inch MacBook: Ridiculously Light, but Thin Keys and Trackpad Take Getting Used To

sracer said:
But I can see the new Macbook being very popular in business settings... not as workstations, but as mobile office uses.
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I agree with you. It's a perfect mobile office and casual use device. I wouldn't have it as my only system, but I have a 15" rMBP and I currently use my iPad 3 and a keyboard cover to take notes in school. This new system would a perfect replacement for that. It can absolutely handle:
- Office
- Safari browsing
- iTunes
- Scrivener
- E-mail

I'm trying to decide between this and a new iPad for grad school. Apple really burned me bad on my iPad 3 which has pitiful performance now. I would have left it on an older iOS but then you don't get app support or security patches. For the first time in years they add useful features to iOS (iOS 8) and then cripple it with bugs and terrible lag.

I'm fed up with it, but I don't know if that would change with a new iPad or if I should just get the MB. I'm not sure if I want to give up the tablet form factor.
 
For all the bragging Apple is doing about this being designed for the wireless world (and coincidentally as justification for it not having so many ports) wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to include an internal cell modem/sim for those times you don't have wifi or bluetooth at least as an option? :eek:
 
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groovyd said:
For all the bragging Apple is doing about this being designed for the wireless world (and coincidentally as justification for it not having so many ports) wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to include an internal cell modem/sim for those times you don't have wifi or bluetooth at least as an option? :eek:
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Tether from your Iphone. Easy.
 
newellj said:
The problem with that is that you can chew through the phone battery quite quickly, leaving you with neither a phone or wireless connectivity on the notebook.
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But you can charge your iPhone on thr MB - unless you need to charge the MB itself at the same time of course.......... ;-)
 
MarvinHC said:
But you can charge your iPhone on thr MB - unless you need to charge the MB itself at the same time of course.......... ;-)
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True, though for whatever reason I often don't have one on me. When I need a hotspot, I use an iPad if at all possible, which is usually the case. It's less mission-critical than the phone and has a much bigger battery.

fat jez said:
With a suitable USB-C to USB-A adaptor of course, since no USB-C to Lightning cables yet :)
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Also true, but of course we don't have the rMB yet, either! :D I would be shocked if those aren't in the stores by April 10. Maybe Apple will wake up a bit and include one with the computer, since they plan to charge $80 for the regular dongle. :(
 
I find this model a very impressive engineering and design accomplishment. As one who's used a laptop heavily in conjunction with a workstation desktop, I'm encouraged to see that Apple spent the time to create this MacBook.

Yet beyond proving their technical expertise, I'm not feeling a burning desire to buy one. I know I'd do just fine with the short travel keys and new track pad because I embrace change and having spent so much time with both my MBPr and MBA I'm more comfortable with laptop keyboards than the desktop variety.

Of greater concern is the fact that this model once again evokes that creepy feeling that Apple's rushing towards convergence of iOS & OS X.
 
technosix said:
I find this model a very impressive engineering and design accomplishment. As one who's used a laptop heavily in conjunction with a workstation desktop, I'm encouraged to see that Apple spent the time to create this MacBook.

Yet beyond proving their technical expertise, I'm not feeling a burning desire to buy one. I know I'd do just fine with the short travel keys and new track pad because I embrace change and having spent so much time with both my MBPr and MBA I'm more comfortable with laptop keyboards than the desktop variety.

Of greater concern is the fact that this model once again evokes that creepy feeling that Apple's rushing towards convergence of iOS & OS X.
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The new macbook isn't for everybody. It's not for me, since I need more cpu power for Lightroom, the larger screen, and the SD card slot which I use frequently.

However, there are a large number of people for whom the new macbook will be perfect. It's a good thing Apple makes more than 1 kind of laptop, isn't it?
 
technosix said:
Of greater concern is the fact that this model once again evokes that creepy feeling that Apple's rushing towards convergence of iOS & OS X.
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Why do you get that feeling? I see nothing that makes me think convergence is near. I might think that if they put a touchscreen on it but they didn't. Apple has made numerous statements about their philosophy. Microsoft is going down the wrong road. Apple will not.
 
chabig said:
Why do you get that feeling? I see nothing that makes me think convergence is near. I might think that if they put a touchscreen on it but they didn't. Apple has made numerous statements about their philosophy. Microsoft is going down the wrong road. Apple will not.
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It's not this laptop in particular other than it being small and light which appeals to the average person as much as a tech professional. I'm neither weight or size sensitive as my computers are the tools I make my living with. I'm also super fit, further reducing any concerns about carrying, which I do frequently through airports.

I am however seeing more and more features from iOS appearing in OS X, some of which are fine, some of which are their to attract or point iOS users to the OS X platform if they're using a PC.

What Apple says is rather increasingly irrelevant. They were loud and vociferous about never building a 7 or 8" tablet, then they did. They were almost angrily stating there'd never be a iPhone Phablet, only to hear the roar of the Apple faithful cheer that idea.

Then the famous Apple Hypocrisy kicked in and Viola!
 
technosix said:
I am however seeing more and more features from iOS appearing in OS X, some of which are fine, some of which are their to attract or point iOS users to the OS X platform if they're using a PC.
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I think mobile features such as location services and notifications would have made their way to computers anyway. In fact I cannot think of a feature of iOS that has come to OS X that didn't deserve to be there even without iOS.
 
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Overpriced for a netbook. Should be $1K max and they should bundle the dongle considering there are Core M devices with touch screen, pen input and standard ports for well under $1K like the Thinkpad Helix2.

As for keyboard, Thinkpad keyboard is the gold standard. Surface Pro 3 is usable for a chiclet. Will have to try the new MB before making judgement if it's usable or hyped up chiclet.
 
mi7chy said:
Overpriced for a netbook. Should be $1K max and they should bundle the dongle considering there are Core M devices with touch screen, pen input and standard ports for well under $1K like the Thinkpad Helix2.
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There is one Helix 2 at $929 with an 800 MHz CPU, and you're comparing that to a MacBook? The rest are priced comparably to the MacBok.
 
I tried the new Force Trackpad in Best Buy today and I don't know what the reviewers or some of the people here are thinking or maybe it is just me but this is not the equivalent of a traditional Macbook Pro Trackpad.

Sometimes it is close to the feel and sound of a traditional click but other times it is not close and it is not consistent. It is a step backward and you should check it out before your buy it.
 
Just bough the new macbook, the posts don't bother me as i have an iMac at home so i email everything to print it and i have all of my pictures on iCloud between this Macbook, my iMac and my iPhone. but one point that everyone keeps avoiding is that the FaceTime Camera is absolutely DREADFULLY BAD. its extremely grainy and slow and patchy. it is really really bad and there is no way to replace it with a better one :/ truly disappointed in it.
 
Not even the people I know with iPhones (or Macs) use FaceTime. Ever. I've used it with my mother a few times, while we both had iMacs (switched to iSight-less Mini's).
It must be a truly American thing.
;-)
 
MRrainer said:
Not even the people I know with iPhones (or Macs) use FaceTime. Ever. I've used it with my mother a few times, while we both had iMacs (switched to iSight-less Mini's).
It must be a truly American thing.
;-)
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It doesn't matter if you use FaceTime or Skype or whatever, a bad camera remains a bad camera.
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groovyd said:
For all the bragging Apple is doing about this being designed for the wireless world (and coincidentally as justification for it not having so many ports) wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to include an internal cell modem/sim for those times you don't have wifi or bluetooth at least as an option? :eek:
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Fully agree and have said it before, for a true mobile laptop a sim card tray for 4G/LTE option would only make sense.
When I said this (just when the Macbook came out) I got shot down saying one can teether from the iPhone. Well, I still say it is not the same thing since this eats up the phone's battery in no time and with the lack of a ports on the Macbook..... :rolleyes:
 
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Waste of money it is. I will continue using my Macbook from the previous generation until Apple actually makes a Macbook that is a lot "better."
 
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First generation of a new Apple product is traditionally not the best buy. This was true with both the iPhone and MacBook Air. Both of which pushed boundaries of what was possible with technology at that time. Making a razor thin computer with no ports seem like a stupid idea in 2015 but I think this is a computer for the future and will push technology to more wireless solutions. And maybe the next generation will give us 2 or 3 USB C ports and faster CPU and GPU. That would make the MacBook a really attractive device to me.
 
cracksoup said:
First generation of a new Apple product is traditionally not the best buy. This was true with both the iPhone and MacBook Air.
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If you're comparing them to later generations of the same products, then of course they'll be less refined. That's true of almost all product lines over time. However, if you compare them to competitors' products at the same time, they were incomparable.


cracksoup said:
maybe the next generation will give us 2 or 3 USB C ports
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Where are they going to squeeze that in?
 
bobob said:
If you're comparing them to later generations of the same products, then of course they'll be less refined. That's true of almost all product lines over time. However, if you compare them to competitors' products at the same time, they were incomparable.



Where are they going to squeeze that in?
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Yes that's what I mean. Compared to other products of that timeline, they were inferior but the sequels were much more refined and made the competition much stiffer.
However at that time, there weren't really anything like the original iPhone or MacBook Air. So instead of being cutting edge, they were original and set a trend which many followed.


I'm not an Apple engineer, I don't know :)
I'm quite sure Apple could do it if they want but they're not about ports and practicality.
 
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cracksoup said:
Yes that's what I mean. Compared to other products of that timeline, they were inferior but the sequels were much more refined and made the competition much stiffer.
However at that time, there weren't really anything like the original iPhone or MacBook Air. So instead of being cutting edge, they were original and set a trend which many followed.


I'm not an Apple engineer, I don't know :)
I'm quite sure Apple could do it if they want but they're not about ports and practicality.
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Well, I AM an Apple engineer (just look at my avatar <- ) ;) ... and you are correct, we could've done it if we wanted to.
 
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