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Macbook 12" still decent buy?
- Thread starter MrMister111
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How do you know?
There was no comment or press release from Apple regarding "discontinued completely". They just removed it silently from the Apple.com.
Think it has as now the Air seems to have taken over, they were too close really.
No matter still a good deal, bought and used now.
Now for me I'm thinking of the 2018 Air!!
No matter still a good deal, bought and used now.
Now for me I'm thinking of the 2018 Air!!
https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/09/apple-killed-the-12-inch-macbook/
“Apple has confirmed to Engadget that the 12-inch MacBook is no more.”
Just got mine on Monday. The £800 John Lewis deal in the UK.
Wow, what a beautiful piece of technology. Even Jony Ives most harsh critic that hates thinness and design over performance has to admit, a full Mac in this thing? Stunning package.
Is it a main machine for anyone? Some yes, most no.
It’s noticeable slower than my 6-core Mac mini 2018 was and my MBP 512GB TB 4-core was. Naturally, with its fanless design.
I haven’t pushed it yet, but everyday things it’s just like any other Mac. During setting up of like my photos library database and Apple Music database it took noticeably longer, but still quick. As they’re one time processes I can deal with that.
I have had issues with the one port. E.g. an initial time machine backup on battery power through the one port.... It’s a real issue and I can see myself finding more issues like this. Two is really worth having, but one is fine on this machine and how it was positioned. In 2019’s defence, I could easily hook my external hard drive up to my router and wirelessly backup, this is probably what it takes to make me do jobs like this. Plus all my content is on iCloud anyway.
The battery doesn’t seem to last as long as the 13” Pros did either. But too short to really know.
I really like it. And hope to get 3-4 years from it. My recent Apple history has been horrendously expensive, wasteful and up and down. This is, on paper, my worst device yet. And it’s cost me to switch so much. But now that I won’t need it for work, it’s capable of being the perfect Mac for me.
3-4 years and the industry will shift again. Maybe a similar product will be launched. Who knows? This is Apple.
Wow, what a beautiful piece of technology. Even Jony Ives most harsh critic that hates thinness and design over performance has to admit, a full Mac in this thing? Stunning package.
Is it a main machine for anyone? Some yes, most no.
It’s noticeable slower than my 6-core Mac mini 2018 was and my MBP 512GB TB 4-core was. Naturally, with its fanless design.
I haven’t pushed it yet, but everyday things it’s just like any other Mac. During setting up of like my photos library database and Apple Music database it took noticeably longer, but still quick. As they’re one time processes I can deal with that.
I have had issues with the one port. E.g. an initial time machine backup on battery power through the one port.... It’s a real issue and I can see myself finding more issues like this. Two is really worth having, but one is fine on this machine and how it was positioned. In 2019’s defence, I could easily hook my external hard drive up to my router and wirelessly backup, this is probably what it takes to make me do jobs like this. Plus all my content is on iCloud anyway.
The battery doesn’t seem to last as long as the 13” Pros did either. But too short to really know.
I really like it. And hope to get 3-4 years from it. My recent Apple history has been horrendously expensive, wasteful and up and down. This is, on paper, my worst device yet. And it’s cost me to switch so much. But now that I won’t need it for work, it’s capable of being the perfect Mac for me.
3-4 years and the industry will shift again. Maybe a similar product will be launched. Who knows? This is Apple.
I would not read too much into that without having the complete exchange between Engadget and Apple.
I mean: "Hey Apple, the 12inch MacBook seems to be gone, what's up?" - "Yes Engadget, indeed we've stopped selling it." That would confirm it is no longer part of the lineup, but it says nothing of future plans.
Wouldn't be surprised if Apple refreshes the 12" MacBook next year and rebrands it as the 12" MacBook Air. This coupled with a slight redesign which includes the newer scissor keyboard, touch-ID (just like the Air), and their ARM processors.
Now that I think about it, it makes complete sense. Just like how Apple had two sizes for their MacBook Air (11" and 13"), Apple will do the same with the current Air refresh (13" and eventually 12").
Now that I think about it, it makes complete sense. Just like how Apple had two sizes for their MacBook Air (11" and 13"), Apple will do the same with the current Air refresh (13" and eventually 12").
I too purchased the MacBook on the JL £799 deal. It joins a 5K iMac and 2018 15" MBP. I don't really need it given I have the MBP but I have always wanted one since they launched and as they have been discontinued I pulled the trigger.
I've only had it 72 hours but I'm already smitten with it. A marvel of engineering. So incredibly small and light and plenty speedy for my uses. Really happy with the purchase.
Wow that's quite a collection! When you say enough for your uses, what is that?
If you have a MBP then it's sort if covered anyway, or was it because of its size be better if you need to take out and about?
Son happy with his, it is a marvel of engineering as you say. I would get one also, or the Air retina but not sure it's powerful enough as an upgrade over my old 2012 iMac.
I'm tossing and turning about whether to buy a 2017 12" MacBook vs the latest 2019 13" MacBook Air.
I currently have the 2017 13" MacBook Pro and it's way too overpowered. I only mainly use the laptop for the web, netflix, watching TV shows and movies, MS word, excel and outlook for work.
There're currently sales here in Australia (eg. 20% off the 2017 Macbook and 10% off the new Macbook Air).
I like how light the 12" Macbook is but I'm not sure what the resale value would be like in another 2 years when this laptop would be 4 years old.
I currently have the 2017 13" MacBook Pro and it's way too overpowered. I only mainly use the laptop for the web, netflix, watching TV shows and movies, MS word, excel and outlook for work.
There're currently sales here in Australia (eg. 20% off the 2017 Macbook and 10% off the new Macbook Air).
I like how light the 12" Macbook is but I'm not sure what the resale value would be like in another 2 years when this laptop would be 4 years old.
From what I've seen and researched, the 12" MacBook in particular has terrible resale value. Here in Toronto Canada, on Kijiji (local classified website like Craigslist) I've seen 2015 MacBooks as low as $700 CAD and 2017 MacBooks around $1000 CAD.
If you do consider getting a 12" MacBook, buy it used, you'll save a ton of money.
The good thing is best buy in US is heavily discounting them right now ($350-400), so price wise they are rather low.
It's an INCREDIBLE buy for £799 - not at £1250 but the 799 is less than I paid for my first MacBook way back in 2010.
John Lewis is also selling the 512GB one for £999 - a saving of £550!!!!!!!!!! Simply incredible. That's the one that I use for 8 hours a day 365 days of the year throughout the world for my marketing business
At those prices, it's incredible!
PS They are VERY VERY capable. I edit 4K 60fps video every day on it in Final Cut Pro X and do a lot of audio editing in Audacity and Adobe Audition and it's flawless!!!!!!!!!
I've thousands of photos on it in Apple Photos, 200+ surfing vlogs and loads of films and all of my music etc.
Looking forward to having OS X Catalina on it in the Autumn too
It's the chicest laptop on the market and one of Apple's nicest designs of all time.
BTW Apple Pages & Keynote are lovely, so much nicer than Microsoft Word & Powerpoint.
I've got a 2017 MacBook (8gb / 512gb/ i7) , I am really happy in it, I would just like 16gb ram which would make my work (programmer) a lot easier. I am also looking to get a 4K monitor, and my only real question is how well it can run the 4k monitor, if they do well, I might eBay one with 16gb.
Has anyone got any experience in running one at 4k resolution? Any stuttering or anything if at 60hz?
Hi, I use a 2017 8gb Macbook with a Dell 4K monitor, and it runs and displays perfectly at 4K 60Hz. Just make sure to get a hub that has power delivery and Mini DisplayPort / Displayport, that actually supports 4K 60Hz. One thing is, the hub I've got only has USB 2.0 ports, which I'm sure is a restriction of the Macbook. i.e, with the single USB-C port, it can't charge the Macbook, display 4K 60Hz video and transfer data at USB 3 speed. It's just too much for the port.
And on that note, be careful of hubs/docks that have power delivery, 4K 60Hz output and USB 3.0 ports. They might be able to do one or two of those things together admirably, but if you try to do all of them together on a Macbook, the hub/dock will likely 'decide' which process gets restricted, meaning the USB speeds get reduced to 2.0 or the display output gets reduced to 4K @ 30Hz. Or if the hub/dock doesn't prioritize for some reason, then everything will likely get bottlenecked together. I don't know too much about the specifics, someone else can probably advise better on the technical stuff, I just remember reading from various sources that the Macbook's USB-C port can't handle power delivery, USB 3 and 4K 60Hz output at once, so compromises or workarounds need to be made.
Also, when I say that it displays perfectly, I do light computer work such as web browsing, database editing, photo editing. The video output will put a certain strain on the system, so if you were planning on doing any more intensive tasks, you might notice a performance reduction. I haven't though, for my basic tasks. And I think for programming you'll be absolutely fine.
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