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MBA 12" Retina Questions

transphasic

transphasic

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 6, 2012
262
107
I was just given one of these and plan to use it when I travel as my beloved MBP14/M1, while a wonderful and powerful computer is too heavy to carry around in a knapsack or bag all day.

The battery has only been cycled 61 times according to the system software, so it would appear to have a lot of life left. It seems to be rather speedy, even with current, modern apps despite being what seems to be a humble m3 Intel chip.

Anyway, my questions:

1-I upgraded the OS to Monterey 12.6.3, but there is no "battery optimization" check box; does this mean it is not available for this computer or is it because it is always on?

2-how durable were the batteries from 2017 - should i leave it plugged in all the time, or am I better off not doing so, and manually managing its charging to keep it around 80% as if it were "battery optimized"?

3-is there a way to test the battery to see how much life there is left in it in terms of hours of usage for a full charge?

4-WTFF doesn't Apple make an 11" or 12" ultrabook/laptop like this, which is VASTLY more portable than anything in its lineup right now? Has anyone heard of rumors that Apple will be offering one again? The current MBA is not even close to this thing.
 
Don’t get us started on wanting Apple to make another ultra portable 12”. Just look at the Macbook form and you will find your answers.
 
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loby said:
Don’t get us started on wanting Apple to make another ultra portable 12”. Just look at the Macbook form and you will find your answers.
Click to expand...
The 13.6' MacBook Air is about as big as typical tablet. I think they nailed the form factor, going any small it would just look daft.
 
Audit13 said:
The 2017 Air is the a1566 and doesn't have a retina screen.

MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support (CA)

support.apple.com support.apple.com

Is your MacBook the 12" MacBook?

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support (CA)

support.apple.com support.apple.com
Click to expand...
The latter. Surprised its not under the "Air" umbrella given how light it is. IIRC this was the point in time where the macbooks were lighter and more portable than the Airs, and Apple had kind of lost its handle on its product lines.
 

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transphasic said:
is there a way to test the battery to see how much life there is left in it in terms of hours of usage for a full charge?
Click to expand...
Use it and see how far you get?

I don't obsess too much over battery cycles and optimal charging patterns, but I do find it useful to run Coconutbattery in the menu bar, and include a readout of how many watts the machine is drawing at any given point. If you do that fora while you start to get a feel for what's normal with your laptop. My M1 Air, for example, usually pulls about 3-5 watts and gets upward of 10 hours battery life. My previous 2020 Intel i5 Air would pull more like 10-15 watts and get correspondingly lower battery life, like 5 hours, maybe 6 under low-demand usage.

That 12" Retina MacBook was a cool little machine. I couldn't stomach using that butterfly keyboard for any length of time, myself, but I passed it on to my wife who got a few years' use out of it before Zoom proved to be too much for it to handle consistently. I think a lot of people are hoping Apple will revisit the ultraportable laptop form factor now that they have the processors to truly pull it off well.
 
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shenfrey said:
The 13.6' MacBook Air is about as big as typical tablet. I think they nailed the form factor, going any small it would just look daft.
Click to expand...
If Apple made an 11" macbook I would actually consider buying one... The main reason I'm not a mac user is because you sort of have to lug those things around vs. just comfortably carrying a tablet in your arm or just holding it
 
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shenfrey said:
The 13.6' MacBook Air is about as big as typical tablet. I think they nailed the form factor, going any small it would just look daft.
Click to expand...
I thought the 11" and 12" macbooks were much more effectively designed for portable use, but then apple doesn't want to eat into the sales of the awful ipads...
 
Onimusha370 said:
Oh how I miss the 12" MacBook.... :confused:
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This is a marvelous little machine that would be the first choice of any high school or college student, heavy traveler (like me), or young women who want a very small, portable notebook they can fit in their shoulder bag for jaunts to Starbucks or lunches with their lady friends.

Ok, being a little bit much here, but you get the point - there are massive audiences for such a notebook, and it is infuriating as both a user/consumer AND a significant shareholder (thousands of shares owned) that they have clearly abandoned them completely.

Apple Computer and Cookie (my not-so-fond nickname for Jobs' less-than-talented-or-capable successor) think that they can just force these markets into using their current offering, which is not so light at almost 3lbs. Their marketing team needs to step up their game and convince operations that they need a better alternative to the current Air lineup.
 
transphasic said:
This is a marvelous little machine that would be the first choice of any high school or college student, heavy traveler (like me), or young women who want a very small, portable notebook they can fit in their shoulder bag for jaunts to Starbucks or lunches with their lady friends.

Ok, being a little bit much here, but you get the point - there are massive audiences for such a notebook, and it is infuriating as both a user/consumer AND a significant shareholder (thousands of shares owned) that they have clearly abandoned them completely.

Apple Computer and Cookie (my not-so-fond nickname for Jobs' less-than-talented-or-capable successor) think that they can just force these markets into using their current offering, which is not so light at almost 3lbs. Their marketing team needs to step up their game and convince operations that they need a better alternative to the current Air lineup.
Click to expand...

I have both 12 inch MacBook Retina with Core m3 processor and Surface Go 2 with Core m3 processor. What I can say is these machine are not powerful at all.

Especially for 12inch MacBook Retina, it was way too expensive for how underpowered it is back then. Something can be said for Surface Go 2 and it was not fund to run Windows on it.

The garbage butterfly keyboard was introduced with 12inch MacBook Retina. I hate this keyboard and I am going all the way to avoid any Macs with butterfly keyboard. I can't image Apple has sold tons of these MacBook back then and if you looking at secondary market, price is not worth for the money.
 
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I remember those! I was very excited to see and use one in person, and then I did, and the spinny beach ball of death ruined the party. They were an engineering marvel though, to be sure.

My question is, it seems as if we're going to harp on the physical dimension differences between the 12" MB and current MBA M1 / M2 of:
Height - .11 / -.08 inches
Width - .93 / .93 inches
Depth - .62 / .72 inches
Weight - .77 / .67 lbs

I mean, yeah, airline tables have gotten smaller, for sure... but the 12" MB is "VASTLY more portable"? I have an M1 MBA, and I think it's pretty dang portable. Just my two cents.
 
Aoligei said:
I have both 12 inch MacBook Retina with Core m3 processor and Surface Go 2 with Core m3 processor. What I can say is these machine are not powerful at all.

Especially for 12inch MacBook Retina, it was way too expensive for how underpowered it is back then. Something can be said for Surface Go 2 and it was not fund to run Windows on it.

The garbage butterfly keyboard was introduced with 12inch MacBook Retina. I hate this keyboard and I am going all the way to avoid any Macs with butterfly keyboard. I can't image Apple has sold tons of these MacBook back then and if you looking at secondary market, price is not worth for the money.
Click to expand...
1-I actually like the keyboard, it has a different feel that I don't mind - not that picky I guess

2-I am using this 12 inch macbook solely for email, web surfing, messaging, garageband, youtube videos, etc. - rather light tasks relatively. I have no plans to install photoshop or anything that requires a lot of disk space (only have 250GB to work with) or a lot of processing power.

For the tasks I mentioned above, it is as fast as my M1 Pro Max, and I expect it will be for several years when hopefully, the apple product managers will re-release an ultrabook in this size form factor and I'll consider replacing it. It is truly appalling how Apple, under Cookie the simpleton, refuses time and again to provide product that the userbase has been begging for.

How many years did Crapple go without a viable desktop until the Studio came along?
 
chadamorrill said:
I remember those! I was very excited to see and use one in person, and then I did, and the spinny beach ball of death ruined the party. They were an engineering marvel though, to be sure.

My question is, it seems as if we're going to harp on the physical dimension differences between the 12" MB and current MBA M1 / M2 of:
Height - .11 / -.08 inches
Width - .93 / .93 inches
Depth - .62 / .72 inches
Weight - .77 / .67 lbs

I mean, yeah, airline tables have gotten smaller, for sure... but the 12" MB is "VASTLY more portable"? I have an M1 MBA, and I think it's pretty dang portable. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...
I had three Apple store employees offer to buy it from me, as it is noticably lighter than the MBA M2.

I was almost 100% certain of buying back an MBA M2 in October when I had planned on getting a Studio for home use and an MBA for the road, but settled on an MBP14, partially because the MBA M2 was just not that light. My plan was just leave the MBP at home most of the time, and use something else on the road.

I had been using a Samsung Galaxybook Pro 360 which gives ipads a run for the money - just a wonderful machine. This 12 inch is a stop-gap for me for about 2 years until hopefully Crapple gets their act together and offers an ultrabook again.
 
I just bought an 11" MBA on ebay.. I7 , 512gb and 8gb..( Rare with those specs) 140 cycle count and all original in its box . Like new. It is fast and zippy running big sur. I had this a long time ago. Got a great deal on this. Its like new.. Loving it now and great for travel! Still have my trusty 14 M1 MBP .. Thats a beast on its own. I was surprised how this 11 performed in 2023!
 
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transphasic said:
1-I actually like the keyboard, it has a different feel that I don't mind - not that picky I guess

2-I am using this 12 inch macbook solely for email, web surfing, messaging, garageband, youtube videos, etc. - rather light tasks relatively. I have no plans to install photoshop or anything that requires a lot of disk space (only have 250GB to work with) or a lot of processing power.

For the tasks I mentioned above, it is as fast as my M1 Pro Max, and I expect it will be for several years when hopefully, the apple product managers will re-release an ultrabook in this size form factor and I'll consider replacing it. It is truly appalling how Apple, under Cookie the simpleton, refuses time and again to provide product that the userbase has been begging for.

How many years did Crapple go without a viable desktop until the Studio came along?
Click to expand...

1. If you have one with fully functional keyboard, then that is good. My keyboard has none functional shift key, left enter key and Y key. Plus key travel on this key side is so short, it feels like typing on an glass.

2. I won’t get this one at all. I could not find MacBook for any decent price. I got Surface Go 2 with Core m3 for around $200 and $300 is probably the max I would go for. I would rather take inferior screen for 11 inc MacBook Air, at least MacBook Air offers better typing experience
 
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