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Report: Super-Lightweight 12-inch MacBook Powered By Apple Silicon to Launch This Year
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Yup. I just had the keyboard and top case replaced on my 2017 non-TB and they borked the job, damaging the speakers and incorrectly running the display cable. First the speakers sounded blown and then the display gradually died. They day it was to go back to the store for a repair (which Apple initially tried to charge me for) that store closed again. Support had a return box out to me a day later and the repair itself took only four days including ship time, but when I removed the back case to inspect what was causing the issues before I called support I was seriously unimpressed with the work of whatever technician did the work. Stripped screws, badly routed internal cables, and what looked like mis-seated speakers that instead of reseating properly the tech just pushed down on the PCB and tightened the screws which is what caused them to strip. I’m not saying all Apple repairs are like this, just that this experience opened my eyes to the fact whatever solid QA Apple used to be known for has slipped.
Are you really asking why do we need 4 ports at all? Really?
Also, pros need Thunderbolt. Macbook 12” won’t have Thunderbolt.
Lastly, we’re talking about getting Pros to upgrade from Intel to Apple Silicon. We’re not talking about Macbook vs Macbook Pro generally.
I already use my nikon DSLR as a webcam anyway so eh. I mean it’s inexcusable that Apple continues to load trash cameras into their laptops when competitors have equipped their products with similar form factors with actual usable webcams but it wouldn’t matter to me either way.
You think Apple is going to implement a usb c port that ISNT thunderbolt? Have they done that before on any Mac?
Please, Apple, don’t screw up the keyboard again 🙏
Some random points, in no particular order.
1. I had predicted a 12" Arm MacBook with A14. If it really comes with A14X, that would be crazy fast for that form factor. My 2017 MacBook Core m3 is barely faster than the A10 in the iPhone 7, and that's actually fine for average ultraportable business usage. It was very good for me in 2017. In 2020 I'd want something faster, but A14 will obviously already be much, much faster than A10. And A14X would be very impressive.
2. For people like me, 12" is the perfect size for ultraportable business usage. It's the most convenient to use in economy class on the plane, where even the 13" feels a bit awkward. Furthermore, it's short enough to even be placed vertically underneath the seat in front, at least on some planes.
3. All 12" MacBooks have two ports. The problem is that one of them is a headphone jack. It'd be much better to have two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, or else USB 4 ports with TB3 compatibility. You can use a $9.99 dongle to get the headphone jack if you're not buying into the AirPods revolution.
4. Even the iPad Pro now has two ports, if you pony up for the Magic Keyboard that is. One of those two ports is only a charging port, but that's still better than the 12" MacBook's ports setup, as you can keep the iPad Pro charged while using the other port for something else, without the need for annoying dongles.
5. I'd like to see a three tiered size setup: 12" + 14" + 16". I wonder though how many variants they'd have in each tier.
6. The FaceTime camera on the 12" MacBook sucks. It'd be nice to get a better one, but I could live without it as it's good on my iPhone.
7. The keyboard needs to be improved. I'm not a fan of the butterfly keyboard in my 2017 MacBook. It's better than the 2015 and 2016, but it's not exactly good. The lack of travel is annoying.
8. The trackpad needs to be improved. I don't mean bigger, but with better click feedback. The feel is noticeably better on the MacBook Pros. I'm not entirely sure why, but perhaps the mechanism to simulate the click in the Macbook Pros is more robust. I know it's not just my unit, because I've tried several different ones in the Apple Store, and all are similar, with the 13" MBP being better.
9. I don't like the term Apple Silicon either. It's too nondescript.
10. I'm not actually going to buy another MacBook any time soon. If I did, it'd be preferably the 12", but my 2017 should be good for me for several more years, and will keep compatibility with my legit copy of MS Office. Sure, Office will be updated for Arm Mac, but who knows what the licensing terms will be? I'm guessing they'll push the subscription model even harder for future versions. My next device of that size will be an 11-12" mini-LED iPad of some sort. (Not 12.9" though, as I find that too big and heavy with the Magic Keyboard.)
1. I had predicted a 12" Arm MacBook with A14. If it really comes with A14X, that would be crazy fast for that form factor. My 2017 MacBook Core m3 is barely faster than the A10 in the iPhone 7, and that's actually fine for average ultraportable business usage. It was very good for me in 2017. In 2020 I'd want something faster, but A14 will obviously already be much, much faster than A10. And A14X would be very impressive.
2. For people like me, 12" is the perfect size for ultraportable business usage. It's the most convenient to use in economy class on the plane, where even the 13" feels a bit awkward. Furthermore, it's short enough to even be placed vertically underneath the seat in front, at least on some planes.
3. All 12" MacBooks have two ports. The problem is that one of them is a headphone jack. It'd be much better to have two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, or else USB 4 ports with TB3 compatibility. You can use a $9.99 dongle to get the headphone jack if you're not buying into the AirPods revolution.
4. Even the iPad Pro now has two ports, if you pony up for the Magic Keyboard that is. One of those two ports is only a charging port, but that's still better than the 12" MacBook's ports setup, as you can keep the iPad Pro charged while using the other port for something else, without the need for annoying dongles.
5. I'd like to see a three tiered size setup: 12" + 14" + 16". I wonder though how many variants they'd have in each tier.
6. The FaceTime camera on the 12" MacBook sucks. It'd be nice to get a better one, but I could live without it as it's good on my iPhone.
7. The keyboard needs to be improved. I'm not a fan of the butterfly keyboard in my 2017 MacBook. It's better than the 2015 and 2016, but it's not exactly good. The lack of travel is annoying.
8. The trackpad needs to be improved. I don't mean bigger, but with better click feedback. The feel is noticeably better on the MacBook Pros. I'm not entirely sure why, but perhaps the mechanism to simulate the click in the Macbook Pros is more robust. I know it's not just my unit, because I've tried several different ones in the Apple Store, and all are similar, with the 13" MBP being better.
9. I don't like the term Apple Silicon either. It's too nondescript.
10. I'm not actually going to buy another MacBook any time soon. If I did, it'd be preferably the 12", but my 2017 should be good for me for several more years, and will keep compatibility with my legit copy of MS Office. Sure, Office will be updated for Arm Mac, but who knows what the licensing terms will be? I'm guessing they'll push the subscription model even harder for future versions. My next device of that size will be an 11-12" mini-LED iPad of some sort. (Not 12.9" though, as I find that too big and heavy with the Magic Keyboard.)
I agree with this. I loved the 12" and I found the Air to be in a weird place. With the Air, I felt like the screen and chassis wasn't big enough to justify its weight. The 12" macbook felt like a great machine and i liked it more than the new air. But, with that being said I'd probably like a non touch bar 14" macbook pro better than both of them haha.
That’s all true but consider that this could be a new design as well as new silicon. Rumors are that Apple is going back to squared (chamfered) corners like the iPad Pro. That could eliminate the need for expensive tiered batteries. Apple will also save a bundle by using the A14X part as well as a lot of existing parts/R&D like FaceID sensors and existing keyboards, etc. All this (albeit conjecture) adds up to a machine that could start at $799 (as previously rumored) and still has a healthy profit margin. Of course the RAM and SSD will be soldered on and expensive to upgrade so the margin on higher end models will be . . . Much better.
If they keep MacBook Air name around I doubt they"ll bring back the MacBook. The actual difference in form factor is so small that people are going to be confused. Judging by how they were launched/updated/discontinued in tandem I'm guessing Apple didn't want to have both names around except they were kind of forced to.
I own the 2020 Air and I'd switch to a Mac like this rumored one just based on weight and battery life, as long as the performance was comparable or better. (And, of course, as long as they didn't find a way to F up the keyboard again).
No, seriously. Apple's "battery life" claims can usually be cut right in half when used in the real world. Hard to judge a battery life claim mentioned in a rumor, but if Apple ends up marketing it as "20 hour battery life" I'd expect 10 real hours.
This caught my attention, even though I don’t really need one. Depending on price, I may have to find a justification to get one, depending on official release jargon.
I always thought Apple’s battery life claims were pretty spot on when the device is new.
You joke, but let's all hope Apple doesn't get around to taking away this option:
I don’t see why it would. The old rMB didn’t need one and the Apple chips thus far have not utilized a fan either (iPhones/iPads). Maybe on the MacBook Pro you’ll see one but I doubt very much on the 12” MacBook.
Huh. i just checked and Apple's marketing for my 2020 Air says it's good for "10 hours wireless web". So, I guess they've started qualifying it a bit. I guess if I run ONLY Safari, don't open too many demanding sites, and turn my screen brightness down maybe I could see something approaching that 10 hours? But at that point I'm not really using the machine normally so it feels like a pretty irrelevant usage scenario for me.
I usually have CoconutBattery running with a time remaining estimate in my menu bar, and even on a 100% charge the highest it usually estimates is maybe 6 hours as I'm using the computer what I would consider normally (a few Safari tabs open, Mail and a few other apps running in the background).