It's a great laptop for students, and I bet even more-so when they drop the price once they discontinue the MacBook Air (maybe even next month).
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Who actually is the 12" MacBook for?
- Thread starter Dave245
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Thank you for sharing your experience, it sure sounds like the MacBook is very portable, it's also nice to hear that the battery life is good.
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But isn't the 13" MacBook Pro without Touch Bar positioned to replace the MacBook Air? There are rumours that they will be dropping the price on that one.
Good point. They'll probably drop the price on both, that way there would be more choices.
I can see them dropping the price of the Retina MacBook first though, since it's been out longer.
Thank you for the advice, that's actually a great way of thinking about it
I'm leaning towards ordering one and trying it out before I go to the Apple Store and trying out the 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. There are rumours of Apple updating the MacBook later this year, by giving them 16GB Ram and latest processors.
The rMB is incredibly portable (it has a smaller footprint and is than my iPad Pro 12.9 when it's got the silicone case on it) and has more than enough power for a lot of people.
I used one for a year as portable companion to my iMac and it handled most of my requirements (I'm a software developer) without a hitch. The only issue I had was it only had 8GB which caused issues when I needed to run virtual machines.
I recently got a 13" mbPro and my daughter got my rMB (she's starting University this year and it will be perfect for her)
I used one for a year as portable companion to my iMac and it handled most of my requirements (I'm a software developer) without a hitch. The only issue I had was it only had 8GB which caused issues when I needed to run virtual machines.
I recently got a 13" mbPro and my daughter got my rMB (she's starting University this year and it will be perfect for her)
It would also be nice if they dropped the prices of the MacBook Pro's with Touch Bar. It will be interesting to see where it's heading, even tho I love my iPad Pro I still love the Mac also. I do like the fact that they have added more choices for people.
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Yea I'm getting the impression (from peoples experience's) that the MacBook is the most portable Mac yet. How are you finding the 13" MacBook Pro? Did you get the Touch Bar version?
The update is coming, sure, but I highly doubt it will be 16GB RAM as standard. That would be too much of a middle finger to the tMBP beta-test crowd. Even for Apple.
According to Ming-Chi-Ko there will be a 16GB Ram option, he could be wrong tho nothing is 100% until Apple announce. He's also saying there will be a 32GB Ram option for the 15" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and prices drops.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/applei...end-2017-macbook-pro-16gb-for-12-macbook/amp/
Probably only as a higher-end option, not for the base model.
In my opinion, it would be worth waiting for the 3rd-gen Retina MacBook to see what it offers, unless you can find the current gen at $999 (that's the lowest Best Buy has offered it for).
Yeah, I got the Touch Bar version with 16GB Ram and 1TB SSD (specifically so I can run VMs when away from my desk). It's a fantastic machine but cost twice as much as my 12" rMB did (so it should be!)
What do you think of the Touch Bar? One of my friends who picked one up not long after they launched said he likes it for things like Final Cut Pro and being able to scrub through videos. Yea compared to the MacBook it's like double the price (depending on configuration)
To be honest, I don't really have an opinion one way or the other on the Touch Bar: it's a bit of a gimmick but is slightly more useful than the function keys that it replaces.
I love Touch ID though and I'm sure the touch bar will get more useful as devs work out how to make best use of it but it's not something I'd buy a machine for: I went for the TB version for the faster processor, faster memory and extra ports - the TB was just something that came with the faster machine for me
I did not say I did Skype from the plane; I said that I use my RMB for business travel. Skype being executed from hotel rooms, the other functions executed anywhere. The larger point being that most business executives, city train commuters, and students don't need to carry around processors and horsepower they never use.
I have owned my RMB since May 2015, just shy of 2 years. I only use it when I travel to Manhattan or fly somewhere for business, that's roughly 150 days a year. The other 200 days it sits in a drawer because I don't need it. I have a powerful, heavy computer at work and I have a powerful, heavy computer at home. The RMB is my third notebook. It's a specialist. It's a weekend convertible. It's only used in situations where I value portability over horsepower.
BJ
It can easily handle Photoshop, I use it all the time to edit photos and create design mockups for mobile apps. Starting up Photoshop takes 3 seconds, opening a 25MB files takes 2 seconds. I don't know how it handles a file of 1GB, but for my needs it's perfect. I guess the SSD and RAM are just really fast.
The battery life obviously depends on your usage, because there are people with the new MBP's who get almost 10 hours and some who barely get 4 hours. But I do notice that the variation with the rMB is not that bad, worst I've seen for myself is 8 hours and best is 12 hours (with some idle time of course).
Do you mean 75% brightness and just using Safari and some other light weight apps? That would not be good no. I just check in Activity Monitor at "Time on battery" and the most obvious thing: I charge it in the evening, go to the office at 8:30 and go to the hotel when my battery is below 10% (mostly at 19:00). I do get some variation obviously based on what I'm doing, but most of the time it's literally 10% per hour and other cases even less and just sometimes worse if I run a lot of heavy tasks during the day.
is the screen ok to have multiple things open with and multitask? I haven't used one but I'm a big fan of OSX (or MacOS as it's now called) and that's why I'm considering it alongside my iPad Pro. Sounds very portable if your able to have it resting on a pillow
Multiple things open is definitely not a problem. However, the screen is not that big so in most cases you can only have two windows open next to each other. I do use Split View a lot as it minimizes unused space:
It can easily handle Photoshop, I use it all the time to edit photos and create design mockups for mobile apps. Starting up Photoshop takes 3 seconds, opening a 25MB files takes 2 seconds. I don't know how it handles a file of 1GB, but for my needs it's perfect. I guess the SSD and RAM are just really fast.
The battery life obviously depends on your usage, because there are people with the new MBP's who get almost 10 hours and some who barely get 4 hours. But I do notice that the variation with the rMB is not that bad, worst I've seen for myself is 8 hours and best is 12 hours (with some idle time of course).
Do you mean 75% brightness and just using Safari and some other light weight apps? That would not be good no. I just check in Activity Monitor at "Time on battery" and the most obvious thing: I charge it in the evening, go to the office at 8:30 and go to the hotel when my battery is below 10% (mostly at 19:00). I do get some variation obviously based on what I'm doing, but most of the time it's literally 10% per hour and other cases even less and just sometimes worse if I run a lot of heavy tasks during the day.
Multiple things open is definitely not a problem. However, the screen is not that big so in most cases you can only have two windows open next to each other. I do use Split View a lot as it minimizes unused space:
That's good to know, i do occasionally use editing features such as Final Cut and photoshop, but it's not a regular thing. What i do use a lot is the split view feature (it's one of my favourite's that Apple introduced with MacOs and IOS) i usually have Safari open while also having Pages or Word running on the opposite side, as a writer i find it very good to be able to do research on one side while also being able to type on the other. I do the same on my iPad Pro with split view, i find it just as good on the iPad Pro, having g Safari open while also having Youtube open.
Another feature i use a lot is Picture in Picture on both the Mac and the iPad Pro. I do run multiple things in the background such as Apple Music, while also using split view and sometimes picture in picture (obviously not if Apple Music is playing in the back ground). If the 12" MacBook can handle that without slowing down or lagging then it would be great. My concern is if there will be enough screen estate on the MacBook. If my battery life can improve over my 2011 MacBook Pro that would also be great (i'm currently getting around 4-5 hours ish)
sorry, my observation was based on your phrasing:
"at 30,000 feet, I don't need a lot of horsepower. I need to check email, run Powerpoint, read PDF's, run a few basic spreadsheets, Skype into meetings,"
still, the most obnoxious signature ever (BMW, trophy wife, etc). or funny, perhaps...
Split View in combination with Picture-in-Picture works perfectly well. Definitely no slowdowns here. You should go and try it out in an Apple Store if you are not certain and want to experience it first as 12" might not be for everyone. I used to have a 17" laptop and thought I could never get a model with a smaller screen. Then I got a 15" laptop and thought this was the bare minimum I could use. And now I have this machine
I guess my eyes are still pretty good.
Split View in combination with Picture-in-Picture works perfectly well. Definitely no slowdowns here. You should go and try it out in an Apple Store if you are not certain and want to experience it first as 12" might not be for everyone. I used to have a 17" laptop and thought I could never get a model with a smaller screen. Then I got a 15" laptop and thought this was the bare minimum I could use. And now I have this machine
Yea that is the plan, I'm going to compare the 12" MacBook and the 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. I'm use to the bigger screens, saying that tho I've got the 12.9" iPad Pro and the screen size is great.
I use mine scaled to 1440x900 which helps with size (simulates the same real estate as a 13").
Although I know my usage now demands a 13" Pro, I cannot bring myself to buy one because I just think they look so dated compared to the rMB. Just so bulky and bezel-y.
I'm tempted to wait for the new model and pick up a top model over the current 13" Pro...it all depends on what it can offer, though. The lack of fan cooling is my favourite feature of the rMB, but it means they're built for short bursts of power - if you continue to drive the machine hard, it throttles and performance takes a significant hit. I see this first-hand with mine when I use it with my 4K display.
I love this little thing, it's honestly my favourite tech product - easily topping my 5K iMac. As always, the product I'm really wishing for isn't possible with today's consumer technology. Physics annoyingly gets in the way.
Although I know my usage now demands a 13" Pro, I cannot bring myself to buy one because I just think they look so dated compared to the rMB. Just so bulky and bezel-y.
I'm tempted to wait for the new model and pick up a top model over the current 13" Pro...it all depends on what it can offer, though. The lack of fan cooling is my favourite feature of the rMB, but it means they're built for short bursts of power - if you continue to drive the machine hard, it throttles and performance takes a significant hit. I see this first-hand with mine when I use it with my 4K display.
I love this little thing, it's honestly my favourite tech product - easily topping my 5K iMac. As always, the product I'm really wishing for isn't possible with today's consumer technology. Physics annoyingly gets in the way.
Really? i thought the 5K iMac would be top of the list, what about that 5k display? they do need updating tho.
The screen is absolutely lovely and it trumps my 27" 4K USB-C display for sure, but as a device - for my use case - it was a bad purchase.
Everything I do on macOS can be done with my rMB. So clearly I don't need an almost-fully-specced 5K iMac. The gaming I do in Windows (via BootCamp on a Mac) requires hardware far superior to that in any Mac.
I therefore have a very expensive iMac that's overkill for my macOS needs, but massively underpowered for my gaming needs. In short - the wrong product for me personally.
My rMB, on the other hand, I purchased to complement my previous iMac. Like a more productive iPad. I wasn't expecting it to be able to run Photoshop, my IDEs or my developer tools - but it did. And it does it anywhere. It obviously also looks the part and weighs so little that I have to check my little bag every morning before I leave for work to ensure it's actually in there.
If it played nicer with 4K displays and was a little bit quicker with Xcode, I wouldn't even consider a Pro. The rMB is, without a doubt, my favourite Apple product I've ever bought. And I've bought a number of those in the past!
I'm very keen to see what the new one next month has to offer.
I have both the 12" MacBook and 13" Touch Bar MacBook Pro. If I had to choose one it would be tough. The Touch Bar is getting more useful as developers write for it. However, the additional pound is noticeable.
The fact that most don't know if it's obnoxious or funny is what makes it funny.
That said, it's all true no matter how one interprets it. I do have to update it though. I have 3 BMW's and 6 Rolexes now, and we bought another iPhone 6S and the new MacBook touchbar for my son at college. I'm not getting enough credit in the current sig.
BJ
I still have mine but have upgraded to a 13 touchbar Pro.
I used that 12" from day one but I don't need anything too powerful. I just needed lightness, thinness, good quality screen and decent speed doing normal everyday things.
While on the go I am mainly remoting in to check on computers/servers/etc. I keep an Anker 20k USB-C battery pack in my travel bag so if I'm in a pinch the battery pack can charge to get me a couple hours until I can get to a regular charger.
It is great on a plane for watching movies in between stops.
(Funny though flight attendants still want me to put it away during take off but my wife can keep out her iPad Pro 12" which is larger than the 12" MacBook)
Also I am fortunate enough to have a fairly powerful home desktop and work desktop computer so I do not really have a need for my portable computer to be anything more than very portable.
My MacBook "career" started with the 15"Pro late-09, it was too heavy, went to the '10 Air, '11 Air, '13 Air these were good but I was wanting fora retina screen but didn't want to go back to a 15" model. The 12" retina was released and I bought right into that and I have now settled down with the 13"tbMBP and for me this is pretty much the ideal sport for screen quality, lightness, features.
I can definitely live with the 12" but I wanted just a little more.
I used that 12" from day one but I don't need anything too powerful. I just needed lightness, thinness, good quality screen and decent speed doing normal everyday things.
While on the go I am mainly remoting in to check on computers/servers/etc. I keep an Anker 20k USB-C battery pack in my travel bag so if I'm in a pinch the battery pack can charge to get me a couple hours until I can get to a regular charger.
It is great on a plane for watching movies in between stops.
(Funny though flight attendants still want me to put it away during take off but my wife can keep out her iPad Pro 12" which is larger than the 12" MacBook)
Also I am fortunate enough to have a fairly powerful home desktop and work desktop computer so I do not really have a need for my portable computer to be anything more than very portable.
My MacBook "career" started with the 15"Pro late-09, it was too heavy, went to the '10 Air, '11 Air, '13 Air these were good but I was wanting fora retina screen but didn't want to go back to a 15" model. The 12" retina was released and I bought right into that and I have now settled down with the 13"tbMBP and for me this is pretty much the ideal sport for screen quality, lightness, features.
I can definitely live with the 12" but I wanted just a little more.