Who actually is the 12" MacBook for?

[newellj]

Today I phoned John Lewis to enquire about exchanging my 256GB MacBook for a 512GB. I spoke to an extremely helpful (but probably not a great salesman!) who advised me to stick with the 256GB and buy an external hard drive, which he said you can get a 1TB for under £50. That way, he said if anything should happen to your MacBook, (lost/stolen etc.) you will always have your hard drive.

Anyway, made sense to me and am sticking with the 256GB. Saves me the £350 to upgrade to the 512 and also, have ordered a WD 1TB portable hard drive off Amazon for £46. Makes sense to me….

Anyway, quick question. Do I just download all my iTunes library onto my Mac and then onto the hard drive?

I have a huge music library that needs at least a 512GB internal drive in order to deal with apps and data and still have room for the music. This MacBook is 256GB. I am sort of demo'ing iTunes Match as my music library storage method for this MacBook and a couple of iPads that won't hold my music library. It isn't perfect (there were a lot of missed songs), but it's good enough that I think it's a very good solution for a very modest annual charge (that benefits several devices, not just this laptop). Food for thought - YMMV.
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On another note, can anyone recommend a dongle?

Satchi, $50ish, 2x USB-A 3.0, HDMI and pass-through charging. About the size of a pencil broken in half with the two pieces lying side by side..

 

[AVBeatMan]

OK, it’s me again!

Tried downloading my iTunes library overnight. As I went to bed it had downloaded 17GB of 60. This morning when I checked it had only moved up to 19 GB. MacBook was hot underneath so it must have been doing something? I’m getting 30= Mbps Wi-Fi speeds. Anyone have any idea what’s going wrong?

 

[Dave245]

OK, it’s me again!

Tried downloading my iTunes library overnight. As I went to bed it had downloaded 17GB of 60. This morning when I checked it had only moved up to 19 GB. MacBook was hot underneath so it must have been doing something? I’m getting 30= Mbps Wi-Fi speeds. Anyone have any idea what’s going wrong?

I'm not sure as there are no fans in the MacBook so it shouldn't ever get to a point where it overheats or anything. As far as i'm aware the only thing that can affect download are the internet speeds (some one correct me if i'm wrong please).

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

OK, it’s me again!

Tried downloading my iTunes library overnight. As I went to bed it had downloaded 17GB of 60. This morning when I checked it had only moved up to 19 GB. MacBook was hot underneath so it must have been doing something? I’m getting 30= Mbps Wi-Fi speeds. Anyone have any idea what’s going wrong?

Hi Dave,
Has the MacBook put itself to sleep possibly after a certain amount of time therefore, downloading stopped?
[doublepost=1528419499][/doublepost]@Dave245 Deadpool was EXCELLENT! Very quirky!
The iTunes 4K HDR copy was INSANE! Picture quality was out of this world - truly sparkling AND the sound WOW!!!! And that was just plain DD 5.1 imagine what the Dolby Atmos track will sound like in tvOS12!!!
It really showed how incredible the Apple TV 4K is!!!

 

[AVBeatMan]

Hi Dave,
Has the MacBook put itself to sleep possibly after a certain amount of time therefore, downloading stopped?
[doublepost=1528419499][/doublepost]@Dave245 Deadpool was EXCELLENT! Very quirky!
The iTunes 4K HDR copy was INSANE! Picture quality was out of this world - truly sparkling AND the sound WOW!!!! And that was just plain DD 5.1 imagine what the Dolby Atmos track will sound like in tvOS12!!!
It really showed how incredible the Apple TV 4K is!!!

Spoke to Apple last night and they couldn’t see anything wrong with what I’m doing. They suggested I shut the Mac down for an hour and then try again. This I did and it is downloading just slowly and it keeps stopping. Up to 39% of 60 so I am getting there!

After I’ve downloaded iTunes I’m going to put it and my photos on the hard drive.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Ive moves all my songs and music onto a hard drive and deleted from the Mac but now the system has grown to 135GB! What’s going on? Any ideas?

 

[AVBeatMan]

Sorted it. It just needed a time machine backup. Now looking much healthier with 221GB available.

 

[Dave245]

Sorted it. It just needed a time machine backup. Now looking much healthier with 221GB available.

Personally I would prefer to get the 512GB SSD, i wish they would add a 1TB option but I doubt it.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Personally I would prefer to get the 512GB SSD, i wish they would add a 1TB option but I doubt it.

Apart from the extra storage is there any other difference between the two? Are the processors the same?

 

[Dave245]

Apart from the extra storage is there any other difference between the two? Are the processors the same?

The processor on the 512GB is a i5 which can be upgraded to the i7, on the 256GB MacBook the processor is a Core M3.

 

[HappyIntro]

Apart from the extra storage is there any other difference between the two? Are the processors the same?

Also I've read that the 512GB unit has slightly faster throughput than the 256GB unit. However they are both super fast, so I bet there's no noticeable difference in everyday use.

 

[newellj]

The processor on the 512GB is a i5 which can be upgraded to the i7, on the 256GB MacBook the processor is a Core M3.

For most users, it's not clear to me that the processor upgrade is a net plus. It obviously depends on your uses and needs, but I owned some MBAs with i5 and i7 (admittedly older generations) and mostly all I got out of the i7 was shorter battery life.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Don't forget guys, this is the CORE M. It's a tiny little thing that has been given a new life by Apple's amazing optimisation of its software. M3, i5, i7 in the real world are all going to be very similar.

The 2017 M3 is a real winner in terms of performance. I have the i5 model simply because I needed 512GB SSD.
I tend to think of the MacBook as M3 and i5 simply as storage options with the i7 simply being a marketing ploy.
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Sorted it. It just needed a time machine backup. Now looking much healthier with 221GB available.

Dave removing all iTunes content from your SSD and storing on a hard drive seems a painful way of enjoying your music. I wouldn't recommend that method personally.
PS Instead of redownloading all of your 60GB of iTunes, why didn't you just copy the lot from your old MacBook Pro to the MacBook using TimeMachine? Would of been a lot quicker - maybe an hour or two.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Don't forget guys, this is the CORE M. It's a tiny little thing that has been given a new life by Apple's amazing optimisation of its software. M3, i5, i7 in the real world are all going to be very similar.

The 2017 M3 is a real winner in terms of performance. I have the i5 model simply because I needed 512GB SSD.
I tend to think of the MacBook as M3 and i5 simply as storage options with the i7 simply being a marketing ploy.
[doublepost=1528629599][/doublepost]

Dave removing all iTunes content from your SSD and storing on a hard drive seems a painful way of enjoying your music. I wouldn't recommend that method personally.
PS Instead of redownloading all of your 60GB of iTunes, why didn't you just copy the lot from your old MacBook Pro to the MacBook using TimeMachine? Would of been a lot quicker - maybe an hour or two.

I only use my iPhone to listen to music so don't need any on the MacBook. I also subscribe to Apple Music so there's that also.

 

[Dave245]

Don't forget guys, this is the CORE M. It's a tiny little thing that has been given a new life by Apple's amazing optimisation of its software. M3, i5, i7 in the real world are all going to be very similar.

The 2017 M3 is a real winner in terms of performance. I have the i5 model simply because I needed 512GB SSD.
I tend to think of the MacBook as M3 and i5 simply as storage options with the i7 simply being a marketing ploy.

I do agree with this, from what I’ve seen there really isn’t much difference performance wise with the i7 vs the i5. I do wish they would offer a 1TB SSD option tho but maybe Apple’s thinking is that the MacBook is for the average consumer and therefore they don’t need that much storage.

 

[Clix Pix]

I have the i7 MacBook, and I think it is a little quicker, faster than the i5, but not that much more so. I wanted -- needed -- 512 GB and also wanted 16 GB RAM. My little MacBook is very quick, zips right along!

As for needing storage -- one can always supplement with an external SSD, which works very nicely and provides flexibility in what one keeps on the machine's internal SSD and what can be available very quickly on the external.

 

[newellj]

The 2017 M3 is a real winner in terms of performance. .

I can strongly confirm that.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Here you go @Dave245 beautiful cycling brand RAPHA have just launched a MacBook sleeve case. And very nice it is too! I'm getting one. I LOVE RAPHA!!!!!!!!! Their designs are beautiful!
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...8e8647c800795c4baf4bc422531c9eb627d8402a21ea9

 

[12vElectronics]

I use mine for website and app development, Photoshop and the usual dross. To me, it's like an iPad you can actually do productive things on. Mine (Early 2015) does struggle with 4K screens AND that workload, though.

iOS is far too linear for productivity - using one app, then the next app, then the next app. MacOS isn't. One day there will be a perfect balance and one OS across devices, but today is not that day.

I actually use it at work, too. Ditched the XPS they gave me and just started to "BYOD".

Macbook can hold to the task of web development/programming? I'll start my courses in September and trying to decide what laptop to buy!

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I do agree with this, from what I’ve seen there really isn’t much difference performance wise with the i7 vs the i5. I do wish they would offer a 1TB SSD option tho but maybe Apple’s thinking is that the MacBook is for the average consumer and therefore they don’t need that much storage.

Yes i'd LOVE a 1TB option BUT Dave, it would come in at £1950 - that's insane for the tiny MacBook. I really think that if I was spending £2000, i'd go for the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and 1TB at £2300. (it reminds me of a Fiat 500 or Mini - get ALL of the options for it and it's the price of a Audi A3 S Line / S3 sedan).

 

[kcroyal]

I run R studio on my 2017 17,16,512 (i bought it refurbed so it was less than the new i5 version at the time). I also edit iMovies with the 4k60fps video I shoot on my iPhone. It does get hot and it does throttle down, but I don't do professional editing so the additional 10 minutes it may take to render and push to theater doesn't bother me. My iPad Pro 10.5 would do the same under the same conditions (i sold the Pro). Love this little machine. I can travel with in addition to the big developer laptop I have through work.

 

[andy9l]

Macbook can hold to the task of web development/programming? I'll start my courses in September and trying to decide what laptop to buy!

My 2015 one did, yep. I’ve since moved on to a 13” MBP for smoother work on my aforementioned 4K screen. But they both work well for web dev - generally a relatively light workload by today’s standards.

 

[Dave245]

Yes i'd LOVE a 1TB option BUT Dave, it would come in at £1950 - that's insane for the tiny MacBook. I really think that if I was spending £2000, i'd go for the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and 1TB at £2300. (it reminds me of a Fiat 500 or Mini - get ALL of the options for it and it's the price of a Audi A3 S Line / S3 sedan).

When the budget MacBook is announced later this year (Mark Gurman has mentioned it as well) i wonder if Apple will reduce the price of the 12" MacBook maybe add further options such as a 1TB.

OR will the so called budget MacBook in fact be a MacBook Air with retina display? from the leaks and rumours it is said to be a 13" with a display that's the same pixels as the MacBook Pro but NOT the same screen quality.

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/cheaper-new-macbook-coming-june-report

"LG Display, with a sharp resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. That's a lot higher than the 1440 x 900 in today's Air and it's even sharper than the 12-inch MacBook's 2304 x 1440. The current MacBook Prohas the same 2560 x 1600-pixel resolution."

Production has been pushed back until Q3 this year https://9to5mac.com/2018/04/30/apples-new-13-inch-retina-macbook-air-unlikely-to-launch-at-wwdc/

 

[newellj]

Well...the return period for my 2017 m3/256GB rMB expired last night (absurdly long Best Buy period - purchase date was 4/30). I had owned two of these back in 2015 and had several problems with them, the worst being the unusable keyboard (which has been significantly improved).

The reason I decided I'd keep this one is that it is amazingly more portable than my 2015 rMBP and honestly does just about everything that the rMBP does, as well, and as quickly (or so close I don't notice). I love the physical envelope. The keyboard could be a little better, but the 2015 rMBP and my beloved previous-gen Apple BT keyboards now feel a little mushy by comparison. Actually, the thing that sometimes fouls me up with the rMB keyboard is not the reduced travel but what feels to me like oversized key pads.

My uses - it was purchased to be a dedicated laptop for the remote access client my firm uses. Ironically it runs the client better than the high-end Lenovo that the firm issues. Other than that, I run MS Office apps and Adobe Acrobat Pro locally - those aren't very demanding, but maybe that's the point. Web browsing - again, not very demanding and way within the m3's abilities.

I've run Audacity a few times to edit audio files. Honestly, the m3 rMB runs that as well and (I think) about as fast as the 2.9gHz i5 in the rMBP.

I have decided that the single USB-C port (which still intellectually annoys me) is not a practical issue in real life - a $50 hub totally solved that (non-)problem.

I should also say that I've come to appreciate the fanless m3. I run iStat Menus and have kept an eye on the CPU temp. It's typically between 93-107^o F. I've seen a few higher temps - but nothing more than around 145F. I feel a little silly saying so, but it's nice not to have the fans in the rMBP spinning up.

Overall, it's just a great little, light machine and for the $950 I paid for it, almost a steal.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

When the budget MacBook is announced later this year (Mark Gurman has mentioned it as well) i wonder if Apple will reduce the price of the 12" MacBook maybe add further options such as a 1TB.

OR will the so called budget MacBook in fact be a MacBook Air with retina display? from the leaks and rumours it is said to be a 13" with a display that's the same pixels as the MacBook Pro but NOT the same screen quality.

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/cheaper-new-macbook-coming-june-report

"LG Display, with a sharp resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. That's a lot higher than the 1440 x 900 in today's Air and it's even sharper than the 12-inch MacBook's 2304 x 1440. The current MacBook Prohas the same 2560 x 1600-pixel resolution."

Production has been pushed back until Q3 this year https://9to5mac.com/2018/04/30/apples-new-13-inch-retina-macbook-air-unlikely-to-launch-at-wwdc/

Seems very strange and unlike Apple to launch a cheaper laptop with a retina screen and a 13" design and then sell a 12" MacBook at a higher price and then a 13" MacBook Pro at a little more.

To me, it doesn't fit. It doesn't make business sense or have a uniform approach to it. Maybe the new cheaper laptop will simply be a 12" MacBook with 128GB of storage which would drop the price by £200 along with a £100 price reduction which should = £900 or £700 before the 20% UK price increase.

MAYBE, we won't see it this year and next year there will be a new MacBook with Apple's A13 bionic fusion chip design

But who knows? With all of this Apple secrecy, it's actually far more exciting than having leaks and then knowing it all before launch day