"I’m going to start where I left off in our introduction, which was the concept of the laptop/tablet crossover. The idea of laptops and tablets crossing over is no longer merely an idea, but now it is reality"
Yea. Back here, we call those "Netbooks". But "crossover" sounds cooler.
You don't know what a netbook is. They were cheap devices with low quality screens and poor build quality. Try reading the review you are commenting on.
Maybe in 2012 laptop is higher quality netbook. I am starting to feel that Anandtech is getting too 'careful' with the OEMs. M9 is bad, call it that. this Macbook fits squarely in the netbook term from functionality standpoint, despite the price premium for the fit and finish. No need to redefine a new 'crossover' term just to keep Apple marketing managers happy.
Right now, chromebook and other ultraportables (such as this one) with the relatively slow core M are the de-facto sucessor to netbook. Single usb port also a netbook typical compromise. It not convertible nor it has a touchscreen, so.. NETBOOK.
Tech evolves, therefore performance expectation should evolve with it. the core M is barely faster than a 2012 intel i3-3217U on geekbench. It is the lowest performance tier of Intel big core family.
Anandtech used to be unbiased, I think they finally started the slow descent towards 'marketing for OEM'. I understand where this is coming from, and I am willing to pay for anandtech subscription if that what it takes to restore the one place a techie can get an unbiased, deep dive into new techs.
Purch should differentiate Tom's & Anand by using Tom's for their mainstream, 'marketing compatible portal' while turning Anand into a subscription based portal, with reviews selection based on customer votes, each one completely unbiased, purely technical, pull-no-punches style.
Yet another fine addition to the long list of "Terrible Products Apple Makes to Gouge Money out of People".
The new MacBook is a testament to Apple's collapsing technical acumen. They eliminate all ports except for one outdated USB port? This craven stupidity should send the last adherents running. But running to what? Windows isn't even a viable option anymore, since it now is the most widespread commercial NSA gathering tool available, closely followed by Android, iOS and OS X.
It's a sad day for people who need real computers. Jony Ive is a pompous, clueless hack who should be fired for introducing crippling regressions like this one.
Look at this POS: One USB port, which will require an adapter to do anything. So if you're going to require an adapter anyway, why not make that one port a modern one: Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt can carry USB, video, Ethernet, external storage... ALL AT ONCE. And it can be daisy-chained, which is hugely important when the computer has ONLY ONE PORT. So WTF is Apple doing making its sole port USB?
And again, are you kidding me? One tiny USB connector? Now every sorry user of this pos has to find a thunderbolt to USB C, a USB C to USB to HDMI, a USB to USB 3.0 period, a USB C to USB connector for apple’s time machine and also manage to don't short circuit all that with the AC/DC to USB C connectors, seriously ? Worth 200$ new pile of hairy connectors for the brand new gold macbook air, and that is called a revolution nowadays? No ********** way, the Dell XPS 13 is way superior, period.
By the way, they're perpetrating USB Type C connectors. Thunderbolt is a much-needed step to a modern I/O standard. USB is an outdated, abused standard that was designed for keyboards, mice, and modems. It's not suitable for external storage, video, or anything else requiring bulk data transfer with minimal CPU overhead. USB C is a regression, a major step BACKWARD.
$1599.99----Less than $550.00 worth of hardware = ~$1000 premium to use OS X instead of windows. (Honestly the most expensive component of this computer is probably the screen.) Anyone with real work to do will not even be able to buy this thing. My friend’s last Air was neat in that it was small and lasted all day, but it was so under-powered, it was frustrating. I can only imagine how limited this machine will be.
Who cares about price, weight and size, when this product is crippled by a hopelessly defective design? You can't hook up a power adapter and external storage at the same time. You can't hook up an external display and external storage. Hell, you can't even plug in a thumb drive!
This product is the most asinine piece of shit Apple has produced, and that includes the (thankfully) short-lived Shuffle that could only be controlled by a gimped Morse code.
$700 less gets you the new Dell XPS 13 which will eat the Mac's lunch.
If you need to do a lot of processor intensive work, than you would not even go near this thing. It would be useless to you. If you need to crunch spreadsheets or are heavy in corporate analysis, this computer would also be useless to you.
This is the kind of computer that Apple sells a lot of. This computer is largely useless for anything other than email and facebook. It cannot store many files, it cannot process much information, and it has one external port. There is nothing wrong with using this computer for casual tasks, but it is CERTAINLY not a productivity machine.
It is what it is. A status symbol/statement. Or some other statement. A statement that you just bought a $400 netbook with a $900 case so you can show off in front of your hipster friends.
I hate to stick to Apple only facts here, but Apple said that the Air is 24% thicker than this new Macbook. That does NOT mean that the new Macbook is 24% thinner than the Air, it means that it is ~20% thinner than the Air. They clearly phrased it that way to make it sound more impressive and hence dupe the consumer, aka stupid isheep.
So, it's an iPad plus with a keyboard and an over expensive dongle so you can do everything a Dell can do, at twice the price while looking posh. And here I thought technology was about function over form. I get it, functional art; art I can do things my phone does, but in a space that anyone can see me doing it, stylishly. Crippled and non standard in-house branded "business" software does great, can't do anything really artistic on it except maybe GarageBand or stock filter photo edits to my innumerable selfies, but it's got that partially eaten fruit on the back that screams "money I'm too stupid to keep or invest wisely."
Take my money! I wouldn't hold my breath.
This is apple's marketing strategy: mind-numbing markup on dirt-cheap, mediocre laptops. They throw together a cheap little laptop, pretty it up with silver or gold paint, and ride the wave of ignorance, outrageous markup, and marketing that they've been using as a business model for many, many years now. The only thing Apple has ever made that's less worthless than all the other crap their conspirators like Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd excrete all day and night by taking advantage of child labour are iOS and OS X which, besides being notoriously crippled and constrained walled gardens, aren’t even worth the hassle unless you also dumped thousands of dollars into other apple products.
Many apple owners I’ve encountered never stop trying to belittle and demean others because they don’t have a Macbook or an iPhone and then try to act like their overpriced apple products are overall better when they are certainly not, by any standard.
Luxury cars, while still worthless crash grabs, usually offer some quality and features that are actually somewhat superior to cheaper competing brands and models. Macbooks such as this start already expensive as hell with little performance to warrant such outrageous costs. Apple isn’t the luxury car of anything. It’s the luxury car DESIGN with a 4-cylinder under the hood and a tape-deck in the sound system, all with the price tag of "luxury". They sell laptops made cheap in china, using child labour and the same hardware you can find in SO many other laptops, slap their OS on it, put it in a thin case, and then markup the price by 300% to 600%. These are the facts. This laptop in question is nowhere NEAR worth that kind of money. I mean, laptops in general are overpriced, but apple has made their entire business model out of extreme markups backed by clever marketing with little actual technological superiority of any kind. Every single apple product on the market can be outperformed in every way by comparable products. Apple computers can be outperformed by computers that are FAR FAR cheaper while relying on older tech. The only thing that apple has that nobody else does is OSX and iOS, their operating systems. These are mediocre operating systems, but they are literally designed to be limited on anything it determines to be "non-apple hardware". Other operating systems can be installed on just about any computer you can slap together, whereas OSX is specifically and deliberately designed to be non-functional on ANYTHING that isn’t made by apple. It’s nothing but a cash-grab.
Apple is indeed playing run-of-the-mill capitalism, they try to capitalize on the ignorance of the average consumer with marketing campaigns designed to make you assume you're getting your money's worth.
There are millions of consumers who are on the fence, who are actually interested in buying something that's worth the money they spend. Those people deserve factual information and do not deserve to be exploited for their ignorance on the topic. So excuse me if I have a problem with it. College students especially, who don’t have a lot to spend in the first place, are being taken advantage of in every area of their life. Buying a computer should be one less area of exploitation. This is why I have a problem with apple and with many other companies and services that attempt to capitalize on ignorance.
Years down the road when the batteries in this model are dead and you have to keep it plugged in just to use then you'll have no way to plug in a flash drive or an external hard drive. I don't care how sexy it looks: sometimes and more often than not less means a serious lack of functionality.
We can only hope that consumers send this piece of diabolic garbage to oblivion, as they did the idiotic iPod Shuffle that could only be controlled with Morse code over a proprietary headphone wire.
You literally just typed a small novel spewing a bunch of claims without citing anything to support your arguments, or outright fabricating stuff. It's the absolute definition of a poorly written, complete waste of time. Please take your rants elsewhere, Anandtech readers, last I checked, enjoy discussing tech, not spouting conspiracy theories and raving like lunatics.
Do not agree, it is based on facts. I have after a few months had enough of the slowness, horrible new style keyboard and the one connector technology that forced me to buy 5 adapters, so I have one everywhere. Hopeless. El capitan is my last Apple software since 10 years Apple. Looking forward to Windows on a decent and not overpriced machine.
You must love your dongles then. Homeboy has a point: I buy a work machine to do work. If I have to add shit for it to be useful, then it's an inferior tool. I shouldn't have to pray that an industry standard exists in my devices, nor should I have to concern myself with the quandary that Apple likes to provide their tightly budgeted customers who just need to be able to do their work (over the hard disk space that is not expandable). I want to be able to expand my innards like my 2010 MBP when I had 2 fucking HDDs and it was sublime. And everything could plug into it! Compare to today when I have to have Tony Stark's wallet to get out of the store. That's not my cuppa. If you have a flash drive lying around it should be usable in your machine without you having to run to the ATM to shell out for fucking DONGLES. And don't get me started on the missing touch screens, bro. That shit's been peeving me since 2008. If Apple listened to someone other than Señor Ive, I'd have the machine I want. Back when Apple nixed the floppy drive (1998) I was okay because CDs were a viable improvement/workaround. I even thought that the NEXT cube was great with the MO drive. But a $900 bump to add a 1TB SSD is 'Nutrageous'. It's Apple's way of saying "You're not invited to my party". Bad karma, dude.
Happy with mine. Wanted something slightly more powerful than an Ipad with a keyboard.
I used to be a Windows/Linux/build your own PC person. Then I had kids/life got busy. Now the entire family is on Ical etc etc etc and changing back to Windows would result in a lot of headaches and time for the head of IT (ME). My time is my most valuable commodity.
It's not a desktop replacement. It's for emails/word processing/web surfing. I've got a desktop, it's for all the other stuff.
As much as I hate Apple sometimes (Their continued half assed product introductions and complete lack of clarity piss me off and their general neglect of OS X are real issues) it hasn't reached the point that I'm ready to jettison the apple ecosystem YET.
It seems people get angry when they introduce s machine that doesn't meet their needs. This meets mine perfectly. Sorry they missed the mark for you this time. Glad Dell did. Isn't the free market great?
I am happy with my Macbook too. I am a bluntly simple user of basic 'office productivity' apps, plus social fluff. I might be the ideal customer for the new Macbook because I upgraded from a 4.5 year old 11" Macbook Air. Compared to the older Air, the new Macbook is faster, lighter, smaller (but with a larger RETINA screen), and gets better battery life. Love the trackpad, and am ambivalent on the keyboard. I got the faster CPU which geek-benches similar to a 1-2 year old Air. Which is fine with me. Did it cost too much? Yup. Do I regret it? No.
The new Macbook is the vanguard of what will replace the Macbook Air line. Like the Air, the first model of which was slow, overpriced, if sexy to look at. the new Macbook will get faster and cheaper in time. Apple will (my opinion) drop the Air line in a few years time, when the Retina Macbook will have gotten a bit faster and can be sold at prices more like the Air.
no one gets this product, it's a great 2nd or 3rd computer to bring to coffee shops, or to throw in your bag just in case you want to do some computing.... there aren't many 2.0 LB laptops to choose from, and this has the best keyboard/trackpad/screen combination...
Sure it's slow, but think of what they say about cameras, the best one is the one that you brought with you... this is the kind of computer you can just always have with you and it won't feel like a burden.
Did you write something similar about the original MacBook Air, you know the one that cost about 3 times as much as this, also had only USB, video out (micro-DVI if memory serves which nothing else ever used), and a headphone jack, and had atrocious performance compared to its contemporaries? The same MacBook Air that only one redesign later would go on to become the defacto standard for how mainstream laptops are built now. I suppose it is easier to rant without any use for foresight.
Seriously, BittenRottenApple: You need to get laid.
All companies will do whatever they can to sell whatever they can because they want to make money and people will continue to buy their stuff. If being 'informed' means that consumers will turn into you and start spouting useless crap on technology forums for hours at a time, then they would probably rather pay a lot of money for a new OS X device and have some fun. Even if it is just a sweet-looking netbook. Grow up and quit wasting your energy on this stuff.
Also: Change your username to something less troll-like and cliché. We all knew exactly how your comment would read before even reading it.
”They eliminate all ports except for one outdated USB port?”
How is it outdated? USB 3.1 barely just hit the market.
”Other operating systems can be installed on just about any computer you can slap together, whereas OSX is specifically and deliberately designed to be non-functional on ANYTHING that isn’t made by apple.”
Not true – OS X works very well on my Hackintosh with very few modifications.
I wouldn't get this MacBook, but the recently updated 13" MacBook Pro looks quite nice in my book. I think OS X is worth a lot. There's less hassle with it overall (compared to Windows) and I can work much more switfly using it (less actions/steps needed for most common tasks). I say this working at an IT department at an office where there's computers running both Windows and OS X.
You don't have to like Apple or their products, but I don't thinks your criticism (or should I say rant) is very balanced.
Computers last 2 years for most Apple users 3 tops. Source former Apple certified repair tech. 1300 isn't that much money. And as a dedicated PC gamer with a Titan rig 24 USB ports; gigs of ram and inches of monitor; this MacBook seems like a great little second machine. I prefer portability in a laptop to power and as a somewhat fancy individual there are literally zero times I would ever need a port on a laptop other than power, which with an 8 hr battery can be discretely done from home. Some people have grown up jobs and need shiny Apple products and Mercedes cars to fit in at work.
I am an extremely informed PC builder yet I choose Apple products because they are astonishingly high performing elegant bits of jewelry/PC. Ever compare the hinges on a MacBook to a Lenovo or asus? Good Christ. Apple sound quality? 100% better then the next best PC or android bar none. And I've tried everything and seen every measurement not even close. Color quality check.
Sure it's a cult but it's reasonably priced for the quality, especially compared to a Benz. And the best part of Apple ownership is I can have Apple pie and windows and it's ok. Seriously it's fucking awesome.
There are some valid points there, and as a semi-professional video editor + graphics designer, I definitely know I'm not its' target audience. The new MacBook is designed for people who use computer differently than we do, and I'm glad a lot of my friends and people around me love the tiny laptop that is beautiful and light.
I was die hard apple fan from so many years and used to propagate apple products to such an extent that I am called Late Steve Job's best marketing guy in my hospital! However over last three years as Apple has stopped producing simple MacBook pro which are upgradeable (like mid 2012 MacBook pro) with DVD drive, I am feeling their vision of "design should include how things work" philosophy is losing its sheen. Now they are selling only MacBook Retina, no non-retina laptops!, No laptops with DVD drive!! No laptops with 8GB RAM with normal Hard disk Drive which is upgradeable!!! They are forcing us to buy ONLY Retian, with a fixed Flash drive which is meagre 126Gb or 256 GB, and those which come with 500 GB are exorbitantly costly. They are forcing us to use iCloud for storage, without realising that in many parts of the world accessibility to WiFi and iCloud. I am serious restricted by fixed 256GB Flash drive on my late 2013 Retina MacBook pro as I bought this expensive laptop, but struggling for space and the Flashdrive is not upgradeable!! From last one week I am seriously considering Apple products and going back to Windows. The design team in Apple is ignorant to a large population, who loves apple products and have moderate budget, they are busy catering only to high end products at premium price. If this continues, they will find very few people using iOS in future and Apple will die its own death. This is serious, as a die hard fan of Apple like me is writing such a comment!
Check out Thunderbolt 3. It seems like they made this form factor to accommodate it once it's finalized (and hopefully they'll include at least 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports with the next iteration).
I have to point out a serious area you lack on knowledge. You berate USB as being outdated compared to thunderbolt. If you were speaking of anything but USB C you would be correct. However, and I do not know why Apple did not point this out, USB C and thunderbolt are now one and the same. Intel announced that the standard known as Thunderbolt is now part of the USB C standard. In other words, Apple is the first to land the next generation of peripheral ports, the most versatile and fast one to date.
Thanks for this. 100% agree. I gave my Macbook with its horrible 1 connector technology and a terrible keyboard to my children and went back to Windows. Next one out is my iPhone for a Samsung.
Spot on. An Asus Transformer is what replaced my netbook. Mine actually runs Android rather than Windows, which is preferable IMO in that level of device.
The build quality is actually pretty good. It's light and strong. After lots of docking/undocking I had to put tape over the place where it locks together. So it's not perfect.
It also outperforms a netbook in practical terms. You could argue that some netbooks would benchmark higher, but the Transformer does flawless 1080p video and plays Android games very well, including the demanding ones such as GTA.
I've been pondering a Macbook Air, or even the Macbook reviewed in this article. But for my use case, $1500+ doesn't make a lot of sense. I also have a Dell 14" laptop with an i7 and NVidia graphics, so apart from being thinner and lighter, I'm not sure this has a place in my ecosystem.
Whoops didn't finish. The new MacBook, with 8gb ram, 256gb SSD, and several cutting edge technologies, top quality display, and higher price really isn't anything like a netbook at all.
Yet another fine addition to the long list of "Terrible Products Apple Makes to Gouge Money out of People".
The new MacBook is a testament to Apple's collapsing technical acumen. They eliminate all ports except for one outdated USB port? This craven stupidity should send the last adherents running. But running to what? Windows isn't even a viable option anymore, since it now is the most widespread commercial NSA gathering tool available, closely followed by Android, iOS and OS X.
It's a sad day for people who need real computers. Jony Ive is a pompous, clueless hack who should be fired for introducing crippling regressions like this one.
Look at this POS: One USB port, which will require an adapter to do anything. So if you're going to require an adapter anyway, why not make that one port a modern one: Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt can carry USB, video, Ethernet, external storage... ALL AT ONCE. And it can be daisy-chained, which is hugely important when the computer has ONLY ONE PORT. So WTF is Apple doing making its sole port USB?
And again, are you kidding me? One tiny USB connector? Now every sorry user of this pos has to find a thunderbolt to USB C, a USB C to USB to HDMI, a USB to USB 3.0 period, a USB C to USB connector for apple’s time machine and also manage to don't short circuit all that with the AC/DC to USB C connectors, seriously ? Worth 200$ new pile of hairy connectors for the brand new gold macbook air, and that is called a revolution nowadays? No ********** way, the Dell XPS 13 is way superior, period.
By the way, they're perpetrating USB Type C connectors. Thunderbolt is a much-needed step to a modern I/O standard. USB is an outdated, abused standard that was designed for keyboards, mice, and modems. It's not suitable for external storage, video, or anything else requiring bulk data transfer with minimal CPU overhead. USB C is a regression, a major step BACKWARD.
$1599.99----Less than $550.00 worth of hardware = ~$1000 premium to use OS X instead of windows. (Honestly the most expensive component of this computer is probably the screen.) Anyone with real work to do will not even be able to buy this thing. My friend’s last Air was neat in that it was small and lasted all day, but it was so under-powered, it was frustrating. I can only imagine how limited this machine will be.
Who cares about price, weight and size, when this product is crippled by a hopelessly defective design? You can't hook up a power adapter and external storage at the same time. You can't hook up an external display and external storage. Hell, you can't even plug in a thumb drive!
This product is the most asinine piece of shit Apple has produced, and that includes the (thankfully) short-lived Shuffle that could only be controlled by a gimped Morse code.
$700 less gets you the new Dell XPS 13 which will eat the Mac's lunch.
If you need to do a lot of processor intensive work, than you would not even go near this thing. It would be useless to you. If you need to crunch spreadsheets or are heavy in corporate analysis, this computer would also be useless to you.
This is the kind of computer that Apple sells a lot of. This computer is largely useless for anything other than email and facebook. It cannot store many files, it cannot process much information, and it has one external port. There is nothing wrong with using this computer for casual tasks, but it is CERTAINLY not a productivity machine.
It is what it is. A status symbol/statement. Or some other statement. A statement that you just bought a $400 netbook with a $900 case so you can show off in front of your hipster friends.
I hate to stick to Apple only facts here, but Apple said that the Air is 24% thicker than this new Macbook. That does NOT mean that the new Macbook is 24% thinner than the Air, it means that it is ~20% thinner than the Air. They clearly phrased it that way to make it sound more impressive and hence dupe the consumer, aka stupid isheep.
So, it's an iPad plus with a keyboard and an over expensive dongle so you can do everything a Dell can do, at twice the price while looking posh. And here I thought technology was about function over form. I get it, functional art; art I can do things my phone does, but in a space that anyone can see me doing it, stylishly. Crippled and non standard in-house branded "business" software does great, can't do anything really artistic on it except maybe GarageBand or stock filter photo edits to my innumerable selfies, but it's got that partially eaten fruit on the back that screams "money I'm too stupid to keep or invest wisely."
Take my money! I wouldn't hold my breath.
This is apple's marketing strategy: mind-numbing markup on dirt-cheap, mediocre laptops. They throw together a cheap little laptop, pretty it up with silver or gold paint, and ride the wave of ignorance, outrageous markup, and marketing that they've been using as a business model for many, many years now. The only thing Apple has ever made that's less worthless than all the other crap their conspirators like Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd excrete all day and night by taking advantage of child labour are iOS and OS X which, besides being notoriously crippled and constrained walled gardens, aren’t even worth the hassle unless you also dumped thousands of dollars into other apple products.
Many apple owners I’ve encountered never stop trying to belittle and demean others because they don’t have a Macbook or an iPhone and then try to act like their overpriced apple products are overall better when they are certainly not, by any standard.
Luxury cars, while still worthless crash grabs, usually offer some quality and features that are actually somewhat superior to cheaper competing brands and models. Macbooks such as this start already expensive as hell with little performance to warrant such outrageous costs. Apple isn’t the luxury car of anything. It’s the luxury car DESIGN with a 4-cylinder under the hood and a tape-deck in the sound system, all with the price tag of "luxury". They sell laptops made cheap in china, using child labour and the same hardware you can find in SO many other laptops, slap their OS on it, put it in a thin case, and then markup the price by 300% to 600%. These are the facts. This laptop in question is nowhere NEAR worth that kind of money. I mean, laptops in general are overpriced, but apple has made their entire business model out of extreme markups backed by clever marketing with little actual technological superiority of any kind. Every single apple product on the market can be outperformed in every way by comparable products. Apple computers can be outperformed by computers that are FAR FAR cheaper while relying on older tech. The only thing that apple has that nobody else does is OSX and iOS, their operating systems. These are mediocre operating systems, but they are literally designed to be limited on anything it determines to be "non-apple hardware". Other operating systems can be installed on just about any computer you can slap together, whereas OSX is specifically and deliberately designed to be non-functional on ANYTHING that isn’t made by apple. It’s nothing but a cash-grab.
Apple is indeed playing run-of-the-mill capitalism, they try to capitalize on the ignorance of the average consumer with marketing campaigns designed to make you assume you're getting your money's worth.
There are millions of consumers who are on the fence, who are actually interested in buying something that's worth the money they spend. Those people deserve factual information and do not deserve to be exploited for their ignorance on the topic. So excuse me if I have a problem with it. College students especially, who don’t have a lot to spend in the first place, are being taken advantage of in every area of their life. Buying a computer should be one less area of exploitation. This is why I have a problem with apple and with many other companies and services that attempt to capitalize on ignorance.
Years down the road when the batteries in this model are dead and you have to keep it plugged in just to use then you'll have no way to plug in a flash drive or an external hard drive. I don't care how sexy it looks: sometimes and more often than not less means a serious lack of functionality.
We can only hope that consumers send this piece of diabolic garbage to oblivion, as they did the idiotic iPod Shuffle that could only be controlled with Morse code over a proprietary headphone wire.
While I am no lover of Apple (in fact, Apple products can't cross my door), you need to give credit where its due.
1) That single port can serve (yes with dongle, but still) as single cable to plug you to power, ethernet, external display, keyboard and mouse. Now this is mucho better than my current Lenovo T-series, where I need to plug all those cables individually every time I change location.
2) 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD is insufficient? You came here back in time from 2045 or what? Show me notebook with better BASE specification.
3) If you are processing spreadsheets, that Core-M cannot handle, it must be quite a chore to do it on standard notebook as well. I would suggest optimizing the spreadsheet (less dynamic formulas where it is not necessary) or if it does not help, considering moving your work to SQL server.
Name one Core M device that's in the netbook price range. The UX305 is probably the cheapest decent Core M laptop and it's $699 base price with 8gb ram and 256gb ssd. How does that equate to a netbook exactly?
The logical successor to netbooks are the sub-$300 Windows/Chromebook Atom laptops. While they are certainly snappier than the old Atom netbooks, they are also unmistakably budget devices.
I have an HP Stream 13 and an UX305, and while I appreciate the $200 Stream for what it can do, it's nowhere near as responsive as the UX305 - aka NOT A NETBOOK.
These arguments are so ignorant that I had to create an account so I could reply. The new MacBook IS a netbook. A netbook is a small, portable laptop that has enough processing power to do basic office tasks and browse the internet. EXACTLY what this laptop is designed for. A netbook is not defined by it's price range or quality, it is defined by it's purpose. If someone made a cheap, but exteremely well performing sports coupe, you are not going to say no that is not a sports car because it doesn't have the same quality as a ferrari. Just because the new MacBook is more expensive and has better specs (not necessarily performance) does not mean it serves another purpose. It does the same thing as a netbook (because it is one) for a different market. The only reason people are arguing right now over whether this is a netbook or not is because there were no premium netbooks before so everyone assumed a netbook means weak computers that lag behind. A netbook is essentially a low performance (and previously low priced) ultrabook and that is the perfect description for the new MacBook. Thanks for reading and if you disagree please make a point and not an ad hominem.
I think you blur the lines too much. A netbook is exactly as its name implies - a device primarily designed to browse the Internet. The netbook has always been defined by a gimped operating system and/or (nearly always and) cheap construction in order to make it as affordable as possible.
The MacBook is not a netbook.
- It has a full operating system, exactly the same as every other Mac computer. - It has premium parts befitting the most expensive laptops on the market.
The ONLY thing you seem to be focusing on is the processor - there is nothing else in the MacBook design that could even remotely say 'netbook.' Is the 11" MBA a netbook? It's smaller and cheaper? Is a 2010 MBP a netbook? Because it has a slower processor than this MacBook.
The new MacBook is a laptop built on the premise that much modern computing does not need cutting edge CPU power, and can instead be built to prioritize things like battery life, silence, device size and weight. That doesn't make it a netbook.
Because of market saturation but also in acknowledgment of a widely diverse market, the industry is moving steadily away from default one-for-all solutions towards a far more diversified picture. In that sense, you might see this Macbook as an equivalent of the Galaxy View 18" tablet: purposely niche-oriented, experimental products in search of markets sectors for which they are suited. This is true for software as well. As a writer, I had to make do with a MS-Word-alike application for years; everyone's word processor was essentially the same Swiss army knife of an app. Nowadays I can use iA Write for distraction-free, concentrated writing, Mellel for academic pieces, Scrivener for writing setups and a whole host of apps for screenwriting. Can't speak for other people but I've never had it so good.
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is also using Core M processor and as is many other ultrabooks in the market. This is the trend. Netbook is a name created for calling a specific class of computers. It is like calling all printers and scanners as xerox machines.....
No. It is a form factor issue and has nothing to do with performance. Do you call a mid-tower case with keyboard, mouse, and monitor a PC? Even though the first mid-tower PCs had 80286 processors? With any form factor, performance increases over time (hopefully). Call it an ultrabook, then. The point is, it is a small form factor with focus on small size, battery life and wireless connectivity. It is a commodity device with zero expandability and limited i/o.
That's exactly right. So don't get stuck on the fact that the only possible form that technical evolution may take is based on speed improvements. In this case, evolution is taking the form of better efficiency - doing more work with less. That's what's really important in computing today; not merely making everything faster.
Your argument is basically like saying that LED lightbulbs aren't an important evolution - we should just be making ever brighter incandescent instead.
I wonder how anyone is supposed to write unbiasedly, Jesus we are human beings not robots, we actually answer to higher laws than electric ones. Opinions, you can form your own idea by surfing, reading and comparing stuff. You "shouldn't" need a place where you pay for someone to take care of your criticism.
This used to be subnotebooks. The below 13" category with outrages battery life, performance and price for its size (typically dominated by Sony back in the day iirc). Then came the First netbooks and stuff like the Acer 1810 with Core architecture CPUs, decent performance with decent battery in the below 1000$ price bracket. Current Atom stuff is netbook like, current Pentium-U stuff is like the Acer 1810 - meaning above netbook, below subnotebook - and current Core-M stuff like UX305 and MacBook is subnotebook territory. There, all the terms you need available even 3 years ago! :D
We know you're trying to be cute and dismissive, but obviously you know nothing about netbooks.
Netbooks, by Microsoft's definition, had a maximum screen size of 10", a maximum resolution of either 1024x768, or 800x600, I don't remember which right now. It also couldn't have more that a certain, small amount of RAM or storage, and an Atom CPU.
Any more than the maximum couldn't qualify for the $15 XP, and later, win 7 Starter edition.
Really, if you don't know any of this, you know nothing.
Truth be told I was tempted to drop the term "netbook" in this article, but ultimately decided not to for that exact reason. Netbooks were ultra-cheap Atom powered computers; the MacBook is neither cheap in price or build quality, nor is it Atom powered.
The successor to the Netbook is for all practical purposes the Chromebook. The MacBook on the other hand doesn't easily compare to other small laptops since this is the first time Core has been available at such a low wattage.
The spiritual successor is probably a Chromebook, tho I'd argue the functional successor for anyone that bought a netbook as a second/third device would be something like the Surface 3 (non-Pro)...
The first Atom netbooks weren't as cheap as some people seem to think, I'm pretty sure I paid something in the mid $400s for my Aspire One, it's still banging around the house (with a RAM bump to 2GB and a 40GB X25-V).
I never really replaced that thing per se... I actually bought an OG ASUS TF to "tide me over" until ultrabooks, eventually realized I didn't really want to manage a laptop in addition to my desktop, and just made do with tablets on the go (N7 replaced TF).
Been a while since I used the old netbook, but Surface 3 is looking awfully appealing. Hopefully MS will deliver one to AT pre launch. Btw, does Apple intend to sandbag the Air with crappy TN screens forever now that there's a new MB?
$400 was cheap then? Because inflation goes in reverse? :p I don't know if you can say $400 was a small sum, I guess in relative terms you could argue most laptops were over $600... That seems like splitting hairs tho, a year or two later C2D laptops were encroaching on netbook prices and ultrabooks started looming in an effort to bring premium systems and prices into the limelight.
The x7 in the Surface 3 is nowhere as powerful as the Core-M. It's even less powerful than the A8X despite having one extra core (and even less than the A8 in single core Geekbench 3 score):
Geekbench score has some merit when comparing the same family of CPUs, like comparing one big-core Intel vs another big-core Intel. Comparing Geekbench result from different ISA seem to make little sense as the relative score is often quite far from what one see when comparing "real" programs.
I bought an eeepc 1000he as a more mobile laptop since my 15.4" at the time was becoming a pain with its lackluster battery life of 2.5 hours real life, 3.5 if I tried. I have been meaning to upgrade to a SSD and 2GB ram but I feel that would still be limiting with the low resolution screen and single core atom. Still works great after over 5 years.
I'd argue that the true functional successor is the Transformer T100 and other OEM equivalents. Its cost is also on par with the original Asus eeepcs and is far more functional, even taking into account the time frame. The surface 3 I would call a premium netbook. I'm kinda more interested to see asus's transformers with the x7 when they come out. I was admittedly disappointed when the new chi line came out with the same internals as the T100 and at the top end core M. Ah well. I have a yoga pro 2 and I'm content with just about everything as my sole mobile PC now and I'm glad to not be shifting between two laptops anymore.
Calling this a netbook is the easiest, laziest, and most ignorant response to make. Typically by people who have some whiny anti-apple issue. Netbooks were cheap laptops with substandard everything. Now there are even cheaper laptops with lousy displays, build quality and of course they run Windows.
No Netbook from functionality standpoint is an ultra efficient, relatively low performance, severely limited IO compromise to the 2012 laptop market. From that functionality standpoint, this macbook is a netbook.
Core M is still slow according to 2015 standards, the macbook still only have a single USB port. Both of this makes it a 2015 netbook, albeit a premium one, around $800ish gets you the nicer material and screen, but not functionality.
I still can't do reasonable FPS on 4K encodes with it, it still will not run my USB to CAN bus adapter. I still need a hub to run multiple USB devices, etc. The same relative feature and performance compromises between laptop-netbook still here. Both devices evolved (and our expectation should as well), in the past 3 years since netbook term was coined.
First netbooks arrived like 8-9 years ago. iPad & tablets completely annihilated that category. Any el cheapo Android tablet can do more than Vista-powered Atom with 1GB RAM and mechanical HDD paired with 1024x800 TN panel.
MacBook Core-M performance is absolutely perfect for anyone doing mostly e-mails, office, browsing. Short, burst, tasks. Doubtful you would be able to tell difference at these tasks between Core-M and i7-4790.
Obvisously, the 4.5W power envelope has its downsides - most demanding game this could reasonably run is probably something like plants vs zombies. But then you would get rewarded by great portability when running around airports.
If your performance yardstick is video encoding, anything short of full desktop is unsatisfactory anyway.
"MacBook Core-M performance is absolutely perfect for anyone doing mostly e-mails, office, browsing."
Those three things were literally the tasks netbooks were made to do. Netbooks are perfect for email, office, and web because they have all the power you need and insane battery life. Which is exactly what the MacBook is.
But why would you pay $1300+ when your use case is email, Web and office? You should be able to get something far south of $1000 that can fly through those tasks (including apple's own MBA which of course isn't far south of $1000 but you pay the apple tax and it's still cheaper than this machine). ..maybe somewhat more to get 8 gb of RAM (although why would you need for that use case) and 256 gb of storage. If that's your use case and you buy one of these that suggests to me that you want to pay hundreds of dollars for the way it looks. ..not the end of the world and certainly your prerogative.
Meh. If I'm going to be more truthful, I'd say the new MacBook is actually worse than other netbooks as a value proposition. This isn't 2009. This device isn't a hybrid with a touchscreen like the Yoga 3 Pro. You're losing TOO MUCH for a design that isn't worth the price tag. Apple is making up for the *lacking factor* somewhat with a better screen and storage, but they should've used a better processor, made it a bit thicker, and put a larger battery. Oh wait, they ALREADY have a product like that; it's called the Macbook Air.
I'd recommend an Air over this $1300 NETBOOK any day, every day. But Apple is being Apple here; they're trying to create a new, confusing, device category with this device. But I guess they can get away with it *because* they're Apple (ie: a luxury brand, as most people think of them).
Those who think that Apple is "hated" because ^one of their products is criticized are simply paranoid (too many of them actually). It's "easier", "lazier", and "more ignorant" to call out constructive criticism as "whiny anti-Apple" no?
The fact that you think the storage is a salient point in comparing any computers that have SSDs simply shows how out of touch you are with what laptops actually need to be right now. SSD performance differences (assuming one isn't totally wrecked and TRIMless) are things you only really notice looking at two computers side by side. If they are reasonably sized, then they have the same practical performance for all consumer uses.
That's the bit that gets me, though. You people are clearly expecting this thing to do a lot more than it actually does. Did you dislike the Surface Pro 3, too? Because that's a weaker device all around than this thing is, and heavier, and louder, and with an even worse keyboard and trackpad, for the same price matched to storage and RAM sizes. But yet it could handle prosumer level things (like music production) fairly well. I enjoyed light 3D games like Civ V at full resolution and settings. So will this. How the heck is it a netbook?
I agree the functionality compromises to keep with Apple's obsession for thin has reached the point of being dumb now. But the Apple fanboys will say this is genius and the "future". No thanks.
Looks like a netbook to me. Or ultrabook if you press me.
And with that CPU, I'd imagine it'd choak trying to encrypt some videos for my phone to take on a road trip with me.
Other than that, I'm impressed with that keyboard layout, especially with the new keys they've designed.
Unless it was free though - I'd not place my money anywhere NEAR a device with one peripheral port, especially one aimed at being so mobile (think not wanting to carry extra hubs etc).
Honestly? What's the difference between a $300 and a $3000 laptop? Aren't both called "Laptops"?
This is totally a netbook, albeit better built with somewhat better performance. But absolutely NOT a laptop nor the cooler sounding "crossover", whatever that is. This isn't a hybrid either, nor does it have (or makes use of) a touchscreen.
You're losing too much with this product. Battery life isn't as good as similarly priced, similarly sized laptops (even from Apple), and the performance totally off the mark.
It seems that lots of people here don't know what netbooks are. Netbooks have full Windows, they can do more "stuff" than this Macbook can do. You're probably thinking Chromebooks. Netbooks and Chromebooks are not the same thing.
Please stop with talk of editing video or playing games with this thing...unless you mean solitaire. This thing is not a full blown laptop.mit has compromises everywhere.
I have no idea why people think you need a high-end supercomputer to do video editing.. this laptop is just as fast as a Macbook air from 2011. People were doing video editing with far slower computers in the 90s.
Similarly sized laptop from Apple is the 11" Air, this has double the pixels with more battery life, and once configured with similar storage and memory is $100 more. Please do enlighten me as to what other "similarly sized" laptops are out there that outdo this so categorically. Keep in mind size isn't just how thick it is but rather overall volume of the package, and of course none of those laptops I'm sure you're going to mention are in the same weight class as this.
You mean except for the part where they don't. Computers in that size and price bracket still exist as cheap windows laptops and chrome books. Neither have Core M processors.
Netbooks weren't *that* bad at launch, relatively speaking, Atom was a lot better than the first gen VIA/etc stuff on the earliest netbooks... Problem is Intel sandbagged Atom and it stood still for years, took a few years until they even put out a mobo chipset that wasn't a total power hog and more appropriately matched Atom. OG Atom didn't launch in the Core i3/5 era, it just had to live on well into it before Intel woke up.
One thing that qualifies it as a "cross-over" is the 16x10 screen. Taller screens are part of the secret sauce that makes pads so useful; fear of letterbox (which is really bonus screen area) makes small laptops less useful without making them any easier to carry. Netbooks were just for surfing and checking mail. Jobs refused to build one - the iPad came out and netbooks went away.
It's neither a Netbook nor a crossover. But a crossover would imply that it's in some way similar to a tablet, which it is not. This one comes with OS X, has a keyboard, and a USB port - it's not an appliance, it's a computer.
I am thinking about it as a replacement for my retina MacBook Pro 15" but I think the screen is probably too small. Performance-wise I think it should be OK for programming - even if Xcode will doubtlessly bring it to its knees, as it seems to be able to do with any computer.
As for a pro computer needing massive CPU horsepower - that's a myth. Most of your daily tasks are going to be constrained by solid storage speed or internet speed, not by CPU speed.
Unless you're gaming (hardly a "pro" activity I may add), or encoding videos or rendering 3D, you don't need a quad core i7.
Things that have maxed out my CPU lately: - Bad Apple software. Photos doing its face detection on my entire library for what seemed like an eternity - Bad other software. Popcorn Time thanks to using a framework for video that seems even less efficient than Flash on the Mac, which is an achievement of sorts. - Re-encoding Video. I do this so infrequently that I can probably live with it taking way longer.
I'm sure Apple will sell a lot of these, and my guess is that this is the most profitable product in a long time. Their reason for only having one port is to cut manufacturing cost. This enables them to have a tiny PCB. Yes, there is more battery volume, but batteries are much cheaper than PCB area.
I'm sure this is a great article but woah, what's with the photography in this article? Anandtech won't pay for actual slr? The shots are blurry, grainy high ISO images that look like bad smartphone captures.
Are you looking at it on a smartphone? I dunno about anyone else, but Anandtech articles have blurry as hell images when viewed on my phone. I guess it has something to do with them being resized improperly.
"The good news is that Apple does sell Type-C multiport adapters that serve as a breakout box for more ports...but of course this is an additional $79 cost and is one more item to carry around."
Found out how they manage to make their devices look more comparable to PCs: just make a dongle for standard (in the PC world) connectivity to shift the cost from purchase price to total-cost-of-ownership!
Well it is pretty amusing that you think Apple cares at all about making their devices comparable to PC's. But there are already many alternate cables besides Apple's and there will be many more that will cover anyones needs.
Great! When I get my MacBook, it will take two hands to carry it: one for the MacBook itself, and the other for the many alternate cables I'll need to carry around when I use it! Or maybe I'll just leave the MacBook on my desk because I'm too lazy to keep track of where all my cables are to make it usable on the go. :-)
I'm sorry my keyboard doesn't have a key labeled "smiley face", so instead I added :-) at the end of my comment. But since you brought it up, do you seriously think people are not going to try to use it as a replacement for a full-fledged laptop, and do you think Apple will tell people not to buy it if their purpose is to replace said laptop? You read the article, so you know better, but most people who will be buying it will not have read the article. And I'll bet you Apple knows this will be the case. So tell me you won't be seeing people walking around with a MacBook in one hand, and a fistful of cables in the other (or at least in their purse/briefcase). If my wife didn't trust my advice, she could be one of them!
I just find it hilarious how tech writers from major tech sites tip-toe around major product issues when said product comes from Intel or Apple (the fact that this one includes both, just makes the bias that much worse).
So an attempt at a hybrid device but without a tounchscreen? How anyone can think that Macs are cutting edge when they don't even have a touchscreen which is the way that we interact with technology 80% of the time.
and the force click rubbish, which is just right click in disguise!
This is pretty much my whole reservation with this thing as well. With this being essentially a "crossover" or ultra high class netbook, you are pretty much limited to very standard capabilities tied to the internet. No power apps here. They should have just put iOS on it. At least then it would have much more in terms of apps from the iOS app store.
Meh, it's not really a hybrid device IMO, it's just the logical evolution of the Air from Apple's PoV (whether we agree with it or not). I think it'll be interesting to see just what corners they cut or how slowly they develop future Airs if that is to be the be budget model, I guess TN is there to stay which is luscious at $1K.
I don't see the point of a touchscreen unless you have a 180 degree hinge or some actual split/hybrid mode, reaching over keyboard to touch the screen constantly is all kinds of awkward. Yoga/Surface/Transformer are hybrids.
You've obviously NEVER used a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or an Air. I remember thinking like you almost a decade ago. Found my Mac, haven't looked back (nor carried a mouse). NOTHING is worse than a touchscreen when attempting to use OS X or Windows (I've got an 8.1 13" HP 2in 1 and you're correct, PC touch pads suck, but greasy screens and impossible touch targeting on today's OSes doesn't work. At. All
I want MacBook Pro with Skylake CPU and USB Type-C + USB Type-A in one side, and same for the other side, and no magsafe charging, ( not to mention the regular miniDP + Thunderbolt + SD card reader ) so we can use any of Type-C ports to charge the laptop
I honestly think this would be a lot more usable if they had dropped the headphone jack and instead had 2 USB type-c connectors. No being able to plug in anything at all while charging makes this product totally unusable, at least for me.
Why is it impossible for you to unplug the charging cable while you plug something else in? And why are you so certain that you will need to charge all the time anyway?
My computer needs to be able to do whatever I need it to do when I need it done. If I am spending 1300 on a laptop, it should not come with all the compromises that this one has. That means that if I want to use a usb device (or monitor) while it is plugged in, I shouldn't have to pay Apple for the privilege.
It's also not that good looking. It's probably because I am used to it, but a laptop should have some buffer around the keyboard. The screen looks great, but the bottom half is just ugly in my opinion.
The only time I charge my laptop is when it's sitting on my desk, coincidentally, that's also the only time I have a monitor attached. If I had to unplug the monitor whenever the battery got low that would be more than a little annoying. If I had to unplug the power to plug in the monitor, my battery would be constantly dying. Also, since I prefer a mouse when at a desk, I have my Logitech receiver plugged in 24/7. Juggling ports just for 2-3 devices isn't something I could live with.
...However, integrating the hub and power cable mostly solves this problem. Most laptop's power adapters aren't tiny anyway, wouldn't hurt much to just include a low profile, inline hub with the power cable. The adapter is alright, but I'd prefer it built into the cable.
When the MacBook has 8 hour battery life, why would your battery be constantly dying when using an external monitor?
And Logitech receiver? Really? Use a Bluetooth mouse (if the very good builtin trackpad doesn't work for you). Special purpose transceivers are the pits.
And yeah I forgot to call out the fact that you are hypothetically willing to give Apple $1300 for a laptop but unwilling to give Apple $1379 for a laptop that can be charged and drive and external monitor at the same time.
To me, somewhere between $1300 and $1379 seems like an odd place to draw the line at what you're willing to spend.
"My computer needs to be able to do whatever I need it to do when I need it done."
Then why the hell would you be considering this computer? It's clearly not designed as a mobile workstation, which is what it sounds like you're looking for?
It's not about having to charge all the time, it's about still having a usable port when you do happen to have to charge. <insert comment about Jobs rolling in his grave over usability here>
Charge when you aren't using any external device, don't charge when you are. Charge overnight every night.
I understand that this pattern doesn't fit everyone's needs but this product is not meant for people who truly require multiple things plugged in at a time that is obvious. If you are such a person, buy a different product.
People who don't need to plug in multiple things at the same time and people who only think they need to plug in multiple things at the same time may be well served by this product.
As for Jobs, this product is exactly what he dreamed of. He hated fans and he hated ports. He'd probably like it even better if it had zero ports.
Aside from implementing a lot of brand new specs, this is just a standard USB charging port though. Get a USB hub that supports BC 2.0 passthrough from Monoprice or whoever in a month or two and you're all set. A simple y-adapter cable that allows power in for charging and DisplayPort out could probably be sold for $15.
Why do you keep insisting that this is somehow a tablet? Apple had a 12in laptop ten years ago. This thing has no A7 processor, no iOS, no touch screen. Standard sized keyboard, touchpad, OS X. This is just a normal Macbook with big dongles, aimed at early adopters that can live with slightly limited memory, harddisk and speed.
It's like a tablet in that it has a single port, low power processor with passive cooling, and has adopted the iPad color scheme. Ryan didn't claim anything more that that.
It's also thin, light, and easily carried. I switched to an 11" MacBook Air with a Brenthaven sleeve. When people see it, they assume it's an iPad. Until I take it out and *SURPRISE* it's a MacBook. I imagine this new MacBook will generate an even bigger reaction.
Another thing that is clear is that the Apple A8X in the iPOad is still along way off providing the performance that even the lowest of the low Intel Core manages. Given how little improvmeent was made in single core performance between A7 and A8, Apple is going to have to perform a miracle to get A9 even near Core M esp as the 5Y71 seems capable of hitting 3000 in single core geekbench.
My guess is that next year they will release a 10" Macbook Lite, with a 180º keyboard (which will make it a Tablet converter) and an Apple A9X processor. So it will be able to run all the software for the iPad.
As a photographer, I'm always most interested in the display reviews. With that said I would've liked to see the percentage coverage of Adobe rgb or srgb this display is able to output.
I think Apple wants to dump the laptop and desktop. It's essentially whittling down and weaning users away from non tablet/phone devices. I'm not sure what % of business the laptops/desktop side is but I bet they feel they could streamline and increase profitability but not having to bother with it.
I don't think the point is to sell dongles. The latest OS X and iOS update introduced a new feature called iCloud photos. Now, when I take pictures with my iPhone, they are automatically transferred to my Mac using iCloud. The $69 AppleTV (cheaper than the AV dongle) is an AirPlay target. Clearly, Apple is moving deeper into the world of wireless convenience.
Riiight... Mac sales accounted for 9% of revenue in the Christmas quarter. Might not sound much but this is Apple so that translates to around 6.7 BILLION dollars, a record for Mac revenue. Apple still pretty much owns the top end of the laptop market and continues to grow its market. And you think they want to kill that market?
9% but if the markets approve then the stockprice could well negate that 'loss' in revenue easily. Plus it would mean more resource for the bigger selling products.
The numbers for the older Mac are from our Bench archives, so the answer would be no. But even if we did have the Macs on hand, battery degradation would be a major issue.
You should have used other Core M notebooks in your battery charts instead of macbooks only. I don't want to think you didn't want to put the macbook's result of 8 hours in a bad light, seeing how the 700$ UX305 manages to reach 11 hours.
Considering the issues driving the 4K display at 60 Hz, have you tried using a MST hub to get multiple displays functioning? In theory it should support up to three displays and remember to factor in the built-in display here. This would give some indication of how that system would handle MST for a single display.
The MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) will support these displays and rates using the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter. * 3840x2160 at 30 Hz refresh rate * 4096x2160 at 24 Hz refresh rate (mirroring is not supported at this resolution)
Correct but that adapter only provides a HDMI 1.4a connection. The 30 Hz refresh rate there is due to the lower bandwidth of that HDMI port.
Straight USB Type-C to DisplayPort 1.2 should be able to provide nearly twice the bandwidth, and hence potential 60 Hz 4K resolution. You'll note that that Apple page makes no reference to the MacBook using such an adapter.
That's Apple and looking at some of their other devices, they don't have a history of changing vendor IDs for rebranded products (the Mac Pro RAID card seems to be a recent exception). It points in the direction of a custom controller but it is not conclusive.
With a bit of quick poking around, I couldn't find Anobit's vendor ID for PCI devices. Not too surprising considering that they focused on SATA and SAS storage controllers before. Still, with SATAe on the horizon, you'd think that they would have registered for a vendor ID before their acquisition by Apple.
There is no doubt that it is acceptable for a CS student. However if you plan on using it for 3+ years you might find yourself constrained in the future if you have a need/desire to run multiple virtual machines plus boat anchor IDE, etc.
By constrained I mean that everything should still work but if the average laptop of 2019 has 32gb RAM and you are stuck with 8, then you'll be on the low end of average.
On the other hand, when I was in CS, a 30Mhz cpu and 2Mb RAM was the bomb diggity ultra. And that kind of computer ran vi and cpp just as well as the MacBook does.
Is it really THAT much more portable than cheaper ultrabooks (ASUS UX305 - $700) or faster ones tho? (Dell XPS13 for the same kinda money) If I wanted something ultra portable I'd go for a Surface, just being able to snap or fold back the keyboard and go over code with someone while standing up makes it rather flexible.
Outside of that I'd just get as much laptop as I can for the money, the new MB isn't terrible in that sense (better than the Air in most ways) but I don't see it as the best compromise either. If anything, wait for the second one. :p
Exactly. Comparing the two makes no sense as if the OS were interchangeable. Especially given how many people hate the current Windows iterations designed by committee more for Microsoft's needs than their customers. Also I have zero interest in owning a low quality laptop like Asus or Dell. The Surface is both a lousy laptop and a lousy tablet.
"Also I have zero interest in owning a low quality laptop like Asus or Dell."
That may have been a reasonable thing to say 10 years ago when Apple was the only one making titanium/aluminum laptops. I've played with zenbooks and the xps 13 (products that are near the same price point) and the build quality is excellent.
Now none of that says anything about your more central issue: That neither of those run OS X. But let's not confuse that very real issue with a vague and unsubstantiated claim about build quality.
Well, not quite. My last two notebooks where a Dell's XPS 15 (2011) and a XPS 15 QHD+. The first had serious problems with the GPU that could only be solved by severely underclocking it. I had the motherboard replaced a few times, but gave up entirely after discovering on the internet that more than a handful people had the same issue. It was a design issue, no fix would solve it. The latter has an infernal coil whine. And guess what? I'm not alone on that problem again.
Don't think you've ever used a SP3, then. Unless you mean the Surface 3, in which case, yeah, maybe. Atom x7 doesn't seem encouraging from performance standpoint. Why not just use an iPad?
And before you say that's ridiculous, that's actually exactly what I'm doing.
I cannot speak for the ASUS UX305, but it feels much more portable than a MBA13 (my current laptop), almost shockingly so. What most blew me away, however, was putting it next to an rMBP13. Sure, I expected the latter to feel bigger and heavier, but I also remembered it as a fairly sleek full-featured laptop (an acceptable compromise compared to the MBA13). However, compared to the new MB12 it just feels coarse and clunky. If you can live with its limitations (I can), then the new MB12 is a stunningly fine tool.
Are you for real? The new MB comes up short, way short. On this very site the UX305, with a lower performing chipset, is actually faster than the MB - in browsing and Dota, and it wins its fair share of benchmarks.
It also trounces this 1300$(+80$ dongle) unit in battery life. 11 hours light and 6.3 hours heavy to the MB12's 8 hours and 5 hours respectively.
The new MB is a shocking disappointment for the price tag. It's a stunningly failed package. According to Arstechnica it also lags during scrolling and moving windows around at 1440x900 resolution. Face the truth and steer away. Get any other macbook.
As a CS student I'm always using external drives, and some workloads are moderately demanding. I'd just go for the 13" Air or Pro, and spring for the latter if you can.
I would agree that this new model is most likely a replacement for the MBA It's everything the MBA needs to be, sans CPU power, but even that is arguable. In fact, the CPU might be my only gripe with the thing (though I'm sure I'd go mad over the single port issue after about a week). Apple seems to me to have been on a course over the last 5 years to use its devices to draw clear divisions between people who actually need power - the MBP buyer - and people who need just enough power to do core tasks (email, web, document handling, very mild gfx work). Unfortunately I fall somewhere in the middle, so I want the 16GB of RAM and quad core CPU, I just don't want the added bulk associated with even a 13" MBP. I'd be willing to give up battery running time to get that, too.
I think they sacrificed the Logo for the color Space Gray and Gold color schemes, maybe to save power by reducing the backlight intensity. They place a highly reflective film coating on the inside of the "lid" to reflect the backlight forward...without a Space Gray and Gold color distortion.
Out of curiosity, how does this work on all other Mac laptops? IE -- how do they avoid having a dim, Apple shaped dark spot on the screen since light it escaping out the back?
Can we in six months expect a cut-down version of the Macbook with only 4/128 GB but far cheaper? Somehow it seems like a sufficient solution for replacing the MBA which quite frankly feels like the odd fellow. It had its place when the MBP was 5+ lbs, but today?
Nope, not in six months, not in six years. Apple isn't that kind of company. The Watch starts at a hundred dollars more than any of its competitors. Frankly I'm still a little amazed that the 11 inch exists at that performance point in the first place, it really isn't able to sustain even its current performance over the next few years.
Anyhow, the MacBook is the premium line now, which means it needs to have a great experience even at the lowest price point. People's opinions form quickly and don't change for years. Up until recently, there were still deniers that the MBA had enough performance for anything important just because the first one happened to ship with an HDD instead of a (ridiculously expensive) SSD.
It's a small thing, but I always liked how the trackpad color and the rest of the chassis on MacBooks were always nearly the same color, it blended in well and added to the minimalism. I don't really like how the space grey chassis has a mismatched color trackpad, and I assume the Gold would too.
A grand and a half and all you get one one tiny little cheap usb connector that is sure to break within 1-3 years. Then you are SoL because you only get that one stupid usb port. Because these guys are so DAMN greedy that they seriously cannot be bothered to put two of these on the product. And people are seriously going to sit there and lap that crap up and beg for more? What a joke of a company and its customers are an even bigger joke.
i don't see the problem, it's one machine added to the same machines they already offered. Why would another choice that fits a different use case be a bad thing?
I never liked the key wobble on my 15" rMBP, glad they are addressing that...But I really hope the Pro line doesn't get even thinner key travel like this, it's too thin for my liking already. In fact a few more mm of key travel would go a long way.
I'm not getting the extreme angst about the USB port.
When I want to use multiple devices at once, I tend to be at my desk, whether at home or at work, where a simple USB hub solves the need for multiple ports.
Just because Monoprice doesn't have bog standard USB-C hubs yet doesn't mean there won't be a wide selection of them available soon.
Heck, I've even heard tell of USB docking stations that add features like audio/video out and wired Ethernet to the standard USB hub.
I'm one of those disgusted by the single port and I'll explain my reasoning. The whole point of this device type is ease and portability. Unfortunately that is undermined if I need to tote around 2-3 dongles, which while light in weight, add up to more significantly more hassle. Additionally, while occasional, I still run into issues doing things like flashing phones or working with equipment that plugs in via USB that hubs cause compatibility issues. There really was no good reason to design this device with just the 1 USB port other than as a design statement, Samsung made practically an identical device with much more connectivity options. The Air is a great device, not because it is stylish but because it is eminently capable for meeting the needs of most computer users AND because it has great ergonomics and style. Unfortunately for a much larger % of people, through a combination of weaker performance AND design decisions to limit its utility via its connectivity this device will fail to meet the needs of many which is fine but it didn't have to which is rather aggravating. (so are the constantly crappy trackpads on PC's, it doesn't have to be like that)
If the primary thing you value is portability, you probably aren't going to be carrying around multiple devices that need to be plugged into your laptop constantly while you are on the go.
It's perfectly fine that you aren't in the target market, but Apple is betting that enough people are to make production worthwhile.
That doesn't change the fact that a simple USB hub fixes the ports problem when you get home or to work where having multiple devices that need to be plugged in at once becomes a likely scenario.
Wow, wear blinders much? Like a lot of the potential target market for an ultraportable device, I work in a lot of different places in the course of a month and lugging multiple dongles around seriously degrades the convenience of the form factor. It would be one thing if this was a necessary sacrifice but it wasn't, this was done because someone at Apple decided more than 1 port offended their delicate sensibilities. And to judge by the # of reviewers and comments who have pointed how much that can affect their potential use, it looks a lot like a needless blunder.
OK, so you're basically ignoring reality. The body of this unit is composed of keyboard and battery sandwiched together out to the edge. It's only on top of the keyboard that there is room for ports.
Now they could have gotten rid of the two noise cancelling mics and audio in/out jack on the right side, but I suspect people have gotten pretty used to those features.
I imagine that if they had added a second USB port there instead and released a USB-C set of beats headphones and told people to buy those instead, there would have been even larger amounts of OMG Apple butthurt on display.
The obvious solution is to make the laptop sliiiightly thicker so that they could put a USB-C *and* a 3.5mm jack on one side. Then they could fit extra battery as well. Thinness is only useful to a point.
You don't think the average person walks around with, say, a cell phone and a USB drive? Or a microSD/SD card from their camera? I'd say literally everyone who could afford this computer walks around with at least one of those devices, and they won't be able to use them at all while they're charging.
I guess the article should have started with 'hot on the heels of the Samsung Series 9 2015, Apple also released a 12", core M based ultra thin laptop'
Compared to a dell xps 13 ( Core I5 version ), it is a lot slower, no IO ports, smaller screen and zero do-it-yourself repair capability. You get less for the same $$$. Is it really worth the 200 grams difference in weight and the 1 mm difference in thickness ? Not anymore for me.I will go back to Windows after +10 years Macs. If they could only put the screen of the Dell xps 13 into the chassis of the HP Envy x365 and I would buy it immediately. It would fulfill all my ultrabook and occasional tablet needs.
The Dell is a lot slower than a rMBP 13, has same or less IO ports, slightly worse screen despite higher PPI, almost 0 DIY repair capability, worse graphics, worse battery life, worse camera, and so on.
Is the weight difference worth it? The truth is that I just don't see anybody deciding in favor of the Dell instead of a rMBP or, if it is overkill, a Macbook.
Different machines ? Because the XPS 13 is 250 grams heavier and 1 mm thicker, it makes it less portable ? Seriously ? Both are very well built ultrabooks. I'm comparing the value for money between a Dell XPS 13 and this new Macbook, not the Macbook Pro Retina. Can I replace the ssd myself in a Dell XPS 13 ? Yes. Can I replace the battery ? Yes. Can I replace the wireless module ? Yes. Can you do this with this new Macbook ? I'm not an Apple hater. My daily driver is a 2009 Macbook Pro. Last year, I bought a Retina Mac Book Pro for my girlfriend. I also have an Imac. For me, the Macs are just not worth the price premium anymore. Build quality from Dell / HP / Microsoft / Samsung / Asus is really good now. Don't get me wrong, Apple will always found people that are willing to pay $$$ for something that is slower, less versatile and in the end 200 gram lighter and 1mm thinner compared to a proper ultrabook. It will just not be me anymore.
The Dell also has a slower CPU, a slower GPU, A much slower SSD, less battery life, slower WiFi and it's expansion ports are a quarter of the speed of Thunderbolt.
He's talking about the rMBP 13. The MacBook isn't to be compared to the XPS 13, the rMBP 13 is. The machine reviewed here is a ultra-portable Core M laptop, why you bother comparing it to a standard fan equipped PC?
A Dell is a Dell. No one is going to pay for a premium Dell computer, for various reasons.
a) Windows; b) It is in the price range of macbooks, that are proven to be better purchases.
In the real world, people aren't comparing the Dell Vs the Macbook. The Dell isn't even considered, and for good reason. For the same money you can get a mac that beats it on everything (rMBP 13"), or if you need more portability, you get a Macbook.
That despite slower processor than this Dell, has a better screen, trackpad, faster SSD and RAM, more efficient OS and as such will be a faster machine.
Also, the vast majority of people buying computers above 1000 $ are iPhone users. Another reason for them to not even consider Windows in this price range, since OS X is so superior as a part of the ecosystem.
p.s.: If it isn't for you, that's fine. It also isn't the right machine for me, but I can see how it is for must people.
The Macbook will outsell the XPS 100 to 1. And it isn't because of marketing. It is because Apple earned the trust, Dell lost it, and the Macbook is just a better executed product.
People will pay whatever they have to in order to get the best machine. If you think that the vast majority of people who pay over a grand for a computer don't even consider Windows, then you must not work with a lot of professionals. $1,300 is not a lot to pay for a computer in the long run, but the 13 inch MBP completely kills this new Macbook.
You can. Here is how. You buy the basic 128 GB. By whatever M.2 SATA-3 512 GB SSD you like ( or larger ) . Take a screwdriver. Open the bottom. Remove the old SSD. Insert the new SSD.
The XPS 13 is heavier, larger, hotter and has a bloody fan. It's a great laptop, but comparing it to the MacBook is comparing oranges to apples. The one to be compared to the XPS 13 is the rMBP 13.
Lets do the math. Dell XPS non-touch : 999 $ ( core I5, 128 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM ). Samsung P851 512 GB SSD : 250 $ ( Amazon ). M.2 SATA external USB 3.0 enclosure to give the standard 128 GB SSD a new home so I can reuse it as a fast USB 3.0 drive: 40 $. Total 1299 $. Same price as a Macbook. Only 250 gram 'heavier'. Yes that is a whopping 1/4 of a kg. Conclusion : the Macbook is maybe a 'great' ultrabook but it is way overpriced. Around the 1000 $ mark would be reasonable.
While USB - C is going to be great, designing to the MacBook to just have 1 is a needless fail. Samsung's ATIV 12 is practically the same device: Same processor, same ram, SSD, screen size, almost same resolution, same weight and size and yet Samsung managed 2 USB 3.0 ports, power & micro HDMI. Huge difference in usability for those of us that have to interact will all sorts of devices, locations with iffy networks and people who haven't moved every aspect of their business to the cloud. Apple would likely say that the single port is more elegant but there is nothing elegant about needing a $80 dongle to plug in power and a USB stick at the same time.
USB Stick? Have you never heard of Drop Box or One Drive or Google Drive or iCloud Drive? I think the point of only one port, is that the world has (almost completely) moved on from USB. Well, everyone except you.
I am dead serious. If you look at the teardown on the iFixIt web-site you'll see that two USB Type-C ports won't fit - the keyboard takes up almost all of the space. When devices get this small, every port that you add, subtracts space that can be used for larger batteries. When Apple's competitors try to make devices this thin and light, if they take the decision to include additional ports in their designs....they also will be compromising the battery life. By going to one port, and making software changes to offset the loss, Apple is guaranteeing the best battery life in this class of device.
The 480p webcam is a joke. It might not be very important and maybe it's good enough. But this device starts at $1299 and even the ipod has a 720p webcam.
As an avid AnandTech reader for many years, this has got to be the most dissapointing review I have ever read here. I expected Anand to provide an actual review, not some half baked preview based on early review samples from Apple.
I have a few main comments.
1. Although the biggest gripe concerning this laptop is the weak CPU, not once in the entire review have you mentioned the model of the CPU that was tested, nor how the upgraded versions would fare. Assuming the "base" model is somewhat 20-30% weaker than the Air, how would the topped 1.3/2.9 CPU do against it? Wouldn't that alleviate most of the issues with the laptop?
2. How does the laptop do in sustained load scenarios? Where are the graphs showing performance over time, etc?
3. How does the laptop do in popular Mac games like World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, etc? Is it playable?
4. I think the efficiency and the aspect of being fanless/silent isn't being discussed enough. I have been waiting for 20 years for a silent computer. Working during nights and all. This and the performance / watt are great technological acomplishments (kudos to Intel for those) and I feel like pure performance is secondary nowadays. Basically this has twice the performance per watt as Air's, almost thrice as 13" Pros. As a leading tech site, this should have been explained in more detail, maybe it would have lowered the amount of "can it play crysis" complaints all over the web.
Definitely with you on the performance per watt and silence, Apple has never been more environmentally friendly.
That said, I don't think this review was bad. Could have used a little more editing, and discussion of the different models as you said. But it had some good material I've yet to see in the rest of the reviews. I wish it lived up to the standard of Anand's review of the SP3 where he gave more of his subjective opinion of how it actually ran. This guy said, yeah, it's thinner and lighter, and I like how it feels, but it's slower than my current 11 inch, so there's a little bit of a tradeoff... And I wonder, why is it slower? Is it actually less capable? What sort of experiences didn't work as you expected? What is really wrong with it?
The point is I didn't see anything here that I haven't already read on all the other websites all the way from New York Times to the Verge to ArsTechnica. The reason we all visit AnandTech is for those really detailed, in depth 25 page reviews where every single one of our questions gets an answer. Not the case here.
The reason why I'm being so determined is that this is a very important review. Like it or not, Apple fanboy or not, the Macbook Air has probably been the most important laptop of the last 10 years. It has basically defined the laptop market of our times and it has been studied, copied and emulated by every manufacturer out there. Similarly, the new Macbook is probably on a quest to do the same. I would have preferred to wait 2 weeks and read the real thing, not the same article that I've already read 10 times so far (by the way, isn't it strange that all these articles are so similar?)
I'm in a strange boat myself. Started out getting a 2011 13" Macbook Air as a secondary computer, then it slowly transformed into a desktop replacement with an external monitor with the old desktop sold for parts (doing web development, mostly). I would currently kill for the weightlessness / screen / quietness of the Macbook, if the questions above would have been answered. Should I go for the updated 2015 Air? A somewhat bulky Pro? Or maybe just wait for Skylake?
Hence the term "hybrid". This device is not good either as a desktop replacement or a tablet replacement (or even as a regular laptop replacement). It's a "hybrid" then (probably good for nothing).
Hi Wave, thanks for the feedback. To get right to answering your questions.
1) This was the base model, so the $1299 5Y31 model. Apple only samples a single model, so I do not know how the higher end model would fare. However what we've found when looking at other Core M devices is that faster processors can end up throttling sooner, which can be counter-productive. http://www.anandtech.com/show/9117/analyzing-intel...
2) If a load is going to cause the laptop to throttle, it does so almost immediately. As noted in the review, even the 28 second Photoshop benchmark is long enough to require some throttling. As a result pretty much anything longer than a long webpage load is going to face power limits, and longer use will also bring on thermal limits.
Also, while it's not in a chart, I mentioned in the Geekbench 3 section that we ran the stress test. the MacBook reaches equilibrium almost immediately; by the second run it's already down to its steady-state score of 4200.
What this means is that the MacBook can only run at its higher clockspeeds for very, very short periods of time. As a result "performance over time" would be on the order of seconds. This isn't like an Ultrabook or other laptop where performance slowly degrades over time as the cooling system slowly falls behind.
3) Poorly. I wouldn't suggest it. DOTA 2 is about as strenuous as it's going to be able to take. Unfortunately we can't test any of those games as there isn't a suitable FRAPS-like utility for Yosemite to let us do proper benchmarking.
4) The issue with testing efficiency is that to properly test it we need to isolate the CPU and measure it directly. You're not wrong, this is a very efficient processor, but there isn't currently a great way to systematically show that since there's no way to separate the CPU's power consumption from the display's power consumption.
Anyhow, I'm sorry to hear the review didn't live up to your full expectations, but none the less thank you for the feedback and thank you for reading it.
3) I thought Apple's developer tools for OpenGL has a FRAPs-like tool included. I'll have to check when I get home later today.
I do know for certain that it has the ability to record VRAM usage over time. Found this out playing around with a GTX 770 and 970 to see just how difficult it was to go over 3.5 GB.
Hi Ryan, thanks for the excellent review. It supplied details that no other review did. I do have one question that I was hoping would be addressed and that wave84 also asked: buying advice related to Skylake. If what I read is correct, Skylake will be out in just a few months with significant changes to chip architecture promising both better performance and battery life. Better GPU is part of that. It would kill me to purchase now and miss out on an extra hour of battery life with a midyear update.
I certainly can wait. I have a perfectly cromulent late 2007 Blackbook that I have not been tempted to upgrade until this new MacBook (which is a huge upgrade to be sure). Now I've got buying fever despite the hassle and expense of upgrading a number of applications that require Rosetta.
One other very minor point, I was surprised you didn't mention iSight as it is a downgrade over other current Apple machines.
Replaceable instead of replicable, page 2 table instead of cable, DisplayPort instead of DisiplayPort, page 6 could you fix the number for 2010 MBA (last entry) in the 4KB Random Write (8GB LBA, QD3) chart? page 8 tuning instead of turning page 9 On the one hand instead of For one the one hand, second to last page as mentioned by earlier comment.
Can the single USB port both charge and use some accessories?
I mean, can I, assuming I have proper dongle, come to my desk and plug the dongle, that would charge the notebook and connect it to external monitor, keyboard, mouse and ethernet, all at once?
"Moving on, as a Retina display Apple offers a range of scaled (virtual) resolutions, with the MacBook’s default resolution serving as a HiDPI version of 1280 x 800. The fact that the scaled resolution is not exactly one-quarter of the display’s physical resolution is an unusual first for an Apple device, but considering the size of the display and power requirements, not to mention the similar PPIs to the rMBPs, I suspect 1280 x 800 scaled on a 2304 x 1440 display was a tradeoff. In any case even without perfect 2:1 scaling Retina-enabled applications look great, and now nearly 3 years after started on Retina in the OS X ecosystem, the number of applications without Retina support are thankfully miniscule."
"As far as desktop performance goes, we haven’t found any major problems for the MacBook’s Intel HD Graphics 5300 GPU. Even with Core M’s power limits it doesn’t show any issues holding 60fps at the default virtual resolution of 1280 x 800, though I would not suggest going any higher unless it’s necessary."
Does this indicate that the desktop is rendered at 1280x800 instead of the native resolution? I would find that appallingly unacceptable for the graphics to not be able to handle the DESKTOP level graphics. Am I miss understanding the meaning of these paragraphs?
You are misunderstanding. It is rendered at the higher resolution and then scaled down to emulate a 1200x800 resolution in terms of the size of the rendered elements.
The laptop renders at 2560x1600 and scales it down to the 2304x1440 display as the "default". When referencing virtual resolution, the author is simply talking about what Apple says it "looks like" and essentially what the "1x" equivalent of what is actually being rendered is.
The laptop can also render at 2880x1800 and display that on the 2304x1440 display, creating a virtual resolution that feels like 1440x900...and then some lower ones that are fairly unreasonably small unless you suffer vision impairment.
Tell that to the millions who bought netbooks, back in the day, looking to do something mildly productive on it.
Hell try selling that to anyone who uses Baytrail (& now Cherrytrail) with Windows on it that their device is best used just for surfing! Pretty sure a bunch of commentators here advocated why these convertibles are so much better for their productivity, than Android tablets, due to Windows & all that computing power at their disposal.
From trying out an HP convertible tablet with the Core M-5Y71, I can say that the processor does seem fine for many uses. Heck, it even managed to play a 10-bit 1080p h.264 video.
However, I do have to ask: What was Apple thinking when giving it only ONE type-C port? Was there really no room for a second? Why does their dongle offer only HDMI, instead of DisplayPort?
I also don't get why Apple didn't use WiGig (802.11ad), to offer a magical docking cube.
The Macbook, is already attractively priced for those who want a Macbook Air with Retina display.
For those who want even faster performance, I am sure in 18 months time you will get 10nm version of Skylake, SSD using PCI-E 3.0, LPDDR4 RAM, and 802.11ac WiFi 160 MHz channel bandwidths will solve all the problems mentioned in this article.
I'm a huge fan of AT, but guys, come on, you should be able to get a cheap dslr with a flash and take some at least decent photographs for your reviews. This is just horrible.
The 5Y71 on your other review is listed as having vPro and the 5Y51 does not. Can you tell me how that impacts the mac? I have a 5Y51 1.2 model delivering shortly but may consider returning for a 5Y71 model if the vPro gives the unit Hyperthreading. Does the 5Y51 have HT?
vPro is unrelated to hyperthreading. I don't think Macs even support vPro. It's a marketing term for enterprise features like remote management, security, virtualization and networking features.
Oh Anandtech, it is blatantly obvious that you do everything you can to twist reality in favor of your sponsor (Intel).
So MacBook has a twice better GPU than iPad Air 2? Why didn't you used a *graphics* category to explain that fact? Why didn't you ran Manhattan or T Rex and showed the respective scores?
They linked to a more comprehensive Core M review in the article. If you actually read the damn thing rather than trying to accuse people of being sellouts, then you maybe you'd caught that.
Shit, the only thing more annoying than a social media (anti-)SJ conversation is tech websites review comments. Everybody is a sellout.
I am sorry, but i think this one of the of the more mediocre reviews from Anandtech:
"Compared to the 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM in the base MacBook Airs, this is the first ultra-portable Mac in a while where I can say even the base model feels properly equipped. At the very least users shouldn’t be struggling with RAM or SSD capacity for some time. Meanwhile given the fact that the equivalent upgrade of an 11” MacBook air would be $300 – bringing the total price to $1199 – this means that while the MacBook is still more expensive than a MacBook Air, the difference isn’t nearly as wide as it would first seem."
Copy paste from Apple's marketing? The difference is as wide as it would first seem when you look at the trade-off. Compared to the MBA you get better portability and a retina screen. But you loose connectivity, battery life, hd camera, magsafe, cpu/gpu performance. And according to your defined target audience (second device buyers) buying these upgrades doesn't make much sense. It is ok that the 12'' MB is expensive, but don't try to argue around this fact.
"As far as desktop performance goes, we haven’t found any major problems for the MacBook’s Intel HD Graphics 5300 GPU. Even with Core M’s power limits it doesn’t show any issues holding 60fps at the default virtual resolution of 1280 x 800, though I would not suggest going any higher unless it’s necessary."
I had the impression that higher resolutions don't work very well on the 12'' MB models in the Apple store. It felt like the first 13'' rMBP: more screen space, but a bit laggy. The performance of the HD 4000 wasn't good enough and took another hit with Yosemite (especially when connected to a second display). I am not willing to invest in a MB, which isn't future proof for at least 2-3 years. The same is true for the potential lack of 4K/60hz. I hoped for more depth in this area.
The review could have been more critical about the 1 USB C Port. If it breaks you can't even charge your machine anymore and out of warranty services are extremely expensive. But i think the comments discussed this point to death. Thanks for the extra remarks about the sustained performance in the comments and please put this in the review and maybe do more tests.
I don't really think the Macbook is expensive. This is actually useable as a main computer for a lot of users (journalists, web designers, web programmers, etc). It will do just fine, as long as you have 8GB RAM and 256 for storage, which you get.
You lose some stuff indeed, but for 100 bucks you get retina screen, extreme portability, and most important of all, it's fanless and completely silent. This is a huge quality of life improvement which no review will take into account.
Also, i do not believe the port to be an issue. Either you are docked, so you have plenty of ports (and you only unplug one cable), either you are mobile, when one port is enough for 99% of use cases.
I am very close to buying it. Still waiting for some upgraded CPU numbers.
I am looking for a second device besides my 15'' rMBP. The iPad doesn't cut it anymore. But 1279$ + 79$ (needed for occasional presentation) is expensive compared to the 11'' MBA 899$+29$. Impossible to sugarcoat it. It looks like Apple's upselling strategy got you on the hook. You can rationalize this purchase as much as you want, but i don't want to pay for upgrades, which i don't need. If you value portability and retina screen fine, enjoy it, but this doesn't make it a very good deal.
Even in the Apple ecosystem the single port is problematic. Airplay Screen Mirroring suffers from lags, iCloud Photo Library is cumbersome and there is no backup solution while being on the road. Cables aren't dead. I think the next version will have second port.
I'm curious to see if a newer hardware revision of the Apple TV that they're likely to announce at WWDC resolves some of the airplay lag. That thing is still using an A5 processor, whereas the latest iphones are up to A8 (huge difference in CPU/GPU performance). I too found airplay rather obnoxious when I tried it. In OSX, you can have it treat an airplay target as a second monitor, but it really kind of sucks unless you're just putting something there to read as a static document.
Now, make MacBook Air with the same quality screen, smaller bezel (like on this MacBook) and keyboard that stretches from edge to edge (like on this MacBook) and I might actually switch from PC to Mac.
Price is high, performance is just OK, and battery life is frankly underwhelming. Sure the battery life is not terrible but given the hype over the Core M I was expecting better battery life.
Still no touch screen and it is still confined to the limitations of a laptop. The benefit of small underpowered devices like this should lie in their ability to serve multiple purposes easily and change form factors. If I still have to use it like a laptop (IE: open it up, type on a keyboard) and pay such a high price then I may as well go get a laptop with more power and better battery life.
For this price I'd still rather have something like a Surface Pro 3. With its ability to serve multiple purposes I can use it like a tablet or a laptop, get better battery life, and get a touch screen. All while paying less.
The presence of "no touch screen" complaints, as few as they are, is interesting. There's a whole demographic of Mac users (creative professionals, mostly) that are sweating bullets about the possibility of iOS and OS X converging. A touch screen Mac would probably give them a heart attack.
Apple has said they don't have any intention of doing that. It didn't go over so well for Microsoft, but who knows. It wouldn't be the first time Apple has said "we'll never do that" but what they really mean is "we'll never do that until we can do it at the standard of quality we want".
Very good, thorough review. As soon as I sold my 2010 MBA 11 to get an MBPr Pro I missed the smaller size and weight, but I wanted a retina display for when I travel and take photos, so the new Macbook ticks all the boxes. My doubt was the performance, but seeing it apparently does at least as well as the first i5 MBAs is reassuring, I don't need more. I'm still tempted to wait for the second generation, which is reinforced by Apple's inability to actually show these in stores. I wonder if the upgrade to the faster (less slow) processor is worth it.
I sometimes play PC games streamed from my powerful desktop to my MacBook Air using Microsoft Remote Desktop or Steam. While this works well, the air does get hot sometimes and I hear the fans. How would the MacBook handle such a load?
And how well does a VM work? Lets say VirtualBox + Linux with a graphical frontend?
Steam in-home streaming uses H.264, so all the heavy lifting should be done by the video decode block, and the end result not much harder than decoding any other 1080p60 H.264 stream.
Why mention tablet laptop crossover at all? This laptop is not convertible, not derachable, lacks touchscreen or pen. It is by all means just a thin, lightweight laptop (with LESS endurance and power)
The short answer is because internally it's built like a tablet, not a laptop, and that's the primary point I'm trying to make when discussing its construction.
Built like a tablet? What does it mean at all? How does crippled laptop becomes a tablet? Some tablets are more powerful and expandable than MBA 11" (which is a LAPTOP).
1) I think it's both odd and wrong that Ryan Smith would repeatedly try to state this is some sort of Mac-iPad hybrid. It doesn't run iOS, it has an attached keyboard and trackpad, it doesn't even have a touchscreen display (something increasingly more common on notebooks). This is a notebook computer designed to run a desktop-grade OS.
2) This is not a netbook. Even if we ignore all the low-quality, budget-focused design constraints that that made the netbook really only good* for surfing the "net", this machine has a CPU that costs more than the average notebook and that is magnitudes more powerful with a similar power envelope. If it's to be classed at anything it is an Ultrabook, sans the official branding.
3) Apple's USB-C adapters aren't that pricey. If one wants, they can buy the adapters that Google sells for their new Chromebook Pixel or wait for other vendors (my favourite is Monoprice) to offer up their own solutions since this is, after all, USB. There will also likely be 3rd-party external displays from everyone(?) that will use a single USB-C port for both charging the device and pushing data, which will have their own variety of built-in hubs for those wanting an external display which makes the majority of these complaints for a nascent standard just coming to market moot.
4) People are lamenting the loss of MagSafe, but is that really feasible with how small the 3rd(?) MagSafe adapter would have gotten for this machine? Also, if it's designed to be used remotely and designed to be almost always used without cabled peripherals, is it really an issue for its intended market? Personally, I love how the Chromebook Pixel has USB-C on each side and how either can charge the device. I've moved an entire office around because of how the plug on the left-hand side was causing it to wear out after about 6 months due to being plugged into the wall at the right. This was never an issue when PVC was still included in cables (speculative cause and effect). Hopefully when the MBPs get this feature it will be on both sides.
5) So why bring back the MB and not simply call it the MBA (not unlike how they keep the non-Retina MBPs and came out with the new Retina MBPs with a new design)? Eventually I would like to see the MBA get the exact same external HW design and components (i.e.: Retina display with the same 12" design only) but running Mac OS X — or a Mac OS X-like OS — on Apple's A-series chip. This could allow Apple to move their "PC" sales to even lower end of the market by being able to drop the cost by a few hundred dollars whilst still being able to have a machine that performs well. I do think the A-series chip may need some additional revisions (but we really don't know what is possible with their bespoke design) and for Mac OS X to get another housecleaning, perhaps even rewritten in Swift.
* Calling a netbook good at anything is a stretch, especially when even Adobe Flash would stutter on even 480p video due to its inept HW.
1) The testing for the display can be checked against those other notebook displays (assuming AT has tested them).
2) He explains the CPU, but remember what "real usage" is for a 12" ultraportable notebook. I don't understand the use case for 10 HD streams on YouTube would measure, especially for this type of machine. That sounds like something that isn't the intent for Core-M.
3) This question I like. I'd like to know how hot these machines get if directly on the lap.
4) I think he covers that well. It's clearly a good laptop, but as with all things your use-case has to fall inline with its design and engineering. There still seem to be several holdouts on this site that think HIDPI display is only for video, but remember pictures and, the most common reason for HIDPI reading text.
Appears there are many that are confused about their computing history, especially on netbooks. There are a lot of false assumptions and incomprehensible comparisons littered everywhere. There were expensive and well built netbooks, they were not all cheap. They were usable machines for surfing, emails and the light office tasks. They were replaced by several technologies (tablets, phones and yes the cheap $300 laptops).
What I do find funny and agree with some of the posters is how this article tends to want to justify this product as something "new", for $1200. It is not. The comments here is a testament to how similar and different the product is. Technology advancing is one thing but categories tend not to change much. That is why there are ultrabooks, laptops, notebooks and gaming notebooks. Just because the screen changes doesn't make it an entirely new category. This MacBook does not fall into the "touch" technology areas so it would have to remain near the netbook category, imo.
Reading comprehension will help you immensely. And go use wiki to learn some history while you're at it. Or you can continue to ":facepalm:" yourself, I rather enjoy that. Do you realize how ignorant AND stupid your comment is?
For $1300 the MacBook should include the USB C to USB A adapter. It should have two ports for a $20 accessory. The accessory predicament for this device sucks.
That being said, I could mostly get by with the one port. I would leverage Bluetooth and WiFi. This is not friendly to charging your iOS devices to.
What the heck happened to Anandtech comment section? It's plagued with a lot of "bleh I hate Apple" vitriol lately.
No, Anandtech is not pandering to Apple. Wish some readers would think a bit longer before posting.
Regarding the Macbook: I'm a bit surprised, it feels like it targets the same market as the Air? I guess I'm just more surprised they didn't just keep the Air as their "ultra-thin" line and add Retina and Force Touch.
1) AT's forums have gotten better since Apple started their meteoric rise to the top (again). At people on this forum have actually /seen/ a Mac (and likely used one) when before it was basically across the board "Apple sucks because I can't build your own for gaming and blah blah." I love how people think that building their own computer using off the shelf components is difficult.
2) My hypothesis: Since the MBPs eschewed the ODD and 2.5" HDD/SSD their new size became far to close to the MBA for the MBA to simply get a Retina display. And the 11.6" with its horrible 16:9 aspect ratio was just a bad limitation from the start. The 12" is what I had hoped they would do so I was /hopeful/ when these rumours appeared. I'm guessing the 11" and 13" MBA will go away in time.
This is a high end netbook which could have been useful for people with very light requirements (mostly reading and writing) had it had at least 2 USB C ports.
It seems the Core M is really disappointing and best left for those who valu
"Though Apple’s device is distinctly a laptop in terms of form factor and design, you’d none the less be excused for mistaking it for a large form factor tablet if you took a look at its overall size, rectangular shape and don't know what a laptop is."
"Apple is not doing any kind of interesting 2-in-1 transforming design, or even pushing the concept of a touchscreen OS X device." [End of paragraph]
Re power cables and magsafe: I see two possibilities here. One is that Apple believe wireless power (in the form THEY want it) is close enough that they can accept living with a sub-optimal solution for one or two generations. What I'd consider Apple's level of wireless power would be at the least very loose alignment requirements (as opposed to the very tight placing requirements of Qi), and the ability to deliver enough power to charge anything from an Apple Watch to a MacBook Pro. A third requirement (not quite as strong) would be some level of power efficiency --- something like no more than 10% power loss over traditional charging.
If this is not a feasible solution, an alternative solution (and IMMEDIATE 3rd party opportunity) is a magsafe CABLE rather than a magsafe connector. A cable which is (perhaps) power-only, but which have a magnetic snap point near one of the USB-C ends, so that that magnetic snap point is what breaks when the cable is jerked.
It's entirely possible to make a breakaway USB-C power supply cable that is compatible with previous chargers. And apple decided not to make one. Why bother? It'll still sell well.
Now apple is the one of few companies that makes smartphone without wireless charging options. Nexus devices have had one built in for years, Galaxy devices had for option and now had one built in.....
1)So induction charging then, not wireless charging.
2) You really think the bottom of Macs are going to be a magnetic charger. I'm not convinced, but I'm willing to hear the argument for this. What other "PCs" have this feature built in? Who makes a 3rd-party option?
- based on price and very average performance this premium netbook is aimed towards bloggers on the go and content consumers with Apple brand preference. - for actual work macbook pro line or windows ulrabook is required
Show me a netbook with an Atom processor hat has the same performance as this MacBook that you call "average performance." You can't. Core-M far exceeds Atom's capabilities.
The $1599 - 1.2GHz - 512GB model is ~5K, in Geek Bench 3.
The "Actual Work" comment cracks me up. I have successfully done 3D web-plugin development for a major company on an 11" MacBook Air. I'm pretty sure I could have done the same thing with a 12" MacBook...probably even a little better.
3D web-plugin development could probably be done on entry level laptop :). By actual work i've meant working with many layers, exporting to high rez tiffs, pdf, a bit of video production on the go etc.
This is not where new MAcbook will serve very well. That's for less then 5% of potential Macbook buyers though, so im sure many(including you) will be more then happy with this new Macbook.
This is just a shitty laptop, underpowered, useless with one port. Apple should have added the screen, keyboard, touch-pad on Air and everyone would been happy. There is a limit to how thin you can make things before they become useless. I love my MBP and was going to get the updated Air had they added retina on it but they sadly made a useless version instead.
I'm constantly amazed at some of the fervid anti-Apple comments on this and other forums! This review was fantastic and right on...the best I've seen, and I've been seeking them out (AnandTech does a great job, as did this reviewer). The new MacBook is highly desirable for the right person...that would be me. I've ordered the best, most tricked-out model. Is it a desktop replacement? It was not intended to be! If you want a desktop with more power, or even a portable with more power...Apple and many other companies offer many other options. If you want a crazy light awesome travel computer, this is as good as it gets! The complaints about performance just blow my mind. They have crammed in the best processor, screen, keyboard, trackpad, batteries, whatever you can mention into the smallest and lightest laptop human beings can currently design. And some are whining about it? Jeez...just think about what you are saying! And if you really hate Apple's operating system so bad (my personal favorite, but I can see that is personal preference) there are competing Windows products with the same technology limitations. If you are like me and like Apple's OS, just how could they have possibly made this thing any nicer? Well...they probably could have squeezed in another USB C port or perhaps a small MagSafe connector. I suppose even more RAM might have been nice. A faster processor would be nice too...but isn't the Intel Core-M the fastest processor currently available that will fit into something so small, have good battery life, and not require a fan? Come to grips with reality some of you...that review was very accurate and well done, and I can't wait to get my new laptop! The millions of buyers of these things don't have to listen to you...they vote with their wallets! Btw, I'm very pleased to also be a stockholder.
Does anybody knows any real performance details like? how many open pdfs can u have for example? or in which kind of programms you are gonna have problems(annoying performance)?
I checked the new Macbook at the Apple Store. I'm a marketing professional with a a 2011 MBP 15" quad-core, 2012 MBA entry-level, and a the latest Mac Mini w/i7 dual-core in my toolkit. Apple is once again ahead of the curve, which is what they can afford to do, while other manufacturers have to design to ensure they don't leave any checkboxes unchecked. Which is why companies such as Dell are who they are, and Apple is choking on cash. People will pay good money for a taste of the future, and this is the future right here.
For 95% of what I do, the Macbook Core M + good WiFi signal can manage with ease. Photo-editing can be done in a pinch w/Adobe CreativeCloud. Once you pick it up, you have to have it, and everything else is yesterday's news.
If you're primarily playing games and fapping on your PC, I guess processing power and wired connectivity is a big deal, but I earn for a living, in the real world.
Prediction: the new MacBook will shortly outsell the 11" MBA, the 13" MBA and the 13" rMBP. Why? Dramatically better than both MBAs and priced about the same when configured with 8TB RAM and 256GB SSD. Half the weight of the rMBP, cheaper and with most of the feature set of the except for CPU speed. But for those notebook users that need performance, they will jump to 15" rMBP with its max performance.
Two items not really clearly mentioned, but one crucial and another useful via-a-via the MBAs. First, and most important, I find I can productively use the MacBook display at 1920x1280 (with SwitchResX). This offers 266% of the screen real estate of the 11" MBA, an enormous, work-changing difference. Second, but more minor, the new MacBook's Trackpad is ~25% bigger than the 11" MBA, providing easier, more accurate cursor movement and positioning.
The fact that Apple's slowest Macbook has the fastest SSD performance means the next Macbook Pro 15-inch Retina Update is going to HAVE A BLAST with huge unencumbered SSD speeds. Coupled with a 2 TB size increase and hopefully 32 GB RAM and 4K screen, this bar will move up further.
One point about Intel/ARM. Intel Core-M 82mm2 1,3 billion transistors. Cost about 280 dollars + you have to buy Intel motherboard chips. Apple A8X is 132mm2 3 billion transistors. It cost Apple about 20 dollar to manufacture that. (on the market 130mm2 ARM SoCs cost about 50 dollars unsubsidized). When will the techpress and IT experts point this out? How can something that cost Intel 50% less than A8X cost the customer 20times more?
The Macbook have an insane price but Intel is at least 400 dollar of that problem.
This is why we need to move away from X86 to ARM. (and Apple will move to ARM because they controll the OS/Hardware = they can add anything they want into the SoC. Huge parts of the A class SoCs are Apple specific stuff like Siris DSP, the visual processor, security enclave/TouchID and so on. About 30% of die area today. Imagine if Microsoft started to do custom ARMs/(or AMD X86) for their Windows. That would add value to the customer and make people buy MSFT hardware because they want to (not because they are forced to, like today with their OS)
One of the main problem is "capitalism". A good (older) company have 10-12% profit on what they sell. Simple math: 10% on a 500dollar intel is more than 10% on a 25 dollar ARM.
Intel is however a monopoly today. If I want a fast laptop: They are the only choice. But Intel is doing the same mistake as Sun, IBM, PA-RISC, PPC, DEC-Alpha, MIPS and all other fun CPUs have existed in history. (Because: let me tell you a secret: X86 have never had the fastest/best CPU in history. They had Windows + where cheap/good enough. Thats why Intel almost had no share in the server market. 2005/6 intel slashed Xeon prices to sub 300 dollar = why buy a RISC chip that is twice as fast for 4000 dollars? In under 3 years intel managed to get over 50% of server revenue. Today its about 80%. But its because Intel charges 4000 dollar for their xeons. History is repeating itself)
Anyone else notice that the article implies a comparison to the current 11" MBA (2015, Broadwell), there are no performance numbers for that model (or the 2015 13" MBA for that matter)? The latest comparisons on the majority of the performance graphs are the early 2014 13" MBA and the mid-2014 rMBP? At first I was wondering about release dates but they were announced at the same event. Did you guys just not have a 2015 11" MBA available for comparison? I apologize if I missed a reason for the omission in the article text.
So the UX305 uses a lower end cheaper Core M, but since it throttles less it ends up performing better than the Macbook...That's a bit disappointing. If they gave it a bit better cooling it would have had the better performing chip all around.
I bought one of these with the 1.1 ghz CPU. The fit and finish of the laptop is great, it's a beautiful device. However, it is terribly slow and the keyboard is awful. It lagged hard when I would try to scroll PDF files in preview, and typing on it was fatiguing to my hands and felt like I was typing on a table top instead of a keyboard. I ended up returning it because of these faults.
Any news/details about the MVNe controller ? Does anyone knows on what it is based ? I want to run natively a linux distro on my macook air but the SSD is not seen. I want to try to load the controller's driver apple used to integrate on the ship. Remark : they also put this controller on the 11 inch model with core i7 I do have APH0128 in OSX HW informations.
Regarding the display's white point: "The goal here is 6504; the MacBook hits 6828, reflecting the fact that it’s just a bit too red and just a bit too light on blue."
I think it should be the other way round: the display should be bluish with a colour temperature of 6828 K.
About the shallower keyboard: the keyboard MacBook Air (mid-2011, at least) does have a problem that the new butterfly keyboard might solve: key corners can quickly become imprinted onto the screen. This is a slightly annoying when watching videos, as the marks are quite visible, with a black background. Hopefully the new keyboard will prevent keys from damaging the screen, this time.
I am planning on buying either this MacBook 12" or HP XPS 13". I do prefer Apple cause will work better together with my iPad and iPhone. Apple do make good solid devices and provide frequent updates. I need something similar in size to my iPad and light.
My concerns with the MacBook relate to performance, first gen fanless, the one USB-C port and the keyboard. While with the HP by all reports the fan can be irritatingly noisy, lack of HP fixes, updates, device driver issues and priced $100 more then the MacBook.
I primary use the IPad as my stock home computer and like a lot of people it is all I need. But I have hobby that require a PC application software. I don't have a real preference Mac or PC will do. But windows 8 is a turn off. Luckily for me the software works on both platforms.
The review has help me realise the performance should be fine to run standard PC applications. The single USB-C port was a concern because the software I plan to use requires a USB dongle.
But I haves learned there are solutions such as Infiniteusb which will actually overcome the single port problem. (http://getinfiniteusb.com) actually mean one port will probably be better.
Some people say well you have to carry the dongle, but the thing is if you have the need to plug in accessories well you will be carrying more then just the laptop whether there is one or more ports. Which to my mind makes the whole point mute. The daisy chaining of USB-C is cool too.
I like the idea of fanless. On the Internet and HP's own website user reviews suggest the HP XPS has some design fault, a noise that can be quiet annoying. I don't believe has been addressed.
In Australia the base HP XPS is about $100 more then thie base MacBook 12". So I plan to get the MacBook 12".
I was thinking maybe the MacBook Air 13" but when you add on the upgrade to 8gb and 256gb HD equivalent of the base MacBook 12", there only $100 difference. I would rather a a Retina display. I also looked at the old MacBook Pro 13" but same price and I prefer the smaller footprint of the MacBook 12".
So I thought it may be interesting to post why I decide to buy the MacBook over the HP.
For me and a lot of people we don't want a high powered laptop with all the bells and whistles. Apple have squarely filled the gap for users like me who primarily use a iPad but have a need for a portable PC.
I did find it telling that I could buy a 15" laptop from Dell cheaper then their own HP XPS and 15" had better specs. It does suggest this is what people are buying and wanting. I mean a couple of years ago bigger laptops were the expensive ones.
Lastly there is a premium in price for these small laptops which is to say a opportunity for other manufacturers to come along and deliver similar device at a cheaper price point.
Ryan, great article, I just got a MacBook, my use case (trading stock options at work during my lunch and breaks) is perfect for this laptop, I commute on the subway and via electric skateboard, and weight savings is important.
I tried to use my iPad and find a touch screen is pretty miserable to choose options, same goes for a phone, tried the best Chromebook and the keys started falling off in the first week. (Toshiba Chromebook 2 with the 1080 screen), loved the screen, but the rest of the hardware just didn't cut it. $1K for a Pixel is just a bit too much for a Chromebook, but it was tempting, would have been a sale for Google had they included LTE.
This is day one with the MacBook, hope it stands up.
So, I have bought this expensive piece of equipment, having been an apple fan since a decade and all equipment at home from iPhones to the Time capsule and and and from Apple. Well, because of this notebook it is my last Apple product. this MacBook is a waste of money and a nuisance. i arrive at work and have forgotten to take my 30 $ separate adapter with me, so cant not upload my presentation to a USB stick. I wanted to put a large spreadsheet from the computer to a USB drive, but the computer was almost empty on charge, so could not download and charge at the same time. the keyboard is purely experimental and you make type after types due to its minimal action. Mark my words: Apple made a huge mistake with this product that gave away all the functionality for a minimal weight gain. Now that Samsung and Microsoft have more than caught up, it is time to make the switch. never Apple again after this failure.
When you buy something you usually pay attention at what you really need. Apple doesn't just the new macbook, but also the macbook pro, that has everything you need for every use and connection. There's no Dell Xps or other good product that can fit your needs if you need something else. Apple has always been forward, and every other company tried (sometime better, sometime worser) to copy. If anyone had problem and complained about port lack or cpu power (that works fine anyway like other thin notebook thank to the OS X system) it's just for wrong choice. I have my 13 inches 2015 macbook pro Retina with 16gb ram and 512 hd, payed 1400€, and it kills the Lenovo X250 or the Dell XPS. So do yourself a present. Think before buying.
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lilmoe - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
"I’m going to start where I left off in our introduction, which was the concept of the laptop/tablet crossover. The idea of laptops and tablets crossing over is no longer merely an idea, but now it is reality"Yea. Back here, we call those "Netbooks". But "crossover" sounds cooler.
darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
You don't know what a netbook is. They were cheap devices with low quality screens and poor build quality. Try reading the review you are commenting on.lilmoe - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
OK, so it's a better quality netbook. Got it :PvFunct - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Sorta like how a laptop is a higher quality netbook.Or, how a computer is a higher-quality calculator.
PEJUman - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Maybe in 2012 laptop is higher quality netbook. I am starting to feel that Anandtech is getting too 'careful' with the OEMs. M9 is bad, call it that. this Macbook fits squarely in the netbook term from functionality standpoint, despite the price premium for the fit and finish. No need to redefine a new 'crossover' term just to keep Apple marketing managers happy.Right now, chromebook and other ultraportables (such as this one) with the relatively slow core M are the de-facto sucessor to netbook. Single usb port also a netbook typical compromise. It not convertible nor it has a touchscreen, so.. NETBOOK.
Tech evolves, therefore performance expectation should evolve with it. the core M is barely faster than a 2012 intel i3-3217U on geekbench. It is the lowest performance tier of Intel big core family.
Anandtech used to be unbiased, I think they finally started the slow descent towards 'marketing for OEM'. I understand where this is coming from, and I am willing to pay for anandtech subscription if that what it takes to restore the one place a techie can get an unbiased, deep dive into new techs.
Purch should differentiate Tom's & Anand by using Tom's for their mainstream, 'marketing compatible portal' while turning Anand into a subscription based portal, with reviews selection based on customer votes, each one completely unbiased, purely technical, pull-no-punches style.
ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Something like the transformer book is a modern day netbook: atom processor, $300 price, questionable build quality --- all the traits of a netbook.BittenRottenApple - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Yet another fine addition to the long list of "Terrible Products Apple Makes to Gouge Money out of People".The new MacBook is a testament to Apple's collapsing technical acumen. They eliminate all ports except for one outdated USB port? This craven stupidity should send the last adherents running. But running to what? Windows isn't even a viable option anymore, since it now is the most widespread commercial NSA gathering tool available, closely followed by Android, iOS and OS X.
It's a sad day for people who need real computers. Jony Ive is a pompous, clueless hack who should be fired for introducing crippling regressions like this one.
Look at this POS: One USB port, which will require an adapter to do anything. So if you're going to require an adapter anyway, why not make that one port a modern one: Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt can carry USB, video, Ethernet, external storage... ALL AT ONCE. And it can be daisy-chained, which is hugely important when the computer has ONLY ONE PORT. So WTF is Apple doing making its sole port USB?
And again, are you kidding me? One tiny USB connector? Now every sorry user of this pos has to find a thunderbolt to USB C, a USB C to USB to HDMI, a USB to USB 3.0 period, a USB C to USB connector for apple’s time machine and also manage to don't short circuit all that with the AC/DC to USB C connectors, seriously ? Worth 200$ new pile of hairy connectors for the brand new gold macbook air, and that is called a revolution nowadays? No ********** way, the Dell XPS 13 is way superior, period.
By the way, they're perpetrating USB Type C connectors. Thunderbolt is a much-needed step to a modern I/O standard. USB is an outdated, abused standard that was designed for keyboards, mice, and modems. It's not suitable for external storage, video, or anything else requiring bulk data transfer with minimal CPU overhead. USB C is a regression, a major step BACKWARD.
$1599.99----Less than $550.00 worth of hardware = ~$1000 premium to use OS X instead of windows. (Honestly the most expensive component of this computer is probably the screen.)
Anyone with real work to do will not even be able to buy this thing. My friend’s last Air was neat in that it was small and lasted all day, but it was so under-powered, it was frustrating. I can only imagine how limited this machine will be.
Who cares about price, weight and size, when this product is crippled by a hopelessly defective design? You can't hook up a power adapter and external storage at the same time. You can't hook up an external display and external storage. Hell, you can't even plug in a thumb drive!
This product is the most asinine piece of shit Apple has produced, and that includes the (thankfully) short-lived Shuffle that could only be controlled by a gimped Morse code.
$700 less gets you the new Dell XPS 13 which will eat the Mac's lunch.
If you need to do a lot of processor intensive work, than you would not even go near this thing. It would be useless to you. If you need to crunch spreadsheets or are heavy in corporate analysis, this computer would also be useless to you.
This is the kind of computer that Apple sells a lot of. This computer is largely useless for anything other than email and facebook. It cannot store many files, it cannot process much information, and it has one external port. There is nothing wrong with using this computer for casual tasks, but it is CERTAINLY not a productivity machine.
It is what it is. A status symbol/statement. Or some other statement. A statement that you just bought a $400 netbook with a $900 case so you can show off in front of your hipster friends.
I hate to stick to Apple only facts here, but Apple said that the Air is 24% thicker than this new Macbook. That does NOT mean that the new Macbook is 24% thinner than the Air, it means that it is ~20% thinner than the Air. They clearly phrased it that way to make it sound more impressive and hence dupe the consumer, aka stupid isheep.
So, it's an iPad plus with a keyboard and an over expensive dongle so you can do everything a Dell can do, at twice the price while looking posh.
And here I thought technology was about function over form. I get it, functional art; art I can do things my phone does, but in a space that anyone can see me doing it, stylishly. Crippled and non standard in-house branded "business" software does great, can't do anything really artistic on it except maybe GarageBand or stock filter photo edits to my innumerable selfies, but it's got that partially eaten fruit on the back that screams "money I'm too stupid to keep or invest wisely."
Take my money!
I wouldn't hold my breath.
This is apple's marketing strategy: mind-numbing markup on dirt-cheap, mediocre laptops. They throw together a cheap little laptop, pretty it up with silver or gold paint, and ride the wave of ignorance, outrageous markup, and marketing that they've been using as a business model for many, many years now. The only thing Apple has ever made that's less worthless than all the other crap their conspirators like Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd excrete all day and night by taking advantage of child labour are iOS and OS X which, besides being notoriously crippled and constrained walled gardens, aren’t even worth the hassle unless you also dumped thousands of dollars into other apple products.
Many apple owners I’ve encountered never stop trying to belittle and demean others because they don’t have a Macbook or an iPhone and then try to act like their overpriced apple products are overall better when they are certainly not, by any standard.
Luxury cars, while still worthless crash grabs, usually offer some quality and features that are actually somewhat superior to cheaper competing brands and models.
Macbooks such as this start already expensive as hell with little performance to warrant such outrageous costs. Apple isn’t the luxury car of anything. It’s the luxury car DESIGN with a 4-cylinder under the hood and a tape-deck in the sound system, all with the price tag of "luxury". They sell laptops made cheap in china, using child labour and the same hardware you can find in SO many other laptops, slap their OS on it, put it in a thin case, and then markup the price by 300% to 600%. These are the facts. This laptop in question is nowhere NEAR worth that kind of money. I mean, laptops in general are overpriced, but apple has made their entire business model out of extreme markups backed by clever marketing with little actual technological superiority of any kind. Every single apple product on the market can be outperformed in every way by comparable products. Apple computers can be outperformed by computers that are FAR FAR cheaper while relying on older tech. The only thing that apple has that nobody else does is OSX and iOS, their operating systems. These are mediocre operating systems, but they are literally designed to be limited on anything it determines to be "non-apple hardware". Other operating systems can be installed on just about any computer you can slap together, whereas OSX is specifically and deliberately designed to be non-functional on ANYTHING that isn’t made by apple. It’s nothing but a cash-grab.
Apple is indeed playing run-of-the-mill capitalism, they try to capitalize on the ignorance of the average consumer with marketing campaigns designed to make you assume you're getting your money's worth.
There are millions of consumers who are on the fence, who are actually interested in buying something that's worth the money they spend. Those people deserve factual information and do not deserve to be exploited for their ignorance on the topic. So excuse me if I have a problem with it. College students especially, who don’t have a lot to spend in the first place, are being taken advantage of in every area of their life. Buying a computer should be one less area of exploitation. This is why I have a problem with apple and with many other companies and services that attempt to capitalize on ignorance.
Years down the road when the batteries in this model are dead and you have to keep it plugged in just to use then you'll have no way to plug in a flash drive or an external hard drive. I don't care how sexy it looks: sometimes and more often than not less means a serious lack of functionality.
We can only hope that consumers send this piece of diabolic garbage to oblivion, as they did the idiotic iPod Shuffle that could only be controlled with Morse code over a proprietary headphone wire.
Notwist - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
You literally just typed a small novel spewing a bunch of claims without citing anything to support your arguments, or outright fabricating stuff. It's the absolute definition of a poorly written, complete waste of time. Please take your rants elsewhere, Anandtech readers, last I checked, enjoy discussing tech, not spouting conspiracy theories and raving like lunatics.superflex - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
I thought it was quite good.You sound like a butthurt iFanboi
star-affinity - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
I thought it was bad and not nuanced at all. Things aren't that black and white. Reality comer in many shades.People have the right to have an *informed* opinion. The long post above is unfortunately based mostly on ignorance.
hot kiwi - Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - link
Do not agree, it is based on facts. I have after a few months had enough of the slowness, horrible new style keyboard and the one connector technology that forced me to buy 5 adapters, so I have one everywhere. Hopeless.El capitan is my last Apple software since 10 years Apple. Looking forward to Windows on a decent and not overpriced machine.
iOSecure - Monday, November 30, 2015 - link
Yeah right, you came back to post here? you dont own it, nice tryEmbar - Saturday, March 11, 2017 - link
You must love your dongles then. Homeboy has a point: I buy a work machine to do work. If I have to add shit for it to be useful, then it's an inferior tool. I shouldn't have to pray that an industry standard exists in my devices, nor should I have to concern myself with the quandary that Apple likes to provide their tightly budgeted customers who just need to be able to do their work (over the hard disk space that is not expandable). I want to be able to expand my innards like my 2010 MBP when I had 2 fucking HDDs and it was sublime. And everything could plug into it! Compare to today when I have to have Tony Stark's wallet to get out of the store. That's not my cuppa. If you have a flash drive lying around it should be usable in your machine without you having to run to the ATM to shell out for fucking DONGLES. And don't get me started on the missing touch screens, bro. That shit's been peeving me since 2008. If Apple listened to someone other than Señor Ive, I'd have the machine I want. Back when Apple nixed the floppy drive (1998) I was okay because CDs were a viable improvement/workaround. I even thought that the NEXT cube was great with the MO drive. But a $900 bump to add a 1TB SSD is 'Nutrageous'. It's Apple's way of saying "You're not invited to my party". Bad karma, dude.vy747 - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link
Im not sure what is more annoying, apple fanboys or apple haters. I think the latter.gw74 - Tuesday, April 28, 2015 - link
google "polemic"r3loaded - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
K.docderwood - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
Happy with mine. Wanted something slightly more powerful than an Ipad with a keyboard.I used to be a Windows/Linux/build your own PC person. Then I had kids/life got busy. Now the entire family is on Ical etc etc etc and changing back to Windows would result in a lot of headaches and time for the head of IT (ME). My time is my most valuable commodity.
It's not a desktop replacement. It's for emails/word processing/web surfing. I've got a desktop, it's for all the other stuff.
As much as I hate Apple sometimes (Their continued half assed product introductions and complete lack of clarity piss me off and their general neglect of OS X are real issues) it hasn't reached the point that I'm ready to jettison the apple ecosystem YET.
It seems people get angry when they introduce s machine that doesn't meet their needs. This meets mine perfectly. Sorry they missed the mark for you this time. Glad Dell did. Isn't the free market great?
russdust55 - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
I am happy with my Macbook too. I am a bluntly simple user of basic 'office productivity' apps, plus social fluff. I might be the ideal customer for the new Macbook because I upgraded from a 4.5 year old 11" Macbook Air. Compared to the older Air, the new Macbook is faster, lighter, smaller (but with a larger RETINA screen), and gets better battery life. Love the trackpad, and am ambivalent on the keyboard. I got the faster CPU which geek-benches similar to a 1-2 year old Air. Which is fine with me. Did it cost too much? Yup. Do I regret it? No.The new Macbook is the vanguard of what will replace the Macbook Air line. Like the Air, the first model of which was slow, overpriced, if sexy to look at. the new Macbook will get faster and cheaper in time. Apple will (my opinion) drop the Air line in a few years time, when the Retina Macbook will have gotten a bit faster and can be sold at prices more like the Air.
8steve8 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
no one gets this product, it's a great 2nd or 3rd computer to bring to coffee shops, or to throw in your bag just in case you want to do some computing.... there aren't many 2.0 LB laptops to choose from, and this has the best keyboard/trackpad/screen combination...Sure it's slow, but think of what they say about cameras, the best one is the one that you brought with you... this is the kind of computer you can just always have with you and it won't feel like a burden.
barleyguy - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
$1500 is a lot of money for a 2nd or 3rd computer to take to a coffee shop. A $400 dockable tablet fits that use case a lot better IMO.tpoccu - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Did you write something similar about the original MacBook Air, you know the one that cost about 3 times as much as this, also had only USB, video out (micro-DVI if memory serves which nothing else ever used), and a headphone jack, and had atrocious performance compared to its contemporaries? The same MacBook Air that only one redesign later would go on to become the defacto standard for how mainstream laptops are built now. I suppose it is easier to rant without any use for foresight.Schickenipple - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
Seriously, BittenRottenApple: You need to get laid.All companies will do whatever they can to sell whatever they can because they want to make money and people will continue to buy their stuff. If being 'informed' means that consumers will turn into you and start spouting useless crap on technology forums for hours at a time, then they would probably rather pay a lot of money for a new OS X device and have some fun. Even if it is just a sweet-looking netbook. Grow up and quit wasting your energy on this stuff.
Also: Change your username to something less troll-like and cliché. We all knew exactly how your comment would read before even reading it.
karpodiem - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
I laughed through reading some of this, but agreed with much of it than I disagreed with.Spot on
star-affinity - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
”They eliminate all ports except for one outdated USB port?”How is it outdated? USB 3.1 barely just hit the market.
”Other operating systems can be installed on just about any computer you can slap together, whereas OSX is specifically and deliberately designed to be non-functional on ANYTHING that isn’t made by apple.”
Not true – OS X works very well on my Hackintosh with very few modifications.
I wouldn't get this MacBook, but the recently updated 13" MacBook Pro looks quite nice in my book. I think OS X is worth a lot. There's less hassle with it overall (compared to Windows) and I can work much more switfly using it (less actions/steps needed for most common tasks). I say this working at an IT department at an office where there's computers running both Windows and OS X.
You don't have to like Apple or their products, but I don't thinks your criticism (or should I say rant) is very balanced.
sunnohh - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
Computers last 2 years for most Apple users 3 tops. Source former Apple certified repair tech. 1300 isn't that much money. And as a dedicated PC gamer with a Titan rig 24 USB ports; gigs of ram and inches of monitor; this MacBook seems like a great little second machine. I prefer portability in a laptop to power and as a somewhat fancy individual there are literally zero times I would ever need a port on a laptop other than power, which with an 8 hr battery can be discretely done from home. Some people have grown up jobs and need shiny Apple products and Mercedes cars to fit in at work.I am an extremely informed PC builder yet I choose Apple products because they are astonishingly high performing elegant bits of jewelry/PC. Ever compare the hinges on a MacBook to a Lenovo or asus? Good Christ. Apple sound quality? 100% better then the next best PC or android bar none. And I've tried everything and seen every measurement not even close. Color quality check.
Sure it's a cult but it's reasonably priced for the quality, especially compared to a Benz. And the best part of Apple ownership is I can have Apple pie and windows and it's ok. Seriously it's fucking awesome.
vista980622 - Wednesday, May 20, 2015 - link
There are some valid points there, and as a semi-professional video editor + graphics designer, I definitely know I'm not its' target audience. The new MacBook is designed for people who use computer differently than we do, and I'm glad a lot of my friends and people around me love the tiny laptop that is beautiful and light.vista980622 - Wednesday, May 20, 2015 - link
And I do enjoy the XPS 13 :)farhanshaikh74 - Sunday, May 24, 2015 - link
I was die hard apple fan from so many years and used to propagate apple products to such an extent that I am called Late Steve Job's best marketing guy in my hospital!However over last three years as Apple has stopped producing simple MacBook pro which are upgradeable (like mid 2012 MacBook pro) with DVD drive, I am feeling their vision of "design should include how things work" philosophy is losing its sheen.
Now they are selling only MacBook Retina, no non-retina laptops!, No laptops with DVD drive!! No laptops with 8GB RAM with normal Hard disk Drive which is upgradeable!!!
They are forcing us to buy ONLY Retian, with a fixed Flash drive which is meagre 126Gb or 256 GB, and those which come with 500 GB are exorbitantly costly.
They are forcing us to use iCloud for storage, without realising that in many parts of the world accessibility to WiFi and iCloud.
I am serious restricted by fixed 256GB Flash drive on my late 2013 Retina MacBook pro as I bought this expensive laptop, but struggling for space and the Flashdrive is not upgradeable!!
From last one week I am seriously considering Apple products and going back to Windows.
The design team in Apple is ignorant to a large population, who loves apple products and have moderate budget, they are busy catering only to high end products at premium price.
If this continues, they will find very few people using iOS in future and Apple will die its own death.
This is serious, as a die hard fan of Apple like me is writing such a comment!
Stimpak_Addict - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - link
Check out Thunderbolt 3. It seems like they made this form factor to accommodate it once it's finalized (and hopefully they'll include at least 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports with the next iteration).jdw1992 - Sunday, June 14, 2015 - link
I have to point out a serious area you lack on knowledge. You berate USB as being outdated compared to thunderbolt. If you were speaking of anything but USB C you would be correct. However, and I do not know why Apple did not point this out, USB C and thunderbolt are now one and the same. Intel announced that the standard known as Thunderbolt is now part of the USB C standard. In other words, Apple is the first to land the next generation of peripheral ports, the most versatile and fast one to date.hot kiwi - Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - link
Thanks for this. 100% agree.I gave my Macbook with its horrible 1 connector technology and a terrible keyboard to my children and went back to Windows. Next one out is my iPhone for a Samsung.
barleyguy - Sunday, April 19, 2015 - link
Spot on. An Asus Transformer is what replaced my netbook. Mine actually runs Android rather than Windows, which is preferable IMO in that level of device.The build quality is actually pretty good. It's light and strong. After lots of docking/undocking I had to put tape over the place where it locks together. So it's not perfect.
It also outperforms a netbook in practical terms. You could argue that some netbooks would benchmark higher, but the Transformer does flawless 1080p video and plays Android games very well, including the demanding ones such as GTA.
I've been pondering a Macbook Air, or even the Macbook reviewed in this article. But for my use case, $1500+ doesn't make a lot of sense. I also have a Dell 14" laptop with an i7 and NVidia graphics, so apart from being thinner and lighter, I'm not sure this has a place in my ecosystem.
ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Whoops didn't finish. The new MacBook, with 8gb ram, 256gb SSD, and several cutting edge technologies, top quality display, and higher price really isn't anything like a netbook at all.PEJUman - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
both are netbooks, one is a premium one.melgross - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Ignorance on your part.vFunct - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
A "Netbook" is only used to surf the web.This Macbook is a full-blown laptop. You can do video-editing, games, etc..
That's the difference between a laptop and a netbook.
Jumangi - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Video editing with that cpu? Yea sure...superflex - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
fanbois can dream, cant they?vFunct - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
You can do video editing on an iPhone if you want.You don't need a supercomputer to do so.
BittenRottenApple - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Yet another fine addition to the long list of "Terrible Products Apple Makes to Gouge Money out of People".The new MacBook is a testament to Apple's collapsing technical acumen. They eliminate all ports except for one outdated USB port? This craven stupidity should send the last adherents running. But running to what? Windows isn't even a viable option anymore, since it now is the most widespread commercial NSA gathering tool available, closely followed by Android, iOS and OS X.
It's a sad day for people who need real computers. Jony Ive is a pompous, clueless hack who should be fired for introducing crippling regressions like this one.
Look at this POS: One USB port, which will require an adapter to do anything. So if you're going to require an adapter anyway, why not make that one port a modern one: Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt can carry USB, video, Ethernet, external storage... ALL AT ONCE. And it can be daisy-chained, which is hugely important when the computer has ONLY ONE PORT. So WTF is Apple doing making its sole port USB?
And again, are you kidding me? One tiny USB connector? Now every sorry user of this pos has to find a thunderbolt to USB C, a USB C to USB to HDMI, a USB to USB 3.0 period, a USB C to USB connector for apple’s time machine and also manage to don't short circuit all that with the AC/DC to USB C connectors, seriously ? Worth 200$ new pile of hairy connectors for the brand new gold macbook air, and that is called a revolution nowadays? No ********** way, the Dell XPS 13 is way superior, period.
By the way, they're perpetrating USB Type C connectors. Thunderbolt is a much-needed step to a modern I/O standard. USB is an outdated, abused standard that was designed for keyboards, mice, and modems. It's not suitable for external storage, video, or anything else requiring bulk data transfer with minimal CPU overhead. USB C is a regression, a major step BACKWARD.
$1599.99----Less than $550.00 worth of hardware = ~$1000 premium to use OS X instead of windows. (Honestly the most expensive component of this computer is probably the screen.)
Anyone with real work to do will not even be able to buy this thing. My friend’s last Air was neat in that it was small and lasted all day, but it was so under-powered, it was frustrating. I can only imagine how limited this machine will be.
Who cares about price, weight and size, when this product is crippled by a hopelessly defective design? You can't hook up a power adapter and external storage at the same time. You can't hook up an external display and external storage. Hell, you can't even plug in a thumb drive!
This product is the most asinine piece of shit Apple has produced, and that includes the (thankfully) short-lived Shuffle that could only be controlled by a gimped Morse code.
$700 less gets you the new Dell XPS 13 which will eat the Mac's lunch.
If you need to do a lot of processor intensive work, than you would not even go near this thing. It would be useless to you. If you need to crunch spreadsheets or are heavy in corporate analysis, this computer would also be useless to you.
This is the kind of computer that Apple sells a lot of. This computer is largely useless for anything other than email and facebook. It cannot store many files, it cannot process much information, and it has one external port. There is nothing wrong with using this computer for casual tasks, but it is CERTAINLY not a productivity machine.
It is what it is. A status symbol/statement. Or some other statement. A statement that you just bought a $400 netbook with a $900 case so you can show off in front of your hipster friends.
I hate to stick to Apple only facts here, but Apple said that the Air is 24% thicker than this new Macbook. That does NOT mean that the new Macbook is 24% thinner than the Air, it means that it is ~20% thinner than the Air. They clearly phrased it that way to make it sound more impressive and hence dupe the consumer, aka stupid isheep.
So, it's an iPad plus with a keyboard and an over expensive dongle so you can do everything a Dell can do, at twice the price while looking posh.
And here I thought technology was about function over form. I get it, functional art; art I can do things my phone does, but in a space that anyone can see me doing it, stylishly. Crippled and non standard in-house branded "business" software does great, can't do anything really artistic on it except maybe GarageBand or stock filter photo edits to my innumerable selfies, but it's got that partially eaten fruit on the back that screams "money I'm too stupid to keep or invest wisely."
Take my money!
I wouldn't hold my breath.
This is apple's marketing strategy: mind-numbing markup on dirt-cheap, mediocre laptops. They throw together a cheap little laptop, pretty it up with silver or gold paint, and ride the wave of ignorance, outrageous markup, and marketing that they've been using as a business model for many, many years now. The only thing Apple has ever made that's less worthless than all the other crap their conspirators like Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd excrete all day and night by taking advantage of child labour are iOS and OS X which, besides being notoriously crippled and constrained walled gardens, aren’t even worth the hassle unless you also dumped thousands of dollars into other apple products.
Many apple owners I’ve encountered never stop trying to belittle and demean others because they don’t have a Macbook or an iPhone and then try to act like their overpriced apple products are overall better when they are certainly not, by any standard.
Luxury cars, while still worthless crash grabs, usually offer some quality and features that are actually somewhat superior to cheaper competing brands and models.
Macbooks such as this start already expensive as hell with little performance to warrant such outrageous costs. Apple isn’t the luxury car of anything. It’s the luxury car DESIGN with a 4-cylinder under the hood and a tape-deck in the sound system, all with the price tag of "luxury". They sell laptops made cheap in china, using child labour and the same hardware you can find in SO many other laptops, slap their OS on it, put it in a thin case, and then markup the price by 300% to 600%. These are the facts. This laptop in question is nowhere NEAR worth that kind of money. I mean, laptops in general are overpriced, but apple has made their entire business model out of extreme markups backed by clever marketing with little actual technological superiority of any kind. Every single apple product on the market can be outperformed in every way by comparable products. Apple computers can be outperformed by computers that are FAR FAR cheaper while relying on older tech. The only thing that apple has that nobody else does is OSX and iOS, their operating systems. These are mediocre operating systems, but they are literally designed to be limited on anything it determines to be "non-apple hardware". Other operating systems can be installed on just about any computer you can slap together, whereas OSX is specifically and deliberately designed to be non-functional on ANYTHING that isn’t made by apple. It’s nothing but a cash-grab.
Apple is indeed playing run-of-the-mill capitalism, they try to capitalize on the ignorance of the average consumer with marketing campaigns designed to make you assume you're getting your money's worth.
There are millions of consumers who are on the fence, who are actually interested in buying something that's worth the money they spend. Those people deserve factual information and do not deserve to be exploited for their ignorance on the topic. So excuse me if I have a problem with it. College students especially, who don’t have a lot to spend in the first place, are being taken advantage of in every area of their life. Buying a computer should be one less area of exploitation. This is why I have a problem with apple and with many other companies and services that attempt to capitalize on ignorance.
Years down the road when the batteries in this model are dead and you have to keep it plugged in just to use then you'll have no way to plug in a flash drive or an external hard drive. I don't care how sexy it looks: sometimes and more often than not less means a serious lack of functionality.
We can only hope that consumers send this piece of diabolic garbage to oblivion, as they did the idiotic iPod Shuffle that could only be controlled with Morse code over a proprietary headphone wire.
BittenRottenApple - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Edit, please forgive the double post, thank you very much.sbuk - Thursday, April 23, 2015 - link
No. Not with rampant idiocy like yours.ppi - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
While I am no lover of Apple (in fact, Apple products can't cross my door), you need to give credit where its due.1) That single port can serve (yes with dongle, but still) as single cable to plug you to power, ethernet, external display, keyboard and mouse. Now this is mucho better than my current Lenovo T-series, where I need to plug all those cables individually every time I change location.
2) 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD is insufficient? You came here back in time from 2045 or what? Show me notebook with better BASE specification.
3) If you are processing spreadsheets, that Core-M cannot handle, it must be quite a chore to do it on standard notebook as well. I would suggest optimizing the spreadsheet (less dynamic formulas where it is not necessary) or if it does not help, considering moving your work to SQL server.
smorebuds - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Name one Core M device that's in the netbook price range. The UX305 is probably the cheapest decent Core M laptop and it's $699 base price with 8gb ram and 256gb ssd. How does that equate to a netbook exactly?The logical successor to netbooks are the sub-$300 Windows/Chromebook Atom laptops. While they are certainly snappier than the old Atom netbooks, they are also unmistakably budget devices.
I have an HP Stream 13 and an UX305, and while I appreciate the $200 Stream for what it can do, it's nowhere near as responsive as the UX305 - aka NOT A NETBOOK.
smorebuds - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Ok do you consider every small laptop to be a netbook? I guess I assumed we were taking performance into account as well...MykeM - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Is a netbook equipped with a SSD that read/write in the 800/400 MB/s range? Not even the Dell XPS13 comes with such SSD.bobhays - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
These arguments are so ignorant that I had to create an account so I could reply. The new MacBook IS a netbook. A netbook is a small, portable laptop that has enough processing power to do basic office tasks and browse the internet. EXACTLY what this laptop is designed for. A netbook is not defined by it's price range or quality, it is defined by it's purpose. If someone made a cheap, but exteremely well performing sports coupe, you are not going to say no that is not a sports car because it doesn't have the same quality as a ferrari. Just because the new MacBook is more expensive and has better specs (not necessarily performance) does not mean it serves another purpose. It does the same thing as a netbook (because it is one) for a different market. The only reason people are arguing right now over whether this is a netbook or not is because there were no premium netbooks before so everyone assumed a netbook means weak computers that lag behind. A netbook is essentially a low performance (and previously low priced) ultrabook and that is the perfect description for the new MacBook. Thanks for reading and if you disagree please make a point and not an ad hominem.zhenya00 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I think you blur the lines too much. A netbook is exactly as its name implies - a device primarily designed to browse the Internet. The netbook has always been defined by a gimped operating system and/or (nearly always and) cheap construction in order to make it as affordable as possible.The MacBook is not a netbook.
- It has a full operating system, exactly the same as every other Mac computer.
- It has premium parts befitting the most expensive laptops on the market.
The ONLY thing you seem to be focusing on is the processor - there is nothing else in the MacBook design that could even remotely say 'netbook.' Is the 11" MBA a netbook? It's smaller and cheaper? Is a 2010 MBP a netbook? Because it has a slower processor than this MacBook.
The new MacBook is a laptop built on the premise that much modern computing does not need cutting edge CPU power, and can instead be built to prioritize things like battery life, silence, device size and weight. That doesn't make it a netbook.
BomC - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - link
Because of market saturation but also in acknowledgment of a widely diverse market, the industry is moving steadily away from default one-for-all solutions towards a far more diversified picture. In that sense, you might see this Macbook as an equivalent of the Galaxy View 18" tablet: purposely niche-oriented, experimental products in search of markets sectors for which they are suited. This is true for software as well. As a writer, I had to make do with a MS-Word-alike application for years; everyone's word processor was essentially the same Swiss army knife of an app. Nowadays I can use iA Write for distraction-free, concentrated writing, Mellel for academic pieces, Scrivener for writing setups and a whole host of apps for screenwriting. Can't speak for other people but I've never had it so good.Onionart - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is also using Core M processor and as is many other ultrabooks in the market. This is the trend. Netbook is a name created for calling a specific class of computers. It is like calling all printers and scanners as xerox machines.....Jaybus - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
No. It is a form factor issue and has nothing to do with performance. Do you call a mid-tower case with keyboard, mouse, and monitor a PC? Even though the first mid-tower PCs had 80286 processors? With any form factor, performance increases over time (hopefully). Call it an ultrabook, then. The point is, it is a small form factor with focus on small size, battery life and wireless connectivity. It is a commodity device with zero expandability and limited i/o.zhenya00 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
'Tech evolvolves.'That's exactly right. So don't get stuck on the fact that the only possible form that technical evolution may take is based on speed improvements. In this case, evolution is taking the form of better efficiency - doing more work with less. That's what's really important in computing today; not merely making everything faster.
Your argument is basically like saying that LED lightbulbs aren't an important evolution - we should just be making ever brighter incandescent instead.
Wulfgardr - Sunday, April 26, 2015 - link
I wonder how anyone is supposed to write unbiasedly, Jesus we are human beings not robots, we actually answer to higher laws than electric ones. Opinions, you can form your own idea by surfing, reading and comparing stuff. You "shouldn't" need a place where you pay for someone to take care of your criticism.Death666Angel - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
This used to be subnotebooks. The below 13" category with outrages battery life, performance and price for its size (typically dominated by Sony back in the day iirc). Then came the First netbooks and stuff like the Acer 1810 with Core architecture CPUs, decent performance with decent battery in the below 1000$ price bracket. Current Atom stuff is netbook like, current Pentium-U stuff is like the Acer 1810 - meaning above netbook, below subnotebook - and current Core-M stuff like UX305 and MacBook is subnotebook territory. There, all the terms you need available even 3 years ago! :Ddarwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
No you still don't get it. Try reading the review.melgross - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
We know you're trying to be cute and dismissive, but obviously you know nothing about netbooks.Netbooks, by Microsoft's definition, had a maximum screen size of 10", a maximum resolution of either 1024x768, or 800x600, I don't remember which right now. It also couldn't have more that a certain, small amount of RAM or storage, and an Atom CPU.
Any more than the maximum couldn't qualify for the $15 XP, and later, win 7 Starter edition.
Really, if you don't know any of this, you know nothing.
Impulses - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
They bumped that up to 11.6" pretty quickly. RAM was limited by the x86 Atom as much as anything else. They all shipped with 160GB HDDs...Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Truth be told I was tempted to drop the term "netbook" in this article, but ultimately decided not to for that exact reason. Netbooks were ultra-cheap Atom powered computers; the MacBook is neither cheap in price or build quality, nor is it Atom powered.The successor to the Netbook is for all practical purposes the Chromebook. The MacBook on the other hand doesn't easily compare to other small laptops since this is the first time Core has been available at such a low wattage.
nathanddrews - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I would probably lump Bingdows 8.1 devices in that category as well. I can't wait to see how Braswell/Airmont/Cherry Trail impacts that category.Impulses - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The spiritual successor is probably a Chromebook, tho I'd argue the functional successor for anyone that bought a netbook as a second/third device would be something like the Surface 3 (non-Pro)...The first Atom netbooks weren't as cheap as some people seem to think, I'm pretty sure I paid something in the mid $400s for my Aspire One, it's still banging around the house (with a RAM bump to 2GB and a 40GB X25-V).
I never really replaced that thing per se... I actually bought an OG ASUS TF to "tide me over" until ultrabooks, eventually realized I didn't really want to manage a laptop in addition to my desktop, and just made do with tablets on the go (N7 replaced TF).
Been a while since I used the old netbook, but Surface 3 is looking awfully appealing. Hopefully MS will deliver one to AT pre launch. Btw, does Apple intend to sandbag the Air with crappy TN screens forever now that there's a new MB?
darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
If you recall back then $400 was cheap. Now you can buy a cheap Acer etc. Windows laptop for around that. But the are junk.Impulses - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
$400 was cheap then? Because inflation goes in reverse? :p I don't know if you can say $400 was a small sum, I guess in relative terms you could argue most laptops were over $600... That seems like splitting hairs tho, a year or two later C2D laptops were encroaching on netbook prices and ultrabooks started looming in an effort to bring premium systems and prices into the limelight.barleyguy - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
In computers, yes inflation goes in reverse. Computers have gotten more powerful and less expensive over time. The original 8086 IBM PC was $7000.MykeM - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The x7 in the Surface 3 is nowhere as powerful as the Core-M. It's even less powerful than the A8X despite having one extra core (and even less than the A8 in single core Geekbench 3 score):A8X (3 cores): 1808/4529 (single/multi)
x7-Z8700 (4 cores): 1024/3445
Core M-5Y31 (2 Cores): 2446/4615
kyuu - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
FFS, please stop quoting Geekbench like it's a reliable benchmark.68k - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Amen to that!Geekbench score has some merit when comparing the same family of CPUs, like comparing one big-core Intel vs another big-core Intel. Comparing Geekbench result from different ISA seem to make little sense as the relative score is often quite far from what one see when comparing "real" programs.
Gogogoran - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I bought an eeepc 1000he as a more mobile laptop since my 15.4" at the time was becoming a pain with its lackluster battery life of 2.5 hours real life, 3.5 if I tried. I have been meaning to upgrade to a SSD and 2GB ram but I feel that would still be limiting with the low resolution screen and single core atom. Still works great after over 5 years.I'd argue that the true functional successor is the Transformer T100 and other OEM equivalents. Its cost is also on par with the original Asus eeepcs and is far more functional, even taking into account the time frame. The surface 3 I would call a premium netbook. I'm kinda more interested to see asus's transformers with the x7 when they come out. I was admittedly disappointed when the new chi line came out with the same internals as the T100 and at the top end core M. Ah well. I have a yoga pro 2 and I'm content with just about everything as my sole mobile PC now and I'm glad to not be shifting between two laptops anymore.
darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Calling this a netbook is the easiest, laziest, and most ignorant response to make. Typically by people who have some whiny anti-apple issue.Netbooks were cheap laptops with substandard everything. Now there are even cheaper laptops with lousy displays, build quality and of course they run Windows.
PEJUman - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
No Netbook from functionality standpoint is an ultra efficient, relatively low performance, severely limited IO compromise to the 2012 laptop market. From that functionality standpoint, this macbook is a netbook.Core M is still slow according to 2015 standards, the macbook still only have a single USB port. Both of this makes it a 2015 netbook, albeit a premium one, around $800ish gets you the nicer material and screen, but not functionality.
I still can't do reasonable FPS on 4K encodes with it, it still will not run my USB to CAN bus adapter. I still need a hub to run multiple USB devices, etc. The same relative feature and performance compromises between laptop-netbook still here. Both devices evolved (and our expectation should as well), in the past 3 years since netbook term was coined.
ppi - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
First netbooks arrived like 8-9 years ago. iPad & tablets completely annihilated that category. Any el cheapo Android tablet can do more than Vista-powered Atom with 1GB RAM and mechanical HDD paired with 1024x800 TN panel.MacBook Core-M performance is absolutely perfect for anyone doing mostly e-mails, office, browsing. Short, burst, tasks. Doubtful you would be able to tell difference at these tasks between Core-M and i7-4790.
Obvisously, the 4.5W power envelope has its downsides - most demanding game this could reasonably run is probably something like plants vs zombies. But then you would get rewarded by great portability when running around airports.
If your performance yardstick is video encoding, anything short of full desktop is unsatisfactory anyway.
Kumouri - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
"MacBook Core-M performance is absolutely perfect for anyone doing mostly e-mails, office, browsing."Those three things were literally the tasks netbooks were made to do. Netbooks are perfect for email, office, and web because they have all the power you need and insane battery life. Which is exactly what the MacBook is.
ESC2000 - Wednesday, April 29, 2015 - link
But why would you pay $1300+ when your use case is email, Web and office? You should be able to get something far south of $1000 that can fly through those tasks (including apple's own MBA which of course isn't far south of $1000 but you pay the apple tax and it's still cheaper than this machine). ..maybe somewhat more to get 8 gb of RAM (although why would you need for that use case) and 256 gb of storage. If that's your use case and you buy one of these that suggests to me that you want to pay hundreds of dollars for the way it looks. ..not the end of the world and certainly your prerogative.lilmoe - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Meh. If I'm going to be more truthful, I'd say the new MacBook is actually worse than other netbooks as a value proposition. This isn't 2009. This device isn't a hybrid with a touchscreen like the Yoga 3 Pro. You're losing TOO MUCH for a design that isn't worth the price tag. Apple is making up for the *lacking factor* somewhat with a better screen and storage, but they should've used a better processor, made it a bit thicker, and put a larger battery. Oh wait, they ALREADY have a product like that; it's called the Macbook Air.I'd recommend an Air over this $1300 NETBOOK any day, every day. But Apple is being Apple here; they're trying to create a new, confusing, device category with this device. But I guess they can get away with it *because* they're Apple (ie: a luxury brand, as most people think of them).
Those who think that Apple is "hated" because ^one of their products is criticized are simply paranoid (too many of them actually). It's "easier", "lazier", and "more ignorant" to call out constructive criticism as "whiny anti-Apple" no?
modulusshift - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The fact that you think the storage is a salient point in comparing any computers that have SSDs simply shows how out of touch you are with what laptops actually need to be right now. SSD performance differences (assuming one isn't totally wrecked and TRIMless) are things you only really notice looking at two computers side by side. If they are reasonably sized, then they have the same practical performance for all consumer uses.That's the bit that gets me, though. You people are clearly expecting this thing to do a lot more than it actually does. Did you dislike the Surface Pro 3, too? Because that's a weaker device all around than this thing is, and heavier, and louder, and with an even worse keyboard and trackpad, for the same price matched to storage and RAM sizes. But yet it could handle prosumer level things (like music production) fairly well. I enjoyed light 3D games like Civ V at full resolution and settings. So will this. How the heck is it a netbook?
lilmoe - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
"Did you dislike the Surface Pro 3, too? Because that's a weaker device all around than this thing is"There's a think line between criticism and fanboyism. The latter applying to you.
lilmoe - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
edit: There's a thin** line....you guys really need an edit button. Like REALLY.
Jumangi - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I agree the functionality compromises to keep with Apple's obsession for thin has reached the point of being dumb now. But the Apple fanboys will say this is genius and the "future". No thanks.Notmyusualid - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
+1Notmyusualid - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
Sign me up as lazy / ignorant then!Looks like a netbook to me. Or ultrabook if you press me.
And with that CPU, I'd imagine it'd choak trying to encrypt some videos for my phone to take on a road trip with me.
Other than that, I'm impressed with that keyboard layout, especially with the new keys they've designed.
Unless it was free though - I'd not place my money anywhere NEAR a device with one peripheral port, especially one aimed at being so mobile (think not wanting to carry extra hubs etc).
lilmoe - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Honestly? What's the difference between a $300 and a $3000 laptop? Aren't both called "Laptops"?This is totally a netbook, albeit better built with somewhat better performance. But absolutely NOT a laptop nor the cooler sounding "crossover", whatever that is. This isn't a hybrid either, nor does it have (or makes use of) a touchscreen.
You're losing too much with this product. Battery life isn't as good as similarly priced, similarly sized laptops (even from Apple), and the performance totally off the mark.
You're being too diplomatic.
vFunct - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Again, a Netbook was only designed to surf the web. You can't do things like play games or edit videos on them.This Macbook does a lot more than that. It's a full-blown laptop.
lilmoe - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
It seems that lots of people here don't know what netbooks are. Netbooks have full Windows, they can do more "stuff" than this Macbook can do.You're probably thinking Chromebooks. Netbooks and Chromebooks are not the same thing.
Jumangi - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Please stop with talk of editing video or playing games with this thing...unless you mean solitaire. This thing is not a full blown laptop.mit has compromises everywhere.mr_tawan - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
You could do both of them, given that your patience doesn't run out ;-)vFunct - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
I have no idea why people think you need a high-end supercomputer to do video editing.. this laptop is just as fast as a Macbook air from 2011. People were doing video editing with far slower computers in the 90s.Alexey291 - Thursday, April 30, 2015 - link
And they did it manually in the 60's... So?Alexey291 - Thursday, April 30, 2015 - link
Given that your time is meaningless to you more like :)tpoccu - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Similarly sized laptop from Apple is the 11" Air, this has double the pixels with more battery life, and once configured with similar storage and memory is $100 more. Please do enlighten me as to what other "similarly sized" laptops are out there that outdo this so categorically. Keep in mind size isn't just how thick it is but rather overall volume of the package, and of course none of those laptops I'm sure you're going to mention are in the same weight class as this.dysonlu - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Netbooks had Atoms CPUs roughly ten years ago. In 2015, they would probably have similar CPU as the Macbook.tpoccu - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
You mean except for the part where they don't. Computers in that size and price bracket still exist as cheap windows laptops and chrome books. Neither have Core M processors.sweenish - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Netbooks were a bit too miserable at the time. I wouldn't say this is the definitive line blurring device. I'd give that to the SP3.But this device is thin. Apple always impresses me with their hardware.
Impulses - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Netbooks weren't *that* bad at launch, relatively speaking, Atom was a lot better than the first gen VIA/etc stuff on the earliest netbooks... Problem is Intel sandbagged Atom and it stood still for years, took a few years until they even put out a mobo chipset that wasn't a total power hog and more appropriately matched Atom. OG Atom didn't launch in the Core i3/5 era, it just had to live on well into it before Intel woke up.Krysto - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
$1300 netbooks FTW!mike55 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Still not as expensive as this one: http://imgur.com/H1AhaY9TVC2 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
One thing that qualifies it as a "cross-over" is the 16x10 screen. Taller screens are part of the secret sauce that makes pads so useful; fear of letterbox (which is really bonus screen area) makes small laptops less useful without making them any easier to carry. Netbooks were just for surfing and checking mail. Jobs refused to build one - the iPad came out and netbooks went away.orthorim - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
It's neither a Netbook nor a crossover. But a crossover would imply that it's in some way similar to a tablet, which it is not. This one comes with OS X, has a keyboard, and a USB port - it's not an appliance, it's a computer.I am thinking about it as a replacement for my retina MacBook Pro 15" but I think the screen is probably too small. Performance-wise I think it should be OK for programming - even if Xcode will doubtlessly bring it to its knees, as it seems to be able to do with any computer.
As for a pro computer needing massive CPU horsepower - that's a myth. Most of your daily tasks are going to be constrained by solid storage speed or internet speed, not by CPU speed.
Unless you're gaming (hardly a "pro" activity I may add), or encoding videos or rendering 3D, you don't need a quad core i7.
Things that have maxed out my CPU lately:
- Bad Apple software. Photos doing its face detection on my entire library for what seemed like an eternity
- Bad other software. Popcorn Time thanks to using a framework for video that seems even less efficient than Flash on the Mac, which is an achievement of sorts.
- Re-encoding Video. I do this so infrequently that I can probably live with it taking way longer.
eanazag - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I am totally happy to see Apple go with a 16 x 10 screen. I'd like all manufacturers to go this route.vampyren - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
hehe exactly :Dmrloadingscreen - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
I don't know how you do it in the back there, but we don't call them lilmoes we call them "douche bags."blackmagnum - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
"It was foretold by our forebears (circa 2013) that within this decade, the MacBook and the iPad would mate and produce an offspring."AkulaClass - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Oh so thin!!But at a cost in performance.
A few itterations later will be great.
TallestJon96 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
A few iterations and this could be good, but right now size and performance are really fighting each other too much.vFunct - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
It's perfectly fine right now. What's going to change after a few iterations that's going to cause the use model to be different?You can still play games and do GPU intensive tasks with it. Developers could run virtual machines or run Xcode with it.
Alexey291 - Thursday, April 30, 2015 - link
Solitaire is a game too i suppose...PICman - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I'm sure Apple will sell a lot of these, and my guess is that this is the most profitable product in a long time. Their reason for only having one port is to cut manufacturing cost. This enables them to have a tiny PCB. Yes, there is more battery volume, but batteries are much cheaper than PCB area.darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The advantage of a tiny PCB is energy savings.spaceships - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I'm sure this is a great article but woah, what's with the photography in this article? Anandtech won't pay for actual slr? The shots are blurry, grainy high ISO images that look like bad smartphone captures.Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
All of that is on a Nikon D3200. Unfortunately "Space Grey" is difficult at times to photograph since it's so close to black.kyuu - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Are you looking at it on a smartphone? I dunno about anyone else, but Anandtech articles have blurry as hell images when viewed on my phone. I guess it has something to do with them being resized improperly.Ammaross - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
"The good news is that Apple does sell Type-C multiport adapters that serve as a breakout box for more ports...but of course this is an additional $79 cost and is one more item to carry around."Found out how they manage to make their devices look more comparable to PCs: just make a dongle for standard (in the PC world) connectivity to shift the cost from purchase price to total-cost-of-ownership!
darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Well it is pretty amusing that you think Apple cares at all about making their devices comparable to PC's.But there are already many alternate cables besides Apple's and there will be many more that will cover anyones needs.
Ktracho - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Great! When I get my MacBook, it will take two hands to carry it: one for the MacBook itself, and the other for the many alternate cables I'll need to carry around when I use it! Or maybe I'll just leave the MacBook on my desk because I'm too lazy to keep track of where all my cables are to make it usable on the go. :-)wiz329 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
... this isn't meant to be a mobile workstation. I think you need to re-read the article!Ktracho - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I'm sorry my keyboard doesn't have a key labeled "smiley face", so instead I added :-) at the end of my comment. But since you brought it up, do you seriously think people are not going to try to use it as a replacement for a full-fledged laptop, and do you think Apple will tell people not to buy it if their purpose is to replace said laptop? You read the article, so you know better, but most people who will be buying it will not have read the article. And I'll bet you Apple knows this will be the case. So tell me you won't be seeing people walking around with a MacBook in one hand, and a fistful of cables in the other (or at least in their purse/briefcase). If my wife didn't trust my advice, she could be one of them!vFunct - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I don't understand.. why would you need any cables? It already has wi-fi and bluetooth.Do some people still use cables?
Notmyusualid - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
As often as it humanly possible.For security, throughput, and latency reasons.
webmastir - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Wow what a review. Nicely done.PlugPulled - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Wow awesome review as usual. More Dota 2 benches! Tyblipppo - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
"...I will also argue until I’m blue in the fact that it’s underequipped...""Anyhow, on a boarder note, while I doubt Apple was looking..."
Krysto - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I just find it hilarious how tech writers from major tech sites tip-toe around major product issues when said product comes from Intel or Apple (the fact that this one includes both, just makes the bias that much worse).foxtrot1_1 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I find it hilarious when random Internet commenters accuse professional writers of bias because the writer thinks differently than they do.KoolAidMan1 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Butthurt whiners on tech comments sections, what else is new?YuLeven - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Yes, give me a fat, hot, jet fan equipped, 1 hour lasting battery AMD APU based laptop that is supposed to be portable over this any day!mczak - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Just 131mm thick (on page 2) - quite the brick I'd say :-)Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
What's a decimal point between friends?Thanks for that, it has been corrected.
ak217 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Ryan, your table on page 1 lists dimensions in cm instead of mm.ak217 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Oops, never mind. I can't read.Speedfriend - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
So an attempt at a hybrid device but without a tounchscreen? How anyone can think that Macs are cutting edge when they don't even have a touchscreen which is the way that we interact with technology 80% of the time.and the force click rubbish, which is just right click in disguise!
3ricss - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
This is pretty much my whole reservation with this thing as well. With this being essentially a "crossover" or ultra high class netbook, you are pretty much limited to very standard capabilities tied to the internet. No power apps here. They should have just put iOS on it. At least then it would have much more in terms of apps from the iOS app store.darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Completely wrong of course. This is a full OS with Mac apps. it will run shot things most people use with ease.osxandwindows - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link
The trackpad is good enoughws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Right click is a two finger click. Force click is something else.Impulses - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Meh, it's not really a hybrid device IMO, it's just the logical evolution of the Air from Apple's PoV (whether we agree with it or not). I think it'll be interesting to see just what corners they cut or how slowly they develop future Airs if that is to be the be budget model, I guess TN is there to stay which is luscious at $1K.I don't see the point of a touchscreen unless you have a 180 degree hinge or some actual split/hybrid mode, reaching over keyboard to touch the screen constantly is all kinds of awkward. Yoga/Surface/Transformer are hybrids.
darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
You didn't really read about force click then and the trackpad is a far better solution that a touchscreen.Try using one.
kyuu - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Trackpads suck even when they are good.akdj - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
You've obviously NEVER used a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or an Air. I remember thinking like you almost a decade ago. Found my Mac, haven't looked back (nor carried a mouse). NOTHING is worse than a touchscreen when attempting to use OS X or Windows (I've got an 8.1 13" HP 2in 1 and you're correct, PC touch pads suck, but greasy screens and impossible touch targeting on today's OSes doesn't work. At. AllAlexey291 - Thursday, April 30, 2015 - link
I've used an mba for a while. Trackpad is a pain in the ass. Its certainly better than on a lot of windows laptops but its still a piece of shite.Xajel - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I want MacBook Pro with Skylake CPU and USB Type-C + USB Type-A in one side, and same for the other side, and no magsafe charging, ( not to mention the regular miniDP + Thunderbolt + SD card reader ) so we can use any of Type-C ports to charge the laptopFlunk - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I honestly think this would be a lot more usable if they had dropped the headphone jack and instead had 2 USB type-c connectors. No being able to plug in anything at all while charging makes this product totally unusable, at least for me.ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Why is it impossible for you to unplug the charging cable while you plug something else in? And why are you so certain that you will need to charge all the time anyway?edhburns - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
My computer needs to be able to do whatever I need it to do when I need it done. If I am spending 1300 on a laptop, it should not come with all the compromises that this one has. That means that if I want to use a usb device (or monitor) while it is plugged in, I shouldn't have to pay Apple for the privilege.It's also not that good looking. It's probably because I am used to it, but a laptop should have some buffer around the keyboard. The screen looks great, but the bottom half is just ugly in my opinion.
ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Still not answering my question about why unplugging the charging cable is a problem...steve4king - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The only time I charge my laptop is when it's sitting on my desk, coincidentally, that's also the only time I have a monitor attached. If I had to unplug the monitor whenever the battery got low that would be more than a little annoying. If I had to unplug the power to plug in the monitor, my battery would be constantly dying. Also, since I prefer a mouse when at a desk, I have my Logitech receiver plugged in 24/7. Juggling ports just for 2-3 devices isn't something I could live with....However, integrating the hub and power cable mostly solves this problem. Most laptop's power adapters aren't tiny anyway, wouldn't hurt much to just include a low profile, inline hub with the power cable. The adapter is alright, but I'd prefer it built into the cable.
ws3 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
When the MacBook has 8 hour battery life, why would your battery be constantly dying when using an external monitor?And Logitech receiver? Really? Use a Bluetooth mouse (if the very good builtin trackpad doesn't work for you). Special purpose transceivers are the pits.
ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
And yeah I forgot to call out the fact that you are hypothetically willing to give Apple $1300 for a laptop but unwilling to give Apple $1379 for a laptop that can be charged and drive and external monitor at the same time.To me, somewhere between $1300 and $1379 seems like an odd place to draw the line at what you're willing to spend.
darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Apple sells other laptops if this one doesn't meet your needs. 13" MacBook Pro retina for example.Alexey291 - Thursday, April 30, 2015 - link
thank you for the marketing pitch, but I'm sure the article wasn't about apple in general but one of their products.Then again for you every article is about apple. Right mr darwin-award-osx?
wiz329 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
"My computer needs to be able to do whatever I need it to do when I need it done."Then why the hell would you be considering this computer? It's clearly not designed as a mobile workstation, which is what it sounds like you're looking for?
kyuu - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
No, but it's priced like one.Impulses - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
It's not about having to charge all the time, it's about still having a usable port when you do happen to have to charge. <insert comment about Jobs rolling in his grave over usability here>ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Charge when you aren't using any external device, don't charge when you are. Charge overnight every night.I understand that this pattern doesn't fit everyone's needs but this product is not meant for people who truly require multiple things plugged in at a time that is obvious. If you are such a person, buy a different product.
People who don't need to plug in multiple things at the same time and people who only think they need to plug in multiple things at the same time may be well served by this product.
As for Jobs, this product is exactly what he dreamed of. He hated fans and he hated ports. He'd probably like it even better if it had zero ports.
repoman27 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Aside from implementing a lot of brand new specs, this is just a standard USB charging port though. Get a USB hub that supports BC 2.0 passthrough from Monoprice or whoever in a month or two and you're all set. A simple y-adapter cable that allows power in for charging and DisplayPort out could probably be sold for $15.These are easily solvable problems.
repoman27 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Sorry meant PD, not BC.darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
There are already cables that allow this.nyoungman - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
When the MacBook Air was first introduced it only had one USB port. Now it has two.It will be curious to see how this develops in the next iteration or two, esp. since Apple acquired Beats, and they make wireless headphones.
joscha - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Why do you keep insisting that this is somehow a tablet? Apple had a 12in laptop ten years ago. This thing has no A7 processor, no iOS, no touch screen. Standard sized keyboard, touchpad, OS X.This is just a normal Macbook with big dongles, aimed at early adopters that can live with slightly limited memory, harddisk and speed.
Klug4Pres - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I agree. I fail to see the likeness of this device to a tablet.ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
It's like a tablet in that it has a single port, low power processor with passive cooling, and has adopted the iPad color scheme. Ryan didn't claim anything more that that.TEAMSWITCHER - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
It's also thin, light, and easily carried. I switched to an 11" MacBook Air with a Brenthaven sleeve. When people see it, they assume it's an iPad. Until I take it out and *SURPRISE* it's a MacBook. I imagine this new MacBook will generate an even bigger reaction.Alexey291 - Thursday, April 30, 2015 - link
"Surpise its macbook" more like surprise its a tablet without a touchscreen xDSpeedfriend - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Another thing that is clear is that the Apple A8X in the iPOad is still along way off providing the performance that even the lowest of the low Intel Core manages. Given how little improvmeent was made in single core performance between A7 and A8, Apple is going to have to perform a miracle to get A9 even near Core M esp as the 5Y71 seems capable of hitting 3000 in single core geekbench.odedia - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Does this review finally confirms that the iMac 5k review will never see the light of day? :)Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
It's in a picture for a reason (and not because I intend to forget about it).odedia - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I was just teasing. Thanks for the review.Marc GP - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
My guess is that next year they will release a 10" Macbook Lite, with a 180º keyboard (which will make it a Tablet converter) and an Apple A9X processor. So it will be able to run all the software for the iPad.Socaltyger - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
As a photographer, I'm always most interested in the display reviews. With that said I would've liked to see the percentage coverage of Adobe rgb or srgb this display is able to output.Robert Ioffe - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Intel HD Graphics 6000 is a GT3: please correct the table.Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Whoops. Thank you for pointing that out.jabber - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I think Apple wants to dump the laptop and desktop. It's essentially whittling down and weaning users away from non tablet/phone devices. I'm not sure what % of business the laptops/desktop side is but I bet they feel they could streamline and increase profitability but not having to bother with it.Until then...bring on the dongles!
darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Apple is only responding to the market. Which wants mobile. In the meantime they still do a healthy business in desktops.TEAMSWITCHER - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I don't think the point is to sell dongles. The latest OS X and iOS update introduced a new feature called iCloud photos. Now, when I take pictures with my iPhone, they are automatically transferred to my Mac using iCloud. The $69 AppleTV (cheaper than the AV dongle) is an AirPlay target. Clearly, Apple is moving deeper into the world of wireless convenience.wiz329 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Doubtful. You gotta create that content somewhere!Dorek - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Yeah, on a PC!smiddlehurstl - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Riiight... Mac sales accounted for 9% of revenue in the Christmas quarter. Might not sound much but this is Apple so that translates to around 6.7 BILLION dollars, a record for Mac revenue. Apple still pretty much owns the top end of the laptop market and continues to grow its market. And you think they want to kill that market?jabber - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
9% but if the markets approve then the stockprice could well negate that 'loss' in revenue easily. Plus it would mean more resource for the bigger selling products.OSX is a millstone for Apple.
nonoverclock - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
For the battery numbers, is the operating system version consistent? If not, I'm wondering how much a factor the version of OS X is.Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The numbers for the older Mac are from our Bench archives, so the answer would be no. But even if we did have the Macs on hand, battery degradation would be a major issue.id4andrei - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
You should have used other Core M notebooks in your battery charts instead of macbooks only. I don't want to think you didn't want to put the macbook's result of 8 hours in a bad light, seeing how the 700$ UX305 manages to reach 11 hours.Kevin G - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Considering the issues driving the 4K display at 60 Hz, have you tried using a MST hub to get multiple displays functioning? In theory it should support up to three displays and remember to factor in the built-in display here. This would give some indication of how that system would handle MST for a single display.a nonguy - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
From https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856The MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) will support these displays and rates using the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter.
* 3840x2160 at 30 Hz refresh rate
* 4096x2160 at 24 Hz refresh rate (mirroring is not supported at this resolution)
Kevin G - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Correct but that adapter only provides a HDMI 1.4a connection. The 30 Hz refresh rate there is due to the lower bandwidth of that HDMI port.Straight USB Type-C to DisplayPort 1.2 should be able to provide nearly twice the bandwidth, and hence potential 60 Hz 4K resolution. You'll note that that Apple page makes no reference to the MacBook using such an adapter.
Kevin G - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Also what are the PCI device and manufacture IDs for that SSD? Anything interesting in ioreg from the command line regarding it?Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
VEN_106B&DEV_2001Kevin G - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
That's Apple and looking at some of their other devices, they don't have a history of changing vendor IDs for rebranded products (the Mac Pro RAID card seems to be a recent exception). It points in the direction of a custom controller but it is not conclusive.With a bit of quick poking around, I couldn't find Anobit's vendor ID for PCI devices. Not too surprising considering that they focused on SATA and SAS storage controllers before. Still, with SATAe on the horizon, you'd think that they would have registered for a vendor ID before their acquisition by Apple.
DARBYOTHRULL - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Does anyone think that this would be an okay machine for a computer science student? The portability is very attractive to mews3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
There is no doubt that it is acceptable for a CS student. However if you plan on using it for 3+ years you might find yourself constrained in the future if you have a need/desire to run multiple virtual machines plus boat anchor IDE, etc.By constrained I mean that everything should still work but if the average laptop of 2019 has 32gb RAM and you are stuck with 8, then you'll be on the low end of average.
On the other hand, when I was in CS, a 30Mhz cpu and 2Mb RAM was the bomb diggity ultra. And that kind of computer ran vi and cpp just as well as the MacBook does.
edhburns - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
That entirely depends on what kind of work your teachers have you doing.Impulses - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Is it really THAT much more portable than cheaper ultrabooks (ASUS UX305 - $700) or faster ones tho? (Dell XPS13 for the same kinda money) If I wanted something ultra portable I'd go for a Surface, just being able to snap or fold back the keyboard and go over code with someone while standing up makes it rather flexible.Outside of that I'd just get as much laptop as I can for the money, the new MB isn't terrible in that sense (better than the Air in most ways) but I don't see it as the best compromise either. If anything, wait for the second one. :p
ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Those computers aren't running Mac OS X, which is pretty important for most people thinking of purchasing a Mac.darwinosx - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Exactly. Comparing the two makes no sense as if the OS were interchangeable. Especially given how many people hate the current Windows iterations designed by committee more for Microsoft's needs than their customers.Also I have zero interest in owning a low quality laptop like Asus or Dell.
The Surface is both a lousy laptop and a lousy tablet.
kyuu - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
You hate anything that doesn't have an Apple logo on it. We know.Essence_of_War - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
"Also I have zero interest in owning a low quality laptop like Asus or Dell."That may have been a reasonable thing to say 10 years ago when Apple was the only one making titanium/aluminum laptops. I've played with zenbooks and the xps 13 (products that are near the same price point) and the build quality is excellent.
Now none of that says anything about your more central issue: That neither of those run OS X. But let's not confuse that very real issue with a vague and unsubstantiated claim about build quality.
YuLeven - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Well, not quite. My last two notebooks where a Dell's XPS 15 (2011) and a XPS 15 QHD+. The first had serious problems with the GPU that could only be solved by severely underclocking it. I had the motherboard replaced a few times, but gave up entirely after discovering on the internet that more than a handful people had the same issue. It was a design issue, no fix would solve it. The latter has an infernal coil whine. And guess what? I'm not alone on that problem again.Notmyusualid - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
My gf's Macbook was never out the Mac Store. Three failed / bulging batteries, two hard disks.Makes a nice paper weight.
Even my Dell has broken down, my car did also, should I never buy a VW again?
jospoortvliet - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I would sure compare a Mac to a Dell, because in both cases I remove the rubbish that is their default OS and put a proper Linux on it...jospoortvliet - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I would sure compare a Mac to a Dell, because in both cases I remove the rubbish that is their default OS and put a proper Linux on it...Notmyusualid - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
My gf's M3800 will walk all over that netbook you fancy...Outstanding build quality, nice keyboard, Quadro graphics, and full-fat 4th Gen i7. LOTS of connectivity also.
Check mate.
modulusshift - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Don't think you've ever used a SP3, then. Unless you mean the Surface 3, in which case, yeah, maybe. Atom x7 doesn't seem encouraging from performance standpoint. Why not just use an iPad?And before you say that's ridiculous, that's actually exactly what I'm doing.
daveedvdv - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I cannot speak for the ASUS UX305, but it feels much more portable than a MBA13 (my current laptop), almost shockingly so. What most blew me away, however, was putting it next to an rMBP13. Sure, I expected the latter to feel bigger and heavier, but I also remembered it as a fairly sleek full-featured laptop (an acceptable compromise compared to the MBA13). However, compared to the new MB12 it just feels coarse and clunky. If you can live with its limitations (I can), then the new MB12 is a stunningly fine tool.id4andrei - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Are you for real? The new MB comes up short, way short. On this very site the UX305, with a lower performing chipset, is actually faster than the MB - in browsing and Dota, and it wins its fair share of benchmarks.It also trounces this 1300$(+80$ dongle) unit in battery life. 11 hours light and 6.3 hours heavy to the MB12's 8 hours and 5 hours respectively.
The new MB is a shocking disappointment for the price tag. It's a stunningly failed package. According to Arstechnica it also lags during scrolling and moving windows around at 1440x900 resolution. Face the truth and steer away. Get any other macbook.
Peichen - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
UX305 is also 28% heaviertipoo - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
As a CS student I'm always using external drives, and some workloads are moderately demanding. I'd just go for the 13" Air or Pro, and spring for the latter if you can.Regular Reader - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I would agree that this new model is most likely a replacement for the MBA It's everything the MBA needs to be, sans CPU power, but even that is arguable. In fact, the CPU might be my only gripe with the thing (though I'm sure I'd go mad over the single port issue after about a week). Apple seems to me to have been on a course over the last 5 years to use its devices to draw clear divisions between people who actually need power - the MBP buyer - and people who need just enough power to do core tasks (email, web, document handling, very mild gfx work). Unfortunately I fall somewhere in the middle, so I want the 16GB of RAM and quad core CPU, I just don't want the added bulk associated with even a 13" MBP. I'd be willing to give up battery running time to get that, too.HunterKlynn - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
"I suspect Apple finally sacrificed the logo to further save on power."Isn't the logo just a clear piece of plastic that's lit up by the already running display back light? That shouldn't have any power cost whatsoever?
TEAMSWITCHER - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I think they sacrificed the Logo for the color Space Gray and Gold color schemes, maybe to save power by reducing the backlight intensity. They place a highly reflective film coating on the inside of the "lid" to reflect the backlight forward...without a Space Gray and Gold color distortion.Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Any light you're not reflecting back towards the front is light you're wasting, especially on a power constrained system such as the MacBook.HunterKlynn - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
That's true, I just figured it would be an immeasurably small amount wasted illuminating the logo.wiz329 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Out of curiosity, how does this work on all other Mac laptops? IE -- how do they avoid having a dim, Apple shaped dark spot on the screen since light it escaping out the back?Calista - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Can we in six months expect a cut-down version of the Macbook with only 4/128 GB but far cheaper? Somehow it seems like a sufficient solution for replacing the MBA which quite frankly feels like the odd fellow. It had its place when the MBP was 5+ lbs, but today?modulusshift - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Nope, not in six months, not in six years. Apple isn't that kind of company. The Watch starts at a hundred dollars more than any of its competitors. Frankly I'm still a little amazed that the 11 inch exists at that performance point in the first place, it really isn't able to sustain even its current performance over the next few years.Anyhow, the MacBook is the premium line now, which means it needs to have a great experience even at the lowest price point. People's opinions form quickly and don't change for years. Up until recently, there were still deniers that the MBA had enough performance for anything important just because the first one happened to ship with an HDD instead of a (ridiculously expensive) SSD.
tipoo - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
It's a small thing, but I always liked how the trackpad color and the rest of the chassis on MacBooks were always nearly the same color, it blended in well and added to the minimalism. I don't really like how the space grey chassis has a mismatched color trackpad, and I assume the Gold would too.modulusshift - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Look on the last page, I think the gold looks fine.daveedvdv - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
In person, I didn't notice a color mismatch for any of the models (in my local Apple store).Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
A grand and a half and all you get one one tiny little cheap usb connector that is sure to break within 1-3 years. Then you are SoL because you only get that one stupid usb port. Because these guys are so DAMN greedy that they seriously cannot be bothered to put two of these on the product. And people are seriously going to sit there and lap that crap up and beg for more? What a joke of a company and its customers are an even bigger joke.Spongebob31 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Fuck off trollShadowmaster625 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
So for $1000 you can buy a used 256GB macbook air that is both faster and has longer battery life. This is progress???Deelron - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
i don't see the problem, it's one machine added to the same machines they already offered. Why would another choice that fits a different use case be a bad thing?tipoo - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I never liked the key wobble on my 15" rMBP, glad they are addressing that...But I really hope the Pro line doesn't get even thinner key travel like this, it's too thin for my liking already. In fact a few more mm of key travel would go a long way.keg504 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Sorry for being a grammar nazi, but "For one the one hand..." (second last page) doesn't quite make sense to me.hlovatt - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Great review. It's really good to see such in depth testing.az060693 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
You will not be able to output 4k@60hz from the macbook; the intel graphics on the Core M series doesn't support it as per their specifications.BillBear - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I'm not getting the extreme angst about the USB port.When I want to use multiple devices at once, I tend to be at my desk, whether at home or at work, where a simple USB hub solves the need for multiple ports.
Just because Monoprice doesn't have bog standard USB-C hubs yet doesn't mean there won't be a wide selection of them available soon.
Heck, I've even heard tell of USB docking stations that add features like audio/video out and wired Ethernet to the standard USB hub.
VengenceIsMine - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I'm one of those disgusted by the single port and I'll explain my reasoning. The whole point of this device type is ease and portability. Unfortunately that is undermined if I need to tote around 2-3 dongles, which while light in weight, add up to more significantly more hassle. Additionally, while occasional, I still run into issues doing things like flashing phones or working with equipment that plugs in via USB that hubs cause compatibility issues. There really was no good reason to design this device with just the 1 USB port other than as a design statement, Samsung made practically an identical device with much more connectivity options. The Air is a great device, not because it is stylish but because it is eminently capable for meeting the needs of most computer users AND because it has great ergonomics and style. Unfortunately for a much larger % of people, through a combination of weaker performance AND design decisions to limit its utility via its connectivity this device will fail to meet the needs of many which is fine but it didn't have to which is rather aggravating. (so are the constantly crappy trackpads on PC's, it doesn't have to be like that)BillBear - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
If the primary thing you value is portability, you probably aren't going to be carrying around multiple devices that need to be plugged into your laptop constantly while you are on the go.VengenceIsMine - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Actually I do carry around multiple phones but you incorrectly assume that all the devices I plug into are mine and that I carry them with me.BillBear - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
It's perfectly fine that you aren't in the target market, but Apple is betting that enough people are to make production worthwhile.That doesn't change the fact that a simple USB hub fixes the ports problem when you get home or to work where having multiple devices that need to be plugged in at once becomes a likely scenario.
VengenceIsMine - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Wow, wear blinders much? Like a lot of the potential target market for an ultraportable device, I work in a lot of different places in the course of a month and lugging multiple dongles around seriously degrades the convenience of the form factor. It would be one thing if this was a necessary sacrifice but it wasn't, this was done because someone at Apple decided more than 1 port offended their delicate sensibilities. And to judge by the # of reviewers and comments who have pointed how much that can affect their potential use, it looks a lot like a needless blunder.BillBear - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
OK, so you're basically ignoring reality. The body of this unit is composed of keyboard and battery sandwiched together out to the edge. It's only on top of the keyboard that there is room for ports.Now they could have gotten rid of the two noise cancelling mics and audio in/out jack on the right side, but I suspect people have gotten pretty used to those features.
I imagine that if they had added a second USB port there instead and released a USB-C set of beats headphones and told people to buy those instead, there would have been even larger amounts of OMG Apple butthurt on display.
Dorek - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The obvious solution is to make the laptop sliiiightly thicker so that they could put a USB-C *and* a 3.5mm jack on one side. Then they could fit extra battery as well. Thinness is only useful to a point.Dorek - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
You don't think the average person walks around with, say, a cell phone and a USB drive? Or a microSD/SD card from their camera? I'd say literally everyone who could afford this computer walks around with at least one of those devices, and they won't be able to use them at all while they're charging.ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
So how is that a problem? Unplug the charging cable and plug in your device.BillBear - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Apparently we're pretending laptops have to still be plugged in all day to work.jospoortvliet - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I guess the article should have started with 'hot on the heels of the Samsung Series 9 2015, Apple also released a 12", core M based ultra thin laptop'knolf - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Compared to a dell xps 13 ( Core I5 version ), it is a lot slower, no IO ports, smaller screen and zero do-it-yourself repair capability. You get less for the same $$$. Is it really worth the 200 grams difference in weight and the 1 mm difference in thickness ? Not anymore for me.I will go back to Windows after +10 years Macs. If they could only put the screen of the Dell xps 13 into the chassis of the HP Envy x365 and I would buy it immediately. It would fulfill all my ultrabook and occasional tablet needs.knolf - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
correction HP Spectre x360.pedromcm.pm - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Different machines.The Dell is a lot slower than a rMBP 13, has same or less IO ports, slightly worse screen despite higher PPI, almost 0 DIY repair capability, worse graphics, worse battery life, worse camera, and so on.
Is the weight difference worth it? The truth is that I just don't see anybody deciding in favor of the Dell instead of a rMBP or, if it is overkill, a Macbook.
knolf - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Different machines ? Because the XPS 13 is 250 grams heavier and 1 mm thicker, it makes it less portable ? Seriously ? Both are very well built ultrabooks. I'm comparing the value for money between a Dell XPS 13 and this new Macbook, not the Macbook Pro Retina.Can I replace the ssd myself in a Dell XPS 13 ? Yes. Can I replace the battery ? Yes. Can I replace the wireless module ? Yes. Can you do this with this new Macbook ? I'm not an Apple hater. My daily driver is a 2009 Macbook Pro. Last year, I bought a Retina Mac Book Pro for my girlfriend. I also have an Imac. For me, the Macs are just not worth the price premium anymore. Build quality from Dell / HP / Microsoft / Samsung / Asus is really good now. Don't get me wrong, Apple will always found people that are willing to pay $$$ for something that is slower, less versatile and in the end 200 gram lighter and 1mm thinner compared to a proper ultrabook. It will just not be me anymore.
knolf - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
'find people'BillBear - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The Dell also has a slower CPU, a slower GPU, A much slower SSD, less battery life, slower WiFi and it's expansion ports are a quarter of the speed of Thunderbolt.It also costs $100 more.
Gigaplex - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Compared to the Core M Macbook? Hell no. Thunderbolt? This Macbook doesn't have Thunderbolt.YuLeven - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
He's talking about the rMBP 13. The MacBook isn't to be compared to the XPS 13, the rMBP 13 is. The machine reviewed here is a ultra-portable Core M laptop, why you bother comparing it to a standard fan equipped PC?pedromcm.pm - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
A Dell is a Dell. No one is going to pay for a premium Dell computer, for various reasons.a) Windows;
b) It is in the price range of macbooks, that are proven to be better purchases.
In the real world, people aren't comparing the Dell Vs the Macbook. The Dell isn't even considered, and for good reason. For the same money you can get a mac that beats it on everything (rMBP 13"), or if you need more portability, you get a Macbook.
That despite slower processor than this Dell, has a better screen, trackpad, faster SSD and RAM, more efficient OS and as such will be a faster machine.
Also, the vast majority of people buying computers above 1000 $ are iPhone users. Another reason for them to not even consider Windows in this price range, since OS X is so superior as a part of the ecosystem.
pedromcm.pm - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
p.s.: If it isn't for you, that's fine. It also isn't the right machine for me, but I can see how it is for must people.The Macbook will outsell the XPS 100 to 1. And it isn't because of marketing. It is because Apple earned the trust, Dell lost it, and the Macbook is just a better executed product.
TomPk - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
People will pay whatever they have to in order to get the best machine. If you think that the vast majority of people who pay over a grand for a computer don't even consider Windows, then you must not work with a lot of professionals.$1,300 is not a lot to pay for a computer in the long run, but the 13 inch MBP completely kills this new Macbook.
TEAMSWITCHER - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Interesting...You can't get an XPS 13 with a 512GB SDD. And even then it's only MSATA.Dorek - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
As if the Core M in this is even fast enough for mSATA to be too slow.knolf - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
You can. Here is how. You buy the basic 128 GB. By whatever M.2 SATA-3 512 GB SSD you like ( or larger ) . Take a screwdriver. Open the bottom. Remove the old SSD. Insert the new SSD.YuLeven - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
The XPS 13 is heavier, larger, hotter and has a bloody fan. It's a great laptop, but comparing it to the MacBook is comparing oranges to apples. The one to be compared to the XPS 13 is the rMBP 13.knolf - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I'm comparing what I can get for 1299 $. For 1299 $ I can get a proper ultrabook with a real CPU.knolf - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Lets do the math. Dell XPS non-touch : 999 $ ( core I5, 128 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM ). Samsung P851 512 GB SSD : 250 $ ( Amazon ). M.2 SATA external USB 3.0 enclosure to give the standard 128 GB SSD a new home so I can reuse it as a fast USB 3.0 drive: 40 $. Total 1299 $. Same price as a Macbook. Only 250 gram 'heavier'. Yes that is a whopping 1/4 of a kg. Conclusion : the Macbook is maybe a 'great' ultrabook but it is way overpriced. Around the 1000 $ mark would be reasonable.jospoortvliet - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
relatively speaking it is almost a third heavier - that is far from insignificant. What matters on 500 gram doesn't on 500kg 😃VengenceIsMine - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
While USB - C is going to be great, designing to the MacBook to just have 1 is a needless fail. Samsung's ATIV 12 is practically the same device: Same processor, same ram, SSD, screen size, almost same resolution, same weight and size and yet Samsung managed 2 USB 3.0 ports, power & micro HDMI. Huge difference in usability for those of us that have to interact will all sorts of devices, locations with iffy networks and people who haven't moved every aspect of their business to the cloud. Apple would likely say that the single port is more elegant but there is nothing elegant about needing a $80 dongle to plug in power and a USB stick at the same time.TEAMSWITCHER - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
USB Stick? Have you never heard of Drop Box or One Drive or Google Drive or iCloud Drive? I think the point of only one port, is that the world has (almost completely) moved on from USB. Well, everyone except you.Impulses - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Wow, just wow, are you serious?TEAMSWITCHER - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
I am dead serious. If you look at the teardown on the iFixIt web-site you'll see that two USB Type-C ports won't fit - the keyboard takes up almost all of the space. When devices get this small, every port that you add, subtracts space that can be used for larger batteries. When Apple's competitors try to make devices this thin and light, if they take the decision to include additional ports in their designs....they also will be compromising the battery life. By going to one port, and making software changes to offset the loss, Apple is guaranteeing the best battery life in this class of device.Dorek - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
HILARIOUS.ws3 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
So unplug the power cable. Problem solved.Peichen - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
So get the Samsung at $100 more and stuck with a SamsungNovacius - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The 480p webcam is a joke. It might not be very important and maybe it's good enough. But this device starts at $1299 and even the ipod has a 720p webcam.wave84 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
As an avid AnandTech reader for many years, this has got to be the most dissapointing review I have ever read here. I expected Anand to provide an actual review, not some half baked preview based on early review samples from Apple.I have a few main comments.
1. Although the biggest gripe concerning this laptop is the weak CPU, not once in the entire review have you mentioned the model of the CPU that was tested, nor how the upgraded versions would fare. Assuming the "base" model is somewhat 20-30% weaker than the Air, how would the topped 1.3/2.9 CPU do against it? Wouldn't that alleviate most of the issues with the laptop?
2. How does the laptop do in sustained load scenarios? Where are the graphs showing performance over time, etc?
3. How does the laptop do in popular Mac games like World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, etc? Is it playable?
4. I think the efficiency and the aspect of being fanless/silent isn't being discussed enough. I have been waiting for 20 years for a silent computer. Working during nights and all. This and the performance / watt are great technological acomplishments (kudos to Intel for those) and I feel like pure performance is secondary nowadays. Basically this has twice the performance per watt as Air's, almost thrice as 13" Pros. As a leading tech site, this should have been explained in more detail, maybe it would have lowered the amount of "can it play crysis" complaints all over the web.
Rant over, waiting for the full review.
modulusshift - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Dudebro, Anand's out. He's at Apple now.Ooh, performance over time would have been good.
Definitely with you on the performance per watt and silence, Apple has never been more environmentally friendly.
That said, I don't think this review was bad. Could have used a little more editing, and discussion of the different models as you said. But it had some good material I've yet to see in the rest of the reviews. I wish it lived up to the standard of Anand's review of the SP3 where he gave more of his subjective opinion of how it actually ran. This guy said, yeah, it's thinner and lighter, and I like how it feels, but it's slower than my current 11 inch, so there's a little bit of a tradeoff... And I wonder, why is it slower? Is it actually less capable? What sort of experiences didn't work as you expected? What is really wrong with it?
wave84 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The point is I didn't see anything here that I haven't already read on all the other websites all the way from New York Times to the Verge to ArsTechnica. The reason we all visit AnandTech is for those really detailed, in depth 25 page reviews where every single one of our questions gets an answer. Not the case here.The reason why I'm being so determined is that this is a very important review. Like it or not, Apple fanboy or not, the Macbook Air has probably been the most important laptop of the last 10 years. It has basically defined the laptop market of our times and it has been studied, copied and emulated by every manufacturer out there.
Similarly, the new Macbook is probably on a quest to do the same. I would have preferred to wait 2 weeks and read the real thing, not the same article that I've already read 10 times so far (by the way, isn't it strange that all these articles are so similar?)
I'm in a strange boat myself. Started out getting a 2011 13" Macbook Air as a secondary computer, then it slowly transformed into a desktop replacement with an external monitor with the old desktop sold for parts (doing web development, mostly). I would currently kill for the weightlessness / screen / quietness of the Macbook, if the questions above would have been answered. Should I go for the updated 2015 Air? A somewhat bulky Pro? Or maybe just wait for Skylake?
Why have you deserted us, Anand?!... :)
BillBear - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
I don't get the feeling that this would be a viable desktop replacement if you're at all concerned about gaming.lilo777 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Hence the term "hybrid". This device is not good either as a desktop replacement or a tablet replacement (or even as a regular laptop replacement). It's a "hybrid" then (probably good for nothing).Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Hi Wave, thanks for the feedback. To get right to answering your questions.1) This was the base model, so the $1299 5Y31 model. Apple only samples a single model, so I do not know how the higher end model would fare. However what we've found when looking at other Core M devices is that faster processors can end up throttling sooner, which can be counter-productive. http://www.anandtech.com/show/9117/analyzing-intel...
2) If a load is going to cause the laptop to throttle, it does so almost immediately. As noted in the review, even the 28 second Photoshop benchmark is long enough to require some throttling. As a result pretty much anything longer than a long webpage load is going to face power limits, and longer use will also bring on thermal limits.
Also, while it's not in a chart, I mentioned in the Geekbench 3 section that we ran the stress test. the MacBook reaches equilibrium almost immediately; by the second run it's already down to its steady-state score of 4200.
What this means is that the MacBook can only run at its higher clockspeeds for very, very short periods of time. As a result "performance over time" would be on the order of seconds. This isn't like an Ultrabook or other laptop where performance slowly degrades over time as the cooling system slowly falls behind.
3) Poorly. I wouldn't suggest it. DOTA 2 is about as strenuous as it's going to be able to take. Unfortunately we can't test any of those games as there isn't a suitable FRAPS-like utility for Yosemite to let us do proper benchmarking.
4) The issue with testing efficiency is that to properly test it we need to isolate the CPU and measure it directly. You're not wrong, this is a very efficient processor, but there isn't currently a great way to systematically show that since there's no way to separate the CPU's power consumption from the display's power consumption.
Anyhow, I'm sorry to hear the review didn't live up to your full expectations, but none the less thank you for the feedback and thank you for reading it.
wave84 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Thank you for answering all of my questions, Ryan. I withdraw all my complaints :)Kevin G - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
3) I thought Apple's developer tools for OpenGL has a FRAPs-like tool included. I'll have to check when I get home later today.I do know for certain that it has the ability to record VRAM usage over time. Found this out playing around with a GTX 770 and 970 to see just how difficult it was to go over 3.5 GB.
Ryan Smith - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
It shows you the frame rate, but it doesn't allow you to record it to find the average frame rate over time.yticolev - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
Hi Ryan, thanks for the excellent review. It supplied details that no other review did. I do have one question that I was hoping would be addressed and that wave84 also asked: buying advice related to Skylake. If what I read is correct, Skylake will be out in just a few months with significant changes to chip architecture promising both better performance and battery life. Better GPU is part of that. It would kill me to purchase now and miss out on an extra hour of battery life with a midyear update.I certainly can wait. I have a perfectly cromulent late 2007 Blackbook that I have not been tempted to upgrade until this new MacBook (which is a huge upgrade to be sure). Now I've got buying fever despite the hassle and expense of upgrading a number of applications that require Rosetta.
One other very minor point, I was surprised you didn't mention iSight as it is a downgrade over other current Apple machines.
modulusshift - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Replaceable instead of replicable, page 2table instead of cable, DisplayPort instead of DisiplayPort, page 6
could you fix the number for 2010 MBA (last entry) in the 4KB Random Write (8GB LBA, QD3) chart? page 8
tuning instead of turning page 9
On the one hand instead of For one the one hand, second to last page as mentioned by earlier comment.
Thank you for your review.
Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Thanks! Fixed.ppi - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Can the single USB port both charge and use some accessories?I mean, can I, assuming I have proper dongle, come to my desk and plug the dongle, that would charge the notebook and connect it to external monitor, keyboard, mouse and ethernet, all at once?
Tegeril - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Yes, and here's the dongle. USB type C, USB you're used to, HDMI: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJ1K2AM/A/usb-c-...TallestJon96 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
"Moving on, as a Retina display Apple offers a range of scaled (virtual) resolutions, with the MacBook’s default resolution serving as a HiDPI version of 1280 x 800. The fact that the scaled resolution is not exactly one-quarter of the display’s physical resolution is an unusual first for an Apple device, but considering the size of the display and power requirements, not to mention the similar PPIs to the rMBPs, I suspect 1280 x 800 scaled on a 2304 x 1440 display was a tradeoff. In any case even without perfect 2:1 scaling Retina-enabled applications look great, and now nearly 3 years after started on Retina in the OS X ecosystem, the number of applications without Retina support are thankfully miniscule.""As far as desktop performance goes, we haven’t found any major problems for the MacBook’s Intel HD Graphics 5300 GPU. Even with Core M’s power limits it doesn’t show any issues holding 60fps at the default virtual resolution of 1280 x 800, though I would not suggest going any higher unless it’s necessary."
Does this indicate that the desktop is rendered at 1280x800 instead of the native resolution? I would find that appallingly unacceptable for the graphics to not be able to handle the DESKTOP level graphics. Am I miss understanding the meaning of these paragraphs?
kyuu - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
You are misunderstanding. It is rendered at the higher resolution and then scaled down to emulate a 1200x800 resolution in terms of the size of the rendered elements.TallestJon96 - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Thanks for clearing that up, seemed pretty strange for it to render at less than native resolutionkyuu - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
As Tegeril below explains, it actually renders at *higher* than the native resolution.Tegeril - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
The laptop renders at 2560x1600 and scales it down to the 2304x1440 display as the "default". When referencing virtual resolution, the author is simply talking about what Apple says it "looks like" and essentially what the "1x" equivalent of what is actually being rendered is.The laptop can also render at 2880x1800 and display that on the 2304x1440 display, creating a virtual resolution that feels like 1440x900...and then some lower ones that are fairly unreasonably small unless you suffer vision impairment.
R0H1T - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Tell that to the millions who bought netbooks, back in the day, looking to do something mildly productive on it.Hell try selling that to anyone who uses Baytrail (& now Cherrytrail) with Windows on it that their device is best used just for surfing! Pretty sure a bunch of commentators here advocated why these convertibles are so much better for their productivity, than Android tablets, due to Windows & all that computing power at their disposal.
nyoungman - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Thanks for the in-depth review. I noticed a few typos along the way:> The performance of tablets is continuing to improve though faster CPUs (pg 1)
Should this be "through" faster CPUs.
> On the other hand though we’re talking about the MacBook Air coming within 20% of larger laptops
I think you mean "MacBook" in this sentence. (pg 9)
nyoungman - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
> Given a light workload that allows the Core M CPU instead the MacBook to turbo to its fastest speeds (pg10)Core M CPU instead the MacBook?? huh?
> base MacBook isn’t so much expensive as the base MacBook Air is just a bit too cheaply built.
or cheaply "specced"?
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Got it. Thanks!DanaGoyette - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
From trying out an HP convertible tablet with the Core M-5Y71, I can say that the processor does seem fine for many uses. Heck, it even managed to play a 10-bit 1080p h.264 video.However, I do have to ask: What was Apple thinking when giving it only ONE type-C port? Was there really no room for a second? Why does their dongle offer only HDMI, instead of DisplayPort?
I also don't get why Apple didn't use WiGig (802.11ad), to offer a magical docking cube.
iwod - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
The Macbook, is already attractively priced for those who want a Macbook Air with Retina display.For those who want even faster performance, I am sure in 18 months time you will get 10nm version of Skylake, SSD using PCI-E 3.0, LPDDR4 RAM, and 802.11ac WiFi 160 MHz channel bandwidths will solve all the problems mentioned in this article.
victorson - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I'm a huge fan of AT, but guys, come on, you should be able to get a cheap dslr with a flash and take some at least decent photographs for your reviews. This is just horrible.Ryan Smith - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
All of this was shot on a Nikon D3200.mazz7 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Great articles since Post-Anand, nice work Ryan enjoy your full blown articles :)Ozy - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
The 5Y71 on your other review is listed as having vPro and the 5Y51 does not. Can you tell me how that impacts the mac? I have a 5Y51 1.2 model delivering shortly but may consider returning for a 5Y71 model if the vPro gives the unit Hyperthreading. Does the 5Y51 have HT?Gigaplex - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
vPro is unrelated to hyperthreading. I don't think Macs even support vPro. It's a marketing term for enterprise features like remote management, security, virtualization and networking features.damianrobertjones - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
"but it’s a Mac laptop that’s more tablet-like than any before it."Does it have a touch screen? No.
darkich - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Oh Anandtech, it is blatantly obvious that you do everything you can to twist reality in favor of your sponsor (Intel).So MacBook has a twice better GPU than iPad Air 2?
Why didn't you used a *graphics* category to explain that fact?
Why didn't you ran Manhattan or T Rex and showed the respective scores?
iLovefloss - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
They linked to a more comprehensive Core M review in the article. If you actually read the damn thing rather than trying to accuse people of being sellouts, then you maybe you'd caught that.Shit, the only thing more annoying than a social media (anti-)SJ conversation is tech websites review comments. Everybody is a sellout.
narcaz - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I am sorry, but i think this one of the of the more mediocre reviews from Anandtech:"Compared to the 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM in the base MacBook Airs, this is the first ultra-portable Mac in a while where I can say even the base model feels properly equipped. At the very least users shouldn’t be struggling with RAM or SSD capacity for some time. Meanwhile given the fact that the equivalent upgrade of an 11” MacBook air would be $300 – bringing the total price to $1199 – this means that while the MacBook is still more expensive than a MacBook Air, the difference isn’t nearly as wide as it would first seem."
Copy paste from Apple's marketing? The difference is as wide as it would first seem when you look at the trade-off. Compared to the MBA you get better portability and a retina screen. But you loose connectivity, battery life, hd camera, magsafe, cpu/gpu performance. And according to your defined target audience (second device buyers) buying these upgrades doesn't make much sense. It is ok that the 12'' MB is expensive, but don't try to argue around this fact.
"As far as desktop performance goes, we haven’t found any major problems for the MacBook’s Intel HD Graphics 5300 GPU. Even with Core M’s power limits it doesn’t show any issues holding 60fps at the default virtual resolution of 1280 x 800, though I would not suggest going any higher unless it’s necessary."
I had the impression that higher resolutions don't work very well on the 12'' MB models in the Apple store. It felt like the first 13'' rMBP: more screen space, but a bit laggy. The performance of the HD 4000 wasn't good enough and took another hit with Yosemite (especially when connected to a second display). I am not willing to invest in a MB, which isn't future proof for at least 2-3 years. The same is true for the potential lack of 4K/60hz. I hoped for more depth in this area.
The review could have been more critical about the 1 USB C Port. If it breaks you can't even charge your machine anymore and out of warranty services are extremely expensive. But i think the comments discussed this point to death. Thanks for the extra remarks about the sustained performance in the comments and please put this in the review and maybe do more tests.
wave84 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I don't really think the Macbook is expensive. This is actually useable as a main computer for a lot of users (journalists, web designers, web programmers, etc). It will do just fine, as long as you have 8GB RAM and 256 for storage, which you get.You lose some stuff indeed, but for 100 bucks you get retina screen, extreme portability, and most important of all, it's fanless and completely silent. This is a huge quality of life improvement which no review will take into account.
Also, i do not believe the port to be an issue. Either you are docked, so you have plenty of ports (and you only unplug one cable), either you are mobile, when one port is enough for 99% of use cases.
I am very close to buying it. Still waiting for some upgraded CPU numbers.
narcaz - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I am looking for a second device besides my 15'' rMBP. The iPad doesn't cut it anymore. But 1279$ + 79$ (needed for occasional presentation) is expensive compared to the 11'' MBA 899$+29$. Impossible to sugarcoat it. It looks like Apple's upselling strategy got you on the hook. You can rationalize this purchase as much as you want, but i don't want to pay for upgrades, which i don't need. If you value portability and retina screen fine, enjoy it, but this doesn't make it a very good deal.Even in the Apple ecosystem the single port is problematic. Airplay Screen Mirroring suffers from lags, iCloud Photo Library is cumbersome and there is no backup solution while being on the road. Cables aren't dead. I think the next version will have second port.
telsin - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I'm curious to see if a newer hardware revision of the Apple TV that they're likely to announce at WWDC resolves some of the airplay lag. That thing is still using an A5 processor, whereas the latest iphones are up to A8 (huge difference in CPU/GPU performance). I too found airplay rather obnoxious when I tried it. In OSX, you can have it treat an airplay target as a second monitor, but it really kind of sucks unless you're just putting something there to read as a static document.bogda - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Now, make MacBook Air with the same quality screen, smaller bezel (like on this MacBook) and keyboard that stretches from edge to edge (like on this MacBook) and I might actually switch from PC to Mac.Mushin - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
As for the SSD which is only connected through PCIe 2.0 that is a limitation of Core M see:http://ark.intel.com/products/84666/Intel-Core-M-5...
cknobman - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
All I can say is ehh.Sure its built nice and a super small form factor
BUT
Price is high, performance is just OK, and battery life is frankly underwhelming. Sure the battery life is not terrible but given the hype over the Core M I was expecting better battery life.
Still no touch screen and it is still confined to the limitations of a laptop.
The benefit of small underpowered devices like this should lie in their ability to serve multiple purposes easily and change form factors.
If I still have to use it like a laptop (IE: open it up, type on a keyboard) and pay such a high price then I may as well go get a laptop with more power and better battery life.
For this price I'd still rather have something like a Surface Pro 3. With its ability to serve multiple purposes I can use it like a tablet or a laptop, get better battery life, and get a touch screen. All while paying less.
nerd1 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Sp3 is lighter, thinner, more powerful, has more ports, has more input methods and even cheaper.RT81 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
The presence of "no touch screen" complaints, as few as they are, is interesting. There's a whole demographic of Mac users (creative professionals, mostly) that are sweating bullets about the possibility of iOS and OS X converging. A touch screen Mac would probably give them a heart attack.Apple has said they don't have any intention of doing that. It didn't go over so well for Microsoft, but who knows. It wouldn't be the first time Apple has said "we'll never do that" but what they really mean is "we'll never do that until we can do it at the standard of quality we want".
senzen - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Very good, thorough review. As soon as I sold my 2010 MBA 11 to get an MBPr Pro I missed the smaller size and weight, but I wanted a retina display for when I travel and take photos, so the new Macbook ticks all the boxes. My doubt was the performance, but seeing it apparently does at least as well as the first i5 MBAs is reassuring, I don't need more. I'm still tempted to wait for the second generation, which is reinforced by Apple's inability to actually show these in stores. I wonder if the upgrade to the faster (less slow) processor is worth it.Malac - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I think two tests that I feel would be very interesting are missing:- Remote Desktop streaming
- Virtual Machine Benchmark
I sometimes play PC games streamed from my powerful desktop to my MacBook Air using Microsoft Remote Desktop or Steam. While this works well, the air does get hot sometimes and I hear the fans. How would the MacBook handle such a load?
And how well does a VM work? Lets say VirtualBox + Linux with a graphical frontend?
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Steam in-home streaming uses H.264, so all the heavy lifting should be done by the video decode block, and the end result not much harder than decoding any other 1080p60 H.264 stream.jeffry - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Nice. Apples "new" butterfly mech. Thats a copy of how the japs have done it years ago in their Sony Vaio SZ Series notebooks...nerd1 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Why mention tablet laptop crossover at all? This laptop is not convertible, not derachable, lacks touchscreen or pen. It is by all means just a thin, lightweight laptop (with LESS endurance and power)Ryan Smith - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
The short answer is because internally it's built like a tablet, not a laptop, and that's the primary point I'm trying to make when discussing its construction.nerd1 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
Built like a tablet? What does it mean at all? How does crippled laptop becomes a tablet?Some tablets are more powerful and expandable than MBA 11" (which is a LAPTOP).
nerd1 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Oh and samsung released very similiar laptop (core m, 1600p display, 2lbs) with usb, sd slot and separate power jack months before.solipsism - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
1) I think it's both odd and wrong that Ryan Smith would repeatedly try to state this is some sort of Mac-iPad hybrid. It doesn't run iOS, it has an attached keyboard and trackpad, it doesn't even have a touchscreen display (something increasingly more common on notebooks). This is a notebook computer designed to run a desktop-grade OS.2) This is not a netbook. Even if we ignore all the low-quality, budget-focused design constraints that that made the netbook really only good* for surfing the "net", this machine has a CPU that costs more than the average notebook and that is magnitudes more powerful with a similar power envelope. If it's to be classed at anything it is an Ultrabook, sans the official branding.
3) Apple's USB-C adapters aren't that pricey. If one wants, they can buy the adapters that Google sells for their new Chromebook Pixel or wait for other vendors (my favourite is Monoprice) to offer up their own solutions since this is, after all, USB. There will also likely be 3rd-party external displays from everyone(?) that will use a single USB-C port for both charging the device and pushing data, which will have their own variety of built-in hubs for those wanting an external display which makes the majority of these complaints for a nascent standard just coming to market moot.
4) People are lamenting the loss of MagSafe, but is that really feasible with how small the 3rd(?) MagSafe adapter would have gotten for this machine? Also, if it's designed to be used remotely and designed to be almost always used without cabled peripherals, is it really an issue for its intended market? Personally, I love how the Chromebook Pixel has USB-C on each side and how either can charge the device. I've moved an entire office around because of how the plug on the left-hand side was causing it to wear out after about 6 months due to being plugged into the wall at the right. This was never an issue when PVC was still included in cables (speculative cause and effect). Hopefully when the MBPs get this feature it will be on both sides.
5) So why bring back the MB and not simply call it the MBA (not unlike how they keep the non-Retina MBPs and came out with the new Retina MBPs with a new design)? Eventually I would like to see the MBA get the exact same external HW design and components (i.e.: Retina display with the same 12" design only) but running Mac OS X — or a Mac OS X-like OS — on Apple's A-series chip. This could allow Apple to move their "PC" sales to even lower end of the market by being able to drop the cost by a few hundred dollars whilst still being able to have a machine that performs well. I do think the A-series chip may need some additional revisions (but we really don't know what is possible with their bespoke design) and for Mac OS X to get another housecleaning, perhaps even rewritten in Swift.
* Calling a netbook good at anything is a stretch, especially when even Adobe Flash would stutter on even 480p video due to its inept HW.
val580 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
I enjoyed the review but you do not tell if the laptop is good or not.Display part : what to think of the 1280x resolution ? Comparing to dell xps 13 or surface 3 ?????
cpu : how does the laptop behave in real usage ????? Like opening 10 Hd streams on youtube ect does it lag ?
how is it when use on the lap or bed dor reading ?
can you actually tell if this a good laptop and not just a well enginereed object ?
Thank you
solipsism - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
1) The testing for the display can be checked against those other notebook displays (assuming AT has tested them).2) He explains the CPU, but remember what "real usage" is for a 12" ultraportable notebook. I don't understand the use case for 10 HD streams on YouTube would measure, especially for this type of machine. That sounds like something that isn't the intent for Core-M.
3) This question I like. I'd like to know how hot these machines get if directly on the lap.
4) I think he covers that well. It's clearly a good laptop, but as with all things your use-case has to fall inline with its design and engineering. There still seem to be several holdouts on this site that think HIDPI display is only for video, but remember pictures and, the most common reason for HIDPI reading text.
The0ne - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Appears there are many that are confused about their computing history, especially on netbooks. There are a lot of false assumptions and incomprehensible comparisons littered everywhere. There were expensive and well built netbooks, they were not all cheap. They were usable machines for surfing, emails and the light office tasks. They were replaced by several technologies (tablets, phones and yes the cheap $300 laptops).What I do find funny and agree with some of the posters is how this article tends to want to justify this product as something "new", for $1200. It is not. The comments here is a testament to how similar and different the product is. Technology advancing is one thing but categories tend not to change much. That is why there are ultrabooks, laptops, notebooks and gaming notebooks. Just because the screen changes doesn't make it an entirely new category. This MacBook does not fall into the "touch" technology areas so it would have to remain near the netbook category, imo.
solipsism - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
No touch equates to being a netbook? :facepalm:The0ne - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
Reading comprehension will help you immensely. And go use wiki to learn some history while you're at it. Or you can continue to ":facepalm:" yourself, I rather enjoy that. Do you realize how ignorant AND stupid your comment is?solipsism - Sunday, April 19, 2015 - link
You wrote, " This MacBook does not fall into the "touch" technology areas so it would have to remain near the netbook category, imo."Your opinion and your claims that the price is not justified because of the CPU performance are axiomatically wrong.
eanazag - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
For $1300 the MacBook should include the USB C to USB A adapter. It should have two ports for a $20 accessory. The accessory predicament for this device sucks.That being said, I could mostly get by with the one port. I would leverage Bluetooth and WiFi. This is not friendly to charging your iOS devices to.
Notwist - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
What the heck happened to Anandtech comment section? It's plagued with a lot of "bleh I hate Apple" vitriol lately.No, Anandtech is not pandering to Apple. Wish some readers would think a bit longer before posting.
Regarding the Macbook: I'm a bit surprised, it feels like it targets the same market as the Air? I guess I'm just more surprised they didn't just keep the Air as their "ultra-thin" line and add Retina and Force Touch.
solipsism - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
1) AT's forums have gotten better since Apple started their meteoric rise to the top (again). At people on this forum have actually /seen/ a Mac (and likely used one) when before it was basically across the board "Apple sucks because I can't build your own for gaming and blah blah." I love how people think that building their own computer using off the shelf components is difficult.2) My hypothesis: Since the MBPs eschewed the ODD and 2.5" HDD/SSD their new size became far to close to the MBA for the MBA to simply get a Retina display. And the 11.6" with its horrible 16:9 aspect ratio was just a bad limitation from the start. The 12" is what I had hoped they would do so I was /hopeful/ when these rumours appeared. I'm guessing the 11" and 13" MBA will go away in time.
Silma - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
This is a high end netbook which could have been useful for people with very light requirements (mostly reading and writing) had it had at least 2 USB C ports.It seems the Core M is really disappointing and best left for those who valu
Silma - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
For those who value silence / fanless design / ultra thinness above all else.stephenbrooks - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Let me fix some of paragraph 3..."Though Apple’s device is distinctly a laptop in terms of form factor and design, you’d none the less be excused for mistaking it for a large form factor tablet if you took a look at its overall size, rectangular shape and don't know what a laptop is."
"Apple is not doing any kind of interesting 2-in-1 transforming design, or even pushing the concept of a touchscreen OS X device." [End of paragraph]
name99 - Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - link
Re power cables and magsafe:I see two possibilities here.
One is that Apple believe wireless power (in the form THEY want it) is close enough that they can accept living with a sub-optimal solution for one or two generations. What I'd consider Apple's level of wireless power would be at the least very loose alignment requirements (as opposed to the very tight placing requirements of Qi), and the ability to deliver enough power to charge anything from an Apple Watch to a MacBook Pro. A third requirement (not quite as strong) would be some level of power efficiency --- something like no more than 10% power loss over traditional charging.
If this is not a feasible solution, an alternative solution (and IMMEDIATE 3rd party opportunity) is a magsafe CABLE rather than a magsafe connector. A cable which is (perhaps) power-only, but which have a magnetic snap point near one of the USB-C ends, so that that magnetic snap point is what breaks when the cable is jerked.
nerd1 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
It's entirely possible to make a breakaway USB-C power supply cable that is compatible with previous chargers. And apple decided not to make one. Why bother? It'll still sell well.solipsism - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
We've had wireless data in play for decades and its now extremely fast and power efficient, but you think this is about wireless power. :sigh:nerd1 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
Now apple is the one of few companies that makes smartphone without wireless charging options. Nexus devices have had one built in for years, Galaxy devices had for option and now had one built in.....solipsism - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
1)So induction charging then, not wireless charging.2) You really think the bottom of Macs are going to be a magnetic charger. I'm not convinced, but I'm willing to hear the argument for this. What other "PCs" have this feature built in? Who makes a 3rd-party option?
milkod2001 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
- based on price and very average performance this premium netbook is aimed towards bloggers on the go and content consumers with Apple brand preference.- for actual work macbook pro line or windows ulrabook is required
solipsism - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
Show me a netbook with an Atom processor hat has the same performance as this MacBook that you call "average performance." You can't. Core-M far exceeds Atom's capabilities.nerd1 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
"The MacBook ends up being a laggard against both of our other Core M devices"And typical Bay trail has ~3K geekbench multicore score and typical Core M laptop has ~4K.
TEAMSWITCHER - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
The $1599 - 1.2GHz - 512GB model is ~5K, in Geek Bench 3.The "Actual Work" comment cracks me up. I have successfully done 3D web-plugin development for a major company on an 11" MacBook Air. I'm pretty sure I could have done the same thing with a 12" MacBook...probably even a little better.
milkod2001 - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
3D web-plugin development could probably be done on entry level laptop :). By actual work i've meant working with many layers, exporting to high rez tiffs, pdf, a bit of video production on the go etc.This is not where new MAcbook will serve very well. That's for less then 5% of potential Macbook buyers though, so im sure many(including you) will be more then happy with this new Macbook.
vampyren - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
This is just a shitty laptop, underpowered, useless with one port.Apple should have added the screen, keyboard, touch-pad on Air and everyone would been happy.
There is a limit to how thin you can make things before they become useless.
I love my MBP and was going to get the updated Air had they added retina on it but they sadly made a useless version instead.
hummerchine - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
I'm constantly amazed at some of the fervid anti-Apple comments on this and other forums! This review was fantastic and right on...the best I've seen, and I've been seeking them out (AnandTech does a great job, as did this reviewer). The new MacBook is highly desirable for the right person...that would be me. I've ordered the best, most tricked-out model. Is it a desktop replacement? It was not intended to be! If you want a desktop with more power, or even a portable with more power...Apple and many other companies offer many other options. If you want a crazy light awesome travel computer, this is as good as it gets! The complaints about performance just blow my mind. They have crammed in the best processor, screen, keyboard, trackpad, batteries, whatever you can mention into the smallest and lightest laptop human beings can currently design. And some are whining about it? Jeez...just think about what you are saying! And if you really hate Apple's operating system so bad (my personal favorite, but I can see that is personal preference) there are competing Windows products with the same technology limitations. If you are like me and like Apple's OS, just how could they have possibly made this thing any nicer? Well...they probably could have squeezed in another USB C port or perhaps a small MagSafe connector. I suppose even more RAM might have been nice. A faster processor would be nice too...but isn't the Intel Core-M the fastest processor currently available that will fit into something so small, have good battery life, and not require a fan? Come to grips with reality some of you...that review was very accurate and well done, and I can't wait to get my new laptop! The millions of buyers of these things don't have to listen to you...they vote with their wallets! Btw, I'm very pleased to also be a stockholder.kdalkafoukis - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Does anybody knows any real performance details like?how many open pdfs can u have for example?
or
in which kind of programms you are gonna have problems(annoying performance)?
cgpublic - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
I checked the new Macbook at the Apple Store. I'm a marketing professional with a a 2011 MBP 15" quad-core, 2012 MBA entry-level, and a the latest Mac Mini w/i7 dual-core in my toolkit. Apple is once again ahead of the curve, which is what they can afford to do, while other manufacturers have to design to ensure they don't leave any checkboxes unchecked. Which is why companies such as Dell are who they are, and Apple is choking on cash. People will pay good money for a taste of the future, and this is the future right here.For 95% of what I do, the Macbook Core M + good WiFi signal can manage with ease. Photo-editing can be done in a pinch w/Adobe CreativeCloud. Once you pick it up, you have to have it, and everything else is yesterday's news.
If you're primarily playing games and fapping on your PC, I guess processing power and wired connectivity is a big deal, but I earn for a living, in the real world.
tecsi - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
Prediction: the new MacBook will shortly outsell the 11" MBA, the 13" MBA and the 13" rMBP. Why? Dramatically better than both MBAs and priced about the same when configured with 8TB RAM and 256GB SSD. Half the weight of the rMBP, cheaper and with most of the feature set of the except for CPU speed. But for those notebook users that need performance, they will jump to 15" rMBP with its max performance.tecsi - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
Make that 8GB RAM, not 8TBtecsi - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
Two items not really clearly mentioned, but one crucial and another useful via-a-via the MBAs.First, and most important, I find I can productively use the MacBook display at 1920x1280 (with SwitchResX). This offers 266% of the screen real estate of the 11" MBA, an enormous, work-changing difference.
Second, but more minor, the new MacBook's Trackpad is ~25% bigger than the 11" MBA, providing easier, more accurate cursor movement and positioning.
jameskatt - Sunday, April 19, 2015 - link
The fact that Apple's slowest Macbook has the fastest SSD performance means the next Macbook Pro 15-inch Retina Update is going to HAVE A BLAST with huge unencumbered SSD speeds. Coupled with a 2 TB size increase and hopefully 32 GB RAM and 4K screen, this bar will move up further.xchaotic - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
They won't let you do that due to planned obscolesnce by both Apple and Intel. 16GB RAM and 1TB SSDs will be the max for quite some time.shompa - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
One point about Intel/ARM. Intel Core-M 82mm2 1,3 billion transistors. Cost about 280 dollars + you have to buy Intel motherboard chips. Apple A8X is 132mm2 3 billion transistors. It cost Apple about 20 dollar to manufacture that. (on the market 130mm2 ARM SoCs cost about 50 dollars unsubsidized). When will the techpress and IT experts point this out? How can something that cost Intel 50% less than A8X cost the customer 20times more?The Macbook have an insane price but Intel is at least 400 dollar of that problem.
This is why we need to move away from X86 to ARM. (and Apple will move to ARM because they controll the OS/Hardware = they can add anything they want into the SoC. Huge parts of the A class SoCs are Apple specific stuff like Siris DSP, the visual processor, security enclave/TouchID and so on. About 30% of die area today. Imagine if Microsoft started to do custom ARMs/(or AMD X86) for their Windows. That would add value to the customer and make people buy MSFT hardware because they want to (not because they are forced to, like today with their OS)
One of the main problem is "capitalism". A good (older) company have 10-12% profit on what they sell. Simple math: 10% on a 500dollar intel is more than 10% on a 25 dollar ARM.
Intel is however a monopoly today. If I want a fast laptop: They are the only choice. But Intel is doing the same mistake as Sun, IBM, PA-RISC, PPC, DEC-Alpha, MIPS and all other fun CPUs have existed in history. (Because: let me tell you a secret: X86 have never had the fastest/best CPU in history. They had Windows + where cheap/good enough. Thats why Intel almost had no share in the server market. 2005/6 intel slashed Xeon prices to sub 300 dollar = why buy a RISC chip that is twice as fast for 4000 dollars? In under 3 years intel managed to get over 50% of server revenue. Today its about 80%. But its because Intel charges 4000 dollar for their xeons. History is repeating itself)
ixproval - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
Anyone else notice that the article implies a comparison to the current 11" MBA (2015, Broadwell), there are no performance numbers for that model (or the 2015 13" MBA for that matter)? The latest comparisons on the majority of the performance graphs are the early 2014 13" MBA and the mid-2014 rMBP? At first I was wondering about release dates but they were announced at the same event. Did you guys just not have a 2015 11" MBA available for comparison? I apologize if I missed a reason for the omission in the article text.tipoo - Saturday, May 2, 2015 - link
So the UX305 uses a lower end cheaper Core M, but since it throttles less it ends up performing better than the Macbook...That's a bit disappointing. If they gave it a bit better cooling it would have had the better performing chip all around.HooDude - Sunday, May 3, 2015 - link
I bought one of these with the 1.1 ghz CPU. The fit and finish of the laptop is great, it's a beautiful device. However, it is terribly slow and the keyboard is awful. It lagged hard when I would try to scroll PDF files in preview, and typing on it was fatiguing to my hands and felt like I was typing on a table top instead of a keyboard. I ended up returning it because of these faults.Agrou - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link
Any news/details about the MVNe controller ? Does anyone knows on what it is based ? I want to run natively a linux distro on my macook air but the SSD is not seen. I want to try to load the controller's driver apple used to integrate on the ship.Remark : they also put this controller on the 11 inch model with core i7 I do have APH0128 in OSX HW informations.
Clorex - Monday, May 11, 2015 - link
Regarding the display's white point:"The goal here is 6504; the MacBook hits 6828, reflecting the fact that it’s just a bit too red and just a bit too light on blue."
I think it should be the other way round: the display should be bluish with a colour temperature of 6828 K.
EOL - Monday, May 11, 2015 - link
About the shallower keyboard: the keyboard MacBook Air (mid-2011, at least) does have a problem that the new butterfly keyboard might solve: key corners can quickly become imprinted onto the screen. This is a slightly annoying when watching videos, as the marks are quite visible, with a black background. Hopefully the new keyboard will prevent keys from damaging the screen, this time.birowsky - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
can i just buy a force touch trackpad somewhere? i wanna put this beauty in my 15" rMBPAnthLC - Saturday, June 13, 2015 - link
I think it a great review and very helpful.I am planning on buying either this MacBook 12" or HP XPS 13". I do prefer Apple cause will work better together with my iPad and iPhone. Apple do make good solid devices and provide frequent updates. I need something similar in size to my iPad and light.
My concerns with the MacBook relate to performance, first gen fanless, the one USB-C port and the keyboard. While with the HP by all reports the fan can be irritatingly noisy, lack of HP fixes, updates, device driver issues and priced $100 more then the MacBook.
I primary use the IPad as my stock home computer and like a lot of people it is all I need. But I have hobby that require a PC application software. I don't have a real preference Mac or PC will do. But windows 8 is a turn off. Luckily for me the software works on both platforms.
The review has help me realise the performance should be fine to run standard PC applications. The single USB-C port was a concern because the software I plan to use requires a USB dongle.
But I haves learned there are solutions such as Infiniteusb which will actually overcome the single port problem. (http://getinfiniteusb.com) actually mean one port will probably be better.
Some people say well you have to carry the dongle, but the thing is if you have the need to plug in accessories well you will be carrying more then just the laptop whether there is one or more ports. Which to my mind makes the whole point mute. The daisy chaining of USB-C is cool too.
I like the idea of fanless. On the Internet and HP's own website user reviews suggest the HP XPS has some design fault, a noise that can be quiet annoying. I don't believe has been addressed.
In Australia the base HP XPS is about $100 more then thie base MacBook 12".
So I plan to get the MacBook 12".
I was thinking maybe the MacBook Air 13" but when you add on the upgrade to 8gb and 256gb HD equivalent of the base MacBook 12", there only $100 difference. I would rather a a Retina display. I also looked at the old MacBook Pro 13" but same price and I prefer the smaller footprint of the MacBook 12".
So I thought it may be interesting to post why I decide to buy the MacBook over the HP.
For me and a lot of people we don't want a high powered laptop with all the bells and whistles. Apple have squarely filled the gap for users like me who primarily use a iPad but have a need for a portable PC.
I did find it telling that I could buy a 15" laptop from Dell cheaper then their own HP XPS and 15" had better specs. It does suggest this is what people are buying and wanting. I mean a couple of years ago bigger laptops were the expensive ones.
Lastly there is a premium in price for these small laptops which is to say a opportunity for other manufacturers to come along and deliver similar device at a cheaper price point.
pliablemoosethebanned - Sunday, June 21, 2015 - link
Ryan, great article, I just got a MacBook, my use case (trading stock options at work during my lunch and breaks) is perfect for this laptop, I commute on the subway and via electric skateboard, and weight savings is important.I tried to use my iPad and find a touch screen is pretty miserable to choose options, same goes for a phone, tried the best Chromebook and the keys started falling off in the first week. (Toshiba Chromebook 2 with the 1080 screen), loved the screen, but the rest of the hardware just didn't cut it. $1K for a Pixel is just a bit too much for a Chromebook, but it was tempting, would have been a sale for Google had they included LTE.
This is day one with the MacBook, hope it stands up.
cyrenaichedon - Friday, August 7, 2015 - link
"if not for the fact that Apple took the time to point this out in their reviewer’s guide"Yeah, the numbers look impressive but in reality, it feels like your typing on a flat surface.
hot kiwi - Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - link
So, I have bought this expensive piece of equipment, having been an apple fan since a decade and all equipment at home from iPhones to the Time capsule and and and from Apple.Well, because of this notebook it is my last Apple product. this MacBook is a waste of money and a nuisance. i arrive at work and have forgotten to take my 30 $ separate adapter with me, so cant not upload my presentation to a USB stick. I wanted to put a large spreadsheet from the computer to a USB drive, but the computer was almost empty on charge, so could not download and charge at the same time. the keyboard is purely experimental and you make type after types due to its minimal action.
Mark my words: Apple made a huge mistake with this product that gave away all the functionality for a minimal weight gain.
Now that Samsung and Microsoft have more than caught up, it is time to make the switch.
never Apple again after this failure.
cinaski33 - Sunday, June 19, 2016 - link
When you buy something you usually pay attention at what you really need. Apple doesn't just the new macbook, but also the macbook pro, that has everything you need for every use and connection.There's no Dell Xps or other good product that can fit your needs if you need something else. Apple has always been forward, and every other company tried (sometime better, sometime worser) to copy.
If anyone had problem and complained about port lack or cpu power (that works fine anyway like other thin notebook thank to the OS X system) it's just for wrong choice.
I have my 13 inches 2015 macbook pro Retina with 16gb ram and 512 hd, payed 1400€, and it kills the Lenovo X250 or the Dell XPS.
So do yourself a present.
Think before buying.