File-It-Under: Apple Stuff By: D.F.Skinner
This past Monday, at Apple's own Spring Forward Event, revealed to the entire world was the new 12-inch Retina Display MacBook. The unveiling of the iWatch was suppose to have been the events main attraction, instead the gathered focus of attention from the press and Apple pundits alike was on the new 12-inch Retina Display MacBook.
This is arguably the thinnest MacBook that Apple has created to date. From all the detail images and and videos I've viewed on the web,clearly Apple main focus here is industrial design, from my perspective the design of the laptop itself is rather stunning .
Source: Apple
The overall build of the new Macbook sports an all aluminum chassis with a ultra-thin build. The measurements of the device itself is just 13.1 mm at its thickest point,that's 24 percent thinner than the current 11-inch MacBook Air. The display as I mentioned earlier in this post measures in at 12-inches, and has 2304 x 1440 resolution within its display. The camera on the new MacBook uses only a 480p front facing web camera which is rather disappointing and strange coming from Apple since most of their devices use a 720p camera.
With that said,beautiful compact thin design and all,Apple prettymuch had to scale back on some key features to achieve its ultrathin build,key features that we rely on for everyday use. Gone is the SD Card slot,HDMI port,and there is no USB 3.0 port present. As a replacement, Apple is going with a single USB Type-C port which is the new generation USB standard that has a reversible connecting cable. This one single port will be responsible for all your needed connections and you will be able to charge the laptop from this same single port because also absent from the new MacBook is a dedicated charging port.
Source: Apple
To substitute for its missing ports,you'll need a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter which is sold separately at $79 price point and yes,you'll have to deal with a slew of cables coming out of that one single adapter. Which could be bothersome.
Source: Apple
On the hardware front,the engineers at Apple manage to scale back on the logic board, its 67 percent smaller than what's in the MacBook Air. It's powered by a 1.3GHz Intel Core M processor that turbo boosts to 2.9GHz. Being that you have a logic board that is dwindled down to a smaller size and I might add there is no system fan, there is room for a additional batteries. Apple are used a "sheet " batteries for its design, this allows engineers to cram more batteries into its chassis. Apple states that this method allows for a all day battery life ,which for the sake numbers is 9 hours.
I would say probably the main standout feature in the new MacBook is keyboard and trackpad. The new trackpad includes four force sensors and a "tap tic engine. Full range of pressures can be detected by these sensors. It also has what Apple calls a "Force Click" feature which is a new form of right clicking.
Source: Apple
The keyboard also takes on a whole new design. No longer do you have the previous scissor mechanicnism, the keys are replaced with a all new butterfly setup that suppose to provide users with a smoother, more stable typing experience. The keys are also more thinner than the previous version MacBooks.
Is this laptop for the masses? Well If you're looking for the new MacBook to perform video editing or use it to handle resource hungry apps, I would say no,just because of the processor which is a level below the Intel Haswell processor .You're better off purchasing as an option the top of the hardware spec pole MacBook Pro.
Other drawbacks that make me say Meh to the new MacBook is the lack of ports and the ever so needed SD Card slot. Who wants to spend an extra $79 for a adapter that's made by you guessed it, Apple, you get the catch there.
IntSource: Apple
Still and all, the laptop itself in terms of overall design is beautiful and has a gorgeous display. Knowing how Apple sticks to the script in upgrading hardware and features, I say wait until Apple releases the 2nd generation version for purchase.
The MacBook will come in three colors, silver, space gray and gold and the start price will be $1,299. The full specs of the base price version is 1.1GHz Core M processor, 8GB of RAM, Intel HD Graphics 5300 and 256GB SSD. The new MacBook will ship on April 24th.