Anyone got the new 12'' Macbook?

Hi everyone -

I'm looking to purchase the new Macbook 12'' (the one they announced a few months back) in the next month or so.

Was just wondering if anyone here has it currently & what their opinions of it are?

Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

nemoshish

My friend got one, depends on what you want to use it for. if you want to install any heavy programme, forget it. he mainly use it for writing, social etc.

Reply 2

Himeros

Original post by nemoshish

My friend got one, depends on what you want to use it for. if you want to install any heavy programme, forget it. he mainly use it for writing, social etc.

Oh yeah - this will be mainly for writing and university work. I have a pro for the heavy stuff so I'm not too worried about it handling lots of heavy software or holding a great amount of files.

Does your friend like it?

Reply 3

username612415

Original post by Himeros

I don't own one, but I spent a lot of time trying it out while I was in the process of deciding which Mac to buy myself. Here's my tldr breakdown of the pros and cons that I found while using it;

Pros
*Stupidly thin while still being a fully fledged laptop, if every millimetre of space in your bag is important to you without having to resort to a tablet then this is (along with the Asus UX305) is about as good as it gets.
*The screen is gorgeous
*The force touch trackpad is excellent. Apple's trackpads have always been the undisputed best on the market and this new version feels better and more tactile to me than actual, physically clicking trackpads.
*Runs literally silent- there are no moving parts at all
*It uses so little energy that you can power it from portable phone chargers if you want to

Cons
*Seriously underpowered, it's roughly in line with the MacBook Airs from 2013. If you want to do anything remotely taxing the MB's going to struggle through it a lot harder than a MacBook Air or Pro would. It's fine if you just want to do basic stuff, but it's worth having a hard think about whether you want to spend over a grand to do basic stuff.
*Very expensive. The internals have more in common with a tablet and you're paying quadruple figures for the privilege of getting in on the bleeding edge of razor thin laptops.
*Competition from within Apple's other product lines, especially the Retina MacBook Pro. It's still thin, still runs extremely quietly (I'm using mine now, there is zero noise during basic tasks), but you get a truckload of extra power and connectivity in comparison, you get better battery life, a better keyboard (more on that below) and generally a much more well rounded laptop, all for a similar price with the baseline 12" 256GB MacBook falling in between the 128GB and 256GB Retina Pro price-wise. There's very little reason to get the 12" MB at this point unless you're absolutely desperate to shave every possible millimetre and every gram from your bag.
*Only one port is still impractical. Apple are arguably responsible for killing the optical drive when they first removed it from the Air, but at the time most people still regularly used them. Today people still want USB 2/3 ports, they still want to be able to plug things in to their computers and charge them at the same time. With the MacBook you need to buy and mess around with adaptors to do this.
*I personally hate the keyboard. They absolutely nailed the new trackpad design, but the new keyboard is severely hampered by the thin design- there's virtually no travel and it doesn't feel at all tactile as a result, it reminds me of typing on a keyboard cover for a tablet.

In my opinion, as a first gen product it's too difficult to recommend over the more powerful, more versatile, and generally superior Retina MacBook Pro.

Reply 4

Himeros

Wow! Thank you so much for the detailed reply.
That's all definitely given me something to think about.
I certainly won't be using it for anything too task-heavy as it's literally just going to be for university work and writing etc. But it does make sense what you've said about questioning whether you wanna pay so much for something that's just gonna be doing very little.
I'll have to have a long think about it. Thanks again !

Reply 5

mindy123

Hi Gofre,

I recognise you from the mobile forum. Very curious to know why you went for Apple with your laptop but avoid them for mobiles? Do you think you get more bang for your buck with Apple computing-wise?

Reply 6

username612415

Original post by mindy123

I don't avoid iPhones necessarily, I've just bought relatively inexpensive but high quality Android devices for the last few years (the Nexus 4, Moto G and OnePlus One) to keep the costs down. If Apple were to release a competitive £250-£300 iPhone by the time I come to upgrade I would certainly considering buying it.

As for Macs, it's pretty simple- I just like them better, and have the disposable income to be able to buy one. I don't think they offer the best bang for buck by a long shot (although the 13" Retina MacBook Pro and certain Air models are competitively priced with equivalent premium Windows laptops after factoring in student discount), but I much prefer OS X to Windows and the things I generally think they're the best built line of this style of laptops on the market.

Reply 7

mindy123

Think I'm coming round to your way of thinking. Have always been Android/Windows but that may change soon. I have a job now where I am on the move often, so I am looking at ultrabook style laptops and have found that to get a similar performance/form factor to macbook air/pro, you pretty much have to spend the same money.

Only thing stopping me is the Asus Zenbook UX305 with its £650 price tag. Would love to get your perspective on that machine please as I've heard conflicting things in reviews. Some say it is powerful enough to handle light photo/video editing while others say it will struggle.

Think its a shootout between that and the cheapest 13 inch retina MB pro for me as I don't like the old screens on the MB Airs.

Reply 8

username612415

Original post by mindy123

The UX305 is essentially a Windows version of the 12" MacBook (I think the Asus may have actually launched slightly earlier than the MacBook reveal), they're both ludicrously thin fanless laptops using the same Core M processor. They share a lot of similarities and likewise share a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses- the UX305 is insanely portable, runs silently and gets plenty of juice out a single charge, but is also very underpowered compared even to other ultrabooks. You can certainly do video and photo editing on it, you can do that on pretty much any Intel/AMD chip from the last several years, but if they're tasks you're going to be doing regularly then I would expect the render/export times could get pretty frustrating. It has a few major differences from the MacBook too though. It hasn't been gimped on ports and has a full array of I/O make it infinitely more practical than the 12" MacBook, but while still well built it isn't up to the standards of the Mac lines. The trackpad is the usual piece of mediocrity of all Windows machines compared to the glorious trackpads Apple makes, and it doesn't get OS X which is a pro or a con depending on the eye of the beholder.

Reply 9

mindy123

I see, I thought it was closer to the Air than the 12 inch Macbook in terms of power. There goes that option. Macbook Pro then I guess. Thanks for your input!

Reply 10

mindy123

Original post by mindy123

do you have the macbook pro 2015 retina? if so, which hard drive capacity did you go for? I'm trying to convince myself I can get away with 128gb

Reply 11

RyJ

Original post by mindy123

do you have the macbook pro 2015 retina? if so, which hard drive capacity did you go for? I'm trying to convince myself I can get away with 128gb

Off topic, but did you just ask yourself a question? :tongue:

I bought a 2015 rMBP last week and opted for the 256GB model. I knew that I'd struggle with anything less for sure, and I still may struggle. However I can always use my external HDD or take advantage of the rMBP's USB 3 ports and buy a 64GB/128GB flash drive, one of the little flush ones, which have dropped in price massively!

I love this machine, I had an early 2011 MBP previously and it never let me down. Admittedly, I didn't really need a new machine at all despite it being 4 years old, since I had upgraded the RAM to 8GB and upgraded it's storage to an SSD, but I'm so happy I did get a new mac. You'll love it!

Reply 12

username612415

Original post by mindy123

do you have the macbook pro 2015 retina? if so, which hard drive capacity did you go for? I'm trying to convince myself I can get away with 128gb

(assuming this is addressed to me :ahee:

)

I have the Retina Pro and lumped up for the 512GB model. If your usage is going to be standard studenty stuff then 128GB can suffice, but I would buy it in conjunction with a 1TB external hard drive from Amazon and get used to using that for storing the bulk of your files, like documents and media, to save space internally for applications and essential files. If you have anything in mind that you know will require a lot of internal storage, I'd stretch for at least the 256GB model.

Reply 13

mindy123

Original post by RyJ

Off topic, but did you just ask yourself a question? :tongue:

Whoops, yes I did ask myself a question.

I heard the OS takes up 20gb itself so I am very likely to get the 256 too. Swear I saw some people saying it is slightly faster too so why not. Glad you're happy with it!

Reply 14

mindy123

Ha, yes you assumed right. Cheers for the reply

Wow 512, that one is a bit too dear for me. I'm no longer a student, I'm an entry level digital journo so want basic photoshop, final cut pro etc. and all that on there comfortably. I will heed the advice and get the 256.

Any truth in the suggestions online that the models with more capacity are faster performance wise btw?

Reply 15

username612415

Original post by mindy123

The 256GB and 512GB do have faster r/w speeds than the 128GB, but it's still insanely quick and quicker than most "regular" SSDs.

Reply 16

mindy123

interesting development for me: I was on a video editing course with work and was using Final Cut Pro 10. It was very memory intensive and was working our macbooks with 16gb ram to the max. Think I may opt for the RAM upgrade from 8gb to 16gb over the hard drive upgrade.

I've heard getting loads of RAM will help keep the re-sale value of the machine up and I think it will be easier to work around hard drive space restrictions (memory cards, external HDs etc) but I will be stuck if 8gb ram proves to be not enough for HD video editing and whatever else work throws at me.

Did you get the RAM upgrade? Wondering what your thoughts are on it