Apple released the new MacBook on April 10, the thinnest and lightest laptop in Apple’s lineup.
Starting at $1,299, the MacBook features a Retina Display, the Force Touch trackpad, a new keyboard design, a new port on the side, and two new colors.
This is the ultimate portable machine. It weighs just two pounds, and is about as thin as the original iPad. It’s also one of the most customizable, as it is the first Mac to come in three colors: silver, gold and space grey.
This MacBook is meant to give a glimpse of what the computers in the future will be like with its super thin design and beautiful display, but having a computer built for the future in the present comes with a lot of compromises.
The biggest compromise is the speed. Under the hood is a 1.1GHz dual-core Intel M processor. To emphasize the weakness of this computer, Geekbench, a program that measures the performance of a computer, gave the new MacBook a score equal to the current iPad Air 2 that sells for $499. If you find that a bit slow, you can upgrade the MacBook and get a 1.2Ghz dual-core processor with double the space, but it’s barely an increase in speed and costs an extra $300. Either way, the processor is only just fast enough for daily tasks such as web browsing and typing up a document. More intensive tasks beyond the basics like going through photo libraries or editing videos in iMovie seem to really challenge the computer.
The keyboard also got some additions that makes typing feel strange. Although the keys are much bigger which is nice, they don’t press as deep to accommodate for the thinner design. It does take some getting used to.
The new Force Touch Trackpad is probably the only worthwhile feature in this computer. Since the computer is so thin, there isn’t enough room in the computer to put a physical click under the trackpad, so instead it’s pressure sensitive. When the trackpad senses you applying pressure, it vibrates in such a way that it gives the sensation that your finger is actually clicking, even though it isn’t.
The pressure sensing trackpad goes beyond just clicking. For example, when you’re clicking a fast forward button, the harder you press the faster it’ll fast forward. When you press on a word hard, it’ll define it. If you press on a date hard, it’ll allow you to put it on a calendar.
In other words, if you really want to get your money’s worth, the MacBook is not for you. If you have $1,299 to spend on a new Mac, you’re much better off getting the highest end MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM. It’s much faster, and has longer battery life, a MagSafe charger, and two regular USB ports. That, and it’s still a thin and light computer.
If you really want that pretty Retina Display, then you should get the more powerful 13” Retina MacBook Pro for $1,299. Its got all the pros of the Air listed above, but also includes the fancy trackpad you find in the new MacBook.
If you’re a casual user that wants a beautiful computer that’s nice to use, than the new MacBook is for you. Otherwise, if you plan to do something bigger in the Apple ecosystem, your money is better off on another computer in Apple’s lineup.
