Hands on: New MacBook 2015 review
The specs are pretty goshdarn good as well, with the new Macbook coming in at just 13.1mm thin and weighing 2 pounds (or 900g). That's insane when you consider there's a battery in there which has 35% more capacity than previous models, and also offers up to 9 hours of web browsing too. The new notebook comes with a 1.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.4 GHz, 8GB of memory, 256GB of flash storage and Intel HD Graphics 5300. If you want to turn the power up a little, then you can go for 1.2 GHz dual-core option, with Intel Core M processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.6GHz, 8GB of memory, 512GB of flash storage and Intel HD Graphics 5300. Design The new Macbook is so light you could mistake it for a half-empty sheaf of papers. Holding it in one hand is quite unnerving, as you feel you could snap it without holding properly. The balance is excellent. Yes, you can feel it tipping towards the screen ever so slightly, but the overall feel is of a well-weighted laptop that you could type on with one hand. The screen doesn't extend too far back - possibly 50 degrees beyond straight - but it's acceptable. Plus you'll just push it over anyway, such is the lack of weight. The edges of the Macbook are smooth and pleasant, with no sharpness to be found. I'll be honest and say I didn't want to see if it would bend in front of the stand bunnies at the Apple launch, but I didn't get the feeling that was a mistake Apple was going to make twice. The keyboard has been retooled to include a 'butterfly hinge' underneath each key. This means they're massive and to be honest, lacking in travel. I'm sure that's the sort of thing that after a while will become a genius idea for some, but in my brief time with it all I could think was 'man, these are some big ol' keys'. The travel was pretty minimal though - having come from typing on a Macbook Pro, with one of the easiest keyboards I've ever found to tap away on, I wasn't instantly blown away by the improvement. The keys felt more solid under my fingertips, but that was never an issue I had a lot of problems with before. It feels like Apple has solved a problem that wasn't there - but done it well anyway. The lack of any port bar the USB-C connector for HDMI, power and, well, everything else, is a bold one. Initially I was saddened by the loss of so many ports, but if it makes the new Macbook this thin, I'm all over it. I don't think I'll be able to survive on one port, which means that I'll be carrying around some connected doohickey for a long while yet. Even ethernet is still needed from time to time, and I'm not sure that's even supported.
The specs are pretty goshdarn good as well, with the new Macbook coming in at just 13.1mm thin and weighing 2 pounds (or 900g). That's insane when you consider there's a battery in there which has 35% more capacity than previous models, and also offers up to 9 hours of web browsing too. The new notebook comes with a 1.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.4 GHz, 8GB of memory, 256GB of flash storage and Intel HD Graphics 5300. If you want to turn the power up a little, then you can go for 1.2 GHz dual-core option, with Intel Core M processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.6GHz, 8GB of memory, 512GB of flash storage and Intel HD Graphics 5300. Design The new Macbook is so light you could mistake it for a half-empty sheaf of papers. Holding it in one hand is quite unnerving, as you feel you could snap it without holding properly. The balance is excellent. Yes, you can feel it tipping towards the screen ever so slightly, but the overall feel is of a well-weighted laptop that you could type on with one hand. The screen doesn't extend too far back - possibly 50 degrees beyond straight - but it's acceptable. Plus you'll just push it over anyway, such is the lack of weight. The edges of the Macbook are smooth and pleasant, with no sharpness to be found. I'll be honest and say I didn't want to see if it would bend in front of the stand bunnies at the Apple launch, but I didn't get the feeling that was a mistake Apple was going to make twice. The keyboard has been retooled to include a 'butterfly hinge' underneath each key. This means they're massive and to be honest, lacking in travel. I'm sure that's the sort of thing that after a while will become a genius idea for some, but in my brief time with it all I could think was 'man, these are some big ol' keys'. The travel was pretty minimal though - having come from typing on a Macbook Pro, with one of the easiest keyboards I've ever found to tap away on, I wasn't instantly blown away by the improvement. The keys felt more solid under my fingertips, but that was never an issue I had a lot of problems with before. It feels like Apple has solved a problem that wasn't there - but done it well anyway. The lack of any port bar the USB-C connector for HDMI, power and, well, everything else, is a bold one. Initially I was saddened by the loss of so many ports, but if it makes the new Macbook this thin, I'm all over it. I don't think I'll be able to survive on one port, which means that I'll be carrying around some connected doohickey for a long while yet. Even ethernet is still needed from time to time, and I'm not sure that's even supported.