I'm not sure if I'm an old fart or something (I'm 31) but this has to be the daftest MacBook I've ever seen. I have a 2012 MacBook non-retina, with DVD writer and all the ports I need (MagSafe, Gigabit ethernet, FireWire, ThunderBolt (also Mini DisplayPort so I don't need fiddly adapters to connect to TVs), 2 USB ports, an SD card slot, as well as headphone output, and line input (both switchable to digital optical S/PDIF), and a decent sized screen with plenty of space to rest my hands on the device. I truly believe I have the last decent model! The RAM is upgradable and the battery and hard disk replaceable (but it's impossible to plug in two USB dongles next to each other, silly or what).
This new MacBook is firstly tiny (nowhere to rest my hands), a screen size that is the same as a Samsung Note (the big 12" one), everything is along the edges, and THERE IS ONE PORT. Do I now need to carry along a hub in addition to all of the adapters???? It's so stupid I am struggling to comprehend who their target audience is? They mention the USB-C and that you can plug screens, power and devices into it - but the big question is: can I do all three things at the same time?? Or would I need to eject my USB stick just to power my device? Even my monochrome 386SX Amstrad laptop from 1991 had more ports (only 4MB of RAM mind you).
My first monitor that I could get was a 10" IBM CGA screen which was tiny - this is competing for the most ridiculous sized screen on a daily use machine. Perhaps they are converging with the Apple Watch?
When I saw it I thought it was a funny joke and then I realised that it was actually true and on Apple's site; I realised that Apple in their pursuit of extreme thinness have abandoned all the reasons why people bought a laptop in the first place (a portable computer, you know, with ports that you can use). I frequently use a MacBook Air at work and it makes me angry pretty quickly - tiny screen, no ports. I have to wander around with a bunch of dongles to use it with other devices (I need ethernet for AVB audio and sometime must demonstrate on a TV). This new MacBook looks like the plasticy bendy laptops you see in the budget range of PC shops - not a good look to be going for.
I was saddened to see that the ordinary applications that are part of the OS are labelled "apps" at the bottom of the screen, and truly hope this isn't a move towards the merging of OSX and iOS as has been feared for some time, starting with the merging of styles. I develop software for OSX as my day job on a Mac Pro (the ones you could drive over) and this saddens me.
This is truly the daftest thing I've seen, and I'm an Apple fan and OSX/iOS developer with a stash of Apple gear, a daily Mac OSX development job and sideline OSX job too. Disclaimer: I thought I'd best add that because there is a sad tendency here on HN to behave like "slashdot" and ridicule other people for having opinions.
And about Force Touch: I would prefer Force Invisibility or Force Persuasion, like in Jedi Knight please.
EDIT: Just noticed they're still doing the MacBook Pro and I have engaged in much confusion, but still it's a crazy device that won't be able to compete with ordinary PC laptops with ports, methinks.
I don't honestly know whether the new MacBook is something that I'd want -- but I do know that for my purposes my late-2013 MacBook Pro kicks your MBP's butt. It's lighter, much faster, has a much better screen, and I don't really care much about the fact that I can't replace the battery. I'm still regularly getting eight hours offline.
And realistically, when I'm traveling with my laptop it's rare that I'm plugging anything into it besides a power cable. When it's "docked" it has the power cable, a Thunderbolt cable, and an audio out cable because I'm kind of a nerd and want to use my own speakers. That's all I need: the external hard drive and (non-wifi) printer hang off the monitor's built-in hub, as does external Ethernet. What would I lose with this new weirdo laptop? I'd plug one less cable in docked.
"But if you're traveling with it you'd need to bring a hub with you!" Well, if I was traveling and I expected to need to plug in USB stuff on the road, yes. But it's very clear that they're treating that as an edge case, making the assumption that many users can go almost entirely wireless, or will be able to in short order. And they're probably right. Maybe it'll be "daft" for you, but Apple has a history of doing daft things that more often than not drag the industry forward. (And keep pundits employed.)
Hey, mine's a quad core 2.6GHz i7 with 16GB of RAM; it isn't a slouch and isn't anywhere near needing replacing - that's why the user-replacable battery means that this isn't a throwaway item after a few years. If I bought a car with a battery in it that I couldn't replace, it'd be stupid, but the same is being accepted on laptops.
Admittedly the disk is a major slowdown on this but I have a LOT of data to cart around (VMs, dev environments, and recorded audio and video).
I can take this thing all over the world and not worry about a bag of cables and adapters. It replaced my desktop machine and still fits that need, which is a good thing I think.
Another post covered the battery thing. $130 battery replacement on Air and $199 replacement on MBP, in Apple store, while you wait. Granted, who knows how long they'll provide that service.. for a 3 year old laptop? 5? 7?
I've got a 2012 Retina MBP and 2011 Air and battery life is not something I even think about. These things last ages these days.
You're right about the battery - I expect it to last for ages, but it'd be nice to be able to replace it without much hassle. The same cannot be said for the ones with built in batteries, or even my phone (which is irritating as the constant drain / recharge cycle has destroyed its ability to hold charge).
I'm a forty-something lady who is almost but not quite on the edge of replacing her 2013 Air with this.
My current machine has two USB ports, power, Mini Displayport, audio, and an SD card. I do not think I have ever plugged an SD card into this computer. I think I may have plugged one into one of my computers once. I was happy to ditch a DVD drive a few years ago when I bought my first Air; I think I used one of those maybe twice in five years. I've never felt the lack of Ethernet or Firewire.
I used to say that I'd never want a laptop smaller than a 15", but the higher DPI of the Airs changed my tune. I love my 13" now. Would a Retina 12" screen work for me? I dunno. It might, it might not.
When I'm on the road, the most things I've ever had to plug in to my computer are three: my Wacom tablet, a power brick, and a video adapter. That last only happens when I'm giving a presentation at a con; most of the time I just go out to a cafe with the drawing tablet and no other accessories.
And yes, there are adaptors to plug video/power/USB into that single USB-C connector at the same time.
The Air makes you angry, and this is an expression of the same ideas that drove the Air: small, light, and minimalist. It's no surprise you dislike this one too.
It's a different target audience then. We can safely say my obscure needs are not their target :-)
Thanks for the info about the USB-C connector; I still find it odd that other similarly sized devices fit more ports on without the need for external adapters; it almost seems that they've put the port on just because they can.
Edit: having looked again at it, I was amazed by the tiny innards! The space metal grey looks good; perhaps I was too harsh.
Well to be fair it's a Macbook, not a Macbook Pro. If you need multiple ports and are doing "productive" things then you still have the Pro.
This is meant to be a sleek, fun machine that's portable and powerful.
Side note, what line of work are you in where you need so many ports? I could see if you're a photographer, where you have a camera, the charging cable, an SD card, and an external, but I can't really think of too many other use cases where you'd need multiple ports at once.
Just noticed you program OSX apps. Why do you need so many ports?
I work in the audio industry where I route audio over ethernet and also use USB devices in development to flash devices (like putting firmware on USB stick and then taking said USB device to the audio hardware).
I also use my FireWire for running external mic preamps; it's really useful to have a rack mounted 8 channel mic preamp on FireWire and to turn up and record a practice / gig with just your laptop, particularly as the ADCs in the external hardware will be significantly better than the ones in the MacBook.
I use the ThunderBolt / Mini DisplayPort for hooking up to an external screen when I take the laptop home and want to game in Windows after rebooting; it is useful to have a device that will do all of that without external hardware, and I don't feel the extra pain of having a laptop half a centimetre thicker than a Retina model :-)
And the SD? For my ancient camera!
And the DVD writer is useful for giving CDs to other band members who don't like MP3s for odd reasons, or to play CDs in the car (yes my "ancient" 2008 Golf TDi supports MP3 CDs but the iPod interface for it is severely inadequate).
You're right about the Pro though - it's probably the thing I'd buy again.
Different strokes, different folks. I love my MB Air and this looks even better; I almost never plug anything into it, just my iPhone or a HD occasionally.
It does seem a little insane to not be able to e.g., run a harddrive to backup the computer while it's plugged in...
Yes I could have worded that better. I meant to say that it will encourage you to embrace the fulfilling yet utilitarian spectacle of TimeCapsule, emancipating you from the shackles of corded drudgery whilst you transfer files and data with a new reimagined, refreshing perception of the underlying science; TimeMachine: astonishing, complicated yet captivatingly simple in operation, alluring efficacy in motion.
This new MacBook is firstly tiny (nowhere to rest my hands), a screen size that is the same as a Samsung Note (the big 12" one), everything is along the edges, and THERE IS ONE PORT. Do I now need to carry along a hub in addition to all of the adapters???? It's so stupid I am struggling to comprehend who their target audience is? They mention the USB-C and that you can plug screens, power and devices into it - but the big question is: can I do all three things at the same time?? Or would I need to eject my USB stick just to power my device? Even my monochrome 386SX Amstrad laptop from 1991 had more ports (only 4MB of RAM mind you).
My first monitor that I could get was a 10" IBM CGA screen which was tiny - this is competing for the most ridiculous sized screen on a daily use machine. Perhaps they are converging with the Apple Watch?
When I saw it I thought it was a funny joke and then I realised that it was actually true and on Apple's site; I realised that Apple in their pursuit of extreme thinness have abandoned all the reasons why people bought a laptop in the first place (a portable computer, you know, with ports that you can use). I frequently use a MacBook Air at work and it makes me angry pretty quickly - tiny screen, no ports. I have to wander around with a bunch of dongles to use it with other devices (I need ethernet for AVB audio and sometime must demonstrate on a TV). This new MacBook looks like the plasticy bendy laptops you see in the budget range of PC shops - not a good look to be going for.
I was saddened to see that the ordinary applications that are part of the OS are labelled "apps" at the bottom of the screen, and truly hope this isn't a move towards the merging of OSX and iOS as has been feared for some time, starting with the merging of styles. I develop software for OSX as my day job on a Mac Pro (the ones you could drive over) and this saddens me.
This is truly the daftest thing I've seen, and I'm an Apple fan and OSX/iOS developer with a stash of Apple gear, a daily Mac OSX development job and sideline OSX job too. Disclaimer: I thought I'd best add that because there is a sad tendency here on HN to behave like "slashdot" and ridicule other people for having opinions.
And about Force Touch: I would prefer Force Invisibility or Force Persuasion, like in Jedi Knight please.
EDIT: Just noticed they're still doing the MacBook Pro and I have engaged in much confusion, but still it's a crazy device that won't be able to compete with ordinary PC laptops with ports, methinks.