The processors in these machines came out last year. The Surface Pro 4 got these Skylake chips in October, 6 months ago. It helps retain the resale value of older models I suppose. The performance of these CPUs is ok, this video shows the last model doing 4K video:
It was the same last year. The Broadwell Core M came out 6 months before the MacBook. My guess is that the MacBook is on an annual update cycle for the time being (meaning Kaby Lake will be out this fall and arrive in the MacBook about this time next year). That MacBook will likely still have one USB-C port, probably be upgraded to Thunderbolt 3 (since the capability will be built into the CPU), and probably still have a thread on MacRumors with dozens of pages of people complaining about its shortcomings.
Adding more ports isn't like a spec bump, it would require a redesign. Did anyone seriously think Apple would redesign this machine only one year after releasing it? The MBA received 3 spec bumps before it got a redesign (almost 3 years after it was announced). Outside of expecting a price drop I think people's expectations were out of whack.
It would probably need a bit of reworking to get two USB ports, the audio cable is at the bottom in the image and the USB cable up top:
It's limiting for people with it also being the power input. The original Air had a single USB port but power was separate. Now you can't plug it in and use a USB product without an adapter. If they could even get a magnetic plug like the Watch that attached somewhere else, that would free up the port while charging. They could also ditch the audio port and supply a USB C to 3.5mm cable, like the mini USB one below:
It definitely won't be an adapter for the rMB, it will be a native Lightning 2 connector, to support the Lightning earbuds Apple will ship with the iPhone 7 -- assuming it really ships without a 3.5mm jack. The rMB is already designed for this, just swap the 3.5mm audio jack for the Lightning 2 port. And it will do everything natively, except accommodate a standard USB-C device, which will need a Lightning to USB-C adapter. But that's not really a problem since you can use Lightning to charge with, and USB-C to plug in standard peripherals.
Um yeah because Apple isn't in the business of redesigning a product only a year after its introduced. If they wanted it to have more than one port they would have designed it that way last year.
Yeah, they usually wait two years for that. I'm surprised they didn't just call this thing the Macbook S.
In all seriousness though, I'm very disappointed they didn't address the one thing I was critical of with it's predecessor: one single port for power and connectivity. As I said yesterday, it's not hard to remedy with port replicators from companies like Anker that offer charging pass-thru, 3 USB ports, an SD card reader and 4K compatible HDMI port for under 80 bucks (and a ridiculously better deal than Apple's own dongle) but the fact that I have to pay 80 bucks for functionality that should have been offered out of the box is ridiculous.
And to those arguing that the 480p Facetime camera installed in the screen is due to size constraints: no, just, no. The 720p module in the iPhone SE is roughly the same size and could easily fit within the space provided. This was purely a weird Apple-like choice here, so please, stop defending it with nonsense.
Not sure why some of you are bitching about the price and components of this refresh. This laptop is such a great piece of technology. Use one before you judge. I am not crazy about the camera either but if this is that important to your daily life I would think you would use a USB version anyway. There is not a laptop on the market that is as nice as this when you look at every aspect.
Don't let Apples reality distortion field cloud your judgement. For instance how would you use a USB camera with this machine when you have something(anything really) plugged into the one (1) USB-C port on the machine. If you say make use of a hub you blow your credibility out of the water as that undermines the whole point of a compact laptop.
Ok, I know a lot of people are disappointed. The rMB has been controversial since it first came out and this upgrade is not what many were hoping for. Nonetheless, it's a product that I've been interested from it's introduction and have been waiting for word on this upgrade. I'd hoped for maybe a little more (a price decrease would have been nice), but wasn't necessarily expecting anything but a switch to the newer CPUs. My current machine is an Air 11" from 2011 which is now nearly five years old and I'm ready for an upgrade. The 11" Air has been the best machine I've ever owned. I love the ultra portability of it. However, there are some issues. I just have the 128 SSD, so I'm looking to get a little more space. I've never liked the elongated aspect ratio of the screen or the wide silver bezels (I know that's just an esthetic thing, but it matters when that's what you have to stare at all the time). The 12" rMB seems like the perfect solution for me. The entry level includes twice the amount of storage and RAM from what I currently have and the processor is faster (from what I can tell the original core M from the 2015 version was even faster than the i5 in my 2011 machine). It also addresses the few complaints I've had about the Air (the screen ratio and bezels) plus includes a slightly larger screen in just a barely larger package (actually it's thinner, slightly narrower, and only a very little bit taller). I'm actually excited about the USB-C port as I use a desktop setup at work and currently have to plug in multiple things (screen, power, usb devices). I've been watching some of the docking solutions that have been introduced over the last year and something like that would be perfect for me at work (yes, I know that will cost me more money), and on the go I hardly ever plug anything in. Just bumping up to USB 3 speeds is exiting enough (yes, I have been stuck with USB 2 speeds for the past 5 years!). All that to say, for some people this is a very appealing machine and not a compromise.
Here's my question though for some of you who are more knowledgeable about this stuff than me. Is the CPU upgrade significant enough to go for the new version or would it be worth saving several hundred dollars to get the 2015 version on discount? Like I said, I'm pretty sure last year's version was still faster than my 5 year old Air, however what I've got has started to show it's age and I am looking to get into a CPU that's a decent step up.
Um yeah because Apple isn't in the business of redesigning a product only a year after its introduced. If they wanted it to have more than one port they would have designed it that way last year.
It isn't what Apple wants that counts here it is what the customers want.
Ok, I know a lot of people are disappointed. The rMB has been controversial since it first came out and this upgrade is not what many were hoping for. Nonetheless, it's a product that I've been interested from it's introduction and have been waiting for word on this upgrade. I'd hoped for maybe a little more (a price decrease would have been nice), but wasn't necessarily expecting anything but a switch to the newer CPUs. My current machine is an Air 11" from 2011 which is now nearly five years old and I'm ready for an upgrade. The 11" Air has been the best machine I've ever owned. I love the ultra portability of it. However, there are some issues. I just have the 128 SSD, so I'm looking to get a little more space. I've never liked the elongated aspect ratio of the screen or the wide silver bezels (I know that's just an esthetic thing, but it matters when that's what you have to stare at all the time). The 12" rMB seems like the perfect solution for me. The entry level includes twice the amount of storage and RAM from what I currently have and the processor is faster (from what I can tell the original core M from the 2015 version was even faster than the i5 in my 2011 machine). It also addresses the few complaints I've had about the Air (the screen ratio and bezels) plus includes a slightly larger screen in just a barely larger package (actually it's thinner, slightly narrower, and only a very little bit taller). I'm actually excited about the USB-C port as I use a desktop setup at work and currently have to plug in multiple things (screen, power, usb devices). I've been watching some of the docking solutions that have been introduced over the last year and something like that would be perfect for me at work (yes, I know that will cost me more money), and on the go I hardly ever plug anything in. Just bumping up to USB 3 speeds is exiting enough (yes, I have been stuck with USB 2 speeds for the past 5 years!). All that to say, for some people this is a very appealing machine and not a compromise.
Here's my question though for some of you who are more knowledgeable about this stuff than me. Is the CPU upgrade significant enough to go for the new version or would it be worth saving several hundred dollars to get the 2015 version on discount? Like I said, I'm pretty sure last year's version was still faster than my 5 year old Air, however what I've got has started to show it's age and I am looking to get into a CPU that's a decent step up.
I bought the "old" Macbook 12 around a month ago (could not wait since I needed to get work done and was on the road with only an image of my desktop - brought just in case work happened).
I am quite happy with it. I would expect based on what I read that GPU performance and battery performance will be better (improvement) less so the CPU performance. The storage performance is also suppose to be better. I have not done anything that really stresses the GPU performance - so it would be a nice to have but not really important for me for what I use it for.
I was a little disappointed by the camera this time around - I suspect Apple is working on a better camera to fit in there... but there really is not much space in there at all.... It is probably a mere 1.5 mm thick at that point (backside to frontside) so the actual gap internally would likely be significantly less than a millimeter of space.... (the iPhone has much much much more space for a camera). So without creating a protruding camera - it really is a technical marvel that a camera can fit in there at all. I will only be using the built in camera for Skyping -- but it would be nice if they could work out the 720p camera tech to fit in there. The bigger disappointment is they did not integrate in TB3 into that port as well.
I do expect they will eventually have a lower price option -- trying to get a $999 price one with slightly half the storage or something.... but at that point the Air will be no longer (maybe in another year).
I expect refurbs of old ones to be up on the store in a month or so.... If I were in North America and I was on a budget I would consider looking there if the slight increase in specs are not important to you. Refurbs from Apple are as good as new and but can be had for a bit of a savings.
It definitely won't be an adapter for the rMB, it will be a native Lightning 2 connector, to support the Lightning earbuds Apple will ship with the iPhone 7 -- assuming it really ships without a 3.5mm jack. The rMB is already designed for this, just swap the 3.5mm audio jack for the Lightning 2 port. And it will do everything natively, except accommodate a standard USB-C device, which will need a Lightning to USB-C adapter. But that's not really a problem since you can use Lightning to charge with, and USB-C to plug in standard peripherals.
If you just want a Lightning port because Apple designed it you can stop there and use USB-C. If you want Lightning for earbuds you are severely limiting what else you can plug in and might as well just keep the 3.5mm as it will be about as useful. If you want to use a bunch of dongles anyways, another USB-C will be best as it natively supports more items designed for Macs and you can use a Lightning to USB-C adapter for your headphones.
Here's my question though for some of you who are more knowledgeable about this stuff than me. Is the CPU upgrade significant enough to go for the new version or would it be worth saving several hundred dollars to get the 2015 version on discount? Like I said, I'm pretty sure last year's version was still faster than my 5 year old Air, however what I've got has started to show it's age and I am looking to get into a CPU that's a decent step up.
As an owner of last year's model, I would say yes it is a significant enough bump to buy it instead of last year's model. On top of the faster processor, you also have the increased GPU power and faster SSD drive, which will improve overall speed in all respects. Not that the previous model was sluggish, just that as you are clearly someone that holds onto your tech for awhile, it would be in your best interest to future proof as much as possible. The only time I noticed mine chugging was during photo and video editing, or trying to watch a youtube video at max resolution with multiple windows or apps open in the background. Otherwise, it hums along nicely. If you're concerned about getting the best deal possible, wait a couple months for this model to show up in the Refurb store, which usually knocks 200 bucks off for the same high quality device and same year long AppleCare warranty.
Totally expected. Though I'm sure some will complain because Apple didn't redesign it into a retina MacBook Air.
Nope some of use will object because Apple didn't address glaring issues with the design. The lack of a second USB-C port being one of them or a built in hub in the charger as an alternative.
MacBook Air had three spec bumps before Apple redesigned it. Anyone with half a brain would've known the Macbok wasn't going to be redesigned only one year after it was released.
Um yeah because Apple isn't in the business of redesigning a product only a year after its introduced. If they wanted it to have more than one port they would have designed it that way last year.
It isn't what Apple wants that counts here it is what the customers want.
And since the product wasn't redesigned and didn't get a price cut clearly there's enough people who are happy with it as is. Apple doesn't release products hoping nobody buys them. Millions of people get buy with one port smartphones and tablets. If someone needs more ports Apple makes other laptops.
or... you could buy a lenovo with the same specs and a 15" screen that isn't retina ... you can't see the damn difference anyway... then hackintosh and save $500
It definitely won't be an adapter for the rMB, it will be a native Lightning 2 connector, to support the Lightning earbuds Apple will ship with the iPhone 7 -- assuming it really ships without a 3.5mm jack. The rMB is already designed for this, just swap the 3.5mm audio jack for the Lightning 2 port. And it will do everything natively, except accommodate a standard USB-C device, which will need a Lightning to USB-C adapter. But that's not really a problem since you can use Lightning to charge with, and USB-C to plug in standard peripherals.
If you just want a Lightning port because Apple designed it you can stop there and use USB-C. If you want Lightning for earbuds you are severely limiting what else you can plug in and might as well just keep the 3.5mm as it will be about as useful. If you want to use a bunch of dongles anyways, another USB-C will be best as it natively supports more items designed for Macs and you can use a Lightning to USB-C adapter for your headphones.
It's not what I want, it's what makes sense under the circumstances. Apple is not going to drop the 3.5mm jack on the iPhone and give customers Lightning earbuds to use with it, and not have Lightning on every new device they make. The rMB is presumably in the same boat as the iPhone, too small and compact to accommodate both a 3.5mm jack and Lightning port. And since the same customers who buy iPhones and iPads also buy the rMB as an alternative to a full powered laptop, it makes perfect sense that they accommodate them natively with a headphone port that works with their iPhone headphones, or adapters.
And no, Lightning doesn't severely limit what can be plugged into it, depending on what the complaint is. Right now, it's impossible to plug in a charger and a USB-C device at the same time without a hub. With Lightning, you can use the Lightning cable to plug into the rMB and charge it, and have a free USB-C port. And if you really need to plug in two USB-C devices at the same time, a dongle will help with that -- and if you already have a Lightning to USB dongle for your iPhone or iPad so much the better.
And yes dongles are not the best answer for anything, but right now, you don't even have the option of a dongle with the 3.5mm jack, which only outputs analogue audio. Given that Apple thought having a headphone jack was more important than two USB-C ports, doesn't it make more sense that Apple will replace it with a Lightning port, which also happens to vastly expand the current capabilities of the rMB? I'd say the short answer is: yes. Moreover, Apple already designed the rMB around 1 USB-C port, and has committed to that strategy for a second year. Clearly this MacBook is designed to transfer data wirelessly, with a port there if you need it. Having two ports then would be a luxury on such a device, so the fact the "headphone" port can do more, is more than Apple intended in the first place. For me, it solves the problem I have, and I'm happy to meet Apple halfway on this one.
I waited a year for gen-2 and they still insult my intelligence with a horrific camera of epic proportions. I just sent Apple my displeasure. Perhaps you should as well:
And don't give us the "there isn't a 720p camera that's thin enough" cop out. Making excuses for Apple only says "I'm as smart as Apple." Which isn't very smart at all since neither you nor Apple can fit good tech in a thin chassis. I say DO A STEVE JOBS. When stupid engineers tell me it can't be done, I say, DO IT ANYWAY. Where there's a will, there's a way. There's always a way. No excuses for stupid 480p tech. None. Zero. Nada.
Just stop with the hyperventilating. Sure, a 480p camera sucks. But really? That's your big complaint? Go ahead, tell us why you NEED a better FaceTime camera. Go ahead and look at what's available camera wise and then wave your magic wand to "make" it fit in the Book's incredibly thin chassis. While you're at it, make sure you use your infinite technical wisdom to make sure that jamming such a camera in there doesn't come with performance trade offs. A MB isn't powerful enough for me, so I'm not buying one. But listening to you people complain about a consumer level machine not having bleeding edge specs is tiresome. It's a hyper thin notebook made for portability and typical consumer applications. You're not going to be using it for a 30 person video conference call while downloading a 50GB file and editing in Final Cut. There is no pleasing you spec whores.
We should blame the competition, there clearly isn't any. Apple can do a Bubka (Sergey Bubka, improving the world record by 1 cm 10 times or so in a row and earning 10 times the price money) or a Phillips (introducing a shaver with one head, then two, then three, while knowing they should have started with three) again and again.
Not sure why some of you are bitching about the price and components of this refresh. This laptop is such a great piece of technology. Use one before you judge. I am not crazy about the camera either but if this is that important to your daily life I would think you would use a USB version anyway. There is not a laptop on the market that is as nice as this when you look at every aspect.
The Dell XPS 13 is just better in almost every aspect and is cheaper
I'm pretty sure last year's version was still faster than my 5 year old Air, however what I've got has started to show it's age and I am looking to get into a CPU that's a decent step up.
...you are clearly someone that holds onto your tech for awhile...
Not sure why some of you are bitching about the price and components of this refresh. This laptop is such a great piece of technology. Use one before you judge. I am not crazy about the camera either but if this is that important to your daily life I would think you would use a USB version anyway. There is not a laptop on the market that is as nice as this when you look at every aspect.
Don't let Apples reality distortion field cloud your judgement. For instance how would you use a USB camera with this machine when you have something(anything really) plugged into the one (1) USB-C port on the machine. If you say make use of a hub you blow your credibility out of the water as that undermines the whole point of a compact laptop.
I would use the built in wifi on my camera to upload the photos. \
Just because someone creates heavily constructed scenarios for the sole purpose of to prove their very short sighted and narrow version of how a product (which they probably don't & more importantly won't own) should operate does not mean it is going to have any effect on the mass majority of people that the product is right for. I have never once needed to worry about more then a single USB plug when I am traveling nor have I heard of anyone that has one complain about it. When I am at home I have a dock which has connectivity for my external hard drives, monitor, iPhone/iPad/mouse/keyboard chargers and anything else I could realistically ever need to plug into the computer. When I am at work I have the same thing. When I am using my aptop out in the world I usually don't even need to bring the charging cable with me but I absolutely don't need to bring dongles or hubs in my very small laptop case.
The only thing I would have that would need to use that port other than the charger - is an external drive... but then I usually just copy what I want since it is easier than having a dangling hard drive connected to it sucking battery power
The Dell XPS 13 is just better in almost every aspect and is cheaper
That's weird...you'd think if it were actually better in almost every aspect it would be well reviewed...and yet it's only got 3 stars on Dell's own site. It's almost like it seems good on paper, but falls apart in actual execution, and all the little details that Apple gets right. (In other words, spec-whores will _never_ understand Apple)
And upon a little more investigation, your comment is just patently false. The closest XPS 13 with 256GB SSD and retina-class display is the "developer edition" for $1650. If you're willing to do without a high-res display, then you could get the lower model for $1100. Of course both of those come with Ubuntu. While I'm a huge fan of Linux, it is not going to fly with the vast majority of users as a desktop. Oh, and they're also bulkier, and weigh 35% more than the MacBook. Ultimately, these kinds of comparisons are somewhat pointless...there's never an exact matchup to allow a value assesment. But if you take a step back and think "For most end-users looking for a small/highly portable laptop, what are the key needs/wants?" Well, it's size/weight, screen quality, storage, and build quality (probably in that order). Apple clearly understands and nails this. Dell tends to bait and switch in terms of "starting at only $xxx" but then when you spec up to anything worthwhile, it's at least as expensive, and lacks all the refinement. You end up with a bigger, clunkier, heavier, and grossly non-optimized system. Sure it's got a much more powerful CPU, but that's not a benefit for the vast majority of users, and in fact it's a hidden liability, as it sucks more power...and the Dell has a small battery. Ultimately, I think the "dell is better AND cheaper" guys must be really young and have missed the past 15 years of Apple and the market clearly disproving this. Apple products are supremely well optimized to what consumer needs _ACTUALY_ are, regardless of perceptions. Of course they won't hit the perfect sweet spot for every user, but that's simply not possible.
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It was the same last year. The Broadwell Core M came out 6 months before the MacBook. My guess is that the MacBook is on an annual update cycle for the time being (meaning Kaby Lake will be out this fall and arrive in the MacBook about this time next year). That MacBook will likely still have one USB-C port, probably be upgraded to Thunderbolt 3 (since the capability will be built into the CPU), and probably still have a thread on MacRumors with dozens of pages of people complaining about its shortcomings.
In all seriousness though, I'm very disappointed they didn't address the one thing I was critical of with it's predecessor: one single port for power and connectivity. As I said yesterday, it's not hard to remedy with port replicators from companies like Anker that offer charging pass-thru, 3 USB ports, an SD card reader and 4K compatible HDMI port for under 80 bucks (and a ridiculously better deal than Apple's own dongle) but the fact that I have to pay 80 bucks for functionality that should have been offered out of the box is ridiculous.
And to those arguing that the 480p Facetime camera installed in the screen is due to size constraints: no, just, no. The 720p module in the iPhone SE is roughly the same size and could easily fit within the space provided. This was purely a weird Apple-like choice here, so please, stop defending it with nonsense.
Here's my question though for some of you who are more knowledgeable about this stuff than me. Is the CPU upgrade significant enough to go for the new version or would it be worth saving several hundred dollars to get the 2015 version on discount? Like I said, I'm pretty sure last year's version was still faster than my 5 year old Air, however what I've got has started to show it's age and I am looking to get into a CPU that's a decent step up.
I am quite happy with it. I would expect based on what I read that GPU performance and battery performance will be better (improvement) less so the CPU performance. The storage performance is also suppose to be better. I have not done anything that really stresses the GPU performance - so it would be a nice to have but not really important for me for what I use it for.
I was a little disappointed by the camera this time around - I suspect Apple is working on a better camera to fit in there... but there really is not much space in there at all.... It is probably a mere 1.5 mm thick at that point (backside to frontside) so the actual gap internally would likely be significantly less than a millimeter of space.... (the iPhone has much much much more space for a camera). So without creating a protruding camera - it really is a technical marvel that a camera can fit in there at all. I will only be using the built in camera for Skyping -- but it would be nice if they could work out the 720p camera tech to fit in there. The bigger disappointment is they did not integrate in TB3 into that port as well.
I do expect they will eventually have a lower price option -- trying to get a $999 price one with slightly half the storage or something.... but at that point the Air will be no longer (maybe in another year).
I expect refurbs of old ones to be up on the store in a month or so.... If I were in North America and I was on a budget I would consider looking there if the slight increase in specs are not important to you. Refurbs from Apple are as good as new and but can be had for a bit of a savings.
And no, Lightning doesn't severely limit what can be plugged into it, depending on what the complaint is. Right now, it's impossible to plug in a charger and a USB-C device at the same time without a hub. With Lightning, you can use the Lightning cable to plug into the rMB and charge it, and have a free USB-C port. And if you really need to plug in two USB-C devices at the same time, a dongle will help with that -- and if you already have a Lightning to USB dongle for your iPhone or iPad so much the better.
And yes dongles are not the best answer for anything, but right now, you don't even have the option of a dongle with the 3.5mm jack, which only outputs analogue audio. Given that Apple thought having a headphone jack was more important than two USB-C ports, doesn't it make more sense that Apple will replace it with a Lightning port, which also happens to vastly expand the current capabilities of the rMB? I'd say the short answer is: yes. Moreover, Apple already designed the rMB around 1 USB-C port, and has committed to that strategy for a second year. Clearly this MacBook is designed to transfer data wirelessly, with a port there if you need it. Having two ports then would be a luxury on such a device, so the fact the "headphone" port can do more, is more than Apple intended in the first place. For me, it solves the problem I have, and I'm happy to meet Apple halfway on this one.
Apple can do a Bubka (Sergey Bubka, improving the world record by 1 cm 10 times or so in a row and earning 10 times the price money) or a Phillips (introducing a shaver with one head, then two, then three, while knowing they should have started with three) again and again.
Just because someone creates heavily constructed scenarios for the sole purpose of to prove their very short sighted and narrow version of how a product (which they probably don't & more importantly won't own) should operate does not mean it is going to have any effect on the mass majority of people that the product is right for. I have never once needed to worry about more then a single USB plug when I am traveling nor have I heard of anyone that has one complain about it. When I am at home I have a dock which has connectivity for my external hard drives, monitor, iPhone/iPad/mouse/keyboard chargers and anything else I could realistically ever need to plug into the computer. When I am at work I have the same thing. When I am using my aptop out in the world I usually don't even need to bring the charging cable with me but I absolutely don't need to bring dongles or hubs in my very small laptop case.