“When Apple first introduced the new 12-inch MacBook in 2015, the company once again redefined what it meant to be an ultralight laptop,” Rene Ritchie writes for iMore. “With a remarkably thin Retina display, new butterfly switch keys, physics-defying Force Touch Trackpad, terraced battery, super-fast storage, and only a single, solitary USB-C port, it was like a laptop from the future. ”
“So, how does the 12-inch MacBook, once the laptop of the future, stay relevant in a world where it’s increasingly the new normal?” Ritchie writes. “This year, the answer starts with Intel’s Kaby Lake processors, a higher memory option, and a keyboard refinement stolen back from the bigger [MacBook Pro]… The ultra-light, ultra-productive experience has been taken to the next level thanks to Intel’s Kaby Lake processors, a 16 GB memory option, and second-generation butterfly switches on the keyboard.”
“It’s so mature now that I don’t think performance will be an issue for anyone this side of a creative pro who lives on multiple cores and discreet graphics,” Ritchie writes. “If portability remains more important to you than power or price, and if you’ve always wanted something as small as an iPad but that opened up into a full clamshell running full macOS, then the 12-inch MacBook is for you. And the 2017 version isn’t just better. It’s surprisingly better.”
Tons more in the full review – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: These new MacBooks would be our next road machines, but the new iPad Pro models and iOS 11 are complicating matters to high degree. Decisions, decisions… We’re sure Apple would be happy with either conclusion (as, we suspect, would we). Maybe both? 😉
If you’ve been waiting for the 12-inch MacBook to mature, the time is now – if you can ignore the new iPad Pros with iOS 11.
SEE ALSO:
MacBook vs. MacBook Pro: Same price, which is better? – June 8, 2017
Apple’s update to the 12-inch MacBook is significant – June 7, 2017
Apple updates iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook, and MacBook Pro – June 5, 2017