Form over function. That was the the standard reaction to
the Macbook Air when it launched back in 2008. Fast forward a couple of years
and it has become the industry standard for laptop design. With that in mind,
the new Macbook seems like a glimpse into the future for many but the bigger
question being forgotten is whether the laptop is ready for today. The new
Macbook sits below the Macbook Air in the hierarchy and eschews all but a
single port, the USB Type C connector, that is being used for both data
transfer and charging the machine. The 13.1 mm design means slimming down of
literally every component and letting go of those that simply can’t fit in the
machine’s frame. In our time with the new Macbook we felt that this loss of
utility really didn’t justify the slightly slimmer frame or the lesser weight
of the machine. Considering that the much better equipped Macbook Air is just
4mm thicker than the Macbook and you really begin to question the reasoning
behind the Macbook other than Apple showing off it’s engineering prowess. Tech support for
macbook pro
The single USB Type C connector is placed on the left side
of the machine where you would expect to find the Magsafe connector. The
connector doubles as a data transfer port but you’ll most likely need to get a
Type C to standard USB header connector. You can also use the port to output
video. At the moment, the only way to both transfer data or output video and
charge the machine is to invest about 80 dollars in the official Apple
multiport adaptor. This really ought to be bundled in with the laptop.
In terms of performance, the new Macbook isn’t anything
special. The 1.1Ghz Core M processor is the equivalent of the processor found
in the 2011 Macbook
Air helpline when it comes to performance. It isn’t bad for basic web based
tasks but throw anything even slightly performance intensive and you’re in for
a tough time. We found a hint of lag while scrolling around the interface and
browsing graphic heavy websites. Another aspect of the laptop that we didn’t
really like was the keyboard. In order to slim down the laptop, Apple had to redesign
the entire keyboard mechanism which now has drastically lower travel. To
someone who has been using the Macbook Pro for the past several years and a
Macbook Air before that, the new keyboard seemed quite counter productive. The
force touch trackpad on the other hand builds on Apple’s expertise in building
fantastic trackpads and doesn’t disappoint. Other changes around the machine
are fairly minimal with the Macbook being the first Apple laptop to eschew the
iconic glowing Apple logo at the back. A shiny aluminum logo does the duty here. Macbook tech support
The new Apple Macbook is a first generation product and in
many ways it certainly feels like it. A product still trying to figure out a
purpose for it’s existence. So would we recommend the new Macbook? Not really.
The cost to feature ratio here doesn’t really justify spending on the new
Macbook and more so when the Macbook Air is within the same pricing ballpark.
Once again, Apple has created a machine that favors form over function and the
company hopes that the Macbook will set the standard for computing devices over
the next few years. I, for one, do not hope for such a future.
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