The "New" MacBook
CONTENTS
The 12-inch MacBook is Apple's thinnest, lightest Mac productto date. Unveiled during the company's March 9 "Spring Forward" media event, the MacBook is a standalone product that is distinct from the existing MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro lineups.
Measuring in at 13.1mm thick, the new MacBook is 24 percent thinner than the existing MacBook Air, and it weighs just two pounds, lighter than both the 2.38 pound 11-inch MacBook Air and the 2.96 pound 13-inch MacBook Air. It has a 12-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2304 x 1440.
It includes a full-size edge-to-edge keyboard with a speaker grille above, and it has Retina MacBook Pro-style black bezels. It comes in three colors that match the iPad and the iPhone --silver, gold, and space gray.
There's a new Force Touch trackpad that incorporates technology from the Apple Watch, bringing a new pressure-based gesture called "Force Click." With a click followed by a harder press, users can do tasks like pulling up a word definition, seeing a map, or looking at a file preview. The trackpad also incorporates haptic feedback for a tactile response when it's used.
Because it's so thin, the MacBook includes a new "butterfly mechanism" for the keyboard keys, which makes them 40 percent thinner than traditional keyboard keys that use a scissor mechanism. According to Apple, the keys are also four times more stable, for greater precision when typing. Each key is individually backlit with a single LED for uniform brightness.
Like existing MacBooks, the new MacBook incorporates 802.11ac and it includes Bluetooth support. It only has one port, though, a USB Type-C port that serves several different functions. It provides power, USB 3.1 connectivity, and DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI, and VGA capabilities.
The new MacBook uses low power 1.1GHz and 1.2GHz Intel Core M processors with Intel HD Graphics 5300, which let it have a fanless design with silent operation. Using terraced battery design, the MacBook offers "all day battery life" with up to nine hours of wireless web browsing and 10 hours of iTunes movie playback.
Apple will begin selling the new MacBook on Friday, April 10 through its online store. Prices begin at $1,299.
The MacBook Name
Many rumors about the 12-inch MacBook before its launch suggested it would be the next evolution of the MacBook Air, adopting the MacBook Air moniker, so it came as a surprise when Apple instead decided to recycle the "MacBook" name for the device.
Apple manufactured notebooks that were branded as "MacBooks" from 2006 until 2011, retiring the name in favor of the two distinct notebook lines that emerged from its development efforts: MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
Prior to the ultra thin 2015 MacBook, the last product to use the name was the 2010 MacBook, a notebook with a white polycarbonate unibody casing. Earlier MacBooks also came in black. The 2010 MacBook was officially discontinued in 2011 and the name has gone unused since that time.
The new Retina MacBook is very different from the predecessors that shared its name, with its all-aluminum body, ultra thin design, single USB-C port, and its Retina display. Apple's re-adoption of the MacBook name leaves the future of the "MacBook Air" moniker in question as the new MacBook is both thinner and lighter than the existing MacBook Air.
Design
According to Apple, the 12-inch MacBook has been designed to be not only thinner and lighter, but also more functional and intuitive. Appearance wise, it looks like a melding of the MacBook Air and the Retina MacBook Pro, with a super thin clamshell design and a black bezeled-display.
At 13.1mm, thick when closed, it is Apple's thinnest MacBook to date, and it weighs only two pounds. The display portion of the notebook is only 0.88mm thick, which means it does not have the same light-up rear Apple logo that's found in Apple's existing MacBooks. Instead, it has a polished, embedded Apple logo that more closely resembles the logos found on the iPhone and the iPad.
It has an edge-to-edge keyboard with a speaker grille above the keyboard, and a single USB Type-C port on the left. On the right, there's a headphone port.
Display
The new MacBook features a 12-inch Retina display that Apple calls "paper thin" at 0.88 millimeters. It's the thinnest Retina display ever on a Mac, which Apple says was created using a manufacturing process that creates edge-to-edge glass that's just 0.5 millimeters thick.
It has a resolution of 2304 x 1440 with 226 pixels-per-inch, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and a 178 degree viewing angle.
According to Apple, the new MacBook includes redesigned pixels with a larger aperture, which allows more light to pass through. That let the company use LED backlighting that's 30 percent more power efficient but still offers the same level of brightness.
Keyboard Redesign
Because the new MacBook is so thin, Apple had to entirely redesign the keyboard, leading to a new key feel that's had some early criticism. According to Apple, the keyboard is "dramatically thinner" than the keyboard in the MacBook Air.
It includes a new butterfly mechanism underneath the keys that's 40 percent thinner than a traditional keyboard scissor mechanism, but also "four times more stable." Apple says that the new butterfly design offers better precision regardless of where a finger strikes the key. A traditional scissor mechanism is focused on the center of the key, causing wobble around the edges.
The new MacBook required a more precise key because hitting a key off-center on such a thin keyboard could cause keystrokes not to register, leading to the new, more precise butterfly mechanism that ultimately takes up less vertical space.
Apple says that the redesigned keys on the new MacBook offer 17 percent more surface area with a thinner construction and a deeper curvature, all of which "allows for much greater control when typing."
To keep the keyboard thin, Apple opted to remove the LEDs and light guide panel that traditionally light up its keyboards, opting instead for a single LED built into each key. This has the benefit of no light leak around each key cap for a much cleaner look.
Intel Core M Processor
The new MacBook uses Intel's 14-nanometer Broadwell-Y Core M processors, which combine high performance and low power for more efficient devices. Due to their low power design, the 5-watt Core M processors are able to run both silently and cool, alleviating the need for an internal fan and vents.
Thanks to the Core M chip, the MacBook is the first Mac notebook that has no fan. Instead of using a fan, the logic board is seated on an anisotrophic graphite sheet, which Apple says helps to disperse any heat.
Apple's entry-level $1,299 MacBook uses a 1.1GHz Core M processor (2.4GHz Turbo Boost), while the $1,599 model has a slightly faster 1.2GHz Core M processor (2.6GHz Turbo Boost). There's also a 1.3GHz custom option (2.9GHz Turbo Boost).
All MacBooks include Intel HD Graphics 5300.
Force Touch Trackpad
Apple has brought an Apple Watch feature to the trackpad of the new MacBook, introducing the first Force Touch trackpad. It includes built-in force sensors to detect how much pressure is being applied to the surface of the trackpad, enabling new pressure-based gestures.
A new "Force Click" gesture, for example, is enabled by a click and a long press. This brings up features like file previews on the desktop, maps in the Mail app and Wikipedia entries in Safari. Adding pressure to the trackpad when scrolling through the maps app or fast forwarding through a movie will gradually speed up movement, and when using features like Mark Up in the Mail app, Force Touch will be able to distinguish between thin strokes and harder presses.
Apple says that there will be a range of different pressure-based gestures available within apps. Sensitivity is customizable, letting users adjust the amount of pressure needed to register a click.
The Force Touch trackpad also has the benefit of being able to register a click on any part of the trackpad, an improvement over the trackpads of the MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro. Existing trackpads can be difficult to click near the top part of the trackpad adjacent to the keyboard, a problem solved by the Force Touch trackpad.
The trackpad includes a Taptic Engine that provides tactile feedback whenever it's pressed, letting the users feel what's happening on the screen in addition to seeing it. Apple says it delivers tangible responses to certain tasks, such as aligning annotations on a PDF.
USB-C
The MacBook's thin design prevented Apple from including standard USB and MagSafe ports for charging and as a result, it has just one USB-C port. The port offers quick charging, USB 3.1 data transfer at speeds up to 5Gbps (Gen 1), and video output that supports HDMI, VGA, and DisplayPort 1.2 connections.
USB-C is the first time that Apple has used a non-proprietary port for charging. iOS devices use a Lightning port, while previous MacBooks were equipped with a MagSafe charging port. Rumors have suggested that Apple had a hand in the development of USB-C and hopes that it will become the new standard.
Apple is selling a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter for $79, allowing users to connect their MacBooks to an HDMI display while also connecting to a standard USB device and a USB-C charging cable.
There's also a USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter that's priced at $79, which allows users to connect their MacBooks to a VGA display while also connecting to a standard USB device and a USB-C charging cable.
A USB-C to USB adapter is available for $19.
Battery Life
Apple invented a new terraced battery cell to introduce the maximum amount of battery life in the thinnest enclosure in the new MacBook. As a result, the MacBook offers "all-day" battery life with a 39.7-watt hour lithium-polymer battery, which equates to up to nine hours of web browsing and up to 10 hours of iTunes movie playback.
Other Features
MEMORY
The MacBook uses 1600MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory and it appears to be limited to just 8GB. There is no 16GB upgrade option to increase the available RAM.
STORAGE
Apple offers 256 or 512GB of PCIe-based flash storage in the new MacBook.
FACETIME CAMERA DOWNGRADE
Apple has downgraded the FaceTime camera in the new MacBook when compared to the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, likely due to size constraints. The MacBook has a 480p FaceTime Camera. It includes stereo speakers and dual microphones.
CONNECTIVITY
Like the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, the MacBook includes 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. It will ship with OS X Yosemite.
Available Models
Apple's new MacBook will be available in two distinct configurations, with an additional 1.3GHz build-to-order customization option available for the processor.
- 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core M Processor plus Intel HD Graphics 5300 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage. $1,299.
- 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor plus Intel HD Graphics 5300 with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of flash storage. $1,599.
How to Buy
Apple does not appear to be offering pre-orders for the 12-inch MacBook. It will go on sale online and in retail stores on April 10, 2015, approximately one month after it was first unveiled.
Retina MacBook History
News of an ultra-thin 12-inch MacBook with a Retina display first surfaced in October of 2013, after reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shared information suggesting Apple was working on a revolutionary new MacBook that's even thinner than the existing MacBook Air.
During the same timeframe, NPD DisplaySearch released supply chain research suggesting Apple was sourcing 12-inch 2304 x 1440 displays destined for a new MacBook.
12-inch MacBook rumors picked up in March of 2014, with a report sourced from the Asian supply chain pointing towards a device carrying a thin, light design with a redesigned trackpad and no fan assembly for silent operation.
Further information indicating Apple's plans to use Broadwell-Y low power Core M processors surfaced in September, along with a rumor indicating Apple could release the ultra-slim MacBook in iPhone color variants.
Initial rumors suggested the 12-inch Retina MacBook might be released in the fall of 2014, but Broadwell chip delays may have pushed back the tablet's launch until early 2015. In October of 2014, Intel released updated Broadwell Core M chips appropriate for the 12-inch MacBook.
Many rumors referred to the 12-inch MacBook as a MacBook Air, but it's clear now that the product, with its radical redesign and use of low power Intel chips, is designed to be separate from the MacBook Air lineup. It's possible that in the future, the 12-inch MacBook will replace the MacBook Air much as the Retina MacBook Pro gradually replaced the standard MacBook.
Filed Under:
TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 28 March 2015
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