Why Apple will NEVER bring this MacBook back...
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- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2024
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The 12 inch MacBook was a radical departure from previous MacBooks, but it went down ultimately as a massive failure. Apple's attempt to reinvent the notebook was certainly a good attempt, but a mixture of half baked tech and ahead-of-it's-time ambition meant it was doomed. Today we'll discuss why I think rumors of the 12 inch MacBook's return are unlikely, and go over exactly how revolutionary this device was when it came out!
time stamps
0:00 intro
1:10 The 12" was revolutionary
3:30 10 major innovations
8:25 Apple was right about USB C
9:15 Why not try again with M2?
10:16 Apple's new, thicc strategy
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I'm actually watching this video on my 12" MacBook (2017, i5, 8gb, 512ssd) :D. If Apple ever makes an Apple silicon version, I'll be the first in line to buy one. Absolutely LOVE the form factor. Makes the 13" Air feel like a giant in comparison.
👍👍👍👍👍
Does it work well with basic tasks like using the internet and watching videos? Games?
@@sllickit doing well, now I'm studying and using zoom, safari and text editors flawlessly, also having i5 2017 model
@@sllick It's a slow machine by todays standards, but still usable for light browsing, email and watching movies. Games and heavy workloads? nope :) I mostly use it on the couch, bed, plane, train etc. For work (graphic design) I have a 16" m1 max MBP.
Typing this on the same exact model! Design still blows me away
What really made it for me was the weight, not the thinness or size. I think there is absolutely still a market for a sub-1kg laptop, specifically people who have to carry one around every day. You can really feel the difference between 1.5kg and 1kg in some cases.
Correct, I carry a 965g Lenovo slim carbon. I love it. But i do want to switch to MacOS, but the Air is too heavy and kinda pointless next to the Pro which is only little heavier.
Why is it so hard to just slap it on with a apple silicon in this form body? I would buy this laptop in a heartbeat. The weight js just amazing.
@@Yash-jp6xh They definitely can't just reuse this design because of the butterfly keyboard and singular USB-C port, but adding an extra port and a Magic Keyboard really shouldn't add weight, only a bit of thickness. Still not sure why they haven't done that since they *have* done this for the 2016 13" MacBook Air and Pro designs; I think it would've been an incredible way to debut Apple silicon back in 2020.
The difference between carrying the 12 inch, and an M1 MacBook Air around all day is actually huge.
If I was able to use my old 12 inch for everything, I would. Sadly it just can’t keep up with some of the jobs I need to do, so I take the M1.
I still have my 12” MacBook from 2017. It still just about works, as a really basic computer. But it’s simply too beautiful to give up. My main computer is a 16” Pro, but my heart still belongs to the tiny tiny MacBook…
Yes!! I feel the same way. I bought it back in college, it had just come out and the only issue for me personally was the missing usb port since at times I needed to use one for school. Regardless though, I still use it to this day and it is my favorite laptop I’ve ever owned. I’ve never had issues with the keyboard, although I hardly use it anymore other than for basic usage it still runs perfectly. I wish they still made this model though because I love the size, weight, and the aesthetic of the inside of it. It makes me never want to get rid of it
I used this laptop for a couple years. My wife still uses hers and absolutely thinks the latest Air is way too big. I'd love it if they'd remake this with an M1. That would be the prefect amount of power for a 12" model. Thanks for the vid.
I was thinking that, instead of just getting rid of the M1 chip, why not put it into the Macbook. I've got an M1 Macbook Air, and it's still a fantastic chip, even in mid 2023
No, they should put an A16 chip in it.
I still have mine and I'm keeping it forever, it's my favourite design/size even though I use the 14" MBP now.
I loved my 12" macbook so so much 😭 I just recently finally had to upgrade and I was so sad to let it go. I love how light it is.
I fly a lot as part of work, in July 2015 I was on a flight from London toNYC and was working on my 15"MBP when i noticed the guy sitting alongside me had the 12"MB, I was intrigued, It seemd to be the future and a couple of weeks later I bought one and for work/travel this was amazing, my kids both had MBAs and the difference of screen was night & day difference. I loved it so much apart from the lack of storage, so in 2016, I bought the Core M5 with more RAM and bigger SSD, I had that for 2 years, and never had an issue with the butterfly keyboard, the 12" remains one of my favourite computers ever, an M1 version would probably have me reaching for my debit card. As much as I love my M2MBA it still seems huge in comparison.
The 12" also led me to buying a USB C dock (A plugable one that still serves for my Fold 4 when I need Dex :) )
WHich led me to my only real dislike of the 12" was the single USB C port.
I wish they would just slap an M1 or M2 in it, I love the 12" form factor and I think it deserves a second chance. Even if the Apple Silicon iPads already exist, they are unlikely to get an update to iPadOS that would go head-to-head with macOS. Also, I feel like I am the only person in the world to like the butterfly keyboard 😓A small form factor MacBook with apple silicone + an iPhone Mini would be a killer combo.
i also love the butterfly keyboard so much , cause the strengh i push the keys are very light , i think you maybe same as me . i am from China
Tbf im used to the butterfly keyboard too 😂
The iPad Air & iPad Pro have largely taken over the space the 12" MacBook occupied. At some point if Apple brings touch to the Mac, the 12" MacBook concept may return.
just get a keyboard for an i pad
@@VertexPlaysMC have a 12.9” iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard and while I love it there are a couple of major drawbacks that a MacBook Air wouldn’t have. It doesn’t run a desktop OS and gets much worse battery life than the MacBook air.
@@Piketom1eh the OS is mostly better though aside from missing some apps
@@Piketom1 There are definitely advantages to a laptop, especially if you need to use it without a desk to set up the iPad stand, but a 12 inch MacBook is to close to a normal MacBook air stand apart. Apple should add more laptop functionality to the iPad in my opinion rather than making a slightly smaller MacBook.
They have.. it’s called iPad
For me, the one USB-C port (which wasn't even Thunderbolt capable) and the butterfly keyboard would likely be why Apple won't bring it back. Especially since that keyboard led to lawsuits and I can say they won't go back to it. So the laptop would be thicker, and once you shrink the bezels, you'd end up with the M1 13 inch MacBook Air with one fewer port.
Oh, and that 480p potato webcam.
Not only that, once you reduce the bezels - you no longer have a full sized laptop keyboard anymore.
@@CraigCruden Exactly. If you trim the bezels but keep the same size screen, you couldn't fit a full-sized keyboard. But if you kept the machine size expanded the screen to trim the bezels, then you essentially have the M1 MacBook Air with fewer ports... And that's pretty much it.
...except 40% heavier and bulkier... I still always bring my old 12", even when i think i will not need it.
I recently got one used because I really wanted a super portable Mac, and I love it, the only problem I have with it is its battery life, it just doesn’t last nowhere neat as long as m1 Macs
They had a 12" PowerBook back in 2003 - 2006, that one was great!
I remember really wanting one of these when they were announced. The first day they were available at the local best buy (I did not live near an Apple store at the time) I headed over there intending to buy one. I headed over to the display unit, and thought it was so cool looking. I tried the keyboard, and I actually liked it. Did not mind the one USB-C port. Trackpad seemed really neat. But then I tired just using the display unit and thats where it all fell apart. Just bringing up textedit and doing a typing test was a problem. It took a really oddly long time to launch and once it opened text entry lagged behind typing to a frustrating amount. At the time I did not know if it was an issue with the display unit or a problem with the design of the laptop. I decided to hold off and read some reviews, ended up never buying one.
Ended up getting a 15" Pro with a butterfly keyboard because I weirdly liked the butterfly keyboard. Stuck with that system for a very long time, never had an issue with the keyboard. Now I am using a 13" M2 Air as my main system and its pretty much exactly what I was looking for when I wanted the 12" MacBook.
I think it’s one of the best MacBook Apple ever made. It is perfect to take it with you. It is not a MackBook to edit video, but it is lightweight and very comfortable. I hope it would have a comeback.
I agree - it was an amazing machine at the time.
I did a little bit of video editing on mine - it still had the benefits from the Core Duo era of being able to add H264 to the timeline and edit it directly, saving on disk space. In many ways it decent power if you wanted 2010-2015 era performance - integrated GPU though, not dedicated GPU.
I would buy one of these tomorrow. I got the original and loved it for casual usage, it also worked great for portable web design stuff.
My wife is still rocking a 12”. She loves that machine and I’m having a ridiculously hard time prying her away from it. Every time we’re in a Best Buy or Apple Store I steer her toward the MacBook Air and say “Oh, look how nice these are” and she still refuses to let go of her 12”. Despite all the very clear evidence that it’s on the verge of complete obsolescence she continues to stubbornly cling to that thing.
Rightfully so. I actually BOUGHT a refurbished one just earlier this year. Obsolete my ass - it’s the most portable work machine I ever had the joy of using. It’s so great!
I love this version! :D We have two in our house and it's just so nice to bring with you and fully capable of running day-to-day tasks. The sound in this small thing is impressive too. I always bring this, when i don't wanna carry my 15 inch MBP around.
I still use one of these along with a 13” Air M1. I tend to leave the Air at home when I just need low power tasks since I find the macbook air heavy. For real.
I want them to bring it back just because of its size alone. Laptops with such a small footprint like that are gems. It’s not for everyone, but it’s insanely cool and useful to have a 11-12 inch computer with a full desktop OS. The portability is unmatched. Extra thickness for the keyboard and battery would be welcome, but that small footprint is still desired by many.
You’re right about unprecedented portability - it’s still the one you pick up when you don’t really want to carry a laptop.
That’s what a ipad is for
Well, the point of a small laptop is to make it more easily portable, right? So all my iPad needs to do is things I’ll need to do outside of home. Got a desktop PC for gaming and anything else that my iPad’s not good for, but all the basic stuff that I’m likely to need anywhere I’m going? My iPad covers those uses.
@@saulgood2366I don’t want an iPad. I want a small laptop with the main functions my Mac Mini has. I want macOS. I want physical keys and a retina screen. iPad doesn’t fill what I want from it
Yes. For some years vendors stopped to make 11" laptops with normal power (no Celeron or Intel Atom please). I had an Acer i5 in 11" and except loud fan and quickly degrading battery it was great.
I bought Macbook 12 after and fulfilled my dream to switch to MacOS. I think that they maybe don't want to make it because if they make full power 11" or 12" laptop it would canibalize sells of 13" and 14" laptops. I guess this size could be very sexy for lot of executives and managers for travel.
I am surprised that I don't know about any hardware startup which makes such small laptops with normal power. I also considered that first Lenovo Yogabook. It's super cool, the hinge is beautiful and enjoyable to use. The size is like a bigger envelope. But those times I didn't want Windows anymore and Android version got outdated quickly with only one or two updates. But those sizes are great, IMHO.
I loved my 12-inch MacBook at the time. I didn't even mind the keyboard. It was very light and portable but still felt substantial. My uses were everyday: emails and documents and surfing, so the lack of processing power didn't phase me either. And space gray color was new at that time, so it looked cooler than anything else. I EVEN had an ELEVEN-inch MacBook Air at one point. Remember those?
I think the processor thing was people trying to pretend it was a 15" MacBook Pro.
I'm currently watching this on my 12" Macbook. Previous to that I had an 11" Macbook Air, I love small computers and when I need more screen space I just connect it to a monitor. I've never liked the iPad OS. It's the perfect mac to travel with, the 13" Macbook Air is a bit big when put on an airplane tray. The battery on my mac is deteriorating that's the only issue with it 😣
I love my MB 12 as well, bought the i7 w/ 16 GB RAM and 512 SSD and it runs Logic Pro without any problems. With a knee surgery I need the lightest system possible, and even wrote to Tim about the reasons why I need a new Apple Silicon version in my life. I can even balance it on the little foldout armrest tables in lecture halls and it fits perfectly, without oversteping the boundaries or the feet not being on the surface...
I still have one of these. It’s still going strong, very fast. I had an M2 MBA but returned it because it wasn’t any better.
Maybe one of the most accurate and educational videos about a brand and their product development process/strategy. Only a few can understand this kind of "bad decision", they are not that bad, they are strategic moves towards a bigger vision.
Thanks for your perspective. Very interesting and insightful.
i have an iPad Air 5 with the magic keyboard and it probably does all the things my 12” MacBook did without cooking itself to oblivion. But i do miss how light it was and the sound the butterfly keyboard made. The trackpad was an insane experience as well. Now i’m stuck wondering if Apple should make iPadOS more like MacOS or just get a full-blown desktop Mac 🤔
I still have my 12" Retina, that I continue to use as my travel laptop, primarily because I'm in my 60s and have advanced arthritis, and so I can''t carry around a bulky, heavy laptop any longer. I simply don't have the physical strength to do so. And the twelve-inch is great. I can fit it into any medium-size purse, it's lightweight, and (other than that God-forsaken butterfly keyboard), it's workable and extremely reliable. I wonder if, as the population ages and more and more people people face physical issues such as mine, if Apple will see renewed incentive to revisit smaller, lighter weight units again.
I do have the 2017 version. I actually got 2 of them for 100$ CAD for parts back in 2020. Although one of them had a broken screen, the both of them actually did turn out to work fine!
I have been using it ever since and i (mostly) love it! The minuscule size and especially its weight won me over. Sure, its probably less powerfull than my ipad mini 6, but the pair goes along very nicelly.
Yes, it does have its limitations and flaws(i hate having to use a rubber keyboard protector, but its essential for the survival of that fragile keyboard....). The screen is super bright and resolution is great for me.
I am able to do some video editing and it worked out for me that far (granted, i am not a movie maker, and it does help that i am a patient man and not in a rush to publish a video, because it does take a while to export anything with that thing)
I do wish they would have kept it for just a bit longer. Allowing it to get some upgrades. But then, compared to the Air, with a lower price point (as far as I can remember) and more powerful, it was ment to die at some point.
Best 100$ deal i have ever got! No regrets here ;)
not once have I seen a bad vid from you and all of your videos have great quality! but you do you.
great video as usual
Great video
Brillant and awesome video ! You are very smart and your analysis is excellent.😊
I agree with all you say. I do still have a 2011 11” MacBook Air that while the screen shape and bezels are not ideal it still works for web browsing and document production. It was for me (and still is strangely enough) the machine that replaced iPads for me. It is very small and thin - will actually fit in a shoulder case I had purchased for an iPad. It was my “main machine” for GUI design - I design medical software - until my 2015 15” MacBook Pro. The latter I also added BookCamp Win10 (on OWC 2TB) for reading Medical Imaging and I still have that one too. Now my “main machine” is an M1 13” MacBook Pro and while I understand it’s not the “cool” choice it actually works very well for me and has been reliable. I don’t notice it being too large, too thick, or too heavy but I admit it’s slipped into a shoulder bag overloaded with a whole bunch of other “crap” I travel with so it’s dwarfed by all that. Were it not for the butterfly keyboard the 12” MacBook would actually work great for my use case and maybe be cheap to acquire?
I might be in the minority but i love the butterfly keyboard 🤷🏽♀️ And I’m still using my 12” macbook and love that carrying it around doesn’t make a dent on my shoulder. I really hope they’ll bring back this form factor.
I still think there’s huge demand for an 11” or 12”. They absolutely should make one.
They did the iPad Pro just for you! That's also why I think they stopped with this laptop.
@@oscarsh2909 unfortunately iPad with a keyboard isn’t a true replacement for a laptop.. it has some dealbreaker limitations that affect things that affect power users and software developers
@@brainout5852 I'm 100% with you. The Ipad OS and iOS are dumbed down and the limitations actually don't make any sense, not even for security. I think they just kept the business model of the iPod, where you could only download things through iTunes. In an ideal world, I think they should have an admin mode that lets power users take full control of these devices.
Too small 😂😂
@@oscarsh2909the iPad Pro is a nice device, but there’s one thing it lacks, macOS.
nice retrospettive mate
I’d actually like to see Apple create an 11” MacBook Air that is physically smaller, slimmer, and lighter than the 12” MacBook. Then the Air would have 11”, 13”, and 15” versions. With Apple Silicon an 11” Air would be ridiculously portable, remarkably fast, and get great battery life. It would be the perfect first Mac for a lot of people.
An 11" MacBook Air with M3 would be a fantastic product. I would buy it immediately.
@@TelephoneBGs For $200 less per device an 11" air could be a great computer for education and enterprise customers who buy dozens or hundreds of laptops for their faculty and staff. We still have some faculty using the retina 12" MacBook on the campus where I work who will probably upgrade to the 13" Air when those computers finally die for good. They probably wouldn't notice the college spending a little bit less and getting them an 11" Air instead.
Also great for early teens with small hands. Get the kids in love with Macos early.
@@joeblogs1094 That white powerbook I had in middle school certainly had that effect on me. I've had nothing but Apple laptops since. Darn you, Apple.
The 12" MacBook was smaller in every dimension than the 11" Air. People forget how big the 11" was and how small the 12" was.
This is defining video for your channel. What an amazing analysis. 😮💨 10’s across the board 💯
What a different and cool video! Users dont realize the work needed to make things different as they see.
Great video Luke! My lady has the 2018 MAC Air (13.3") i5 and loves it except the 256GB SSD is too small. She has removed virtually everything she can from that drive and stored it on an external 6 TB HDD drive. Especially her thousands of photos. We back all that up to a 8 TB HDD in an old (upgraded) Apple TimeCapsule. I'm using a 2020 M1 MAC mini with a 512 GB SSD and 2 1TB NVMe SSDs backing up to 2x 6TB HDDs in RAID 1 (mirroring) configuration. That in addition to iCloud and I Drive cloud storage keeps me quite safe!
I gotta get some of your floor lamps man. 😂 They are gorgeous!
11:33 Bring it back with Scissor Keyboard, with more ports & glowing Apple logo.
I've never had one of these but I have an 11" Macbook Air and I really wish they'd bring either this 12" or the 11" back. It's absurd that they put M2 chips in iPads but 13" is the smallest Mac you can get. And to all the annoying people that say "the screen is too small"... that's the goddamn point. I don't need a semi-portable computer with a screen big enough to use comfortably for long periods of time, I have other computers for that. I just want an ultra-portable tiny Mac that is as convenient to carry around as an 11" iPad Pro is.
If that had the a16 bionic chip and it cost less than the air it would sell very well
Never had a problem with butterfly keyboard. I really like the 12" MacBook and I might try to find one for cheap....
A 12inch Macbook with Apple Silicon would be pretty sweet in my opinion.
If you were lucky enough to get the 2017 revision with the i7, 16GB of Ram and revised butterfly keyboard; it's a damn good laptop.
The Macbook 12 Inch is underrated and heavily missunderstood. The whole purpose with that machine is to be a secondary device when you do not need any powerhouse to make things done. I use this along side the M3 Pro 16inch and are super happy with it. The M2 Air for some reason did not click for me. Design wise I believe this is the best designed laptop of all time. For Web based stuff , email etc it's great. I find it interesting that people complain about the one port situation, meanwhile a very expensive iPad Pro to this date are still using a single USB C and not even a headphone jack which the Macbook 12 has. As much as I would love to see a new gen with Apple SoC on it, it won't happen. For anyone reading this comment I can only recommend the 2017 version and avoid the early -15 models as they are proned to fail (speaking from experience sadly). The main issue with it's launch was the price, but thankfully it is not 1299 USD anymore.
Totally my Favourite laptop - and I have a 4TB Macbook 16.
I bought one this year as a secondary machine... pretty good enough for that, actually only use it for browsing, some 2d illustrations, and concept art for work and streaming Netflix...
Thanks for the very well researched, written and narrated presentation on the relevant historical attributes and values of the 12-inch MacBook laptop…
While certainly not nearly as difficult to service as was the beastly Laserwriter IIg, the 2015 Apple 12 inch MacBook proved to be one of the most (if not the most) difficult Apple laptops to service.
Good content
I really really enjoyed using my 2015 12” MacBook (with the 1.3 Ghz CPU). I used it with the Apple Digital AV Multiport adapter to connect it to an external monitor in my office and it was a joy to take it to my meetings since it was so lightweight. Never had an issue with the keyboard or anything else, really. Unfortunately, a few years later the company migrated from Skype to Microsoft Teams, which was an Electron app with HORRENDOUS performance on Mac and I had to replace the 12” with a 13” MacBook Pro, which when using Teams would overheat and CPU throttle. What a letdown, that was. Thank god Apple Silicon came to the rescue.
I'm watching this video on my 12'' Macbook (Early 2016, m5, 8gb, 512ssd) 😝 have been using it for everything for 6-7 years! the more people talk about it the more I love it . I don't get what's wrong with the trackpad? plus, i like the keyboard, one is slightly malfunctioned but still works.
I'm watching this on my 2015 macbook and overall, I love it. I haven't had any issues with speed or the keyboard, but the battery is going (to be expected for its age) and the fanless design does mean that it runs quite hot. The only annoying thing is that the one usb-c port means that I have to plug in a hub even just to use an external mouse. It's not a design beast, but it works pretty well for basic tasks. I'm due for an upgrade and I might figure out how to just patch it instead so I can keep it running.
I have a 2015 mid-specs one of these and another, 2011 i5 mid-spec MacBook Air. Both are great and truly portable, unlike any other Apple laptops would be. What lets down the 12” MB to me is the extremely difficult and frustrating battery replacement and some software issues, for example the refresh/download status on Safari. Both can be rectified or only a nuisance until they are resolved.
Currently, all used 11” and 12” Apple portables are in the very affordable price range and if emails, browsing, documents and simple tasks are the main reason for wanting a laptop, then these got you covered.
if they had an edge to edge display like dell's infinity display... I think the screen size could actually approach 13 inches. It could literally be a perfect device for $1000 and fill the gap for the old 13 inch m1 that they are still selling.I would honestly take half of the m1's performance for that form factor.
I love my 12" Macbook and I'm using it right now to comment on this. Purchased new in 2018 and patiently waiting for something equally as awesome to be released before I make a change. I travel a lot and the weight difference in a carryon makes a significant impact on my shoulder! I have traveled with just my iPad instead, but until the put the camera in landscape mode, that's a tough sell for video calling.
btw the force touch tracpad was already in the 2015 macbook pro (i had so much fun restarting the mac to test the tracpad while its off i never forget)
This would be so sexy in an M2 spec list it's crazy. All they'd have todo is size up the M2 iPad motherboard and bit, add more RAM and somehow put it in there.
i love the size of the 12"! If I could get one dirt cheap on ebay I would, but only dirt cheap due to the keyboard
I used to have one of these, and loved it for school. Ironic that a lot of Word typing, which is the only thing its fast enough for, ended up breaking the keyboard.
"And away from making everything as thin and light as possible at the expensive of all other things"
Bent iPad Pro M4: "Hold my pencil"
Since I started working from home and embracing the digital nomad life, all I want is a 12" MacBook. Don't get me wrong, my iPad Pro is great, but when it comes to productivity, macOS takes the cake. I'm crossing my fingers that Apple brings back this form factor because I'd totally buy it in a heartbeat!
sensible thoughts !!
3:56 yup! Keyboard is the size limit. 11” MacBook Air was the same way: as small as you could get [with slightly different design constraints, like bezel size, heat dissipation, etc.] while still having a full-size keyboard.
I bought a 2015 11”, maxed out (i7, max RAM, larger SSD), 2 days before it was discontinued, even though it was an older machine, because the rumor mill had said the 11” was going away. I’m still immensely happy with that decision and still using it daily.
I seriously considered the 12” MacBook instead because of the 4:3 screen-16:9 is just too short in an 11” screen. But I couldn’t stand the keyboard on the MacBook, and that’s _way_ more important than the more-sensible screen aspect (or retina) to me.
It’s July 2023 and I’m really considering buying a 12 inch MacBook as a subnotebook to always carry with me when I‘m not at home or in the office. It is by far the lightest MacBook and way more useable and cheaper than my current solution with a 4th Gen iPad Pro 11“ and the Magic Keyboard. It‘s almost 1,100 vs 900 grams. And working with a real Mac Finder with folders etc., a build-in keyboard and touchpad is so much more convenient for my work (text & Excel) than the tablet/Magic Keyboard solution.
Really sad that the 12-inch MacBook was such a flop (lasted only two upgrade cycles) with a bunch of (potential) issues.
I know a lot of people hated the butterfly keyboard, but hear me out for a moment - the 4th gen butterfly (in the 2019 MacBook Pros) was rock solid for me. I never had issues with sticking keys or missing key presses, and I never encountered anyone with a 4th gen butterfly who had issues with it.
And even though it’s not the most ergonomic keyboard, I kind of appreciated how unique it felt. There was a really unique, dare I say pleasant tactility to having low travel and feeling instant response from the keys - and that’s coming from someone who has also used mechanical keyboards with lubed switches. Maybe it’s just nostalgia talking 😅
Still have one of these to compliment my M1 Macbook Air. Yes, it's not powerful but it doesn't lag on light web browsing, can play back full HD videos without problem and is now sub £200. It's great as a computer hooked up to my TV via a USB dock and it's also great as a distraction free computer for basic productivity. If I'm just typing up documents and stuff on the go, I can easily put it in my bag, forget it's there and not be too bothered if something happens to it. It actually makes the MBA appear chunky when it's next to it.
Currently in the market for a possible 14” MacBook Pro, glad they did not keep this design. Great job taking us down memory lane!
I had the 2016 12". Great machine. The Core M chip was honestly fine for the time. It handled bursty loads quite well, but struggled with sustained loads due to thermals. For office work etc it was more than enough, I even did a lot of Photoshop and Illustrator on it. I think the real reason this computer wasn't successful was its very high price compared to the MacBook Air.
I wanted to have that 12in macbook before, I wish that they made one with some type of m1/m2 mini that's even more power efficient for light web browsing
They could "easily" do this, having for instance only efficiency cores on a tiny footprint, omitting much of the functionality of the media engine and so on. It's totally doable. What i think would make more sense though is to just use A chips.
I am on a 2017 15" Macbook pro with the 2.9ghz quad core i7 i love the laptop the butterfly keyboard helps me type faster and more precisely the touch bar is very useful in cases of CAD video editing and word and i love the speaker quality, the usb-c have taken a bit of time but now i find them much faster to drop files onto sticks and dongles aren't actually that bad to carry around
This was a very good presentation - very nostalgic! Do you just have a warehouse somewhere full every device Apple has ever made?
Still using mine, it's a great laptop to this day. Ditching macos reallly makes this a new machine. Working well with void linux.
You have changed batteries for several times. Are they good?
I’ve tried five new and two used batteries and all of them are pure… Its very sad that I can’t be sure that macbook is always ready to work, I love it.
Can you recommend where I can buy good battery?
great piece of laptop design history
I just bought an iPad air today (my first new apple product ever purchased); seems to me like this is the machine to have if you like the 12" form factor.
They should definitely bring this back - they don't need to make it as extreme as this but the lightness and thinness of these is still unmatched and I love mine.
I recently purchased a 15" MBA because I love a larger form factor (so I am the opposite of the target market for this computer) but I didn't realize how revolutionary this computer really was. I loved the way the butterfly keyboard felt, but it was SO unreliable!
This has been my laptop for the last 4 years, throughout university and it's definitely the best I've owned. All the new feel bulky, clunky and heavy af in comparison despite all the advancements, even the new . The portability is unmatched by any other Mac laptop. Removing the glowing Apple logo still pisses me off though
It's really cool that you have been able to use it for so long, since my main laptop broke I started using a 5 year old all in one PC and it is frustratingly slow, I'm impressed a small and pretty old laptop is still usable.
0:45 uhhh that's such a sad statement I so understand you bro. its like that scene in bojack talking about a show wasn't good but it had every potential to be great. I completely agree when this 12 inch was released I really loved the design and all and almost a decade later it stil holds up so sad it didn't have any capacity to run well ever lol .
I kinda want to see this with a m2 or like how the dev unit for M1 chips was a 13x so basically an phone cpu
i literally went on a whole tangent about this machine. the 12 inch macbook retina is still looks up to date today. obviously not the case hardware-wise, but i would love to see it brought back with apple silicon on board, would be an instant purchase for me!
The size is awesome, maybe fix the keyboard issue and It should have 1 more usb-c
I have 2017 8/256 and it's perfect laptop. Only two things would need to be improved 480p camera and old processor which throttle in the summer (25+C). Maybe adding magsafe - but that's nice to have.
I think I have the Windows equivalent: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano with 11th gen Intel U series. Surprisingly light, low power down to 6 watts CPU draw, good battery life and still somewhat upgradable/repairable (SSD and Battery can be replaced). Mine runs Windows 11 and Linux. I did want the 12" MB but really didn't like the keyboard feel or the high price compared to my 11" MBA.
I remember this MacBooks were some of the crazy ones that I’ve ever saw back in the days and really wanted one for my school days.
I still have one, but the screen doesn't work properly. It's too expensive to replace considering the price of second hand units. Bummer.
I dont think they should bring the 12” MacBook back, but bring back the spirit of it. I think Apple should make an M2 MacBook Air that is the size of the current ones keyboard, but with all of the design improvements.
Damn, I've always hated that thing. That cpu and keyboard combo is nightmare material
Loved mine despite the keyboard and core m chip. Got rid of it before any kb issues
I had one for 5 years and honestly for what it had on the cpu performance side - it was brilliant. Only real meh was the keyboard. That was really quite a stinker.
2020 when covid hit and we all went work from home my company sent me home with one of these we had laying around so I could (painfully) cross compile some web apps for iOS. I still have it and literally had to dig it out of my closet recently to pull some files I had left on it. I forgot how pleasant of a little device it was, which is what has sent me looking at old mac videos and venturing on this little MacBook youtube rabbit hole.
I have a 12" MacBook Pro that I travel with. The logic board and CPU are pretty anemic but it does the job. Any logic board upgrade to an I7 with 512 GB and 16GB RAM is not cost effective.
An M series of this would be amazing right now.
It would be great to bring it back! With slimmed down bezels it could use a 13" screen. M2 with option up to 24GB RAM, 2TB storage.
Dual TB4 type C connectors. It would overlap with air. Maybe call it Macbook Helium! 😀
isn't that basically just the 13" macbook air, but cheaper and thinner?
I would buy a 12in M series Macbook in a heartbeat. I love my old 12in Macbook as my travel laptop. I still have my M1 14inch MBP as my daily driver.
there is some sort of high frequency noise starting around 10:40
I used to love that MacBook. Portable enough and good enough for web backend development which was my job back those days. Keyboard was fine, mine never had any issues. However, when youtube introduced 4k and compression requiring more intensive processing, its lack of power started showing. Honestly, M1 Air was a terrific replacement and I haven't looked back ever since.
I think Apple should bring it back, it doesn't have to be crazy thin how it used to be but put a M2 chip in it and there you go it can be a good replacement for the M1 Air
12" Macbook should become Macbook Air and cost premium $$ for Air (thinness and lightness) and 13-15" Macbooks Air should become just basic Macbooks. 13" Macbook Pro with a Touchbar should remain in the lineup, but it should also be called a Macbook. Touchbar is a consumer feature, it costs more but it's not for Pros.
I'm sure Apple would love to do that, but MBA brand name is too strong to add more confusion, even if it would simplify the lineup.
Hey Luke, whats the best OS for this MacBook in terms of performance and responsiveness? I suppose the latest doesn't mean the best.