Oh, polarizing videos are fun. Fighting, fighting everywhere. It seems like I either have to delete every other comment or block more people than usual lol. I believe in keeping my community abuse and hate free. If you don't like this little MacBook, please click away from the video instead of insulting me and everyone else. I seriously don't care about your complaining.
Seriously?? Wao. Sorry Lol. I though that tech is more than of and android phones. I like the video about the Mac. I am Mac user since 6 years now. But I still have a old pc and androids phones. But always be on the middle and respect the feeds around. That is the point. Any way keep up.
You do what you need to do. Its your channel. If you want normal conversation is what you have to do. I support you. And yes I dont like Apple. But I did like this video. :-)
I like Apple, but I can't stand behind this product. Went to the Apple Store to try it out I don't understand why anyone would buy this over the 13 inch MacBook Pro Retina. It's like the same price and you're getting a lot more for your money. I don't mind carrying a pound or two extra and listening to a fan in return for a laptop that has so much more versatility. That's just me though, I do see your points so for people like you maybe it makes sense.
Dell0304 " I don't mind carrying a pound or two extra and listening to a fan in return for a laptop that has so much more versatility." Millions of people DO mind that. I got a 13 inch pro for university and it's far too heavy to be truly portable.
Dell0304 Right, but you said you can't understand why anybody would buy it. Many people carry their laptop around all day and carrying around 0.6Kg less is a big deal. that's why people buy it.
Honestly, I really don't see how a 3 pound laptop is too much to carry. Certainly not worth saving a pound or so in return for not having but one port, an underpowered CPU, and being forced to pay for adapters and stuff.
Erica - awesome review. Appreciate it so much. I have a 15" MBP that I've had about 3+ years. It is too damn heavy for travel. I've been looking at the 13" MBP but when I went to the Apple store and played with the new 2015 macbook, I was very surprised at how fast it really is. I've seen plenty of reviews where they say you can't edit video, but I'll be damned if last night I didn't go to the Apple store and spend about 20 minutes using FCPX and doing a 4 video multicam and having virtually no stuttering. Now, I didn't throw a bunch of filters on the clips (might bog down there) but I don't tend to do any filters or coloring anyway. So I am glad to see someone else who's taken a thoughtful look at editing video with the dang thing instead of just looking at the geekbench scores and saying it won't edit. I don't know what Apple has done with the internals of this, but on the surface, a 1.1ghz CPU should not respond as quickly as this dang thing does. I'm very impressed and may just buy one anyway. I have tried traveling for work with just an iPad and that didn't work - and don't want to carry the 15" brick - so this feels very good to me (except for that isight camera resolution!). Thanks for your review! +1 Oh, and I applaud you for deleting much of the hateful comments. I don't understand why people feel like they need to bash others for their very thoughtful opinions. If the damn machine doesn't appeal to you then don't buy it and don't bash others for their thoughts either!
Samsung and Lenovo are both touchscreen equipped, That's why they cost more. Seems kinda silly that you didn't like the Surface Pro 3, which is equally light, has a similarly good display, is more powerful, and is cheaper (even with the type cover). You can chuck the pen that you didn't care for, and still have laptop for a cheaper, more powerful device. Check out the Surface 3 before you spend a bajillion dollars on this guy. It's just a powerful and is also cheaper. I don't agree with your assessment but I can overlook it for now. :P I'm not THAT ragey about Apple products.
For less than the price of the adapter needed to use more than just the USB port, you can buy some adhesive rubber strips to soften the nubby things on the surface pro 3. Or half the money on a surface 3 which is just as quiet as the Macbook. Buuut everyone is allowed to have a preference. Even if it's the wrong one! :P
Travis Walker Also, regardless of what you say here, the display of the Surface is not as nice! I really didn't enjoy the yellow banding on that display on the side. Mine wasn't the only one I saw with this yellow banding. What I find curious is who is anyone to critique my decision and tell me what I should do for my own needs? Annoying as hell...
Like I said, you're allowed to have your opinion. I wasn't being serious about it being the "wrong" one, either. Sorry for frustrating you. :\ Probably should've not said anything since you're probably getting crap by people who actually think you made a mistake. I like your videos. Ignore grumpy people when they tell you that you're wrong.
I enjoyed the video and it helped me decide to go ahead and buy one. My new 12" MacBook is the best investment I ever made. The new MacBook is a near perfect compromise of weight, battery life, performance. Lets get the first problem out of the way it's not cheap especially when you add all the plug-ins required. But if you want cheap buy something else. Where it does excel is in providing both an iPad like form factor and a fully capable Mac. I have had virtually every model on MacBook since the Mac Portable and the weight reduction of the new model is revolutionary. You might think 'big deal', but it actually is, why?, because the Mac moved from something you have to "drag along" to something you always have with you. I tried this with an iPad and it failed the lack of a proper multi windowed UI, the Apps I need not really being there, limited storage and no keyboard meant that I also had to 'drag-along' the Mac for most business activities. The secret I have found to making this work is to buy lots of USB-C cables and extras. I have invested in a set of cables, charger, adapters and Time Machine drive at each location I work in regularly then I travel between locations, with nothing but my head phones, knowing I will have power, backups and interfaces at all the locations I need to. Decent networking still isn't pervasive enough for me yet to store it all in iCloud. The battery life is more than enough to get me between cities and back home with ease. So much so that if I am going for a day trip I don't even bother taking a power supply. If I know I am going to need stuff for a presentation then I have an extra travel kit with full connectivity, power and anything I might need to ensure the show will go on. Even with all the extras for a presentation it still weighs a lot less then my MBPr 15. The MacBook is not uber fast, my tests seem to indicate the SSD is half the speed of that on my MBP but that still makes it 4x faster than my external Thunderbolt drive. Fast Enough. It will run FCP, Motion, Logic etc. sure you cannot load up an hour of 1080p video, edit it and expect it to render it like a Mac Pro. But then again the MBP won't do that. My Mac is my infrastructure for running my own sucessful business,feeding my family and keeping my customers happy. But surprisingly for me, if I was forced to choose between my maxed out MBP or my MacBook I think the MacBook would actually win. If I were actually starting from scratch I would buy a Mac Pro for my main office for the heavy lifting on the media manipulation and computational analysis side and a MacBook for EVERYTHING else. If you don't get it, you don't get it that's fine, but for me it's a game changer.
Your review confirmed my suspicion - any heftier a device would be more than I need. I haven't opened the box yet, but with your overview I feel more confident I made the right choice for my simplistic needs. Thanks, your presentation is terrific!
+Mary Elizabeth Schultz Yes, I agree. I was viewing a lot of other videos about this "new" MacBook and was beginning to feel unsure with my decision. Thank you for your review as I am now much more confident about my choice. I love your video, thank you!!!
guys stop freaking out. this macbook is perfect, its the high end. and its not expensive compared to other levels. I use the cloud. so why do i need ports. i can use airplay, which is easier anyways. stupid to tie down your laptop. I guess you could get a dongle if you want 4k 60z. If i want to game, I can game at 2304x1440 60hz using steam in home streaming from my powerful gaming computer. Print? wireless Printing. So I don't see why people are complaining, you have to use the wireless to do everything, and I already do that. INCLUDING gaming. so i guess I don't see the criticisms. Can someone explain.
Kelvin Miller its high end for portable laptops. its as cutting edge as 2 pound laptops get. unless you would like to prove me wrong. show me a two pound laptop this thin, all same specs, same battery life, but with a more powerful processor. I dar you to try.
One of the forums said that the creaking sound that happens at the hinge is because the macbook heats up a bit after prolonged use. The hinge is a bit too tight. After the aluminium body expands even a tiny bit, it starts to creak. I don't have that problem at all though. And I'm a heavy user.
I think I know what bugs me about it now; the brand. I mean, this is essentially an overpriced bare-bones kind of device, so bare bones that it is essentially for documents and internet usage. The people defending it are generally fanboys, saying it has a place in the market. These are most likely the same people who saw no use in the Chromebook, but they're essentially identical, except it wasn't as expensive then. If this product was made by any other company, the same thing would've happened to them.
***** even with the level pf engineering for this product... I would still say it is maybe around 200 dollars too expensive... At 8-900 it would be better..
Kelvin Miller You're not paying for the cost of manufacturing though. You're paying for R&D. There was a lot of new hardware that had to be developed for this product. And nobody thus far has made a touchpad that even comes close to the ones on Macbooks as far as usability and precision goes. At least not one I've ever used.
***** if you have ever used an asus laptop you will know the meaning of high quality.. Im not saying the apple isnt high quality... It is... But my old asus was just as good if not better... And cost me around 400 dollars less...
Kelvin Miller Dude you're putting words in my mouth now. Take it easy and let's discuss this with some civility. You're putting it on way too thick with the Apple hate. Let's not get too up-in-arms about material things, please. Anyway, I was stating a fact in my first comment. There's a lot of R&D that went into the new Macbook (touchpad, battery, new keyboard switches, making it ridiculously thin, blahblah). That R&D gets passed on to the consumer, for better or for worse. Personally, I would not buy this item. It does not fit my needs and costs way more than what I'm comfortable spending on it. You're free to make that subjective decision for yourself, along with everyone else here.
i bought this comp a week ago.. bf i bought it i went through paractically all reviews on the planet... i just have to say- your review was very helpfull and most of all fun watching! (best review by far). keep on the good work!!!!! do not disappear.
Apple was the first to leave floppy disks out. I believe that now days armost all content for normal users is at cloud and therefore usb's are quite useless. Offcourse there is bigger/expanded model for professional use.. I hope that other manufacturers could also drop USB ports to one max. You can attach other devices throug bluetooth or NFC+wifi-direct/bt
But if you want to use it with a external mouse and keyboard, you need 2 USB ports. Wireless devices need extra power, it's especially annoying if you can't charge and use at the same time. So they should add min. 3 ports so you can attach mouse, keyboard and monitor/projector. You can use all these wireless technologies but you have to be lucky to have them where you need them
Well, that is (labelled) professional use then. These days avarage user wouldnt even need USB port. Every single image that i have is in the cloud or has wireless capabilities for transfer. USB is needed when you want to copy (terabytes) illegala movies or games through USB stick and there for this one step closer to a pirate -free digital world. All my movies are on NAS and it really takes away the hassel of storing files locally.. I can watch movies on any device that has any kind of network card in it. My USB is for old devices to transfer data wich is really stupid when you have to transfer them twice, first the write and then read, it takes double time.
***** its being charged through USB port???? (that info went just somwhere else than in my brainz) thou, i personally like more of the laptopts touchpad with laptop in normal use. Isnt there bluetooth mouses? now days Bluetooth LE is really low energy..
***** i am not completly against USB ports. Just in everyday use where people wont need USB as often, i have at my laptop used 2 ports at same time only 1-5% of use time and 1 which i have for 100% of use time. It is just my opinion as for floppy disks were removed from avarage joe's usage as they were obsolete as time had passed by.
Pepsiaddicto even more exotic material:) made of a single piece of billet magnesium then ceramic coated for extra durability and scratch resistance. Dont get me wrong I like apple products and this laptop looks cool with the keyboard stretching frommside to side. But I like the versatility of touch tablet format.
supernova1976 And save 700 USD? Only if you get the shittiest SP3 model, which is the 64GB model with i3 and 4GB of RAM, if you get the model with 8GB RAM/256GB SSD it will be about the same price, $1150 (keyboard not included). So if you want a real laptop with a real trackpad, you should probably get the MacBook over the Surface Pro 3.
Alexander Paul Depends on what you do. 4gb of ram is pretty low. Biggest restriction on the Macbook is the cpu. I kinda wish the surface 3 had a 8gb SKU. Other than that it's dope. Also you guys don't know shit about expensive dual core devices. My CC2 will wrek u.
***** It is not. The cooling on this bad joke of a laptop is so bad that it throttles to the slowest speed the processor can achieve because it overheats. Such great designers at Apple!
***** Using it for the wrong things lol That reminds me the ridiculous rhetoric Apple used when the iPhone4 had bad reception lmao. If I spend over a grand on a laptop I expect it to run flawlessly and run at advertised speeds.
I'm so glad I found your channel. All of the other tech reviewers are guys that don't have to really consider weight or size when it comes to a laptop. I plan on getting this model of MacBook for school. I was pretty much sold when I found out that 1) it doesn't have a fan, 2) it weighs only 2lbs, and 3) if I need to I can use a backup battery with it. I know that there are windows machines on the market that have similar features, but I grew up with Apple products and feel confident in my ability to repair them.
Erica Griffin it has all of them except maybe speakers?...you are a reviewer know the product before saying something is better than other,that's why i am subscribed to you,othewise what's the point?
+Tyler Eberhardt Seriously. I think it's a great laptop but the bang/buck ratio is awful. Hopefully the Skylake refresh makes it cheaper - then I could actually recommend it.
I believe the next leap in key boards is the lite board where only the home rows are mechanical and the remaining keys are touch keys like on a i-pad. It will make the lap top even thinner.
I finally tested one out and I must say, it's beautiful and the force touch trackpad is actually bizarrely cool, even though I thought I'd hate it. That said, the thing is still a ripoff, and the one port is a deal breaker. Also, while the new keyboard looks good, and makes all other keyboards look fat and old, it feels like typing on an iPad. Which leads me to wonder why anyone who buys an underpowered, tiny, overpriced computer doesn't just get an iPad.
***** I actually have the iPad Air and I find it very limited and remarkably boring. The thing' seems to work for what I needed to do in a way that IOS simply can't or at least yet.
***** I use an iPad as a tv remote and browser while using Apple TV, if I'm needing portable computing to get something done, I'd use a MacBook Pro. If I need a portable Internet browser, I'd just use an iPhone 6 plus. This is beautiful, I love the screen, and the trackpad's good, but without it being cheap, I really see no reason for its existence when there are better options out there, from Apple. To each their own, though. Beats suffering through Windows, and is a better investment than the Chromebook Pixel, it's real competition.
There is no reason to buy one. The Intel Core M is terrible, and the thing only has one port, so Apple can sell you overpriced adapters. If you must get an Apple, get a Macbook Air for $500 less, and it comes with a much more powerful Core i5 processor, but you could save $1,000+ getting a Windows notebook or a Chromebook.
I work for Dell. I'm in a position to test out new machines as they get ready to be deployed, as well as repaired before redeployment. For the past 5 years I've told people to stay away from Dell. However, I've finally found a machine I quite like, and have considered for personal use. The Dell E7240, it's an ultrabook, it works well with Linux Mint and Ubuntu, and it's wicked fast compared to the top of the line notebooks we have, including the M4800 or E5440. And considering I can get one for about $300-400, it's a damn better deal than anything Apple has to offer anymore.
Brian Moses But what is the civilian price? That is what matters. Include all the necessary options to create an equivalent configuration. I am not trying to defend Apple by any means. As a cheap person I would be unlikely to buy an Apple product, but I can see a use case for such a machine. Maybe it's because I am Canadian, but I question the wisdom of publicly criticizing one's employer's products. With all due respect, I think it would be wise to modify your comment.
I can't believe they got rid of the magsafe connector. Totally agree with worrying about one port for everything, it's just not enough. I've broken many ports in my time, it's easy to accidentally yank a wire on a laptop, especially an ultra portable one like this.
I never understood the whole gawking over being lightweight thing in the laptop community. Do people really care about a pound or 2 difference? Like, if someone wants a mac, go for the MBP Retina instead. Otherwise hit up the UX303ln, the XPS 13, some other options etc. I feel like the tech world is becoming more about a fashion statement than the god damn fashion world is.
Erica, mine having the creaking sound from the hinge too. Overall I like it. Nice video thou^^ I heard you planning for a replacement. How's the replacement unit? Did it creak again? I'm replacing mine and it's on the way. Just worry the problem can't be solved.
7:30 An excuse apple might have for not putting a better display on the MacBook Air is battery life. I mean the MacBook Air has one of the best battery performance in any laptop out there at the moment. By increasing the resolution will probably reduce battery life significantly.
i just got my 12" macbook last week. i have taken it to class and i really like it. its super light and small. even tho i have a 2014 13" macbook pro retina that is 3.5lbs and this one is 2lbs it makes a big difference. the keyboard is a little weird but you can easily type on it.
So in nutshell it's an iPad in a MacBook form factor which uses OSX and has no touch screen and costs over a grand. There saved you watching a 20 minute of this woman rambling on.
+Peter Leung You got it wrong, it's a fully functional laptop with HD screen and keyboard, with a proper Operating System (OSX isntead of IOS), the size and weight of a tablet.
+Brawndo you just turned what I said the other way round and left out that it only has one input and costs over a grand. It's also vastly underpowered; the iPad pro's A9X is more powerful.
Peter Leung Perhaps, but I'm way more productive on a laptop than a tablet. I don't like tablets therefore, having to work daily with a Macbook Pro 15" at work, the new Macbook is the perfect complimentary travel and meeting tool for me. I mainly do emails, admin a farm of Linux servers, some server side coding etc. Specs are more than enough for me. Having only one port is not an issue for me. I've a tree-way adapter with 3 ports (HDMI, USB and USB-C) that I can keep connected to the charger cable or slip in my travel or laptop bag if I need it, which I rarely do.
+Brawndo well good it suits your needs and you can afford it. Me, I'll stick with my 15 MacBook Pro because it suits my needs and my iPad as I consume media mainly, just think the MacBook is too expensive for what it is and having to pay for an adaptor or defeats the object of having only one port. I would not get the first gen of this product anyway as I guarenas Apple will upgrade the port to a thunderbolt 3/usb type 3.1 gen 2 port. 2 of these would be a minimum for a laptop this weight and size.
Price aside, I do like the new MacBook's ultra portability and good looks...but I think you may be looking at this with rose-colored glasses. You say you like it but yet.......you don't like the keyboard, you won't pay $80 for Apple's dongle adapter, you had to recalibrate the retina display, your screen sometimes pops and clicks, the battery life can be as low as 4 hours ("but you can charge it quickly"), you're worried the single usb-c port will get damaged over time, you can't charge the laptop while using the usb-c for other devices, but hey - "This has been absolutely perfect and a real treat for me." :)
My rMBP 15" hinge also creaks like that, as does the bottom panel with any pressure applied to it, even just clicking the trackpad while it's on a desk or picking it up. Wonder if that would be enough for the Apple store to do something about it, though I've had it over a year so no instant swap.
Surface pro 3: productive, kind of expensive = no buy MacBook 2015: not that productive, stupid expensive = buy I understand the screen calibration thing... sort of, but come on sounds like a lot of excuses made for the MacBook.
wrathchicken She is fangirling the hell out of Apple. The Surface Pro 3 is objectively better than this overpriced piece of crap but of course the ISheep Starbucks hipsters will still buy it
Andrew Cabrero The surface has a fan and gets loud as well as hot. The speakers, trackpad, and keyboard are all worse on the surface. Its nearly impossible to use on your lap, defeating the purpose of a laptop. Its defiantly an amazing tablet, but not a very good laptop. But yes, the macbook is very expensive, but people are allowed to have preferences. Not everyone has to agree with you, you are not the center of the universe. "Objectively better" does not mean "Better for everyones needs", clearly some people value quality, sound, heat, and fan noise over specs.
Lucas S I don't know which reviews you have been watching or if they were just defective units, but all of the reviews I've seen say that the fan is quiet and that the heat the SP3 produces isn't bothersome at all. It is a bit hard to use on your lap but it isn't impossible. I have a Surface 3 and the kickstand isn't nearly as versatile as the Surface Pro 3's kickstand but you get use to it. I've heard it to be the other way around. The SP3 was too big for most people in tablet mode and as a laptop it is closer to being a traditional laptop than it is a traditional tablet since Windows 8.1 isn't seen as being a good tablet OS and the lack of apps in the Windows store make it less touch friendly since many applications in Windows aren't optimized for touch use. People are allowed to have preferences but why not educate them and let them know they that can get a cheaper device that is more powerful than this MacBook while still getting an Apple product if they really desire one. Most people can't afford to blow off this much money and this MacBook provides the least bang for your buck when compared to other Macbooks.
Appreciate the great review Erica, as always. Umm... the new MacBook is tempting. Would you say it would work fine for corporate related work, i.e. Microsoft Office Mac 2016 presentations, spreadsheets and word docs? Most of the aforementioned programs the file sizes are in the range of 10 - 25MB.
FDSeoul San Diego Uhhuh...Yet tons of movie/video studios, photographers, editors, and designers use Mac computers. This Macbook is meant to be an ultra portable computer that you can take anywhere. But don't make it sound like every Apple product is underpowered. They have a computer for all different situations and a lot of their computers are competitively priced ie. 5K iMac. And how can you say it's underspec'd and overpriced when Erica just pointed out that it's pretty much in the same ballpark in terms specs and pricing for high end ultrabooks? smh
FDSeoul San Diego Wow man. Thanks for insulting me when I was just talking about the computers and wasn't even talk about you. Good job sounding like a total douche bag instead of actually trying to have a conversation. You don't even know me or what products I use but you automatically assume things like the idiot you are. Haha talk about garbage. I fucking hate haters like you who think their all high and mighty for hating Apple just for the sake of it.
FDSeoul San Diego Yeah totally. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I didn't know people that use Macs in some of the most prestigious companies in the world such as Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, Sony, Facebook, Google and more than half of U.S. businesses were considered "uneducated idiots." People use them because they like their design and how they work. Not to mention just fucking personal preference for the OS. I think you should stop being a d bag and actually have some arguments to get people to take you seriously.
***** I understand that current technology in Schools need to be upgraded, but in time more and more locations will adopt the ability to stream Video/Audio, transfer data, video chat, and many other cool things, over WiFi or bluetooth (IP). I currently have an IP connected USB Hub that is used to connect to USB License keys. No physical connection needed. Apple can sometimes be a little too forward thinking. Give it time, your school will upgrade..
Ashwin Prabhakaran Go watch her Surface Pro 3 review. It has a crappy display, the surface isn't lap friendly, speakers aren't very good, still has a fan and still gets noisy and hot.
@alex91008 it has a beautiful display, it is lap friendly. I use it to type essays on my lap all the time. Speakers could be better. The fan does tend to get hot realt fast and noisy.
I am aware this 12" MacBook is not for everyone, but a surface? Really? SP3 is almost a good laptop and almost a good tablet but if I want a great laptop for a great price no one can beat MacBook Air.
About the clicking noise, I noticed that you are holding the display from the side which puts strained on the hinges. But every technician advises to handle the display panel from the centre of the top bezel.
I really enjoyed your review. Your presentation was impressive. I don't like huge laptops or need huge screens. I have just purchased a mid 2014 13 inch Macbook Pro. It's not only portable but it is powerful enough that it has become my main PC. The display is so great that I can't tell I'm using a 13 inch laptop. To me it's the best of both worlds. I think the new MacBooks look really great though. You have a new subscriber.
Laree Williams Yeah she is. She is making alot of compromises so she doesn't have to lug around that monstrosity the call a macbook air. I mean that shit is like 3 lbs, bro.
Seen your videos since back in the day lol and I'm finally a sub congrats on the long track record of awesomeness lol oh and keep doing a fantastic job with these videos.
Another great informative , interesting, and insightful vid as usual Erica, enjoy watching them. Keep up the good work, and don't let the sad anonymous haters on here get to you, make you doubt yourself, or put you off releasing future content, plenty of people on here still enjoy watching talented people.
Nice review Erica. The Core M CPU's runs at 1.1 and 1.3 GHZ respectively before Turbo Boost. A low end I5 Intel processor consumes 11.5 watts and a quad core I7 draws 57 watts. The new dual Core M cpu's use 4.5 watts and the reason your Apple is so thin is it does not have a fan. That was the whole quality of the Core M's. Good for general use, like you said, not enough for satisfying gaming. You can get a I7 with a graphics card for $700, though. Great video.
Erica, it is an astonishing accomplishment that you have done here in creating a massive organic following. I congratulate you and admire your entrepreneurial skills. I have an idea for you to take this to the stratosphere...why not be a product reviewer BEYOND cellphones and laptops. People trust your objectivity and honesty...and you have a huge audience, so both the product companies and your viewers will all benefit.
Hmm pretty interesting device, but what would you choose Erica Griffin This Macbook or a Surface pro 3 ? And why? Cause for me they would be in the same price range similar screen quality and size. You get more power on the Surface but better speakers in the macbook. More ports on the surface, but a fan-less SOC in the Macbook. Seems like quite a hard call to me. Which is the better pick?
I still don't understand why apple hasn't implemented touch screens with their OS. I don't have too much experience with Macs, but the large home screen icons seem perfect for touch displays.
Jared Wagner I really don't care about touch screen on a computer! Tablet? Ok. But laptop and touchscreen? Thanks, but no thanks. Look how that worked out for MS. Besides, OS X wasn't made for a touch devices. They would really have to change a lot.
Touch screens on a laptop are a gimmick, unless it converts into a tablet, I get a sore arm using my ipad on its dock. If apple made laptop which convert into tablets it hey would be in competition with themselves (ipad)!!!
Hello Erica. Great personal detailed review. I would like to know, what will happen to the iPad and 15" Macbook now you are using this 12" ? Do you have a desktop for heavy duty workloads without the fan disturbing you? Regards Pete
Stick it on a bag of frozen peas when you render video. They'll keep the temp down so it won't throttle. This approach may or may not cause water condensation problems.
Thank you Erica for a very honest well thought out review. I do wonder how this compares with the Axus UX305? I'm a non-tech person who just looks for practical stuff and you do a great job to speaking to the entire audience. Thank you again Erica.
thank you Erica for the great review, I have already tried three MacBooks, the only thing that I noticed about the screen hinge is that at times the screen goes dark depending on what angle you have the screen, I brought the first one to Apple and they exchanged it but the second one did the same, however it was stolen recently and I purchased another one recently but haven't noticed the problem "yet".
SUPER Video. Intelligently organised, clearly spoken, personable & engaging. :-) Such videos are not as easy to make as they look! From techie-to-techie: Good job Erica!
Nice review, starting to see this more for its capabilities now. Are you able to do a video on the T300 Chi? I'd love to see more on an affordable Windows Core M and if it's better for me then a regular Core i3/i5 notebook
Erica Griffin Apple should've included some essential USB Type-C cables. I think the 13 inch MacBook Pro should have had speakers on the hinge as you can see the hinge clearly so that would've been really cool! The new backlit is great. I wish they had made some changes to the Pro line up as well.
8 GB of ram is decent. My desktop uses 8 GB and I found it sufficient; however, all I do is game. I don't do video editing or any kind of streaming. Hinge -- I once interned for company that designed friction hinges for the macbooks. From what I recall, they are supposed to cycle them until they reach a steady-state wear pattern. That means if you're thinking of replacing it because of the hinge squeak, don't wait until you think it should "break in." Just turn it in now, or lube it yourself.
I tried out the new Macbook at Best Buy and it was wonderful. I went in with the impression that that keyboard would suck but was astonished that it's actually very nice. It's weird but I could see getting used to it in a very short time. It was a real pleasure to type on but there is a learning curve. In regards to the trackpad, I would have sworn that the trackpad was actually moving when I "click" it. You have to turn off the Macbook to actually know otherwise. When the second generation releases, I'm definitely ordering this machine. Apple doesn't disappoint.
I'd rather have a Surface 3 for what this does, it's also a lot less money. People say it's like a more capable iPad, but it really isn't. I mean it doesn't even have a touch screen. Also I just really really wish it had one more port for standalone charging.
Erica Griffin I'm curious why you didn't consider the Lenovo LaVie Z. It's lighter than the new Macbook (1.87lbs), it's much more powerful with a Core i7, it has a full array of ports, it has a quadHD display, and for the price you're getting what you pay for ($1500).
Erica Griffin Thanks for the review. Have you had any issues with multitasking - say playing HD movies / etc. while working on documents / spreadsheets? Any lag either ways?
Okay not too sure if this was asked yet. What is the camera you are using? What is the frame rate? What software do you use to render video? Thank you. Great review
My old Macbook Pro Mid 2012 pops en clicks. It was very annoying... Replaced it a few times but the problem still continues over time. My Macbook Late 2013 13" does not have this problem.
I really think whats bums me out of buying this laptop is the port issue. having just one port is not enough when you connect multiple things every day. I just imagine not lasting a very long time. other than that I really don't need a very powerful laptop. this thing is gorgeous, and has some new features that I'm interested in.
Erica just had to say in 1080 p the p stands for progressive scan as opposed to interlaced video. When you're talking about monitor refresh rate there is no p their is fps meaning frames per second. So 1080p 60fps.
I am using a 2007 17" Macbook Pro C2D 2.4ghz 6GB of Ram and a SSD. My Macbook pro has yet to let me down doing anything, to include HD video editing. Looking at the benchmarks on this MACBOOK, its twice as fast as my dated macbook pro. I think I could use this as my main computer connected to my current 24" external monitor. It would be a performance increase
Hi! I loved your video! It was just what I was looking for to help me decide whether or not to purchase this. I have a curious question. Do you think that since the new MacBooks have force touch that little kids will be able to learn how to use a laptop just as quickly as an iPad, or is the iPad still better for them (btw I DON'T have kids, I was just wondering)? Thanks for answering my question!! God bless!!
Hi Erica. Are you still as happy with the Macbook 5 months later? I found it interesting that you bought this machine when it doesn't seem like it fully meets the needs you have. At the time of this video, you didn't like the keyboard and it was just about managing your video edits - did these things become more of an issue over time? You also said that you use your own webcam and need various cables and dongles to plug anything into it. You never know it's in your backpack, but with all the extras you have to carry, is that benefit lost? I just feel like you're trying to justify this thing to yourself more than to us at the end of the video, so I'd be interested to know how you feel about it now. I'm not an Apple fan, but even for friends who are, I would tend to steer them well away from this machine. Am I wrong? I'm also looking forward to seeing a comparison between this and the new iPad Pro (and maybe the Surface Pro 4 and Surface 3). Keep up the good work.
+Micheál Healy One last thing... When you reviewed the Surface Pro 3, you rented the device to review before deciding whether or not to buy it. If you'd done the same with the Macbook, would you still have bought it 3 weeks later?
I got a 2020 Air M1 and am all proud of myself. I wonder if if five years I’ll be thinking “why did I guy that one and not wait?” I hope not. Late to the game but good video and hope you and your husband and kid are having a lovely 2022 so far!
Well if the battery on the air is better, id rather wait for the next version with improved battery. Add all the features you want but if its only going to last you 4 hours with heavy use, its not worth it. Laptops are made to be carried around not kept at home. I use my desktop for that.
This is actually perfect for my workflow and personal use. I use a VMWare computer hosted by my company for work. I own an iPhone like most people in my company. Emails and text and response time is HUGE in my line of work. I use a tablet for reading and not really gaming so touch apps is not a big deal for me. So..... with this little guy I have a portable work horse with a Retina screen that configures my VMWare desktop much better than the hi res Windows machines. Swipe left ...personal laptop, Facebook, Twitter...swipe right ...my work desktop.... then I added Windows 8...so now I have with Parallels, the full tile experience available from the Windows store for Flipboard, Flixster, Netflix and so on... The cost considering this is a 8GB/256GB model and the fact it is replacing three things for me is just fine in reality. As far as port...Surface has one USB as well...and Thunderbolt is a useless port for me. The Apple power through adapter with USB and HDMI is perfect to use as needed for drives or monitor/TV etc and keep it powered. The icing on the cake? The $10 Amazon USB C to USB cable that I can use with my 16000 portable charging bank to make this thing last forever. This is a BIG deal. Battery life is already excellent (7-8 hours in reality not just statistical like Windows mfrs) but it is almost a moot point with the portable adapter that I charge my phone as well. So... while I am still in the return testing period I haven't missed my ports all that much once everything was settled in the OS plus parallels etc. I can type essays while texting on my laptop to ANY phone thanks to Yosemite (drop them pictures etc on the fly). The multiple desktop makes me stay connected to my work virtual PC and the retina makes it a pleasure to read. Thanks to Windows 8 parallel running seamlessly, I don't miss any of the tile app goodness either and will upgrade to Windows 10 as needed. So don't just knock it off at face value. If you look at it as an iPadlaptop replacement it will make perfect sense and all of sudden appear much more powerful and versatile than it did before.
Erica Griffin Would you recommend the new MacBook over say a Surface Pro (I don't say 3 because hopefully the 4th gen comes out soon) or a Surface 3 or even some Lenovo or Asus notebook? Right now I use a MacBook Pro 15 Retina, but I'm also a big fan of Windows 10 and the price for the MacBook is really, really high for a second computer, especially here in Italy (1499€ - about 1700$ for the base model). Also, a touchscreen would be nice, but I don't think that is really necessary. Also, great review, keep making such good content ;)
And the USB-C port is not that much a surprise, but Apple should really have integrated two of them, so at least you could charge the device AND have some other device plugged in. Even the cheapest windows tablets make that better.
Oh, polarizing videos are fun. Fighting, fighting everywhere. It seems like I either have to delete every other comment or block more people than usual lol.
I believe in keeping my community abuse and hate free. If you don't like this little MacBook, please click away from the video instead of insulting me and everyone else. I seriously don't care about your complaining.
Seriously?? Wao. Sorry Lol. I though that tech is more than of and android phones. I like the video about the Mac. I am Mac user since 6 years now. But I still have a old pc and androids phones. But always be on the middle and respect the feeds around. That is the point. Any way keep up.
The Internet, you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
***** Try radical feminism
You do what you need to do. Its your channel. If you want normal conversation is what you have to do. I support you. And yes I dont like Apple. But I did like this video. :-)
Cause it is a human response
NO, the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Core M DOES NOT have a touch screen...
Erica, gurl! When will u be doing a review for the asus zenfone 2.. U know that i only trust ur opinion.
Thank u
Peace
does it look crazy ??
Apple products today = Picasso products
in the past
Your reviews are always great. Your points of view are sincere and that is what really matters.
Erica Griffin erica try using safari instead of chrome and watch your battery life fly to the 12 hour mark. omg chrome is such a damned energy hog.
This computer should be priced at $499 ...
Abubaker Alzuaree You cannot buy quality with a measly $500.
Abubaker Alzuaree That's a bit low. But it should be around 8-900, would be a fair price for the design and whatnot.
Agreed
Abubaker Alzuaree for the tasks its good for ... maybe 200$ haha
SchneiderMan what bs, of course you can.
Not sure if the hate is from people who can't afford this or just don't understand that some people have other needs than their own...
I like Apple, but I can't stand behind this product. Went to the Apple Store to try it out I don't understand why anyone would buy this over the 13 inch MacBook Pro Retina. It's like the same price and you're getting a lot more for your money. I don't mind carrying a pound or two extra and listening to a fan in return for a laptop that has so much more versatility.
That's just me though, I do see your points so for people like you maybe it makes sense.
Dell0304 " I don't mind carrying a pound or two extra and listening to a fan in return for a laptop that has so much more versatility."
Millions of people DO mind that. I got a 13 inch pro for university and it's far too heavy to be truly portable.
I guess it's because several years ago I carried around 7-10 pound laptops all the time. I personally don't care at all.
Dell0304 Right, but you said you can't understand why anybody would buy it. Many people carry their laptop around all day and carrying around 0.6Kg less is a big deal. that's why people buy it.
Honestly, I really don't see how a 3 pound laptop is too much to carry. Certainly not worth saving a pound or so in return for not having but one port, an underpowered CPU, and being forced to pay for adapters and stuff.
^I love this guy, he knows his shit
Erica - awesome review. Appreciate it so much. I have a 15" MBP that I've had about 3+ years. It is too damn heavy for travel. I've been looking at the 13" MBP but when I went to the Apple store and played with the new 2015 macbook, I was very surprised at how fast it really is.
I've seen plenty of reviews where they say you can't edit video, but I'll be damned if last night I didn't go to the Apple store and spend about 20 minutes using FCPX and doing a 4 video multicam and having virtually no stuttering.
Now, I didn't throw a bunch of filters on the clips (might bog down there) but I don't tend to do any filters or coloring anyway.
So I am glad to see someone else who's taken a thoughtful look at editing video with the dang thing instead of just looking at the geekbench scores and saying it won't edit.
I don't know what Apple has done with the internals of this, but on the surface, a 1.1ghz CPU should not respond as quickly as this dang thing does. I'm very impressed and may just buy one anyway. I have tried traveling for work with just an iPad and that didn't work - and don't want to carry the 15" brick - so this feels very good to me (except for that isight camera resolution!).
Thanks for your review! +1
Oh, and I applaud you for deleting much of the hateful comments. I don't understand why people feel like they need to bash others for their very thoughtful opinions. If the damn machine doesn't appeal to you then don't buy it and don't bash others for their thoughts either!
Slightly better battery, a 1080p webcam and a second USB-C port and at $999 and this thing would be awesome ..
Ayush Abhinav Add a USB-C adapter to that... I can't fathom how they are able to sell adapters for 80 bucks haha
John Benett Or the price they ask for the air isn't fair either.
John Benett Yeah, the quality is good. But the screen sucks ass.
I second that daumier. As for battery even though this thing is filled with batteries it does not get any further than 5 to 6 hours of continuous use.
Ayush Abhinav Just a better webcam and a second USB-C port at the same price would be perfect ;)
Samsung and Lenovo are both touchscreen equipped, That's why they cost more.
Seems kinda silly that you didn't like the Surface Pro 3, which is equally light, has a similarly good display, is more powerful, and is cheaper (even with the type cover). You can chuck the pen that you didn't care for, and still have laptop for a cheaper, more powerful device.
Check out the Surface 3 before you spend a bajillion dollars on this guy. It's just a powerful and is also cheaper.
I don't agree with your assessment but I can overlook it for now. :P I'm not THAT ragey about Apple products.
For less than the price of the adapter needed to use more than just the USB port, you can buy some adhesive rubber strips to soften the nubby things on the surface pro 3. Or half the money on a surface 3 which is just as quiet as the Macbook.
Buuut everyone is allowed to have a preference. Even if it's the wrong one! :P
Travis Walker The surface isn't lap friendly, still has a fan and still gets hot.
Travis Walker please check your facts...the Ativ Book 9 core m is definitely NOT touchscreen
Travis Walker Also, regardless of what you say here, the display of the Surface is not as nice! I really didn't enjoy the yellow banding on that display on the side. Mine wasn't the only one I saw with this yellow banding.
What I find curious is who is anyone to critique my decision and tell me what I should do for my own needs? Annoying as hell...
Like I said, you're allowed to have your opinion. I wasn't being serious about it being the "wrong" one, either. Sorry for frustrating you. :\ Probably should've not said anything since you're probably getting crap by people who actually think you made a mistake.
I like your videos. Ignore grumpy people when they tell you that you're wrong.
Good work as usual Erica Griffin !
Appe is targeting this Macbook as a wireless machine. You would only need to plug-in for recharging. All connectivity is envisioned to be wireless.
I enjoyed the video and it helped me decide to go ahead and buy one.
My new 12" MacBook is the best investment I ever made. The new MacBook is a near perfect compromise of weight, battery life, performance. Lets get the first problem out of the way it's not cheap especially when you add all the plug-ins required. But if you want cheap buy something else.
Where it does excel is in providing both an iPad like form factor and a fully capable Mac. I have had virtually every model on MacBook since the Mac Portable and the weight reduction of the new model is revolutionary. You might think 'big deal', but it actually is, why?, because the Mac moved from something you have to "drag along" to something you always have with you. I tried this with an iPad and it failed the lack of a proper multi windowed UI, the Apps I need not really being there, limited storage and no keyboard meant that I also had to 'drag-along' the Mac for most business activities.
The secret I have found to making this work is to buy lots of USB-C cables and extras. I have invested in a set of cables, charger, adapters and Time Machine drive at each location I work in regularly then I travel between locations, with nothing but my head phones, knowing I will have power, backups and interfaces at all the locations I need to. Decent networking still isn't pervasive enough for me yet to store it all in iCloud. The battery life is more than enough to get me between cities and back home with ease. So much so that if I am going for a day trip I don't even bother taking a power supply. If I know I am going to need stuff for a presentation then I have an extra travel kit with full connectivity, power and anything I might need to ensure the show will go on. Even with all the extras for a presentation it still weighs a lot less then my MBPr 15.
The MacBook is not uber fast, my tests seem to indicate the SSD is half the speed of that on my MBP but that still makes it 4x faster than my external Thunderbolt drive. Fast Enough.
It will run FCP, Motion, Logic etc. sure you cannot load up an hour of 1080p video, edit it and expect it to render it like a Mac Pro. But then again the MBP won't do that.
My Mac is my infrastructure for running my own sucessful business,feeding my family and keeping my customers happy. But surprisingly for me, if I was forced to choose between my maxed out MBP or my MacBook I think the MacBook would actually win.
If I were actually starting from scratch I would buy a Mac Pro for my main office for the heavy lifting on the media manipulation and computational analysis side and a MacBook for EVERYTHING else.
If you don't get it, you don't get it that's fine, but for me it's a game changer.
+Greg Newton-Ingham This has just pushed me to buy one, THANK YOU!!!
Your review confirmed my suspicion - any heftier a device would be more than I need. I haven't opened the box yet, but with your overview I feel more confident I made the right choice for my simplistic needs. Thanks, your presentation is terrific!
+Mary Elizabeth Schultz Yes, I agree. I was viewing a lot of other videos about this "new" MacBook and was beginning to feel unsure with my decision. Thank you for your review as I am now much more confident about my choice. I love your video, thank you!!!
+Mary Elizabeth Schultz it costs $1300 and runs a core m processor at 1.1ghz! no! its a piece of shit for any human being
guys stop freaking out. this macbook is perfect, its the high end. and its not expensive compared to other levels. I use the cloud. so why do i need ports. i can use airplay, which is easier anyways. stupid to tie down your laptop. I guess you could get a dongle if you want 4k 60z. If i want to game, I can game at 2304x1440 60hz using steam in home streaming from my powerful gaming computer. Print? wireless Printing. So I don't see why people are complaining, you have to use the wireless to do everything, and I already do that. INCLUDING gaming. so i guess I don't see the criticisms.
Can someone explain.
Edward Johnston It's not high-end. It's a Core M.
I suggest with your response you should get a Chromebook Pixel 2 LS
Kelvin Miller its high end for portable laptops. its as cutting edge as 2 pound laptops get. unless you would like to prove me wrong. show me a two pound laptop this thin, all same specs, same battery life, but with a more powerful processor. I dar you to try.
[S]unjay Core M is used in high end tablets and mobile devices. So it is very high end.
[S]unjay That pretty good for a core M laptop. Considering how small and compact it is and how it's a fanless device.
One of the forums said that the creaking sound that happens at the hinge is because the macbook heats up a bit after prolonged use. The hinge is a bit too tight. After the aluminium body expands even a tiny bit, it starts to creak. I don't have that problem at all though. And I'm a heavy user.
I think I know what bugs me about it now; the brand. I mean, this is essentially an overpriced bare-bones kind of device, so bare bones that it is essentially for documents and internet usage. The people defending it are generally fanboys, saying it has a place in the market. These are most likely the same people who saw no use in the Chromebook, but they're essentially identical, except it wasn't as expensive then. If this product was made by any other company, the same thing would've happened to them.
***** even with the level pf engineering for this product... I would still say it is maybe around 200 dollars too expensive... At 8-900 it would be better..
Agreed
Kelvin Miller You're not paying for the cost of manufacturing though. You're paying for R&D. There was a lot of new hardware that had to be developed for this product.
And nobody thus far has made a touchpad that even comes close to the ones on Macbooks as far as usability and precision goes. At least not one I've ever used.
***** if you have ever used an asus laptop you will know the meaning of high quality.. Im not saying the apple isnt high quality... It is... But my old asus was just as good if not better... And cost me around 400 dollars less...
Kelvin Miller Dude you're putting words in my mouth now. Take it easy and let's discuss this with some civility. You're putting it on way too thick with the Apple hate. Let's not get too up-in-arms about material things, please.
Anyway, I was stating a fact in my first comment. There's a lot of R&D that went into the new Macbook (touchpad, battery, new keyboard switches, making it ridiculously thin, blahblah). That R&D gets passed on to the consumer, for better or for worse.
Personally, I would not buy this item. It does not fit my needs and costs way more than what I'm comfortable spending on it. You're free to make that subjective decision for yourself, along with everyone else here.
i bought this comp a week ago.. bf i bought it i went through paractically all reviews on the planet...
i just have to say- your review was very helpfull and most of all fun watching! (best review by far).
keep on the good work!!!!! do not disappear.
Apple was the first to leave floppy disks out. I believe that now days armost all content for normal users is at cloud and therefore usb's are quite useless. Offcourse there is bigger/expanded model for professional use.. I hope that other manufacturers could also drop USB ports to one max. You can attach other devices throug bluetooth or NFC+wifi-direct/bt
But if you want to use it with a external mouse and keyboard, you need 2 USB ports. Wireless devices need extra power, it's especially annoying if you can't charge and use at the same time. So they should add min. 3 ports so you can attach mouse, keyboard and monitor/projector. You can use all these wireless technologies but you have to be lucky to have them where you need them
Well, that is (labelled) professional use then. These days avarage user wouldnt even need USB port. Every single image that i have is in the cloud or has wireless capabilities for transfer. USB is needed when you want to copy (terabytes) illegala movies or games through USB stick and there for this one step closer to a pirate -free digital world. All my movies are on NAS and it really takes away the hassel of storing files locally.. I can watch movies on any device that has any kind of network card in it. My USB is for old devices to transfer data wich is really stupid when you have to transfer them twice, first the write and then read, it takes double time.
My Logitech uses unify and has both in same receiver and i have 2 mouse and 1 keyboard :)
***** its being charged through USB port???? (that info went just somwhere else than in my brainz) thou, i personally like more of the laptopts touchpad with laptop in normal use. Isnt there bluetooth mouses? now days Bluetooth LE is really low energy..
***** i am not completly against USB ports. Just in everyday use where people wont need USB as often, i have at my laptop used 2 ports at same time only 1-5% of use time and 1 which i have for 100% of use time. It is just my opinion as for floppy disks were removed from avarage joe's usage as they were obsolete as time had passed by.
I prefer the surface pro 3 over this thing.
For the less tech savvy out there you can actually run hackintosh on the surface pro 3 and it's super stable.
Koji Ghafoor I totally agree lol.
Albert A every normal person would
I don't
She returned a sp3 cuz the grey was not grey enough. Lol
U can do all these tasks with a surface 3. And save 700 USD . and you are not going to sacrifice build quality.
So the surface 3 is milled from a single piece of aluminum?
Pepsiaddicto even more exotic material:) made of a single piece of billet magnesium then ceramic coated for extra durability and scratch resistance. Dont get me wrong I like apple products and this laptop looks cool with the keyboard stretching frommside to side. But I like the versatility of touch tablet format.
supernova1976
And save 700 USD? Only if you get the shittiest SP3 model, which is the 64GB model with i3 and 4GB of RAM, if you get the model with 8GB RAM/256GB SSD it will be about the same price, $1150 (keyboard not included).
So if you want a real laptop with a real trackpad, you should probably get the MacBook over the Surface Pro 3.
Alexander Paul Depends on what you do. 4gb of ram is pretty low. Biggest restriction on the Macbook is the cpu. I kinda wish the surface 3 had a 8gb SKU. Other than that it's dope.
Also you guys don't know shit about expensive dual core devices. My CC2 will wrek u.
I'm just grateful for the 1080p60 quality.. my favorite to watch reviews on! Thanks!
I'm very happy with my Macbook! Haters gonna hate!
Yeah, you just use it for websurfing. You paid over a grand on a featureless overpriced barebones laptop. Congratulations, you're officially a moron!
+SWOgottaGO jesus what a downer, its actually really capable
*****
It is not. The cooling on this bad joke of a laptop is so bad that it throttles to the slowest speed the processor can achieve because it overheats. Such great designers at Apple!
lmao obviously you have just had a bad experience or you're using it for the wrong things
***** Using it for the wrong things lol That reminds me the ridiculous rhetoric Apple used when the iPhone4 had bad reception lmao. If I spend over a grand on a laptop I expect it to run flawlessly and run at advertised speeds.
I'm so glad I found your channel. All of the other tech reviewers are guys that don't have to really consider weight or size when it comes to a laptop. I plan on getting this model of MacBook for school. I was pretty much sold when I found out that 1) it doesn't have a fan, 2) it weighs only 2lbs, and 3) if I need to I can use a backup battery with it. I know that there are windows machines on the market that have similar features, but I grew up with Apple products and feel confident in my ability to repair them.
ASUS Zenbook UX305 thats all i have to say ...more ports, also Core M and 600 Dollars cheaper
Without great speakers, great display, battery life, overall media experience it's pointless for myself.
Erica Griffin really speakers?people actually use those?
Erica Griffin According to ASUS' website they say there's a QHD+ screen..
Nicholas Pham not talking about pixel resolution....
Erica Griffin it has all of them except maybe speakers?...you are a reviewer know the product before saying something is better than other,that's why i am subscribed to you,othewise what's the point?
Bit off topic, but what camera do you use? The quality and frame rate are fantastic.
What I don't understand why it's so expensive. You barely get anything for the money you're spending.
+Tyler Eberhardt Seriously. I think it's a great laptop but the bang/buck ratio is awful. Hopefully the Skylake refresh makes it cheaper - then I could actually recommend it.
+Brain&Force 1.1ghz and core m processor is a piece of shit that i wouldn't even buy, nvm spending $1300 on it!
You're paying for the apple ecosystem. That's almost it
I believe the next leap in key boards is the lite board where only the home rows are mechanical and the remaining keys are touch keys like on a i-pad. It will make the lap top even thinner.
Editing video? On this thing? No thanks.
***** Agreed!
I finally tested one out and I must say, it's beautiful and the force touch trackpad is actually bizarrely cool, even though I thought I'd hate it. That said, the thing is still a ripoff, and the one port is a deal breaker. Also, while the new keyboard looks good, and makes all other keyboards look fat and old, it feels like typing on an iPad. Which leads me to wonder why anyone who buys an underpowered, tiny, overpriced computer doesn't just get an iPad.
***** I actually have the iPad Air and I find it very limited and remarkably boring. The thing' seems to work for what I needed to do in a way that IOS simply can't or at least yet.
***** I use an iPad as a tv remote and browser while using Apple TV, if I'm needing portable computing to get something done, I'd use a MacBook Pro. If I need a portable Internet browser, I'd just use an iPhone 6 plus. This is beautiful, I love the screen, and the trackpad's good, but without it being cheap, I really see no reason for its existence when there are better options out there, from Apple. To each their own, though. Beats suffering through Windows, and is a better investment than the Chromebook Pixel, it's real competition.
Agree about the one port getting damaged but a nice little light work device for travelling. Guessing next model will be a lot better.
I think if I had that kind of money I'd get a Pixel 2, or an older MBP or other ultrabook.
There is no reason to buy one. The Intel Core M is terrible, and the thing only has one port, so Apple can sell you overpriced adapters. If you must get an Apple, get a Macbook Air for $500 less, and it comes with a much more powerful Core i5 processor, but you could save $1,000+ getting a Windows notebook or a Chromebook.
I work for Dell. I'm in a position to test out new machines as they get ready to be deployed, as well as repaired before redeployment. For the past 5 years I've told people to stay away from Dell. However, I've finally found a machine I quite like, and have considered for personal use. The Dell E7240, it's an ultrabook, it works well with Linux Mint and Ubuntu, and it's wicked fast compared to the top of the line notebooks we have, including the M4800 or E5440.
And considering I can get one for about $300-400, it's a damn better deal than anything Apple has to offer anymore.
+Elfrick Mendez you can do anything you want to do on an Intel M processor that you need to do ! Just takes seconds of time more than an i5 or i7
Brian Moses But what is the civilian price? That is what matters. Include all the necessary options to create an equivalent configuration. I am not trying to defend Apple by any means. As a cheap person I would be unlikely to buy an Apple product, but I can see a use case for such a machine.
Maybe it's because I am Canadian, but I question the wisdom of publicly criticizing one's employer's products. With all due respect, I think it would be wise to modify your comment.
Dell Corporate laptops are solid, while their consumer ones not so much, at least that's how it always has been.
I can't believe they got rid of the magsafe connector. Totally agree with worrying about one port for everything, it's just not enough. I've broken many ports in my time, it's easy to accidentally yank a wire on a laptop, especially an ultra portable one like this.
I never understood the whole gawking over being lightweight thing in the laptop community.
Do people really care about a pound or 2 difference? Like, if someone wants a mac, go for the MBP Retina instead. Otherwise hit up the UX303ln, the XPS 13, some other options etc. I feel like the tech world is becoming more about a fashion statement than the god damn fashion world is.
Shayded laptops are supposed to be portable, not a desktop.
Jude Floyd Oh no, an extra pound.
If you can't carry anything above 2 pounds you're a fucking baby.
Shayded No, its two pounds and thin. Real mature calling me a baby. Also, it does make a difference.
If you can't deal with something like the UX303ln from Asus with an i7 and dedicated graphics card, you just use it to say you have a macbook.
Shayded No, people use it because they don;t like windows, because they like things about the computer. what if i don't need an i7? Imagine that.
Erica, mine having the creaking sound from the hinge too. Overall I like it. Nice video thou^^ I heard you planning for a replacement. How's the replacement unit? Did it creak again? I'm replacing mine and it's on the way. Just worry the problem can't be solved.
I hate those kind of keyboard. That would be my main issue along with price. But it is purty. :D
Koji Ghafoor
Hmm. Maybe if I used one long enough it would be good.
Koji Ghafoor lol
7:30
An excuse apple might have for not putting a better display on the MacBook Air is battery life. I mean the MacBook Air has one of the best battery performance in any laptop out there at the moment. By increasing the resolution will probably reduce battery life significantly.
So 1000 dollar Facebook machine.
Pros- shiny , capable of lightweight work. Silent
Con- overtly expensive one magical port
Summary of 20 min vid
Did you miss the part where she was happily editing 1080p video and photoshopping on it?
Xomus Don't forget crappy hardware.
Pepsiaddicto You can edit videos on your phone if you have the app for it.
Pepsiaddicto Yeah you can also do that on a $400 laptop.
Pepsiaddicto can do light weight work
i just got my 12" macbook last week. i have taken it to class and i really like it. its super light and small. even tho i have a 2014 13" macbook pro retina that is 3.5lbs and this one is 2lbs it makes a big difference. the keyboard is a little weird but you can easily type on it.
So in nutshell it's an iPad in a MacBook form factor which uses OSX and has no touch screen and costs over a grand. There saved you watching a 20 minute of this woman rambling on.
+Peter Leung and its also slower than the ipads and ANY laptop in 2015
+Peter Leung You got it wrong, it's a fully functional laptop with HD screen and keyboard, with a proper Operating System (OSX isntead of IOS), the size and weight of a tablet.
+Brawndo you just turned what I said the other way round and left out that it only has one input and costs over a grand. It's also vastly underpowered; the iPad pro's A9X is more powerful.
Peter Leung Perhaps, but I'm way more productive on a laptop than a tablet. I don't like tablets therefore, having to work daily with a Macbook Pro 15" at work, the new Macbook is the perfect complimentary travel and meeting tool for me. I mainly do emails, admin a farm of Linux servers, some server side coding etc. Specs are more than enough for me. Having only one port is not an issue for me. I've a tree-way adapter with 3 ports (HDMI, USB and USB-C) that I can keep connected to the charger cable or slip in my travel or laptop bag if I need it, which I rarely do.
+Brawndo well good it suits your needs and you can afford it. Me, I'll stick with my 15 MacBook Pro because it suits my needs and my iPad as I consume media mainly, just think the MacBook is too expensive for what it is and having to pay for an adaptor or defeats the object of having only one port.
I would not get the first gen of this product anyway as I guarenas Apple will upgrade the port to a thunderbolt 3/usb type 3.1 gen 2 port. 2 of these would be a minimum for a laptop this weight and size.
Price aside, I do like the new MacBook's ultra portability and good looks...but I think you may be looking at this with rose-colored glasses. You say you like it but yet.......you don't like the keyboard, you won't pay $80 for Apple's dongle adapter, you had to recalibrate the retina display, your screen sometimes pops and clicks, the battery life can be as low as 4 hours ("but you can charge it quickly"), you're worried the single usb-c port will get damaged over time, you can't charge the laptop while using the usb-c for other devices, but hey - "This has been absolutely perfect and a real treat for me." :)
One day Apple products will get so thin, that you'll go to type and your finger will go through the whole machine
My rMBP 15" hinge also creaks like that, as does the bottom panel with any pressure applied to it, even just clicking the trackpad while it's on a desk or picking it up. Wonder if that would be enough for the Apple store to do something about it, though I've had it over a year so no instant swap.
Surface Pro 3 is a much better product than this.
Hey Erica, what camera are you using here? The video quality is excellent!
Surface pro 3: productive, kind of expensive = no buy
MacBook 2015: not that productive, stupid expensive = buy
I understand the screen calibration thing... sort of, but come on sounds like a lot of excuses made for the MacBook.
wrathchicken She is fangirling the hell out of Apple. The Surface Pro 3 is objectively better than this overpriced piece of crap but of course the ISheep Starbucks hipsters will still buy it
Andrew Cabrero The surface has a fan and gets loud as well as hot. The speakers, trackpad, and keyboard are all worse on the surface. Its nearly impossible to use on your lap, defeating the purpose of a laptop. Its defiantly an amazing tablet, but not a very good laptop. But yes, the macbook is very expensive, but people are allowed to have preferences. Not everyone has to agree with you, you are not the center of the universe. "Objectively better" does not mean "Better for everyones needs", clearly some people value quality, sound, heat, and fan noise over specs.
Lucas S I don't know which reviews you have been watching or if they were just defective units, but all of the reviews I've seen say that the fan is quiet and that the heat the SP3 produces isn't bothersome at all. It is a bit hard to use on your lap but it isn't impossible. I have a Surface 3 and the kickstand isn't nearly as versatile as the Surface Pro 3's kickstand but you get use to it. I've heard it to be the other way around. The SP3 was too big for most people in tablet mode and as a laptop it is closer to being a traditional laptop than it is a traditional tablet since Windows 8.1 isn't seen as being a good tablet OS and the lack of apps in the Windows store make it less touch friendly since many applications in Windows aren't optimized for touch use. People are allowed to have preferences but why not educate them and let them know they that can get a cheaper device that is more powerful than this MacBook while still getting an Apple product if they really desire one. Most people can't afford to blow off this much money and this MacBook provides the least bang for your buck when compared to other Macbooks.
Andrew Cabrero
Good point, the bang for the buck ratio on the new macbook is all out of wack.
+Andrew Cabrero and you're fangirling over microsoft, they wants your money, pretty stupid to be a fanboy for either.
Appreciate the great review Erica, as always. Umm... the new MacBook is tempting. Would you say it would work fine for corporate related work, i.e. Microsoft Office Mac 2016 presentations, spreadsheets and word docs? Most of the aforementioned programs the file sizes are in the range of 10 - 25MB.
Great video Erica Griffin , I know now to avoid this laptop / tablet.
Subscribed. This girl is a true nerd she knows her gadgets, which is what I like.
No fan means=it's not a work horse
No I/O means=Don't be productive
over priced&under spec'd, sound like a prototypical Apple product.
FDSeoul San Diego Why do you need I/O to be productive? I connect to all my I/O via IP.
FDSeoul San Diego Uhhuh...Yet tons of movie/video studios, photographers, editors, and designers use Mac computers. This Macbook is meant to be an ultra portable computer that you can take anywhere. But don't make it sound like every Apple product is underpowered. They have a computer for all different situations and a lot of their computers are competitively priced ie. 5K iMac. And how can you say it's underspec'd and overpriced when Erica just pointed out that it's pretty much in the same ballpark in terms specs and pricing for high end ultrabooks? smh
FDSeoul San Diego Wow man. Thanks for insulting me when I was just talking about the computers and wasn't even talk about you. Good job sounding like a total douche bag instead of actually trying to have a conversation. You don't even know me or what products I use but you automatically assume things like the idiot you are. Haha talk about garbage. I fucking hate haters like you who think their all high and mighty for hating Apple just for the sake of it.
FDSeoul San Diego Yeah totally. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I didn't know people that use Macs in some of the most prestigious companies in the world such as Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, Sony, Facebook, Google and more than half of U.S. businesses were considered "uneducated idiots." People use them because they like their design and how they work. Not to mention just fucking personal preference for the OS. I think you should stop being a d bag and actually have some arguments to get people to take you seriously.
***** I understand that current technology in Schools need to be upgraded, but in time more and more locations will adopt the ability to stream Video/Audio, transfer data, video chat, and many other cool things, over WiFi or bluetooth (IP). I currently have an IP connected USB Hub that is used to connect to USB License keys. No physical connection needed. Apple can sometimes be a little too forward thinking. Give it time, your school will upgrade..
is it kinda sort of competition for surface 3? hehe
go buy a surface pro3. you wont need anything else ever
Ashwin Prabhakaran Go watch her Surface Pro 3 review. It has a crappy display, the surface isn't lap friendly, speakers aren't very good, still has a fan and still gets noisy and hot.
@alex91008 it has a beautiful display, it is lap friendly. I use it to type essays on my lap all the time. Speakers could be better. The fan does tend to get hot realt fast and noisy.
I am aware this 12" MacBook is not for everyone, but a surface? Really? SP3 is almost a good laptop and almost a good tablet but if I want a great laptop for a great price no one can beat MacBook Air.
About the clicking noise, I noticed that you are holding the display from the side which puts strained on the hinges. But every technician advises to handle the display panel from the centre of the top bezel.
People only buy Macbooks to show them off at Starbucks
Boristos Jaxon How arrogant and ignorant...
I really enjoyed your review. Your presentation was impressive. I don't like huge laptops or need huge screens. I have just purchased a mid 2014 13 inch Macbook Pro. It's not only portable but it is powerful enough that it has become my main PC. The display is so great that I can't tell I'm using a 13 inch laptop. To me it's the best of both worlds. I think the new MacBooks look really great though.
You have a new subscriber.
She's trying hard as possible to say positive things about that crap.
Laree Williams Yeah she is. She is making alot of compromises so she doesn't have to lug around that monstrosity the call a macbook air. I mean that shit is like 3 lbs, bro.
Seen your videos since back in the day lol and I'm finally a sub congrats on the long track record of awesomeness lol oh and keep doing a fantastic job with these videos.
Another great informative , interesting, and insightful vid as usual Erica, enjoy watching them. Keep up the good work, and don't let the sad anonymous haters on here get to you, make you doubt yourself, or put you off releasing future content, plenty of people on here still enjoy watching talented people.
Nice review Erica. The Core M CPU's runs at 1.1 and 1.3 GHZ respectively before Turbo Boost. A low end I5 Intel processor consumes 11.5 watts and a quad core I7 draws 57 watts. The new dual Core M cpu's use 4.5 watts and the reason your Apple is so thin is it does not have a fan. That was the whole quality of the Core M's. Good for general use, like you said, not enough for satisfying gaming. You can get a I7 with a graphics card for $700, though. Great video.
Bought this MacBook in 2020 because of its form factor / portability and its screen and am happy with it. Thanks for your clip.
Erica waiting on your review of the G4.
Thank you and continue doing a awesome job on your very truthful reviews.
i'm happy to see it can edit videos. and surprised you said many positive things. that's it for now, wouldn't want you to get irritated by fan noise.
Erica, it is an astonishing accomplishment that you have done here in creating a massive organic following. I congratulate you and admire your entrepreneurial skills.
I have an idea for you to take this to the stratosphere...why not be a product reviewer BEYOND cellphones and laptops. People trust your objectivity and honesty...and you have a huge audience, so both the product companies and your viewers will all benefit.
Great review! I just wonder whether it might easily bend when you have it in back pack, luggage between other stuff?
Hmm pretty interesting device, but what would you choose Erica Griffin This Macbook or a Surface pro 3 ? And why? Cause for me they would be in the same price range similar screen quality and size. You get more power on the Surface but better speakers in the macbook. More ports on the surface, but a fan-less SOC in the Macbook. Seems like quite a hard call to me. Which is the better pick?
I still don't understand why apple hasn't implemented touch screens with their OS. I don't have too much experience with Macs, but the large home screen icons seem perfect for touch displays.
Jared Wagner touch screens leave smudges and are tiresome. especially on a 27 inch screen.
Jared Wagner I really don't care about touch screen on a computer! Tablet? Ok. But laptop and touchscreen? Thanks, but no thanks. Look how that worked out for MS. Besides, OS X wasn't made for a touch devices. They would really have to change a lot.
Touch screens on a laptop are a gimmick, unless it converts into a tablet, I get a sore arm using my ipad on its dock. If apple made laptop which convert into tablets it hey would be in competition with themselves (ipad)!!!
Hello Erica. Great personal detailed review. I would like to know, what will happen to the iPad and 15" Macbook now you are using this 12" ? Do you have a desktop for heavy duty workloads without the fan disturbing you? Regards Pete
they won't update the screen of the air because this is going to replace it eventually
Stick it on a bag of frozen peas when you render video. They'll keep the temp down so it won't throttle. This approach may or may not cause water condensation problems.
Thank you Erica for a very honest well thought out review.
I do wonder how this compares with the Axus UX305?
I'm a non-tech person who just looks for practical stuff and you do a great job to speaking to the entire audience.
Thank you again Erica.
This laptop is good for portability. But id suggest the retina pro, since its skinny too.
thank you Erica for the great review, I have already tried three MacBooks, the only thing that I noticed about the screen hinge is that at times the screen goes dark depending on what angle you have the screen, I brought the first one to Apple and they exchanged it but the second one did the same, however it was stolen recently and I purchased another one recently but haven't noticed the problem "yet".
SUPER Video. Intelligently organised, clearly spoken, personable & engaging. :-)
Such videos are not as easy to make as they look! From techie-to-techie: Good job Erica!
What camera are you using to record this video? The quality is awesome.
Nice review, starting to see this more for its capabilities now. Are you able to do a video on the T300 Chi? I'd love to see more on an affordable Windows Core M and if it's better for me then a regular Core i3/i5 notebook
Erica Griffin Apple should've included some essential USB Type-C cables. I think the 13 inch MacBook Pro should have had speakers on the hinge as you can see the hinge clearly so that would've been really cool! The new backlit is great. I wish they had made some changes to the Pro line up as well.
8 GB of ram is decent. My desktop uses 8 GB and I found it sufficient; however, all I do is game. I don't do video editing or any kind of streaming.
Hinge -- I once interned for company that designed friction hinges for the macbooks. From what I recall, they are supposed to cycle them until they reach a steady-state wear pattern. That means if you're thinking of replacing it because of the hinge squeak, don't wait until you think it should "break in." Just turn it in now, or lube it yourself.
This is cool. Asus did an identical one called the UX305 with the same specs and 1080p for $700!
I tried out the new Macbook at Best Buy and it was wonderful. I went in with the impression that that keyboard would suck but was astonished that it's actually very nice. It's weird but I could see getting used to it in a very short time. It was a real pleasure to type on but there is a learning curve.
In regards to the trackpad, I would have sworn that the trackpad was actually moving when I "click" it. You have to turn off the Macbook to actually know otherwise. When the second generation releases, I'm definitely ordering this machine. Apple doesn't disappoint.
Funny thing is. This was pretty much a glimpse in to the future of the mac until 2021. And the MacBook Air didn’t get a refresh until 2018
I'd rather have a Surface 3 for what this does, it's also a lot less money. People say it's like a more capable iPad, but it really isn't. I mean it doesn't even have a touch screen. Also I just really really wish it had one more port for standalone charging.
What kind of Macbook do you have? I have a 2015 rMBP and a 2010 Macbook, and both are completely silent:)
Good, honest, opinionated review with intelligent pros and cons. I share your concern about the USB-C port being a single point of failure.
Erica can you try the surface 3?
I like how detailed you review your devices.
I don't know why but I like your reviews any way. They are good enough and give almost every think I wish. Thumbs up
Erica Griffin I'm curious why you didn't consider the Lenovo LaVie Z.
It's lighter than the new Macbook (1.87lbs), it's much more powerful with a Core i7, it has a full array of ports, it has a quadHD display, and for the price you're getting what you pay for ($1500).
Erica Griffin Thanks for the review. Have you had any issues with multitasking - say playing HD movies / etc. while working on documents / spreadsheets? Any lag either ways?
Okay not too sure if this was asked yet.
What is the camera you are using?
What is the frame rate?
What software do you use to render video?
Thank you. Great review
My old Macbook Pro Mid 2012 pops en clicks. It was very annoying... Replaced it a few times but the problem still continues over time. My Macbook Late 2013 13" does not have this problem.
Hey I would buy the extra adaptor, I wouldn't mind it.
I really think whats bums me out of buying this laptop is the port issue. having just one port is not enough when you connect multiple things every day. I just imagine not lasting a very long time.
other than that I really don't need a very powerful laptop.
this thing is gorgeous, and has some new features that I'm interested in.
I really enjoyed your views on the new Macbook, it gave me some valuable info on my buying decision. Thanks Erica.
I do love your videos :) when i'm thinking of buying stuff i ALWAYS check your videos :) you are awesome, and i will continue watching your chanel :D
Erica just had to say in 1080 p the p stands for progressive scan as opposed to interlaced video. When you're talking about monitor refresh rate there is no p their is fps meaning frames per second. So 1080p 60fps.
You did it perfectly. The first person which understood that this is NOT a full-featured computer. This is iPad with OS X.
Props for great rewiev!
I am using a 2007 17" Macbook Pro C2D 2.4ghz 6GB of Ram and a SSD. My Macbook pro has yet to let me down doing anything, to include HD video editing. Looking at the benchmarks on this MACBOOK, its twice as fast as my dated macbook pro. I think I could use this as my main computer connected to my current 24" external monitor. It would be a performance increase
Hi! I loved your video! It was just what I was looking for to help me decide whether or not to purchase this. I have a curious question. Do you think that since the new MacBooks have force touch that little kids will be able to learn how to use a laptop just as quickly as an iPad, or is the iPad still better for them (btw I DON'T have kids, I was just wondering)? Thanks for answering my question!!
God bless!!
Hi Erica. Are you still as happy with the Macbook 5 months later? I found it interesting that you bought this machine when it doesn't seem like it fully meets the needs you have. At the time of this video, you didn't like the keyboard and it was just about managing your video edits - did these things become more of an issue over time? You also said that you use your own webcam and need various cables and dongles to plug anything into it. You never know it's in your backpack, but with all the extras you have to carry, is that benefit lost? I just feel like you're trying to justify this thing to yourself more than to us at the end of the video, so I'd be interested to know how you feel about it now. I'm not an Apple fan, but even for friends who are, I would tend to steer them well away from this machine. Am I wrong?
I'm also looking forward to seeing a comparison between this and the new iPad Pro (and maybe the Surface Pro 4 and Surface 3). Keep up the good work.
+Micheál Healy One last thing... When you reviewed the Surface Pro 3, you rented the device to review before deciding whether or not to buy it. If you'd done the same with the Macbook, would you still have bought it 3 weeks later?
I got a 2020 Air M1 and am all proud of myself. I wonder if if five years I’ll be thinking “why did I guy that one and not wait?”
I hope not. Late to the game but good video and hope you and your husband and kid are having a lovely 2022 so far!
Well if the battery on the air is better, id rather wait for the next version with improved battery. Add all the features you want but if its only going to last you 4 hours with heavy use, its not worth it. Laptops are made to be carried around not kept at home. I use my desktop for that.
This is actually perfect for my workflow and personal use. I use a VMWare computer hosted by my company for work. I own an iPhone like most people in my company. Emails and text and response time is HUGE in my line of work. I use a tablet for reading and not really gaming so touch apps is not a big deal for me.
So..... with this little guy I have a portable work horse with a Retina screen that configures my VMWare desktop much better than the hi res Windows machines. Swipe left ...personal laptop, Facebook, Twitter...swipe right ...my work desktop.... then I added Windows 8...so now I have with Parallels, the full tile experience available from the Windows store for Flipboard, Flixster, Netflix and so on...
The cost considering this is a 8GB/256GB model and the fact it is replacing three things for me is just fine in reality.
As far as port...Surface has one USB as well...and Thunderbolt is a useless port for me. The Apple power through adapter with USB and HDMI is perfect to use as needed for drives or monitor/TV etc and keep it powered.
The icing on the cake?
The $10 Amazon USB C to USB cable that I can use with my 16000 portable charging bank to make this thing last forever. This is a BIG deal. Battery life is already excellent (7-8 hours in reality not just statistical like Windows mfrs) but it is almost a moot point with the portable adapter that I charge my phone as well.
So... while I am still in the return testing period I haven't missed my ports all that much once everything was settled in the OS plus parallels etc. I can type essays while texting on my laptop to ANY phone thanks to Yosemite (drop them pictures etc on the fly). The multiple desktop makes me stay connected to my work virtual PC and the retina makes it a pleasure to read. Thanks to Windows 8 parallel running seamlessly, I don't miss any of the tile app goodness either and will upgrade to Windows 10 as needed.
So don't just knock it off at face value. If you look at it as an iPadlaptop replacement it will make perfect sense and all of sudden appear much more powerful and versatile than it did before.
Very good review. Most detailed out there. Considering buying Macbook myself :) I enjoy your tech reviews !
Erica Griffin Would you recommend the new MacBook over say a Surface Pro (I don't say 3 because hopefully the 4th gen comes out soon) or a Surface 3 or even some Lenovo or Asus notebook? Right now I use a MacBook Pro 15 Retina, but I'm also a big fan of Windows 10 and the price for the MacBook is really, really high for a second computer, especially here in Italy (1499€ - about 1700$ for the base model). Also, a touchscreen would be nice, but I don't think that is really necessary.
Also, great review, keep making such good content ;)
And the USB-C port is not that much a surprise, but Apple should really have integrated two of them, so at least you could charge the device AND have some other device plugged in. Even the cheapest windows tablets make that better.