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Apple Discontinued the 12-Inch MacBook Three Years Ago Today

I've had a total of three of these:
  • 2016 base 8/256 - found itself under a falling Christmas stocking hanger, didn't end well. Gone.
  • 2017 16/256 model - sold 2 years ago
  • 2017 base 8/256 - picked up cheap in 2018 from Best Buy, I expected a family member to use it. Just had the battery and keyboard replaced, it's like brand new :)
I think these are actually fine for 'couch' use or a high school student. It's hard to describe just how light 2.0lbs is, unless you've used one. Feels like nothing in your bag. I even connect it to my Apple Studio Display!

I hope the form factor comes back. If it had one more USB-C port, it would be pretty useful with Apple Silicon.
 
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TheYayAreaLiving 🎗 said:
This was an ideal size for so many people.
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Yep. They should simply make 12", 14", 16", and dare I say it, 18" sizes in both the MBA, and MBP. Sure, there will be low sales in some of those options, but I bet there'd be enough sales that normal sized businesses would only wish they could achieve that many sales. I'd defo buy an 18", probably MBA, but maybe MBP.

Same with the iPhone. Just keep making the Mini size, plus the normal, Max, and well, why not an even bigger size, for both normal and Pro models.

Although, for myself, I'd love a phone the same height as the normal, but a good 1cm or so wider. The Max is pointless to me, as the extra length makes it too long for pockets, but hardly gains any width over the normal phone.
 
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T'hain Esh Kelch said:
Apples best looking laptop design! Unfortunately it was hampered by bad keyboards and slow processors.

But otherwise, lovely machines!


I take mine back and forth daily while commuting (2h a day), and use it for presentations, and yes, the light weight and small size is perfect for that. It would have liked it to be faster, but it definitely does the job.
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Throw an M2 in it and it won't be slow! It will be overkill for 99% of users.
 
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I still use my 2017 i7 mb every day, love it and pray there’s a Apple silicon version in the near future 😎
 
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sideshowuniqueuser said:
Yep. They should simply make 12", 14", 16", and dare I say it, 18" sizes in both the MBA, and MBP. Sure, there will be low sales in some of those options, but I bet there'd be enough sales that normal sized businesses would only wish they could achieve that many sales. I'd defo buy an 18", probably MBA, but maybe MBP.

Same with the iPhone. Just keep making the Mini size, plus the normal, Max, and well, why not an even bigger size, for both normal and Pro models.

Although, for myself, I'd love a phone the same height as the normal, but a good 1cm or so wider. The Max is pointless to me, as the extra length makes it too long for pockets, but hardly gains any width over the normal phone.
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Honestly, 13" and 15" for MacBook Air and 14" and 16" for MacBook Pro is plenty perfect. I can't imagine that the 13" MacBook Pro will eventually go away and give way to the 15" MacBook Pro. It makes way too much sense not to have happen.
 
I purchased the base configuration of the 2015 original upon launch day, in Gold. The true yellow gold just like the iPhone 5🅂 and 6, also the only MacBook to ever receive this color. It was truly beautiful. I used this for about 1 year then decided to sell it to a friend since I needed better specs like storage and processor speed, the only issues I had.

In 2016 I picked up the m5 Intel mobile processor which was one step above the base and was also faster the previous generation, with half of a terabyte in Space Gray. This ended up being my main computer when going through the rest of college. I got loads done on it, word docs, keynotes, I even edited some 4K video on it which was the only thing that it couldn’t sustain for longer than 10-15 minutes. It was possible, but the interface became real chuggy. The medium spec didn’t perform noticeably better enough to me, although the back/center of the bottom certainly felt warmer than the Gold unit.

I’m surprised Apple released this laptop in hindsight, they were reeeeally pushing it, and it remains the Mac I’ve seen beachball the most often even during regular use. I was obviously less thrilled about the Gray color I chose, and if I could go back and revisit this decision I would’ve grabbed a new MacBook Pro from 2015 before the butterfly era started.

The thinness and lightness are totally not overrated, and it had a retina display (when the Airs didn’t) which still looked pin-sharp even the majority of time where I used More Space scaling so I could work with more windows in 12 inches. The design was wonderful to look at, hold, and carry around all day. I would literally forget it was in my backpack. It was an absolute miracle on airplanes, let me tell you.

The keyboards I never had to replace, and one or two keys may have temporarily gotten stuck but I just blew or shook out the dust or whatever quickly to fix it. The keyboard was pretty shallow but didn’t bother me when I got used to it (when I touch it today, it feels immediately worse than the new keys from Apple). However, a couple of my classmates mentioned when I would type real fast on it, that the keys felt extra loud to their ears to the point of annoyance, and they were totally right.

I found it frustrating on occasion when trying to open the lid, Apple didn’t do good enough of a job spreading out the weight to properly balance the back of the laptop versus the front, and the plastic feet did nothing to prevent the MacBook from sliding back when I attempted to open it up with just one finger or hand. A small complaint, but I think this one matters and Apple usually cares enough to get this right.

Overall, the 12-inch by itself is a great design idea and during its finer moments felt miraculous (it even turned some heads), but had too many flaws and actually misled Apple’s entire notebook lineup for 5+ years. This time, they’re doing things right: redesign the Pro line, and work down from there. The 12-inch totally deserves another shot, and with Apple silicon, it’s going to be a screamer. Imagine: an even lighter iPad Pro with full metal keyboard + trackpad, but it runs macOS. Once it arrives, it will be glorious.
 
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I had one. My wife has one. My parents have one. Excellent machine for portability. With Intel, it was always very underpowered. With AS (M2), oh my gosh, the machine could be incredible. I REALLY hope that apples plans are for MBA (fanless design) in 12” and 13.6”, and this rumored 15 inch is a MacBook Studio with 1 fan and M2 (completely replacing 13.3 M2 MBP).
 
My Bride is still using her ‘17 1.3,i5,8,512 as her DD and loves it. No issues to report thus far. She is not a fan of the current M1 Air. The day Apl announced it was discontinued I headed to Microcenter and replaced her ‘15 M5 model as MC was clearing them out. I also used a ‘17 as my lappy until the M1 Air was introduced and took the M1 bait. Looking back that was a huge mistake as the MBA screen gave me headaches and it felt huge in comparison . After 18 mo I decided to give the M1 12.9 iPad Pro w/MKB a shot and, well, its not a great form factor either. Great screen tho. Apl would sale 2 M? series ’12 MB at our house.
 
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I still have one of these. The problem is the thing gets so hot that it causes the battery to swell. I've twice had to pay Apple to replace the battery and bottom of the case. Today, the machine just sits in a closet. I now use a MacBook Air M1, which never gets hot.
 
Re-release this MacBook with an M2/M3 chip with at least dual-monitor output support and it would be a big seller
 
GooseInTheCaboose said:
Hmm, hoe much larger is the m2 MBA chassi compared to that of the 12” MB?
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Surface area about 30% bigger, weight about 50% heavier.
The MacBook Air is massive compared to the 12" MacBook.

Every time I bring mine to the Apple Store, and place it on top of the Air, people are surprised how big the Air is.
It is really a whole class different.
And that usually shuts everyone up who suggests I should buy the Air instead as it is "the same anyway", haha.
 
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"In hindsight, it is clear that the 12-inch MacBook was hampered by the thermal constraints of Intel processors"

Lol. Nice spin Joe. It's demise had NOTHING to do with the Intel processors and everything to do with the ******-ass butterfly keyboard borne of Jonny's ego & obsession with thinness.
 
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I bought this thing for a trip to Europe, and I returned it as soon as I got back, within 14 days for a refund. It was horrible. The keyboard was much smaller, so the typos were endless. The single USB-C port was a horrendous idea. The biggest problem is the processor, it was a Pentium M mobile CPU that should not have been used in a computer... maybe a tablet or phone but not a laptop. I ended up getting one at work so I could have something small in my car if I needed it in a pinch - it makes me pull my hair out every time I use it. The updates take hours to install.
 
Always wanted one but never pulled the trigger. it was just a bit too much and under powered. I would have jumped at a M1 version if it was the right price though and really thought they We’re going to bring it back with Apple Silicon.
 
Seanm87 said:
Was basically a Jony Ive vanity product.

Crap keyboard, way underpowered but pushed the envelope on how thin and light a laptop could be. Although this product was the beginning of Ives downfall.
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Agree to some point.
But not at all with the conclusion.
　
People fail to understand that the 12" MacBook pushed the envelope on so many levels which then later benefitted other MacBook generations. And that was a huge benefit. Almost like the NASA space program. Doing something bold and outrageous that may not seem to have any immediate benefit - yet over time - when technology trickles down, benefits everyone.

The 12" MacBook was the first laptop from Apple which integrated sound output into the WiFi antenna and hence had a massive boost in sound quality.
The 12" MacBook speakers were the first in any Apple laptop that actually sounded great!

Also the 12" MacBook pioneered the TrackPad without moving parts and with virtual haptic click. It's now standard in every MacBook and iPad keyboard folios. Without the 12" MacBook these would probably still be mechanical clicks.

The 12" was also the reason why Apple switched to USB-C, as only the USB-C port would fit into a 12" MacBook. USB-A would be too big and would not support charging. The 12" MacBook internals leave room for only 2 ports, which are the one USB-C port plus the audio port on the other side. There is literally no space to place a second USB-C port anywhere.

Then the 12" MacBook was the only Apple laptop that ever used terraced LiIon batteries.
Sadly that space-saving design was never used anywhere else.

The 12" MacBook was also the very first Apple laptop ever which used super-fast SSDs, which made a huge difference in the perceived speed of the product. Even if the CPU is slow, as most of the workload is SSD related, it seems much faster due to the fast SSD.

While the butterfly keyboard is definitely not great, the 3rd generation is actually quite usable, and not nearly as bad as its reputation.
In fact I think the new M1 MacBook keyboards or the new wireless Magic Keyboards are only marginally better. At least I have about as many mistypes on both keyboards.
The old wired keyboards from Apple were the last ones that were truly noticeably better.


For people who only do email and web browsing and the odd Word/Excel/PowerPoint and Photoshop editing, the 12" MacBook is more than sufficient.
I still do not feel that mine is slow in any way. And I love the fact that it is so portable. I can literally put it in almost any bag - without realizing it is even there, because it is so light.
It is likely not fast enough as a main computer for most, but it is the best portable, secondary computer.
I much prefer it over an iPad Pro with keyboard (which I also have but usually leave at home as iPadOS is really no replacement for a real macOS. Sometimes I wonder whether Apple killed the 12" MacBook only in order to preserve iPad Pro sales... If you used both, you quickly understand that the MacBook is a lot more useful.)

What I try to say is.
Apple really needs these 'vanity projects' otherwise their technology starts to stagnate.
The amount of innovation that the 12" MacBook brought to Apple laptops is staggering. So many "technological firsts" in one single laptop never happened at Apple before nor ever again. And many of these technologies (vastly better sound output, trackpad with haptic click, USB-C, fast SSDs) are still used in all of Apple's laptops today. People forget that the 12" MacBook was the first Apple laptop that had all these things. When was the last time Apple pushed the innovation envelope to that extent in any product?
What new technologies in laptops came since? The <cough> TouchBar? This one seemingly was a dead end.
The new chassis colors? The notch?
Mini LED backlighting is perhaps the only one that I would consider "new technology". And even that will likely be superseded by OLED soon, so is merely a "stepping stone innovation".
So how many of the new technologies introduced since will be used many years down the line still?
Most of the technological firsts from the 12" MacBook are still used today! People do not realize this.

The 12" MacBook was the last technologically exciting, massive technology-pushing product from Apple IMHO.
And yes, it was a vanity project. But Apple needs these kinds of projects for exactly that reason.
Shame Apple stopped doing them - and hence started to stagnate somewhat.

[typed on a 12" MacBook]
 
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I got a refurbished one of these from Apple and the battery stopped holding a charge after a few months. Was too lazy to take it in for repair because I had a lot going on at the time, but my advice is never buy refurbished from Apple unless you're motivated enough to go into an Apple store for repairs.

I loved the size and honestly it wasn't as slow as people complained, perfectly usable for most tasks.
 
Bought for my mom and she still preferred its size and lightness over the last Intel MacBook Air replacing it.
I would love to see an M2 version of this, but Apple would think an iPad Pro would otherwise suffice...
 
Joe Rossignol said:
I wrote this story and I can understand this reaction, but I think it's a harmless Saturday story that provides a chance to discuss both the former 12-inch MacBook and rumors of a new 12-inch MacBook. :)
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People love to hate and judge to an unnecessary degree. How are we this unhappy when we have so much?

Thanks for the story and well done for calling out these non-sense replies. It’s an important reminder that real, thoughtful people are behind the scenes - and if you wouldn’t say it in person, don’t write it.

Appreciate your contributions! 🙌
 
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