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Apple Discontinued the 12-Inch MacBook Three Years Ago Today
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i bought a 2015 MBA due to the MBR reviews but the latter looked SO nice! This 2022 MBA is smaller than my 2015 MBA but a refreshed MBR would make me look twice. A laptop works better for me and in addition, some of my current software isn't available for the iPad.
So sorry, you are right. Core I7.Have you checked your pulse because the highest end processor for the MB 12 was the i7... but yeah great form factor, heck wife and I even still uses the base 2015 8GB model more than our current iPad Pros (BTW the M1 iPad Pro proves they could easily do a M1 MB 12).
Confused with my Macbook Pro 16" core I9. Apologize.Have you checked your pulse because the highest end processor for the MB 12 was the i7
The original 12” MacBook Pro (actually called PowerBook G4) was an amazing size. There are many fond memories of that device. (iPhone wasn’t even around yet. Blackberry was still king.)
What’s fascinating is to instantly recognize it as a dated look! When I have memories of it being VERY trendy and the leader in visual design.
Article “Ode…” from 2015:
Ode to the 12-inch PowerBook G4, Apple’s first desktop-quality laptop
Apple's little dynamo ushered in a new era of portable (dare we say rugged?) laptops that perform like desktops, and the new 12-inch MacBook is its spiritual successor.
www.macworld.com
*edit: wait I completely forgot about the titanium! Ah, h***… I couldn’t afford one anyways 🤣 they were all enviable machines.
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The 12 inch was my "Side Hustle" MacBook. I had to carry my employer work issued laptop and didn't want to carry my personal 15 at the same time. The 12" had no foot print in my travel gear or backpack. If I needed power, simply plug into any USB-C charger. So it was heaven.
I used it to do emergency work as I ducked into the parking lot for emergency. There has been nothing yet to replace it. I am trying with the iPad Pro 11 with some success. But if Apple ever made another one, I will buy it sight unseen.
I used it to do emergency work as I ducked into the parking lot for emergency. There has been nothing yet to replace it. I am trying with the iPad Pro 11 with some success. But if Apple ever made another one, I will buy it sight unseen.
Haha, whoops. Made a post without reading them all first 😆More nostalgic, do you remember the 12" Powerbook? I had to remind myself that it was called a "Powerbook G4" and not a MacBook Pro. It was such a cute little thing.
I immediately thoughts of the PowerBook g4, too, and it took me a few minutes to figure out that is wasn’t a MacBook Pro, haha.
But, yeah, the 12” PowerBook g4 was so awesome. The titanium was a hot seller on eBay in 2007 since they weren’t made anymore.
I had one. It was the ultimate cafe writing rig for me. For what I needed it to do, it was perfect, but it was pretty much made obsolete by the first iPad with a dedicated keyboard. I now use an 11” iPad Pro with magic keyboard and it’s everything I could hope for.
Ironically, this was the product that proved Jony Ive's thin-and-light obsession had some unarguably good points. The single port and flat keyboard weren't quite the peak of sensory pleasure, and the Intel CPU inspired plenty of teeth grinding (no surprises there), but that svelte size and two pound weight made it basically effortless to carry with you wherever and whenever. Conferences and trips, sure, but also restaurants, movies, the mall, the gym—toss this thing into a sleeve (I liked the Incase Icon) and tuck it under your arm, and you could have a Mac instantly available wherever and whenever you found a minute and a need. When packed in a bag with a 12.9" iPad Pro, the MacBook was the smaller device, and the more durable-feeling one to boot. I always kept a MacBook Pro in service simultaneously because I'd occasionally need to travel with more computing power—or so I thought—but it rarely went anywhere, even to the office, just because it was so comparatively irritating to lug around.
My 2016 finally retired when its battery reached 0% useful capacity, but I'm fervently hoping Apple revives the form factor with an M-series chip. There hasn't been a Mac or iPad yet that's as frictionless to live with.
I actually loved everything about it, except the keyboard. It was plenty fast for me, and the size and weight was phenomenal. The single USB-c port never slowed me down. If they put a regular keyboard on it, I would buy it again.
Like my last comment that will likely be filleted for days, if an iPad and a keyboard is the answer, you really didn't need a 'computer', you needed a tablet with a keyboard. Don't look shocked, I have traveled with my IPP and Magic Keyboard, and never missed my MBP for an instant. I hope they don't hear that, but it was the truth. I think the Magic Keyboard ('MK') is one of the BEST inventions, or extended existing products Apple has done. Yes, of course I have been burned by just having that setup a few times, but so what. If I'm traveling, which isn't going to be as much it sounds lately with BA5 and BA2.75, it works 80% of the time.
I get the love for the little thing. I still miss my black plastic Mac Book. It was sexy, immensely portable, and drew looks from people. Wish I still had it, but alas someone said they needed it more than I did. (I sold it)
Same here. If this with a “Magic Keyboard” had been launched for the first time in 2021 with an M1 it would be a hot seller.
I must admit the 12" MacBook will forever remain my favourite laptop of all time. Sadly the Intel processor was realistically never up to the tasks I asked of it, but it was the best device while travelling around the world and never skipped a beat. Was extremely sad when I parted with it.
Well that is sort of "it depends" situation though. If you are mostly touching cloud/remote assets then you really don't need a lot of power and I believe there are tools for the iPad to facilitate those interactions.
Local software development is probably never coming to iPadOS, so if you want to do that with something like the 11in iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard Case then you're SOL.
Check out that tiny trackpad! (Compared to today's portable Macs...)
I kind of enjoyed those semi-curved silver keys back in the day. They were a bit spongy-feeling, but were somehow satisfying.
Yes, it was always kind of a "nice in theory" design, I felt. Back when it was released, a lot of people thought that they would be getting great power in a very portable, slim design. The reality was that all they were getting was basically Apple's take on the netbook, with just one port.
When it was released, I hemmed and hawed about getting the MacBook 12", but I just knew that the MacBook Air would be a more powerful option. The single USB-C port was pretty much the dealbreaker for me. I'm glad I didn't get it, although maybe it was a workable option for some people at the time.
Funny enough, I was doing a presentation some years ago shortly after the MB 12" was released. I was using an MBA 13" at the time, and the guest speaker had just bought and brought a MacBook 12". Sadly, he had forgotten his dongle to connect the MacBook 12" to the HDMI projector and charge his MacBook at the same time. I remember that we were really scrambling to port his data over to my MacBook Air as well (which had only USB-A ports) just minutes before the presentation was scheduled to begin... 😅
It was really a time of change for Apple, and they learned a lot of valuable lessons, I think, thanks to a lot of user feedback.
So 2 more years to become “vintage” and 4 years more to become “obsolete“. Sounds like it’s in it’s prime (OMG, those MacRumors articles to come… will be so exciting!). 😉
The 11" MacBook Air was the real Apple take on the netbook. No one had uttered the word "netbook" in years when Apple first released the 12" MacBook, which was really a premium ultraportable.
It was a very attractive form factor, for sure, undone by the butterfly keyboard, the single USB-C port, and Intel's crappy low power processors. Our executives had the top-end config last generation 2017 12" MacBooks with 16GB RAM and 500GB storage, but they could not remotely keep up with modern workloads, and those executives were very pleased to upgrade to M1 MacBook Airs as soon as I could get them.
Would there be enough demand for a similar ultraportable with a genuinely powerful Apple M2 processor and, presumably, 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports? I'm sure Apple knows better than me, which explains why it hasn't happened yet.
It was a very attractive form factor, for sure, undone by the butterfly keyboard, the single USB-C port, and Intel's crappy low power processors. Our executives had the top-end config last generation 2017 12" MacBooks with 16GB RAM and 500GB storage, but they could not remotely keep up with modern workloads, and those executives were very pleased to upgrade to M1 MacBook Airs as soon as I could get them.
Would there be enough demand for a similar ultraportable with a genuinely powerful Apple M2 processor and, presumably, 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports? I'm sure Apple knows better than me, which explains why it hasn't happened yet.
Installed Ubuntu on my base Macbook in 2015. It is usable but has these issues. Webcam not detected, no sound, when it goes to sleep or you close the lid, the keyboard and mouse are not working and you have to use external keyboard and mouse from that point on or restart the machine (using external keyboard and mouse). Other than that, it looks great and is completely usable for Linux for basic tasks.