Picked up a 12" MacBook yesterday on impulse

[francisck]

I have a 13" MacBook Pro with TouchBar on order but it won't be delivered until after Christmas . While watching videos about the new MacBook Pro on youtube I ran across a lot of reviews for the 12" MacBook. After watching a ton of reviews, comparisons, etc. I was pretty convinced that the MacBook would be a good replacement for a 13" MacBook Air that I recently sold. I was a bit concerned about the speed and usability of the laptop.

Well....yesterday I finally decided to bite the bullet and pick a 12" MacBook from my local Apple Store. I travel quite a bit for work so It's a nice machine to have when I'm on the go. I used it all day today for work (yeah..working on Sunday, I know) and didn't run into any huge issues. I do technical work and got most of my critical apps install on the machine. I also installed Microsoft Office (including outlook), evernote, sublime text, Xcode, etc and haven't had many problems.

I went with the low end model (I already spent a fortune on the maxed out 13" so it didn't seem appropriate to pay extra for an upgraded processor in a small travel machine). I have noticed some slowness but, mostly when I use magnet to move windows around. I use magnet to review technical documentation and write some code or to write a word document while looking at reference information.

I've been using the laptop all day and I'm still at 2% battery while typing this. That's pretty darn impressive! It's about 11 hours of battery life (with some breaks in-between).

I attached some pictures of my unboxing. I would certainly recommend it if you're considering the laptop! It's a good laptop for users that don't need a whole lot of power

I'm interested in hearing ideas about how to utilize the space better on the machine better cool apps that help my MacBook feel a little larger. I already set the display to "more space" and made a few optimizations (like making the dock as small as possible).

 

[Frederik on MacRumors]

Congratulations would love to hear about those apps as well

What I don't understand is why you still want to get the Pro? It seems that a MacBook should fit your requirements. For more space at your desktop, a second screen connected to your MacBook could solve the need for a one inch lager MacBook Pro?

Anyway, congratulations!

 

[macintoshmac]

Technical work? What apps do you use mostly? Are Adobe apps in there by any chance?

I have a 13" MacBook Pro with TouchBar on order but it won't be delivered until after Christmas . While watching videos about the new MacBook Pro on youtube I ran across a lot of reviews for the 12" MacBook. After watching a ton of reviews, comparisons, etc. I was pretty convinced that the MacBook would be a good replacement for a 13" MacBook Air that I recently sold. I was a bit concerned about the speed and usability of the laptop.

Well....yesterday I finally decided to bite the bullet and pick a 12" MacBook from my local Apple Store. I travel quite a bit for work so It's a nice machine to have when I'm on the go. I used it all day today for work (yeah..working on Sunday, I know) and didn't run into any huge issues. I do technical work and got most of my critical apps install on the machine. I also installed Microsoft Office (including outlook), evernote, sublime text, Xcode, etc and haven't had many problems.

I went with the low end model (I already spent a fortune on the maxed out 13" so it didn't seem appropriate to pay extra for an upgraded processor in a small travel machine). I have noticed some slowness but, mostly when I use magnet to move windows around. I use magnet to review technical documentation and write some code or to write a word document while looking at reference information.

I've been using the laptop all day and I'm still at 2% battery while typing this. That's pretty darn impressive! It's about 11 hours of battery life (with some breaks in-between).

I attached some pictures of my unboxing. I would certainly recommend it if you're considering the laptop! It's a good laptop for users that don't need a whole lot of power

I'm interested in hearing ideas about how to utilize the space better on the machine better cool apps that help my MacBook feel a little larger. I already set the display to "more space" and made a few optimizations (like making the dock as small as possible).

 

[francisck]

Congratulations would love to hear about those apps as well

What I don't understand is why you still want to get the Pro? It seems that a MacBook should fit your requirements. For more space at your desktop, a second screen connected to your MacBook could solve the need for a one inch lager MacBook Pro?

Anyway, congratulations!

Thanks man! I'm super excited about having this tiny MacBook that I can easily travel with! The MacBook fits my work requirements and allows me to actually do most (if not everything) that I need to do. My the biggest concern I have with the MacBook is that I can't plug it into my ThunderBolt displays which I love using to have tons of real state open. The 12" MacBook doesn't seem to have a ThunderBolt 3 control like the newer MacBook Pros.

Also, I bought the MacBook Pro strictly personal usage as I do more intensive "work" when I'm working on my personal side projects. There I normally run multiple VMs or I am compiling software which I don't have to do for work. Also I tend to multi task more (or try to) when working on personal projects.

Technical work? What apps do you use mostly? Are Adobe apps in there by any chance?

I use mostly SublimeText, brew, and Python which all work perfectly on the tiny MacBook! Unfortunately I don't use any specific Adobe apps but would be happy to test some if you need anything specific tested!

 

[aleni]

i bought the m3 on impulse and i regretted it, it runs adobe cs6 poorly. but upgrading to the core m5 really gives the performance on par with last gen 1.6ghz macbook air. now i can use this as my primary computer. really glad.

 

[Nick11Mac]

Congrats on your new MB, nice!

 

[macintoshmac]

But CS6 will not take advantage of any of the latest technologies anyway, if I am not very wrong. The newer CCs are optimised to use CPU and GPU both and with each iteration the apps are generally supposed to run more efficiently.

 

[aleni]

But CS6 will not take advantage of any of the latest technologies anyway, if I am not very wrong. The newer CCs are optimised to use CPU and GPU both and with each iteration the apps are generally supposed to run more efficiently.

but cc feels a lot slower on my m5. thats why i went back to cs6. keep my cc on my imac.

 

[macintoshmac]

but cc feels a lot slower on my m5. thats why i went back to cs6. keep my cc on my imac.

Oh! That is news. Old CS6 working better than new CC. Hmmm. Thanks for this little nugget.

 

[aleni]

Oh! That is news. Old CS6 working better than new CC. Hmmm. Thanks for this little nugget.

have u tried it yourself? CS6 with the latest update feels faster on my macbook core m5 than the new CC.

do u think the newest app is always faster? try running iOS 10 on your iphone 4S and tell me it's faster than iOS 5.

 

[macintoshmac]

Hey, cool down. I am not saying new app is always faster, but that the new Adobe apps are supposed to take the GPU power to good use and hence turn out to be more responsive and "snappier". That the CS6 performs faster is a unique thing, because on my MBP 2011 the CC is definitely faster than the CS6 which also needs JRE installed for whatever reason.

 

[Ghost31]

Congrats mr money bags!

Was thinking about getting one awhile back but then I thought...hey. The base MacBook Pro with out touch bar is only 200 more and it has more power, better keyboard and more ports.

 

[burgman]

I sold my 2015 rMB 1.3 this week, replaced it with a Surface Book. Though the SB runs rings around the rMB on so many levels. I have already done 2 trips with 12 hour flights and I truly miss the rMB for traveling. Would be hard to go back to a smaller screen after enjoying the SB, however.

 

[Zazoh]

I sold my 2015 rMB 1.3 this week, replaced it with a Surface Book. Though the SB runs rings around the rMB on so many levels. I have already done 2 trips with 12 hour flights and I truly miss the rMB for traveling. Would be hard to go back to a smaller screen after enjoying the SB, however.

I'm forced to use Microsoft products when I'm in the office, but 2/3 of my computing day is in the Apple ecosystem. I couldn't fathom leaving the integration of phone and computer and iPad with family sharing for the sake of Hardware.

Had you been on the Mac side for awhile?

 

[kwandrews]

Congrats! The 12" is a great Mac! I have the '16 m5 but will be selling it. Long story, but for most of my use I need more power and now have a '16 15" base model. I had 2 aging Macs, both 2012's (13" MBA & Mini i7). The 12" didn't work out for me for business use (hard time multi-tasking on it with a lot open while video conferencing with Skype for Business....which is about 50% of my day). So, I decided to replace both 2012's with the 15" 2016 MBP.

However, traveling with the 12" will be missed greatly! I LOVE the little machine but can't justify keeping both. I can see adding a 12" down the road if my travel increases beyond the 2-3 business trips per year (max). Maybe by then it will be powerful enough to take care of my daily business. I miss it already and its not sold yet.

 

[aleni]

Hey, cool down. I am not saying new app is always faster, but that the new Adobe apps are supposed to take the GPU power to good use and hence turn out to be more responsive and "snappier". That the CS6 performs faster is a unique thing, because on my MBP 2011 the CC is definitely faster than the CS6 which also needs JRE installed for whatever reason.

im working tshirt design, the size is 300 dpi 30cm x 45cm and the CC feels slower. even pressing "F" couple of time to switch to fullscreen mode feels slower. do you work in big size design too? or just small size design like web stuff?

 

[macintoshmac]

I'm working on 8" x 8" books with 30-75 sheets each. so about 50-150 pages. Architecture publications.

 

[unagimiyagi]

I think many people find the 12" MacBook's cpu to be too limiting over the long-term. Even those who thought that they don't do "pro" level work. Anything more than microsoft word and Facebook and netflix, the MacBook will disappoint you long term. It's a shame though.

 

[HardBall]

I attached some pictures of my unboxing. I would certainly recommend it if you're considering the laptop! It's a good laptop for users that don't need a whole lot of power

I'm interested in hearing ideas about how to utilize the space better on the machine better cool apps that help my MacBook feel a little larger. I already set the display to "more space" and made a few optimizations (like making the dock as small as possible).

Many congrats!

The 12" rMB is definitely one of the best products has ever produced, and certainly is one of the best laptops anyone could ever have. You won't regret getting it.

You might also want to read up on threads like this: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/scale-1680x1050-on-rmb-without-an-app.1873910/ to see if that works for you.