Apple Launches The New MacBook; Thinnest And Lightest MacBook Ever
March 9th, 2015, Apple launched the thinnest and lightest MacBook laptop ever. The thickest part of the MacBook measure 13.1mm and weighs 2 pounds. Apple has christened the new laptop as just MacBook, dropping Air like in the previous 11-inch MacBook Air.
The new MacBook laptop cannot be said to be a spec update or upgrade for those looking for an improved computing power on a laptop. If anything, it seems more like a hybrid of a robust and high storage capacity tablet with a little-above-average-laptop. We cannot over emphasize enough at just how thin and light the new MacBook is; 13.1mm at its thickest point and 2 pounds in weight. It almost seems ridiculous to call it a laptop instead of a tablet.
But maybe, Apple is driving at the convergence of laptops and tablets. There are many people who actually don’t like using a tablet, myself included. Tablets are annoying when you have to do a lot of typing, they are tricky when propping up and their software doesn’t seem all that rewarding. There’s just something about using a tablet, especially for a user used to a laptop that is a ‘little off’.
Perhaps Apple has already identified this market needs and made a laptop so thin and light enough to be comparable to a tablet. But one that can give users all the superior computing features on a laptop; a cross between a tablet and a laptop if I may. But, let’s delve into the specs tacked underneath the thin, light-weight, and attractive body of the latest MacBook.
A 12-Inch Retina Display (2304×1400), with only two ports; a headphone jack on the right and a single USB-C port on the left. The USB and the only port is used for both charging, and attaching any other peripheral devices. Not so great news, right? Well, just think of it as a tablet.
It comes in three colors: Space Gray, Gold and Silver. A lot of people are saying the Space Gray option is quite easy to the eyes. Apple talked quite well about the butterfly keyboard and how it improves user’s feel and experience while typing. I guess for this, the proof is in the pudding, but the keys are bigger and have LED backlights, so that is something to look forward to.
It also comes with the new Force Touch trackpad that senses different levels of pressure the user applies. Once you get used to the Force Touch trackpad, you will easily fast-forward through videos or look up for information quickly on Wikipedia. The new MacBook is also the first fan-less MacBook. So you can say goodbye to the noise made by laptops coming from their fans.
The new MacBook comes in a 1.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core M Processor coupled with a Turbo Boost speed of up to 2.4GHz, 8GB Memory and 256GB Flash Storage for $1,299. There is also one with a 1.2 GHz dual-core Intel Core M Processor also complimented by a Turbo Boosts speeds of up to 2.6 Ghz, 8GB Memory and 512GB Flash Storage for $1,599. Both versions have the Intel HD Graphics 5300. A decent laptop for all of your computing needs, except for when running applications requiring higher graphics properties like playing games or editing videos.
So perhaps it’s time you ditch your convenient tablet but irritating when comes to typing with limited storage space among other things. For the slick new Macbook, as Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing puts it:
“This is the vision of the future of the notebook: one of extreme portability.”
