Apple launches new 12" MacBook with Skylake CPUs, longer battery life and a Rose Gold option, also updates 13" MacBook Air to 8 GB of RAM standard

[captain cactus]

Sauce: http://www.macrumors.com/2016/04/19/new-2016-12-inch-macbook-released/

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/04/19/13-inch-macbook-air-8gb-ram-standard/

Quote

Apple today announced that it has released new 12-inch MacBook models with the latest sixth-generation Skylake dual-core Intel Core M processors up to 1.3 GHz, new Intel HD Graphics 515 that deliver up to 25% faster performance, faster PCIe-based flash storage, an additional hour of battery life, and faster 1866 MHz memory.

Quote

The notebook continues to have a 12-inch display with a 2,304-by-1,440 resolution at 226 PPI, single USB 3.1 Type-C port, 256GB or 512GB flash storage, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, a 480p FaceTime camera, stereo speakers, dual microphones, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

So a couple of things:

 

Still a 480p camera (utter failure, just wow)

Still DDR3 RAM, this is an Intel Core M3/5/7 limitation

Still a single USB-C port that isn't Thunderbolt 3

I do like the larger battery (from 39 watt-hour to 41)

 

I guess if you only want a super portable machine that isn't gimped by a mobile OS as a secondary computer, then it's all yours. But if you do need to do anything more than that get an Air or a 13" MacBook Pro.

 

Speaking of the Air:

 

Quote

13-inch MacBook Air models previously had 4GB of RAM for stock configurations, with 8GB of RAM available as an upgrade option for built-to-order models. 11-inch MacBook Air models continue to have 4GB of RAM for base configurations.

The Air remains a weird machine, product placement wise. It doesn't have a Retina display, it keeps the Broadwell chips, still uses an older design, etc. Rumors have suggested the Air's days are numbered, but we have to see what WWDC gets us when it kicks off on the 13th of June.

[IMPERIUS]

lol rip

[ThinkWithPortals]

480p camera? LOL.

DDR3? Doesn't matter too much IMO.

Single port? LOL.

Larger battery? Good.

 

And the more RAM on the Air is good too. 4 just isn't enough I find. I'm waiting to upgrade to 16 in the summer.

[GirlFromYonder]

Umm apple, its pink

[sissj]

Apple: Releases new Macbook model

 

Still is shit as the last....

[Kamil]

People: "We have complaints."

Apple: "No you don't."

[Kobathor]

I don't get the Macbook Air.

 

If it's anything like the last line of Macbooks, this is gonna happen again: 

 

[FPSwithaWacomTablet]

28 minutes ago, DeezNoNos said:

Umm apple, its pink

You haven't seen Lamborghini's colour schemes yet... 

 

Nero Noctis in matte would've been a nice option, but for now I guess I'll stick with Grigio Antares

[Warcony]

The 13" Macbook Air still has a screen resolution of 900p and is STILL not an IPS panel...for $1200 CAD. It also gets less battery life than other cheaper ultrabooks that have higher resolution panels.

[Mew]

I think the camera/webcam complaint is pointless. If they included an HD or fhd camera, people will still complain that it isn't high quality enough to take selfies or live cam because the bitrate sucks or low light performance sucks. People even complain when things have a good camera (ipad pro). 

[79wjd]

2 minutes ago, kurahk7 said:

I think the camera/webcam complaint is pointless. If they included an HD or fhd camera, people will still complain that it isn't high quality enough to take selfies or live cam because the bitrate sucks or low light performance sucks. People even complain when things have a good camera (ipad pro). 

The complaint with the iPad pro is that you shouldn't be taking pictures with an iPad. A front facing camera, on the other hand, is used for video chatting and so it should be of decent quality.

[Mew]

1 minute ago, djdwosk97 said:

The complaint with the iPad pro is that you shouldn't be taking pictures with an iPad. A front facing camera, on the other hand, is used for video chatting and so it should be of decent quality.

Well, I guess my point is that upping the resolution isn't really going to do much, it's still gonna suck because it has a green or yellow tint, it has bad low light performance, or the framerate isn't high enough. People will just find something else to complain about. 

[thexzenon]

So the Air is officially dead. Hopefully they'll announce a big change to the rMPB and hopefully this won't mean cutting the amount of ports (seriously Apple, we need them).

[handymanshandle]

1 hour ago, crisro996 said:

So the Air is officially dead. Hopefully they'll announce a big change to the rMPB and hopefully this won't mean cutting the amount of ports (seriously Apple, we need them).

Not its not, the m3 and m5 are still much weaker than the ULV i5 and i7 in the Air

 

Of course it'd be great to see the rMBP become worthy of its "Pro" moniker in terms of its specs.

[AyeJayKay]

2 hours ago, Warcony said:

The 13" Macbook Air still has a screen resolution of 900p and is STILL not an IPS panel...for $1200 CAD. It also gets less battery life than other cheaper ultrabooks that have higher resolution panels.

could you link me to some of these laptops that get better battery life. I'm looking to get a new laptop and none of the windows laptops seem to have the battery life of an Air.

1 hour ago, crisro996 said:

So the Air is officially dead. Hopefully they'll announce a big change to the rMPB and hopefully this won't mean cutting the amount of ports (seriously Apple, we need them).

Rumor has it that the Pros are supposed to have a radical design change announced at the upcoming WWDC 2016. If they can make it thinner while maintaining the ports, I wouldn't mind if they get rid of the Air line.

[elfensky]

25% of 0 is still zero...

If you want a netbook, you should rather buy an ipad or android tablet, both have a good suite of office apps and browsers.

 

If you want a proper laptop, what are you doing, looking at the Air? Ugh I never understood its place in the market, despite a lot of people buying it.

[NateGSR117]

Lol, this is a product I'll just laugh at when I see it or even mention.

[Mr.Meerkat]

3 minutes ago, ElfenSky said:

25% of 0 is still zero...

If you want a netbook, you should rather buy an ipad or android tablet, both have a good suite of office apps and browsers.

 

If you want a proper laptop, what are you doing, looking at the Air? Ugh I never understood its place in the market, despite a lot of people buying it.

I do understand it, it came out before ultrabooks were an actual thing and before the iPad was a thing as well...it was released a few months before the fricking iPhone 3 was released! It was originally named the thinnest laptop (which was true back then) so what is there something that you don't understand about? It was released 8 years ago into a very different portable market where touch screen phones were still kicking off.

It's like saying "I don't understand why smartphone with physical keyboards existed" in 2008...jeez learn some techy history before dismissing a product because a few years later, after it's original launch better tech would/has been released  

[W-L]

Further details on processor specs:

 

[bob345]

such an incremental change. And still horribly over priced for what you get. I mean, its over priced even for apple standards. $1300? no way. I could see 750-800 but not Maybe 900, but $1299? The performance just is not there. Apple being apple though, its still going to fly off the shelves.

[elfensky]

2 hours ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

I do understand it, it came out before ultrabooks were an actual thing and before the iPad was a thing as well...it was released a few months before the fricking iPhone 3 was released! It was originally named the thinnest laptop (which was true back then) so what is there something that you don't understand about? It was released 8 years ago into a very different portable market where touch screen phones were still kicking off.

It's like saying "I don't understand why smartphone with physical keyboards existed" in 2008...jeez learn some techy history before dismissing a product because a few years later, after it's original launch better tech would/has been released  

 

Ooh I didn't realize that! I'll even agree, back then it would have easily made sense. (holy shit though, it was THAT long ago... Damn, time flies...

Though I stand by what I said, though I'll rephrase it: I don't understand it's place in the current market.

[Castdeath97]

5 hours ago, FPSwithaWacomTablet said:

You haven't seen Lamborghini's colour schemes yet... 

 

Nero Noctis in matte would've been a nice option, but for now I guess I'll stick with Grigio Antares

Just call them black and grey Lamborghini goddamn it. On a serious note, they probably do this to make it sound more premium.

[Castdeath97]

58 minutes ago, bob345 said:

such an incremental change. And still horribly over priced for what you get. I mean, its over priced even for apple standards. $1300? no way. I could see 750-800 but not Maybe 900, but $1299? The performance just is not there. Apple being apple though, its still going to fly off the shelves.

I would bet it won't, you got the retina pro at the same price bracket with a better CPU and GPU and still manages to be light enough for many.

[thexzenon]

2 hours ago, wcreek said:

Not its not, the m3 and m5 are still much weaker than the ULV i5 and i7 in the Air

 

Of course it'd be great to see the rMBP become worthy of its "Pro" moniker in terms of its specs.

The Air was supposed to be a light-weight web-browsing laptop which has so far been replaced by the MacBook. They didn't even bother to bump the specs any further beside 4 gigs of RAM. They could've at least put a newer generation of CPUs, but nope, just a tiny bump (which I do admit was needed). The only thing the Air has going for it is the price.

[Scruffy90]

I'd still get the air over the regular macbook.  Typing on the regular macbook feels like feels you're slamming your fingers into the table.