12-inch Retina MacBook 1 year review
I`ve had my MacBook now for 1 year or so. It`s the one that came out may 2015 and I got it in November 2015. This is a review of this MacBook Im currently using to type this blog.
So this MacBook definitely created some controversy when it was first announced. I think almost everybody can agree that the 12 inch MacBook is absolutely beautiful. I personally think its the best looking laptop ever made or designed. Its so slim, light, and the space grey model I have looks amazing in all lighting.
So what are the draw backs of this beautiful piece of technology? Well, its significantly under powered for the price, and it only has one usb type c port. Lets talk about the processor first. The processor in the model I have is the intel core iM. If you care about bench mark scores it dishes out 2400 single core and 4200 multicore in geek bench 4. Compared to other laptops that you can get for $2000, this laptop is a joke in terms of power, but to most people who would go for this laptop, power is something they don't need. You can actually edit 4k videos, and do some heavy intense work on this machine surprisingly. I haven't had it stutter a single bit in my use. That being said, I know I can not use this laptop for intense gaming or anything that level. First of all, anybody that buys a mac shouldn't be expecting a good power to price ratio.
So one port. Hmmmm. This can definitely be something hard to swallow for some people. I personally never use ports. The only time I ever use the port is for charging and the once a month back up to an external hard drive. So on the port front, there`s nothing to complain about for me. If you`re a person that uses multiple ports, then it can be a tough buy, but the type c port can use used for anything from usb to HDMI output. I still think it would have been better for apple to add another port at least.
But aside from the lack of ports and the underpowered processor, theres really nothing to complain about, so now I`ll list 3 things that are great about this laptop. Firstly the screen. The screen is a 1440 x 2304 (quad HD) LCD screen and it looks great. seriously great. I personally don`t understand the significance of a 4k screen on a laptop, because at that point its hard to see if its even 4k or not. 1440p is the perfect resolution for a laptop with a 12 inch screen, and again, it looks great. Maybe 12 inch isn't enough for you, and thats something i thought to myself as well, but because the screen is 16:9 aspect ratio, it actually really feels like its a bigger screen that 12 inches. All in all, the screen is excellent.
Next, lets talk about the speakers. The front facing speakers on the MacBook are great. Maybe the best I`ve ever heard on a laptop. If speakers are a big factor for you, then this is the one for you.
Finally battery life. I think this is something most people neglect about a laptop. A laptop for me, needs to have good battery life. Has to. Other wise its not a laptop it'll just be a desktop. The battery life on this laptop is unbelievably good. On a full charge, if I were to only use the laptop for say pages writing documents I can seriously get 12 hours out. For normal usage of email, and web surfing, maybe a bit of document writing, the laptop will easily last you a day. Most of the time I can use this thing for 2 days and charge it over night on the second day.
So all in all, was this laptop worth the $1300 USD price tag? I think so. To be honest i couldn't have asked for a better laptop, and sure maybe there might be similar laptops to this, but honestly with this form factor, screen, battery life, and those amazing speakers, I think it`ll be very tough to find a laptop as good this. That being said, its definitely not for everyone.
Thanks for reading ;)