Adam Kos It's been three years since Apple stopped selling its 12" MacBook. This laptop earned a lot of attention at the time of its launch, i.e. in 2015, because it was only passively cooled, it was incredibly small, slim, light, it was the first to bring to the world Apple USB-C, in the case of MacBooks, gold color, a new keyboard mechanism and a new generation trackpad. But he lived to see only two of his generations.
The second came a year later and corrected some of the ills of the first generation. That was, of course, the butterfly keyboard that Apple eventually abandoned. The second problem was the rather underpowered Intel M processor, however, the 12" MacBook was definitely not designed to conquer the benchmark charts. The new generation has thus only slightly increased the performance. Unfortunately, there was still only one USB-C, which was also quite limiting.
The 12" MacBook set the trends that later brought MacBook Pro and MacBook Air - not only in terms of keyboard, trackpad and USB-C, but also in design. However, no one took over its small display size, because both series started and still start at 13 inches. At the same time, small diagonals were not completely foreign to Apple, as it already had an 11" MacBook Air in its portfolio before.
Clear limitations
The 12" MacBook was designed primarily for travel, for which it was perfectly adapted. The problem was when you wanted to use it in the office. You simply had to limit yourself in all respects with him. But the biggest problem was not the size, the number of ports or the controversial keyboard, the 12" MacBook was simply killed by its price. You bought the basic version for 40, and the higher configuration for 45.
Personally, I was tempted, and I still use the 2016 model as a secondary machine. So the primary one is the office Mac mini, but as soon as I need to travel, the 12" MacBook goes with me. Of course, it depends on the requirements of each user, but this machine, with so many limitations, can handle normal office work even today. And when I imagine that it could be equipped with at least an M1 chip, it would be a clear buy in my case.
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Is bigger better?
If you look at the MacBook portfolio, it's not really extensive. We only have two MacBook Airs here, both with a 13" display, one with an M1 chip and the other with an M2 chip. 13, 14 and 16" MacBook Pros follow. The M1 MacBook Air starts at 30 CZK, the M2 MacBook Air at 37 CZK. Compared to the 12" MacBook, the prices are therefore friendlier. I would quite like to see how Apple would expand this portfolio with another model, i.e. the 12" MacBook Air, which would be based on the design of the model introduced this year. It would carry all the same elements, it would just be smaller, so it would also be lighter and more portable.
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When I work on the road, I appreciate a smaller device, for several years I worked quite well on a 12" MacBook even in the office, where I had it connected to an external display. A larger device is more expensive and takes up more space, so there is still a certain percentage of users who would really appreciate a similarly small machine. But since I'm not currently planning to buy a new machine, I'll just wait a year or two or three more and hope that Apple will surprise me. If I can wait, I will certainly be the first in line.
I'm signing and I'm second in line.
… so me third. I still have it today, even though I don't use it anymore, but it's the best Mac I've ever had. One port wasn't a problem for my way of working, processor speed was. But I think Apple is investing in iPads as ultra-portable near-computers, so it won't.