The new Macbook (2015)

My local Apple store happened to have a Space Gray Macbook in stock, so I picked it up. I think that a lot has been said already about the new Macbook, but here are some thoughts of mine. I primarily wanted a laptop that is as small and lightweight as possible, and the Macbook fits that. People called it an "iPad running OS X" and mean that in a negative way, but this was essentially what I'm looking for. And it fits that bill - it easily fits into the sleeve of my old Asus eeePC 1000HE and thus also in my little messenger bag. And yet, it runs OS X, which means that I can run iDraw, XCode, do .net Core 5 development (with Visual Studio Code) and a bunch of other development related things I simply cannot do with an iPad. It even runs Logic Pro X and Final Cut Pro X, although of course, performance is limited.

It only has a single USB-C port - this is something you have to carefully think about if you're interested in buying one, since that is also the charging port. I've looked at my stuff, and while I wish there was a second port, I can live very well with the single port. My iPhone tethers wireless, my D-SLR has an Eye-Fi Wireless Card, when I need a mouse or keyboard I use bluetooth, if I need to transfer data I use AirDrop or Dropbox and if I need to back up data, Time Capsule does that wirelessly. Around here, there are enough Apple TVs to allow me to share my screen wirelessly. There are exceptions of course, for example my NanoKORG Controllers required me to buy the $19 USB-C to USB adapter. I do think I'll return that in favor of the $79 adapter that has USB, HDMI and a USB-C port that allows me to charge the Macbook and use a USB device.

I like the touchpad a lot. It basically fells the same as the old touchpads, and after changing some settings (Scroll direction, right click when tapping the bottom right etc.) I don't see a difference compared to the previous touchpads. Which of course means that Apple is still the only laptop manufacturer in the entire industry that makes a good touchpad. The keyboard is interesting. There is almost no hub, and yet the keys feel positively clicky. It's a full size keyboard, and while I only had a few hours to use it so far, I like it.

But as you can see, this is not your primary computer if you do anything that requires power. It lives in an ecosystem and it shines if you have a lot of other Apple products. I can code perfectly fine and do enough stuff with Logic or GarageBand, but if I want hardcore video/audio editing or running a Windows VM with the full Visual Studio, the Macbook isn't the right system. In fact, the Macbook is inferior to the 11" Macbook Air in almost every single category - the Air is cheaper, faster, has better connectivity, can drive a 4K monitor, and is the sane choice if you want to do pretty much anything. But the Air only comes in boring 2011-silver-design, cannot compete with the gorgeous screen on the Macbook, is significantly bigger and heavier and has a cooling fan. I still keep my Lenovo E440 as my Windows 7 portable.

To quote Hawkeye: None of this makes any sense.

But I like the Macbook.

Size comparison with the 10" iPad Air