On March 9 this year, Apple announced the latest notebook in its MacBook lineup, the New 12-inch MacBook.[highlight color=#e7e14f ] Not a MacBook Pro or Air but the New MacBook.[/highlight] This is a completely redesigned version of the MacBook which is crazy thin.
It measures 13.1 mm at its thickest point, which is thinner than most of the laptops at their thinnest point, and it weighs only a mere 2 pounds! This is too thin for normal batteries, ports and even for a regular trackpad for that matter. It sports only a single USB Type-C port which is used for charging, data transfer and to connect other peripherals to the MacBook, which calls for a lot of adapters.
The following are the key new features of this MacBook:
1. Keyboard:
The MacBook’s keyboard uses a butterfly mechanism instead of a scissor mechanism to hold the keys which improves the stability of the keys and also the overall height of the key without compromising the feedback.
2. Display:
It sports a 12″ edge to edge Retina Display with a resolution of 2304 x 1440, with a panel which is just 0.88 mm thin. Apple claims that the display consumes 30% less energy for the same brightness as regular displays. The colors are vivid and the details are tack sharp on this display. It should be a true pleasure to look at!
3. Trackpad
As told earlier, the MacBook is too thin for a mechanical trackpad that clicks. So Apple used a piece of glass in place of the trackpad which is mounted on 4 pressure sensors, one at each corner, to read the force with which the trackpad is being pressed. If it detects a click, a device vibrates, giving that ‘clicky’ feel. This feels exactly like a click and we can even vary the amount of clickyness it gives. The force sensors also enable a third version to the clicking business, called the “Force Click“. This can be used to fast forward videos or preview files and folders.
4. Batteries
Conventional rectangular batteries waste a lot of space inside the laptop because they can’t be placed in places with curves. So, Apple redesigned the batteries and created contoured batteries, where batteries are stacked on top of one another and they can be shaped in multiple ways, allowing the batteries to be packed more efficiently in the MacBook.
5. Logic Board
The New MacBook’s logic board is the densest logic board ever on a Mac, which is 66% smaller than the previous version logic board, with the new Intel M processor, which can reach speed up to 1.3 GHz with turbocharge of up to 2.9 GHz. It is fan-less, which makes it a silent machine with no moving parts at all.
Though this isn’t a powerhouse which you can use to play games or edit 4K videos, it is a decent machine. It comes in 3 colors- Silver, Gold and Space Gray. It will be up for sales on April 9th, and will be sold at a price of $1299 for the basic model. The true prowess of this machine will only be known when we get our hands on this baby!