bosbjg

Looking to upgrade my many years old Macbook Air

Looking at the new 2017 versions of the Macbook and Macbook Pro

Only main deltas i see are:
Pro has 720p webcam
Pro has higher specs
MacBook is 1 lbs lighter

Other tips or real world experiences?

GadgetFreak

At least on my MacBook and MacBook pro, both of which are older, the keyboard on the MacBook doesn't have as much key travel (I know that isn't the correct technical term). Also, I don't know about the newer MacBook Pros but the older ones have USB ports vs USB C on the MacBooks. The lighter weight of the MacBooks is great, however.

richard

I love love love the rMB 12 inch. I am not crazy about the keyboards on the new Macs, but the machines are amazing.

The 12" is the size of an iPad and just super useful. It makes a huge difference, that light weight and small size. I frequently use it at home walking around and talking on skype or dictating on Dragon.

The sole USB-C port is no problem. Just have to drag around a few devices and dongles but that's life today.

Its battery life is the best of any of my Macs, past or present. I get 8 or 10 hours out of it. The screen is really incredible.

Underpowered? Slightly but not enough to really matter.

freecia

Pro has 2-4 thunderbolt 3 usb-c while MacBook is just usb-c. I use thunderbolt 2->3 adapter to use it in target display mode with a non-retina iMac.

Only 1 USB port is a no-go for me but others seem to be totally fine with it. It all depends on your personal usage patterns. I also prefer the memory and cpu options offered in the Pro.

bosbjg

I assume with the right dongles and Dock it will work. When on the road 1 should do it ...

I will have to go test out the keyboards - that is also something that has concerned me .. from what I have heard the new 2017 MacBook Pro has improved the key.

GadgetFreak

I have an older Pro and the keys are great but noticeably less so on the MacBook. It doesn't bother me much and is more than compensated by the super light weight and thin profile of the MacBook, but you should definitely test them both to see how much difference you can feel.

richard

I really don't like the new keyboards but overall the Mac is so much better an experience that I don't mind them.

The last Windows experience was a Surface Pro 4 and I was very unhappy with it and sent it back. So many compromises.

I love the new iPads now, wow. I'm doing stuff with them that I couldn't imagine doing before, with or without a Mac.

Dunbar

FYI, the keyboard on the new 2017 12" Macbook is the updated butterfly design from the 2016+ Macbook Pro. It has more travel to the keys and feels better. I have the original 2015 12" Macbook which I like a lot (screen is a huge upgrade from my Macbook Air.) The latest 2017 12" Macbook does significantly better in Geekbench so you aren't giving up much performance versus the latest Macbook Pro. It's about on par with the high end 2016 13" Macbook Pro which came out less than a year ago and not many people would consider that machine underpowered. The main difference is the lack of a fan so the CPU will be more aggressively throttled if you are pushing the machine hard. The main advantage of the 12" Macbook vs. the Macbook Pro is how small and portable it is. The 1lb. weight savings doesn't sound like much but it makes a huge difference when you're traveling with it. I used to leave my 3lb Macbook Air at home but the 12" Macbook is so much easier to travel with when paired with a two-port travel charger that charges both my iPhone and Macbook. One caveat, if you plan to hook it up to a 4k monitor the 12" Macbook can seem a bit sluggish in that scenario.

GadgetFreak

Thanks for that info. Which charger are you referring to.

Dunbar

I have one of these chargers but it looks like it may have been discontinued. I wanted both a USB-A (for the iPhone) and a USB-C port that can charge my 12" Macbook @ 29W. Whichever one you choose make sure the USB-C port is rated at ~30W or else it won't charge the Macbook as fast. This one is rated at 15V/2A which is 30W and it charges my Macbook as fast as the 29W Apple charger. Also, keep in mind that the Macbook Pros would require more powerful USB-C ports than this to charge as quickly as the stock Apple charger.

deniah

im using an early-2015 Macbook 12".

it really depends on your usage case. for general consumption and 95% of use it is fantastic. i can operate the office suite without a hiccup, even do some photo production and such.

it does hit a ceiling quite early, such as stuttering on 1080p youtube playback. and the single port AND needing an adapter can be a big annoyance.

the portability cannot be matched. it is an absurdly small and light unit.

hard to make a recommendation without knowing your use case. for me i actually have at all times a 13" or 15" pro as an alterative machine. and i decide on a trip by trip basis which to carry.

for their size the 13 and 15" are also superbly compact and light... if i compare with my work issued montrosities

Error 601

My girlfriend replaced her dead MacBook Air with a 12" MacBook and really hasn't been satisfied with it, she would have returned it had she not run-out the clock while we were traveling.

She has complaints about video playback, she hates the keyboard, she hates the dongles, has had trouble connecting to 5GHz access points and connecting her Nikon camera with USB-C to USB adapters.

She likes that she can theoretically charge it from airplane and car USB, but I don't believe I have ever actually seen her do either.

That being said, other than a PC she occasional plays weird online fairy and troll games this is her primary computer. I would personally be interested in a very small Mac notebook just for the purposes of remotely connecting to other Macs and would contemplate this machine as just as a lightweight work machine for when I travel and don't want to take my office 15" MacBook Pro.

ClimbingCook

I have both a 12" MacBook and a 13" MacBook Pro with the touchbar. The pro goes to and from the office with me, the 12" goes in my bag when I'm on the road. For me, the weight savings is worth the slow speed and awkward keyboard.

tmiw

I might be imagining things but I think the keyboard on the 2017 MBP might be slightly improved over the 2016 version. They're both not great compared to my late-2013's but unlike last year's, I could maybe get used to the 2017's eventually. More key travel and the keyboard would be great, IMO.

As for the carryability, I feel like the 13" MBP has that. Of course, the reduced weight of the 12" would be an improvement in that regard.