Apple MacBook (13-inch, Early 2015) Pro Reviews

The fact that the MacBook is the MacBook, and not the MacBook Nano or some other named MacBook is something I believe is telling. Although there’s clearly a risk in reading too much into Apple’s future plans based on a name alone, I have to seriously wonder where the MacBook and the MacBook Air go from here. Apple still needs an entry-level Mac laptop, but do they need the MacBook Air in particular? Just as the newer MacBook Air rendered the previous generation MacBook redundant in due time, I suspect Apple may intentionally following the same course with the new MacBook. But as to whether that comes to pass, only time will tell.

All in all, the MacBook—like many other portables in its class, particularly other Core M-based models we've seen—delivers capable performance, as long as you think of it as a traveling productivity partner, online venturer, and music and video entertainment enjoyment station rather than a formidable number-cruncher or content-creation machine. It's not built for CAD or video rendering; it's built for long flights and hotel-room nights.Of course, so is the Apple MacBook Air. And so are a lot of laptops that don't throw existing cables and peripherals under the, so to speak, bus. The new MacBook is so modern it hurts a little; USB Type C is the connector of tomorrow, but you need to use flash drives and SD cards today, and we're taking half a star off our rating for that reason. But once you have the MacBook in your hands, it's hard to stay grumpy. This thing is amazing, from its Retina display to its somehow shallow yet tactile keyboard to its featherweight convenience and remarkable battery life. Apple can work wonders when it wants to, and it's done it again. The job of the Lenovo LaVie Z—and every skinny laptop that shows its face in 2015—just got a whole lot harder.

The 12-inch Apple MacBook is the thinnest, lightest Mac laptop yet, combining the power of OS X with extreme portability and more than 14 hours of battery life.