The third generation MacBook is the first in the line-up to tempt me away from a MacBook Pro, and the first to really feel like the successor to the MacBook Air, as an ultraportable computer without (many) compromises.
The design is fantastic, with Apple's usual polish and care for detail on display. The MacBook is one of the thinnest, lightest laptops available. It's so light, at less than a kilogram, a few times I've panicked that I left it somewhere because my bag felt empty. Add the Space Grey finish, and you have a gorgeous looking thing.
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The original MacBook was the first to introduce Apple's ultra-thin "butterfly switch" keyboard, and that first attempt was not well received. Typing on the first generation was quite literally a painful experience. The tips of my fingers would hurt after long periods of typing. Apple improved the feel of the switch in last year's Pro line, and the improved keyboard has finally made its way to the Book.
It's funny, when reviewing the Pro last October I still wasn't sold on this new keyboard design, and reluctantly wrote it was "something I can feel myself getting used to". Well, nine months later and I really love the feel of Apple's laptop keyboards. Traditional keyboards feel almost alien to me now, like typing on toasted marshmallows.
Battery life on the MacBook is incredible, considering how thin and light the laptop is. The seventh generation Intel chips are better than the chips found in previous generation MacBooks, but this outperforms similarly powered PCs as well.
Apple's macOS seems tuned to save as much charge as possible, cleverly "sleeping" apps that aren't open in the foreground. As a result, I was easily getting a full day of heavy use on this tiny little laptop, even with multiple apps running. You'll need to ditch Chrome for Safari if you want all-day battery life, but it's worth it to be able to leave your charger at home.
And that new Intel chip has boosted performance as well. The first generation MacBook struggled with anything more than the simplest tasks. The new one, to my surprise, was able to handle some high-end tasks — like multilayer editing in Photoshop — even powering a Windows virtual machine. It's more than capable of running standard office tasks, like crunching through large Excel files and Word documents with Spotify playing in the background.
To put it another way, while creatives, engineers and software developers are better off sticking with the MacBook Pro, the MacBook is now powerful enough for their managers to use.
Ultra-portable laptops often ship with lower resolution screens to save on cost and battery life. The MacBook does not. Its screen is wonderfully bright and colourful, with a retina display of 2160 x 1440 pixels.
There are still two nagging issues that may be deal breakers to some.
First is that single USB C port. I'm happy to embrace USB C, and honestly think the constant "dongle" complaints levelled at Apple are overblown. USB C is far more versatile than traditional USB A, and the faster the industry adopts it, the better. But giving the MacBook just one USB C port to act as both the laptop's charger and it's only connector can be frustrating. For the same price as the MacBook, you can get an entry level MacBook Pro with two USB C ports. It's just not as pretty.
The other drawback here is the price. The MacBook starts at $1899, which means it's still priced like a luxury item. That's fair, the MacBook feels like a luxury item, but it worries me that Apple's only low-priced laptop option is the ancient MacBook Air. I'm hoping the MacBook follows the trajectory of the Air, and eventually becomes the entry level laptop of Apple's MacBook family.