6 ms·

This looks like what the Macbook (2015) wanted to be. Keyboard and single port aside, it was a fantastic form factor, albeit crushingly slow. Mine no longer hol

This looks like what the Macbook (2015) wanted to be. Keyboard and single port aside, it was a fantastic form factor, albeit crushingly slow. Mine no longer holds a charge, and am eagerly awaiting replacing it with one of these. Over time I've also noticed I no longer care about having the fastest possible laptop, since my job provides me with an MBP and that's where serious work gets done. I have a feeling this is going to be backordered for a long, long time though.

out_of_protocol 4y ago
New one is heavy, much more so than 12" one
- asdff 4y ago
  It's only a half pound lighter than the macbook pro
- coldtea 4y ago
  "Heavy"
  - girvo 4y ago
    As far as I’m concerned, basically all of these computers are light compared to the multi kg 14” Toshiba I lugged around in the 2000s
- andrekandre 4y ago
  agree, still hold out hope for a new 12 inch at some point, apple silicon makes me optimistic ^^
- DominikPeters 4y ago
  12" was 0.92kg. New MBA is 1.24kg.
wollsmoth 4y ago
I swapped out the battery on mine. It now gets a few hours of life per charge but it's still fairly big and the fan fires up when barely anything is happening. Might just have to jump on this MBA too.
- ProfessorLayton 4y ago
  I think we're talking about two different machines, I have a fanless MacBook from ~2015, with the ultra low voltage intel CPU that is way, way too slow these days. It has also survived multiple water spills, and the speakers don't work anymore. It's definitely time for an upgrade :)
coldtea 4y ago
>Mine no longer holds a charge That should be trivial to fix with a battery update. 5-6-7 years is a good run...
- abfan1127 4y ago
  my older macbooks (air and pro) had a swollen battery which ruined the main boards and were no longer replaceable in practical terms. I'd get it replaced sooner than later if you're planning on doing so.
- nyanpasu64 4y ago
  We got a SIKER battery replacement for a 2012 MacBook Pro, but one cell swelled up and the battery wouldn't hold a charge. One Amazon reviewer for one of the replacement MacBook battery packs says that they might be building replacement battery packs out of old worn damaged, or mismatched cells. I don't know if that's the case. In any case I bought a second battery pack from TECHOWL and it seems to be working for a few weeks so far. Fingers crossed...
  - makeset 4y ago
    I’ve changed half a dozen MacBook batteries with Anker over the years, and all worked flawlessly. One I thought was swollen and they promptly moved to send a replacement, but turned out it was my case that was warped.
    - shmoe 4y ago
      I remember when they were making cell phone battery replacements (when that was a thing) -- are they still doing this with laptops today?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
TazeTSchnitzel 4y ago
I own a 12" Retina MacBook and I am sad that none of the new laptops can really replace it. They're all significantly larger and heavier. The new MacBook Air is a replacement for the old MacBook Air, not the MacBook. It's a shame Apple have given up on the ultra-ultra-lightweight MacBook concept, considering that the M1 would be perfect for it.
- nextos 4y ago
  I own a MacBook Air 11'', and it's also a pretty unique machine in terms of small form factor and silent operation. I feel current MacBook Airs finally serve as a good replacement. However, the 11'' Late 2012 model was also quite unique in terms of being a perfect PC citizen. So one could run other OSes with zero effort. In fact, it was Linus' daily driver for a few years. I wish other manufacturers like Lenovo or Dell tried to compete in terms of fanless design so that there were more options. Lenovo in particular seems quite unfocused as they release tons of devices all the time and good ones are much more expensive than Apple's offerings, at least in EU.
  - Method-X 4y ago
    Totally agree. It’s just other CPUs don’t come close to the M1/M2. That’s what really makes the new MacBooks unique. It’s going to be like that for quite some time I think.
    - nextos 4y ago
      I think some Intel / AMD options are pretty similar. However, their performance per Watt is inferior which makes it tricky to come up with nice silent machines.
- Bud 4y ago
  The new Air is significantly smaller in volume, though.
  - WillPostForFood 4y ago
elxr 4y ago
I'd rather buy a similarly light laptop, that has a touchscreen. You can already get AMD Zen 3+ machines in this size class, that isn't too far behind in perf & efficiency. Doing so gives you much better Linux compatibility, a touchscreen, and (sometimes) better feeling keyboards. Battery life will always come up short though, x86 laptops just can't match these new macbooks.
- seunosewa 4y ago
  Why do you need a touchscreen? What are some of the applications? I feel like the screen would get dirty.
  - icemelt8 4y ago
  - elxr 4y ago
    For casual web browsing, on some sites I find it more efficient to click links directly on the screen instead of using a cursor. A big one for me, pinch to zoom for images/charts/maps is a lot more natural to me on a touchscreen. Controlling mobile emulators when developing mobile apps can also benefit from a touchscreen. > I feel like the screen would get dirty. It does, but I'd just wipe it down occasionally like I do my phone.
    - joe5150 4y ago
      Mobile emulators seems like a good use case. Pinching and scrolling are areas where to me it seems touchscreens have just tried to make up for shortcomings with touchpads.
  - joe5150 4y ago
    I recently used a friend's touchscreen laptop to reinstall Windows on it. The touchscreen was handy to scroll with while we waited for Windows Update to find his touchpad driver, but once that was installed, I don't think I even felt tempted to touch the screen again.
- 4y ago
zumu 4y ago
Mine (2017) is still going strong. My only complaints are the lack of a video-out thunderbolt port and the relatively week camera. I find it plenty snappy and not at all 'crushingly slow', but then again I'm not compiling on it—just happily browsing and chatting. Like you I'll probably replace it, but not for a couple years once the software catches up and when I can get it cheap refurbed.
TheArcane 4y ago
All it needs is 2 external display support, a 120Hz screen, and we're golden

out_of_protocol 4y ago

New one is heavy, much more so than 12" one

asdff 4y ago
It's only a half pound lighter than the macbook pro
coldtea 4y ago
"Heavy"
- girvo 4y ago
  As far as I’m concerned, basically all of these computers are light compared to the multi kg 14” Toshiba I lugged around in the 2000s
andrekandre 4y ago
agree, still hold out hope for a new 12 inch at some point, apple silicon makes me optimistic ^^
DominikPeters 4y ago
12" was 0.92kg. New MBA is 1.24kg.

wollsmoth 4y ago

I swapped out the battery on mine. It now gets a few hours of life per charge but it's still fairly big and the fan fires up when barely anything is happening. Might just have to jump on this MBA too.

ProfessorLayton 4y ago
I think we're talking about two different machines, I have a fanless MacBook from ~2015, with the ultra low voltage intel CPU that is way, way too slow these days. It has also survived multiple water spills, and the speakers don't work anymore. It's definitely time for an upgrade :)

coldtea 4y ago

>Mine no longer holds a charge That should be trivial to fix with a battery update. 5-6-7 years is a good run...

abfan1127 4y ago
my older macbooks (air and pro) had a swollen battery which ruined the main boards and were no longer replaceable in practical terms. I'd get it replaced sooner than later if you're planning on doing so.
nyanpasu64 4y ago
We got a SIKER battery replacement for a 2012 MacBook Pro, but one cell swelled up and the battery wouldn't hold a charge. One Amazon reviewer for one of the replacement MacBook battery packs says that they might be building replacement battery packs out of old worn damaged, or mismatched cells. I don't know if that's the case. In any case I bought a second battery pack from TECHOWL and it seems to be working for a few weeks so far. Fingers crossed...
- makeset 4y ago
  I’ve changed half a dozen MacBook batteries with Anker over the years, and all worked flawlessly. One I thought was swollen and they promptly moved to send a replacement, but turned out it was my case that was warped.
  - shmoe 4y ago
    I remember when they were making cell phone battery replacements (when that was a thing) -- are they still doing this with laptops today?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

TazeTSchnitzel 4y ago

I own a 12" Retina MacBook and I am sad that none of the new laptops can really replace it. They're all significantly larger and heavier. The new MacBook Air is a replacement for the old MacBook Air, not the MacBook. It's a shame Apple have given up on the ultra-ultra-lightweight MacBook concept, considering that the M1 would be perfect for it.

nextos 4y ago
I own a MacBook Air 11'', and it's also a pretty unique machine in terms of small form factor and silent operation. I feel current MacBook Airs finally serve as a good replacement. However, the 11'' Late 2012 model was also quite unique in terms of being a perfect PC citizen. So one could run other OSes with zero effort. In fact, it was Linus' daily driver for a few years. I wish other manufacturers like Lenovo or Dell tried to compete in terms of fanless design so that there were more options. Lenovo in particular seems quite unfocused as they release tons of devices all the time and good ones are much more expensive than Apple's offerings, at least in EU.
- Method-X 4y ago
  Totally agree. It’s just other CPUs don’t come close to the M1/M2. That’s what really makes the new MacBooks unique. It’s going to be like that for quite some time I think.
  - nextos 4y ago
    I think some Intel / AMD options are pretty similar. However, their performance per Watt is inferior which makes it tricky to come up with nice silent machines.
Bud 4y ago
The new Air is significantly smaller in volume, though.
- WillPostForFood 4y ago

elxr 4y ago

I'd rather buy a similarly light laptop, that has a touchscreen. You can already get AMD Zen 3+ machines in this size class, that isn't too far behind in perf & efficiency. Doing so gives you much better Linux compatibility, a touchscreen, and (sometimes) better feeling keyboards. Battery life will always come up short though, x86 laptops just can't match these new macbooks.

seunosewa 4y ago
Why do you need a touchscreen? What are some of the applications? I feel like the screen would get dirty.
- icemelt8 4y ago
- elxr 4y ago
  For casual web browsing, on some sites I find it more efficient to click links directly on the screen instead of using a cursor. A big one for me, pinch to zoom for images/charts/maps is a lot more natural to me on a touchscreen. Controlling mobile emulators when developing mobile apps can also benefit from a touchscreen. > I feel like the screen would get dirty. It does, but I'd just wipe it down occasionally like I do my phone.
  - joe5150 4y ago
    Mobile emulators seems like a good use case. Pinching and scrolling are areas where to me it seems touchscreens have just tried to make up for shortcomings with touchpads.
- joe5150 4y ago
  I recently used a friend's touchscreen laptop to reinstall Windows on it. The touchscreen was handy to scroll with while we waited for Windows Update to find his touchpad driver, but once that was installed, I don't think I even felt tempted to touch the screen again.
4y ago

zumu 4y ago

Mine (2017) is still going strong. My only complaints are the lack of a video-out thunderbolt port and the relatively week camera. I find it plenty snappy and not at all 'crushingly slow', but then again I'm not compiling on it—just happily browsing and chatting. Like you I'll probably replace it, but not for a couple years once the software catches up and when I can get it cheap refurbed.

TheArcane 4y ago

All it needs is 2 external display support, a 120Hz screen, and we're golden