It has been a busy product week for Apple as they had the review embargo lift a couple of days ago on their upcoming Apple Watch which can now be pre-ordered online only.
We brought together a collection of those Apple Watch reviews in one place for your convenience and now we are ready to do the same for the new MacBook, the 2015 edition, which saw its review embargo lifted yesterday.
Overall these reviews seem to be much more positive than those for the Apple Watch although there are some recommendations to not rush in and buy the new MacBook as well.
The new MacBook is available for purchase beginning today.
Enjoy.
Apple MacBook (12-inch, 2015) review: A minimalist MacBook that proves less can be more (cNet): The Bottom Line - If you can live with its limitations, the new 12-inch MacBook delivers a groundbreaking design that points the way to the next chapter in laptops.
Review: 12-inch MacBook (The Loop): The new MacBook is a gorgeous computer that expertly fills a niche that many need. It’s powerful enough to do all of the regular work you’ll need to get done at home, the office, or on the road. The MacBook runs completely silent and fits perfectly into my workflow. I haven’t touched either of my other two computers since I started using this one, and I’m very happy. This is my workflow now.
Apple MacBook Review: Redefining The Ultrathin Notebook Experience (Forbes): First and foremost, the new Apple MacBook challenged many of my preconceived notions of iPads with cases, 2-in-1s, and ultra-thin notebooks. I’m pleased to say that my experience with the new MacBook was, quite frankly, great, and I don’t throw that word around a lot.
Review: Apple MacBook (Wired): I don’t know just who Apple’s newest laptop is for. Rich people who fly coach? People with one laptop who want a second, gold one? Maybe. But I do know two things about the new MacBook: This is what the future of laptops looks like, and I want one very badly.
Apple MacBook 12-inch Retina (2015) Review (Laptop Mag): The new MacBook is a fantastically light and compact laptop that delivers a rich display, long battery life and surprisingly strong ergonomics, but it needs more ports.
MacBook Retina Review – The Portable Performer (SlashGear): It's not too great a stretch to say that, in the time I've spent with the MacBook, I’ve felt more inspired to enjoy writing again. I can pick it up, drop it on my lap, and just type away.
The 2015 MacBook previews a future that’s not quite here (ARS Technica): Ultimately, the new MacBook feels like a first-generation product—a very good first-generation product, but a first-generation product nevertheless. It has some promise and a couple of major shortcomings, and you don't need to be the first person who takes the leap into the Brave New Future it represents. If this is going to be your main computer or only computer or if you’re one of the bare handful of people who use Thunderbolt for something, it’s hard to recommend.
Apple rushes to the future with new MacBook (USA Today): Apple is routinely at the forefront of industry change. It led the way for disc drives to become an endangered species. So I suspect by the time there's another new MacBook down the pike, the decisions Apple made in producing this MacBook will be more commonplace. Still, for many of today's buyers there's no need to rush to the future.
Review: The new 12-inch MacBook is a laptop without an ecosystem (Macworld): People who are willing to deal with the pains in order to get their hands on a product like this, you know who you are. It’s waiting for you. The rest of the world will catch up, in time.
The new MacBook: A reviewer’s notebook (Six Colors): After writing 3500 words about a laptop, you wouldn’t think there’d be much left on the cutting-room floor. Oh, but you’d be wrong! Here are a few brief hands-on notes about the MacBook that I’ve saved just for Six Colors readers.
Apple’s New MacBook: Making a Sacrifice for Ultrathin Design (Recode): If money is no issue for you, you want a significantly smaller laptop and you don’t mind being limited by a lack of ports, then maybe upgrading to the new MacBook makes sense for you. But if you rely on USB ports and SD card slots, this MacBook’s single port for charging, storage transfers and other functionality will really bug you.
MacBook review: Apple reinvents the laptop again (Engadget): With its two-pound design, stunning screen and surprisingly comfortable keyboard, the new 12-inch MacBook offers a glimpse at the possible future of laptops. For now, though, its high price and lack of ports make it an expensive novelty, mostly meant for Mac diehards who put portability and screen quality above all else.
Review: Apple's Ultra-Thin New MacBook (Bloomberg): With the new keyboard and trackpad innovations, lust-inducing industrial design, and impressive downsizing of internal components, the MacBook feels like an important next step in the evolution of portable computers. But this machine isn't for everyone, particularly those who expect extremes from their devices. Still, if you prioritize style, need something ultraportable, and don’t mind trading power for a crisp and clear Retina display, then the perfect computer may have arrived.
12-inch MacBook review Invention and compromise (The Verge): You see, the problem with the future is that it isn't here yet. Instead we live in the now, and the now doesn't have the ecosystem of adapters and wireless peripherals I need to use this laptop with its single port. The now doesn't have the right processor to power through the apps I need without ruining battery life.
Reviewed: The Thinnest, Loveliest MacBook You’ll Never Buy (Yahoo! Tech): We know what this is: This is the 2008 MacBook Air. Today, the MacBook Air is frequently cited as the best laptop on the market — but the first model, in 2008, was also called overpriced, underpowered, and amazing-looking. In the same way, the 12-inch MacBooks of 2016 and 2017 will lose their flaws, enter a new era of USB-C compatibility, and seem much more at home in a more wireless world. Even Apple is allowed to start with a 1.0 version. But you don’t have to buy it.
The MacBook Review (Mashable): The most important thing about the new MacBook, to me, isn't necessarily what it is now, but what it represents. In five years, the sea of MacBook Airs and MacBook Air-style machines we see now at Starbucks will be replaced by machines that look more like the new MacBook.
2015 MacBook Review (TechCrunch): Apple’s new MacBook seemed like a shift so dramatic that it was bound to cause some discomfort when it was unveiled on stage in March in San Francisco, but in practice the big changes are far easier to embrace than you might expect.
Review: The New MacBook Is The MacBook Air, Taken One Stylish, Minimalist Step Further (Fast Company): That's the thing about the new MacBook: It doesn't cater to exactly the same audience as any existing Mac. It's a really good laptop—assuming you can figure out how to make USB-C make sense for you—and yet its size, weight, and overall minimalism give it an iPad-like persona. The thinking behind it is a different, more subtle way of mixing PC and tablet than all those other devices that try to be both at once. But like the original 2008 MacBook Air before it, this specialty Mac could also be a blueprint for the next generation of mainstream notebooks.
