Apple MacBook: Is this the ultimate ultraportable notebook?

Reviving the MacBook

For most of our readers, when you think of a MacBook, you are probably thinking of the white polycarbonate model that was discontinued about four years ago. The MacBook was Apple’s entry-level notebook since its introduction in 2006, but it was phased out as technology and economies of scale made it possible for Apple to offer the MacBook Air (introduced in 2008) at lower prices.

Things have changed a lot since then. The MacBook Air has now become Apple’s entry-level and most affordable notebook, which is really strange if you think about it, because it was ridiculously expensive at launch, costing around S$3,000 to S$5,000 depending on your specifications. Now, the most affordable 13-inch MacBook Air model can be had for just over S$1,300.

Pricing aside, the MacBook Air, which made its name by being ultra-thin and light, is not really that light any more by modern standards, so much so that the its Air name is becoming a bit of a misnomer. It might have taken a while, but the competition has finally caught up and there are no shortage of notebooks that are thinner and lighter than the MacBook Air.

Fortunately, Apple is not one to just sit back and in its Spring Forward event earlier this year announced the revival of the MacBook name and a brand new ultraportable notebook.

The Hardware

One of the reasons why the new MacBook is so thin is because it is powered by Intel’s new Core M processors. These are ultra low power processors that have a TDP of just 4.5W and require no active cooling, allowing manufacturers to design fan-less chassis that are sleeker than ever before. If Core M sounds familiar to you, it is because this is the same processor found in other ultra-thin notebooks and convertibles such as the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi and Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro.

For the MacBook, Apple is offering two off-the-shelf configurations, with the differences being only the processor and storage capacity. Our review unit is the entry-level model that comes with a dual-core Intel Core M-5Y31 processor (4MB L3 cache) that runs at an unusual base clock speed of 1.1GHz, and is capable of boosting up to 2.4GHz. We say it is unusual because Intel’s specifications lists this particular SKU as having a base clock speed of just 900MHz. Clearly, Apple has overclocked it for more performance (or at least qualified their CPU batches to operate faster).

The other off-the-shelf model comes with a more powerful Intel Core M-5Y51 processor (4MB L3 cache) that has also been overclocked. Apple notes that this model has a base clock speed of 1.2GHz, but according to Intel, this particular SKU should run at a lower base clock speed of 1.1GHz. More demanding users can equip their MacBooks with the optional Core M-5Y71 processor (1.3GHz, 4MB L3 cache), but at a considerable premium, of course.

All Core M processors will feature the Intel HD Graphics 5300 integrated GPU. This particular integrated GPU is significantly less powerful than the Intel HD Graphics 6000 and Intel Iris Graphics 6100 integrated GPUs found on the refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display and MacBook Air, with only 24 execution units as compared to the 48 found on the Intel HD Graphics 6000 and Intel Iris Graphics 6100.

Both models will come with 8GB of 1600MHz LPDDR3 RAM as standard, and it is worth noting that Apple will not be offering any RAM upgrades for the MacBook. As for storage, the entry-level model that we have is equipped with a 256GB SSD, whereas the higher-end model will get a 512GB SSD. There’s no option for a 1TB SSD. Here’s a table summarizing the differences between the two off-the-shelf models.

Like the newly refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and MacBook Air, the SSDs in the MacBook will utilize four PCIe lanes instead of the more common two for improved storage performance. But, unlike the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, the SSD in the MacBook supports the new and faster NVME interface. The NVME interface was developed specially for SSDs and supersedes the older AHCI interface. Primarily, it reduces latency by promoting greater parallelism and allowing more commands to be executed simultaneously, which in turn increases drive performance.

What’s perhaps most amazing about the MacBook is how tiny the logic board is. All components are soldered onto the board, so there’s no chance of upgradeability, but the MacBook’s logic board is, quite amazingly, 67% smaller than that of the 11-inch MacBook Air, which also means more space for batteries. Speaking of batteries, Apple has also designed special terraced batteries so that it can fit precisely inside the MacBook's curved chassis to maximize all available space. Because of this, Apple was able to squeeze an extra 35% more charge into the MacBook.

Design and Features

Allow us to state the obvious: the new MacBook is drop dead gorgeous. It now comes in three different colors - silver, space grey and gold - and we think it looks best in gold and space grey, but this is a totally personally choice, of course. We won’t judge you if you decide silver is the one for you.

And if you haven’t already heard, it is wonderfully thin and light, measuring just 13.2mm at its thickest point, and tapering down to just 3.5mm at the opposite end. It is also one of the few notebooks around to weigh under a kilogram, tipping the scales at just a scant 920g. To our knowledge, only Lenovo’s Lavie Z notebook weighs less at 840g, but this notebook can’t match the MacBook for thinness and overall compactness. There's also no comparison with the MacBook Air. After using the MacBook for a week or so, the MacBook Air feels cumbersome, heavy and unwieldy.

The MacBook was designed for extreme portability and to achieve this design required Apple to completely re-engineer many important components. To ensure usability, Apple has decided to go for a 12-inch Retina display that outputs an atypical resolution of 2,304 x 1,440 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio), giving it also a pixel density count of a very respectable 226 pixels per inch - comparable to both the 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros with Retina display.

The Retina display on the MacBook is also Apple’s thinnest ever, and measures just 0.88mm thick. This was achieved by using a special manufacturing process that forms the glass closer to the display itself. Apple also took the chance to improve the power efficiency of the display by redesigning the individual pixels with larger apertures, thereby allowing more light to pass through. According to Apple, the same brightness can now be achieved using 30% less power, and this power savings will contribute towards a longer battery life. Apple’s Retina displays have always been gorgeous and the MacBook's is no different. Images are sharp and colors are bright and vivid. Viewing angles are also very good.

The other key component that had to be re-engineered was the keyboard. Apple determined that its traditional design, while tactile to use, was far too thick and imprecise to be implemented. The keys on Apple's traditional keyboard tended to wobble, especially at the sides, because of the way the key caps were mounted to the underlying scissors switch. Apple wanted a thinner keyboard, and if users were to hit the key off-center, the wobbling would have resulted in the sides of the key caps hitting the bottom before the stroke registered. Hence, Apple created a new switch using a butterfly design, that is thinner, stiffer and more stable and uniform in its motion. This way, even if users were to hit the key off-center, the stroke would still register and the feel would still be consistent. At the same time, Apple also made the key caps larger and gave it a deeper curvature to make typing more intuitive and pleasant.

In the real world, the first thing that strikes you about the keyboard is how thin it is. The key caps look as if they are flushed against the chassis. It’s also hard to tell that the keys are actually larger, unless you put the MacBook next to a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. Crucially, the keyboard is certainly usable and it’s actually quite fun to use once you get the hang of it. There’s almost non-existent travel in the keys but it has a nice click action that reminds us of popping bubble wrap. On the whole, we think that in the pursuit of extreme thinness, it’s a fair compromise.

Along with the keyboard, the touchpad has been redesigned too and the MacBook features what Apple calls the Force Touch trackpad. This new trackpad is present on the refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display too, and you can read more about it in that review so we won’t go into too much details here. But very briefly, it doesn’t actually click and uses sensors and electromagnets to generate a haptic feedback when it is being interacted. However, it does not feel like any haptic feedback we have experienced before. At the risk of sounding crazy, the feedback generated feels like an actual click. Our advice is to head down to an Apple Store near you and try it out for yourself.

Because the MacBook is so thin, it does not have standard USB ports nor a MagSafe 2 port. Instead, it uses a single USB Type-C port which is markedly more compact than your typical USB (Type-A) port for data, video and power. It is also reversible, which means up/down orientation is not an issue when attempting to plug compatible accessories. More important however, is the fact that it supports the new USB 3.1 standard, which increases data throughput and power delivery. Theoretically, USB 3.1 will offer up to 10Gbps of data transfer rate, but Apple is capping the port in the MacBook at 5Gbps for now, which is equivalent to regular USB 3.0. As for power, the USB 3.1 standard can deliver up to 5A and 100W, which is more than sufficient for the MacBook’s needs. If you are wondering, Thunderbolt 2 still reigns supreme when it comes to outright bandwidth - the newer Thunderbolt 2.0 standard offers up to 20Gbps. However, the Thunderbolt connector is probably too large to fit into the chassis of the MacBook.

We will elaborate more about the realities of just having a single port in our conclusion, but it is obvious at this point that this could a problem for some users - especially those who rely heavily on USB external devices. Apple sells a USB Type-C to USB Type-A adapter as an optional accessory, but will this be enough?

The only other “port” on the MacBook is a 3.5mm headphones jack. Speaking of audio, the built-in speakers of the MacBook, which are located just above the keyboard is surprisingly strong and loud, and definitely of an above average quality where notebook speakers are concerned.

With only a USB Type-C port and headphones jack, the MacBook will have to rely a lot on wireless connectivity. So it's a good thing that the MacBook supports the latest 802.11ac wireless standard. Specifically, it supports up to two spatial streams so a maximum wireless data transfer rate of 867Mbps is possible. Wireless-AC aside, the MacBook also supports Bluetooth 4.0.

Performance Benchmarking

We have installed Windows 8 on the MacBook and tested it using our usual suite of benchmarks. This will allow us to peg its performances against comparable Windows notebooks that we have reviewed. At this point it is worth mentioning that the MacBook, just like the latest 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Retina display, will drop Bootcamp support for Windows 7 and will only support Windows 8. To get a sense of where the MacBook stands against the refreshed 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Retina display, we will also be running Geekbench 3 on these machines. For comparison, we have included results of other comparable notebooks such as the Dell XPS 13, ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi and Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

You might wonder why Windows 8 and not 8.1, the reason is because we could not successfully update our Windows 8 installation. After much troubleshooting, we discovered that the problem is caused by a failure to reboot during the updating process. Further investigation revealed that users with partitioned hard drives often encounter this problem. However, because we were running Bootcamp, we were unable to solve the problem. Furthermore, installing Windows 8 and updating to 8.1 was not an issue on the MacBook Air nor MacBook Pro. Hence, we have concluded that this could be because of driver related issues pertaining to the MacBook’s new NVME-compatible SSD. That said, we don’t expect results to be affected significantly.

• Geekbench 3
• PCMark 8
• 3DMark 2013
• Tomb Raider
• Far Cry 2

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Geekbench 3

To get a sense of how the Apple MacBook stacks up against Apple’s other notebooks, we decided to run Geekbench. Geekbench is a popular Mac benchmarking software that measures a Mac system’s performance by running a variety of tests that taxes individual components of a system such as the processor and memory and then gives an overall score of the system’s performance.

The Apple MacBook’s single-core score was about 16% off the pace when compared to the MacBook Air, and 30% lower than the more powerful MacBook Pro. Multi-core scores showed a even greater gulf in performance - 20% against the MacBook Air and almost 35% against the MacBook Pro. Clearly, the Core M processor in the MacBook will offer much reduced performance.

PCMark 8

The Apple MacBook’s PCMark 8 scores was disappointing overall. Obviously, it was no match for other notebooks like the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, but we were quite surprised to find that it struggled to keep pace with other similar Core M-powered notebooks like the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi and Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro. Our guess is that in altering the MacBook's Core M processor's base clock speeds, it might have altered the way the processor reacts in stepping up clock speeds to deal with applications. This could have explained the discrepancy in performance that we see here. We did not manage to get a score for the “Storage” workload, presumably because of driver issues with the MacBook’s newer NVME-compatible drive.

3DMark 2013

The Apple MacBook’s graphics performance on 3DMark 2013 was quite encouraging as it was a good match for the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi, despite having a less more powerful processor. In fact, its score on the more intensive Fire Strike benchmark was a good 27% better. This could mean that the MacBook is more adept at dissipating heat, allowing the Core M processor in it to maintain higher clock speeds for longer periods. However, the MacBook was no match for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, and their more powerful integrated GPUs.

Far Cry 2

Moving on to Far Cry 2, the Apple MacBook maintained its slight lead over the other two Core M-powered notebooks by ASUS and Lenovo. It also trailed the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 by a small margin. That said, it did not achieve playable frame rates even at the lower “Medium” graphics settings. In fact, the only machines to do so were the newer Broadwell-powered Apple MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and the Dell XPS 13. Still, the MacBook was never designed to be a gaming machine, but it is disappointing to see that it cannot convincingly run a game that’s seven years old.  

Tomb Raider

The Apple MacBook’s performance on Tomb Raider was even more abysmal, but it did manage to carve out a significant lead over the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi and Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro, and was about 35% faster overall. It was also faster than the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, which has a “Haswell” Core i5-4300U processor with Intel HD Graphics 4400. However, the MacBook was no match for the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. It also trailed the Dell XPS 13 by about 18%.

Battery Life & Power Consumption

Our battery test times the battery life of the notebook while it runs through a wide variety of different tasks, including video editing and gaming. So it was impressive to find that the Apple MacBook managed to last a very respectable 4 hours and 47 minutes - about half an hour less than the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. What’s even more amazing is that the MacBook has a significantly smaller battery compared to the other two 13-inch Apple notebooks. The MacBook’s battery is rated at 39.7Wh, whereas the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro’s batteries are rated at 54Wh and 74.9Wh respectively. The MacBook also lasted significantly longer than any other notebook here, with the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro closest to matching it.

Looking at the power consumption figure, we can see why the Apple MacBook lasted as long as it did, as its power consumption came up to just 8.3W - almost 20% less than the MacBook Air and a whopping 40% less than the MacBook Pro, Dell XPS 13 and Microsoft Surface 3 Pro. This figure was also lesser than the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro and about on a par with the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi. 

Portability Index

Our Portability Index factors in battery life, weight and volume so you can see which notebook is the most worthwhile to carry around. With its long battery life and super compact dimensions, is it any surprise that the Apple MacBook was the runaway leader in this benchmark? Its ratio of 7.452 is miles ahead of its competitors, and absolutely shames other supposed ultraportable notebooks such as the MacBook Air, Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro and Dell XPS 13. This is a clear indication of how thorough Apple was in designing their most portable notebook ever.

Extreme portability, but at what cost?

The MacBook is probably Apple’s most radical notebook ever. Stunning design aside, the decision to offer only a single USB Type-C port is certainly bold and maybe even a little controversial.

As it stands, we really like the MacBook, but we will also readily concede that this is the notebook for everyone. Right now, it seems like a niche product and we will explain why later. First, let’s talk about its performance and usability.

On the performance front, the MacBook is a little disappointing. The new Core M processors were never built for performance in mind, but the gulf in performance between the MacBook and its siblings is quite glaring. In real world usage scenarios, the difference in performance is perhaps not quite so large. Running in OS X Yosemite, the MacBook was mostly responsive and ran most applications fluidly. For most casual users, the MacBook’s performance will be sufficient. It can run productivity apps smoothly, watch high-resolution videos flawlessly and can browse most websites without a hitch, even if one had a dozen or so tabs opened.

However, if you start pushing the MacBook by opening multiple apps and tabs in your web broswer, or run professional applications and edit large media files, it will show signs of sluggishness. Additionally, after reviewing a couple of Core M-powered notebooks, we discovered that if the system is tasked continuously and it starts to heat up, performance will start to dip. This is not a huge concern for most applications, but those who intend to do any form of gaming or intend to run professional applications with no compromises should take heed. Games and such applications are generally taxing on the integrated GPU and without any active cooling, temperatures will invariably go up. And as that happens, performance will suffer and frame rates will start to dip.

Despite this, let us be absolutely clear. The MacBook’s performance isn't poor, rather, what we are saying is that the MacBook will run the same apps that its more powerful siblings can, but in some instances and workloads, the difference in performance and experience can be noticeable.

USB Considerations

The move to a USB Type-C port is a forward thinking one, and this is something that Apple has not be afraid to do. In 1998, Apple famously decided against having a floppy disk drive on its iMac and introduced a new interface called USB. In more recent years, it also boldly removed FireWire and introduced Thunderbolt in its notebooks. And now, it is doing the same with USB Type-C.

USB Type-C has many benefits: it is smaller, reversible, and if it supports the newer USB 3.1 standard, it can also provide more data bandwidth and power. It is truly superior in all respects. The only problem is that there are only a handful of devices that are compatible with this new connector. USB Type-A is still the defacto connector for many USB devices today and it will certainly take some time - years maybe - before the entire industry shifts towards this new smaller, more compact connector.

In the mean time, this leaves the MacBook in a sticky situation. For now, users will definitely need to invest in some sort of an adapter if they wish to be able to use their existing USB devices.

Beyond this, one must also remember that the MacBook only has a single port and that it also relies on this port for power and video output. It also means that without a USB hub of some sort, users can only plug a single device into the port. As a result, many seemingly trivial tasks that most people do not give a second thought about now becomes a big deal. Here are some examples:

• Copying contents from one USB drive to another.
• Connecting a wired keyboard and mouse at the same time.
• Charging your MacBook and another device at the same time.
• Transferring contents from your camera’s SD card.
• Outputting video to an external display.
• Charging the Macbook when trying to perform or use any of the above scenarios.

We fully appreciate the need for a USB Type-C connector on a device this thin, but we also cannot help but think that in the pursuit of thinness, Apple might have gone a step too far. As it is, users must plan for the restrictions that arise because the MacBook only has a single port. Adapters and hubs are a must, or the alternative is to go completely wireless.

Final Thoughts: Is this the Mac for you?

Because of the limitations and restrictions that come with the single USB Type-C port, we would not recommend the MacBook as a primary device. Users who intend to invest in a Mac notebook as a primary device would be better off with the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, which have dedicated power ports (MagSafe 2) as well as a selection of Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports for connecting peripherals.

But for those looking for a secondary device, one that is extremely portable, then the MacBook would not disappoint. Its amazing design and long battery life means that it is most suited for life on the road. Few notebooks are as light as the MacBook. And even though it has a slightly smaller 12-inch display, we never felt that it was inadequate. The keyboard takes some getting used to, but it is certainly far from unusable. The Force Touch trackpad is also really amazing to use. A good way to treat the MacBook is to think of it as a large iPad that runs OS X and has an attached keyboard. In some ways, the new MacBook draws parallels to the discontinued Microsoft Surface RT; the latter was never meant to replace any primary device and it was geared as a secondary device to accompany your modern lifestyle. In that same vein, the MacBook seems to be filling in this void for the Mac community.

Prices for the Apple MacBook start at S$1,788 for the model reviewed here and goes up to S$2,288 for the more powerful model. For your convenience, we have summarized the specifications and prices in the table below, along with how it compares against similarly configured MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros.

Looking at the table, we can see that the MacBook is positioned in the middle. And at each capacity point, S$100-S$200 separates each model. The fact that the MacBook cannot function adequately as a primary device obviously means it is a little pricey, because the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro do not have such a problem. But once you start factoring in everything the MacBook offers, the value proposition does not seem that bad, especially if portability is your utmost priority.

Besides, comparing against its rivals from the Windows camp, the MacBook does not look like such bad value for money. A similarly configured Yoga 3 Pro, its closest competitor in terms of specifications and portability, with 256GB of capacity actually costs more at S$2,299.

The Surface Pro 3 is probably a keener competitor with its more attractive price and specifications, but its battery life is no where as long. The ASUS Transformer T300 Chi is also a worthy and much more affordable alternative, but it has its own shortcomings and also cannot compete against the MacBook in terms of portability.

Apple calls this the future of the notebook, and we have no doubts that it is. As processor technology continues to advance, thinner and lighter notebooks are an inevitability. It is only a matter of when. However, the future that Apple envisages seems to be quite some time away still, but so was the MacBook Air when it first came to the scene. The MacBook is an excellent product, it’s just a pity that it is not for everyone.

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