Back on 80 Days with the MacBook 12″ (retina)
Today I present to you the article of my critical experience feedback from Apple's latest flagship on laptop; You've guessed it, the MacBook. This article is based initially on a reply made to a comment by Bob Jouy and others on the blog of LoKan.fr and RetinaBoys.com that I developed here. I would not be too technical, thus making no benchmark in any genre and holding to give my opinion as complete as possible but the article divided for each important and visible component is likely to be long. Good reading! ^^
EXC-El-Slow! What else to say is a work of art! As in my previous article on the presentation of this product, I am not disappointed, I dare not even touch it! :D The three colors add a real plus to the range of laptops released from the closet by Apple. It's a lightweight, compact object with a generous keyboard and screen! It wouldn't be unusual to see them replace the MacBook Air Park at the local Starbucks or in American schools.
Screen: Retina please!
The Retina screen on the MacBook, that's what everyone was waiting for but on the MacBook Air! Apple's favorite release the name of the MacBook range to unveil a retina-screen laptop but it is excellent. Unlike the MacBook Air, you don't see the pixels approaching. It is indeed equipped with a high-definition screen of 2304 x 1440, slightly more than the Full HD standard (1920 × 1080). The size of the screen is sometimes criticized as well as its resolution. For me it suits me perfectly, and thanks to something beautiful that are the virtual screens. With a hand slide, I have the whole screen on an application and if for example I want to select a playlist in Spotify, I slide a second time and hop! The whole screen is on Spotify.
I could during the unlimited weekend of Bouygues try what my ADSL connection does not allow me: Watch a video in 4 K on it. There I had a real source for such a beautiful screen, and I was as much as my close mouths gawked at the quality and details of the screen. We had gone to the jungle filmed by a GoPro. Just perfect!
The new keyboard
As for the keyboard, it suits me perfectly; It just has a default on the "ESC" button, slightly more depressed to the left, which I will return when there will be more stock. On the other hand, even for a dissertation, I don't feel bad about my fingers like some. I miss for now some keys because of its difference with the standard keyboard, also involving a time of adaptation to iron the old. I still prefer the new one to the comparison. Oh yes, the keys have been spaced and enlarged, and for people with big fingers it's great!
If we want to compare also with the short time I could try a MacBook Air 13, the keyboard is the same as the Apple Wireless keyboard but the backlight is really fleeing from light compared to 12″.
Also, I take this opportunity to compliment the brightness sensor that perfectly fits both the screen and the keyboard. I have indeed done the test by car and at each cloud, tunnel or other variations of light the screen and the keyboard fit magically and accurately; which is very valuable.
Update: I still have problems with keys that block on the keyboard even after repair on other keys, I will try to see to have it replaced. :' Also, I don't miss any more keys. /Update 2: Touch them have magically unlocked, once again. Everything is perfect.
TrackPad: Force Touch!
Apple has Ecore innovated with a new trackpad including one of the new advanced technologies used in the Apple Watch. Force Touch is based on a simple principle that Jony Ive explained and demonstrated in the presentation video in this article: differentiate the Touch (light click) of the normal click or the "force click" which is a strong click. So, depending on the click, a multitude of possibilities are available to you; From editing labels to preview Web pages in Safari, while passing by QuickLook and dictionary, etc.
Format
I am totally fan of this formatcompact with pretty fine edges and especially very thin and portable. In all situations this format will suit me: on the couch, on the move, in bed ... The screen is big enough, see perfect size and everything fits in this beautiful work of art! I can't imagine any other way than with this MacBook, even the Air is not perfect for my liking.
Speakers
The speakers are just excellent! It could be predicted by the size of the latter above the keyboard. By slightly tilting the MacBook you can see that there are 4. The sound is just excellent! I don't know how they managed to do that but it's just perfect; Especially in a machine of this size. I will not go further in scholarly listening, in all genres I find it perfect.
A use, "intensive"?
To return to the "intensive" Web problem that Lokan was encountering, it surely comes from chromium. I tried it and it consumed more than two full hearts and quite a lot of RAM for a single tab! With Safari, much more optimized, no problem even with 30 tabs open, really! :D Indeed, Chrome is known for this problem, and Google has reacted recently; To follow so .... Update: On replay, the problem has been mediated, it comes from chromium that consumes far too much in both RAM and battery.
The autonomy
I have seen comments about autonomy, so I will bounce on it. I have not done a full-scale test in period of study, but I find it rather correct in terms of using Wi-Fi at least. For my use, I'm running around 9 hours in intensive. Not very far from the results of Apple. After that, if you remove the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, you can arrive at 11/12 hours without problems and even up to 18 h in word processing or light use; What I find spectacular! The MagSafe is indeed regrettable, I can not contradict that.
The battery, how to preserve it?
As for the battery life, at least displayed, I was worried because I was going down to 90% after 10 cycles of charge but for a while I went back around 96%. Do not rely too much on this indicator ... But I still made a mistake by letting him always unload below 5%, and that's when the health came down. I recommend you, as shown on some forums some manipulations to preserve or reassemble the health of your battery. I'm not the only one in this case because many have noticed that she was coming down very quickly. At unpacking, forget about the full load, it is useless, the lithium-ion batteries do not have a "memory". Use it normally until its full discharge below 5%. Then, I advise you to turn it off and let it load up to 100%, just over 3 hours. Then, always recharge the MacBook before the 10/15% to not cause cells to die. Reset the battery once or twice every 2 months by letting it unload followed by a full refill without use if possible.
Single connector: USB Type C
Let's attack the great point that is the only USB-C. For many it is the weak point of the MacBook, but it can be done without adapters, but under certain conditions. In fact, with respect to file sharing and applications to unpacking, I got out very easily with AirDrop which is very fast, except for the applications of several gigabytes such Final Cut Pro X with which I had problems. To access files or backups, I say thanks to the NAS (network attached storage) that allows me with the support of Time Machine and the AFP protocol (and also for printing). The must have would be to have a USB stick that makes USB-C and a to share to colleagues but it still costs a lot ... Update: I was subsequently forced to buy an adapter to USB-A (normal) to back up all my data before sending it to the Fnac SAV.
The camera, potato?
Obviously the test in the video above was exaggerated, but the camera of the MacBook was still since its launch very criticized because it could not even capture in 720 p but well in 480 p, in sum in SD quality. It is still usable in a videoconferencing framework (Skype, FaceTime) without any problem. On the other hand for a Podcast use, it can be problematic; Especially on a screen of this resolution. At the time I did not understand too much; The finesse at a price ...
Security: FileVaultTo be complete, FileVault did not cause me any particular worries, unlike Lokan who caused him a serious problem. For my part, I suspect on the other hand, for a question of safety surely, to put my MacBook in English at startup, the files of translations encrypted ...
Responsiveness and lag?
To me, unlike Lokan again, it must be believed that it attracts the hassle if I can afford, the machine is ultra-responsive (more than my IMAC end 2012!) Despite its high resolution. Everything is very fluid with this machine! For the sudden I do not understand why everyone criticizes. The "Mission Control" bug is minimal and rarely happens at home. Indeed, I can open Spotify, export to 720 p, chat on Skype and open a dozen tabs, and all this without too many slowdowns. It is at this moment precise moment that "Mission Control" lag a few microphones seconds, but you really have to push.
My use after 80 days
I wanted the last minute to add this section to show you what I do with my MacBook. My loved ones did not see the point of having a second Mac but I, quite the contrary I saw it. I missed the portability side. The IMAC is very difficult to bring to high school or travel if you see what I mean! So. After these few months so, I started to calibrate my use type but that should change with the re-entry. I now mainly use my iMac for important tasks like editing photos or editing videos as well as my most assiduous code sessions. The MacBook serves me primarily for leisure (YouTube, Twitter) and article reading as well as small code sessions. It will serve me at the beginning of the school year. I'll probably write an article about his high school outfit, her stamina on a busy day, etc. Every now and then when I don't want to get out of bed;-) it becomes my main machine and thanks to ICloud that syncs my files in applications I can easily retouch my photos on a better screen!
Bad points
If we go to the negative points, they are not very many,. He has only one for my part: it is his warmth. It is indeed impossible to leave it on its legs without feeling an overheating of the back, location of the motherboard and thus of the processor. Inside, we revolve around 50 °, reasonable. I also rebounded on Bob Jouy's comment saying that the basic 1.1 GHz model is ideally suited for a secondary machine without having to take the 1, 2 GHz version which, it seems to me, is not worth the price to add 0.1 GHz. It surprised me that 0.1 GHz changes great thing ... I have not yet felt any real limits, even in the main machine for the 3 weeks when I started to write this article. Indeed, I was no longer using the IMAC.
No problem with USB-C, is that safe?
No, it's not a "problem." It is a small disappointment that is palled by, as I said above, methods without wires. I bought an adapter, that of my external hard drive, to plug it directly into USB-C. I was forced to buy it to back up my data before the SAV. :/
The price, an abuse?
Finally, let's talk money! This machine is at a price too high; We all agree on the point that it is not worth the €1450. It would have an acceptable price in the vicinity of €1200 or even still aligning more or less on the PCs by removing still €200, but I do not count because the quality of the operating system is paid. It is Apple, of course, but the fall of the euro does not forgive everything. It's too expensive. Mac OS X and the Apple are paying more and more expensive it looks like ...
Conclusion
This is an excellent product for most uses including mine that boils down to relaxation (videos/social networks), development (SSH/Atom/server on network ...), work (ILife/Web) and as well as a little game. On the other hand, it is quite overpriced and perhaps too early for people not wanting to figure out how to transfer files to the MacBook without a USB-A port. In my opinion, it is perfect for a secondary machine (or main but not too solicited for 4 K mounting for example or actions to effort).
If you've reached this point, thank you! I would like to remind you that, of course, this return of experience is in no way subjective and that it only engages me and my experience. Do not rely entirely on my writing and make you your own idea by going to try it in store or at a knowledge. I wish you a good day, and feel free to share the article and comment!