OUR VERDICT
The Macbook 2017 is surprisingly great, even in comparison to the rest of the line. With an improved processor, trackpad, and better RAM options, it’s an excellent choice if you can get past the premium price.
FOR
- Updated processor
- Vastly improved keyboard
- Still delightfully compact
- Long battery life
AGAINST
- Still only one USB-C port
- Poor audio and webcam
- Still too pricey
When the MacBook was first introduced in 2006, it was meant to be a more affordable alternative to the MacBook Pro, accessible to mainstream users who don’t necessarily need the most powerful internals in their laptop. In 2015, however, its reintroduction gave the masses a completely different MacBook, redesigned from the ground up with an extremely thin and light 12-inch chassis.
Now here we are with the the MacBook 2017 with the same svelte design yet an updated configuration and an updated price that puts it somewhere between the 2017 MacBook Air and the earlier MacBook Pro model sans Touch Bar in affordability. This new pricing is mostly due to its new and gorgeous Retina screen, which is basically equivalent to HD on steroids.
When 2019 came, Apple made a surprise decision to discontinue the 12-inch MacBook 2017, putting the newly refreshed MacBook Air as its replacement as the budget option. However, plenty of third-party sellers still stock the 12-inch MacBook. And it’s still a worthy option for those wanting a thin, light ultrabook in the Apple ecosystem. The 12-inch MacBook is the ultimate choice for those wanting that slim, brushed aluminum look, made better by the fact that it’s now possible to get one at a discounted price.
Price and availability
Unfortunately, the MacBook is no longer available at Apple’s online store, on the account of it being discontinued. Luckily, you should still be able to find the MacBook we reviewed here from third-party sellers for $1,299 (£1,249, AU$1,899) or possibly less. That price tag should get you everything found under our hot pink spec sheet.
For now, should your lavish taste or exacting needs require a more powerful 12-inch MacBook, there should still be more powerful configurations on hand. You’ll just have to look harder for them.
For example, you might be able to find a MacBook with an Intel Core i5-7Y54 and 512GB of SSD storage instead of the base model’s 256GB. It’s still going to be fanless, so it still wouldn’t be as powerful as something like the MacBook Pro, but it will definitely offer a boost in power. Just keep in mind that with great power comes great price tags, and this more powerful MacBook will cost $1,599 (£1,549, AU$2,349).
If you want to max out the Apple MacBook, it’ll set you back an exorbitant $1,949 (£1,864, AU$2,909) for an Intel Core i7-7Y75, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB PCIe SSD.
Keep in mind, though, that these processors are a bit out-of-date in 2019, what with both 8th-generation and 9th-generation chips now powering many laptops. If you want the latest fanless silicon, the refreshed and cheaper Apple MacBook Air (2019) might be a more ideal option for you.
If you’re shopping around for a Windows laptop with comparable specs, take a look at the Acer Swift 7, an Ultrabook that’s designed to compete with the 12-inch MacBook. Currently, it starts out at $1,699 (£1,499, about AU$1,200) for a similar Intel Core i7 Y-series processor, but with 8GB RAM and 256 GB SSD storage. You do get a Full HD, 14-inch display, however.
On the Chrome OS side, there’s Google’s older flagship Chromebook, the Pixelbook, starting at $999 (£999, AU$791) with a more powerful Intel Core i5 CPU and the same RAM, but half as much SSD space as the top-end MacBook.
Design
The Apple MacBook 2017’s look and feel hasn’t been altered much – if at all – over the 2016 model. That’s not automatically a bad thing. Coming in Space Gray, Gold and Rose Gold, the brushed aluminum feels just as cool and elegant as ever, which we appreciate.
The MacBook’s thin chassis and feathery weight is also as impressive as usual, impressive enough that its dimensions are one of its biggest selling points.
Although it must be said that an even thinner screen bezel or one extra USB-C port would have been amazing at this point.
One key advantage the MacBook 2017 has over the 2015 and 2016 models is the enhanced, second-generation butterfly switches that make up its new backlit keyboard. Travel isn’t any deeper, but feedback is more forceful, which allows for a typing experience that’s significantly more satisfying – not to mention, more comfortable.
The MacBook’s wide, glass-coated trackpad remains the same as last year’s, which just means it’s just as enjoyable to use as it’s ever been. Apple’s touch interface tech through both software and hardware stays practically unrivaled.
‘Practically’ being the operative word here, because Google may have already caught up to Apple with its Pixelbook. Frankly, the keyboard and trackpad on that thing are ones to be equaled.
Display and sound
It’s general knowledge by now that Apple has made a name for itself by designing superb displays – among other things, that is – and the 12-inch MacBook’s display steadfastly follows this tradition, remaining unchanged since its release in 2015. Editing photos and tackling graphically intensive workloads looks flawless on that Retina display, even though it’s not exactly the sharpest screen in school anymore.
The MacBook’s 16:10 aspect ratio, however, may just be uncommon enough to be infuriating sometimes – like while watching movies or editing images that are formatted to 16:9 in Fullscreen mode, for example.
When it comes to sound quality, the MacBook can without a doubt pump out some loud tunes with its four stereo speakers near the hinge. However, like all notebooks with mere millimeters to work with as audio chambers, the sound can be a bit thin and tinny, with some channels in songs simply disappearing altogether.
To be fair, you’re not going to get much better audio from any laptop near this thin. And, Apple may have been aware of this, since it still kept the headphone jack in the MacBook.
The 2017 MacBook is still using fanless M-and Y-series Intel processors, but that probably won’t mean much to everyday users. Just know this: it’s powerful enough to handle most day-to-day tasks you throw at it in 2019. Those tasks might involve some light video editing, but that’s probably already pushing it.
We didn’t really run into any slowdown or slugging while testing the Apple Macbook, and that’s while running more than 20 Chrome tabs open at the same time. Keeping in mind that these tabs were generating everything from text editors and spreadsheets to streaming music and live chat, that’s a remarkable feat.
We pitted the MacBook against a laptop running Chrome OS and one that was released in early 2017, before we adopted the Geekbench 4 test, so straight comparisons in the numbers would be foolish.
What these numbers should tell you, though, is that this laptop is more than capable of handling basic tasks as well as a few advanced ones, like Java-based graphical map generation.
That said, don’t be surprised when see this laptop get left behind by competitors packing full-fat, mobile U-series Intel processors. When you consider these stark differences as well as the minimal gains in weight and thinness that those laptops present, it’s not hard to question the premium price of this otherwise appealing device.
Battery life
A clear advantage that the Apple Macbook have over most of its competitors, however, is pure longevity. It gets a battery life score of 8 hours and 4 minutes in our TechRadar Battery Life Test. That’s almost half an hour longer than the Pixelbook, and nearly three hours longer than the 2017 Acer Swift 7.
This is a few hours shorter than Apple’s battery life claims of up to 10 hours of wireless web browsing or up to 12 hours of iTunes movie playback. However, it’s well beyond what most Ultrabooks of 2019 have reported in the same test, which sets screen brightness and audio volume to 50% while all other back lights and radios are turned off except for Wi-Fi. Considering this, its score is still pretty impressive.
We liked
The 2017 MacBook boasts massive improvements to the keyboard, especially when it comes to feedback strength. These make the typing experience on this model far more comfortable and accurate.
The sheer thinness and lightness of the device is a downright impressive feat as well, and the boost in processor speed are very much a welcome improvement, despite how modest they may be in real-world use.
We disliked
The price of this laptop should be at least 100 bills less regardless of currency, and a key performance feature of this laptop – 16GB of RAM capacity – is simply too pricey.
Considering that steep price, it’s also hard to ignore the glaring lack of ports and the middling 480p webcam.
Final verdict
Given its extravagant price for what’s on offer hardware-wise, it’s a little irrational that we like the 2017 12-inch MacBook as much as we do.
The laptop is rather easily beaten by many of its competitors in terms of pricing and brass-tacks components – from storage capacity to ports to screen sharpness. However, it’s in the everyday use where the MacBook is able to hold its own against its rivals.
Plus, that latest MacBook design upgrade has proven to be unsurpassed over the last few years, so what you’re getting is an experience that’s both fast and portable in ways that most other laptops in its class just couldn’t quite live up to.
The indisputable fact is here is that doing some work or browsing the internet with our legs crossed feels better on the MacBook than with most other laptops we’ve tested. Packing this MacBook into a backpack – and maybe even forgetting the charger – feels like nothing’s there.
And, when you do take it out, you have a laptop that wakes up in the blink of an eye, can handle pretty much anything short of gaming or intensive graphical editing, and sees you through a full day’s work. If you can get past its price that’s undeniably steep even for Mac fans, then get ready to own what’s unexpectedly been one of the best MacBook in years – Pro or otherwise.
Source: techradar.com
Top Brands
