Apple has announced the new MacBook at the much talked about “Spring Forward” event that is currently underway at The Flint Center For The Performing Arts in San Francisco, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced the all new Macbook a little while after he talked about an Apple TV partnership with HBO. The event, like we said, is still underway and we are expecting a slew of other launches – including the Apple Watch which is the primary focus of this event according to several reports.
As for the new MacBook, here are all the details you need to know about the newest Apple gadget in town.
To start with, the new MacBook is the thinnest notebook ever made by Apple. At just 13.1 mm thick, it makes the current line-up of MacBook Air models look bloated. In fact, it is 24 percent thinner than the 11-inch MacBook Air. The new Macbook is also the lightest MacBook ever and weighs just two pounds! While, the new Macbook has shrunk drastically in size, it still manages to pack in an all-new, full-size keyboard. This keyboard according to Apple, has been “re-engineered from the ground up.” It features what Apple terms a new “butterfly mechanism” that let Apple’s design team make an incredibly thin notebook – even more thin. In fact, the new keyboard assembly on the Macbook is a staggering 40 percent thinner than the ones seen on the MacBook Air models.
The new Macbook comes with a 12-inch, 2304 x 1440 pixel retina display. As expected, this also happens to be the thinnest display that Apple has ever manufactured for a notebook. Apart from the new display, the new Macbook also gets a new trackpad called the Force Touch trackpad. According to Apple, the thing that makes the new trackpad different from others is the fact that it can detect how much pressure you apply on its surface. It can, for example, tell the difference a light tap and a deep press. Apple has a host of new gestures designed to take advantage of the capabilities of the new trackpad.
The thin design of the Macbook also means that it comes with no fan inside. In fact, this is the first ever Fanless Macbook. Powered by the new Intel Core M processor line-up, the processor on the Macbook Air needs just 5 watts of power to fuel itself. Thanks to the new processor, the battery life is also phenomenal on the notebook. How much? How does nine hours of battery life with simple web browsing sound? In fact, with just iTunes being used, the battery life goes up by an hour.
Perhaps the biggest change to the new Macbook over the old ones is the addition of an USB C Port. This is a new connectivity standard that gives one port the ability to act as a power port, USB data transfer port, DisplayPort, HDMI, and a VGA port – all at the same time.
The pricing?
The new Macbook line up starts at $1299 which comes loaded with a 1.1 Ghz processor, 8 GB of RAM, a 256 GB SSD. Another variant is also on the offing with a $1599 price tag. This model packs in a 1.2 GHz Intel Core M chip, Intel HD Graphics 5300, 8GB memory, and 512 GB of flash storage.
The new Macbook will go on sale starting April 10! So, are you getting one?
[Images Via Apple]