compared favorably to the iPad in a keyboard
case (MacBooks are still favored over tablets
and smartphones by busy professionals, as
they afford them more flexibility).
Tim Cook said that the new 12-inch MacBook
was a “reinvention of the notebook,” whilst Phil
Schiller added that the laptop was made “for the
wireless world”. On the grand scheme of things,
it’s unlikely that this device will go down in
Apple history, but it was the trojan horse needed
to shoehorn in some of Apple’s wild ambitions.
In fact, you could argue that the 2015 MacBook
was the roadmap for the new Mac range,
introducing new Space Gray and Gold color
options in an effort to complement the iPhone
range, removing the backlit Apple logo,
and new tech like the ability to automatically
boot up your Mac when you open the lid and
an impressive Force Touch trackpad that took
up more than half of the real estate on the
keyboard side. It was the first all-metal MacBook
and scrapped the beloved MagSafe port,
replaced by USB-C for charging and data transfer
on the Mac for the first time.
Since its inception, the 12-inch MacBook
saw three generations - the original, a speed
bump back in 2016, and a 2017 update which
saw processor improvements. Many argue
Apple did not give the MacBook a chance to
compete with the similarly-priced Air, which
was refreshed in 2018 and sold for $1,199,
despite the older MacBook starting from
$1,299. If Apple had wanted to crack into
the price-conscious market and appeal to
students and low-income consumers, MacBook
could have served as the perfect entry point,
though the firm stayed true to its pricing