Will l yo you bite?
Apple’s new Macbook proves to be quite the temptation
Since Apple has always been in the business of impressing people — and earning a ton in the process — we wouldn’t be surprised if the latest iteration of their Macbook will continue this streak. Especially now that it comes in a lovely new rose gold shell.
As far as looks go, there aren’t any significant changes, although its nifty all- metal unibody form is pretty much becoming a standard right now across devices. It still comes with only y twot o ports — the 3.5mm audio jack k, longrumoured to be ditched soo oner or later ( next iphone, anyone?), and the USB C connector, which is bot h a good and bad thing. You can cha arge and transfer data with it, but it’s stills only one port. One! At 0.52” at it’s thickest,t can’t the Macbook accomm modate a couple more, maybe a min ni- HDMI even? Speaking of dimensions, , it’s also still 0.14” at its thinnest po oint and weighs 0.92kg.
The new Macbook comes wi ith a 12” Retina display, at 226ppi, but stills no touchscreen. A source in the notso- distant past told me th at Apple doesn’t really see any y reason to slap on a touchscreen on Macbooks, since laptops aren’t meant to be used that way. In comparison, the HP Elitebook Folio, which HP claims to be the world’s thinnest at 0.48”, has a touch- screen and loads of other specs to give the Macbook a run for its money. Most importantly, it is way cheaper.
The shallow keyboard Apple’s been known for is, unsurprisingly, present here and although it may feel too shallow low forf some ( including me) you are worki ing with a full- sized keyboard that will workw for everyone. Sometimes it feels likel your fingers get lost while typing, but,b for the most part, it works well. There e are better speakers, as well.
The e trackpad now comes with Force Touch h — akin to the iphone’s — which can dod loads of things — force- clicking can le et you peek into the contents of a file i icon, see details of a flight, add a da ate to Calendar and a whole lot of o other stuff. The trackpad also has several gestures that will make your life easier while doodling with your device.
AND SO…
The one glaring thing about the n new Apple Macbook is that it only ha as one USB C port — as a matter of fact t, it’s the only port on it — which neutr ralises the option of charging it and transf ferring data when both needs arise. And b both 1.1GHZ and 1.2GHZ options still have the same prices as what was se ed last year. Still, it works perfectly wel — unless Apple introduces something g new later on. alvin@ khaleejtimes. com document on your office Mac and suddenly need to edit it on your home Macbook that doesn’t have Word installed! That is because Apple’s own Pages app can pull out your document from icloud and retain the exact same format as what you previously had, and vice- versa after you’re done with it. Anybody miss those dark days when document conversions were a real pain?
And if you forget to close some tab in Safari on one of your Apple devices — one that you don’t want others to see — and scoot off for a vacation? Relax; you can close it using any of your other Apple gears; from anywhere. And the best part is that it can be done in an instant.