A new MacBook has been rumoured for some time and Apple hasn’t disappointed us with a new base lineup all of which feature an impressive new design and a super-slim profile.
We didn’t just meet the iPad Pro, but Apple’s new MacBooks look like they’re even better. Tim Cook and co. just pulled the wraps off a new trio of laptops at the company’s ‘Spring Forward’ event, taking place in San Francisco right now.
In the midst of the obligatory Jony Ive-narrated design video we learnt that these new Apple laptops are the thinnest the company’s ever made (13.1mm), putting the current top dog, the MacBook Air (17.3mm) to shame. The footprint of each laptop is actually dictated by a new full size keyboard that pushes to the edges of the body and allows for a 12-inch Retina Display as a result.
Speaking of the keyboard the company opted for a lower profile ‘butterfly’ design in place of the conventional scissor action so that typing anywhere on a key will offer the correct response, not to mention a new LED lighting system to ensure each key receives equal illumination.
To satiate your inner Jedi master, the trackpad has been reworked too, with the same Tapic Engine that we first met with the Apple Watch. The Force Touch trackpad as Apple’s calling it, doesn’t feature a physical click, but instead pulses to simulate the sensation when touched as you would the company’s current MacBook trackpads. Apple says that this makes for a quieter experience and lets you customise how much pressure constitutes a successful click.
On the sound front, the new low-profile format also means that the MacBook design team had to go fanless. The new MacBooks will be silent and thanks to a significantly smaller motherboard will still pack a ton of battery life, officially quoted as lasting around nine hours if you were to constantly peruse the web. Power is also resupplied to these distinctive new laptops through means of a single USB type C reversible port. The port in question will serve as the only physical means of power, data transfer and video out, with promise of a range of (undoubtedly overpriced) adapters from Apple.
To finish things off we learnt that Intel’s latest Core M chipsets will be running the show and at launch you’ll be able to nab one of these new MacBooks in Space Gray, silver or gold, akin to the iPhone 5S.
Apple’s said it plans to start shipping these new products from April 10th starting at $1299 (£860), with a faster, more capacious model priced at $1599 (£1060). Interested?
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