My 2015 12-inch Retina MacBook

Two weeks ago I shared my thoughts on the recently announced MacBook Neo, and in the post I mentioned that I couldn't help but think about the 12-inch MacBook which previously sold from 2015–2019. And of course I would, I own one!

I got it about a year ago from a very close friend. This specific model is a Silver one from Early 2015. It has 8 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage, and is still running macOS High Sierra. It went for US$1,599 when it originally released, which is insane by today's standards, but was actually a pretty good price for its time. (Source: CNET)

I've used this laptop occasionally since I got it. I've purposefully kept it quite bare, so I've actually used it in the past for assignments and stuff when I've really wanted to lock in and not get distracted by anything.

Also it is extremely small and light. As I mentioned in the MacBook Neo post, I am pretty sure it remains the lightest MacBook ever, not even reaching 1 kilogram in weight. You definitely notice its small figure, but it's still relatively large enough that it doesn't feel cramped, as there is still enough space that it feels comfortable to use.

Interestingly, since it's running High Sierra with its outdated version of Safari, I've actually been able to play old Flash games directly in browser again, which has been quite cool! That's pretty much the most intensive thing I've used it for, and it does struggle with that sometimes.

What I really find the most fascinating about this laptop, though, is that despite being relatively forgotten nowadays, it turned out to be pretty much the landmark MacBook that introduced a lot of the design decisions that Apple would use for all their MacBooks for the next years, even some today!

Probably the most infamous part of the laptop, which was unfortunately a staple of MacBooks for the next 4-ish years, was the Butterfly Keyboard. Instead of the standard scissor switches, the 12-inch MacBook introduced a thinner mechanism which allowed for larger keys that didn't wobble, and allowed the laptop to be as thin as it is. This was definitely the first step to Apple really getting their keyboards right, but the keyboard itself wasn't very good, as it barely traveled and was a pain to clean and fix if it was ever needed.

Another pretty infamous part of the laptop was the fact that it only had a single USB-C port. This was the first real consumer product to have USB-C ever, and while it is a standard literally everywhere now, for a while it was pretty much only in this laptop, and that was definitely an issue for a lot of people. While the USB-C isn't an issue anymore, what is an issue is that there is only one port, meaning you can't charge the device while something else is connected to it. At least it does have a headphone jack, but honestly this is the only part of this laptop that I do not like.

Those two bits weren't that good, but their introductions did pave the way for a lot of the improvements Apple's laptops would eventually get. Everything else the laptop introduced, however, was definitely fantastic in my opinion.

Definitely my favourite part of it was its new trackpad, which has gone pretty much unchanged to this day outside of some minor tweaks. This was Apple's first device to have the force-touch trackpad, which instead of actually clicking down when pressed, it would instead give a bit of haptic feedback which felt like an actual press. I know it was seen as a bit of a gimmick at first, but honestly this is probably the best trackpad ever made. There's a reason Apple has barely changed it, even 11 years later, and I found it a massive improvement to the slightly mushier ones before it.

It was also the first MacBook to get rid of the glowing Apple logo in the back. I do know that this is fairly controversial and a lot of people like it, but it allowed the display to be thinner and more colour-accurate. The Retina display used to be exclusive to the higher-end MacBook Pros, but this change allowed it to be a part of a much smaller device, which I still find very impressive. It is often referred to as the "Retina MacBook" for a reason, and it still holds up extremely well!

Every single thing this laptop introduced has either remained part of current MacBooks, or was refined and improved over the years. The current MacBooks are quite different so I don't consider them part of the same generation anymore, but I definitely do think that this was when the modern MacBook really started.

The 12-inch MacBook would keep getting some updates until 2017, and it was eventually discontinued on July 9, 2019. I remember as I was in Florida at the time, where I was debating between getting it or the new 3rd Gen iPad Pro. I ended up getting the iPad, and on the very last day of the trip was when it was discontinued, which I found kinda surreal. Of course I did end up getting one eventually.

I love having this bit of Apple and general tech history with me! It is definitely not a perfect device, and it was (and still remains) fairly controversial, but I've always had a soft spot for it. Back then I used to love it for its portability, and I still find that specific aspect very impressive, but nowadays I respect it a lot more for all of the things that it introduced which still define what MacBooks are today.

By the way, this was edited on the 12-inch Macbook ;)