Sections
- Page 1 MacBook (12-inch, 2015) Review
- Page 2 MacBook (2015) – Performance Review
- Page 3 MacBook 2015 – Battery Life and conclusion Review
12-inch MacBook – Battery Life
Apple claims the MacBook will last nine hours of web browsing and 10 hours of iTunes video playback, which puts it below the 13-inch MacBook Air and similar to the same size of MacBook Pro.
Battery life is very good generally, but it falls a little short of covering a full working day comfortably. You can get eight hours or more of constant use from the MacBook, but not without getting a little nervous towards the end. That said, it should be ample for a day out with breaks between sessions, so you can leave home without the charger without fretting too much.
It’s frugal when streaming video, too. An hour of Netflix video drained just 9% of the battery, which means you can enjoy up to 10 hours of video streaming at 60% brightness.
Overall, there are laptops out there that last longer, but the MacBook won’t disappoint you in this department.
Should I buy the 12-inch MacBook?
There’s no simple answer to this question. The new MacBook is brilliant. It’s a joy to use, looks incredible and runs silently like an iPad does. It’s a model of what future laptops will be like, but with a price tag to match that ambition.
However, there’s a red line in this argument that overrules all opposing concerns. You can either live with its new-fangled single USB-C port, or you can’t. If you think you’ll need a bunch of adapters to do what you want, then you should buy a different laptop. That’s it. Yes, it’s pretty and you may really want to own it, but you shouldn’t.
Yet it’s perfectly possible to live with a laptop like the new MacBook – I needed a normal port once in my time with the MacBook, and that was to charge my phone. The new MacBook isn’t a road warrior’s workhorse in the traditional sense, but it’s an awesome everyday laptop that you can take with you and use anywhere in comfort.
If you don’t fall into that camp, consider something else – a 13-inch MacBook Pro or a Dell XPS 13 are good places to start.
Verdict
The new MacBook is a brilliant laptop provided you can live with the compromises. It’s definitely a sign of things to come.
How we test laptops
Unlike other sites, we test every laptop we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Trusted Score
Score in detail
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Performance 7
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Keyboard 8
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Design 10
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Screen Quality 9
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Build Quality 10
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Value 6
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Touchpad 10
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Heat & Noise 10
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Battery Life 8
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
