Yesterday I spent an indulgent hour in the Covent Garden Apple Store (where better to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon?) trying to make up my mind—finally—on the perfect portable computer for travel. I’ve written before about this thorny problem and my inability to choose between the svelte and featherlight MacBook and the sturdy, sensible 13in MacBook Pro retina. I have been sitting on the fence so long that I decided I’d better make a decision. The old 11in MacBook Air is now showing its age, particularly in terms of the poor screen, and I really do need to choose. Last week in Switzerland I was disappointed with my photographs from the Leica Q. But I realised that the problem lay not with the camera but with the wishy-washy MacBook Air screen. Viewed back at base on the 27in 5K iMac, those shots came to life.
There is absolutely no doubt that the 13in retina MacBook Pro is the more sensible choice. It is much faster, has oodles of ports (including the all-important SD slot) and a gorgeous screen. But I still love the simplicity and focus of the new MacBook. I don’t even mind the single port, reasoning that I can cope quite well with an adapter or two. Even the screen, although smaller than that of the 13in MBP, is gorgeous and would certainly do justice to my modest photographic skills. The big problem is whether or not the MacBook, even in the faster 1.2GHz version, is speedy enough to handle Lightroom.
Keyboard
I am also concerned about the keyboard of the MacBook. It has larger keys than the standard Mac layout and the travel is very short, almost button-like in comparison with the normal feel of the MBP’s board. Yesterday I spent half an hour typing on both computers, back and forth. At first, I found the keyboard of the MacBook awkward and I clocked up an unusual number of errors. In contrast, typing on the MacBook Pro was normal, something I am well used to. After quarter of an hour, though, I realised I was getting used to the unusual layout and feel of the MacBook. The main problem seems to be the oversized keys and my tendency to clip the edge of adjacent keys by mistake. I suspect is is just a matter of practice and I have decided that I could soon get used to the new setup.
My friend Austin White of austinwhite.org was an early adopter of the MacBook. He has a MacBook Pro as his main business machine, so the little MacBook was chosen for writing, travelling and general browsing. He is delighted with it, although he freely admits that the 13in MacBook Pro retina is a more rounded and capable package. He reports that after the first day or two he was perfectly at home with the unusual keyboard. Since I also have a faster machine on the office desk—an iMac 5K with 32GB memory—I can understand his reasoning.
Speed
On speed, I am having second thoughts. I am persuaded that I can live with the slower processor, reckoning that it cannot possibly be slower than that in my old mid-2012 Air. The benefits of small size, extreme thinness and almost incredible 920g weight serve to outweigh most reservations. The 13in MacBook Pro retina, by contrast, is over twice as heavy and has a few extra inches all round. For travel, the MacBook has got to be the right choice. For almost all my usage, including writing, browsing and information-management tasks, the MacBook should be perfectly adequate.
Then I thought about all the accessories I would need. At the very minimum, I will have to shell out £65 for the multi-adapter to provide USB-C (for power), USB3 and HDMI ports. And then I realised that my 1TB Seagate disk which I use as a portable photographic library, wouldn’t work because it is Thunderbolt only. So that’s a new disk, probably a 2TB USB3, that would need to be added to the total.
In the end I did what several friends have done: Bought the MacBook and carried it home for setup and testing. By the end of the week I will have reached my decision: Will it be a keeper? If I change my mind, Apple’s generous return policy means I can get my money back in full or, if I wish, change the MacBook for a MacBook Pro.
Incidentally, this was my first big purchase using Apple Pay and the Apple Watch. It was all too easy, double press the side button and Bob’s your uncle. Apple has no limit on transactions whereas Apple Pay is restricted to £20 on most UK terminals.
Hi Mike,
This is my first comment, since I have only just noticed your blog…
I was faced with a couple of choices regarding material products recently, and made the following decisions:
13" MacBook Air… I looked at the MacBook, did not like the single port concept, and I did not consider the 13" Pro, since I have a 2014 (cylindrical) MacPro with a decent NEC monitor on my desk.
I have also bought a new camera… I already have a Fuji x100s and was considering the Q, which is where I stumbled across your blog! Rather weirdly, I bought a Leica M2/50mm Summicron (close focus) from RedDot Cameras in Clerkenwell, bought the Lumu light meter to attach to my new iPhone 6+.
*Spending spree due to finally conquering the smoking habit and saving my formally mis-spent pennies.
The M2 was a decision made following a realisation that although I am not too bad at composition, I have absolutely no idea how light works, or indeed how a camera works… So it was back to basics a la Mike Johnson…
Here:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/theonlinephotographer/2009/05/a-leica-year.html
and here:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/theonlinephotographer/2010/08/a-leica-for-a-year-a-year-later.html
The MacBook is no doubt a good PC, with a tremendous display… But I am not impressed with the lack of connectivity.
Steve.
Hi Stephen,
Congratulations on the M2. I am sure you will love it–I don’t have an M2 but have a couple of M3s so almost the same experience. As you say, there is nothing like a classic camera to help with mastering light. Black and white film, in particular, is very tolerant and I find that after a time it is possible make a fairly good assessment just by checking conditions visually.
I did buy the MacBook and have spent a couple of days setting it up. The connectivity is not a problem for me, although I miss not having a dedicated SD slot. I think the universal USB-C port is the future and, in some ways, it makes things easier because you can easily dock to a multi-function hub. The HDMI/USB Apple connector is pricey at £65 but is essential if you want to have power and peripherals connected at once.
I was more concerned with the performance and I have to say I have been stunned by the way in which the MacBook handles RAW file import into Lightroom. And general Lightroom editing seems speedy. I am trying to work out why a computer with a slow processor should perform these tasks so well. It is certainly much better than my specced-out mid-2012 11in MacBook Air. I suspect the very fast SSD in the new generation computers has a lot to do with it.
Currently I am reviewing the MacBook and will be putting up my findings in the next week or so. So far so good. Thanks for your interest.