Top 5 MacBook 12" Myths! (2015)

Alright, let's get started. The MacBook sucks because it only has one port. Coming from basically every other laptop, the new MacBook is almost ridiculously light on ports. What it does have is a single USB Type C, which if you're only going to put one port on a laptop, is the way to go. It's reversible so you won't have to plug things in the wrong way anymore, it supports powering other devices as well as charging your MacBook, it has full USB 3 speeds along with DisplayPort or HDMI for using an external monitor. Not bad from this small port.

Right now, accessories that use USB-C aren't exactly popular, but there are some like this Sandisk flash drive that has a USB-C port on one side and a full USB 3.0 on the other. For the most part, you'll need adapters like this USB-C to full USB from Apple. It works well - you can even pair it with a USB hub to charge a large number of devices on the MacBook - but it's not the most elegant solution. On the other hand, you can totally use it with your collection of 3.5-inch floppy drives, which I mean is basically a necessity for a computer in

2015

, right?

Since USB Type C is not an Apple-only connector, you can use third-party cables like this full-size USB male cable from Google. This allows you to do cool things like connect the MacBook to a backup battery or power an external monitor using the DisplayPort cable. This is great, except when you realize that using any of these forces you to use the battery, since there is no way to charge while using your only port. Apple sells an adapter that includes a full-size USB, HDMI, and another USB-C for charging, but what would be a much better solution is to simply include two USB ports like Google does on the Chromebook Pixel.

So is Apple completely crazy for putting only one port on the MacBook? No, but adding one more would be a nice improvement. You can't play on the MacBook. On the surface this seems entirely plausible. With a fanless design that measures just over 13 millimeters, the MacBook has more in common with a tablet than a gaming laptop. Under the hood, we're looking at Intel HD 5300 graphics which, while not incredibly fast, could have enough power for some gaming. Load up a copy of Minecraft and the MacBook will handle it just fine, which actually isn't that bad all things considered.

Install Steam and we'll have a decent selection of games that will run on OS anyway. It's definitely not a gaming PC, but for light gaming it's actually quite usable. The webcam sucks. That would be a yes. So, the new MacBook has a 480p webcam that is straight out of 2006. Now yes, it can be used in a pinch if you need to do some video chatting like on Skype or FaceTime, but it definitely sucks. The new MacBook is too expensive. Starting at $1,300, there's no doubt that the MacBook is an expensive machine. Looking just at the Mac side, the 11-inch Air costs $400 less, but that's not entirely a fair comparison.

The base Air comes with four gigs of memory and a 128 gigabyte SSD, which is totally ridiculous for a premium laptop. If you spec it with eight gigs of RAM and a 256-gig drive like the 12-inch MacBook, the price difference drops to $100, which is a little more plausible if only for the better screen. For a more similar comparison, there's the Samsung ATIV Book 9, which has a similarly slim design with a 12-inch high-resolution display, the same Core M processor, and costs $100 more than the MacBook. The MacBook isn't incredibly expensive, but it would make a lot more sense with a price cut of a few hundred dollars.

You can't do real work on the MacBook. This is another one that sounds completely rational. All it takes is a look at the spec list to see some major red flags. A 1.1 gigahertz processor capped at 4.5 watts with no fan to cool it? For perspective, the MacBook Air has 15 watts to work with and the 13-inch MacBook Pro has 28 watts available. In regular use, the CPU will boost up to 2.4 gigahertz, which is not far behind the others. We have full Mac OS X, so running heavier applications like Photoshop is not a problem. While it's a bit impractical, you can also edit videos on the MacBook as long as you carry a couple of adapters with you.

I edited this entire video in Premiere Pro and it handled it like a champ, the export was a little slow but the editing itself was no problem. It does get a little warm above the keyboard, but it's actually not much worse than most laptops. As a laptop dedicated to video and photo editing, it may not be the best option in the world, but for occasional work it is totally usable. It may be small, but the new MacBook packs decent power. Add another USB-C port and reduce the price a bit and this could be the perfect laptop for a lot of people.