by Jason Snell
Marco Arment pans the MacBook
I liked just about everything on the new MacBook except the keyboard. Oh, the keyboard. Its lack of travel just doesn’t work for me, and so I felt no pain in saying goodbye to the MacBook and shipping it back to Apple. The computer is shiny and fun and small and light, but if I hate typing on it—and I used it as my only Mac for an entire week—it’s not much good to me.
Marco Arment was also intrigued by the small and light and shiny and fun, but his reaction was much more negative than mine:
The MacBook just looks and feels like the obvious, no-brainer choice for a small Mac. That’s why people buy it. That’s why I bought it. I loved it before I bought it. I love looking at it and picking it up.
I just hate using it.
I hate typing on it, I hate the trackpad, it’s slower than I expected, the screen is noticeably blurry from non-native scaling to get reasonable screen space, and I don’t even find it very comfortable to use in my lap because it’s too small.
I hate returning things, but I’m returning this.
Not every product is for everyone. It’s definitely worth reading Marco’s comments if you’re considering the new MacBook. I’d also recommend visiting an Apple Store before buying one, if you can, just so you can get hands-on experience with the keyboard and trackpad.