Apple Unveils The 12-Inch Retina MacBook

The much rumored new notebook from Apple has finally been officially announced. At today’s Spring Forward event Apple announced the 12-inch MacBook. No other identifiers. It’s simply the 12-inch MacBook. Some of what was already rumored has turned out to be true. It has a 12-inch Retina Display, a significantly slimmer and lighter profile, a fanless design, a keyboard that has been redesigned from the ground up and an all new trackpad.

The new MacBook comes in at just 13.1mm thick and weighs 2 pounds. It is 24 percent thinner than the 11-inch MacBook Air. The new keyboard covers the entire width of the notebook and offers more “precise” type courtesy of the new “butterfly mechanism” that Apple has created.

Individual LEDs are now placed underneath every key on the keyboard which not only allows for the device to be more thinner but also provides better backlight for the keys.

Apple says the Retina Display on this MacBook, which offers 2,304×1,440 pixel resolution, consumes 30 percent less power than previous displays. It comes in at 12-inches and sits nicely between Apple’s 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs.

Apple has also introduced a new trackpad which no longer produces that clicking sound that MacBook users have long been accustomed to. It has four force sensors in each corner and the “click feel” is controlled by software. Users can tweak the click feel.

The company has removed all other ports for the new USB Type-C connector. It is the first notebook to come with this reversible USB standard and the port will be used for charging, data transfer and video output.

The new 12-inch MacBook will be available in silver, space gray and gold. This is the first time that Apple is offering a notebook in gold, a color it first used with the iPhone.

Starting at $1,299 the base model is powered by a 1.1GHz dual core Intel Core M Broadwell processor with Intel HD Graphics 5300, 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD.

The new MacBook starts shipping a month from now, on April 10th.