Apple has updated its 12-inch MacBook offerings with sixth-generation Intel Core M processors, Intel HD Graphics 515, and boosted battery life. They also expanded initial color choices with Rose Gold models.
Apple offers two standard configurations of the new MacBook with Intel Skylake processors that are an upgrade over the Intel Core M Broadwell processors in the previous MacBook. The $1,299 model comes with a 64-bit 1.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core M3 processor with Turbo Boost up to 2.2 GHz, 4 MB L3 cache, and 256 GB of PCIe-based onboard flash storage. The $1,599 model has a 64-bit 1.2 GHz dual-core Intel Core M5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 2.7 GHz, 4 MB L3 cache, and 512 GB of PCIe-based onboard flash storage. Users can upgrade either models to a 1.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core m7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz) with 4 MB L3 cache for an additional fee.
Apple has also upgraded the battery, with the company claiming the new MacBooks can lasts for up to 10 hours of online browsing via Wi-Fi, and up to 11 hours watching local videos on iTunes. This means the new MacBook edition will last an hour more than the 2015 models.
Another notable change is that all MacBook models come standard with 8GB of 1866MHz LPDDR memory. However, the new models still has only one single USB-C port. A USB-C port can deliver 100 watts of power, 10Gbps data transfer speeds, and can be used to connect external displays.
The new MacBook models will also be available in Gold, silver, space gray, and rose gold. This will be the first time Apple has offered the rose gold option on a Mac.
In addition to a refreshed 12-inch MacBook, Apple has also announced that it will be bumping all 13-inch MacBook Air configurations to include 8GB of RAM. This change may not be a big update compared to 12-inch MacBooks. However, considering previous models for which Apple charged $100 to upgrade to 8 GB from the base 4 GB option, this new MacBook Air update is a welcome one. This change does not affect the base 11-inch model, as that will still have 4 GB of RAM to start.
