A very good ultra-lightweight, full-featured laptop - with a few caveats

I should start by noting this is my second MacBook (non-Pro and non-Air, at least), and it's identical to the first one I owned. I sold my previous one a while ago, but bought this one as a backup since my main laptop (one of the new MBPs introduced in fall 2016) is in the shop. That said, it gives me the opportunity to address the computer's pros and cons in direct comparison to a larger and newer (and considerably pricier) model. As was the case with my first MacBook, I LOVE how lightweight and compact it is. It's even thinner and lighter than a MacBook Air -- which I've also previously owned -- but has the considerable advantage of a Retina screen. That said, its one major drawback -- one that's explicitly due to its minuscule form factor -- is its 8 GB of RAM, and unlike nearly every other Apple laptop to date, it can't be upsized. (Even the mildly revised model introduced last year employs the same amount of RAM.) As a result, the computer is noticeably slower than 16 GB-equipped MBPs, even during "normal" use (e.g. not using any memory-hog programs, or even much more than using a standard web browser with six or seven tabs open). Sometimes it even inexplicably "hangs," at least if you're trying to do several tasks at once (e.g. downloading a large file while web-surfing). Part of the problem could simply be its operating system: while the original MacBook was designed for OS X, Apple has since introduced macOS Sierra, which was presumably designed with Apple's faster future systems in mind. Also, to be fair, even a slow-ish MacBook is considerably quicker than nearly any laptop running Windows; it boots up in under 15 seconds (from power-off mode), and wakes up out of sleep mode in less than five. Finally, I know the computer generated a lot of flak when it first came out for having only a single port -- and a USB-C one at that, which at the time was only used for a handful of smartphone models -- but I honestly haven't ever had a problem with it. These days just about everything is stored in the cloud, and the MacBook is clearly designed around that premise (which btw is why I wouldn't recommend buying the version with a larger hard drive). And what's not in the cloud is largely accessible via wi-fi or Bluetooth; setting up wireless printing is a cinch, and macOS Sierra combined with an iPhone or iPad running iOS 10 means anything you do on one of them is automatically - and seamlessly - transferred to the other, most notably photos, notes, and even texts (at least the ones sent via iMessage - and btw you can use the laptop to send messages as well, which is a nice feature to have). Also, if you do happen to need standard USB ports for some reason, you can now buy USB extensions with 4-6 ports that plugs into the laptop's one USB-C port. In any event, the fact that I've now purchased two of these MacBooks should clue you in that I think the pros outweigh the cons, and while I like the new MBP better, even the base model is nearly double the price of what I paid for a (gently) used MacBook on eBay, so I should *hope* it's better!Read full review

Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned