Why in the world would someone buy a $1299 12" Underpowered MacBook when they could buy a 13" MacBook Pro retina for the same price?
This is just stupidity.
But you know what. Tons of people will buy it. This is the magic of the Apple brand. I just dont get it sometimes.
I find it a bit funny when people see a variety of needs and use-cases as stupidity... these reactions demonstrate an inability to get outside one's own head, perspective, and needs.
I will buy the new Macbook.
Yes, I think it's classic first generation Apple stuff: Overpriced, underpowered-- and filling a specific niche that hasn't (yet) expanded into the mainstream.
I'm typing this on a 6-core, 4.2 Ghz Hackintosh. Plenty of horsepower for my professional photo and video work. Not to mention my professional writing work. I've got about 1.5TB of stills, and who knows how much video. Two SSD, 3 HDD internal. Countless external media. Hooked up to a primary 27" LED Cinema Display.
I have and android phone and an iPad mini2/retina.
My portable needs, not yet fulfilled, include: being able to back up media while traveling using multiple portable SSD/HDD, basic image and video review and processing and organization (not production quality output), writing, correspondence, research; doing written work not at my standing desk, either sin my apartment, or outside, or for those rare times I want to sit in a coffee shop.
I need/want: High res screen, good battery life-- and above all else small size/low weight. The new Macbook delivers all these things to a degree not delivered by any other laptop Apple sells. (For the record, I have no desire to run Windows on my laptop; in the past I've owned a Hackbook eeepc, powerbooks, and currently have an old white Macbook that my gf uses that has dismal battery life and is a giant.)
Powerful CPU really isn't important (though I like it). Battery life around 9 hours is totally fine. One USB port that needs a hub so I can import media while backing up to two drives is no big deal (USB hubs will end up being cheap). Having to run on battery while doing my media transfers doesn't thrill me, but given the battery life... it's a non-issue.
Does that mean I think the Macbook is the best possible solution for my needs? No. But it's the best available right now. Sure, I'd have preferred the current 11 inch case, CPU, I/O, with the new 12 inch screen, same battery life, and perhaps an SD card slot. To me that would have been better than the new Macbook. But for me the current 11 inch MBA screen is a no-go, and the current 13 inch MBA is bigger than I want to carry.
So the current 11 inch MBA is disqualified. The current rMBP 13 is significantly heavier and more bulky for someone whose sole use of the machine is traveling (it's no big deal to transport from desk at home to desk at work... but I do jobs that may require 60 days of traveling thousands of miles/km at a time, and sometimes pretty far-flung/difficult to reach places). Why would I buy the current 13 inch rMBP when its additional I/O and CPU/GPU literally offer me nothing additionally helpful? That computer is woefully underpowered for what I do; that's why I run a 6-core Xeon monster at home...
My iPad would work for short trips, if Apple didn't neuter its ability to have real file system access or plug in portable SSD/HDD. Yes, even jailbroken, even running iFile, even using a powered USB hub with the Camera Connection Kit... using the iPad to facilitate backups isn't a serious solution. Writing using an iPad, even with an external keyboard, isn't a serious solution. General photo review, organization, and basic processing (non-production output) on an iPad isn't a serious solution.
The 13 inch MBP is overkill at a major size/weight penalty for my needs (maybe not yours!; I just recommended that a friend skip the new Macbook and instead get a 13 MBP as his only computer solution). The MBA screen is a no-go (for me).
The new MB is a size/weight/screen winner-- at the cost of power and price. That's what you get for buying the first generation of a product (see: Apple Watch... which I have no desire for). By gen 2 or 3, the MB is going to be significantly more powerful than the current MBA, smaller, better screen, and likely with better I/O (either through additional ports or higher speed, more stable wireless protocols or via cheaper/better/small adaptors). And it will be much cheaper. Remember that the first MBA was a $1700, one-port, underpowered, overpriced, forward looking freak. That subsequently became Apple's best selling model after a few generations, where now the price of entry is $899, it has multiple I/O options, and the power-to-price ratio is far more in the consumer's benefit.
Expect the same.
I will buy the new Macbook. And I'll sell it and follow the upgrade train as the next gen or two come out... paying $200 to $300 per year in loss on each upgrade. It will be worth it. It fits my use case, budget, and needs; this is for work ahead of play. This is a second (or third, or fourth... depending on how you count my iPad/phone/ATV/current MB) machine filling a specific niche.
Stupidity is not being able to step outside one's own landscape to understand that what works or makes sense for one person may not work or make sense for another-- and vice versa.
