
As I wait for my 2011 iMac to finally die and ascend to the all white funeral home in the sky, I have been pondering what will follow it.
My main goal has been to keep it running for as long as I can and to pat myself on the back for having used the same computer for a decade, but it appears that time is running too fast and that a decision had to be made.
It is slowing down again as it did previously before I formatted it and now the clicking noise of doom appears when it is under pressure. The iMac is uneconomical to repair in any way and so it hangs on by a string. But then a friend of mine purchased a new MacBook Pro and offered me his 2015 MacBook for £400 after some discussion about how he could achieve more than that. I know that this is not the ideal computer for me, but when faced with a price that means I can sell again later and not be out of pocket, why not have a temporary replacement until I absolutely need a new iMac.
So, I paid my money and brought in home.
When I consider that 90% of my freelance work is macOS and iOS based, I do need these products (it’s not all Apple fanboyism) and so a Mac of some kind is a necessity. The obvious question is if such a low-end Mac can cut it and could I cope with the silly keyboard in those times when I am writing for hours on end.
Well, my first impression of the keyboard is that it is excellent, much better than I expected and quite a joy to use. It is fairly hard in terms of the way the keys depress, but so far I am finding it very easy to type on and have no real complaints. The same goes for the trackpad which offers the fake feedback which works especially well given the relatively large size of it on such a small computer.
The screen is just lovely and despite the size a magnitude brighter and more dense than my aged iMac and the form offers one overriding feeling; it is an iPad with a keyboard attached, only running macOS and feeling altogether more consistent.
These are very early days with the MacBook for me, but it highlights how close Apple’s various products are in terms of hardware. The MacBook is a more powerful iPad whereas the iPad is a less powerful MacBook without a keyboard. Seriously, they feel that close that they could be part of the same range of computers.
I will write more about my MacBook experiences next week, but so far it is so much better than I expected.