The Waterfield Air Porter

I’ve been doing quite a bit of travel lately for fancy lawyer-related business. Usually I just take a backpack on trips, but it doesn’t really look good in the business meetings where I have to wear a suit. So, of course, that gave me an excuse to get a new bag. I ended up with the WaterField Air Porter Carry-On Bag, and I’m quite happy with it.

The Air Porter is a leather and canvas bag from WaterField, the same team that makes most of the bags I buy. They are based out of San Francisco, and they always nail the little details. The Air Porter is no different. In this case, WaterField actively solicited customer input while they were designing the bag, and the result is something that makes travel easier. By combining WaterField’s ability to make a bag with active customer feedback, we get a really nice travel bag.

The Air Porter has two zippered compartments. The large compartment has lots of space and pockets. The smaller compartment is for storing a laptop or tablet (or both) and features an extended zipper that makes it easier to deal with airport security. A nice small touch here is the way the laptop pocket dips on each side, making it easy to plug your Mac in for a charge while it is still in the bag.

There is a separate zipper for the main compartment that feels pretty roomy, considering the size of the bag. It has several pockets and space for files, books, and even the Air Caddy (explained below).

All of the WaterField bags use gold fabric on the inside, which makes finding things a lot easier compared to the standard black interiors found in most bags. I own several WaterField bags, and it baffles me that other manufacturers don’t do this. It’s so obvious once you try it. Finally, there is a flap for an accessible slot on one side good for holding things you need quick access to in the airport, and the other side has a fabric panel that will attach your AirPorter to your carry-on luggage handle. There’s also a padded strap so you can put it over your shoulder.

The bag’s size, 15 x 10.25 x 4.5 inches, is travel-friendly. The bag easily stands and its height upright (10.25 inches) fits perfectly under the seat in front you and, because it is standing, your feet can still fit under the seat. That alone is a huge improvement over traveling with a backpack.

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One of my favorite things about the Air Porter is that it is actually two bags. For $20 more you also get the Air Caddy. The Air Caddy is a zippered pouch made to hold an iPad (10.5 inches or smaller) and a few other bits, such your mid-flight granola bar. The Air Caddy fits in the main cargo area of the Air Porter, but when you board your plane, the power move is to slip it out and drop it in the seat pouch. The combination of the Air Porter and the Air Caddy makes boarding a plane much easier. Just slip out the Air Caddy, put it in the seat pocket, then slide the Air Porter under the seat, and you’re good. I like this system so much that I’m going to be using the Air Caddy when I travel with my backpack instead of the Air Porter. The Air Caddy is also useful for other things. For instance, I’ve taken to using it to carry my iPad, journal, a few pens, and snacks and throwing it in my bicycle pannier on days that I’m getting around by pedal power.

I like the Air Porter so much that I’ve been using it for the day job even when not traveling to the airport. It looks classy and efficiently holds my stuff. I also like its relatively compact size on a day full of meetings.

The Air Porter comes in a few looks including ballistic nylon, leather, or canvas, and options in shades of brown and black. It’s a great bag. You should check it out.

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The WaterField MacBook SleeveCase Review

For a few weeks last month I was a world traveler. While it is fun getting stamps on your passport and embarrassing your children while you try to converse with people in other languages, one concern I had for the trip was getting around with my technology.

I knew I needed to bring the MacBook. My problem was I didn’t have a bag for it. Before leaving, I picked up a WaterField MacBook SleeveCase. As computer cases go, this is fairly minimal. The bag is waxed canvas (they also have a version in ballistic nylon) with a nice padded pocket to hold your MacBook and a leather flap that velcros down to keep your Mac solidly in place. I chose the waxed canvas SleeveCase with leather reinforcements. I’m pretty sure it is the same one Indiana Jones would carry if he needed such a thing.

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I opted for the additional side clips and strap so I could wear it over my shoulder. I’m glad I did because I ended up carrying this computer bag everywhere.

The MacBook SleeveCases are designed to fit around the specific Apple laptop computers. They make them for all of the MacBooks ranging from the 12-inch MacBook to the 15-inch MacBook Pro. You can order the SleeveCase in either vertical or horizontal orientation. The bag is TSA approved, and I was able to put it through airport security without removing it from the SleeveCase.

The WaterField SleeveCase does not hold much except your computer and whatever you can fit in the side pocket. There is an optional piggyback case that lets you store more accessories and attaches to the case.

The thing I liked most about the WaterField SleeveCase is that it served two purposes. It’s robust enough with the strap that you can carry it around for the day with your Mac inside. However, if I needed to carry a backpack with more gear, the case is thin enough that I could slide it into my backpack where it served as a protective sleeve for the MacBook inside the backpack. WaterField makes laptop bags with more onboard storage, like the Staad Attaché and the Outback Solo, but I needed something that could either be worn independently or easily fit in my backpack when needed. It was this dual purpose that attracted me to the SleeveCase in the first place.

Like all other WaterField products, the SleeveCase is gorgeous. At one point during the trip my teenage daughter said to me, “Dad, I like your computer bag.” That’s right. The bag received a compliment … from a teenager! Somewhere at that moment an angel received its wings.

All WaterField products are made in San Francisco and built to last. I’ve been buying products from them for ten years, and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.

The New Dash iPad Sleeve

I’ve been sporting this new 10.5” iPad for awhile (that I love) but I’ve not shared any details about my case. For several years now I’ve been using Waterfield bags and cases. It’s a San Francisco-based company that locally manufactures excellent bags for your Apple gear. With my prior iPad I used a one of their Dash sleeves and for this new one I went again with the Dash iPad Sleeves.

However, since I bought the last Dash sleeve, they’ve updated the design. The new Dash 2.0 design is pretty great. The sleeve is made just big enough to hold your iPad (or your iPad plus a Smart Keyboard). The iPad slides in to a soft fabric with foam backing to protect you iPad. The exterior is either ballistic nylon or a rugged textile. I’ve been romping around Hawaii this week where it rains often and I discovered the fabric is water resistant. The Dash Sleeve comes in several colors including black ballistic nylon and blue, green, grey, and red fabric.

Like the prior Dash sleeve, there is a simple bit of elastic on one side that you can pull over the top to secure your iPad in the sleeve. New to version 2.0 is a zippered pocket to securely add a few accessories. The pocket is tall enough to hold an Apple Pencil and there’s even a little slot inside the zippered compartment to hold the Pencil. Once you stow your Pencil in the slot and zip up the compartment, it’s not going anywhere. The compartment is also big enough to hold my plus-sized iPhone

I really like the updated Waterfield Dash 2.0 iPad Sleeve. It’s both attractive and protective enough to carry your iPad around without any other case. I often use it as my sole case as I move around my day living the iPad lifestyle. At the same time, the Dash Sleeve is small enough that it easily fits in my breifcase or backpack so I can throw my Dash-protected iPad in with other gear without worrying about it getting damaged.

I was first attracted to the Waterfield products when I saw friends carrying them at Macworld Expo years ago. Their products are great looking but also built to last. Waterfield bags I bought years ago are still in great condition and getting used everyday. I expect this new Dash Sleeve will be no different and taking care of my iPad Pro for a long time to come.

The Waterfield Bolt Backpack Review

I’ve recently become a backpack convert. While messenger bags look cool, distributing the weight of my gear to both shoulders feels a lot better at the end of the day. Waterfield is expanding its backpack line and they recently sent me their new Waterfield Bolt backpack to check out. The Bolt measures 12.5 x 16 x 5 inches. It has two zippers across the top. One gets quick access to the laptop compartment and the other gets access to the rest of the cargo. Like other Waterfield bags, the laptop compartment is its own padded sleeve that your laptop can slide into. It’s big enough to hold a MacBook Pro or a large iPad Pro. There is a second sleeve sewn on top that can hold a 9.7 inch iPad. I have, on occasion carried two iPads in my Bolt because that’s just how I roll.

The main interior is a large cargo compartment. The Bolt has quite a bit more storage than in my Waterfield Staad laptop bag. Another feature common with Waterfield bags is the gold fabric lined interior. I didn’t realize how much I appreciated this until recently I was looking for something in my daughter’s non-Waterfield backpack. Most backpacks have dark fabric on the inside which makes it even harder to find things when you’re digging around. The gold fabric brightens things up and makes finding my gear easier.

Also on the interior are two pockets with the Velcro fasteners to hold miscellaneous items like chargers, business cards, pens and pencils. As an iPad nerd, I can report these pockets are deep enough to hold an Apple Pencil but also shallow enough that the top of the pencil pokes up and is easily retrieved.

The bag is made out of waxed canvas with the leather on the bottom to add some additional support. There’s also an integrated leather handle at the top of the bag.

On the front of the bag is two additional pockets with leather tabs and magnetic closures. The pockets are pretty big and I’ve been keeping one loaded out with personal items, like aspirin and Kleenex, and the other is for tech supplies, like my charging battery, a few cables, and a flashlight (because everybody needs a flashlight). I like having quick access to these items without having to open up the backpack itself. Behind the two compartments is a hidden zipped pocket. There are also pouches on either side perfect for holding a water bottle.

The back of the backpack has a mesh cushion to provide ventilation on a hot day. One of the nice little touches is that this mesh cushion is only sewed on the sides of the bag. There’s a gap between the cushion and the rest the bag so you can slide it over a rolling suitcase handle on trips. The straps are also padded and fit well. When wearing this backpack, I cinch the straps down so the bag rides high on my back. I find that, over the long haul, this is more comfortable.

The real story with the Waterfield products is their design and construction. These bags are made to last. I’ve been buying the Waterfield bags for years. I just recently gave away a Waterfield bag I bought six years ago to and it was in such good shape that my friend mistook it for new. Waterfield gets the details right with quality fabrics, heavy stitching, waterproof zippers, rain guard flaps and all the other small things that give the bag longevity.

As seen in pictures, the bag is also quite attractive. They have various configurations ranging from urban to Indiana Jones. I always lean towards the bags that look like I’m about to head out on expedition.

I’ve been using this bag for over a month. In between a cross country trip, day hikes, and trips to Disneyland, I’m guessing I’ve got about 100 miles of walking with this bag on my back and I can report it still feels and looks great.

I now have two Waterfield backpacks. The Staad, which I reviewed a few months ago, is a bit smaller and most appropriate for day trips. If you carry a lot of gear or are looking to use a backpack for travel, you should probably step up to the Bolt. The additional cargo space, combined with the ability to attach it to a rolling suitcase and the large external pockets, make the Waterfield Bolt a perfect travel companion. I took a trip this month and the Waterfield Bolt was great.

I used to make fun of my wife for buying too many purses but given my fetish for high quality bags and backpacks, I really just need to shut up. If you’re looking for a backpack for trips or carry a lot of gear, the Waterfield Bolt is for you.

Staad Attaché Review

Up until last year, my mobile computing platform was a 15 inch MacBook Pro. While Apple has done a lot to make these devices smaller over the years, it still kind of feels like a lunch tray. As a result, I bought a big leather briefcase to carry it around and when going to meetings and court appearances for the day job. It’s a great briefcase, but it’s also big. I transitioned to a smaller 12″ MacBook last year and lately, it feels like overkill when I’m carrying around my small MacBook or my iPad Pro.

So I decided to find something a bit smaller but still classy enough that I can carry it into a meeting or courtroom. That’s what led me to Waterfield Bags‘ new Staad Attaché.

The Staad Attaché is a waxed canvas and leather bag with a wide bottom, allowing you to carry enough to get through your day without overwhelming you. Most Waterfield bags are designed specifically around a particular device. If they make a bag for specific iPad, it will be cut and sewn to those specific dimensions so your device fits perfectly. The Staad Ataché has a wider reach. It holds my iPad Pro with the Apple smart case nicely. But it could also hold the iPad Pro with one of the bigger keyboard cases, 13 inch MacBook Air, a 13 inch MacBook Pro, or a 12 inch MacBook. Indeed, on some days mine holds both my iPad Pro with the Apple smart case and my 12 inch MacBook.

There is a nice leather handle and a padded strap. In addition to holding my hardware, there’s room inside for power adapters, cables, and Apple pencil, and a notepad with papers or even a small book. Everything fits comfortably and closes nicely.

Speaking of closing, I really like the buckle. It’s based on a World War II era ammunition buckle. It attaches securely while at the same time disconnecting easily. Simply give the right piece a tug and you are into your bag. It’s much more convenient then wrestling with traditional buckles and straps. There are two zippers in front for a small pouch that includes a lined pocket for and iPhone.

There’s also a pocket on the back where I can put papers and other items I may need quickly. Finally, there is a wheelie handle slip so you can slide it right over your rolling cart when traveling.

Best of all, the Staad Attaché is extremely attractive and absolutely fits in a professional environment. It’s the perfect size for my iPad Pro or MacBook (or both) when I’m on the road and want to look professional. I’ve been buying bags from Waterfield for years now and they’ve all held up. I expect no differently for this one and anticipate up I will be using it for years to come.

You can learn more about the Staad Attaché from Waterfield.

The Dash MacBook Sleeve

With my super-slim new MacBook, I’ve been looking for a good sleeve to hold it, particularly when I throw it in a larger bag or am running into a tea shop for a break and don’t want to carry the full bag.

I’ve bought so many bags from WaterField over the years that I should have started my search there. Eventually, I did find myself on the WaterField website and ended up with the 12” Dash Sleeve.

The Dash Sleeve is exactly what I was looking for in terms of minimalist design and quality materials. Despite its slim design, there is compression foam padding and soft liner fabric to protect my MacBook.

Rather than deal with a lid or flap, the Dash Sleeve has a wide elastic band that slides over the end.There’s also a mesh pocket big enough to hold my iPad Air. WaterField makes several sizes of the Dash Sleeve ranging from the 12” MacBook all the way up to the 15” MacBook Pro. I’d recommend it for any Apple laptop.

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24 Hours with the iPhone 6s Plus

I have now been officially using my new iPhone for 24 hours. I spent a lot of time peeking, poking and otherwise kicking the tires. Here are some initial thoughts:

6s vs. 6s Plus

There was much gnashing of teeth last year over whether to get the big one or the small one. I too was flummoxed. Never have I had so much trouble deciding between two products. Initially I bought the big one and then I traded it in for the little one. When the iBooks Store began supporting my iBooks Author books on the phone, I bought a used 6 Plus so I could test and make sure the books looked okay on it. I had intended to sell the used phone back but in the meantime my wife fell in love with my iPhone 6 and I found myself with little choice but to keep the 6 Plus. So last year I ended up spending eight months with the small phone and four months with the big phone. After all that time, I realize that there really isn’t that much difference. With the bigger phone, it’s a little more difficult to carry in your pocket and with the little phone you get slightly less battery life and the text is smaller. This time I didn’t sweat it. I just ordered the big one.

Buying Options

The new variable in the mix this year is exactly how you buy the new phone. Carriers are no longer interested in contracts and there are several options for purchase from a variety of sources. I’ve been happy with my service from AT&T throughout my iPhone ownership but at the same time I’m not all that eager to get in long-term relationships with them. So I decided to buy it from Apple. In that case I had two options: either buy it outright or buy it on on the Apple upgrade plan. Since the upgrade plan price was the same (I was going to add AppleCare plus regardless) I ended up on the Apple upgrade plan. This gives me the option to upgrade it next year if I want, although I probably won’t. (In my family I hand down the phone every year to one of my daughters.) So I bought a space gray 6s Plus with 128 GB. The storage size may raise some eyebrows but I put a lot of media, photos, and video on my phone and (in my mind at least) it’s cheaper to pay an extra hundred dollars to avoid screwing with storage allocation for the next year.

3D Touch

I’ve heard from several sources that Apple spent years perfecting this feature before adding it to the phone. That shows. It was remarkable to me how quickly peeking and poking became second nature. Using 3D Touch in mail seemed like a gimmick until I tried it. Now it is a “thing” for me. If I see a mail in my inbox and I’m not sure what it is, I peek at it. An interesting feature is the ability to apply the swipe gestures while peeking at an email. It depends on your settings but for me swiping to the left deletes the email and swiping to the right allows me to move it to a different mailbox.

3D touching app icons to get immediate access to specific features and makes performing common tasks in your favorite apps easier than ever. It’s the most significant addition to spring board since the arrival of folders. I’ve now put my camera back on my home screen because it’s so easy to hard press on it and then select whether I’m shooting a movie, selfie, or traditional photo. It’s definitely faster than opening the app and swiping around to the appropriate camera.

One more example of 3D touch that still make me giggle like a school-boy is on the iPhone keyboard. If you press it hard and start moving your finger around, it moves the cursor as if you are on a trackpad. Press just a little bit harder and begin selecting text. Do this once and you will never be able to go back to the old way of selecting text. (It’s going to kill me that I don’t have this on my iPad.)

Live Photos

Live photos are strange feature. I’ve taken a bunch of live photos at this point and while they are fun, I wonder if they are a novelty. I do, however, like the idea of looking back at some of these pictures in a few years to catch just a few seconds of my daughters being silly while I took their picture and wish I had something like this of them when they were younger. An interesting notes is that you can send live photos to other iPhones (I tested it with my daughters 5s) and they display with a long tap.

The implementation is a little spotty. When viewing a live photo with a hard press, the screen goes blurry and then start showing the video. The delay and blur feel pretty odd. Likewise, the quality of the images in the video are not particularly good. I found it hard to keep things in focus even while resting the phone on a stable surface while taking the live photo.

My wife, who is not a nerd, loves live photos and has been using it nonstop since she got her phone. I think it is her big thing with the new phone. That makes me wonder that maybe I’m reading this wrong and non-nerds will really embrace live photos. If they do, I hope they are doing so on something bigger than the 16 GB entry-level iPhones.

Touch ID

I’m more impressed than I expected to be with the new Touch ID speed. It is so fast that I barely see the lock screen. When I wanted to test a live photo as my lock screen wallpaper, I couldn’t get to the lock screen because Touch ID was unlocking the phone so quickly. Instead I had to use the sleep-wake button on the side.

The New Camera

Every year the iPhone camera gets iteratively better. With the big move from 8 to 12 megapixels this year, I feel a lot more comfortable taking wide shots with the knowledge that I can zoom in on them later without losing too much image integrity. The camera quality of the iPhone 6 was pretty good to begin with. Taking pictures outdoors with good light, I couldn’t see much difference between the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s. In low light however, the difference was noticeable. While the iPhone still is not going to replace your SLR or mirrorless camera, as a carry around camera, it’s pretty amazing. The below gallery shows some images I took last night at Disneyland with the new camera and some comparison shots with the iPhone 6 Plus camera. All images are not edited.

Comparison of the new front facing “selfie” camera isn’t fair. The new camera is far superior with the 5 megapixel sensor. The screen-as-flash feature really works and doesn’t make you look blown out.

I did some tests for the amount of time it takes to take a photograph. I saw no noticeable difference between the 6 and 6s. However, the 3D Touch interface does let me get to the appropriate camera much faster than the old iPhone did.

Speed

Between the RAM (iPhone now has 2 gigabytes of RAM) and the A9 processor upgrades, the iPhone 6s is a screamer. I’ve only began to scratch the surface on this but I can already see that jumping through multiple tabs in Safari, downloading and updating a large OmniFocus database, and making alterations to photos are all noticeably snappier on the new phone.

The most interesting story about the performance improvements for me is not what I can do today but what will happen tomorrow. With mobile devices approaching “desktop class” processing speeds, how much more awesome can app developers make the mobile devices. The powerful apps demonstrated by Adobe and Microsoft at the Apple event are just the tip of the iceberg. I expect in a couple years we are going to have a lot more “power” mobile apps available to us.

There still are a lot of questions about how developers can create that market in the current “race to the bottom” pricing wars but there is no question the hardware and evolving touch interface can support a more advanced class of software. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.

Upgrade?

One of my daughters is currently rocking her iPhone 5S and doing just fine with it. Nevertheless, every year the iPhone evolves and gets a little better. This year’s iteration feels like it has evolved a bit more than iPhones in the past. If your current iPhone does not support 3D Touch, you’re missing out. That doesn’t mean you have to upgrade though. Using a three-year-old iPhone is perfectly adequate and fully supported by the current iOS 9 software. All that said, with their own upgrade plan, Apple has made it easier than ever to get into the new iPhone and I expect a lot of people will be doing just that.

Saying “No” to the Master

Over the years I’ve got very adept at using the trackpad. The clincher for me was when Apple started introducing multitouch gestures. Whether I’m at my MacBook or iMac, as I go through the day I do flicks, swipes, and other gestures that make my computer dance for me. Once I mastered the built-in multitouch features, I downloaded Better Touch Tool and took the trackpad interface even further. At this point I’ve mastered the trackpad and using it feels a little bit more like playing the piano than a computer interface.

Nevertheless, I’m always interested in how things are going on the other side. Recently, I heard Myke Hurley talking about his brand-new Logitech MX Master mouse (Logitech) (Amazon). Myke loves it. With this mouse, Logitech has combined a weighty, ergonomic mouse with multiple buttons and inputs. Myke, for example, was able to drastically reduce the amount of time it takes him to edit a podcast using the programmable features of the MX Master.

This got me interested so I picked one up at the local Best Buy, keeping mindful of their two-week return policy. Myke was right. This is a remarkable mouse. It’s been years since I used a mouse and the ergonomics of the MX Master are better than any mouse I ever recall using. (They are definitely better than the Apple Magic mouse.) Likewise, just about every surface on this mouse has something you can press to make stuff happen on your Mac. In addition to the two buttons, there is a rolling wheel that can be switched between a ratcheting click or a flywheel inspired free roll. There’s also a separate scroller under your thumb and several additional buttons. The Logitech software loaded on my El Capitan Mac without breaking anything and the mouse performed without flaw for two weeks. I was able to program in many of the functions I pull off now with my trackpad using mouse buttons. The only real criticism I have is that it uses a USB dongle instead of natively pairing with the Mac through Bluetooth.

Nevertheless, I took it back. The problem was that I never truly warmed up to the mouse. If I had used it another month or two, the button layout probably would’ve become second nature just as the trackpad has for me. However, in my case, I’ve moved on. I am able to make a trackpad do a lot for me and it doesn’t move around the table, bumping into my glass of water or papers on my desk. Because I have my trackpad set up to click on tap (yes, I am one of those people), it requires virtually no force to click on my trackpad. Indeed as I go throughout the day, if one finger starts feeling a little stiff, I use a different finger for taps. While I was able to replicate many of the gestures I do with a trackpad on this super mouse, I was not able to replicate them all. Better Touch Tool gives you a seemingly infinite number of potential inputs on the trackpad. For instance, one of mine is to rest my third, fourth, and fifth fingers on the trackpad and tap with my index finger. Complex gesture like this simply are not possible with a mouse.

Finally, the biggest advantage of a mouse over a trackpad, more precise movement, didn’t really pay off for me. The mouse may have been slightly faster for some tasks, but I didn’t feel it or appreciate it enough to want to trade in my trackpad for mouse.

Now I know that some anarchists like to use both the trackpad and the mouse at the same time. If I were to go that route, I would just use an existing Magic mouse from a drawer rather than spend $100 on the souped up MX Master.

In summary, if you are mouse person, I’m not sure you could do any better than the MX Master. If you’re a trackpad person, you’re probably fine sticking to your guns.

Review: Inateck Aluminum Unibody USB-C 3 Port USB and Ethernet Hub

With the inclusion of the USB-C port, the new MacBook is more friendly to third party parts manufacturers than it has been in a long time. There’s already a long list of established accessory makers and upstart Kickstarters all cooking up ideas to take advantage of this new port.

One of the first arrivals in my bag is the Inateck Unibody USB Hub (Product Page) (Amazon). This travel-friendly device features three bus powered USB 3.0 ports and an Gigabit Ethernet port. This is all in a small package less than 4 inches long and 1 inch wide. It has a 1 foot USB-C cable attached for plugging into your MacBook. I’ve been testing the Inatech against the Apple USB to USB-C adapter and find no discernable difference in data transfer speeds. While about $10 more than the Apple adapter, I think the Inatech’s two additional USB ports and Gigabit Ethernet make it the better value.

I like this device because it has a nice aluminum design that is befitting the new MacBook and gives me a lot of flexibility for just a little room in my bag.

The New MacBook Review

For the last week and a half, I’ve been doing a lot of my work on the new MacBook. I bought this computer as an experiment with the intention to return it unless I felt it was good enough to replace my existing 15″ MacBook Pro. Here’s my story.

The new MacBook is not for everybody. This is a the newest Apple ultralight, built around portability more than anything else.

Up until a few months ago, the 15″ MacBook Pro was the perfect laptop for me. I drove into my office everyday and used it at my desk. The retina screen is sharp (and big) and despite being a few years old, that computer is still a screamer. There is something to be said for having a laptop that you know can handle any computing task you throw at it.

Then I went out as an indie lawyer and suddenly found myself spending a lot more time doing my big-boy work in front of my retina iMac in my home office. I no longer need a laptop 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. I do need one when I go out to do meetings and conferences. Sometimes I need a laptop just to be able to get away for a few hours. The trouble is, a 15″ MacBook Pro isn’t ideal for something to throw into your bag and hit the bricks. In fact, it’s such a pain to carry that I frequently find myself avoiding bringing it altogether.

No longer do I need a powerful laptop. Instead, I need a portable laptop. I need something that can serve the role of “second” computer.

I have always had an obsession with ultralight laptops. When Apple first release the 11 inch MacBook Air, it took all of my will power not to get one. I just love the idea of being able to go anywhere with a Mac. A few years ago I was telling a friend of mine about my unquenched lust for the 11 inch MacBook Air. It just so happened that she had an 11 inch MacBook Air she wasn’t using and let me borrow it for awhile. I was thinking I’d give it a spin and make her an offer but by then I already had a retina MacBook Pro and it ruined me for non-retina screens. I could not stand to look at that screen.

So I watched the rumors about the rumored 12″ retina MacBook with some interest and when Apple announced the new MacBook, I took note. Once the new MacBooks landed in the Apple Stores, I found excuses to stop by several times and play with the new machines. I was interested in the new machine as a replacement for my big laptop. I ordered one with the idea that I’d try it for a week or so and then decide whether I keep it and sell the MacBook Pro or return it and stick with my existing laptop. I bought the second tier model with the 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of Ram and 512GB SSD in space gray. It’s been a lot of fun kicking the tires.

The Screen

When it comes to retina screens, I am that guy. I love clear, sharp text on my screen and once I got used to a retina screen, I knew I’d never buy another computer without one. The new MacBook screen lives up to the hype. It’s gorgeous and bright.

There are a few settings to increase (or decrease) the amount of screen real estate. I tried them all and they all look fine. When you have pixels this small, you can fudge in ways that were not possible with bigger pixels and the human eye will be none the wiser. In the end, I found I preferred the default size and haven’t thought about it since.

Build Quality

Apple is so good at manufacturing computers. This new MacBook is no different. It is so small yet feels so solid. The lid opens with just the right amount of resistance. Moreover, the plastic hinge that we see on the currently shipping MacBook Air lineup has been banished for an aluminum one. I really like feel of this computer.

Heat

As part of my big life changes, I’ve discovered that I use a laptop on my lap these days a lot more frequently than I ever did before. When I had a 9 to 5 job, the laptop was always on my desk. Now it is just as likely to be on my lap in the park. With this transition I discovered that my 15 inch retina MacBook Pro gets pretty hot. Uncomfortably so. The new MacBook doesn’t work as hard and it doesn’t get as hot. I’d also speculate heat isn’t as much of a problem because the logic board is so small. While the new MacBook does get warm on the bottom, the heat is nowhere near what I experienced with the MacBook Pro. The fact that the machine doesn’t get as hot is just one more reason why am more likely to take it with me on the road.

Power

Compared to my older MacBook Pro, this new computer is underpowered. The older computer has more processing power, an actual discrete graphics card, and more RAM. If you compared specs between the two computers, the spreadsheet would not be kind to the new MacBook.

All that said, at no point during the experiment did I find myself waiting on the new MacBook. I used it for all of the things I do on a laptop and it performed like a champ. This is not the computer I’d use to edit video screencasts or build iBooks Author books but looking back over the last few years, I’ve never really done those things on my MacBook Pro either. For the type of work I tend to do on a laptop, the new MacBook is just fine.

Fanless

The new MacBook is like the Red October. It runs silent. I love that I never hear the sound of fans spinning up. An added benefit is that because there are no fans, there are also no ventilation ports. I can rest this computer on any surface and not worry about blocking ventilation.

The Port

The new MacBook has just one USB type C port. I think this is the most talked about limitation of this computer. Because this is a new USB standard, there aren’t many cables available for it. Moreover, because the computer also charges through the single port, you cannot simultaneously charge it and run an external device at the same time without an adapter or hub. At no point has this caused me any frustration. This laptop is a second computer for me and I don’t need a lot of ports. If this were my only computer, it would be a problem. I did purchase the USB adapter and tested it with my portable hard drives. It worked fine. The only time I’ve really needed it so far was when my Wi-Fi printer decided to stop cooperating.

Because this new port is a USB standard, it’s inevitable that there will be a parade of adapters and cables in the not so distant future. I’ve got a speaking gig in a couple months and I’m waiting until it’s closer before deciding which projector adapter I will buy. I’m hoping some third-party will come in with a solution cheaper than Apple’s.

One final comment on the single port is that it takes a significant amount of force to remove the cable from the port. We’ve all lamented the end of MagSafe. I can confirm it truly is dead with the new MacBook because if someone trips over your charging cable while plugged into this new computer, your MacBook will magically and literally be transformed into a MacBook Air.

The Battery

I’m averaging about 7 hours per charge. I’ve done better and I’ve done worse depending on how hard I’m pushing it but if you need the new MacBook to keep working beyond that, you are going to need to pack your charger.

Interestingly, because it charges through USB, I decided to try a little experiment with my iPhone external charger. In order to do so, I had to order a standard USB male connector to USB type C cable off Amazon. It costs $7. The question in my mind was when I hooked up the iPhone charger, would the laptop recharge the iPhone charger or the iPhone charger recharge the laptop. For this experiment I was using an Anker Astro 3 12800mAh charger. When I plugged it in, the MacBook made the little charging sound and the menubar battery icon showed the familiar lightening bolt icon to indicate my new laptop was receiving a charge.

The laptop certainly doesn’t charge as fast through the Anker battery as it does when I plug it into the wall but it does charge. I found that using the Anker battery, I could add about 5 hours of battery life. In another experiment I ran the laptop battery down to 10% and then plugged in the fully-charged Anker and went to bed. When I woke up the next morning, the Anker battery was bone dry and the laptop had an 85% charge. The ability to carry and use this relatively small battery on days when I may need extra juice is actually pretty handy.

The Trackpad

Having used the new trackpad a lot, I’m convinced it is better than the old trackpad. I can tap it anywhere, including near the top, which was difficult with older trackpads because of the increased leverage needed the closer you got to the hinge.

Developers are still figuring out what to do with the force sensitive trackpad and I expect some very interesting user interface improvements based on this technology soon.

Perhaps my best compliment for the new trackpad is how I just don’t think about it at all. It just works. If only I could say that about the keyboard.

Keyboard

This was my biggest concern about this new MacBook and justifiably so. The keyboard is different. The keys are bigger, which I liked. There is less key travel, which I didn’t like. Apple has spent a lot of time talking up the new switches and while they most likely are superior to the old switches, that doesn’t overcome the lack of travel in these keys. I don’t know if there’s ever been a computer with a physical keyboard that had so little travel in the keys. Typing on it is strange, and not in a good way.

If you are used to mashing keys, this keyboard will be difficult for you. It requires more of a light touch. If you try to press through the keys, you’re just going to add strain to your fingers because the keys aren’t going to go any further. On the flip side, if your touch gets too light, you won’t sufficiently depress keys and miss letters. You’ve got to find the sweet spot.

After having use this keyboard nearly exclusively through this test, it’s my opinion that the new keyboard is inferior to the standard chicklet-style keyboard on other currently shipping Macs. I’ve found that sweet spot and am able to type on it just fine but it still feels foreign to me. While I am still not entirely used to the keyboard, I don’t find myself thinking about it as much now either. I’m not going to say it is growing on me but it is not bothering me that much either. If I had to choose between a keyboard with more travel but a non-retina screen or the new MacBook, in my mind it’s not a contest. I’d take the new MacBook. Keyboards can be a very personal thing, especially for touch typists, but in my case the new keyboard is not a deal breaker for this computer.

Options

As I got serious about making a decision about whether or not to keep the new MacBook, I also considered returning it to buy a different laptop.

Why Not a Tricked Out 11 or 13 inch MacBook Air?

I will never buy another computer without a retina screen. Just last night I was doing some maintenance on my daughter’s MacBook Air. That screen bothers me way more the the new MacBook’s keyboard does.

Why Not a 13 inch MacBook Pro?

In a lot of ways, I think the 13 inch MacBook Pro is the best laptop that Apple currently makes. It has plenty under the hood along with a retina screen and is more mobile than the 15 inch MacBook Pro. My wife has a 13 inch MacBook Pro and I’ve spent plenty of time using it. However, that machine still comes with many of the same issues I experience with its bigger sibling, including weight and heat.

Conclusion

The new MacBook isn’t for everybody. Indeed, I’d argue it’s not for most people. There are a lot of compromises involved but in exchange you get a Mac that can go just about anywhere with you. The compromises required for that portability, in my case, are worth it. Since getting the new MacBook, I’ve found that I can work just about anywhere and I like that. Earlier this week I had lunch with my wife at Disneyland and then spent several hours doing legal work on the laptop while watching the Mark Twain steamship paddle down the Rivers of America. How many people can have that view from their office? On balance, the new MacBook is a good fit for me. I’m keeping it.