The MacBook was announced at an Apple special event on March 9, 2015, and was released a month later on April 10. It employed Intel's Broadwell Core M processors at a TDP of around 4.5 Watt to allow for a fanless design and a logic board that is much smaller than in previous MacBooks. It had a similar appearance to the MacBook Air, but was thinner and lighter, offered (at the time of introduction) more storage and memory and a higher-resolution 2304×1440 Retina display, but lower processor and graphics performance.[4] The MacBook has at times been available in space gray, silver, and gold finishes.

 

USB-C on MacBook

This article is part of a series on the

MacBook

• MacBook Pro

• MacBook Air

• MacBook 

  • 2006–2012

  • 2015–2019

The MacBook has only two ports, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a single, multi-purpose USB-C port; it was the first Mac with USB-C. The port supports transmission speeds of up to 5 Gbit/s, and can be used for data, and audio/video output, and charging; it was the first MacBook without MagSafe charging. Apple markets an adapter that can provide a full-size USB connector, and a "Digital AV Multiport Adapter" with a charging pass-through, full-size USB port, and HDMI output.[5] Although Thunderbolt 3 technology uses USB-C connectors, the MacBook's USB-C port does not support Thunderbolt. It was one of only two Macs, along with the 2012 Mac Pro, to not support Thunderbolt since it was introduced to Macs in 2011.[6] Thunderbolt devices, such as storage media and the Apple Thunderbolt Display, are not compatible. Shortly after the MacBook's introduction, various companies began announcing cables and adapters for the USB-C port.[7]

Despite its small size, it features a full-sized keyboard and a large trackpad. The MacBook introduced a new Butterfly keyboard, with traditional scissor mechanism keys replaced with a new, Apple-designed butterfly mechanism, making the keyboard thinner and, as Apple claims, individual keys more stable. The keyboard's backlight no longer consisted of a row of LEDs and a light guide panel, but instead used a single LED for each key.[8] It also introduced the Force Touch trackpad, a solid-state trackpad that measures pressure sensitivity, and replicates a click with haptic feedback. The trackpad was later brought to the Magic Trackpad 2 and the 2015 MacBook Pro. A similar technology (3D Touch) is also used in the Apple Watch and introduced with the iPhone 6S.

The aluminum enclosure was 13.1 mm at its thickest point at the hinge end.[9] The battery was custom-designed to fill the available space in the small enclosure. It uses a new 39.7 watt-hour lithium-polymer terraced battery cell which was advertised to provide "all day" battery life. Apple claimed nine hours of Internet browsing or ten hours of iTunes movie playback. The battery was improved in the 2016 refresh, with Apple claiming ten hours for Internet browsing, and eleven hours of iTunes movie playback.[10] The MacBook did not include any beryllium, BFRs, or PVCs in its construction. The display was made of arsenic-free glass. It was made of recyclable materials such as aluminum and glass, meets Energy Star 6.1 standards, and was rated EPEAT Gold.

On April 19, 2016, Apple updated the MacBook with Skylake Core M processors, Intel HD 515 graphics, faster memory, longer battery life, faster storage[11] and a new rose gold finish.[12]

On June 5, 2017, Apple updated the MacBook with Intel Kaby Lake m3, i5, and i7 processors (previously known as m3, m5, and m7). It featured the second-generation butterfly keyboard, which introduced new symbols for the control and option keys. It also features faster storage and memory.[13]

On October 30, 2018, Apple quietly eliminated two color options (rose gold and the original gold) and added a new color option (new gold) to match the MacBook Air's 2018 color scheme.[14][15]

On July 9, 2019, Apple quietly discontinued the MacBook line.[16]

On June 7, 2021, Apple released macOS Monterey which dropped support for Early 2015 model MacBook.[17]

On June 30, 2021, Apple added the Early 2015 model MacBook to its "vintage products" list, making it eligible for only limited product support.[18]

On June 6, 2022, Apple released macOS Ventura which dropped support for the Early 2016 model MacBook. As of June 2022, only the last 2017 model MacBook is capable of running the latest macOS version.