One year later, Apple's 12-inch MacBook has become my favorite laptop

Sarah Tew / CNET

"It's been nearly one full year since I reviewed Apple's 12-inch MacBook. That slim, light system was not only Apple's only completely new laptop design since the 2012 MacBook Pro, but also among its most controversial.

The knocks against this system -- an odd-man-out, not part of either the Air or Pro MacBook lines -- were numerous. Its screen was too small; the keyboard too shallow; not enough ports; no MagSafe power connection; underpowered, even compared to the base MacBook Air; and battery life that didn't measure up to the MacBook standard.

All legitimate concerns, and ones that I shared both when the 12-inch MacBook was announced in March of 2015, and when I got my hands on the final product several weeks later in early April. In my original review of the $1,299 MacBook (£1,049 or AU$1,799), I was impressed with its overall design, the excellent high-res display, and extreme portability, but cautioned that it wasn't the laptop for everybody, or for all-day work. The single USB-C port could lock out most of your accessories (without a pricey adaptor) and the performance and battery life from the first-gen Intel Core M processor was not on par with mainstream Core i5 laptops that cost hundreds less."

One year later, Apple's 12-inch MacBook has become my favorite laptop