Apple surprised the tech world at its "Spring Forward" event in San Francisco by revealing a brand new MacBook, which looks set to replace the MacBook Air as the company's thinnest laptop to date. At just 13.1mm at the thickest point and weighing less than 2lbs, it's almost a quarter thinner than the 11in MacBook Air.
To achieve such compact dimensions, Apple has ditched almost all the ports from around the sides, leaving just one; a USB3 Type-C connector, which acts as power, video and network all in one. This means there's no SD card reader or standard USB ports for plugging in flash drives or even a headphone jack - Apple expects customers to use Bluetooth and 802.11ac Wi-Fi instead.
Apple has also redesigned the keyboard and touchpad, concentrating on thickness. The old dome switches have been replaced with butterfly switches, which are more accurate and require less physical movement to register a keypress. The keys now reach right to the edge of the chassis, and each one is individually backlit instead of a whole tray backlight for less light leakage when typing in the dark.
The touchpad can now detect pressure, with a new Force Click gesture recognising the difference between a soft tap and a more forceful press to perform actions like opening Maps when clicking on an address, setting a Calendar appointment when tapping on a date, or preview apps in the OS X Finder window. Because the force sensors are controlled via software, users will be able to stiffen or soften the touchpad to suit their personal preference.
The new MacBook is also the first Apple laptop with completely fanless construction, meaning silent operation. Apple has used an Intel Core M CPU which typically runs at 1.3GHz and can Turbo Boost to 2.9GHz, but only consumes 5 watts of power. This is combined with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage. The entire logic board, which comprises the processor, memory, storage and motherboard, is 67% smaller than the board found in the 11in MacBook Air, which leaves ample room for a battery.
Combined with sheet batteries, which fill up far more space within the chassis than traditional rectangular cells, Apple claims the new MacBook has 35% greater capacity than the outgoing MacBook Air. That should translate to "all-day battery life", nine hours of web browsing or ten hours of video playback.
Finally, the new MacBook gains a Retina display resolution. The 12in display has a 2,304x1,440 panel which slots in between the MacBook Pro 13in's 2,560x1,600 panel and the iPad Air's 2,048x1,536.
The new MacBook will be available in Space Grey and for the first time, Silver and Gold colours, from the 10th of April. Prices are set to start from $1,299 in the US for the entry-level model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.