Apple’s first chief evangelist labels its one-port MacBook ‘insane’ and calls the Apple Watch immature

One of the key proponents of Apple’s Macintosh computer has slammed its latest computer, saying he would have “fought” the decision to release it.

Guy Kawasaki, Canva chief evangelist

APPLE’S first “chief evangelist” and a key champion of the Macintosh computer has labelled the company’s newest MacBook “insane” and said he would have “fought” the decision to release it.

In an exclusive interview with News Corp before delivering the keynote speech at Sydney’s CeBIT conference in May, Guy Kawasaki also questioned Apple’s decision to release a smartwatch that would not last more than a day between charges.

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The Silicon Valley marketing executive served as Apple’s first chief evangelist from 1983, just seven years into its existence, and again as an Apple Fellow in 1995.

Apple advocate ... Former Apple chief evangelist Guy Kawasaki during his last visit to Sydney.

But the well-known technology identity said Apple’s decision to release a MacBook with just one connection, serving the computer’s sole USB port and power connection combined, was ill-advised.

“I think it’s insane,” he said. “I don’t know what Apple employees do if all they need is a power connection.

“I would love to buy something like that but it’s limited to 8GB RAM, the SSD (storage) is limited to 512GB, and I don’t know about Apple employees but I frequently take pictures so I need to read an SD (memory) card.

“I also have to charge multiple devices so I’m using multiple ports to charge those devices.”

Mr Kawasaki said he would have “fought the decision” to release the MacBook with just one USB-C port, saying it needed at least “that port plus two USB ports and a card reader” to capably serve as a laptop computer.

New Mac ... People inspect Apple’s new MacBook in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

The redesigned, 1.3cm wide MacBook will be the first Apple computer to feature just one connection, down from seven in the MacBook Pro, and four and five in MacBook Air computers. Its single connection, a USB-C port, serves as a data and power connection in one.

The computer was due to launch in Australian Apple Stores this month, but orders are currently delayed by up to six weeks.

Mr Kawasaki said he also questioned Apple’s decision to launch a smartwatch so early in the technology’s life when batteries could not sustain it for longer than a day.

“I’m not convinced about the Apple Watch because of the battery life span,” he said.

“It’s not going to replace my phone so it’s something in addition to my phone and I don’t know if I can keep it charged. My God, I have to keep my car charged, I have to keep my computer charged, my tablet charged, and now to keep my watch charged? That is a lot.”

Thin profile ... Apple's new 12-inch MacBook is just 1.31cm thin.

Mr Kawasaki said it was “debatable” whether more consumers than “the usual 5 million people who will buy anything that Apple makes” would purchase its Watch, released this Friday.

But he said an Apple smartwatch could prove useful in future when more features were added such as an app to eliminate car keys.

Mr Kawasaki, who recently took on the role of evangelist at Australian design start-up Canva and was appointed to Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees, will deliver CeBit’s keynote speech on May 5, and will also participate in a start-up competition called Pitchfest on May 7.