Key Specs
2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo2GB RAM
250GB hard drive
DVD±RW
13.3 inches (1,280x800 native resolution)
Integrated Nvidia GeForce 9400M
4.7 pounds
1.1x13x9.1 inches
Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6)
Despite what Windows users may believe, not all Mac users are millionaires with money to burn. For all the students, starving artists, and underemployed creative types in the Mac universe, the MacBook is the most important laptop model in Apple's lineup. It offers all the benefits of the Mac OS in a smooth white package that's even more attractive and sturdy this go-round than it was in the past.
As before, the MacBook lineup includes a single model with a $999 price tag. Build-to-order options are limited to storage and RAM. There's a lot to like here, though, with changes that make the MacBook a lot more like the MacBook Pro. Firsts include an LED-backlit display, a multi-touch track pad made of glass, and a unibody shell. (A note for our exacting readers: After the October 2008 MacBook refresh, two aluminum MacBooks did include these features. Apple later brought these models into the MacBook Pro line. Technically, then, these features are new for a white polycarbonate MacBook.)
The unibody design means the bottom and top of the shell are made from single seamless pieces of polycarbonate. The area around the keyboard and touch pad is also made from a single sheet, and the whole body feels more durable than before. A friend of this writer once damaged a MacBook by carrying it by one corner while open. He learned the hard way that doing so applied torque to the body and damaged a logic board. That won't happen with the current sturdier design. An Apple representative encouraged us to carry it by one corner, if we wanted to.
The rounded shape of the MacBook feels great in the hand and fits neatly into a shoulder bag. The bottom is covered by an off-white, slightly grippy plastic meant to keep the MacBook from sliding off an airplane tray or other surface. The bottom surface is held in place by eight screws, which you can remove to add more RAM or replace the battery. Apple encourages users to take their MacBooks to an Apple Store or other servicer for battery replacement (for $129). While we like the unibody design, we're disappointed that accessing the battery has become more difficult. Also, the convenient LED battery-level lights from previous MacBooks, which told users how much of a charge they had left without powering up the machine, are now gone. We don’t understand the logic behind this. Those lights were very convenient.
The MacBook offers a full-size Chiclet keyboard slightly sunken into the shell (also called an "island-style" keyboard), and the keys aren't backlit. The big news is right below it, though: The MacBook now offers a glass multi-touch track pad, just like its big-brother MacBook Pro. If you're not familiar with this kind of pad, just open the notebook's System Preferences and click on Trackpad to learn what it can do. It will feel odd for a few minutes relying on a single large pad with no button areas, but it's amazing what you can do with gestures. The whole pad is a button, and you can either click it down or tap your finger it. (We found tapping a lot easier.) Apple has built in a variety of gestures using one to four fingers. For example, you can drag windows with one finger, rotate a picture with two, navigate through Web pages with three, or switch applications with four. Controls in the preference pane let us pinpoint which gestures we wanted to use. Once we were used to them, which didn't take long, we thought they made computing without a mouse dramatically faster.
A laptop-line refresh typically means better specs, and the MacBook now comes with a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 250GB 5,400rpm hard drive, and 2GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM. It may be Apple's lowest-cost notebook, but that's enough horsepower for most people. The system felt nicely responsive in our testing while playing videos or editing photos. Unless you're into 3D gaming (in which case, you're probably not looking at a Mac, anyway), you shouldn't have any problems.
This MacBook comes preloaded with Mac OS X 10.6.1, which means you'll get all the benefits of Apple's latest operating system, including QuickTime, which is capable of recording and editing video; Time Machine, for hassle-free backups; and the iLife suite of creative applications. Apple's interface superstars keep everything simple, so even newcomers can figure out how to edit photos or shop for music in seconds. Our only disappointment is that iWork, Apple's office app suite, still isn't included in new machines. We'd like to see office apps finally included as part of the package.
We weren't able to run our usual gamut of benchmark tests, this being a Mac system, but we did run a few. On the Cinebench 10 test, the MacBook blew past the average thin-and-light notebook (notebooks in this category range in screen size from 13.1 to 14.1 inches) by about 500 points with a score of 4,833. That shows off its excellent CPU and graphics-processing performance from the combination of its Core 2 Duo CPU and Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics. Similarly priced notebooks we've recently tested include the Asus N80Vn-A1 (with a score of 3,791), the HP Pavilion dv3z (3,559), and the Dell Studio 14z (4,890).
