Archive for the ‘MacBook’ Category

Unibody Apple MacBook Review [Review]

It was inevitable that Apple would take their unibody manufacturing prowess from their MacBook Pros and focus it on the MacBook line. We just never expected the new MacBook to be as enticing as the 13-inch Pro.

It’s Basically a White Macbook Pro

To illustrate just how good the internals are on the MacBook, just compare them to the current base 13-inch MacBook Pro. Both have a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo with a 3MB L2 cache, a 1066 MHz frontside bus and a 2GB default RAM. They also have a really similar LED backlit display, which eliminates the problem of narrowed viewing angles that we docked the first generation unibody MacBooks for, and both now have the same contrast ratio. The only difference is that the Pro has a 60% greater color gamut.

The new body

The rounded edges and a reduced number of seams make the new MacBook appear to be a flattened marshmallow. A glossy, rubber-bottomed marshmallow. It’s an immediately more appealing shape than the previous generation of white MacBooks, marking the end of the transition of Apple laptops to unibody construction. That rubber bottom is also pretty satisfying, both in the fact that it grips surfaces better to not slide around, and because it’s a more thigh-friendly material when the machine heats up. The whole body is more solid, thanks to an aluminum sheet and some more structural supports found in the teardown.
Otherwise, there are many other small design changes you’ll appreciate. The trackpad is now the standard glass multitouch type found on the Pros, the screen has a more prominent bezel and the iSight is circular instead of square. Keyboard layout is the same, but on-key shortcuts have been updated to the latest standards. It also comes with Apple’s new 60W power adapter, which has a tip that looks more like the MacBook Air than any of the previous chargers.
In general, the build quality is more solid and more “Pro” than ever before, despite the material being polycarbonate instead of aluminum. It’s like trading up from a Toyota Yaris to a Camry—not luxury, but it’s a noticeable difference.

Benchmarks and Battery Life

Comparing the 13-inch aluminum unibody MacBook of 2008 to the 13-inch aluminum unibody MacBook Pro to the 13-inch MacBook now shows that there really isn’t a big difference between the three models. The small discrepancies fall inside the margin of error, and some change can probably be attributed to the fact that the first two machines were running Leopard, whereas the machine we have now is running Snow Leopard.

Point is, this MacBook isn’t really that much faster or slower than the one last year.
Just as the transition to non-replaceable batteries increased MacBook Pro runtime, so too has the transition benefited the Macbook. Except for the fact that there’s no external battery display on this unit for some reason, and that there’s no infrared port for Apple Remotes.

The new MacBook ran 4 hours and 12 minutes, longer than the two most recent MacBook Pros, using the same metrics as we did before: Wi-Fi on, keyboard backlight on low, non-stop H.264 movie playback. In real-world circumstances, that battery life can only get better. Our testing is processor-intensive.

What’s also interesting, according to the teardown, is that the battery is only 60 watt-hours vs. 55 on the old one, yet it gets a lot more battery life. This is probably due to internal optimizations that Apple made, not just because there’s a fatter battery.

Some new problems

• A consequence of having an improved, unibody construction is that you can no longer replace the battery yourself. It also means that native battery life will be longer, as demonstrated in the testing above. In fact, unlike Pro machines where people really do want to swap batteries for extended field use, an improved internal battery will serve regular users much better.

• For some reason, Apple decided to make the entire area surrounding the keyboard as glossy as the outer shell, meaning that your wrists have a more sticky feel when you’re typing. It’s not a huge deal, but it is less usable when compared to previous generations or the MacBook Pro line.

• Again, like the Magic Mouse, the white polycarbonate (plastic) will get scratched easily, and will show scratches if you look at it from a certain angle. It doesn’t diminish performance, but it is annoying if you’re anal about your stuff.

Where does that leave us?

Right now is the brief window in time when MacBooks just got bumped up in specs to match the low-end MacBook Pros, in order for the MacBook Pros to have room to grow without leaving the entry-level machines too far behind. If you’re in the market for a MacBook, this could be the best time for you to buy and feel good about your purchase, knowing that you’ll get the same performance as a machine that costs $200 more.

But keep in mind, this development basically implies that the MacBook Pros will be getting the Core i5 and i7 processors some time in the next year.

The unibody construction was an inevitable upgrade to the MacBook line, and one that brings many more benefits than it does faults. There shouldn’t be a drastic change in the MacBook design any time soon, so now is probably the furthest away from the next generation as you’re going to get. [Apple]

Polycarbonate unibody construction looks, feels great

Has just about the same specs as the 13-inch MacBook Pro, so you’re getting a good deal

Finally get Pro stuff like the multitouch glass trackpad

Glossy wrist area is slightly too sticky

Can’t swap out batteries, but you do get longer life in return

Firewire port is gone

Review: Apple MacBook

For weeks – months even – analysts have been telling Apple to make a netbook for the masses, a $299 junker designed for those who surf the web on the couch, their Cheeto-stained hands scrabbling for the TiVo remote while they incessantly refresh Reddit and hope against hope that their Craigslist Missed Connection emails them back. The Air, they said, was too expensive, designed for the frou-frou quiche-eaters of Silicon (V)alley while the MacBook Pros were too overpowered for the likes of Flyover Sally and her sad-eyed brood of younglings. They needed to sell something to the masses, something solid, American, and corn-fed.

Well, now Sally, the quiche-eaters, and the Cheeto dude – and the rest of us – have the new MacBook. It offers a bit less power and peformance than the Pro line, a little more of the styling of the Air line, and sells right at $999, a magic marketing number that is neither North of $1000 (before taxes) and South of corporate financial suicide.

I recall in about 2003 when Wal-Mart first breached the thousand dollar mark in a laptop, a defining moment in the marketing of laptops. With the advent of cheap networks, that mark is now, in short, the high water one while sub-$500 is the norm. The breach of a $1000 meant that manufacturers had to cram cheaper hardware into cheaper cases in order to turn a profit.

Apple never went that route and for good reason. By selling lots of cheap netbooks for no money, big manufacturers like HP and Dell could squeeze profit out of a tight market. Apple, on the other hand, squeeze profit out of a constellation of products, iPhone included, and they hope that the social, societal, and mental pressures to make the earbuds match the laptop are enough to make people switch. For the most part their plan is working.

Designed for students and entry-level users, think of this model as the Mac Mini of laptops. The new design is quite smooth with rounded edges on the bottom – the old model was squared off – and an internal battery thart can hit about 7 hours on one charge. The ports were slightly changed in this model with two USB ports, a DisplayPort, and a combination headphone/line-in jack. The laptop also doesn’t have an IR sensor, presumably because you can now control iTunes with the iPhone or Touch. There is also no Firewire port. From an aesthetic standpoint, the battery/active light on the front which winks playfully through a slit in the metal in MacBook Pros looks like an accident on this model. Apple made it large and brooding rather than thin and charming and it seems like the materials limited their design choices.

Geekbench maxed out at 3258 (the 2008 models hit about 3139) thanks to a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and 2GB of RAM. This is more than acceptable for most users considering a new MacBook Air clocks in at 2762. I’ll be running a formal battery rundown test tonight.

The large, spacious trackpad is just like the MacBook Pro’s and seamless aspect of the build ensures there’s little to break in a backback or laptop bag. A few caveats: there is no external battery indicator and the bottom panel can be removed but the battery, technically, cannot be changed by mere mortals.

Another caveat is that this thing will get dirty and scratched almost immediately. Polycarbonate is not related “carbonite” or “polyadamantium” – it’s related to plastic. As such, your beautiful white MacBook will soon be a beatiful gray MacBook if you’re not careful.

Obviously you get Snow Leopard with this version and it comes with a power supply, longer power cable, and little else. For example, this model does not include the remote although included remotes seem to be extinct allowing Apple to charge $19 for the new remote.

Bottom Line
This MacBook is not for everyone. It’s a great addition to the MacBook canon, an effort to appease the analysts with an entry level laptop, but don’t ever expect something like this to drop past the $500 mark. Apple doesn’t deign to play in those muddy fields, leaving that to the PC makers in their race to the bottom.

New unibody MacBook gets tore up

Imagine if it were your job to race to the Apple store whenever anything came out, and then as soon as you step outside, to just hurl it against the wall and take pictures of the fragments. Well, that’s pretty much iFixit in a nutshell. Sure, they use screwdrivers and stuff, and take it apart all neat-like, and have nice cuticles, but basically they’re exploding the latest and greatest device for your entertainment.

Hey, it’s not like I have a problem with it. And their teardowns do reveal interesting things occasionally. In this case, with the new unibody MacBooks, they’ve determined the wattage of the battery, the replaceability of the hard drive, and a number of other things. Check out the full teardown hereabouts. It’s still in progress, so check back again later. I’m guessing they’ll be looking at a new iMac as well.

MacBook Loses FireWire Again; Audio-Out Port Gone, Too

A large number of customers and technicians were peeved when Apple nixed the FireWire port in the first unibody MacBook. Perhaps learning a lesson, Apple revived FireWire in the second-generation unibody MacBook, which was renamed MacBook Pro. Now, only one white, unibody notebook bears the MacBook inscription, and it loses the FireWire port its predecessor had.

Why? The Unofficial Apple Weblog, which reported the observation, thinks it’s because Apple had to make space for the newly integrated battery. That doesn’t add up for us: The 13-inch MacBook Pro should have the same battery, and yet it still carries FireWire 800.

The omission of FireWire is bound to annoy potential MacBook customers with FireWire-compatible gadgets such as hard drives, camcorders and audio gear. And there’s no doubt IT techies, who rely on FireWire for troubleshooting Macs, are going to advise against this MacBook for business use.

TUAW also notes the MacBook loses an audio-out port (which you’d use for microphones and other output devices). Not entirely, however:  he audio-out port has been combined with the audio-in port. Still, this could be a drag for musicians who record while monitoring with headphones.

It’s unlikely we’ll learn the technical reason for the omission of these ports from the new MacBook until iFixit tears down the notebook and takes a look inside. We’ll keep you posted on that analysis.

See Also:

• Engineer: Killing FireWire on MacBooks Was Necessary
• IT Pros Find Lack of FireWire on MacBooks Disturbing
• Apple Quietly Kills FireWire 400
• Apple Unleashes New Macs, Multitouch Mouse

A video walkthrough of Apple’s newest additions!

Sure, you’ve seen the hands-on posts and the PR, but have you really gotten a look at Apple’s new gear? Join us for a quick and spirited walkthrough of the goods. You won’t be disappointed. Probably.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Peripherals

A video walkthrough of Apple’s newest additions! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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