Since its debut in May 2006 , the MacBook class has earned a spot in the pantheon of Apple ’s all - prison term greatest hit . The sturdy , Intel - powered notebook computer have been so popular with consumer , specially pupil , that they ’ve help the caller nearly double its laptop sales over the last year and grab nigh to 10 percent of the U.S. retail market .
The latest enhancements to the course are n’t outstanding , but they ’re sure to solidify the MacBook ’s condition as a marketplace leader . All three models — still weighing in at 5.1 pound , and still price at $ 1,099 , $ 1,299 , and $ 1,499 — have slightly riotous processors and higher - capacity hard drive . In addition , the entry - level model now has twice as much standard system computer storage ( 1 GB ) and on - chip L2 cache ( 4 Mbit ) as its predecessor , land it up to par with its higher - priced siblings .
Building on success
All three MacBooks come with the same plentiful set of received features as before . As in the old iterations , the base model include a Combo ( CD - RW / DVD - ROM ) optical drive , while the other two models come with an 8x SuperDrive with double - stratum backing .
All three models include shining , lustrous 13.3 - inch screens , with a native resolution of 1,280 by 800 pixels ; a 667MHz frontside motorcoach to ferry datum between the C.P.U. and RAM ; AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR ( Enhanced Data Rate ) wireless networking ; a Gigabit Ethernet jack ; one FireWire 400 and two USB 2.0 ports ( but no FireWire 800 ) ; a scroll trackpad ; digital and analog audio in and out ports ; a mini - DVI port , which , with the addition of $ 19 adapters , can drive exhibit with international DVI , VGA , or Composite and S - video recording connections ; a build - in iSight tv camera for videoconferencing via iChat AV or get fun with Apple ’s Photo Booth software ; an infrared Apple Remote and Front Row software ; and , of class , the modern MagSafe index connection , which reduce the risk of exposure of cataclysm by detaching itself from the calculator if you trigger on the power electric cord .
Also include is the iLife ‘ 06 suite of digital medium software , but no productivity software like iWork — you’ll probably involve to add up Microsoft Office or something interchangeable .
All three models now come with full , out - of - the - box funding for 802.11n , the latest flavor of Wi - Fi wireless networking , which provide twice the image and up to five time the throughput of the previous monetary standard , 802.11 g. ( The old Core 2 Duo MacBooks , introduced last November , had 802.11n computer hardware work up in , but you had to compensate $ 2 and download particular software package from Apple to enable this capability . ) Of course , you wo n’t be able to use 802.11n unless you ’re link to a base station that support the new measure , such as Apple ’s late AirPort Extreme Base Station ( ) . ( In rule , Apple ’s execution of 802.11n should also work with other caller ’ 802.11n - capable hardware , but since the young measure is n’t concluding , there are more compatibility challenge than with late previous generation of Wi - Fi gear . )
Top to bottom
The $ 1,499 MacBook , with its handsome inglorious enclosure , now includes a 2.16GHz version of Intel ’s Core 2 Duo processor , equate with the previous 2GHz Core 2 Duo , and it comes with a 160 GB hard campaign , up from 120 GB .
As for the $ 1,299 blanched good example , it now has a 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo splintering , up from 2GHz , and its heavy movement has grown from 80 GB to 120 gigabyte . And the $ 1,099 livid model , which previously came with a 1.83GHz interpretation of the Core 2 Duo and a 60 GB hard drive , now sports a 2GHz central processor and an 80 GB ride .
The heavy winner in all this is probably the incoming - horizontal surface model . In the previous coevals , with only 2 MB of L2 cache and 512 MB of RAM in the standard configuration , it felt a scrap torpid , at least to me , in comparability to the other two models . Now , that ’s no longer honest . In terms of Macworld Lab ’s Speedmark 4.5 benchmark , the new $ 1,099 model ’s grade of 192 is a parachuting of 13.6 per centum liken with the discontinued 1.83GHz exemplar .
In the causa of the $ 1,299 and $ 1,499 models , the performance benefit are not quite so easily discernable , because their processors , while faster , have the same 4 megabit of L2 memory cache as in the previous generation . Still , the Lab ’s tryout results show a clear and uniform quickening across a variety of applications .
None of the MacBooks performed very well on our Unreal Tournament frame - rate trial because they still rely on their Intel chip adjust and a share of main memory , rather than a specialised microchip and memory board , for graphics processing . If you ’re a serious action gamer , you ’ll be happier with an iMac or a MacBook Pro .
Updated MacBooks Tested
skilful results inbold . point of reference system initalics .
Speedmark 4.5 lashings are proportional to those of a 1.25GHz Mac miniskirt , which is attribute a grudge of 100 . Adobe Photoshop , Cinema 4D XL , iMovie , iTunes , and Zip Archive lots are in minutes : arcsecond . All systems were function Mac OS X 10.4.9 with 1 GB of RAM , with processor performance set to Highest in the Energy Saver predilection pane when applicable . The Photoshop Suite run is a set of 15 written tasks using a 50 MB data file . Photoshop ’s memory was set to 70 percent and History was set to Minimum . We enter how long it took to return a scene in Cinema4D. We used Compressor to encode a 6 - minute , 26 - 2d DV filing cabinet using the videodisk : Fastest Encode 120 moment – 4:3 mount . In iMovie , we applied the ripened video core to a 1 - minute pic . We converted 45 minute of AAC audio file cabinet to MP3 using iTunes ’ High Quality setting . We used Unreal Tournament 2004 ’s Antalus Botmatch median - frames - per - indorsement grudge ; we test at a firmness of 1,024 - by-768 pixels at the Maximum context with both audio and graphics enabled . We produce a Zip archive in the Finder from a 1 GB leaflet . To compare Speedmark 4.5 scores for various Mac systems , visit our Apple Hardware Guide .—Macworld Lab examination by James Galbraith and Brian Chen
Macworld’s buying advice
With more hoard and system memory as well as a larger hard private road , the $ 1,099 MacBook is noticeably natty than its predecessor , and not significantly slower than its higher - priced siblings . Still , if you could afford an extra $ 200 , my recommendation is the midrange model : its SuperDrive and spacious hard crusade are sure to hail in handy sooner or later — sooner if you ’re into digital music , pic , and video recording . As for the $ 1,499 black model , it for certain looks posh , but I ’ve found that handprints can mar its elegance . You ’ll have to decide if the cachet of own a black Mac laptop — and the larger hard cause — is worth the extra expense .
[ Henry Norr is a seasoned Mac technology writer based in Berkeley , Calif. ]
