Apple once again launched its mobile input range with new MacBook design flare at lower prices and announced increased autonomy. Thoughtful and powerful, the new MacBook aligns design and quality, despite some minor shortcomings.
With the new MacBook, Apple has set two clear goals: provide an entry-level laptop worth of MacBook and iBook, and also ensure that this machine is capable of sticking to the performance of its big brother the MacBook Pro. History to complicate matters; the MacBook Unibody falls around $999. Then reading the fact sheet, the device appears to be complete and able to put on a show. But what about reality!
Since its introduction in 2007, the MacBook had not changed in appearance. Even careful design and strong, which over the years showed weaknesses. At the front and side edges, for example, where the top part that holds the keyboard and the body are joined, the cracks are common in cases of intensive use. The renewal brought by the unibody should resolve this problem. The whole upper part is a single piece. The background follows the same path. It can be opened using a small screwdriver and includes the battery. This also seems to limit the heating troublesome knee. One regret; Apple has removed the charging of the battery yet so handy when you want to know where the autonomy is without turning your Mac.
Lack and absence
Anyway, let us mention two more regrets. The first is that the MacBook, for the general public, offers only two USB ports. While it offers Bluetooth standard for connecting a mouse, but sometimes a little light when juggling with USB, printer and wired a multimedia card reader. For the second regret, Apple "forgot" to include an SD card reader when he finally took the leap on his MacBook Pro and iMac. If we can assume that the owners of the Pro models have pro equipment, rather than using the Compact Flash, it is almost obvious that a holder of a MacBook device has SD card. Why this absence? It does not explain it. Nothing justifies it. Especially when we see that any PC input range has one. So, let’s face it, this lack costs his favorite song on this device. The very good touchpad multitouch already met on the MacBook Pro will not change anything as good as it is.
Autonomy Trial
And it is particularly unfortunate for the rest, this MacBook managed a near faultless performance. To start with autonomy; if during our few days of testing, we have not reached the promised seven hours (in office with the screen brightness reduced by half), the results appears a tower of mobility. First result: 3hr 50min of autonomy in DVD playback (full screen brightness, mid-power). A performance that may greet with some enthusiasm, especially since the battery to full charge in just under an hour or thirty! For our tests of independence in everyday use: YouTube, chat, music in iTunes, Web surfing, text input and consultation of e-mails, we averaged 4:20 of battery life with screen brightness adjusted up initially, then decreased to avoid glare for night was falling. Beyond this good performance, note that the indicator of life of the battery is impressive. Start a YouTube video, the indicator fall. Cut the video, it goes back almost immediately. This allows you to tailor your practice to the time you need to maintain, as appropriate. In simple text input, we arrive at about 6 pm autonomy. But the MacBook can be summarized in a typewriter.
Power reserve
For, as regards the power, the configuration shown on the paper is largely the road everyday. With its Core 2 Duo, clocked at 2.26 GHz, it provides enough power for encoding video and audio, as well as all daily operations requiring little power. It even shows 1.5 times faster than the MacBook last date for the video conversion. It also wins a lot to ship 2 GB of RAM by default. These are mainly useful in Photoshop as that benefit. Again, it provides a power gain of fifteen percent over the previous model. If these figures are largely attributable to the material power, we must not forget that Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) is the result of optimization work.
A side game, the MacBook is obviously not a reference. However, it is able to run quite respectably enough old games on Mac OS X and some more recent games in Windows 7. Left 4 Dead will be playable if it does not seek absolute fluidity. If Snow Leopard is obviously its favorite field, the MacBook Unibody is at ease in the "Windows" ground.
As an indication, Windows 7, the MacBook gets a performance index of 5.3 to 7.9. The overall score is obviously burdened by the graphics chip. Also note that the drivers supplied on the Windows installation disc for Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6.1, in this case) do not all work on Windows 7. This is particularly the case with Wi-Fi chip Legend that it has Apple and Microsoft cordially detest, but let us not be deceived, would not they have a little more work hand in hand to provide adequate drivers?
Features
An LED-backlit display of brilliance: A 13.3-inch glossy widescreen
The moment you open your new MacBook, its glossy LED-backlit display greets you with glorious, full-screen brightness and brings your photos, movies, and presentations alive with luminous color. The widescreen resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels gives you plenty of room to multitask, yet it’s compact enough to take anywhere. And the display is greener than ever: power efficient, free of harmful toxins such as mercury, and made of arsenic-free glass.
The longest-lasting MacBook battery ever: Up to 7 hours per charge, up to 1000 recharges
Now take MacBook with you everywhere without worrying about plugging in or even carrying your power adapter. Its built-in lithium-polymer battery lasts up to 7 hours on a single charge, 1 which makes it perfect for long flights, all-day workshops, and marathon study sessions. Thanks to its advanced battery chemistry and charging technology, the MacBook battery can be recharged up to 1000 times — good for about five years of typical usage — and lasts nearly three times the lifespan of typical notebook batteries.2 That makes for less waste. And that, in turn, makes for one environmentally friendly battery.
Multi-Touch comes to MacBook: More room to navigate, more ways to interact
The first thing you might notice — or not notice — about the new MacBook Multi-Touch trackpad is the button. The entire trackpad is the button, so you can click anywhere on the touch-friendly glass surface. Not having a separate button also makes for a larger trackpad surface, giving your fingers more room to move, click, and gesture. And because the trackpad supports Multi-Touch gestures, you can use one or more fingers to interact with your documents, images, and applications with gestures such as two-finger scroll, pinch, swipe, and rotate. If you come from a right-click world, you can configure a right-click area on the trackpad or simply press with two fingers.
High performance comes standard
- Action hero: With MacBook, you get an amazing consumer-level graphics experience that’s great for popular 3D games like Spore, Call of Duty, and Sims 3. The NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor provides an outstanding everyday graphics experience with up to a 5x performance boost.3 Based on an advanced architecture, NVIDIA graphics deliver smooth, responsive gameplay, so you can immerse yourself in game worlds that come to life with rich color, fine detail, and fluid motion — all without sacrificing battery life.
- Productivity expert: With a fast 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, MacBook breezes through everyday tasks such as emailing, web browsing, and working with documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in iWork or Microsoft Office for Mac (sold separately). It also provides plenty of horsepower for more processor-intensive activities such as retouching a photo in iPhoto, editing an iMovie project, and composing a new song using GarageBand, so you can make the most of the included iLife suite of applications. It even runs Microsoft Windows at native speeds. Better still, MacBook comes standard with 2GB of memory (with support for up to 4GB), so you can run multiple applications smoothly and efficiently.
- Personal librarian: Music, photos, and movies — not to mention your documents and other files — start adding up. That’s why MacBook offers plenty of storage space. It includes a large 250GB hard drive with options up to a voluminous 500GB, so you can take it all with you.
MagSafe and more
- Even the power cord is an innovation: The MagSafe Power Adapter has a magnetic connection instead of a physical one. So if someone happens to trip over the power cord while you’re working, they won’t send your new MacBook flying off a table or desk. Instead, the cord breaks cleanly away, without damage to either the cord or the system. As a bonus, you can tell if your MacBook is fully charged when the LED on the connector changes from amber to green.
- Burn CDs and DVDs: MacBook comes standard with a built-in SuperDrive. What makes it super? You can enjoy your favorite DVD movies and music CDs. You can burn your own CDs or DVDs to back up data or create your own music mixes. Or you can use the included iDVD software to burn Hollywood-style iMovie creations then watch them on a DVD player.
- Wireless that works: Connect to the Internet at fast speeds anywhere thanks to the built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi.5 Like everything else about a Mac, joining Wi-Fi networks couldn’t be simpler. If you’ve previously connected to a network, your Mac automatically logs you in so you can immediately email, surf the web, or video chat.6 Have a Bluetooth-enabled phone, headset, keyboard, or mouse? They can all connect to your MacBook courtesy of built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR — and it remembers all your devices, too.
- Ports with possibilities: With MacBook, you get easy plug-and-play support for your digital devices including your digital camera, printer, external hard drive, mouse, and keyboard — not to mention your iPhone and iPod. Just connect them to one of the handy ports. Want to expand your workspace? Use the new Mini DisplayPort to connect an Apple LED Cinema Display to extend your MacBook desktop. Or connect a projector to show your work on the big screen. MacBook also includes a Gigabit Ethernet port, a headphone jack that doubles as an audio-in port, and a convenient lock slot so you can keep your MacBook secure.
Video chat with anyone
Cleverly integrated — almost hidden — at the top of the MacBook display is an iSight camera that takes photos and shoots video. Use it with the built-in microphone and the included iChat software, so you can be anywhere without actually being there. Video chat with up to three of your friends, share a video with your mom, or give a presentation to a client.5 Use your iSight with Photo Booth to take quick pictures and add fun photo effects. Or use it with QuickTime X to record a video and share it to iTunes, MobileMe, or YouTube with just a click. Best of all, there’s no need to waste valuable primping time installing software or configuring the camera. Like everything Mac, iSight just works, right out of the box.
Technical Specifications
- Processor: 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- Memory: 2 GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
- Display: 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with support for millions of colors
- Storage: 250 GB Serial ATA
- Connection:
- MagSafe power port
- Gigabit Ethernet port
- Mini DisplayPort
- Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
- Audio in/out
- Kensington lock slot
- Installed software:
- Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard (includes Time Machine, Quick Look, Spaces, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Photo Booth, Front Row, Xcode Developer Tools)
- iLife ’09 (includes iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, iDVD)
- Height: 1.08 inches (2.74 cm)
- Width: 13.00 inches (33.03 cm)
- Depth: 9.12 inches (23.17 cm)
- Weight: 4.7 pounds (2.13 kg)
Conclusion
The lack of an SD card reader could be considered a technicality. But it would take a notebook entry level; as good as it can do without this service. But the answer is no, even to price of $999. And I repeat, too bad for the cores. The new MacBook has the entire king’s value. The MacBook Unibody is a beautiful machine, powerful enough to meet daily family stress, with the exception of games. The finishing is once again well above the fray of competition. And though the "green" is important to you, knowing that in addition to efforts in the choice of non-polluting materials, optimizing the relationship between hardware and software is indeed pushed to the extreme. As shown by one measurement every beast of power consumption. At rest, the MacBook uses only 11 watts under Mac OS X, while it consumes 16 watts under Windows 7. To think that at duals between the operating system, Apple still has a small lead.
