Apple MacBook (Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz) review

Performance
Apple claims significant performance boosts, up to 25 per cent from the move to Core 2 Duo CPUs. In CNET Labs' Photoshop CS2 and iTunes encoding tests, we found that the new MacBook, with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and 1GB of RAM, performed admirably, coming in behind the 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro model, but not by huge margins. That's even more impressive when you consider the MacBook Pro we tested had a whopping 3GB of RAM.

As expected, both Core 2 Duo systems easily outclassed an older Core Duo MacBook Pro from earlier this year. We have updated our benchmarks recently, so we can't compare these scores directly against the last round of Core Duo MacBooks, but the new Core 2 Duo MacBook did show a 26 per cent boost over the older Core Duo MacBook Pro, well in line with Apple's claims.

In many areas, the new MacBook Pro and MacBook systems are very similar, with design, price and screen size as the major points of differentiation. One important difference to note is in the graphics subsystem. The MacBook Pro has an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600, while the MacBooks are stuck with Intel GMA 950 graphics. So if gaming is important to you, either Windows gaming through Boot Camp or Mac native gaming, you'll want to step up to the Pro model.

In our battery tests, we got an impressive 3 hours, 30 minutes out of the MacBook -- beating the 15-inch MacBook Pro by half an hour. That's about what you'd expect from a thin-and-light laptop, and more than enough for a movie or two or any flight to Europe. Apple also offers a £39 airline power adapter, called the MagSafe Airline Adapter, as an option -- it has two different plugs for working with the power ports on different airlines.

The MacBook's AC adaptor -- both Airline and normal models -- connects magnetically to the laptop, so if you accidentally trip over the cord, it will simply detach instead of sending your new purchase crashing to the floor. You additionally get Apple's tiny Front Row remote -- the same as the one that comes with the iMac. It controls Apple's Front Row software for playing back movies, music and photos from a home-theatre-style 3m interface.

Many people prefer Apple systems specifically for the bundled suite of proprietary software, iLife '06, which includes intuitive tools for building Web sites, creating DVDs, composing music and working with photos.  

Adobe Photoshop CS2 image-processing test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

In seconds

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (15.4-inch 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

286 

Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)

345 

Apple MacBook Pro Core Duo (2.0GHz Intel Core Duo)

515 

Apple iTunes encoding test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

In seconds

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (15.4-inch 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

129 

Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)

150 

Apple MacBook Pro Core Duo (2.0GHz Intel Core Duo)

189