Apple MacBook (aluminium 2008 edition) review

Apple MacBook (aluminium 2008 edition) Review

Reviewed by: Rory Reid

Reviewed on: 15 October 2008

There's a new breed of MacBook in town, and as you're about to learn, it's more attractive, more powerful and more expensive than previous models. The new design has much in common with the aluminium-swathed MacBook Pro in design, but sports a smaller 13.3-inch screen. Prices start at £949 for the entry-level MacBook, up to £1,149 for the slightly enhanced version. The previous MacBook -- now known as the white MacBook -- can be bought for £719. All are available now from the Apple Store.

Design
The new MacBook is as attractive and as desirable as you'd expect from a new Apple product. Before we'd even extracted it from the packaging -- which Apple says contains less wasted materials than ever -- a crowd of CNET's finest had huddled around it.

Who could blame them? The new MacBook looks like a curious hybrid of the previous MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air. It is, we're told, carved from a solid block of aluminium, which is lovingly hollowed out before all the high-tech gubbins are placed inside. All that metal means the MacBook is a fairly heavy beast. It tips the scales at 2.04kg, but that -- believe it or not -- is actually lighter than its 2.14kg predecessor.

The MacBook's lid is as understated as ever. Just a lone, backlit Apple logo takes centre stage. Lift the lid -- the catch is magnetic -- and you're greeted by a silver and black colour scheme that's very easy on the eye. Most of the system is a silvery aluminium, while the keyboard buttons and screen bezel are black. Unlike Windows PCs, there are no unsightly stickers declaring how much RAM is installed, or what type of CPU is inside. The 'MacBook' logo below the screen says it all.

Apple is always bleating on about how easy its machines are to use, and the latest MacBook benefits from this philosophy. The keyboard is exceptionally comfortable and is backlit so the letters automatically illuminate in the dark. The mouse trackpad meanwhile, is now 39 per cent larger than on previous MacBooks and is made from glass, so it feels fantastically smooth to the touch. As before, it's gesture-sensitive, so you can make pinching and stretching motions to zoom in or out -- and there's a new four-finger upward swipe action that launches Expose.

There are no selector buttons below the trackpad. That's because the entire trackpad can be used as a button. You can't tap it, but you can physically push down until you feel it give slightly, as a membrane below the pad registers your touch. It feels a little unusual to begin with, but it soon begins to make perfect sense -- and the fact your thumb isn't permanently poised over a button may even reduce the chances of repetitive strain injury. Right clicks are registered by pressing down with two fingers. If this is too annoying, the trackpad has programmable hot zones, so you can assign a specific spot as your right click area.

All the MacBook's input ports are logically arranged on the left side of the laptop. Running from back to front, there's a MagSafe AC power connector, two USB ports, a DisplayPort video output, audio line-in and line-out, and a Kensington lock for securing the laptop to a desk. Just ahead of that is a neat battery-level indicator. Previously, this could be found on the underside of the laptop, but bringing it up to the side makes it much easier to see.

Speaking of the underside, we were somewhat surprised to find a removable battery hatch. Flip the catch just in front of it and you'll have access to the battery and -- if you've got a screwdriver handy -- the hard drive.