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.
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User reviews3
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matbacon 29 December 2008
Good: Multi Touch Trackpad
Bad: All the add-ons such as mobile me that cost a fortune
Comment: After parting with over £1000 cash you would expect a years free mobile me in the box but this is apple, the laptop itself is amazing. I would definitely recommend a mac to anybody and certainly a macbook.
Jool_86 25 November 2008
Good: It has Leopard, not Vista. The Design. The simplicity.
Bad: The trackpad is somewhat annoying. Thats it
Comment: I have only just bought the new macbook this week.
It arrived promptly and did not make a fuss.
After taking it out of its box, turning it on and going through all the registration screens, that was it, I was set up and ready to go.
The design, and size exceeded all my expectations. Id never seen a 13 inch macbook so I wasnt sure how big it would be but I was very happy with the size - big enough to use around the house, but small enough to take with me on the train.
The design itself, is breath taking. As cliche as that sounds, it is literally a work of art. Now dont get me wrong, I didnt spend over a thousand pounds for the design, but compare the macbook to a dell 13 inch for the same price and there is simply no comparison.
Even in spec, the macbook, compared to a dell runs smoothly along side it. Leopard is easy to use and compared to Vista, it is simply an awesome operating system.
I have, in the 24 hours I received it, had some problems with the trackpad. This is down to two things:
- I'm used to a mouse on a desktop
- The trackpad, despite its size and one click system is somewhat annoying to use. You end up running out of space and have to try and backtrack when dragging items.
This however, seems to be a knack I will eventually pick up in time.
Overall, I am happy I spent this vast amount of money on this piece of computer engineering.
I thought it would be a good idea to upgrade to 4gb (along with the 2.4ghz) and I dont regret it for a second, as the system is flawless and extremely fast.
Like the official reviewer stated, if you have the money, I would seriously advise anyone who is sick of windows laptops to buy the new macbook - the transition from windows to apple was effortless.
Aaron804 19 October 2008
Good: So simple, and easy to use. Sexiest thing ever. Very bright LED backlit screen. Feels very strong, no flex at all.
Bad: gets a bit too warm sometimes. £££!!!. Can get so much more, so much less with other makers.
Comment: Now i know that is Macbook was met by a lukewarm reception by the masses when this notebook was released this past Tuesday, most damning the price of this machine, and with reason. This is probably the most over-priced laptop on the market, but is it worth it?? You can bet your bottom dollar (pound with us in the UK) that it is. And when you buy the Macbook, you probably will reach ur bottom dollar....i can promise you that!!
First off, the Macbook feels great, the aluminium body nearly feels bullet proof, it is so strong. Lift it up with one hand, and the bottom corner.....and no flex at all. The screen is very thin due to the LED backlit screen, and it is also very bright. When watching vids, the quality is very good (straight on), viewing angles, along with most laptops is quite poor. I was a previous Windows user, and finding the mew OS very easy to use...everything jus makes sense. Now the bad...Specs r terrible when u look at the price. for £950, u get a 2.0GHz processor, 2GB ram 160GB hard drive,, WTF, for this money i would expect 2.4-2.6GHz processor, 4GB RAM and a 250+GB hard drive. You can get this with dell, and a lot of other laptop brands, your not getting this with apple. Though i say this, the macbook kills most processes with ease, i've only used it for a week, but even with itunes, and quicktime player on, i have still yet to encounter an application that takes more then 5 secs to load. My final words would be, best laptop on the market, if you don't agree, you have to admit its a sexy beast. but way over priced.
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