MacBook Homepage

I’ll put aside my differences right now and the innate heartache I feel for buying the 1.86GHz MacBook Pro less than one day before the announcement. I think many MacBook Pro owners will be very angry to discover their lower end brethren have stolen the show.

With the launch of the new MacBook this week and the upgraded hardware for MacBook Pro, Apple truly are ‘thinking different?’. It has never been more affordable to own a portable Mac without compromising on performance and features. So affordable, that the lines of distinction between that of the consumer and pro range have become dangerously close.

The new MacBook is truly stunning if you look at what you get for your money. Starting at £799 you get an Intel Core Duo processor clocking at 1.86GHz, 512MB DDR2 RAM, 60GB HDD, Combo Drive, a 13.3-inch glossy widescreen display, iSight, Front Row, Gigabit Ethernet, and MagSafe! This unit screams performance even at the low end.

Apple must have struck a really sweet deal with Intel because nobody really expected Apple to put in a 1.86GHz Core Duo processor in the entry level model. Most speculation seemed to point towards a Core Solo processor making an appearance in the lowest spec model with the possibility of a Core Duo processor featuring in the higher end model. However this isn’t so. You will find the 2.0GHz Core Duo processor, 80GB drive, SuperDrive and all this for LESS than the price of a MacBook Pro. Astounding!

What everyone got wrong on the rumour sites was that there would be a black and white version of the MacBook and whilst this is true to a certain extent, the black chassis is only available on the more expensive model. An expected feature to be found is the magnetic latch for securing your MacBook in transit. Even this is a trait not found in the MacBook Pro.

Natural evolution of the quickly forgotten iBook brings with it a glossy display which is 79% brighter with 30% more viewing area. You’ll find glossy displays in laptops from Sony, HP and many others; point being is they offer richer colours and a nice sheen to your screen. This is great for vivid photos and movies but create a reflective surface that acts like a mirror. If you’re a fan of this then you’ll also be happy to know that this upgrade is also available on the MacBook Pro as a BTO option (at no extra charge may I add). So those who have longed for a display like this can now be satisfied. Hard drives start at 60GB and can go to a massive 120GB.

iSight and Front Row are also one of the evolutionary features from iBook to MacBook and need no explanations here. They’re welcome additions and yet again add the much needed value to the portable Mac range.

The iBook has definitely gone through some Nip ‘n’ Tuck. Weighing in at only 2.36kg and just 1.08 inches thick this is truly a portable powerhouse. The widescreen display has a native resolution of 1280×800 driven by the Intel GMA 950 graphics processor which also has the ability to output up to 23-inches via the mini DVI port.

One thing that I’ll be interested to see is the real world battery performance of these new MacBooks. Just like the big brother MacBook Pro, the MacBook has a Lithium Polymer battery and one of the neat tricks of the iBook was the generous battery life. The Apple site states that the MacBook can offer up to 6 hours of battery life (2.5 hours of DVD playback, 3.5 hours with wireless turned on). I would be happy to get even 4 hours out of it never mind 6! That’s a surprising figure they’re quoting there because the MacBook Pro as you know (with its enormous battery and power adapter) manages a surprising sub 4 hours of operating time under normal conditions.

Apple is really pushing the MacBook to be the jack of all trades laptop. They advertise it as the super fast, blogging, podcasting, do-everything-out-of-the-box MacBook. It’s portable, elegant and did I mention the keyboard consists of a single-piece design that’s sleeker and lower profile than most? Comments on the look and feel of this will surely pop up shortly.

So I think I’ve pretty much covered what the MacBook has to offer and I think anyone who reads the spec sheets will be decidedly impressed with the ‘iPod’ laptop.

Now I say ‘iPod’ laptop because Apple hasn’t until now been able to really get in to the hands of kids and students. With a starting price of £749 and as low as £700 if you are a student) this could be Apple’s attempt at creating the ultimate iLife-to-go portable? It not only features looks like the iPod but also really piles on great hardware inside. The back to school market is a few months away but this is enough time for the Apple marketing team to really ramp up hype and for Steve Jobs to activate the RDF. We could ladies and gents, be on the forefront of a massive insurgence by Apple. Imagine every kid who owns an iPod with a MacBook on their back to school shopping and Christmas list? Combine that with the successful results of schools switching over to Macs. Smells like a strategy to me and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is just the start of it all.

If I’m wrong, then the MacBook is purely a stunning machine that offers value for money that rivals competitors with similar products and even its own product range!

The MacBook Pro doesn’t seem like the all conquering and all powerful Mac it once seemed to be. It no longer features the faster processor, faster memory, bigger hard drive, better features or more sexiness built in. The MacBook has got more or less the same hardware and just as much sexiness built in as its bigger brother. What a tart!

So what does the MacBook Pro offer more you ask? I’ve narrowed it down to these main features:

A bigger screen

Ok, so there is other things missing such as the support for 30-inch displays, 7200RPM hard drive a better graphics card and an aluminium chassis. However is the price premium of £371 (for base level Pro model) justifiable for those features?

I think you and I need to take Steve behind the bike sheds for a few stern words. No doubt Apple will face much criticism over this highly controversial launch in the coming days and weeks.

The once justified price tag of the MacBook Pro has suddenly become questionable. Everyone said the price was reasonable because it featured the latest Intel dual core processors and all of the other enhancements over the previous generation PowerBook. However Apple has shot themselves in the foot somewhat by making the MacBook such good value and taking so much of the technology found in the Pro level and putting it in the consumer end.

If I were looking at the spec sheets for both ranges of laptops the only key driver for someone to buy the MacBook Pro is the bigger display. Quick calculations show that if you purchased the entry level MacBook with a 20-inch Apple Cinema Display you still have enough change left over for a 1GB iPod Nano.

The past 24 hours have been interesting and thought provoking and I hope that this analysis gives you some idea of where to go if you’re looking to purchase a portable Mac.

The MacBook offers an attractive feature set with a matching price tag and this will undoubtedly send shockwaves through the Apple community. It’s never been a greater time to own a Mac than today but still MacBook Pro owners will now conjecture at whether they’ve been had by Apple.