Ars Reviews the 2008 MacBook: weighing the Pros and cons

A new shell

Since Apple introduced the titanium PowerBook in 2001, the company has always maintained a very clear difference in appearance between its professional- and consumer-oriented laptops, even as the latter gained more of the features and speed previously found only in the former. With the new MacBook, this trend of feature parity continues for the most part, and it has now moved from the inside out. With its new aluminum shell, the MacBook is a smaller version of the MacBook Pro in every respect. So much so, that most of what Clint and Jacqui wrote in their review of the new MacBook Pro also applies to the new MacBook. So in this review, we'll mostly focus on what sets the MacBook apart from its higher-end counterpart.

The unibody

Apple has a talent for releasing new products that immediately make the old versions seem, well, old. After a week or so of using the new MacBook, the old MacBooks and MacBook Pros look like tired, Soviet-era wannabes. Either opened or closed, the new models look both modern and classic; they probably wouldn't seem out of place in a 1970s interior.

In its previous white and black plastic incarnation, the MacBook had already become much sturdier than older versions and the iBook before it. But the new aluminum unibody is still a significant improvement: there doesn't seem to be any flexibility anywhere in the body or the keyboard, and very little in the lid. The lid closes in a very satisfying way, and a thin, rubbery rim along the edge makes contact with the unibody over the entire width of the computer. A magnet keeps the lid closed in perfect alignment, without the need for a latch mechanism. It's even better than the delicate, high-precision click with which the old MacBook Pro latch closes. If only we could be as happy with the cover on the bottom of the unit that provides access to the battery and the hard drive.

On one of our MacBooks, this bottom cover is already a little warped, with more to come by the flimsy looks of things. Hopefully, the fact that the battery cover lock mechanism keeps the battery in place even without the cover is just a nice touch on Apple's part, and not something that MacBook users will have to depend on after some years of use. But the battery cover is trivially easy to replace, so if something has to be flimsy, it might as well be this.

Specs and ports

The chart below shows how the two new MacBook models stack up against the low-end MacBook Pro:

	MacBook, $1299	MacBook, $1599	MacBook Pro, $1999
CPU	2GHz Core 2 Duo	2.4GHz Core 2 Duo	2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
Memory	2GB 1066MHz DDR3	2GB 1066MHz DDR3	2GB 1066MHz DDR3
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB
Display	13.3", 1280x800	13.3", 1280x800	15.4", 1440x900
Hard/optical drives	160GB, 8xDVD±RW	250GB, 8xDVD±RW	250GB, 8xDVD±RW
Expansion	2 x USB2	2 x USB2	2 x USB2, FireWire 800, ExpressCard/34
Keyboard	Regular	Illuminated	Illuminated
Size	12.8x8.9x0.95 in 32.5x22.7x2.4 cm	12.8x8.9x0.95 in 32.5x22.7x2.4 cm	14.4x9.8x0.95 in 36.4x24.9x2.4 cm
Weight	4.5 pounds, 2.05kg	4.5 pounds, 2.05kg	5.5 pounds, 2.49kg

Under the hood, the most significant difference between the two models is in the graphics card. The MacBook Pro adds a discrete GPU, the 9600M GT, to the 9400M integrated graphics processor that's now standard across Apple's entire portable line.

Networking is the same on all models: 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet with support for 9000 byte jumboframes, (draft) 802.11n (as well as a, b and g) Wi-Fi, and enhanced data rate Bluetooth.

The MacBook lacks the MacBook Pro's speaker grille; stereo speakers seem to be hidden under the keyboard. A cluster of tiny holes in the aluminum "unibody" north of the escape key guides sound to the internal microphone. But, why use the built-in microphone? One of the little joys of the new MacBook is that it supports the microphone and clicker in the iPhone headphones.