Apple MacBook review

The launch of new MacBooks is always a headline event to much bemusement from the more PC-orientated among us, and this one was as hysterical as ever. But while the majority of column inches have been spent eulogising the new CNC-machined styling, the MacBook's internals make for vastly more interesting reading.

In quite a coup for Nvidia, Apple has teamed up with the graphics giant to bring its brand new integrated graphics chip to the whole MacBook range. Intel may still have a stake via the Core 2 Duo processor but that's where its involvement ends, as the GeForce 9400M is north bridge, south bridge and GPU in one.

And that's not all: Nvidia is also claiming it's five times more powerful than Intel's GMA X4500HD chip. We've heard claims like this before but this is one that can be backed up by cold, hard figures.

The MacBook is a portable laptop with integrated graphics, yet it's capable of running Crysis at a playable 29fps. That may only be at 1,024 x 768 and with Low settings, but when you consider that even the highest frame rate from a laptop with Intel's most powerful graphics chip is some way short of double figures, it's a truly remarkable achievement.

Just as interesting - and possibly of more appeal to the usual Apple crowd - is the 9400M's support for CUDA application enhancement. This may be nothing new, but it's the first time an integrated chip has been able to take advantage. What it means is images in Photoshop CS4 can be zoomed and rotated on the fly, while HD video benefits from hardware acceleration.

And all of these advancements come without the additional power drain of a discrete graphics card. We had problems with the Windows drivers in the MacBook Pro, but the MacBook suffered no similar issues: we achieved a little under five hours of light use from it in our tests. A similar light use test simulated in OS X gave us between six and seven hours, so installing Vista does appear to mean you're losing a little of the MacBook's ability.

Thankfully, Boot Camp does now give you access to most of Apple's other functions, most notably multitouch clickable trackpad. The whole thing is essentially a button, so to drag-and-drop you'll need to get used to sliding things around while simultaneously pushing down. Initially, at least, we found it infuriating.

Where it does work well is in applications like Photoshop, where rotation and zooming is every bit as intuitive as it is on an iPhone: actions match the results they produce - you rotate fingers to rotate image and pinch to zoom, but it's clear that the new trackpad is an acquired taste.

The rest of the MacBook is merely a smaller version of the Pro. It boasts the same backlit Scrabble-tile keyboard: comfortable enough to use once you get used to it, though not the best in the business. The DVD writer and pair of USB ports are joined by Gigabit Ethernet and a mini-DisplayPort. The latter won't be of much use unless you shell out more for a DVI or VGA adapter for it, but that's Apple for you.

The design itself proved divisive in the PC Pro office. While some instantly fell in love with the silver all-in-one finish and the clean curves, others couldn't help but see it as bland and industrial. With Apple fans so quick to bring up the PC's reputation as a boring beige box, it's ironic that the MacBook now resembles a slab of dull, grey metal.

It's not as light as it looks, either, weighing in at 2kg, and this surprised many of us when we first picked it up. Sure, it's a sleek design, and it'll fit into a bag with ease, but it's certainly no more portable than other 13in laptops we've seen. You get the usual draft-n wireless and Bluetooth for communications on the move, and we do like the battery indicator lights on the left side, however.