Apple MacBook review

Turn your attention to what lies beneath the new, shiny white exterior, and you'll find largely the same specifications as the entry-level MacBook Pro 13. There’s a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo processor, a 250GB hard disk – 90GB more than that of the Pro – and 2GB of memory. It’s a capable line-up, and a score of 1.13 in our benchmarks proves it’s nippy enough for most duties, while the integrated Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics managed a just-playable 29fps in our least taxing Crysis benchmark.

The final ingredient is the glossy new display. The 13.3in panel is now LED-backlit with a 1,280 x 800 resolution, and marks a vast improvement on the pre-unibody MacBook. Images burst forth with plenty of punch and vibrancy, and colour reproduction right is on the money, too.

Elsewhere, the Firewire port, SD card reader and battery indicator have vanished, but the MacBook now boasts the glass multitouch trackpad found on the rest of the range. It comes as little surprise that Apple’s Snow Leopard OS takes most advantage, where the multitouch functions prove slick and instinctive, but it also works well as a traditional touchpad in the unsupported Windows 7, too. We’re not great fans of the Apple keyboard, with its light, short travel keys, but apart from the narrow Enter key it’s not bad enough to overly detract from the appeal.

At £799 inc VAT, though, the MacBook’s biggest competitor is its own stablemate, the £899 MacBook Pro 13. Most people will live without the lost ports and, we have to admit, the unibody design does look rather alluring in eye-catching white. But with the existing MacBook Pro 13 also offering substantially better build quality for just £100 more, this new model doesn't quite excite us as it should.

Author: Sasha Muller