It seems that sometime during the last few days, Apple discretely updated the previous MacBook generation. The refreshed iteration of the popular laptop now sports several features that might turn it into a genuine competitor of the new unibody MacBook.

The key hardware change regarding the polycarbonate MacBook is the adoption of the NVIDIA 9400M graphics-processing unit. The mobile platform has 256MB of shared memory and promises to drastically improve gaming performance over the previous Intel 950 integrated GPU.

Another important upgrade is the new Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Even though the CPU still operates at 2.0GHz frequency, the front-side bus is now clocked at 1,066MHz instead of the 667MHz clock used by the old processor. This minor update should also deliver a smoother everyday computing experience, especially when multitasking.

Moreover, Apple has also operated several other minor updates, as the refreshed MacBook now has 2GB of RAM, Bluetooth 2.1 instead of 2.0. However, performance-wise, the 2GB RAM chip is DDR2 type and is clocked at 667MHz, lower than the 2GB DDR3 RAM of the unibody MacBook that has 1,066MHz.

Even if the white MacBook now has almost all the sough-after improvements compared with the new generation Apple laptop, there are still some minor differences between the two, as the former isn't available with the optional backlit keyboard.

All in all, it seems that the $999 MacBook has become more appealing than ever and, considering that the economic crisis is forcing everybody to be more careful with their expenses, the popular white notebook has just become a fierce competitor of Apple’s own $1,299 unibody-styled MacBook.