Apple Inc. presented yesterday its new laptops, the MacBook
and the MacBook Pro, putting an end to all the speculations and confirming some
of the rumors.
At a first glance, the new laptops appear extremely similar,
as there are no significant physical differences between them. They both have
an aluminum enclosure and a black screen covered with glass. Also, they both
have the same black keyboard that can also be found on the MacBook Air. The new
design, with its curvy lines, makes it easy for users to get a grip of the
devices. The MacBook is lighter than its predecessor, weighting 4.5 pounds,
while the MacBook Pro is two-tenths of a pound heavier than its predecessor.
The stereo system hasn’t been changed from the previous
versions, and it is located in the same place next to the display’s hinge, in
order for the sound to bounce off the screen and properly reach the user.
The MacBook and the MacBook Pro both offer two USB 2 ports,
audio in and out, an Ethernet port and the new Mini DisplayPort monitor port.
Apple announced that there will soon be available Mini Display Port-to-DVI and
Mini-Display-Port-to-VGA adapters. In addition to the offer provided by both
laptops, the MacBook Pro also includes a single FireWire 800 port and an
ExpressCard slot which is located behind an aluminum door.
The two models
feature a new clickable glass trackpad. It looks basically the same as the old
one but when moving the fingers across its surface, the feeling is
significantly smoother. For those accustomed to a different style, the new
features include the option to program the bottom right or left corner of the
trackpad as the secondary mouse button.
An Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics subsystem has been
integrated for both models, and the MacBook Pro also features a significantly
faster, higher-performance processor, the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT. Apple’s CEO
Steve Jobs said that both models are extremely well equipped, as the 9400M
system delivers "five times the graphics performance." The 9400M
graphics processor comes with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM which is shared with the main
memory. Accessing the Energy Saver preference pane, users can choose to use
either one, depending on their needs – better battery life or higher
performance.
An Intel spokesperson addressed Apple’s decision to sign a
different partner in a statement yesterday, saying that "Intel continues
to have a strong relationship with Apple. Graphics is a competitive market and
we compete for all new business. Intel's technology is integrated throughout
Apple's product line but we didn't win this particular design." She also
added that Intel’s efforts will be focused on winning back the business, as the
company’s products offer significant performance and value to customers
everywhere.
The MacBook and MacBook Air no longer present the 65-nanometer
Penryn-class chips, as the company decided on using the more advanced
45-nanometer Montevina processor. Montevina chips boast either 3MB or 6MB of
cache memory, compared to the 2MB or 4MB that the older Penryn mobile processors
offer.
The basic MacBook will be available for $999 and the MacBook
Pro starts at $1300.
