VFCPUG Online

Courtesy of Apple

With the announcement today of the new 13-inch MacBook, Apple has fulfilled the promise to transition its entire notebook line to Intel.

Said to be up to 5x faster than previous G4 iBook models, the MacBook is available in 3 base configurations, 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz in white, as well as a 2.0 GHz in black. Prices range from US$1099-1499 (no updates to Apple.ca at time of posting) CDN$1249 to CDN$1649. All models feature:

• 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness
• 667 MHz front-side bus
• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950*
• Mini-DVI out
• built-in iSight video camera
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire® 400 port
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog
• Scrolling TrackPad
• the infrared Apple Remote
• 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter

Storage options range from 60GB-120GB 5400 rpm ATA hard drive, with Sudden Motion sensor. Optical options include a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive in the 1.83 GHz model and a slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW) in the 2.0 GHz systems.

UPDATE: The MacBook Pro was also updated today. There’s no longer an 1.83 GHz system and you can now add a “glossy” display to enrich colour definition at no extra cost.

*Like the Intel Mac mini before it, the new MacBook features integrated graphics—minimum usage is 80 MB. What this means is that working with the stock 512 MB of RAM, your system will be able to utilise, at the very most, a meagre 432 MB. I’d not envy anyone trying to do that. When my dearly departed 17-inch Powerbook magically lost access to half it’s 1 GB of RAM the drop in performance was astonishing and I found my system practically unusable, even for less intensive tasks.