Review of the MacBook.
rzwitserloot posted in apple on June 1st, 2006

My MacBook arrived Mondayafternoon, nicely timed to coincide with an extremely busy week for me. Fortunately, Oliver was so kind as to babysit my door.

Let me tell you right away: I can’t believe this marvelous little gem is being sold for only 1100 EUR/USD. I prefer this thing to a 15″ MacBook Pro and those cost 2600, give or take.

Finish

A major complaint I had with my old iBook (latest model 12″) involved the finish of the notebook casing. Others gawking and oogling the quant little iBook noticed these things as well - seams that didn’t quite close properly, filling up with dust. A battery that sticks out a tad due to being supported by only a single locking brace, and a large and slanted gap between the screen and the case when closed. Through personal use other things are noticed - the keyboard, while beating out EUR 50 USB models with ease for feel and comfort, did feel a bit cheap. One of the keys (left cursor) actually tore almost in half over use, which didn’t help, obviously. Also, pushing down on the casing or the trackpad also clicked the mousebutton. The space bar was drooping to the left, and the trackpad button drooped right. These last points are but pet peeves, really - hardly noticable, but still there.

The MacBook suffers from none of these problems. Its built like an iPod shuffle - the base is a solid plastic brick, the battery is lodged tight with 2 brackets, the keyboard feels very robust and is perfectly symmetrical, and the trackpad feels much more solid.

In fact, the MacBook feels like a PowerBook in this regard - one of the big differences between the old 12″ PowerBook and 12″ iBook (which are extremely similar to each other in layout and build) was this feeling of sturdiness.

Of course, the magnetic auto-latch means the screen now closes more neatly than any other Apple laptop ever built.

GlossBook?

Yes, the screen is glossy. Yes, having a tube-shaped lightsource behind you means you have to fiddle around with the angle of the screen. However, aside from that one problem, this screen easily matches old PowerBook screens, and even facing a MacBook Pro 15″ screen, the MacBook puts up a fair fight. Contrast this to the old iBook, which had one serious failing: The screen sucked. This screen is so bright, it hurts your eyes unless you’re looking at it in daylight. I normally operate near the lowest brightness setting. iBook: Always the highest.

Comparing gloss to PCs, there is definitely less of it, as well.

Ports

Again, the MacBook really doesn’t lose any significant advantage here compared to more than double the price MacBook Pro. Unlike the old iBook, you can connect an external microphone. Unlike the old iBook, you get optical audio in and out. You also get gigabit ethernet and an iSight camera. You even get a MagSafe power connector, and a full mini DVI video out - another feature that the iBook never had.

Mactel stability

Mactels aren’t quite as stable as MacPPC systems. However, according to Cristiano who has owned a MacBook Pro for a couple of months now, every new automatic system upgrade improves stability by leaps and bounds. Even so, mactels are almost as stable as older macs - certainly the MacBook does not sport any driver troubles like so many Windows notebooks. The MacBook has crashed twice so far, forcing a hard reset, but on the other hand I was installing a load of applications and trying to move over old files from my iBook.

heat and speed

The MB features a processor almost as fast as the MBP: A 1.83 or 2Ghz intel core duo. Given the MBP’s almost ridiculous heat generation, the less heat conductive plastic casing had me worried that the fans would be on nearly all the time.

Fortunately, for some reason, MBs run even colder than iBooks. The heat is focussed around the edges, meaning the wrist rests do not get hot like on the iBook. The bottom of the case gets a bit hotter than an iBook but it’s very managable. Contrast this to the MBP, which fries your legs (and definitely your nuts) after even moderate use. The fan hasn’t kicked in yet, even during movie playback. I have no clue how Apple managed it.

Speedwise I can only report that day to day operations are very quick. I tried to run Quake 4. This doesn’t work well due to the hugely inferior graphics engine. That, then, is also the only major area where the MBP wins out. But, is that worth 1400 euros?

Running windows

With parallels, windows runs side by side with mac os x, and runs smoothly. Excellent for quickly checking if your site works well in IE6 for the stragglers amongst the internet crowd.

MBP or MB?

I truely think the MB wins this battle. Here’s what the MacBook is actually better at than its larger, far more expensive cousin:

• Batterij Life (5 vs. 3.5 hours)
• wireless range (plastic case helps)
• Powerpack (60W small profile pack vs. 85W almost twice the size. Airplane sockets can only power up to 75W)
• User servicable HDD bay. Swapping out your harddrive on a MacBook Pro voids your warranty and takes many hours
• Keyboard. The MB keyboard is full size, spanning the entire base. The MBP keyboard is of similar size to old 12″ iBooks, with large speaker grilles on the sides
• speakers. Eventhough the MBP has a much more obvious speaker grille, the speakers tucked away on the backside sound very crisp and produce just as much volume.
• Trackpad. Aside from the extremely useful 2-finger tap = rightclick feature only available to the MB, the trackpad’s size beats the MBP. Also, unlike the iBook, the trackpad remains completely responsive even around the edges
• Magnetic latch is more stylish and locks better compared to the physical latch of the MBP.
• heat. This is a huge issue. The MB is almost as fast as the MBP on non-game performance, yet it doesn’t get even remotely close to the MBP’s temperature during operation. See previous section
• Looks. This is a tossup. I personally prefer the white plastic case to the anodized aluminum. I guess this one comes down to personal preference

Regrets?

Comparing the MacBook to my old trusty iBook, there are some areas where the iBook actually outperforms the MacBook. First and foremost is the bulkiness of the MacBook. While the MacBook actually occupies less space than the 12″ iBook due to it being thinner and a bit shorter, it’s far bulkier. Compare trying to lug a deck of cards around with trying to lug a sheet of A4-sized metal around. yes, the sheet is volumetrically speaking smaller, but it is just more unwieldy compared to the deck of cards. While I frequently carried an opened iBook by holding a wrist-rest, trying to do that with a MacBook is uncomfortably heavy due to the increased torque exerted by the wider MacBook. It requires a larger bag as well.

Another obvious problem of the MacBook is the edge of the notebook itself - whereas both the MBP and the old iBook have a more or less smooth edge, the MacBook’s single seamless case schtick leaves a sharp edge which is irritating on the wrists when typing. I think it’ll dull quickly with use to be less of a problem, but a smoother edge would definitely be welcome. The MacBook still has an enter that’s too small and a number of irrelevant keys that could have been left off to i.e. increase the size of the enter key and the left shift. iBooks have this problem as well but for those 2 keys the full size keyboard is actually making matters worse.

Conclusions

I’d have to say that no notebook in the world, including apple’s own Macbook pros, can hold a candle to this thing. It’s ridiculously cheap for the power it packs, and eventhough its a new case design, it feels like they’ve already worked out virtually all the kinks. Apparently the many troubles with the MBP series helped a lot. There is absolutely no need to own a desktop as well, a MacBook is the only computer hardware you really need. The added benefit of supporting bootcamp and parallels also means this notebook is still an excellent deal, easily capable of going toe to toe with dell notebooks on price, and lightyears ahead in every other way, if you just need a windows notebook.

It’s just that good.

Back when some of us apple junkies met at ‘De Balie’ in Amsterdam to hold our own little MacWorld gathering, unable to actually attend Steve Jobs’ presentation where the MBP was unveiled, I secretly hoped for a magic bullet notebook sporting all the benefits of apple’s powerbooks, along with faster chips, the capability to run windows in a pinch, and yet a price tag of about a 1000 bucks. The MBP (with its hefty pricetag) thoroughly disappointed me, but the wait is over: This is the magic bullet notebook.