Last year in 2009, Apple introduced the unibody Macbook, a budget-friendly entry-level product that has many of the core features of the Macbook Pro. The $999 starting price has no doubt make the MacBook a popular choice for first time Apple buyers. This year, Apple has updated the Macbook with better specs while keeping the $999 price level making it an even better deals.
The Macbook 2010 update:
- Faster CPU: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU instead of 2.26 GHz from the 2009 version
- More Powerful GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 320M instead of NVIDIA GeForce 9400M from the 2009 version
- Larger battery capacity: The updated MacBook has gained the same 63.5 watt-hour battery as the 13″ MacBook Pro, leading to up to 10 hours of “wireless productivity” according to Apple’s estimates.
In terms of design, the 2010 version of Macbook
The chiclet style keyboard and large glass multi-touch trackpad are comfortable to use. While there are some Windows Laptops that try to mimic the Macbook’s island-style keyboard and buttonless touchpad design, none of them are as good as those on the Macbook.
In terms of performance, the 2010 version of Macbook performs much better than the previous version of Macbook, thanks to the 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo processor. It scored 4,259 marks in PCMark Vantage (running on Windows 7 via BootCamp), well above the previous MacBook which scored only 3,691. It also comes out ahead of the 3,714 thin and light notebook average.
Graphic performance has improved a lot as well. The MacBook’s integrated Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of shared memory notched an impressive 4,778 on 3DMark06, far above the previous generation MacBook (2,160) and the category average (1,829). In 3D gaming tests, frame rates were 30% improved over the last gen MacBook with the NVIDIA 9400M.
Battery life is not as long as 10 hours which the manufacturer claims, but it lasted for 7 hours plus of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi, which is longer than most other thin-and-light notebooks in the market.
Overall, the new Macbook is a great machine with stellar industrial design, superior ergonomics, and above-average performance and battery life. But what you should think about is whether you should be getting a Macbook or Macbook Pro (13-inch). Both machines overlap each other in most ways — they have the same processor, GPU, and glass multi-touch trackpad, but the $1,199 Pro gets you double the RAM, a backlit keyboard, FireWire 800 and an SD card slot. For only $200 difference, why not just go Pro? This is especially true for those who like to use their Macbook for multitasking with processor intensive applications (read this customer review
Also, if Mac OS is not what you definitely need, there are some Windows laptops that come with better specs at a lower price level (e.g. Asus U30JC
The 2010 version of Apple Macbook
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
- NVIDIA Graphics
- 250GB Hard Drive
- 8x Double-layer SuperDrive
- 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
- 10-hour Battery Life
- Glass Multi-Touch Trackpad
- 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with support for millions of colors
- Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging
Video of the 2010 MacBook from MobileTechReview.com:
Source: Mobile Tech Review, Laptop Magazine