MacBook 13 Inch Review
The Macintosh laptop is one that has survived many generations (in laptop years of course) and the latest update to the popular line has been one of the best yet. While we cannot say it has been the biggest jump in innovation (that goes to the iBook) it does refine the entire line and puts the word sexy back into play.
Design
The design of the new Macbook has an entirely new design that includes the incorporation of a new uni-body manufacturing processes which allows the entire shell of the notebook (excluding the screen) to be manufactured out of a single sheet of aluminum. According to Apple, this allows better access to hardware as well as a more environmental friendly unit and better processing power.
Other features includes a new battery which allows five hours of wireless productivity (according to Apple) and edge to edge glass LED display (1280 x 800 native resolution) which is bound to cause excessive glare depending on lighting and a new WiFi adapter that includes 802.11n as well as Bluetooth (sorry no WiMax).
The keyboard remains practically the same with the exception of the materials used which feel a lot better to the touch. As for the touchpad, that has been entirely reworked to include multitouch capabilities. The single mouse button is also gone and replacing it is a touchpad that doubles as an entire button with right and left features.
Performance
Performance has been greatly improved over the previous generation Macbook’s. Most of this is partly thanks to the inclusion of a new Intel’s new Core Duo 2 CPU which is an upgrade from last generations’ model. The new Macbooks come in 2.0 and 2.4GHz flavors. Though we did find minimal performance upgrades in the 2.4GHz model it was nothing substantial that would warrant spending an extra $300 on it.
The display as mentioned earlier is edge to edge glass and yes there is going to be some glare. We did find that it was minimal though outdoor usage did bring quite a bit depending on the position we were sitting in relating to the sun. The Macbook Pro 17” does provide a $50 anti glare option but that is not currently available on the 13” models.
Battery performance was also good. Although Apple rates the battery at a full 5 hours most of our tests got 4 hours and 45 minutes when wireless was on.
Overheating was not something that should be worried much about. Thanks to the systems good ventilation it failed to run hot on extended uses of time even when the environment was above room temperature.
Conclusion
So the question remains whether or not this is a worthy upgrade? By all means yes. The new MaqBook carries some substantial feature upgrades and is worth it. The only thing is the price which might be a little steep with the new systems starting at $1299. Even though its still a good investment as this notebook can serve as both yoru Window’s machine and of course your Mac computer.