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Unibody MacBook

Susie Ochs — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:22:00 -0600

There's only one MacBook in town, but Apple's lowest-cost notebook doesn't feel entry level.

The only MacBook left standing isn’t some neglected also-ran. With this redesign, Apple gave its most modest notebook nearly all the power and the style of the 13-inch MacBook Pro. For $999 ($200 less than the base 13-inch Pro), the white MacBook has nearly the same specs, minus the FireWire port, SD card slot, IR sensor, and backlit keyboard--and the MacBook has a bigger hard drive: 250GB to the base Pro’s 160GB.

The most glaring difference between this MacBook and the 13-inch MacBook Pro is the MacBook’s plastic body, which now comes only in white. Still, Apple took a page from the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lines and built this MacBook as a unibody, with a single piece of durable polycarbonate, curved corners, and a huge glass multitouch trackpad. The bottom is covered with a gray nonslip pad--no battery compartment, because the battery is built in.

The body is constructed from a single piece of white polycarbonate plastic. No more black MacBooks--at least for now.

Yep, no user-replaceable batteries in any of Apple’s laptops anymore. The new lithium-polymer battery can last between 3.5 and 7 hours on a charge--we got a full day’s worth of usage with Energy Saver on, and a hardy 4 hours, 5 minutes during our DVD-rundown test. Apple says the battery will last 1,000 charge cycles before its capacity dips to 80 percent of the original, which could take up to 5 years. Replacement is $129, the same price as a spare battery back when you could replace it yourself. You can still access the hard drive and RAM slots to upgrade those.

The LED backlit screen (1280x800) looks gorgeous, goes to full brightness right away, and isn’t covered by glass like the MacBook Pros’ screens. We like it--there’s far less glare, even though the screen is still glossy. The MacBook has a Mini DisplayPort connection, but Apple doesn’t include the adapters for hooking it to DVI or VGA monitors ($29 each). Front Row fans will be disappointed that the MacBook doesn’t have an IR sensor, so you can’t use it with the Apple Remote. The FireWire port is gone too. You get two USB ports and that’s it. The MacBook lacks the 13-inch Pro’s SD card slot, but that barely matters because you can just use a USB card reader.

As far as system hardware, the MacBook has identical components to the 2.26GHz 13-inch MacBook Pro but a bigger hard drive. Relative to that Pro, it performed 23 percent better in our Photoshop CS4 Actions test, 29 percent better when importing a 2GB DV clip into iMovie, and squeaked out 4 more frames per second when playing Call of Duty 4. Our other tests had closer results, but the MacBook’s larger hard drive still helped it outperform the 2.26GHz 13-inch Pro across our benchmark suite.

Podcast #115: 10.6.2 Fixes Bugs and Kills Hackintoshes and Caricatures Rejected by Apple

Mac|Life Staff — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:12:06 -0600

The latest OS X update has dropped and it fixes the dreaded guest account bug. It also kills hackintosh netbooks with it's lack of Intel Atom processor support.

The super-speedy quad-core 27-inch iMacs begin shipping this week and the staff find at least two uses for it not advertised by Apple.

Got a question, but you're afraid to leave a voice message because of Witness Relocation Dept. rules? Drop us a question via Twitter twitter.com/maclife.

This week's Battlestar Applactica picks:

B.iCycle - $9.99

Catan: The First Island - $4.99

Touch Pets Dogs - $1.99

Don't forget, the Mac|Life staff would love to hear your thoughts, comments and ideas for the new podcast. Just leave a message on the Mac|Live question/comment line: (877) 404-1337, extension 622. Please limit the length of your messages to 1 minute max. We'll review these calls each week and feature our favorites, along with responses, on that week's podcast.

To subscribe to the Mac|Live podcast series through an RSS feed, click here; if you want to subscribe through the iTunes Store, click here.

From iMac to iPhone: A Video Trip Down Apple Announcement Memory Lane

Michael Delano — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:52:59 -0600

No one announces a product like Apple. To remind us of that fact, we've put together a video of Steve and company introducing products from the original iMac up to the latest iPod nano with video.

Never have the words, "One more thing," meant so much to so many people.

Enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Note: Be sure to turn up the volume of the video player. By default, it's on mute.

For fun, drop the products you've purchased that are announced in this video in the comments below.

Dinglab Multimodular Laptop Sock

Susie Ochs — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:14:35 -0500

Protection just got a little more multifunctional and a lot more cozy.

When your mom told you to “Take a sweater!” she probably didn’t mean for your laptop. But now you can bundle your ’Book in style with Dinglab’s Multimodular Laptop Sock. The Sock is, for lack of a better term, a sock--a double-layered, reversible tube of knit cotton and acrylic, 27 inches long and about 9 inches wide, closed on the bottom.

The easiest way to use it is to simply slide your laptop into the Sock (the knit material stretches to fit around any Mac notebook), then fold the excess length back down over the laptop again. This creates a pocket on the outside, which you can use to hold a mouse, your iPod cable, or even this magazine. And your notebook is easy to slide right out the top.

Makes your 'Book look downright cozy, like a piping hot, expensive metal pillow.

Dinglab also includes a thick rubber band to use with the Sock to keep your notebook from sliding out quite so easily. Your ’Book goes in the bottom of the Sock, then you put the band around the outside of the Sock and position it around the short edge of your laptop (the one that’s closest to the top of the Sock). Then fold the excess length back over your laptop, which will also cover up the rubber band. Then just ease the rubber band off the top of the laptop. Now the fold you just made is the opening of the sleeve, but it’s a stretchy opening, thanks to the rubber band. This keeps your laptop a little more secure.

Dinglab’s “free-form” design is eye-catching, and the soft, knit Sock is pleasing to the touch as well. We didn’t mind that the Sock takes a little longer to put on our ’Book than a more standard zipped or Velcro-closed laptop sleeve does. Dinglab says you can use the Sock as a scarf or a hat, giving us visions of bundling up with it when the office AC gets a little too chilly. But in practice, its 27-inch length wasn’t really enough to wrap around our neck. Wearing it as a stocking cap was cozy enough, but having the square end hanging down behind our heads made us a little self-conscious. But if you ever wanted matching outfits for you and your MacBook, now’s your chance.

The New MacBook's Unibody Exposed

Roberto Baldwin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:33:41 -0500

We were expecting this from the folks over at iFixit.com. They can't help themselves. If there's an Apple product, it must be dissected and inspected.

Check out the entire tear-down on their site.

Podcast #112: Apple Releases New Hardware - Yippee!

Mac|Life Staff — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:49:21 -0500

New iMacs, Mac minis, a MacBook and a shiny new mouse fills our hearts with love and sets our cash ablaze as it burns a hole in our pockets.

We discuss the new machines and how we feel about these machines and what are the chances we'll part with our chase in pursuit of these shiny new Macs.

We also announce the latest DonorsChoose prize pack for the week. This week we're getting you ready for traveling while you help the kids.

Got a question, but you're afraid to leave a voice message because of Witness Relocation Dept. rules? Drop us a question via Twitter twitter.com/maclife.

This week's Battlestar Applactica picks:

ZipCar - Free

To subscribe to the Mac|Live podcast series through an RSS feed, click here; if you want to subscribe through the iTunes Store, click here.

New Macs! Redesigned White MacBook, LED iMacs, Mac mini Refresh, and a Magic Mouse

Susie Ochs — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:09:38 -0500

Yes, it's New Mac Day, everyone's favorite day, after St. Patrick's Day, New Year's Eve, and Pretzel Day. What blessed gifts hath Apple bestowed on its faithful? Oh man, lots. Let's dive right in.

New plastic MacBook!

Um, that's polycarbonate to you, actually. The entry-level MacBook (actually, the only model not positioned as Pro or Air) is still around, still white, and still $999. But it's been redesigned, with a unibody shell that's more like the aluminum unibody MacBook Pros, just, you know, not aluminium. It has Apple's built-in, 7-hour battery, a departure from the last model's removable, 5-hour battery.

The display uses LED backlighting, just like the Air and Pro models. The last MacBook's display was TFT, so this is the first time Apple's entire notebook line has gone to LED-backlit displays.

And naturally, its specs are improved. It's got a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (the last MacBook's Core 2 Duo ran at 2.13GHz), and a whopping 250GB hard drive (the last one's was 160GB), for the same price. They also made it lighter, down to 4.7 pounds from 5 pounds.

How does it differ from the 13-inch MacBook Pro? No backlit keyboard, no FireWire port, no SD card slot. That's no FireWire at all, folks -- the last white MacBook still had a FireWire 400 port. But the new MacBook is on sale today, and you can check it out here.

iMac makeover!

The new screen sizes are 21.5 inches (up from 20) and 27 inches (up from 24), for a nice widescreen view. All the iMacs have LED-backlit screens now. Both models have four USB ports, one FireWire 800 port, and for the first time, an SD card slot.

Specs-wise, the 21.5-inch iMac can have an Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at 3.06GHz with a 3MB shared L2 cache, or 3.33GHz with a 6MB shared L2 cache. For graphics, there's an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M chip with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with the main memory, or an ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256MB of dedicated GDDR3 memory.

The 27-incher is available in dual-core versions as well as a beefier quad-core version for pro-level usesrs who don't want to spring for a Mac Pro. Dual-core versions use the same 3.06GHz and 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chips as the 21.5-inch models, and the quad-core iMacs use either a 2.66GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache and Turbo Boost performance up to 3.2GHz, or a 2.8GHz Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache, Turbo Boost up to 3.46GHz, and Hyper-Threading for up to eight virtual cores. They feature ATI Radeon HD graphics, either the 4670 or 4850 chips.

All the iMacs come with 4GB of RAM standard, sporting four SO-DIMM slots for RAM upgrades up to 16GB. The 21.5-inch models start with a 500GB SATA hard drive, with upgrades to 1TB and 2TB drives. The 27-inch models start with a 1TB SATA hard drive, with a 2TB drive option. All those SATA drives run at 7200rpm.

The 21.5-inch iMacs start at $1,199 (3.06GHz Core 2 Duo, 500GB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics) and $1,499 (3.06GHz Core 2 Duo, 1TB HDD, ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics). The 27-inch iMacs start at $1,699 (3.06GHz Core 2 Duo, 1TB HDD, ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics) and $1,999 (quad-core 2.66GHz Intel Core i5, 1TB HDD, ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics). Buy them here.

Mac mini refresh!

The lovable little mini got some much-deserved attention from Apple. The new minis start at $599, the same price as the old ones, but feature faster processors. You can choose from a 2.26GHz, 2.53GHz, or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, all with 2MB shared L2 cache. They've got double the RAM out of the box, with 2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM in the entry-level model, but they still top out at 4GB of RAM in two SO-DIMM slots. And the hard drives are bigger, starting at 160GB with upgrades to 320GB and 500GB. (The last round of minis had 120GB, 250GB, and 320GB drives.)

The size is the same. The ports are the same (5 USB and one FireWire 800). The graphics card is virtually the same, an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with the main memory (the last entry-level Mac mini's graphics card used 128MB of shared memory, no longer an option here). You can buy them starting today.

And there's even a Snow Leopard Server model! For $999 you can get a Mac mini running Snow Leopard Server and sporting two 500GB but no SuperDrive. Yep, an all-in-one server ready to go right out of the box, just BYO display. That is cool. Check it out here.

New Mouse!

The new iMacs come with a funky new mouse, Apple's Magic Mouse, "the world's first Multi-Touch mouse." Apple mouse haters who remember "the world's first crappy hockey puck mouse!" can be forgiven for rolling their eyes, but this thing actually does look pretty interesting.

It's got no visible buttons at all, but has "a Multi-Touch area" on top that responds to one-finger scrolling, two-finger swipes, and clicks and double-clicks anywhere on the mouse. Apple swears its secret-sauce software and chip will be able to distinguish a a scroll from a swipe, and "even knows when you're just resting your hand on it." Obviously we haven't tried it here at Mac|Life HQ yet, but if it works more like the iPhone touchscreen and less like, um, every other Apple-made mouse in history, it could be really something.

You can buy it today for $69.

Foxconn to Manufacture Tablet for Q1 2010 Launch?

Liam Widman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:13:34 -0500

According to DigiTimes, Foxconn Electronics has been declared Apple’s manufacturing partner for the much-anticipated tablet, which is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2010. The device is said tohave a 10.6-inch display, which almost matches recent rumors of it having a 10.7-inch display. There was speculation that Innolux may provide the screens for the new device, but recent reports said that Wintek, Apple’s current iPhone screen manufacturer, will provide the displays.

The tablet is said to place an emphasis on e-Book functionality, echoing claims that Apple is aiming to redefine print media with the device. Apple's extended-life battery technology, such as that found in recent MacBook Pro revisions, Internet connectivity, and Apple’s usual attentionto user detail, are all expected to be in the new device.