“Announced last week, already on store shelves and measuring up well not only to its predecessor but to its big brothers in the MacBook Pro lineup, the new MacBook is an even better value than the model it replaces. With a notable speed boost from the new Core 2 Duo processor, more standard RAM and larger hard drives, the MacBook arrived just ahead of the holiday shopping season,” Ken Mingis reports for Digit.
“A prediction: Apple will sell a ton of these, an expectation not at all lost on Apple bigwigs who rushed to tout their new consumer line as soon as it was released,” Mingis reports. “this is more than a mere consumer laptop. Aside from the shared graphics memory — which is an issue only if you’re heavy into design or planning to run Windows Vista with its high hardware requirements — the MacBook specs are top-notch.”
Mingis reports, “Something else I’ve warmed up to — or maybe just grown accustomed to — is the keyboard on the MacBook. It’s the same keyboard that was introduced in the first MacBook, and when I tried it out in May, I found it a little hard to use. The keys are flat and the small gap between them threw off my typing a little. I haven’t noticed that with the MacBook this time around. And the fact that this keyboard doesn’t lift out like the one in the old iBook adds to the overall solid feel of the MacBook. It’s not heavy at 5.2lb but it feels hefty — in a good way — when being carried.”
“One of the selling points of Apple hardware now that it’s using Intel chips is that buyers have the best of both worlds when it comes to software. Macs run Mac OS X, of course, as well as Windows, both XP and Vista (though Vista isn’t yet fully supported) meaning you’re all set if you need to run the occasional Windows program. I haven’t tried Apple’s Boot Camp software on the MacBook, but using the Parallels virtualization app, I fired up both Windows XP and Vista with no problems,” Mingis reports. “Just don’t look for the hardware-demanding ‘Aero’ look in Vista — the MacBook’s shared graphics don’t support it.”
Mingis asks, “But why would you want to deal with Windows anyway? You’re much more likely to stay on the Mac OS X side of things, especially since Apple’s next operating system, Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard, is due out by next spring. Leopard will be a 64-bit OS. The Core 2 Duo chip is a 64-bit processor; 64-bit OS, meet 64-bit processor. User, enjoy.”
Full review here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
CNET Editor’s Choice: Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo – November 16, 2006
Benchmark duel: Apple MacBook Core Duo vs. MacBook Core 2 Duo – November 13, 2006
Apple unveils new MacBook with Intel Core 2 Duo; up to 25-percent faster – November 08, 2006
Yeah, Cfuk it, just enjoy….
I would think that the MacBook and MacBook Pros are both going to fly off the shelves.
I have one customer who is about to buy three MBPs for their K-12 children (wow, did I have the wrong parents) and a 20″ iMac for their study.
Until you’ve experienced the truly tatty product quality of a current VAIO, which adds insult to the injury of running Windows, you’ll have no idea to what extent the MacBook represents a bargain.
Hell yeah, the Analysts will underestimate how many Mac Books are gonna be sold this quarter by a large margin I think…
This guy’s prediction is safe.
A ton of MacBooks is 384 to the nearest whole MacBook.
They’re wrong — Aero Glass will run on a MacBook, at least according to this guy:
http://everythingapple.blogspot.com/2006/06/video-macbook-running-windows-vista.html
And he has the video to prove it!
Cheers, Jared
I ordered my New Custom Built MacBook Pro 17″ on 11/2. I just received the Apple Email tell me that it is on its’ way via 2day delivery. Will have it on Monday!
It’s like having a baby. I can hardly wait. should have my new Sony PS3 on Monday Too! Received the confirmation email about that too.
Monday will be a great day.
I suddenly realized why Leopard will come out after VISTA… so that the new Boot Camp will be v~ compliant.
MWSF will will focus on the iServe home server (iTV) and the new iPods, likely coming in three models with the nano being basic music and phone; the mid-level being an almost full-sized iPod with music and video plus PDA and camera; the Pro having music and video, PDA and camera, plus iChat, and phone).
I’d guess $199 – 12Gb Nano, $299/$349 for 40/80 Gb iPod, and $449/$549 for 60/120 Pro.
The Leopard announcement gets all its own press in March or April, post-V.
I should have said that the Nano will have “music and video”, not “music and phone.” Also, probably there wouldn’t be two options at the highest level… So the layout, to my mind, would be:
iPod Nano — Music, Video;
4 Gb:$149
8 Gb:$199
12 Gb:$249
iPod — Music, Video, PDA, Camera;
40Gb:$299
80Gb:$399
iPod Pro — Music, Video, PDA, Camera, iChat, Phone.
80Gb:$549
Shogun: Leopard coming out after Vista has nothing to do with Bootcamp being “Vista compliant” whatever that means. Vista works under Bootcamp right now.
Jared: Thanks for the video, but all I got out of it was how much better OS X looks.
Make that a ton + 1.
Just a reminder: Microsoft will be very happy if every MacBook owner chooses to install Windows on their machine. They will sweat only when Apple proves that the world can do without Windows. Of course Balmer sweats continuously, so leave him out of the equation.
Guess I’m just feeding the frenzy. I’m writing this from my shiny new Macbook Core 2 — just received yesterday (shipped from China, BTW). Very nice laptop. This is the first Mac I’ve had in over 10 years (last one was a IIsi).