Stylishly and intelligently designed for mobile professionals, Apple’s MacBook Pro gets a serious speed bump with the new, powerful Intel chipset (dubbed Santa Rosa), which provides a faster Core 2 Duo processor, longer battery life, and native support for 802.11n wireless connectivity. This model (MA896LL/A) also includes a new mercury-free, power-efficient LED-backlit display measuring 15.4 inches and a state-of-the art NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT video card for more realistic graphics for animation and gaming. This MacBook Pro is powered by the new 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo T7700 processor and 2 GB of 667 MHz DDR2 memory–the fastest portable computer memory currently on the market (June 2007). But some things haven’t changed: the trademark stunning aluminum enclosure that’s is just one-inch thin, built-in iSight video camera, and Apple’s magnetically connected MagSafe power adapter, which safely disconnects when under strain.

Other hardware features include a 160 GB hard drive, 8x SuperDrive for burning multiple disc formats, built-in 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed networking, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), a FireWire 800 and a FireWire 400 port, an ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot for expansion solutions such as 3G wireless networking, and a DVI video output.

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
The Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 processor has a 2.2 GHz processor speed, super-fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and an enormous 4 MB of Smart Cache, an L2 cache that can be shared between the cores as needed. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system’s performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)

The Intel Core 2 Duo’s 128-bit SSE3 vector engine handles 128-bit computations in a single clock cycle, accelerating data manipulation by simultaneously applying a single instruction to multiple data. And its two execution cores are designed to share resources and conserve power, helping it to achieve higher levels of performance since it uses fewer watts

Display and Graphics
The 15.4-inch widescreen TFT (non-glossy) display offers a native resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels and an antiglare widescreen display that’s perfect for color-minded professionals. The new MacBook Pro display is backlit by light emitting diodes (LEDs), which gives it a lighter weight and more power efficiency than the cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) which most notebooks employ. It’s also better for the environment, thanks to its new mercury-free display.

Video and graphics are powered by the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT card, which is boosted by 256 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM. GDDR3 (Graphics Double Data Rate, version 3) is a graphics card-specific memory technology that’s better able to deliver fluid frame rates for even the most advanced games and applications. The GeForce 8600M GT brings a new level of realism to the MacBook Pro with its 16-lane PCI Express architecture, 16x full screen anti-aliasing, 128-bit High Dynamic Range rendering, and a texture fill rate of up to 8.2 billion per second.

Hard Drive and Memory
The 160 GB Serial-ATA (SATA) hard drive (5400 RPM) provides more than enough space to store business-related documents and presentations, as well as offers space for a large digital audio and video library. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data–akin to FireWire and USB 2.0. The 2 GB of PC5300 DDR2 RAM (two SO-DIMMs of 1 GB) have an industry-leading 667 MHz speed, and the RAM capacity can be increased to a whopping 4 GB.

Wireless Connectivity
The built-in 802.11n wireless networking provides up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g, but it’s also backward-compatible with 802.11a/b/g routers, enabling you to communicate with the a wide variety of Wi-Fi resources. It works seamlessly with the new AirPort Extreme with 802.11n. Use the built-in Bluetooth wireless technology to connect to your PDA or cell phone, synchronize addresses, or download pictures from your cell phone. You can also use a wireless headset for iChat audio chats and VoIP calls as well as quickly share files with a colleague.

Video Conferencing with Built-in iSight
Artfully placed in the display bezel is an iSight camera, which enables easy video conferencing as well as allows you to snap pictures of yourself and create video podcasts. Using the iChat AV application, video conferencing is integrated into your iChat buddy list, so initiating a video conference is a breeze. iChat also lets you hold audio chats with up to 10 people and provides high-quality audio compression and full-duplex sound so conversation can flow naturally. For video podcasting, you can record a short clip using the iSight camera, then use iWeb to create a video blog entry or post your GarageBand-recorded podcast.

Apple Innovations

The MacBook Pro is the culmination of years of refining hardware and software design to an integrated art. One of Apple’s most celebrated innovations is the MagSafe power adapter connector with offers a magnetic connection instead of a physical one. So, if you happen to trip over a power cord, you won’t send MacBook Pro flying off a table or desk–the cord simply disconnects, without damage to either the cord or the system. As an added nicety, this means less wear on the connectors.

The trackpad can tell if you’ve got one finger on the pedal, or two. With two, you can easily scroll around your documents or open contextual menus. When you need right-click functionality, simply open ÒKeyboard and MouseÓ in System Preferences and enable the secondary click preference.

The MacBook Pro has battery life that rivals most notebooks in its class. If you’d like to make that battery last even longer, Mac OS X has a few tricks up its sleeve. Go to System Preferences, click Energy Saver, and change battery optimization from Normal to Better Battery Life. Or tell MacBook Pro to reduce its screen brightness and give yourself a little more time untethered.

And with the included Apple Remote and Front Row software, you can show off your latest photos and access your iTunes music and playlists from across the room. You can also use it to watch downloaded movies and TV episodes as well as control playback of DVD movies. The Apple Remote features a minimalist six buttons–just press the Menu button to activate Front Row and begin to navigate through your media. You can even use the remote to control Keynote presentations in iWork ‘06.

Other Features

• Two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, ExpressCard/34 slot
• DVI output port; VGA output using included DVI to VGA adapter
• 8x slot-loading SuperDrive with the following write speeds: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R; 4x DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW
• Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors for automatic adjustment of keyboard illumination and screen brightness
• Internal omnidirectional microphone and built-in speakers
• Combined optical digital output/headphone out (minijack)
• Combined optical digital input/audio line in (minijack)
• 60-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery (with integrated charge indicator LEDs) providing up to 6 hours of battery life
• Kensington cable lock slot
• Measures 14.1 x 9.6 x 1 inches (WxDxH) and weighs 5.4 pounds (including battery)

Included Software
Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools), iLife ‘06 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand), Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, a 30-day trial of iWork ‘06, Comic Life, FileMaker Pro Trial, OmniOutliner, Photo Booth, and Front Row.

What’s in the Box
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.4 GHz); 85W MagSafe power adapter, AC wall plug, and power cord; lithium-polymer battery; Apple Remote; DVI to VGA adapter; install/restore DVDs; printed and electronic documentation. It’s backed by 90 days of telephone support and a one-year limited warranty.

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MacBook Pro is built on the revolutionary Intel Core 2 Duo — which packs the power of two processor cores (up to 2.33GHz) inside a single chip. It provides 4MB of Smart Cache, L2 cache that can be shared between the cores as needed. It delivers higher performance in 2D and 3D graphics, video editing, and music encoding. But the new engine is only part of the story. Ultimate speed, performance, and connectivity. To go. That’s MacBook Pro.

MacBook Pro delivers the Front Row media experience, making it easy (and rather spectacular) to showcase your latest creations.

Packs power, not pounds
What makes MacBook Pro so mobile? Performance in a portable package. MacBook Pros are amongst the thinnest, lightest notebooks in their display class. These computers feature parts engineered to squeeze out every last joule of performance with meticulous placement for minimal size. The result? Ultra performance in a thin, light package.

In addition to superior design, MacBook Pro features a large scrolling trackpad for maximum control and a sudden motion sensor that parks the hard drive head during sudden changes in orientation. Throw in a backlit keyboard with an ambient light sensor and digital sound for music and movies, and you’ve got a portable workstation/entertainment machine that belongs on business trips and vacations.

Taking pictures of yourself on the road has never been more fun. Add a special image effect and save the image as your iChat buddy picture, email to your friends, put in your iPhoto library, or post to your iWeb photo blog.

iSight to behold
Sit down. Click someone’s iChat icon. Video conference from anywhere in the world. Though you can barely see it, there’s an iSight camera built into the thin bezel just above the display. So now you can conference with associates during the day and chat with the kids at night. iChat AV lets you video chat with up to three other people simultaneously. And when you go head to head, you’ll see your colleagues clearly, at VGA resolution.

Moving Performance
The MacBook Pro sports a killer, high-resolution, non-glossy widescreen display up to 17 inches big, and it’s ready for more than Web surfing and word processing. Why? Well, check out the not-so-subtle ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with up to 256MB of dedicated graphics memory. Designed for high-performance portables, this graphics powerhouse packs more punch into a much smaller space. The X1600 can push data through 12 pixel shader pipelines and five vertex processors on the 16-lane PCI Express bus interface. Enjoy sharp videos and photos, smooth video playback, astonishing effects, and vibrant colors — as well as texture-rich 3D performance in next-generation games.

Road Show
Whether you’re at the client’s office, on location, or back at your hotel room, just use the Apple Remote to control your videos, music, movies, and more. Front Row lets you quickly navigate through your work and play from anywhere in the room. You can even use the Apple Remote to navigate through Keynote presentations. MacBook Pros are also road ready with:

• MagSafe Airline Adapter: Out of power in flight? Plug your MacBook Pro into the optional MagSafe Airline Adapter and get back to work (or play).
• AirPort Express: MacBook Pro offers built-in wireless capability, and you can create your own wireless network with an AirPort Express.
• Built-in Bluetooth: Connect wirelessly to Bluetooth-enabled peripherals or connect to the Internet via your mobile phone.
• On display: Extend your desktop by connecting your MacBook Pro to a larger display or an HDTV via the DVI port or an optional video adapter.

Included Software
Mac OS X v.10.4 Tiger (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools), iLife ‘06 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand), Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, a 30-day trial of iWork ‘06, Comic Life, FileMaker Pro Trial, OmniOutliner, Photo Booth, and Front Row.

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With the MacBook Air, Apple has created the world’s thinnest laptop–measuring an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point (and 0.76 inches thick overall). Apple also introduces its vaunted multi-touch technology, found on the iPhone, to its laptops with the MacBook Air, enabling you to pinch, swipe, or rotate to zoom in on text, advance through a photo album, or adjust an image via the oversized trackpad.

Despite the its slender shell, the MacBook Air doesn’t skimp on the specifications. It includes a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, full-size and backlit keyboard, and a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing. The MacBook Air is powered by a custom-built 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which provides an optimized, multithreaded architecture for improved multitasking performance. Other features include 2 GB of RAM, an 80 GB hard disk drive, Wi-Fi connectivity via 802.11a/b/g/n standards, a micro-DVI video output (with included adapters), and up to a 5-hour battery life.

It comes pre-loaded with Apple’s Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system, which adds over 300 new features including easy backup of your most important data via Time Machine, a redesigned desktop that helps eliminate clutter, and the newest version of the fast-loading Safari web browser. It also comes with the iLife ‘08 suite of applications, including iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband, and iTunes.

Amazingly thin at just 0.16 inches at its thinnest and 0.76 inches at its thickest point,the MacBook Air weighs just 3 pounds.

Apple’s Thinnest Laptop Is Also Its Greenest
The MacBook Air embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress with its aluminum enclosure, a material highly desired by recyclers; Apple’s first mercury-free LCD display with arsenic-free glass; and brominated flame retardant-free material for the majority of circuit boards as well as PVC-free internal cables. In addition, the MacBook Air consumes the least amount of power of any Mac, and its retail box, made primarily from 100 percent post-consumer recycled material, is 56 percent smaller by volume than the previously smallest MacBook packaging.

Design
The thinness of MacBook Air is impressive, but even more impressive is that fact that there’s a full-size notebook encased in the 0.16 to 0.76 inch of sleek, sturdy anodized aluminum. This svelte, 3-pound laptop has a vibrant, energy efficient 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, and its spacious trackpad offers multi-touch gesture support for pinch, rotate and swipe–making it more intuitive than ever to browse and rotate photos or zoom into web pages in Safari. It also features a full-size keyboard that’s backlit, making it ideal for dimly lit environments such as airplanes, studios or conference halls. It includes a built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the keys as well as the display brightness for optimal visibility.

One of Apple’s most celebrated innovations is the MagSafe power adapter connector, which offers a magnetic connection instead of a physical one. So, if you happen to trip over a power cord, you won’t send the MacBook Air flying off a table or desk–the cord simply disconnects, without damage to either the cord or the system.

Optical Drive
Because of the amazingly thin design of the MacBook Air, an optical (DVD/CD) drive was not included. To install software from a disc, you can wirelessly use or “borrow” optical drives on remote PCs or Macs using the Remote Disk feature. This allows you full access to an optical drive without having to haul one around. If you want to have an optical drive for burning CDs and DVDs, you can purchase the optional MacBook Air SuperDrive (sold separately). This multi-format CD/DVD read/write drive is powered by the MacBook Air’s USB port, eliminating the need to carry a separate power adapter.

Networking
The MacBook Air doesn’t include wired Ethernet networking, and instead relies solely on Wi-Fi to connect to your home network as well as wireless hotspots. The built-in 802.11n wireless networking provides up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g, but it’s also backward-compatible with 802.11a/b/g routers, enabling you to communicate with the a wide variety of Wi-Fi resources. It works seamlessly with the optional AirPort Extreme base station as well as Apple’s Time Capsule Wi-Fi base station/hard drive–both of which include 802.11n capabilities. If you don’t have access to a wireless network, you can use an optional USB Ethernet Adapter (sold separately)

Use the built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology to connect to your PDA or cell phone, synchronize addresses, or download pictures from your cell phone. You can also use a wireless headset for iChat audio chats and VoIP calls as well as quickly share files with a colleague.

Video Conferencing with Built-in iSight
Artfully placed in the display bezel is an iSight camera, which enables easy video conferencing as well as allows you to snap pictures of yourself and create video podcasts. Using the iChat AV application, video conferencing is integrated into your iChat buddy list, so initiating a video conference is a breeze. iChat also lets you hold audio chats with up to 10 people and provides high-quality audio compression and full-duplex sound so conversation can flow naturally. For video podcasting, you can record a short clip using the iSight camera, then use iWeb to create a video blog entry or post your GarageBand-recorded podcast.

Display and Graphics

Whether you’re working on a Keynote presentation or watching a movie before you catch a flight, every document, video, and photo on your MacBook Air will look sharp on the glossy 13.3-inch widescreen display. With pixel-perfect 1280-by-800 resolution, it’s great for viewing and working with media. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, which provides 144 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory. It features Intel Clear Video Technology, which delivers outstanding video playback with sharper image quality, increased clarity, and enhanced visual quality of interlaced content on progressive displays.

Hard Drive and Memory
For storage, this MacBook Air comes with an 80 GB Parallel ATA hard disk drive (4200 RPM). The 2 GB of PC5300 DDR2 RAM (two SO-DIMMs of 1024 MB) has an industry-leading 667 MHz speed, and it maximizes the capacity for this laptop.

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
Custom-built to fit within the compact dimensions of the laptop, the MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a super-fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and an enormous 4 MB of Smart Cache, an L2 cache that can be shared between the cores as needed. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system’s performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)

The Intel Core 2 Duo’s 128-bit SSE3 vector engine handles 128-bit computations in a single clock cycle, accelerating data manipulation by simultaneously applying a single instruction to multiple data. And its two execution cores are designed to share resources and conserve power, helping it to achieve higher levels of performance since it uses fewer watts. And with 4MB of shared L2 cache, the MacBook Air is a multi-tasking monster. With such substantial L2 cache, data and instructions can be kept close to the two processor cores, greatly increasing performance and allowing the entire system to work more efficiently. And, because the processor cores share the L2 cache, either can use the entire amount if the other happens to be idle.

Other Features

• DVI output using micro-DVI to DVI adapter (included)
• VGA output using micro-DVI to VGA adapter (included)
• Composite output using micro-DVI to video adapter (optional)
• S-video output using micro-DVI to video adapter (optional)
• Analog audio output/headphone out (minijack)
• Built-in mono speaker and omnidirectional microphone
• Integrated 37-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery provides up to 5 hours of battery life
• Built-in full-size keyboard with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys, including 12 function keys, 4 arrow keys (inverted “T” arrangement), and embedded numeric keypad
• Supported resolutions: 1280 by 800 (native), 1152 by 720, 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, 800 by 500, 720 by 480, and 640 by 480 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio

Preloaded with Leopard and iLife ‘08
The biggest Mac OS X upgrade ever, the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system features over 300 new features, including:

• Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac
• A redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs
• Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application
• Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them
• A brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock
• Major enhancements to Mail and iChat

Leopard’s new desktop includes the redesigned 3D Dock with Stacks, a new way to organize files for quick and easy access with just one click. Leopard automatically places web, email and other downloads in a Downloads stack to maintain a clutter-free desktop, and you can instantly fan the contents of this and other Stacks into an elegant arc right from the Dock. The updated Finder includes Cover Flow and a new sidebar with a dramatically simplified way to search for, browse and copy content from any PC or Mac on a local network.

Time Machine lets you easily back up all of the data on your Mac, find lost files and even restore all of the software on their Mac. With just a one-click setup, Time Machine automatically keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on the Mac. In the event a file is lost, you can search back through time to find deleted files, applications, photos and other digital media and then instantly restore the file.

The MacBook Air also comes with the iLife ‘08 suite of applications that make it easy to live the digital life. Use iPhoto to share entire high-res photo albums with anyone who’s got an email address. Record your own songs and podcasts with GarageBand. Break into indie filmmaking with iMovie and iDVD. Then take all the stuff you made on your Mac and share it on the Web in one click with iWeb.

What’s in the Box
MacBook Air, MagSafe power adapter, Micro-DVI to DVI adapter, Micro-DVI to VGA adapter, cleaning/polishing cloth, install/restore DVDs, printed documentation

Review Video:

Billed as a replacement to both the iBook and the 12-inch PowerBook, the 13.3-inch MacBook offers a great compromise between size and portability for a reasonable price (the baseline white model costs $1,099). Even better, that low cost gets you a number of features also found on the more expensive MacBook Pro–notably, Core Duo processors, digital audio in/out, and the groovy MagSafe power adapter. Its performance doesn’t match that of the MacBook Pro, which is outfitted with discrete graphics and more memory, but the MacBook’s combination of design, features, and software significantly narrows the value gap between Apple laptops and the PC competition.

Measuring about an inch thick, 12.8 inches wide, and just shy of 9 inches deep, the MacBook hits the sweet spot between portability and usability, much like the Sony VAIO SZ. At 5.1 pounds, the MacBook weighs about half a pound more than the 12-inch PowerBook and 1.3 pounds more than the VAIO SZ. With its AC adapter, the MacBook hits the road at 6 pounds–portable, though not exactly lightweight.

In a nice touch, the MacBook uses magnets instead of a physical latch to hold the lid closed. A small notch on the front edge affords just enough room for your finger, and the lid and case separate very nicely. Lifting the lid reveals a gray keyboard deck, which should hide dirt better than the iBook’s pure white interior. The keys themselves are flat on top with rounded edges, and they are spaced farther apart than the MacBook Pro’s and PowerBook’s. (Apple tells us this design makes it more difficult to pop off the key caps, a useful feature for a laptop that is likely to see heavy use in schools.) With about half as much travel as other Apple keyboards, the MacBook’s keyboard offers a considerably firmer and not uncomfortable typing experience. Below the keyboard sit a huge touch pad and single mouse button (at 4 inches wide and 2.8 inches high, they’re about the size of a Treo 650). We love the touch pad’s two-finger scrolling functionality.

Like the 12-inch PowerBook, the MacBook’s speakers sit along the back edge underneath the screen hinge (when the lid is open) and somehow still deliver rich, multilayered sound. It’s not as loud or powerful as what you’ll get from the Dell Inspiron E1405, for example, but it’s crisp, clear, and decent.

The MacBook’s 13.3-inch wide-aspect display is just about the perfect size: it’s large enough for watching movies or working with two windows open side by side, yet small enough to keep open on an airplane tray table or your lap. It’s also incredibly bright (an above average 230cd/m² on our Minolta luminance meter), and its 1,280×800 native resolution offers the perfect amount of detail for the size of the display. In a first for an Apple laptop, the MacBook offers a glossy screen for starker contrast and more intense colors, though in bright environments, the glossy coating results in more glare.

For a laptop that starts at $1,099, the MacBook offers some high-end ports and connections. You’ll find DVI/VGA output (though both require an adapter that is sold separately), digital audio in and out, and a slot-loading DVD burner. In addition there are FireWire 400 and two USB 2.0 ports, all side by side (we’d prefer they were spaced out a bit to avoid cable crowding), as well as an integrated iSight camera above the screen. Networking options include 802.11g Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (dial-up users will need to purchase an external modem). Missing from the mix are an ExpressCard slot and an integrated reader for flash memory cards–both of which are found on the $1,400 Sony VAIO SZ. Every MacBook runs on Mac OS X Tiger and includes the robust iLife ‘06 suite as well as Front Row media center software that can be controlled with the included Apple Remote. In addition, the beta of Boot Camp lets you turn the MacBook into a dual-boot machine that runs full versions of Mac OS X and Windows XP (though you need to purchase a full version of Windows separately).

We tested the $1,299 configuration of the MacBook (white), which includes a faster processor (2GHz Intel Core Duo processor) and the DVD burner, but otherwise shares the same basic specs as the base configuration, including 512MB of 667MHz RAM; a 60GB, 5,400rpm hard drive; and integrated Intel graphics. The black model is nearly identical to the step-up system we tested, except that it comes with a larger-capacity hard drive (80GB, 5,400rpm) and costs $200 more.

For everyday Web surfing and working with native applications such as iLife, the new MacBook provides more than enough muscle, though it is no gaming powerhouse. CNET Labs compared performance of the MacBook to older Apple laptops running the PowerPC processor, as well as to the 2GHz Core Duo-based MacBook Pro. Unsurprisingly, the MacBook’s integrated graphics were insufficient for gaming–it trailed far behind the MacBook Pro’s discrete ATI graphics on our games test–yet the MacBook sped ahead of the MacBook Pro on our iTunes MP3-encoding test.

Like all new Intel-based Macs, the MacBook is, for now at least, at a disadvantage when running applications that weren’t designed for the new chip. The MacBook plodded behind even the previous-generation Apple laptops in our Photoshop and Sorenson Squeeze tests, which currently require the Rosetta translation software to run on Intel-based Macs. We expect this discrepancy to disappear once software publishers release more so-called universal binary apps; however, we recommend checking if your applications are or will soon be Intel compatible before buying a new Apple system. In our DVD battery drain tests, the MacBook held out for 3 hours, 48 minutes–slightly longer than average for a laptop of its size.

Apple backs the MacBook with an industry-standard one-year warranty that covers parts and labor, but toll-free telephone support is limited to a mere 90 days–well short of what you’ll typically find on the PC side–unless you purchase the $249 AppleCare Protection Plan, which extends phone support and repair coverage to three years. Similar three-year warranties for PCs typically cost around $200. Apple does offer online troubleshooting, and its Web forums are a good resource for tips from other users and to download the product’s printed manual.

Review Video

Before Oct 12th, there was no way a MacBook and a MacBook Pro could appear in a single review. Too much separated the two systems, from outer appearance (build materials and backlit keyboard) to inner nitty gritty (graphics processors, etc.). To group the two classes together would have been like simultaneously reviewing a Ford Focus and a Ford Mustang. But the new MacBook and MacBook Pro are far more similar than they are different. From the glass-bezel screen to the front side bus, these computers finally deserve to share the name MacBook. They’re brothers, one a pro, the other a vastly accomplished amateur. Here’s our verdict, after two days of thorough nonstop testing.

Build

Stylistically, distinguishing the new MacBook from the MacBook Pro is nearly impossible. They are both cut from a single piece of aluminum in what looks to be an identical manner, save for the MB obviously being smaller.

This new “unibody construction” process does make for a more solid laptop, too. The chassis is one piece, made stronger by its lack of connecting corners—and less prone to manufacturing flaws, according to Apple.

The case is indeed more rigid, flexing less while carrying the notebook one-handed and supporting our wrists better during typing. (The old MBP supported wrists just fine as well, but only because the weight was distributed from the case to the hard drive and optical drive. Carrying it would cause it to give a bit.

Side beveling distinguishes the laptops as part of the MacBook Air generation, ditching the clean box design of yesteryear. But unibody construction has updated the design in subtle ways, recessing the keyboard through a formerly impossible non-welded aluminum curve—and a similar rounded chunk has been cut from the front of the system to make for easy opening.

When you open the new MacBooks, be careful not to smudge your iSight lens. It’s positioned right where your fingers go—and ours is now covered with grease. In fact, the entire black gloss surrounding the screen is in pretty poor shape. Closing the computers is vastly improved, however. Instead of the bang of plastic and click of the hook lock, it’s a gentle impact, soft like felt, held closed by invisible magnets. Setting down the laptop is more pleasant as well, as both the MB and MBP feature the Air’s larger rubber pads.

Unfortunately, the new aluminum build still interferes with Wi-Fi signals. Historically aluminum laptops have had shorter ranges than their plastic counterparts and the new MacBooks are no exception. Stretching the limits of the new MacBook, the old MacBook (above left) located hotspots where the new MacBook (above right) did not. That’s not to say the metal laptops are particularly bad and there’s no indication that they’re worse than current MacBook Pros.

The MB is half a pound lighter than its predecessor, and that’s a weight difference you’ll notice. It’s significantly thinner, too, shaving off 0.13 inches, while retaining the same footprint. The MBP, however, is 0.2 inches wider and longer than its predecessor, while only losing a minor 0.05 inches of thickness. It is also 0.1 pounds heavier. (You can read more about these differences in our Sizemodo.) These adjustments help unify the design: Both new MacBooks share a thickness of 0.95 inches, which appears all the thinner due to the design’s narrowed edges.

To many MacBook users, the greatest change will be the updated, clickable Multi-Touch trackpad. It’s said to be made of glass, but it doesn’t look or feel like glass, so don’t expect the iPhone’s screen to be transplanted below the keyboard. It feels almost the same as the old MBP trackpad, and the finish offers a perfect level of resistance, allowing the finger to slide around easily but not in a skating-on-ice kind of way. As for the clicking, it’s the source of mixed feelings for us.

The base of this controversy is that the entire pad doesn’t click. Instead, the surface sort of pivots like a springboard from the top edge. In turn, users will find the bottom part of the pad to have the most give when clicking, so much so that it almost feels like the old trackpad button is still there. Unfortunately, the springboard design also causes a dead zone in the middle where clicking takes a good deal of effort.

From a design perspective, the clicking allows the trackpad to be sleeker. The joke is that Jobs, long a proponent of single-button mice when most people favor two, has finally gone to zero buttons. From a usage perspective, not much changes. You can drag and drop with one finger by firmly pressing as you move, but there’s a better chance you’ll still use two fingers like you did with the old trackpad.

The new four-finger gestures, like sliding down for Exposé or sliding right to swap programs, are a win, but it can be awkward to make that four-finger claw while typing. We’d argue that Exposé is such a useful function that we’d like to reassign it to a less awkward three-finger slide, perhaps. Unfortunately, remapping gestures is not an option—boy, would it make a great firmware update.

On the laptops’ underside you’ll notice a big difference. The removable battery has been tucked under a panel next to an easily removable hard drive. Apple is offering a lot of expensive drive upsells, including a 128GB SSD for the Pro, but who cares? Replacing a MacBook hard drive with your own Newegg purchase no longer requires the complicated dissection of one’s laptop. Held in by just a few screws, it’s easier to replace than some tower hard drives. Of course, this elegant solution is like a gateway drug. Why not have another hatch for replacing the memory?

To the chagrin of at least a few long-time MBP users, the keyboards of both the MB and MB Pro have also been influenced by the Air as they’re black, separated and intensely backlit. There’s a ton of side light spill, which looks neat until it gets distracting. (Note: the entry-level silver MB does not have a backlit keyboard.) The function keys have been rearranged a bit as well.

But while the keyboards look indistinguishable from one another, they feel different. The MacBook’s is softer and similar to the former MacBook. The Pro’s is clickier and similar to the former Pro’s. See a pattern? Not visible with the naked eye, you can feel the lineage of these systems, evidence that Apple has not forgotten its history or the taste of its various demographics. The screens, too, are deceptively different between the MB and MBP. Both share LED backlighting and the shiny screen coating that can be quite a distraction—a user will find himself staring at his reflection with any decent amount of ambient light. But it’s important to note that, beyond the spec-sheet distinction of the 13-inch screen’s 1280×800 pixels and the 15-incher’s 1440×900, these are not identical LCD technologies in different sizes.

The difference is clear when demoing an MPEG4 of Batman Begins. The MBP screen is warmer than the MB’s to the discerning eye, but any dunce will catch the massive differences in contrast and viewing angle. Our shots in the dark exacerbate the MB’s less impressive black levels, but this photo really is close to what we saw. As for the unwatchable distortions in image quality when five feet out or standing at a not-so-unthinkable viewing angle, those are just as bad to the naked eye as they are to camera. Notice the MBP screen remains unblemished from any angle/distance.

One design element of note: Both screens now tilt back another 10 to 15 degrees over previous generations. If you’ve ever sat there watching a Windows person pushing your MacBook display past its rotation point, you’ll recognize just how important this update will be.

Connecting to an old external screen, however, could be problematic. The DVI port has been replaced by a mini DisplayPort in both new laptops. As for your old monitor, no biggie, if it’s 24-inches or smaller just use a mini-DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter ($30). But if you’re driving a 30-inch monitor, you’ll need a mini-DisplayPort-to-dual-DVI adapter, which isn’t bundled with either laptop and runs $100 on its own. Ouch. We’re hoping for an aftermarket solution.

In terms of other ports, the MB offers gigabit Ethernet, two USBs, mini DisplayPort, mic and headphone jack. Note the one major omission: FireWire. Even the $1000 plastic MacBook has FireWire, though in truth there isn’t a lot of FW support these days beyond professional applications—even new iPhones and iPods have ditched it completely. Upgrading to the MBP gives you all the ports in the MB but adds FireWire 800 and an ExpressCard slot. (FW400 devices need to track down a FW400-to-FW800 cable.) Plus, both new MacBooks have the snazzy battery-life indicator on the side next to the ports.

Operation and Performance

Examine the MB and MBP under the hood, and it quickly becomes apparent that the similarities are more than skin deep. For instance, while the MB starts at 2.0GHz, its processor reaches 2.4GHz in the $1600 configuration. This processor is the exact same one that you’ll find in the lower-tier $2000 MBP—including the same 3MB L2 cache and 1066MHz front side bus. In fact, the only MBP to reach a 6MB L2 cache starts at $2,500. In other words, there’s not much CPU benefit in that $700 gap between the baseline aluminum MB and the entry-level MBP. Oh, and no matter what you’re willing to spend, both the MB and MBP hold a maximum of 4GB of memory.

So where’s the power difference? Aside from the optional 2.53 and 2.8GHz CPUs, it’s mainly in the video processing. The MB features a GeForce 9400M integrated graphics card that promises to be 5X faster than similar offerings from Intel. The MBP features that same integrated graphics card, but then adds a 256MB or 512MB GeForce 9600M GT alongside of it. Just make sure to note that the MBP doesn’t run its dual graphics cards simultaneously. Only one runs at a time—the low-power one when the MBP is in “Better Battery Life” mode, and the amped one when in “Better Performance” mode—and you need to log out of the system in order to switch from one card to the other. Some notebook makers such as Alienware allow a computer to do this on the fly, and even use both video cards at once for full-throttle performance. (For more on this, check out Giz Explains.)

Next-gen GPUs used to be of consequence for only gamers, but the next generation of OS X, Snow Leopard, promises to use the GPU for lots of subtasks, especially anything math intensive like encoding video. We’re already seeing individual apps like those in Adobe’s new CS4 making use of the GPU for non-gaming tasks. A faster GPU with the new OS just over the horizon won’t just do 3D faster—it’ll make your whole computer faster. (More here, here and here.)

To test out the CPU and GPUs, we put the new MacBook, last generation MacBook Pro, the new MacBook Pro with power savings and the new MacBook Pro running at full speed through XBench and Geekbench performance tests.

From a CPU standpoint, the metal MB really is just a tiny MBP (our tested processors have nearly identical clock speeds). So unsurprisingly, performance gains between our MB and MBP test systems were negligible. GeekBench confirmed that basic and floating point processing were pretty much the same across the board.

In XBench especially, you’ll notice that the old MacBook Pro has an edge. Most of this performance gap can be explained by its slightly faster 2.6GHz processor. However, in real world application, when dealing with big chunks of data the newer MB’s 1066 MHz front side bus will offer benefits not seen in this graph. Notice the small performance spike in the memory task in current gen laptops. That’s because the new memory is clocked at a faster speed.

Still, benefits from the previous generation to this one, or from the MB to MBP are slim, often falling below 5 and 10% even in the limited GPU benchmark tests. The differences are there, sure, but the performance gains between the $1600 MacBook and $2400 MacBook Pro are not astounding.

As you see, be it a digital download or an optical disc, it’s tough to make it through any movie on the MBP. The DVD playback was worse even than older versions of the MBP. However, disabling discrete graphics in Power Saver mode buys over 40 minutes of DVD playback. So the good news is you’ll make it through a movie. The bad news is that you’ll have to neuter your MBP to get there.

So Who Needs The MacBook Pro over the Macbook?

In one word, pros. (Suiting, we know.) Video professionals will need the MBP because the MB no longer has FireWire, still a big deal for video guys. USB is fast, but its speeds aren’t sustained. Those who use FireWire require predictable transfer rates, a connection that won’t drop during realtime video playback from an external hard drive or capture from a video deck.

Anyone who requires an ExpressCard, too, will need to spend the extra cash on a MBP. Many 3G peripherals use this slot—and some correct Apple’s willful memory-card ignorance by filling it with an SD/MS reader—but there are just as many USB peripherals, so its omission in the MB probably isn’t as damning as FireWire’s.

And then, of course, there’s the group that requires the MacBook Pro’s discrete graphics card with a half-gig of dedicated RAM. Large textures and massive Photoshop files require a level of performance that the basic MacBook’s integrated graphics, even Nvidia’s most boastworthy—just can’t replace.

In this regard, we see the line drawn in the sand between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. Similar processors, different graphics and FireWire and ExpressCard only if you pay up.

Through the course of this review, we’ve focused on what makes the new MacBook different from the new MacBook Pro. We’ve sifted every detail we could find in what we’re sure looks like a lot of nitpicking. So let us make it clear: The new MacBook is our favorite MacBook to date, and the same can be said about the new MacBook Pro. If you respected Apple build quality before, know that the latest unibody construction takes that quality to the next level with systems that are both durable and extremely comfortable to use.

But better still, the people who in the past might have been suckered into paying extra for the MacBook Pro’s superior design now have the chance to buy a standard-priced MacBook and still glow with pride. It’s not the huge price drop some were hoping for, but it’s certainly savings for some.

The class boundary remains, but it’s blurrier than ever.