MacBook Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz White Review

Since it first replaced the iBook in 2006, the MacBook has consistently narrowed the performance gap between Apple’s consumer and professional laptop lines with each new update. Apple last updated the MacBooks in November 2007, bringing with it an improved hardware architecture, faster system bus, and more robust graphics.

The most recent change to the MacBook range isn’t as significant as the November 2007 updates, but it still adds extra oomph to Apple’s consumer laptop.

What’s inside The new MacBooks use either a 2.1GHz or 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (up from 2GHz and 2.2GHz, respectively) with 3MB of L2 cache shared between the processor’s two cores. Previously, the MacBooks had 4MB of L2 cache, but the new Penryn processors inside the new MacBooks work efficiently with the smaller cache.

The £699 2.1GHz MacBook comes with 1GB of RAM. The 2.4GHz MacBooks (one white, the other black) come with 2GB – the models they replaced came with 1GB. All MacBooks now support up to 4GB of RAM. It is worth noting that at the time of writing, Crucial was offering a 4GB replacement kit for the MacBook for just £61.09, which is a considerable saving over the £240.01 that Apple is asking to upgrade the 2GB memory to 4GB.

As before, Apple recommends installing RAM in matched pairs into the two RAM slots for best performance with the integrated graphics system (the MacBooks come with two 512MB or two 1GB SO-DIMMs, and if you want to upgrade your RAM after purchase, you’ll have to replace both SO-DIMMs for the best results). Although the frontside bus runs at 800MHz, the MacBooks continue to use RAM rated at 667MHz.

The new MacBooks use the same graphics chip as before, the Intel GMA X3100, which doesn’t have dedicated video RAM. The MacBooks use 144MB of RAM from the main system memory, making the 2GB models even more appealing. The graphics processor can power an external display at up to 1,920 x 1,200 pixels to either mirror or extend the desktop (using an external display brings the shared memory used up to 160MB). To connect to any external display, you need to purchase one of Apple’s £15 video adaptors (mini-DVI to DVI or mini-DVI to VGA).

As with the previous-generation MacBooks, the keyboard has media control keys located along the function key row. The keyboard has a springy yet solid feel to it, and offers a bit more tactile and audible feedback than early MacBook models. Unfortunately, you won’t find the much-touted multi-touch trackpad on these models. If you really have the need to pinch, swipe, and rotate on the trackpad, you have to turn to the MacBook Pro or the MacBook Air.

Black and white

The only difference between the £829 white MacBook and the £949 black MacBook (except for price and colour, obviously) is the black model’s larger hard drive storage capacity. All MacBooks get a boost in hard drive size to 120GB, 160GB, and 250GB, from 80GB, 120GB, and 160GB respectively. All of the drives run at 5,400rpm.

Once again we note that Apple is still, rather tiresomely, charging a premium for the black model. Customers should be aware that they can purchase the £829 white model and upgrade the hard drive to 250GB for an additional £60.01. Thus getting the exact specifications of the Black model and saving themselves £60 in the process. And because Crucial is offering the aforementioned 4GB upgrade for £65, this is what we would currently advise our readers to purchase. Having said that, plenty of people like the black model and are prepared to pay the £60 premium.

Most of the other components in the new MacBooks are the same as their older counterparts. All models have a 13.3in glossy widescreen display with a 1,280 x 800 pixel resolution, built-in iSight camera, built-in stereo speakers and microphone, analogue and digital audio input and output, one FireWire 400 and two USB 2.0 ports, 802.11n-enabled AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, and Gigabit Ethernet. The £699 MacBook has a 24x slot-loading combo drive, while the other two MacBooks have an 8x slot-loading double-layer SuperDrive. One thing you won’t find in the box anymore is the Apple Remote, which is now a £15 add-on. Software-wise, the MacBooks include OS X 10.5 Leopard and iLife ‘08.

Performance Macworld lab tested the new MacBooks with version 5 of Speedmark, the latest incarnation of our standard performance benchmark test. The results showed moderate yet impressive gains – for example, the black 2.4GHz MacBook scored more than 9 per cent higher overall than its 2.2GHz predecessor. The 2.1GHz MacBook showed an almost 8 per cent improvement over the 2GHz MacBook it replaces. Perhaps most interestingly, the 2.1GHz MacBook scored one point higher overall than the older 2.2GHz black MacBook, even with a slightly slower processor speed.

In our other tests, the 2.4GHz MacBooks consistently outperformed the old 2.2GHz MacBooks (except for a one-second lag in our Photoshop test) by as much as 12 per cent, although sometimes by just a single second. Some of the better results came with processor-intensive multimedia programs. Compressor and Cinema 4D XL performed very well, and HandBrake testing showed the 2.1GHz MacBook besting the previous high-end MacBook by nearly 7 per cent. The 2.1GHz MacBook beat or tied the older 2.2GHz MacBook in five of the eight additional tests.

Unreal Tournament 2004 frame rates for all new MacBooks improved negligibly and still lingered under 30 frames per second – not ideal for gamers. In contrast, the new 2.4GHz MacBook Pro pumped out more than 2.5 times as many frames per second as the 2.4GHz MacBooks, benefiting from a much heftier graphics processor that includes 256MB of dedicated video RAM (and a heftier, £1,299 price tag, we might add).

During hands-on testing, launching programs took slightly longer on the slower, 2.1GHz MacBook than on the 2.4GHz MacBook, especially with lots of applications running. Part of this can be attributed to the 1GB RAM that ships with the £699 model.

The new MacBooks represent some progress – PowerBook and even some first-generation MacBook users will definitely see substantial improvement over their current systems. If you just bought a MacBook a few months ago, however, you won’t be kicking yourself for buying too early.