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All Reviews > Hardware > Laptops > Budget laptops

October 21, 2009

Apple MacBook review (2.26GHz; late 2009)

Since its introduction back in May 2006, Apple's low-cost, entry-level MacBook laptop has been tremendously popular. In fact, Apple says the MacBook is the best-selling single Mac model in the company's history. Which is why it makes a lot of sense that Apple has given its £799 white laptop a makeover in time for the 2009 Christmas shopping season.

MacBook design

Placing the new MacBook and the previous model side by side, there are many small physical differences. Because of its unibody construction (in this case, a piece of polycarbonate instead of aluminium), the new MacBook has no greyish surface grafted atop the frame.

The result is a consistent white colour, and a smoother surface without the sharp edges of the earlier generation. It also means a lot fewer screws - the older MacBook had two screws on each side, plus four on the back to the sides of the display hinge. This model does away with all of those screws.

Apple MacBook 2009

MacBook multi-touch: A big difference is that the new MacBook now has a glass Multi-Touch trackpad with gesture support. The trackpad is larger than the combined pad-and-button area on the old model. The smooth glass feels nicer than the older trackpad, but it does take getting used to if you've been using the previous design.

MacBook webcam: The new MacBook also has a round iSight hole (as opposed to a rounded square) with only a status light to its right. (The microphone has moved to the upper left corner of the keyboard area.)

MacBook power and keyboard: The power button is smaller, and the keyboard keys feel more solid and are a bit quieter than before.

MacBook screen: The 13.3-inch display offers the same 1,280-x-800-pixel resolution as before, but the new MacBook uses LED backlighting on its display (just like the 13-inch MacBook Pro).

The difference is a notably brighter output, although when viewed next to each other, the new MacBook shows a significant yellow colour shift when changing your horizontal viewing angle (the previous model simply got more washed out). The switch to LED lets Apple finally add the MacBook to its list of arsenic- and mercury-free laptop displays.

MacBook dimensions: The screen back has a slight taper (like the MacBook Air) that gives it a thinner appearance than the constant thickness of yore.

Overall, the new MacBook is slightly wider and deeper than its predecessor, although it shaves 0.15kg from the total weight. Oddly, when I first picked it up I thought it was heavier than the older MacBook - a sensation I attribute to a different distribution of weight because of the thinner display in the new model.

Height: 2.74 cm (1.08 inches)
Width: 33.03 cm (13 inches)
Depth: 23.17 cm (9.12 inches)
Weight: 2.13 kg (4.7 pounds)

MacBook remote: On the front edge, the sleep status indicator is longer and narrower than before, and conspicuously absent is the infrared (IR) port that used to sit to the right of it.

Without an IR port, you can't use the new Apple Remote (or the older remote, for that matter). I don't consider this a huge loss, since I never used an Apple Remote to control my MacBook. (In fact, I've been frequently annoyed when I used the remote to control my Apple TV and it threw the MacBook on the couch into Front Row at the same time.)

NEXT: MacBook ports, bottom and batteries

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