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Apple's White 13-inch MacBook; What lies inside?

On 27 may 2009, Apple introduces its latest update of white MacBook called as MC240LL/A. It can be treated as the replacement to both the iBook and the 12-inch PowerBook.

New Features:

• Apple increases the speed of the laptop's Core 2 Duo processors from 2GHz to 2.13GHz and also increased the hard drive capacity from 120GB to 160GB, which can be expandable up to 500GB.

• The new MacBook now uses faster 800MHz DDR2 memory than its last iteration, which used 667MHz DDR2 RAM. The minimum operating system required for the laptop is Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.7.

• The white MacBook now meets Energy Star Version 5.0 requirements and is rated EPEAT Gold, compared to Silver rating on the previous model.

• The MacBook uses magnets instead of a physical latch to hold the lid closed.

• Graphics: nVidia GeForce 9400M using 256MB RAM.

• Dimensions: 1.08 x 12.78 x 8.92 in/27.5 x 325 x 227 mm.

• Weight: the laptop weighs around 5.0 lb/2.3 kg.

These updates amount to not only a better performing entry-level MacBook, but also a system that's faster than the 2.0GHz aluminum unibody MacBook that Apple sells for $200 more.

Apart from the changes from the aluminum MacBook, both systems have Core 2 Duo processors with 3MB of shared L2 cache, 8x DVD-burning SuperDrives, 160GB hard drives, and 2GB of RAM (expandable up to 4GB). Also, they sports glossy 13.3-inch LCD displays with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, 1066MHz system buses and use Nvidia GeForce9400M graphics. The new device uses the older polycarbonate shell, has the older mini-DVI port and is the only current MacBook to include FireWire.

In addition there are two USB 2.0 ports, an integrated iSight camera above the screen. Networking options include 802.11g Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.

Performance:

After various tests, it is found that the new device is approximately 6.5% faster than the 2GHz white MacBook it replaces. The new model sports about an 8% speed up in Photoshop times and iTunes MP3 encoding scores. Cinema 4D was about 5% faster on the new white MacBook.

Battery life:

The US Apple store now advertises that the white 13-inch MacBook has 5 hrs of battery life up from a promised 4.5 hours. But with full brightness it could run for about three and half hours, which is about half-an-hour more than its predecessor.

Discussion:

In the recent Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2009, the company had announced that the 13" unibody MacBook would be upgraded and rebranded as a MacBook Pro with a price tag of $1,199. So, if you are in the market for an affordable Mac laptop, the white MacBook is a better bargain than ever, due to its impressive performance, battery life, the inclusion of FireWire, and more common mini-DVI connector. But, the laptop lacks the combination of an ExpressCard slot and an integrated reader for flash memory cards.