Subscribe to magazine

13-inch MacBook/2.4GHz

In October 2008, Apple introduced a new MacBook design that housed the company's consumer-friendly laptop into a MacBook Pro-like aluminum enclosure with a large glass trackpad. Graphics have improved with the addition of an Nvidia GeForce 9400m chip. While the integrated graphics continue to share memory with the system RAM, there's more shared (256MB as opposed to 144MB) and it's the faster DDR3 SDRAM. Like the MacBook Air, the MacBook no longer ships with FireWire ports -- just two USB 2.0 ports. This 2.4GHz model does feature a backlit keyboard, which is not available in the other MacBook configurations.

 Reviewed Full Review

The latest MacBooks are a big improvement over the previous models--as long as you can live without a FireWire port. While battery life wasn't as strong as the previous model, the sleek new case design, major graphics improvements, power-sipping LED display, and Multi-Touch glass trackpad make the MacBook a very strong upgrade.

Pros: Sleek new design; greatly improved graphics power; Multi-Touch glass trackpad; bright LED display; backlit keyboard.

Cons: Price for top model higher than before; no FireWire port; battery life shorter than previous MacBook model; no video adapters or Apple Remote in the box.

Basics

Reviewed Price: $1,599

Processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Lab Tests

Speedmark 5 Score212
Cinema 4D XL XL 10.50:54
iMovie HD 60:49
iTunes 7.71:03
Photoshop CS31:05
Compressor1:52
Unreal Tournament 200464.8fps
Tested ConfigurationMac OS X 10.5.5 with 2GB of RAM

Latest on Mac

More Mac