Review Apple MacBook Aluminium Notebook
PowerBook 12" Successor
Apple actually introduces a 13.3" MacBook Pro with the new Aluminium MacBook. In contrast to its bigger brother this smaller consumer laptop does neither have a dedicated graphics card nor FireWire nor ExpressCard slot. In this review you'll find out whether this new design notebook is to be recommended.
Note: The following review is an enhancement of the original test of the new MacBook with unibody aluminium case. Identical parts are marked and can be skipped by those who already read the original article.
Case
Also after handling and working with the test sample for a longer time excellent the first impression persists. Design, haptics, and stability are top.
The new Aluminium MacBook is the eagerly awaited successor of the 12" Powerbook. Its design follows the design of the bigger MacBook Pro and the top models of the Apple MacBook series create a new quality category. Actually the Aluminium MacBook is rather a 13.3" MacBook Pro. The design is based on the MacBook Air's and sets standards in design and workmanship.
Especially the rounded display lid reminds very much on the MacBook Air. Also the power button and the keyboard are the same. The only contrasts to the aluminium case are the black bordered display (with glass pane in front of it) and the black plastic cover of the hinge (in order to guarantee WLAN and Bluetooth reception).
The full-body aluminium case has an excellent haptics and appears to be of very high quality. The display lid was improved and closes absolutely flush (a point of critique of the former MacBook Pro model), because it utilizes the same closing mechanism which was new in the MacBook Air. The magnetic lock works excellent and holds the display sufficiently tight if closed. Also the gaps between the parts are precise and even.
Only the look of the 'old' Magsafe socket (I know like in former times) does not match the new look of this Apple laptop.
Summarizing the above, the MacBook was clearly improved by the new design and the new production process, which uses only one aluminium block and is therewith clearly better than the already good predecessor model (in black and white).
Source: Case, Review MacBook Alu
Connectivity
Also the connectivity still appears to be meagre. Especially the mini DisplayPort stood out in a negative way, becaus an adapter is missing. Apple could have at least provided an adapter for VGA and DVI. Only two USB ports are also often too few.
As so far Apple locates all interfaces on the left side of the case. Apple further reduced the already rather low number of interfaces of the black and white plastic MacBooks. It's in vain to look for a FireWire port on the new model. Compared to the MacBook Pro also an ExpressCard slot is missing.
The new mini DisplayPort replaces the mini DVI port of the former model and is due to the a higher maximum resolution of 2560x1600 cleary advantageous. However, you also need to add further costs for a display adapter (VGA, Video, DVI), because Apple does not provide any.
Alike in the MacBook Pro you'll especially miss the dockingstation port, which would help connecting all peripherals in an easy way at home or in the office.
Source: Case, Review MacBook Alu
The provided software consists of the newest version of the Mac OS operating system, that is Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, and the application suite iLife 2008. Therewith the beginner is actually prepared for all standard applications.
By default Apple extends a warranty of 12 months. This can be directly enhanced to 36 months for a surcharge of 349.- Euro (including support) at Apple. This is 50.- Euro less than for the old MacBook models. Apparently Apple relies more on the new construction than on the old one or Apple reacted to the animadversion on the high warranty prices. In Austria the speciality retailer, McShark offers a cheaper solution with the geniuscard, which costs 149 Euro (99 Euro for students). However, this warranty is only valid in Austria (i.e., the notebook has to be brought to a McShark retailer).
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Source: Case, Review MacBook Alu
Input Devices
Single-Key Keyboard
The new keyboard of the MacBook Pro is also based on the research done for the MacBook Air and is the same as the new MacBook Pro aluminium keyboard. The keys are now directly embedded in the case and have a soft yet clear feedback. Similar to the MacBook Pro also the MacBook has the keys lighted from below. Because the keyboard unit is screwed to the full body the keys are tightly embedded in the case an do not clatter. It also does not give, because of the aluminium shell. Compared to the similarly looking keyboard of the MacBook Air, the key feedback appeared to be somewhat softer in our test.
The layout of the Apple keyboard is very good for Mac OS X. In our test we were able to touch type immediately without problems. The cursor keys stayed small (which is especially inconvenient for gamers) and so did the very small enter key.
As usual we have to warn Windows PC switchers. The layout is optimized for Mac OS X and characterized by being only sparsely labelled (e.g., the labels for the following characters are missing: '[]|{}'). So, you'll need to find them by trial and error at the beginning.
Whether you like this keyboard better or the one of the former MacBook depends on your individual preferences.
Source: Input Devices, Review MacBook Alu
The new glass - trackpad
One of the biggest innovations is the new trackpad made of glass without dedicated touchpad button. Apple successfully improved the already very good sliding properties once again. The glass surface obviously pays off, even though it does hardly look like glass. Using the multitouch functionality is also easy and intuitive. Compared to the predecessor the functionality was enhanced by some functions requiring four fingers (expose and task switch by default), which certainly need some time to get used to.
The Apple designers created a completely clickable touchpad (actually only 4/5 because it is a rocker switch), because the button was missed out for a bigger touchpad area. About one thumb from the upper edge, the touchpad can be clicked like a button (not only the tab-click, which all touchpads can). It turned out that the new trackpad can even be used in a traditional way (as if the button still were in the bottom part).
Summarizing the above, the already very good touchpad was further improved and can so probably be called today's best touchpad. An exception is the touchpad of the new MacBook Pro, which is actually identical to the one of the MacBook..
Source: Input Devices, Review MacBook Alu
Under Microsoft Windows Vista this touchpad behaved somewhat erratic. The driver support by Apple is unfortunately (still?) immature and so it is sometimes hard to use it (e.g., clicking and dragging). Sometimes, the mouse pointer gets even out of place during clicking. If you activate tipping by mouse click, you can hardly move anything and the scroll function sometimes goes crazy.
Also under Mac OS X we sometimes had the same problem that click by tip did repeatedly refuse to work. The only work-around was to switch this option on and off in the system settings.
To summarize, the touchpad can still be called the best we reviewed so far under MacOS X, first of all because of the first-class gliding characteristics of its glass pane, but also because of the innovative multi-touch technology. Under Vista we recommend using an external mouse.
Display
As in our MacBook Pro Review-Update, also this test sample surprised us, because the measurements of the display differ much form the first test sample. The maximum brightness fell from 318 cd/m2 to nearly 300 cd/m2. The brightness was also rather unevenly distributed and fell down to a minimum of 223 cd/m2 (Minimum). Therefore, a uni-colour background appears to have a slightly cloudy structure. Compared to the old MacBook, which is still available, the brightness is, nevertheless, clearly better (178 cd/m2 versus 270 cd/m2 in the middle of the screen).
Alike its bigger brother, the MacBook Pro 15", and the iMac, also the MacBook got a scratch-proof and stable glass pane in front of the display, which extends over the black border. This leads to a seamless look. As in former models, the display is 'glossy' and reflects. However, the brightness is sufficient for working in usually bright environments without big problems.
Source: Display, Review MacBook Alu
The measured black value was also clearly higher in the second test sample. As a result, the contrast ratio fell to moderate 155:1. Nevertheless, the colour depiction still seemed good.
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Brightness Distribution: 75 %
Contrast: 141:1 (Black: 1.92 cd/m²)
The viewing angles are marginally worse than of the MacBook Pro, but can still not be called limiting, if only one persons sits in front of the screen. Subjectively, the reaction speed appeared to be sufficient too.
Performance
Another big change (except of the uni-body aluminium case) is that this notebook utilizes the new Nvidia chip set GeForce 9400M. This is a shared memory graphics chip, which utilizes 256 MB of the fast DDR3 RAM under Mac OS X. According to Apple this change results in an up to five times better performance than the old GMA X3100. In the Cinebench OpenGL test the new MacBook was about 2.3 times faster (nearly 2000 points for the old black MacBook). In many games (Nvidia listed e.g. Call of Duty 4) it should be possible to actually reach a performance increase of 5x.
Source: Performance, Review MacBook Alu
In our review, the Geforce 9400M could convince in the synthetic benchmarks. Because it achieved 2148 points in the 3D Mark 06, the MacBook about levels notebooks with dedicated 9300M GS or Mobility Radeon 3450 graphics cards. Compared to the former generation, this is about the performance of the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600, a former middle-class graphics card (e.g. inside the first MacBook Pro 17").
When we tested games in practice, older games, e.g., Doom3 and F.E.A.R. ran smoothly on medium to high details. Demanding games like Supreme Commander can only be played on minimum details and with stuttering. These are the detailed results:
Doom 3: 1024x768, ultra details: 83 fps -> smoothly playable
F.E.A.R.: 1024x768, medium details: 60 fps -> smoothly playable
Spore: 1024x768, low details: 30 fps (reviewed levels 1 & 2) -> well playable
Sims 2: 1280x800, high details: 25-60 fps -> well playable
Supreme Commander - Forged Alliance: 1024x768, minimum details, Skirmish 1vs1: 15-25 fps -> well playable
Summarizing the above, the performance of the integrated GeForce 9400M is sufficient for unambitious, occasional gaming.
| 3DMark 2001SE Standard | 13845 points | |
| 3DMark 03 Standard | 5759 points | |
| 3DMark 05 Standard | 3930 points | |
| 3DMark 06 1280x800 Score | 2148 points | |
Help | ||
The CPU was not that rigorously updated. The built-in Core 2 Duo P8600 runs at the same clock speed than the T8300 in the former MacBook top model, that is at 2.4 GHz. The only change is that the clock rate of the frontside bus was increased to 1066 MHz (from 800 MHz). So, the CPU is marginally faster. Furthermore, this CPU is produced in 45 nm technology, and, so, it demands less energy (max. 25 Watt TDP).
Source: Case, Review MacBook Alu
In the 3D Mark 06 CPU test the MacBook belongs to the lower end of all notebooks with P8600 (but the performance is not noticeably low). Compared to the T8300 the performance is only slightly better and so negligible in applications. So, only the low energy demand of the CPU is a real advantage.
The total performance is close to the small MacBook Pro in applications which are not graphically intensive. The fast Core 2 Duo CPU and the 9400M graphics accelerate daily applications like web surfing, Office, picture editing, or Videos (even HD) sufficiently fast and also suffice occasional gaming.
In the Xbench benchmark the clear advantage of the new 9400M graphics card under Mac OS X gets obvious. The results in the Open GL and the UI Test are clearly better. So, the MacBook Alu gets rather close to the MacBook Pro.
| PCMark Vantage Result | 3387 points | |
Help | ||
The built-in 250 GB hard drive runs only on a revolution speed of 5,400 rpm and is therewith quieter than HDDs with 7,200 rpm. In the Xbench 1.3 HDD test this mass storage devices reached a maximum writing speed of 59 MB/sec (reading speed 54 MB/sec). Therewith it is good average (today's fastest hard drives, which we reviewed so far, achieved 90 MB/sec) and marginally worse than the 320 GB hard drive in the MacBook Pro (63 bzw. 58 MB/s).
Source: Performance, Review MacBook Alu
Even under Vista, the Vista partition reached comparable results.
Emissions
The test sample ran without big interruptions for more than a day, but without high load (screen saver or customers in the McShark store, because the test sample is a demonstration object). Immediately before measuring the temperature we ran Cinebench R10 and XBench.
The results of the measurements were very positive. Especially the palm rest areas stayed with 28°C very cool. This is because the battery is in the front part. The maximum measured temperature of 35.4°C (on the bottom side) can also not be called hot.
Source: Emissions, Review MacBook Alu
Even after a long time under full load under Windows Vista the surface temperatures of the MacBook 2.4 Alu stayed in the green. We measured a maximum of 39.3°C on the bottom side.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 38.9 °C / 102 F, compared to the average of 35.9 °C / 97 F, ranging from 21.4 to 59 °C for the class Subnotebook.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 39.3 °C / 103 F, compared to the average of 39.4 °C / 103 F
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are reaching skin temperature as a maximum (33.9 °C / 93 F) and are therefore not hot.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.3 °C / 82.9 F (-5.6 °C / -10.1 F).
System Noise
In contrast to the big "Pro" there is only one fan inside the small 13.3" MacBook. Without high load it stays with 30.4 dB(A) (1999 rpm) hardly audible. Even if the load is sometimes higher (e.g, under MacOS X, when we ran the Geekbench), the laptop stayed with about 2000 rpm still quite quiet.
After a long time under full load the fan can reach a maximum noise level of 41.1 dB(A). Considering the provided performance this is alright. Furthermore, the noise characteristics is subjectively not annoying.
Loudspeakers
The built-in loudspeaker have also on maximum volume a clear sound and are (with some English videos only hardly) sufficiently loud. Compared to the MacBook Pro the loudspeakers are clearly better.
Nevertheless, the sound is slightly limited, because it comes out of the vent holes. But, considering their size and position, their sound is surprisingly good. The sound system at least suffices undemanding background music.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 30.4 / 30.4 / 30.4 dB(A) |
| DVD |
| 30.8 / dB(A) |
| Load |
| 0 / 44.8 dB(A) |
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30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
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min:  , med:  , max:  (15 cm distance) | ||
Battery Life
Comparable to the MacBook Pro, also the MacBook has a clearly shorter battery life under Windows Vista than under Mac OS X. Without the battery runtime is only about 3.5 h under Vista. Under Mac OS X the runtime was nearly 7 hours. The expected battery life when using WLAN under Mac OS X is about 4-5 hours. This is a very good value considering this lithium-polymer battery has only 45 Watthours capacity. The former generation was still equipped with a 55 Wh battery.
This are absolutely good values for a light, thin, and powerful notebook, which are comparable with the battery life of the MacBook Pro on integrated graphics chip. Unfortunately Apple does not offer a bigger battery.
Mac OS X Switcher
Alike with all Apple products, Windows switcher should be warned that Mac OS X follows some different concepts. If you are new to PCs it might well be that the Macintosh concept is even easier to learn. Detailed information is available in our MacBook Pro long-term review. One important thing first, Windows programs only run under Mac OS X with pre-installed Windows (via emulation) or in a multi-boot system if you boot from the Windows partition.
Source: Case, Review MacBook Alu
Verdict
The new MacBook is clearly a coup. The new uni-body aluminium case convinces by workmanship, design, and stability. Furthermore, we liked the excellent trackpad made of glass and the graphical performance of the 9400M (today's fastest integrated graphics chip). Although the application performance did not really improve, it stays on a high level.
A disadvantage is the mediocre interface equipment. We feel that Apple might have done this on purpose, so that the MacBook does not compete with the MacBook Pro too much.
We would like a matte display version of this bright screen too, because this would avoid reflections in bright environments, especially outdoors.
Compared to the former MacBook model, the Aluminium notebook clearly appears to be of higher value. Considering the test values, it is closer to the 13" MacBook Pro and a worthy successor of the 12" Powerbook, which has not been in the market since a long time.
The new aluminium notebook reaches the expected performance under Windows Vista. Unfortunately the driver support for the new glass-touchpad is not yet ideal. And also the battery life is clearly shorter under Windows.
Summarizing the above, the new MacBook is a very interesting alternative to the 15" MacBook Pro. Due to the smaller size it is clearly more mobile, reasonabler, and except of the optional graphics performance of the 9600M GT (switchable in the Pro) comparably fast. And also the smaller MacBook Air is a strong competitor of the new Alu MacBook. However, you'll have to cut down your expection if you operate this notebook under Windows.
