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Apple Macbook - Question and Answer

Instead of writing out a full-blown review, I thought it would be nice to take a look at the new Apple Macbook in a question and answer type article. Please keep in mind that most of the answers below are based on the 13" Macbook laptop right out of the box, but I did answer a few questions based on the upgrades I made to it as well.

"How does the Macbook look?" - To be honest, the Macbook looks like a giant iPod when you first take it out of the box. It’s glossy white and looks absolutely fantastic. It even features the traditional white apple on the lid, for those who were concerned that Apple might abandon it due to the fact that the casing itself is white. Never fear, it glows just fine when the laptop is powered up.

"What about that crazy looking keyboard?" - Well it is crazy looking and it was the first thing I noticed when I opened the lid on the Macbook. That being said, I’ve found the new keyboard to be an absolute joy to type on. I especially like the space in between the keys as it keeps me from accidentally hitting two keys at once, a bad habit I procured from skipping far to many days of typing class back in high school. The keys have a nice springy rebound to them, and so far my typing accuracy and speed seem to have increased a small amount using this keyboard. I’d have to rate it a success based on my early use of it, although I’m not exactly Mavis Beacon.

"Is the iSight camera functional or just another gimmick?" - Actually the iSight camera is a nice little addition to the Macbook. It’s not high-end digital camera quality, but it does a nice job as a web cam or for being silly and snapping pics of yourself while staring into the Macbook screen with the included Photo Booth program Apple was kind enough to throw in for free. Well not really free, but you know what I mean. It at least adds the "V" in iChat A/V.

"Is the trackpad button really mushy and non-responsive?” - Yes and no. Yes the trackpad button is quite a bit softer and less clicky than those found on previous Apple Powerbooks and iBooks, but I haven’t had any problems with it being unresponsive. It just takes a little getting used to if you’re like me and have owned a Powerbook G4 for the past two years. The trackpad is also quite a bit larger which I love since I always found myself running out of room on my Powerbook trackpad.

“Will the Macbook carry on the Apple tradition of frying my lap?” - The one thing you can always count on with an Apple laptop is heat. It’s a fact of life and the Macbook is no different. Apple always swore it was the PowerPC chips that ran so hot, but it seems that switching to an Intel chip hasn’t cooled things off any either. It’s worth noting that since I downloaded the Apple SMC firmware upgrade my Macbook has run quite a bit cooler than it was when I first got it. It’s not an unbearable heat, but it will make your lap uncomfortable if you tend to rest your Macbook there for extended periods of time. If you’ve owned any other Apple laptop over the years you know exactly what to expect. No better and no worse.

“Why does the white Macbook only have a 60GB hard drive?” - Well only Apple knows the answer to that question, but my guess would be so people will opt for the 80GB black Macbook instead. My thought was, why pay $200 more for a $50 hard drive upgrade that’s still only 20GB more and still 5400rpms when I can buy the white Macbook I want and then add a faster and even larger hard drive myself, which is exactly what I did. More on that later on. In truth, you should buy the color you want and then upgrade it yourself, if need be, because in today’s computer world, 60GB isn’t much room when you start talking about 8 megapixel digital photos, music, and video.

“Is the glossy screen a hit or miss?” - I actually like it, but I can see where some have complaints about it. It makes the colors on the screen really jump out at you, but by the same token, if you’re in an area with a lot of florescent lighting, you’ll tend to get a lot of reflection and glare if you’re not in the right viewing angle and position. I use my Macbook in a low-light office here at home, so for me it’s perfect and I would rate it a hit in my book. Another nice benefit of the new screen is the enormous brightness. If you want to see just how big of a difference it is, set your Macbook next to an older Powerbook G4 or iBook and then you’ll see that the Macbook screen looks like it’s being powered by a nuclear generator. It’s honestly that big of a difference.

“Does the Magsafe power cord have a habit of just coming loose?” - Trust me, I was curious about this as well before getting the Macbook but this baby’s got a lot of magnetic hold to it and it’s even a little hard to pull off the connector by hand, let alone by accident. You don’t have to worry about it just falling off, it won’t. I didn’t think I was going to like this new power connector, but I’ve really been impressed with how well it functions since I used to always catch my Powerbook G4’s power cord coming loose when I didn’t notice it until my battery power began to run out and then I’d have to quickly push it back in.

“Now that the lid latch is gone, will my laptop lid constantly be flying open?” - As with the Magsafe adapter, the magnetic lid latch on the Macbook is more than strong enough to keep the lid shut nice and tight. After struggling with my Powerbook G4 latch for so long, I much prefer this type of lid closing mechanism to the tricky magnetic latch the Powerbooks used. I was constantly finding the latch on my Powerbook getting stuck when I tried to close the lid so this new magnetic latch-free system is a pleasant surprise for me personally.

“How is the battery life on the Macbook?” - About the same as previous Apple laptops to be honest. I get about 3 hours of use on my Macbook using battery power, which isn’t great, but good enough for the short spurts when I need to be without the AC Adapter. You’d think as large as the battery is that it would last longer, but it’s still decent considering how much performance the Macbook offers.

“Is the Macbook fast?” - To say the Macbook is fast would be the understatement of the century. Not only is the Macbook fast for a laptop, it’s fast for any computer. This thing absolutely flies with Mac OS X and all of the native programs. From launching the programs to performing tasks within them, the Intel Core Duo chip inside the Macbook handles it all with ease. It is worth mentioning that you will want to consider adding more RAM to your Macbook as the 512MB it comes with just isn’t quite enough to take full advantage of the speed and performance of the Macbook. While 512MB might have gotten you by on a PowerPC Mac, the Intel Macs seem to thrive on more RAM. Throw in 2GB of RAM into your Macbook if you want to see what it can really do. You’ll probably be as blown away as I still am.

“Will my Intel Macbook run older PowerPC programs?” - Yes it will. And it runs them pretty well at that. PowerPC apps use an emulation-type program called “Rosetta” to run on the Intel Macs, but the Macbook seems to make quick use of them even in an emulation mode. With 512MB of memory you’ll notice a significant lag when you launch PowerPC programs, but if you bump that RAM up to 1.25 or 2GB, you won’t notice nearly as much lag when using these older programs. They still run a lot faster than you’d expect them to, but I do long for an Intel-native Microsoft Office and Appleworks program, however.

“What can I do to make my Macbook perform even better than it already does?” - Well I’m glad you asked that question. The first thing I did was add a faster and larger hard drive. The Macbook comes with a 60GB 5400rpm hard drive so I bought a Seagate Momentus 100GB 7200rpm hard drive that just zooms on the Macbook. I noticed an immediate speed increase from the moment I upgraded the hard drive. Another thing you should absolutely consider adding is more RAM. I’ve always said that memory is the best money you can throw at your computer. If you want to see that Macbook purr like a cheetah, punch the RAM up to 2GB. That’s when you’ll see what the Intel Core Duo is all about. So as fast as the Macbook is right out of the box, there are some painless upgrades that can make it even faster.

“How difficult is it to add RAM and change out the hard drive?” - It seems Apple has finally got on the boat and made it much easier to add RAM and change out the hard drive on the Macbook. And anyone that’s owned previous Powerbook and iBook models can attest that it’s not always been so easy. On the Macbook, you merely remove the battery and you will immediately have access to the RAM and hard drive compartment. In fact, all you have to do is remove the small metal L-bracket with a “00” or “000” philips screwdriver and your all set. The RAM has two small metal levers that you pull out to eject the RAM chips and the hard drive has a white strap you unfold and pull to remove the hard drive. Easy peezy.

“If I already have an iBook or Powerbook G4 is it really worth upgrading to a Macbook?” - With Apple moving over to the Intel chip, it would only make sense that eventually every Mac owner is going to have to move up to an Intel Mac. Apple has made it clear that their next OS, entitled “Leopard” will be available in both Intel and PowerPC versions, so at least it’s not a move that necessarily has to be made soon. But as they say in the computer world, “keep up or get left behind,” and with the Macbook being such a great deal, now is as good a time to move over as any.

To read our in-depth review of the Apple MacBook please visit:
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/MacBook.htm

Edited by Tong Zhang (09/11/06 01:52 PM)