Updated $999 MacBook bests its $1,299 unibody cousin
With performance, price, and FireWire all advantages of the white consumer portable, is there really any reason to pay $300 more for Apple’s pretty piece of aircraft grade Aluminum?
From the Sneaking Suspicion Department comes this Macworld write-up detailing all of the ways Apple’s recently refreshed white 2.1GHz MacBook kicks its much more expensive 2GHz cousin’s metal unibody butt. From flipping burgers in Photoshop CS 3 to crunching ZIP files, paying much less nets you much better performance and, this might just be me, a better looking computer.
The one exception among the benchmarks performed by Macworld where the white MacBook was bested by the unibody model was Quake 4 frame rates and I’m guessing the greater majority of us won’t be swayed by this one measure.
OK, there is one more thing in the unibody MacBook’s favor and that is its display, which Apple recently upgraded.
Also, although Macworld didn’t test the 2.4GHz unibody model, I suspect that twice the price doesn’t deliver much performance advantage and there’s still the lack of FireWire.
Apple has created a hole in the middle of portable line and a serious value issue for anyone who already purchased a unibody MacBook.
What do you think they should do about it?
See also:
— Unibody MacBook gets a new, better display, too
— Apple’s improves white MacBook specs nicely
— Apple extends MacBook Pro warranty to cover nVidia chip failures
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June 4th, 2009
The unibody macbooks have a user replaceable battery as well. Only the 17 inch macbook pro does not.
June 4th, 2009
The unibody macbooks have a nice look to them too, but I think the multitouch trackpad is awesome, but that is pretty much the only thing that the white macbook lacks now. The FSB of the processor is slower in the white macbook but this appears, certainly from the benchmarks, to make no difference as the white macbook has a higher clock speed.
When I bought my aluminium 2GHz macbook it was a no brainer – the white macbook was a LOT slower and produced measly frame rates. If I was buying again, I’d have some serious questions to ask. Is the display and multitouch really worth the extra money? $300 in the US but no doubt more here in the UK. I don’t think so. Does anybody else sense an upgrade for the aluminium macbooks on the horizon? Possibly on June 8th at the Apple event on the quiet?