MacBook Test Drive

I spent over an hour at the local Apple store today, test-driving the new MacBooks along with the MacBook Pro. Are you considering buying one of these new laptops? I am in the market so here’s my road test report.

Form Factor – I think the MacBook offers the perfect form factor, a great compromise between screen size and portability. It’s roughly the same width as the previous 14” iBook but not as deep and significantly thinner. It really is ideal, unless you are looking for ultimate portability and light weight. Compared to the MacBook, the MBP looks and feels like a behemoth. The MacBook will still fit on the table at your favorite coffee shop while giving you more screen real estate. Very nice.

Colors – I expected black to be the sexier choice but after closer viewing I prefer the traditional white finish. The white case is the same as the previous iBook and should resist dirt while the keyboard is a nice matte finish. It looks very familiar and yet very classy and clean. The black book has a matte finish on the outside and while it really makes the white logo pop, it looks more like a plain IBM or H-P laptop to me. Color is a personal preference but I definitely would not pay a premium for the black book.

Screen – The glossy 13” widescreen is very nice. I like having a bit more real estate than the old 12-inch screens. It’s bright and the colors are very rich and vibrant. I played a trailer from the upcoming Pixar film “Cars” and it looked spectacular. Photos also look great.  On the downside, the screen is reflective and in the Apple store with fluorescent lights directly overhead, you could clearly see your reflection in the screen at almost all angles. Given the choice, I would opt for a traditional matte screen but I could definitely live with this one. In lower ambient light environments it will be great.

Keyboard – The keys are spaced much wider than the previous iBook and the current MBP. They are light and feel a little spongy much like the last generation board. I did appreciate the wider keys and anyone with bigger fingers will definitely like it. The keys on the MBP have a better tactile feel but all in all, this is a good keyboard and I’d call it an improvement. It looks great too.

Speed – The biggest surprise was that both the MacBook and MBP models were a lot slower than I expected, especially after all the 4x faster marketing hype from Apple. My benchmark is a G4 dual 867 desktop that I’ve been running for the past 3.5 years so it’s hardly the latest or greatest of the Power PC generation. I played around with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint and they are just slower on the Intel platform. Word takes 2-3 times longer to load on these machines. On the MacBook it was painfully slow to the point where I would not consider using it. On the MBP, it was similar to my desktop and was definitely useable. I discovered that all of the MacBook demo models had the 512 MB standard memory configuration while the MBP had 1GB. Let me say categorically that you should not buy a MacBook with less than 1GB of memory if you want to use Microsoft Office.

As for the universal apps such as iLife and iWork, they seemed to run about the same or slightly faster than my G4 desktop. In fairness, I did not do any video or photo editing so maybe the gains are more dramatic when you do some serious work. I couldn’t really assess the difference between the integrated graphics on the MacBook and the dedicated card on the MBP. The Apple rep advised me not to count on running Final Cut Express on the MacBooks.

iSight Camera – I tried this out with the Photo Booth application – it’s pretty cool. I’m not sure if I would use this feature though and I would certainly trade it for a lower price given the option.

Magnetic Latch – This is a terrific feature. The MacBook opens and closes with a precise feel that is a joy to use. I actually found this to be the most innovative and useful design feature on the new books. By comparison, the MBP’s latch feels positively primitive.

Trackpad – I found the wider trackpad functioned quite well. I have to admit that I have worked exclusively on desktops for the past 5 years so I would definitely buy a wireless mouse and use that. The two finger scrolling trick is pretty neat, though.

Miscellaneous – The MacBooks did not feel excessively hot to me. Their cases were noticeably cooler than the MBP. Sound was difficult to assess in the Apple store. I think with any laptop, you want to use some type of headphones. Airport reception could not be measured but the iBooks have typically been the best performers in this area. The MacBooks felt and looked very well made, especially for a consumer laptop.

My Summary – The new MacBooks are very nice and offer excellent value at the low end of the model range. I would buy the 1.83 GHz white book with 1GB ram and end up with a great little machine for $1,200.  Keep in mind my dictum that 1GB of RAM is necessary. The mid-range book will run $1,400 with that upgrade. I would pass on this one because I already have an external DVD burner. If you don’t have one or you want to burn DVD’s on the go, this model offers pretty good value for the price. The black book with 1GB RAM is going to be $1,600 and I think that’s far too much for a consumer machine with a slow graphics card. At that point, I would pony up for the MBP.

That leads to my other major conclusion that Apple has a hole in their portable range right now. The MacBook, based on my preliminary test drive, is not an adequate replacement for the 12” PowerBook. That means that anyone wanting a pro level book that can handle video/photo/audio editing has to spend at least $2,000 and lug a very large laptop around. It would be great if Apple offered a MBP in the 13” form factor with the aluminum case. The problem is they don’t have much room in their current pricing scheme. The black MacBook is sitting at the $1,500 level. Maybe the 13” MBP could slot in at $1,750 or else they could drop the black book down a bit and position the new MBP at $1,600. That’s probably wishful thinking but I’m betting that other customers will feel the same way once they’ve completed a test drive.

Buying Advice - Is the MacBook right for you? If you don’t edit video, play a lot of games or if you have another computer that can handle these chores, then I would strongly recommend it. If you are looking for a portable machine for word processing, presentations and the basic iLife applications, this machine should perform just fine. If you stick to the white books and configure them with 1GB of memory, the price/performance proposition will fall clearly into the good value category.

But is it just too early to buy a MacIntel laptop? If you have a functional PowerBook or iBook, I would suggest waiting until mainstream applications from Microsoft and Adobe run natively. Within 12 months, I think most useful applications will be ready. In that time period Apple will undoubtedly debug the early problems with the MBP, increase speed across the line and who knows, they may surprise us with another model – either a 13” MBP or a cool sub-notebook for road warriors. You can probably bet the MacBook’s graphics will get improved in the next 12 months.

Since the only laptop in my household is a PowerBook 1400 with a dead battery, I am going for a new MacBook. See how easy it is to rationalize buying a cool new machine? Now that I’ve convinced myself, I’ll get to work on my wife. If I can persuade she who pays the family bills, I’ll report back on my real world experiences with the new MacBook.

Comments

[Rob In NZ]

I so totally agree!!!!

Ive been holding off buying a laptop for several years waiting for the 'right' model. I was hoping the MacBook was going to be it!! Something powerful enough to run everything I need to, but not necessarily at 'pro' speed, at a reasonable price, in a portable formfactor.

MBP's are a hideous price in NZ in comparison to similar Dell & HP models (ie 1/3rd more expensive), so there is no way I can justify a MBP for home.

Actually, even the bottom-end MacBook dont really stack up in NZ, pricewise, costing US$300 more than the similar Dell AND the Dell has a DL SuperDrive (as opposed to a combo) AND a 80GB HDD AND has a single 512MB ram module.

I was hoping that there would be a model with a dedicated graphics card, but in the 13" formfactor.

I wouldnt expect it to be up to the spec of the X1600 in the MBP, but that it should still be at least powerful enough to be offically supported for Aperture (albeit not as fast as the MBP). Thus giving a portable and usable field / travel photography laptop.

Given the amount of noise Apple make around Core Image and Quartz Extreme, I think its disgusting they sell models that dont properly support these technologies which will become more and more prevalent in applications.

[Robert Boylinr]

Your disappointing experience with the software's speed was the result of having to run it on Rosetta. The Microsoft applications are not native to the Intel Macs yet I believe. You should have compared Safari or an iLife application to get a sense of the MacBook's speed.

[Garcon]

you'll take what Steve gives you and you'll like it

[Kurt Komaromi]

To clarify using the MacBook for video editing, I think it all depends on which program you are using. If you edit with iMovie, the MacBook should work fine. Apple clearly states on its website that Final Cut's system requirements are not fully supported on this computer. The best bet is to read reviews from owners who have edited video on the book or find a way to try it yourself.