With the new MacBook, Apple has set two clear goals. Provide a portable entry-worthy MacBook and iBook, its predecessor and also ensure that this machine is capable of sticking to the performance of its big brother the MacBook Pro. History complicate matters, the Unibody MacBook falls below 900 euros. Then read the fact sheet, the device appears to be complete and able to provide the spectacle. Quid reality?

Since its introduction in 2007, the MacBook had not changed in appearance. Even careful design and strong, which, however, over the years showed weaknesses. At the front and side edges, for example, where the top part that holds the keyboard and hull are joined, the fissures and cracks are common in cases of intensive use. The renewal brought by the unibody should resolve this problem. The whole upper part is a single piece. The background follows the same path. Monobloc, it can be opened using a small screwdriver and includes the battery. This also seems to limit the heating troublesome knee. One regret, Apple has removed the charging of the battery yet so handy when you want to know where is the autonomy without turning your Mac.

And anyway, sorry, let us mention two more. The first is that the MacBook, for the general public, offers only two USB ports. While it offers Bluetooth standard for connecting a mouse, but sometimes a little light when juggling with USB, printer and wired … a multimedia card reader. For the second regret it, Apple “forgot” to include an SD card reader when he finally took the leap on his MacBook Pro and iMac. If we can assume that the owners of the Pro models have pro equipment, rather than using the Compact Flash, it is almost obvious that a holder of a MacBook device has SD card. Why this absence? It does not explain it. Nothing justifies it. Especially when we see that any wreckage PC input range has one. So, let’s face it, this lack costs his favorite song on this device. The very good touchpad multitouch already met on the MacBook Pro will not change anything as good as it is.

Autonomy

And it is particularly unfortunate for the rest, this MacBook managed a near faultless performance. To start with autonomy. If during our few days of testing, we have not reached the promised seven hours (in office with the screen brightness reduced by half), the results appear in the pantheon of mobility. First result: 3h50 of autonomy in DVD playback (full screen brightness, mid-power). A performance that may greet with some enthusiasm, especially since the battery to full charge in just under an hour thirty. For our tests of independence in everyday use: YouTube cat, music in iTunes, Web surfing, text input and consultation of e-mails, we averaged 4:20 of battery life with screen brightness adjusted up initially, then decreased to avoid glare because Night was falling. Beyond this good performance, note that the indicator of life of the battery is impressive. Start a YouTube video, the indicator fall. Cut the video, he goes back almost immediately. This allows you to tailor your practice to the time you need to maintain, as appropriate. In simple text input, we arrive at about 6 pm autonomy. But the MacBook can be summarized in a typewriter …

Power reserve

For, as regards the power, the configuration shown on the paper is largely the road everyday. With its Core 2 Duo, clocked at 2.26 GHz, it provides enough power for encoding video and audio, as well as all daily operations requiring little power. It even shows 1.5 times faster than the MacBook last date for the video conversion. He also wins a lot to ship 2GB of RAM by default. These are mainly uses Photoshop as that benefit. Again, it provides a power gain of fifteen percent over the previous model. If these figures are largely attributable to the material power, we must not forget that Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) is the result of optimization work.
Side games, the MacBook is obviously not a reference. However, it is able to run quite respectably enough old games on Mac OS X and some more recent games in Windows 7. Left 4 Dead will be playable if it does not seek absolute fluidity. If Snow Leopard is obviously his favorite field, the Unibody MacBook is at ease in the ground “Windowsy.
As an indication, Windows 7, the MacBook gets a performance index of 5.3 to 7.9. The overall score is obviously burdened by the graphics chip. Note also that the drivers supplied on the Windows installation disc Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6.1, in this case) do not all work on Windows 7. This is particularly the case with Wi-Fi chip Legend has it that Apple and Microsoft cordially detest, but let us not be deceived, would not they have a little more work hand in hand to provide pilots adequate?

The lack of an SD card reader could be considered a technicality. But it would take a notebook entry level, as good as it can do without this service. But the answer is no, even to less than 900 euros. And I repeat, never mind the coup de coeur. No favorite song on a whim, provided the new MacBook has all the king’s value. The Unibody MacBook is a beautiful machine, powerful enough to meet daily family stress, with the exception of games more greedy. Its finish is once again well above the fray of competition. And though the “green” is important to you, know that in addition to efforts in the choice of non-polluting materials, optimizing the relationship between hardware and software is indeed pushed to the extreme. As shown by one measurement every beast of power consumption. At rest, the MacBook uses only 11 watts under Mac OS X, while it consumes 16 watts under Windows Seven. To think that at duels between the operating system, Apple still has a small lead …