Simon Perry

The much-anticipated launch of the low-end new Intel-powered MacBook’s has just happened – or IntelMac for the rest of us as it might become known (or not).

Three new 13.3-inch screen models have been launched, joining the already-launched higher-end 15 & 17 inch MacBook Pro’s.

For Mac fans the big news won’t be the details of processor, hard drive size or enhanced screens (although it is much improved over the current iBook) it will be that it’s available in black. Shock, horror. From the company that has come to own the colour white (yes, yes we know that strictly white is a combination of all of the colours), this counts as radical. Looks like they learned a lesson from the U2 iPod and Nano. Given people white for long enough and they’ll rip off your arms if you given them something different.

Beyond the trivial matter of the colours it’s available in, the headline is Apple are claiming that it runs five times faster than the iBook. It comes in 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz.

For those who prefer the machines to be as portable as possible, there will be happiness that the new machines will be about 20% thinner than the current iBook. A few pro-portable tears will be shed as Apple are dropping the 12-inch format, making the 13-inch the smallest available.

The screen sounds like a significant improvement. Apple refer to it as a ‘glossy widescreen display’ and it’s 79% brighter than the previous, with “incredibly crisp images with richer colours, deeper blacks and significantly greater contrast.” We’d imagine that it’s like those great Sony laptop screens and will become a big seducer.

Other goodies of note are built-in iSight™ video camera and the cool media-front end software, Front Row.

If you want to get down and dirty with detail, see the tables at the bottom. Here’s the summary –

• 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor; 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 60GB HD; DVD-ROM/CD-RW; built-in iSight video camera – £749 (inc VAT), $1,099
• White 2.0 GHz; DVD±RW/CD-RW – £899 (inc. VAT), $1,299
• Black 2.0 GHz; 80GB – £1,029 (inc. VAT), $1,499

The last one’s quite a lot more for an extra 20Gb of hard drive and a slap of black paint, don’t you think?

Let’s hope that these machines don’t suffer from the problem that some of the recent MacBook Pro’s have with fan whine. Apple’s apparent insistence at ignoring the problem has enraged their customers sufficiently that they’ve created a Web site about it, Stop the Whine, and stuck video of it up on YouTube.

Apple MacBook

The 1.83 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, for a suggested retail price of £749 (inc. VAT), includes:
• 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness;
• 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor;
• 667 MHz front-side bus;
• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;
• 60GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950;
• Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire® 400 port;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analogue;
• Scrolling TrackPad;
• the infrared Apple Remote; and
• 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, for a suggested retail price of £899 (inc. VAT), includes:
• 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness;
• 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo processor;
• 667 MHz front-side bus;
• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;
• 60GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load SuperDrive™ (DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950;
• Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analogue;
• Scrolling TrackPad;
• the infrared Apple Remote; and
• 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch black MacBook, for a suggested retail price of £1,029 (inc. VAT), includes:
• 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness;
• 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor;
• 667 MHz front-side bus;
• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;
• 80GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950;
• Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analogue;
• Scrolling TrackPad;
• the infrared Apple Remote; and
• 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.