With Apple Laptops, Things Stay the Same

So Jobs has finally spilled the beans on their new MacBooks, turning the MacBook into a sort of MacBook Pro lite. Friends who’ve been brainwashed by Apple’s marketing have expressed slight disappointment—who can blame ‘em? Here’s a short rundown on what Apple has to offer:

Pricing

Yes, Apple’s laptops (at least these two) feature a premium over similar PC counterparts. The MacBook starts at $1299. A similarly configured Dell XPS M1330—sans the DDR3 memory—is much cheaper, and can do more. Mobile broadband anyone? Forget what Apple says about configuring for standards that don’t exist yet. The Steve Jobs tax is very much alive, especially since you have to pay a whopping $2000 (at least) for the Macbook Pro.

Performance

Again, the key improvement of the new MacBooks are their use of DD3 memory. Basically, this means that the laptops’ respective processors can maximize the RAM, since they’re now both running at the same speed (1066Mhz). What does this mean for the average user? Not much, but hardcore users should enjoy some noticeable gains for intensive tasks like video editing and high-end gaming.

Apple has finally given its consumer laptop (MacBook) some significant power in the graphics department. The MacBook Pro as always features dedicated graphics. But why couldn’t Apple put the same magnitude of power in a 13.3″ frame? That would’ve been really new.

Form Factor

To make a long story short, both laptops are practically the same size as their predecessors. The differences are hardly noticeable to the naked eye, so let’s not spend more time here. To be fair though, every extra millimeter is important to portability freaks.

Looks

Obviously, the new MacBooks take a design cue from the current-generation iMacs. So there’s nothing revolutionary about how they look—Apple’s latest laptops still feature a distinctive and clean look that for some reason most PC manufacturers can’t compete with. It’s great that Apple decided to go with an all-aluminum main body, as it will prove more durable (and less prone to staining) than plastic.

To make a long story short, these new Apple laptops are mostly nothing new, with significant changes mainly limited to looks.