MacForce Crew Review: The New MacBook
After months of anticipation, rumors, and hoopla surrounding the new aluminum unibody MacBooks, they are finally here. And they are sweet! I was a little skeptical when they were announced. The previous versions didn’t have the graphic muscle to render even the most basic 3D games, due to Intel’s integrated graphics chip and 64MB of shared video memory.
The new MacBook maintains an integrated graphics card and shared video memory, but it’s not even in the same category. The new Macbook has an Nvidia 9400M integrated chipset, and while it is still shares video memory with the main system memory, it now shares 256MB–four times as much as the previous MacBook. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has been my game of choice since I got the machine, and it runs smooth and fast. It also runs amazingly cool. Even after a four-hour kill-a-thon, the bottom of the machine was only mildly warm to the touch.
The glossy LED backlit screen is really bright and vivid. The colors seem to pop off the screen at you, a dramatic difference when shown side by side. Although the gloss is very high on the new screens, the brightness offsets it. Even outside in direct sunlight, the display is crisp and clear. Another feature of the new glossy display is the use of real glass. Real glass made from silica is very hard and therefore very durable and scratch-resistant. This makes for an easily cleanable screen without the need for expensive cleaner.
Moving away from the innards of the machine to the exterior, the new multi-touch trackpad is amazing. Again, I was a bit worried that loosing the button on the top of the trackpad would be a hassle, but it wasn’t. It didn’t take me any time to get used to the buttonless trackpad. In fact, while showing friends and family, most of them don’t even notice until you point it out.
Multi-touch brings a whole new dimension to interacting with your computer. I have already integrated the new gestures into my normal workflow, and I can’t wait until more gestures are developed. The feel of the trackpad is silky smooth and hopefully since the trackpad is glass, it won’t be susceptible to the “polishing” other trackpads succumb to after a few months of wear.
Overall the new MacBook is a winner. The sleek new styling mixed with some dramatic improvements under the hood have culminated in one of the finest notebooks ever produced. I have a feeling that the MacBook line of products will be on top for a while.
Tags: Apple, Graphics, Mac, Macbook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, MacForce, Portland, Review, Unibody
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