Apple Makes Over MacBook Line Inside and Out

The rumors about Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) new "brick" manufacturing process, in which the chassis for a MacBook notebook is carved out of a single slab of aluminum, are basically true. Apple's latest upgrade to its MacBook and MacBook Pro family are now stiffer and more durable than ever.

"Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminum," noted Apple CEO Steve Jobs at a Tuesday event at which the company unveiled its new notebooks.

"Traditionally, notebooks are made from multiple parts. With the new MacBook, we've replaced all of those parts with just one part -- the unibody," explained Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design.

"The MacBook's unibody enclosure is made from a single block of aluminum, making the new MacBook fundamentally thinner, stronger and more robust with a fit and finish that we've never even dreamed of before," he added.

The machining of aluminum parts is indeed cutting-edge for notebook manufacturing. However, "the technology has been around for a long time," John Jacobs, DisplaySearch's director of notebook market research, told MacNewsWorld. Jacobs used to drive a Corvette that had a unibody construction, he noted, and similar manufacturing processes are used for other products in a variety of industries.

"But," he added, "A more rigid chassis is a very important thing in a notebook, especially as they make it thinner."

MacBooks, 'Re-Everythinged'

Apple's promotional MacBook Web site says the new MacBooks are "Redesigned. Reengineered. Re-everythinged." And that's mostly true. The basic size and shape is the same -- same 13.3-inch screen, same familiar keyboard form factor -- and that's just about all. The CD/DVD drive still loads on on the right, and the ports remain on the left, and the built-in iSight camera is still front and center at the top of the display. For a notebook that, upon first glance, is obviously a MacBook, Apple has made a surprising number of tweaks. Even the power button has shifted position slightly.

The exterior is aluminum and, as widely expected, mimics the rounded edges found on the super-slim MacBook Air and iPhone 3G. The display is covered by a single sheet of glass, edge-to-edge, and looks like the iMac's screen -- it has a similar black border around the edge, underneath the glass.

And the display itself? It's now made from more energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. While the new "instant-on" displays are more environmentally friendly, they're also being driven by new graphics processors from Nvidia -- the Nvidia GeForce 9400M, which features 16 parallel processing cores. (Intel's integrated GPU, the GMA X3100 graphics processor, is out.) The new Nvidia GeForce 9400M, in combination with the new LED-backlit display, makes graphics crisper and more finely detailed, Apple said, giving 3-D games like "Quake," "Call of Duty," and "Spore" up to a five-fold graphics performance boost. Apple is the first company to utilize the GeForce 9400M.

The keyboard is now illuminated, which was previously limited to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

The trackpad is now all glass, made from wear-resistant etched glass. It's nearly 40 percent larger and features multi-touch capabilities, with some added three- and four-finger gestures for manipulating web pages, images, and invoking Exposé modes in Mac OS X.

Another interesting change is the replacement of the mini-DVI port with a new, similarly-sized Mini DisplayPort. The Mini DisplayPort is a brand-new, industry-standard port, Apple said, that delivers a pure digital connection to external displays -- even large, 30-inch displays. There are no HDMI ports, though, which have been appearing on many other PC devices lately. While HDMI is a digital connection that's handy for connecting to HDTVs, camcorders and other devices, HDMI won't drive larger, higher-resolution displays.

The MacBook Pro

The MacBook Pro also retains the same screen size and basic shape, but it too now has the same overall design as the MacBooks -- rounded edges, a full-screen slab of display glass, the black edging similar to the iMac, etc. Now, though, the disc drive is on the right and the ports are on the left. Apple dropped the FireWire 400 port and kept the faster FireWire 800 port. The Pro also uses the new Mini DisplayPort, and adapters are available for DVI, VGA, and Dual-link DVI.

Interestingly, the MacBook Pro shares the same Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor as the MacBook -- but with one significant difference. The Pro sports a new graphics architecture that lets users switch between the Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor to the more powerful Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics processor when they want higher performance, which has the side effect of eating battery life faster.

Updated MacBook Air and 17-inch Pro

Apple also updated the MacBook Air and the 17-inch MacBook Pro, both of which retain their basic overall design. MacBook Air now includes new Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a faster architecture to provide support for 3-D games and enhanced performance. Starting at US$1,799, MacBook Air is available with a 120 GB, 4,200 rpm hard drive, a 50 percent increase from the previous generation, or a new 128 GB solid state drive, Apple said. The updated 17-inch MacBook Pro now comes standard with a high resolution 1,920 by 1,200 LED-backlit display and a larger 320 GB hard drive or an optional 128 GB solid state drive.

"Apple is following a lot of the industry trends with the features they announced today -- you're looking at more durable systems, more environmentally friendly systems, systems that emphasize graphics performance," Richard Shim, research Manager for IDC's personal computing program, told MacNewsWorld.

"There was nothing that was tremendously shocking about the announcement ... they are using a lot of industry ingredients to create a uniquely Apple solution, but a lot of these things are the same sorts of efforts that other companies are doing as well," he added.

Minor Price Drop

Apple did drop the price of its entry-level MacBook to $999, and while it doesn't match the $800 price point rumors that were running rampant on the Web, it now costs $100 less to get into a portable Mac. That $999 Mac, however, doesn't get all the new aluminum love of the redesigned MacBooks -- it's still the older, white plastic MacBook.

"The $999 system in its white configuration, I suspect, will be the first to be let go over time," Shim said. "It's the odd man out here."

A New 24-inch Display

In addition to the notebook announcements, Apple unveiled a new 24-inch LED-backlit Cinema Display with a built-in iSight video camera, mic and speakers. The glossy, 1,920 by 1,200 pixel resolution widescreen display also looks similar to the iMac and the new MacBook line. Designed as a companion to the MacBook, the LED Cinema Display includes an integrated MagSafe charger, three USB 2.0 ports and the new Mini DisplayPort, making it easy for MacBook users to quickly connect and power their notebooks as well as peripherals. It costs $899 and will be available in November.

"A sub-$1,000 LED monitor is really unique," Jacobs said, noting that similar monitors currently cost much more and are primarily used for the medical imaging and high-end graphics industries.