Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo Review Discussion

The Apple MacBook was released last Spring but Apple recently updated this notebook with the Core 2 Duo processor. Following is a review of the new Core 2 Duo equipped MacBook with a look at some benchmarks to see how it compares to the previous Core Duo based MacBook.

Read the full content of this Article: Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo Review

 

Nice Review!!! My gf is getting one of these and i think shes making the right choice!! By the way, nice wallpaper!!!!! Wondering whre you get that wallpaper image for the OS X not the asus one

 

Excellent review. Nice wallpaper too, btw.

 

Great review. I just got a MacBook (black) last week, and have pretty much the same impressions.

Interesting thing I found when doing a Photoshop speed test: CS2 under Rosetta was faster than CS2 running native in XP/Boot Camp.

Quick question re: the build materials of your white MacBook -- How easily does dirt or fingerprints show up from using it? The BlackBook, with its fancy matte finish turns out to be a huge fingerprint and grease magnet.

 

Dirt: easily everywhere because it's white and all
Fingerprints: easily on the case. Not very easily elsewhere.

Just make sure you bring a cloth and a bottle of qualified cleaning solution along with your Macbook at all times

 

Good review.

I don't like the white though. It's looks like a prop/fake/cheap. Probably wouldn't mind it in black.

 

Thanks for the write up and opinions. Could you give some more detail on what devices you were trying to use at the same time with bluetooth? This just doesn't seem right to me. Can others comment on their experience with Macbook BT, and if this should be expected.

 

Using a Bluetooth mouse with a bluetooth phone caused the mouse to become very not responsive. Connecting two bluetooth phones, while one is set as a remote control while the other is transferring files significantly decreased the rate of transfer.

 

Great review, very honest as to the upsides and downsides of the MacBook. The apples to apples comparison for the Core 2 Duo MacBook to the Core Duo MacBook is really great as well. Those sharp edges on the MacBook really could be dangerous, I think if it fell on a childs head if it were pulled off of some table it could most certainly cause a nasty gash. Edges of a notebook are just something that need to be smooth and not jagged. The look and feel of OS X definitely does put XP to shame. Let's hope for Microsoft's and the PC user world sake that Vista can help out in that area.

 

A great review, thanks.

I would be interested to see a review of a Mac vs. none-Mac of the same specification. To see how quick / slow, Word, Excel, Photoshop, perform against one another. If this has been done, then sorry to request it here and I would appreciate a link to such a review .. specifically for C2D.

Again, a great review.

 

Very nice review.

I really wish I know how to use a Mac. I want to switch but I think I'm stuck in da Window world. :'(

 

OS X is very easy to get used to. And I've been using Boot Camp for XP with no major problems, just a few quirks because of the different keyboard layout. I think the MacBook is a great product to make the transition from Windows to Mac.

 

nice wallpapers! where did you got them? i want a clean wallpaper in my lappy, am getting tired of seing my pic everyday

nice review. i too think that the optical drive is one of its flaw... can't use smaller disc sizes

 

I got the one for the ASUS by just googling around, and the Mac one from DeviantArt. Both wallpapers came in 4:3 ratio and had unwanted bits stuck to them, so you will have to edit them a bit in order to look good on your widescreen monitor.

 

can we have a link to that nice wallpaper

 

I'm surprised that, in your list of "Cons," you didn't list the Macbook's propensity to dig into your wrists.

Is that an issue for everyone? The Macbook is uncomfortable to type on/with? This would seem, at least to me, a pretty significant design flaw.

 

I did, but it seems that line got lost after I submitted my review to notebookreview.com.

And this is the link to the Mac wallpaper: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation...ic&qh=boost:popular+age_sigma:24h+age_scale:5

 

Standing next to Asus the view is pretty contrast. Its almost like a black and white side by side.

How do you like the new color of the notebook? Is that a primary concern when you choose one? I mean, being an all-black notebook owner, i cant imagine suddenly moves to all-white.

 

great review! especially love the inclusion of detail temperature reading during several scenario.

btw, did u notice crappy viewing angle (especially vertical viewing angle)?

 

Never really thought about that But I do miss the dedicated graphics card a little. The Macbook is easier to get dirty, but that's the only downside of this new colour I suppose.

My Asus didn't have excellent vertical viewing angles either. I got used to it. It's just a change in contrast after all, everything can still be seen, just a bit lighter/darker. The impact it has on me is minimal.

 

Thanks for the review, but I have to take exception to your statement:

"The driver installations, restarts and overall slowness of XP compared to OS 10.4 were utterly unbearable."

I've recently made the switch to Mac at work and while I agree wholeheartedly that the GUI is generally more attractive, OS X on a whole (in this case 10.4.4) is far from snappy in comparison to the computer running XP that I use at home (Intel T2300 and 1GB of RAM).

At first I thought that maybe the speed had something to do with the PowerPC-based eMacs that I was using, but recently we migrated to Intel-based iMacs (2.0GHz Core Duo with 1GB of RAM) and I'm still seeing the same sluggish performance. Often I'm mentally twiddling my thumbs as I wait for the "spinning beach ball of death" to go away or even for simple Finder windows to open.

At the end of the day, the only things I care about in an O/S are security, stability, and usability. XP isn't great on the first count (although with some common sense can be rendered passable), but actually does quite well in the stability and usability departments. I want my O/S to be as transparent as possible and not get in my way; OS X is constantly shouting "look at me!" The result is a user experience that is more frustrating than productive.

 

Nice review, kind of makes me want to exchange my CD Macbook for a new Core 2 Duo. What app is that measuring temps BTW?

 

Temperature Monitor: http://www.bresink.com/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html

 

good review...makes you want to get a macbook. =)

though i do think you went a little far with the "but will only accept owners who can handle it with not just skill, but respect as well."

I would use that line more for XP than OSX. My custom PC is rock solid stable and I'm not sure it has ever crashed/stalled. If you know what you're doing, XP is extremely robust and stable. But therein lies the big difference: the grandmother who just started using a computer will have an easier time learning how to use her Mac and since the OSX is built around hiding anything "dangerous" it is hard to seriously corrupt the OS/make any mistakes.

I run a computer consulting company and have to own macs and pc's just for troubleshooting purposes but in a business environment macs are not there yet. If you "Mac" your entire world (every piece of electronic hardware you own is made by apple), your life will be wonderful. If you need to combine your mac with any sort of PC environment, there will be consequences (even with Boot Camp). For example, my friend goes to law school and all the tests are administered in class you take on your laptop. Guess what? The program doesn't run on apple. It also doesn't run that smoothly on boot camp (stalls, runs slowly, etc). Yes, these examples are rare but they still exist.

The truth is, if something will only work on one of the OS's, it will be made for the PC.

This is not an Apple bash, hardly, since I have a brand new iMac sitting in my living room and a new macbook pro next to me. Apple does make impressive products and I really do enjoy using them, they are just not without their faults.

 

Very good points dreborn. I think this is also the reason as to why Windows is that far behind in terms of ease of use, because the backbone of Windows dates all the way back to NT, and Microsoft dare not change that as the systems of companies running Windows all rely on NT. Apple has much more freedom, which enables them to develop much more innovative solutions, but they lose biness in return because Apple might entirely rewrite the Kernel with the release of the next Mac OS, rendering the bespoke systems of companies very slow (Rosetta) or entirely useless.

I think that in order to become someone who 'knows what they're doing' as you mentioned, would involve an insane amount of hard work. I consider myself to be much more proficient with Windows Operating Systems than the vast majority, but regardless of what I do, my Windows will become slower, buggier and more annoying over time.

And not all apps that run on Mac are made for PC, take Final Cut for example.

 

When I first started using OS X about a year ago, I noticed the small "delays" and other small quirks that were frustrating. I can now work comfortably in both OSs, and don't really have a preference for either. Both have been very stable, and both have crashed every now and then.

But I do agree with Budding. Windows works so much better when the user knows what they're doing and it's well maintained. After a while, it just starts to "deteriorate" if not taken care of. I've seen it happen time and time again on my friend's and family's machines (and I usually end up fixing the problems).

If recommending a new computer to somebody nowadays, and they don't need to use it for business, I would definitely send them to Apple. It is so much more fool-proof and almost unbreakable for the casual user.

 

I really don't see what people like about the Mac OS.

Guess I'm so used to Windows... I actually find the Mac desktop and that one-button mouse system confusing and awkward...

And for whom exactly is Windows "confusing"?

And never mind that Apple notebooks are now running Intel chips and Windows OS... wonder why...?

And did anyone notice that 3Dmark score of 600-something? Mediocre by any standards... Apple computers still don't measure up to PCs when it comes to 3D... Rosetta...

 

Buy a 2 button mouse.

Sometimes the file structure doesn't make sense. For example, in my opinion, if you keep going up a level in explorer, you should end up at the root folder of your computer. In Windows, you end up on the desktop.
Driver installations can confuse the hell out of you.
You have to do maintenance every once in a while otherwise it'll become so slow and buggy it's annoying as hell.

Intel CPUs are currently the best out there. Intel has nothing to do with Microsoft at all. Don't associate the two companies by accident. And, because Mac OS now uses Intel architecture, it has the ability to run Windows OS. Apple is using this as a marketing strategy, to give the consumer more choice, because now, as you can see around this forum, Windows users are considering purchasing Macbooks/Macbook Pros as they are now able to run the Windows OS which they're so used to alongside the innovative Mac OS X.

Do your research. A 3DMark score of 600+ from an Intel GMA 950 GPU is extremely impressive. The Macbook Pro with the ATI X1600 can get 3000+. Please do not commend on stuff you have no knowledge of, it only makes you look like the ignorant fool that you really are.

Only because most games are written just to run on Direct3D in Windows. OS X can run OpenGL 3D apps for OS X just fine, for example Motion (citation needed).

Apple had to suffer something in exchange for the new Intel Architecture. Rosetta was it.

I suggest you do your research or at least think before posting something like this. Especially the bit about the 3DMark.

 

I'm not sure what's up with yours, but I disagree wholeheartedly. I think while OSX has very lovely visuals, they do an excellent job enhancing the functionality of the operating system, where even the lousy visuals of Windows XP do nothing but take up space.

I find OSX to be quite snappy in regards to Windows XP. I'd imagine there could be two things causing a percieved slowdown on your system:

1) A glitch that's causing a lot of background processes (Spotlight). This shouldn't be happening anymore, but it happened on my Macbook.
2) A slow hard drive (on the eMac perhaps, but not on any newer macs.)

Given similar configurations, OSX should be noticeably faster than Windows XP (even on slow hard drives, which, amazingly enough, OSX manages squeeze more performance out of.)

I'm not sure what's up with yours, but I disagree wholeheartedly. I think while OSX has very lovely visuals, they do an excellent job enhancing the functionality of the operating system, where even the lousy visuals of Windows XP do nothing but take up space.

I find OSX to be quite snappy in regards to Windows XP. I'd imagine there could be two things causing a percieved slowdown on your system:

1) A glitch that's causing a lot of background processes (Spotlight). This shouldn't be happening anymore, but it happened on my Macbook.
2) A slow hard drive (on the eMac perhaps, but not on any newer macs.)

I switched two years ago, though I still run Win2K (which I think is the high point of the Windows OS.) I can tell you now I've spent far, far, far less time maintaining my Mac than I did my PC when it was my primary computer. The sloppy application setup of Windows seems to promote this gradual decay of the operating system as applications are uninstalled/updated, and after 9 months I'd find myself doing a clean install of the operating system and spending a day installing the updates. By comparison, it's been 2 years and I haven't done a clean reinstall of MacOSX, nor do I plan to anytime soon. It's really quite refreshing.

While it's true a properly maintained Windows setup will last awhile, I think the definition of "properly maintained" is the issue- it's far less work to 'properly maintain' a Mac than a PC, and it's far easier to explain to someone how to properly maintain a Mac. There are a multitude of reasons: there is very little legacy support in MacOSX, the directory structure is a lot cleaner, and the OS engages you to interact with it more than Windows (which tends to have a utility, wizard, or shortcut.) Perfect example: Your "C" drive is hidden by default.

The most annoying parts about Windows were actually the little ones- every time I plug in a thumb drive it'd scan through it and ask me what I wanted to do. That was after it had to find the USB drivers for a mass storage device (which for some reason it had to do about one out of 10 times I plugged it in). Heaven forbid you've got one of those flash drives that tries to autorun its own program. Yes, you can find a way around these, but things like these add up, and in my opinion, they shouldn't have been there in the first place.

I think the attention to the little details in MacOSX are what make it a more productive work experience.

 

Portability between systems has always been a big issue, that is why Java is so popular now, because it eliminates those barriers. Hopefully, the VM will continue to improve making the difference between interpreted and compiled for one system (c++) languages smaller performance wise.
Now, for games it is a different world, OpenGL is about 2 years behind DirectX and that will not change as Microsoft is really pushing it, also with XNA around developers will further tend to keep programming for Microsoft platforms and not others using OpenGL.

 

I've just purchased a black MacBook Core2Duo from the Apple UK Higher Education Store and I'd just like to add some info to this review regarding delivery and bluetooth performance.

I didn't send in my order until a couple of weeks after the release of these new machines but I found the order and delivery to be very efficient. I placed my order for a build to order machine (2GB RAM, 160GB HD) at 2.59p.m. on Mon 20th Nov and received my macxhine at 11.45a.m. on Wed 29th Nov - the original order suggested a build time of three days, shipping of 3-7 working days and estimated delivery on 1st or 4th December, so I was very pleased to receive it 2 days ahead of the earliest estimate.

So far I've found the machine to be silent except when performing processor intensive activities (any non-universal software (e.g. MS Office) or using Parallels),when the fans may come on for a few seconds. The MacBook runs considerably cooler than my original TiBook (500MHz) and has much better AirPort reception. I've had no troubles using bluetooth to connect to my Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse with no dropped connections when leaving the machine to go to sleep over a number of days.

 

Budding,

However much an ignorant fool I may be, I stand by what I say.

It's no coincidence Apple only commands 13% of the market, with 10% of that generated by Ipod sales.

Apple computers only account for 3% of all total computer sales... wonder why, if they're so wonderful.

Guess I'm not the only ignorant fool out there.

And I can't stand Apple's deceptive ad campaigns "PCs are for the things you HAVE to do: spreadsheets, word documents, etc... and macs are for the things you WANT to do: multimedia, photos, music, filmmaking..." yeah right.

Best thing about macs is the sleek design. They're overpriced and offer little advantage over an equivalent PC, priced several hundred dollars less.

A Dell M90 or XPS 1710 blows the hell out of a 17-inch macbook easy... And if you're gonna have an Intel-based system running Windows you might as well buy a PC.

 

Dear E_D_N,
You are not an ignorant fool. You just express your opinion, which is in this case different than mine. We all know that the Mac market share is lower than the PC. Question is: Does that mean PC is better than Mac? I don't think so. (Not everything is perfect in this world ) It is more used, yes. The main reason for that is due (among others) to many historical circumstances as well. Microsoft was awesome in marketing his OS while Apple failed in doing so.
Because of that, Windows became the standard OS for most of us. All the software was turning around it. Now it is slowly getting easier to find the same software for both platforms. Mac OS X has been growing since 6 years very fast. Wndows came out way before that. If Windows and Mac OS X came out at the same time (as they are today), I don't know if the situation was like it is now. Anyway, Mac IS earning market share now because the products are good. I can't think of buying a PC for 300-400 $ less when ONLY Windows is inside (with all the problems bundled with it). When I bought some time ago my Dell notebook, it was cheaper than the MacBook Pro, but when I had to buy all the software needed (Antivirus, etc.etc.) the price wasn't so low. I'm no fan of Apple or Microsoft. I use both OS, but as a product today the Mac is in general superior than any PC because of its OS and the software that comes with it (design beside).
As said before, it's just my opinion.

I just got a few weeks ago a white C2D MacBook and it is absolutely great. I have to agree about the sharp edges. They don't hurt, but they can be disturbing sometime. Other than that, it's a highly recommended machine if you don't need it for intensive tasks. iLife however works really smooth.

Greetings,

G.

 

"I just got a few weeks ago a white C2D MacBook and it is absolutely great. I have to agree about the sharp edges. They don't hurt, but they can be disturbing sometime. Other than that, it's a highly recommended machine if you don't need it for intensive tasks. iLife however works really smooth."

What do you mean by "intensive tasks"? I'm not a big gamer, and i dont do video editing. HOWEVER, I do want to be able to run music production/editing software: Ableton Live, Reason, ProTools, etc. Is the MacBook (2 gHz, 2 GB RAM) powerful enough to run these programs effectively?

 

As long as your applications do not require powerful graphics, the Core2Duo CPU will be more then enough to handle those tasks. I guess he meant Graphically intense tasks, because the GMA950 is a weak graphics card.

 

I'm sorry it wasn't clear. Budding is correct. I wanted to say graphically.

 

hopefully someone on this board can answer this question:

I currently have a Dell Inspiron 2650, Pentium 4, Win XP. I run Ableton Live 5.0.1 on it for music production. I'm going to be purchasing a MacBook (or Pro, i havent decided yet) in the next two weeks, and I want to know if its possible for me to transfer everything in Live that I have made on my Dell to an external hard drive, and then to the MacBook when i get it?

Also, I've heard that the new Intel-Macs aren't able to handle very simple things such as Live, because Rosetta is taking up so much memory?? Anyone know?

Also, what exactly IS Rosetta? What does it do, and if I'm switching from PC to Mac (this will be my very first Mac... excited.), will I have alot of problems moving all of my important saved files from the Dell to the external HD to the Mac??

 

I can't answer about the Live question. I'm sorry. Rosetta is a integrated translation engine that translate PPC instructions into Intel. It works very nice for some apps like Office 2004. With more intensive apps like Photoshop it is a bit slow. Transfering your files fom PC to Mac it is not a problem. Address Book, Emails, Documents are not difficult to transfer. Here is a link on how to do that.

 

I read you review but I still have some questions... I am looking to buy a labtop to basically replace my computer at home. I need lots of space for my digital pictures, work, and school work. In a couple of months I will be going to school for Web Design. So, I need something that will work with that and the software. I want something fast and portable. I also want a cd burner. My computer at home is very slow I cant listen to music and be on the internet at the same time. I know what I want in a laptop just not sure how much space and memory I will need. I am looking into the MacBook but I want to make sure its going to suit everyting I need. I hope someone can answer my questions...Thank you
Sam

 

Any laptop you purchase now would be more than enough to handl the basic tasks you have listed there. Unless you are also planning on playing 3D games, doing 3D graphics design, or encoding long videos, the Macbook will be more than enough.

 

Thank you for answering my question.. If I got the Macbook would I just need the standard amount of memory, speed, and space.. I would I need extra. Thats the one thing thats a tiny bit confusing about buying a laptop. Is that space, memory and speed going to be enough...
* 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB memory
* 120GB hard drive1
* Double-layer SuperDrive
Will that hold all my pictures and documents as a regular desktop computer would?
Sam

 

Unless you have more than 100GB of pictures and documents.

 

I agree with sibelius's perceptions: it's not at all apparent that OSX is better than Win, at least from this user's viewpoint: fact are as follows

I am v ancient and a Chartered Accountant and Student of French. My son is very wise and tech savvy. After a spell with Win, he strongly advised everone to go Mac. Its true that after Win 98, I didnt need much persuading.

He has some impressive Macs - 2007 Powerbook titanium and etc etc. I was persuaded to buy wife an ibook g4 (initially a Tiger edition) when the time came. Other son similarly.

Then no.1 son bought additionally a Macbook

As far as I'm concerned, this latter added wrist slicing to the relatively unremarkable -- or possibly sometimes irritating-- performance of OSX as compared to Win POST 98 -- ie W2K and XP. The wrist slicing is so bad as to make it unsupportable: I have refused to acquire the Macbook from him now which he's selling, and I am looking around for something different. Further, as I use Excel quite a bit, I challenge anyone to state that Mac's edition of Excel is as usable as Wins. Oh...did I mention, when I say Win, I mean ANCIENT Win - Office 1997; and when I say Mac, I mean MODERN Mac - Office 2004. Anything from stability and manipulation of cells on a spreadsheet, to colour contrasts (which I know you can adjust) is simply inferior. Period. No ifs. No buts. Inferior, clumsy, cumbersome. One button mouse certainly doesn't help.

Do not think that my Win notebook is megapowered: its old and basic: a 2001 latitude with a Celeron and about 192 meg of RAM, running Win 2k. And the user experience is better when using Excel (and much else besides) than the ibook/macbook: better screen, better speed, more convenient for Excel, etc.

Its true that the above Macs improved after I put in 1 gig of ram in wifes and in 2nd son's machines -- OSX needs a1 gig as far as I can see -- and wife's machine has also benefited from Leopard (after the initial Tiger) which was indeed a worthwhile improvement. I'm sure that technically, theres no comparison and little hacker types keep away from Apple, so simplifying life. But if you want to actually use Office and stuff, I cannot see where the Apple price premium provides the advantage

Finally, they are not similarly compatible in real life: thus, I found to my chagrin that Mac wont print to my Canon i450 printer (unless I purchase a pricey driver from TurboPrint); I would have to buy MissingSync to connect my PPC to Mac (yes I realise it'll be the same on iPhone with Win); I wont begin to mention the GPS related stuff that wont fit on Mac. Finally we excessively old types with our legacy Psions clearly wont fit on Mac

 

And now in the year 2008, Andrew now has his answer about the PC-saving powers of Vista. lol