One week with the Macbook
I’ve had my Macbook for a little over a week. I think that is just about enough time to give you my impressions.
My new setup, featuring the Macbook
Apple’s new Macbook is by far the quickest computer I’ve ever owned. This should come as no surprise, yet I still wanted to mention that this thing is seriously fast.
I managed to jam the full 2Gigabyte worth of RAM into this puppy, which does change the experience of multitasking to a great degree. The default 512Mb, while sufficient for most tasks, is not good if you are like me and keep every application open during the day.
Also of note, is that when running applications that are forced to use Rosetta (which allows applications not yet built for the Intel chip to run), there is a noticeable difference in system performance when running only 512Mb of RAM. Once I switched to 2Gb, I have not really had a problem using Photoshop (and leaving it open). This was one of my largest concerns (though I don’t use Photoshop as often as others) but the Macbook has performed nicely.
The screen on the Macbook, which has caused many matte-finish zealots to spring forth and cry foul, is really really great. Granted if you are in an office with a large light directly behind your head, or are trying to look at the Macbook while you are facing away from the summer sun - you might get pissed off. But for every purpose I’ve used it for thus far (both indoor and out), this screen is astounding.
The resolution ( 1280×800 native ) is great too. Coming from a 12″ ibook that had trouble pushing 1024×768, this new resolution and extra inch of screen real estate is a God-send. Good enough for pretty much any task (even Photoshop), the screen real estate is by far the biggest improvement that any iBook upgraders will notice (aesthetically speaking).
The built-in iSight is heaven. Not only is it better quality (I plugged in my iSight to check), but it is much more convenient on the go. The frame rate is great, the sound is decent, and being able to host multi-person video conferences is something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile.
I haven’t noticed the whining issue in the Macbook’s yet - and hopefully I don’t. The issue with the finish “chipping” off in various areas hasn’t plagued me either. So far I’ve only had two small issues, that have only shown their head once, with the Macbook. The first was a kernel panic, it happened once and it happened on the third day of ownership (which has happened to me with every Macintosh I’ve ever owned). The second was the fan spinning up and up and up until I was forced to turn it off. This only happened once, and happened right as I unmounted a memory card from my memory card reader without properly unmounting it from my computer. I sent a report into Apple, so who knows if this is wide-spread or just a fluke.
So all in all, the Macbook is a really really great computer for the price. I’m not sure why’d you’d opt for the 15″ Macbook Pro at this point (unless you needed the dedicated GPU), since this machine is probably just as good as that.
Also, I ordered my 20.1″ Dell Widescreen monitor today, and so we’ll see how the Macbook performs with an external display at 1680×1050. Until then, go to the nearest Apple store and take a look at the new Macbook.
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I’m awaiting your review of the graphics though I have heard from others and read several places that it really isnt bad as far as regular graphics power is concerned, but rather is just missing some features that other dedicated GPUs have — something that doesn’t matter to me at all.
Zach Hale on May 24th, 2006 1:07 pm
You’ve just convinced me to go for the Macbook. I’m waiting until September to buy my first Mac (18th Birthday!) and I was going to wait and see if the MBPs whining issue dissapears. I was under the impression that bigger screen = better but I’m not sure (I’m poor, my home PC still runs at 800 x 600). Alas, as long as it’s good enough to run Second Life and WoW it will be alright for me. Cheers Colin! I was waiting on a blog-ified review before I made my decision. What’s the wifi reception on it like? Battery life?
Tommy on May 24th, 2006 2:16 pm
Tommy: Battery life is 3 hours and 2 minutes while on a video conference, so perhaps a little bit more/less than that on average. Wifi reception is better than on my iBook (I’d say nearly 500 feet), but I have no real way to test that, since my router is up so high it isn’t a “normal circumstance”. Maybe someone else could chime in here.
Colin D. Devroe on May 24th, 2006 2:26 pm
Congradulations on your new Macbook. I know you were looking forward to getting a new computer. That iSight sounds pretty sweet. I personally don’t see the point of getting a Mac dedicated GPU unless you were going to use boot camp.
Michael on May 24th, 2006 3:04 pm
One Week with a MacBook
Colin Devroe has posted an excellent article about the first week with his black Apple MacBook. He dispels rumors of the glossy screen and other features of the MacBook that have since attracted negative attention.
The screen on the Macbook, which ha…
PaulStamatiou.com on May 24th, 2006 5:40 pm
Great review. It gave me a feeling I’m not making the wrong decsion in purcahsing one in a month or so.
cavemonkey50 on May 24th, 2006 6:23 pm
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How do you think Adobe Photoshop and the Macbook would handle all together with only 1GB or RAM? I’m looking into getting a MacBook, but I would like to know if I can get away with only having 1GB or Ram
Eric on May 24th, 2006 7:02 pm
cavemonkey50: It is definitely money well spent.
Eric: Being that the cost of the extra 1Gb is only 70 bucks (through outlets like dealram.com), I would advise you getting the 2Gb. Apple suggests 2 sticks in tandem, so get the 512 from Apple (default), buy two 1Gb sticks from someone on DealRam, and install it yourself. You’ll be thankful you did.
Colin D. Devroe on May 24th, 2006 7:24 pm
can you explain what you mean by tandem?
Eric on May 24th, 2006 7:41 pm
Great overview Colin. I looked at them the other day and walked away impressed with the only exception being the keys, it is a little different setup, almost calculator like. What are your thoughts on them?
Dennis Bullock on May 24th, 2006 7:47 pm
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Simple but nice review!
Here’s an intersting article benchmarking the 13″ against a Dual 2.0 Dual G5 (wait til you see the results) and a 15″ MacBook Pro.
With integrated graphics I was suprised as it ran Final Cut Pro with no prob!
http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717
oneighturbo on May 24th, 2006 10:52 pm
Scratch that. I know what you mean. Now it comes down to do I get a black or white? Black is sexier, cooler, and it’s probelly easier to see the screen, but is it worth the extra $200 something dollars?
Eric on May 25th, 2006 1:01 am
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I am so glad I held out for the MacBook, it is definitely worth the money. I am glad to hear that the screen isn’t being a pain, I just hope there aren’t any problems like those that plagued the MBP. How are the heat and processor temps?
Chris Morrell on May 25th, 2006 1:37 am
Nice review Colin. I too am really enjoying my MacBook since I got it 3 days ago. I will post my thoughts as well after about a week and after I get my ram issue taken care of.
Shawn Grimes on May 25th, 2006 1:47 am
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Great review!
I should also be getting my hands on one of these soon, although I prefer the white one. You mentioned that 2GB of RAM is good, what about 1GB, is that okay?
Prashant on May 25th, 2006 5:17 am
Dennis: I really love the keys. I’m extremely torn, since I’d like to span the display to my soon to be delivered external monitor. Which would mean it’d be optimal for me to use a bluetooth keyboard - but I’m fearing the fact that I will hate that keyboard compared to the laptop’s keyboard - which is really great.
Eric: I went with the black, originally, because I couldn’t get the DVD burner (Super Drive) in the white one no matter what I did. However, the black grew on me really quickly, and I actually prefer it to the white. But, I have a friend that has the white and they were here last night, and I guess their equally as stunning. So I suppose it came down to the Super drive for me.
Prashant: Please read some of the comments.
Colin D. Devroe on May 25th, 2006 7:58 am
Shawn Grimes: Yeah, stinks that you got a bad stick. That happens. What is nice about most RAM nowadays is the lifetime warranties that come with them.
Colin D. Devroe on May 25th, 2006 8:02 am
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Great review.. makes me wish I didn’t get my PowerBook G4 12″ 6 months ago.
Daniel on May 28th, 2006 12:09 pm
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And me? What about my PB 15″?
gillo on May 29th, 2006 5:29 am
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well, thats helped me make my mind up about getting a macbook!
you say about installing the 2gb ram yourself, is that easy? how did you find it? did u use any guide to do it?
great review!
Harry on May 29th, 2006 4:57 pm
Harry: Check dealram.com - and it is super easy. The booklet that comes with the Macbook has all the instructions, if you need them.
Colin D. Devroe on May 29th, 2006 5:05 pm
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Hello Colin: Hope you are well. Thought I would chime in here too.
Glad you are happy with you MacBook. I have had problems where for example, I run the battery down to say 11%, then close the lid, charge to full, and then when I re-open the system still reports (and counts down) from 11%.
It is as though it has not recognised the charging.
Have you had anything like this?
PS. Thanks for the photo.
Dave on June 4th, 2006 3:58 pm
Dave: I never had that happen to me - at least not that I’ve noticed.
Colin D. Devroe on June 5th, 2006 8:06 am
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I was very close to getting the 13″ Macbook (black) and in the end I’ve decided to spend the extra $500 for the Macbook Pro (2.0Ghz ver) to replace my 12″ Powerbook. Here’s my 2cents:
1) The keyboard: ALL my colleague who owns Powerbook (15″, 12″, Titanium) and Thinkpad (they still have the best notebook keyboard) were really impressed and think of buying this white/black Macbook for themselves and significant others — until typing on this keyboard. ALL of them (7 out of 7) hate this Macbook keyboard. While typing on it, they were reminded of the horrific first generation laptop/notebook/portable keyboard 10-15 years ago. This also reminds us of those horrible Oncommand Web surfing keyboard in the hotel that is not meant to type on it for more than 5 mins.
No tacile feeling, it is really a cheapo keyboard, however you may sing the hymn on this very bad keyboard, designed around the cost saving from Apple in mind. It’s OK to use this keyboard when you do surfing and editing (music/photo/video) a bit, but if you’re using this keyboard as some major part of your livehood: programmers, lawyers, engineer, etc. this is plain diasaster. OTTH, I think it is a brilliant strategy on Apple part to force people to pay more $$ to get the Macbook Pro because of the keyboard.
2) Macbook screen and surface should really be the other way around: glossy finish on its surface (less fingerprint smurt) AND anti-glare screen. 90% of the time when you are at work environment (especially for travelers at hotels, plane, airport) you will regreat this extra glare from glossy finish. I just don’t see the this big deal on glossy finish, it is another Apple’s brilliant marketeer to wow consumer in the Apple store with the beautiful spotlight effect, only to go home with this glossy screen, and couple years later when your eye sight gets much worse when it is too late to regret it.
OTTH, I realize this is supposedly a consumer product, so I can understand the wow factor on the glossy finish. And from the 101 rules of marketeer to differentiate the products: the necessacity of Apple to make Macbook keyboard much worse than Macbook Pro keyboard.
Peter Lam on June 6th, 2006 9:36 pm
Peter Lam: Your comments seem very well thought out. But I am going to have to respectfully disagree on every single point. The keyboard on the Macbook far surprasses that on the Macbook Pro - but I believe this to be a preference rather than fact.
The screen, ask anyone that actually owns a Macbook, is gorgeous. I would not trade it for a matte screen. And if this black Macbook were a glossy exterior finish, I probably would not have purchased one.
Colin D. Devroe on June 7th, 2006 7:40 am
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“And if this black Macbook were a glossy exterior finish, I probably would not have purchased one.” - Colin
Whats wrong with the glossy exterior finish? Does that go for the white glossy exterior finish as well?
I had previously made up my mind to buy a macbook, but I am beginning to have second thoughts (even though i will probably end up buying one anyway). The things that make my have second thoughts are this:
1.)The lack of a dedicated GPU. (I am not really a computer gamer, but seeing as I can get most new games for free from my roommate, It would be easy to become one.)
2.)Many people saying that their Macbooks are beginning to discolor where their hands are in contact with the laptop
3.) Overheating problems
what do you have to say about these issues?
frutersi on June 21st, 2006 2:06 pm
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Hi,
I’m a pc user wishing to upgrade to a macbook or macbook pro. I was hoping to get my hands on a macbook pro expecting it to be better for running graphics programs on (Mainly photoshop cs2) but have since heard that photoshop works painfully slowly on even the most powerful macbook pro due to compatibility problems. Everyone on this post seem to be suggesting that cs2 works fine on a macbook. Does this mean i’d be better getting a macbook rather than macbook pro? please help cos i’m confused
Greg on June 21st, 2006 2:34 pm
Colin: just wondering what sort of temperatures you’re running on the macbook?
greg: what sort of computer are you after? mobility or desktop replacement? the ‘painfully slow’ is not that painful - there’s a relative performance hit due to rosetta, but nothing huge really.
Joel on June 21st, 2006 10:30 pm
Definatley mobility, but am also hoping to use it as a replacement to my desktop for digital artwork (which is a low end to average desktop). I want it mainly for digital art using a wacom graphics pad. I’ve also since found out about bootcamp. Would it be better installing xp to run photoshop (cos i have an installable copy of xp) or should i not bother and just use rosetta? thanks
Greg on June 22nd, 2006 6:24 am
frutersi: I don’t have any problems playing games without the dedicated GPU. But then again, I am not a gamer and do not have the latest games.
Also, I don’t experience the discoloration (since I have the black macbook). And, I am pretty sure those that are having that problem, are with the Macbook Pro, and it is an allergic reaction similar to that of a trumpet player has with the brass or silver of their trumpet.
I do not experience the overheating problems.
Joel: I will have to get a widget or something that will tell me the avg. temp or something - but since I generally do not use this on my lap, I really do not know. However, I will say that it is certain that it runs hotter plugged in, than not plugged in. So the processor is the culprit for most of the heat.
Greg: If you have enough RAM, you won’t notice much of a slow down on the rosetta front. Everyday that goes by we’re getting closer to CS3 - so I don’t think it is much of an issue. That being said, if you wait until CS3 is released before purchasing an Intel based Macintosh - then you will undoubtedly end up with a much more revised system.
Colin D. Devroe on June 22nd, 2006 8:02 am
Thanks for the help, its been great! One more thing before i leave you guys in peace. Whilst browsing the internet about the macbook I’ve found some worrying posts about problems such as discolouring of the white macbook, and something to do with a ‘mooing’ sound? Now i’ve seen a lot of complaints from people about this and was wondering if it’s happening with all of the white macbooks, or whether it’s just a small percentage? Have any of you guys had any of these problems?
greg on June 23rd, 2006 6:58 am
It is really good to see some reviews of the new MacBook. Your “review” seams good written, and take the common thing that everyone want to hear more about. Since I am planning to buy one my self. I like to see good reviews, but recent I have also seen some discussion about some sickness issues. Hopefully your MacBook will stay healthy, and so will my future MacBook too.
Birger
Birger Nordoelum on July 16th, 2006 9:51 am
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Hi Colin, I have added your review to http://www.blackmacbook.com/black-macbook-reviews.php
I hope you don’t mind, I will remove it if you do.
Thanks for clarifying the issue with the screen, a lot of people are concerned about the quality.
When you get a chance I’d like to know how smooth the graphic performance is with the external display attached.
Best Regards,
Stanley
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