Just some general notes on my new MacBook.
I chose the 2.4GHz version of the new aluminum MacBooks. Not because it’s that much better, but I’ve been carrying a 1.83GHz with me for the past two years and wanted some more increase in the CPU than just 0.17GHz. And it has a backlit keyboard, which is actually quite handy.
Precisely aluminum-bodied unicorn is what Apple calls could have called the new aluminum case, which is the biggest difference from my trusty, old white MacBook. I’ve been craving for the option for one and a half years, and finally I have it. It’s beautiful to look at, I don’t worry about the case getting cracks (like the plastic one) as it seems very solid (unlike the plastic one).
Glossy screens are all the rave a Apple now, and I can understand why, though I also get the arguments put forth by the anti-glossy people out there. It is very glossy (especially with the brightness turned down low), but with the birghtness turned up and a HD-movie playing, you’ll notice just how awesome the LED-screen is. Furthermore, the black edge around the screen was the only negative thing I had to say about the design before actually trying it. Now, I’m very happy about it – it soothes the eyes when sitting in front of the screen for a long period of time.
The increased CPU is a big treat, especially when coming from a two years old MacBook. The separated graphics card from NVIDIA is also giving the overall use a much-needed boost. I put on a 720p HD-trailer from Apple’s website, and the CPU barely noticed, which can be a product of hardware acceleration. I’m just happy that I can watch movies now without the noise from the fans going crazy.
The keyboard is black now. A lot of people don’t like that change, but I love it. It makes the letters stand out more when I glance down at them to see whether or not I’m hitting the right keys (that’s the problem of buying a Mac in the US – the Danish keyboard layout is a bit different). Furthermore, they are now made of a softer kind of plastic, so your fingers don’t “slide” so much on the buttons. Very nice feeling when typing.
I’m very interested in Human-Computer Interaction and how we use our computers. Therefore, touch screens may seem like the perfect thing for a guy like me, but I don’t think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Apple’s new touchpad (and the gestures that comes with it) on the other hand, are. The feel of the trackpad is perfect – they’ve spent months trying to perfect the feeling of the glass, and I must say they did a very good job. It doesn’t feel too rough to drag your finger across, nor too slippery. Just perfect. Also, the three and four-finger gestures plus the ability to rotate images are very nice to have. The only thing I need is being able to zoom by pinching with my fingers – hopefully they’ll add that in a future software update (and I use control + two fingers for now).
FireWire is gone from the MacBook now, and I’m not crying over that. I don’t use FireWire for anything, so it’s really not a loss for me. The people talking about losing the option to migrate their data from the old Mac to the new one should go out and buy an external hard drive instead. This way they can make a Time Machine backup of their old machine and restore it on the new one. That’s what I did, and it was easy as 1-2-60 minutes. (Oh, and when you’ve bought the external drive anyway, you can now use it on the new Mac for backup!)
Conclusion:
All in all, I’m very happy about my new MacBook. It seems like Apple took a lot of the problems I had with my old Mac and made it just a little bit better on almost every single issue. I still see an 11″ or 12″ MacBook without CD/DVD-drive as the ultimate portable for me (the Air is waaaay too expensive and underpowered for me), but until then, I’ve found my new favorite tool.