Apple MacBook line gets spec bumps

Looks like there's some new hardware at Apple today after all. MacBooks now start at 2.0GHz with 1GB of memory, 80GB drives, 802.11n (of course), and run up to 2.16GHz if configured or in black. They're still on that 667MHz FSB though, indicating that they haven't yet moved to Intel's Santa Rosa platform (which we'd expect the MacBook Pro to have done first anyhow). On Apple today for the usual $1,100 in white, and $1,500 in black.

[Thanks, Wayne]

[Leonard Nimrod @ May 15th 2007 10:18AM]

Read the damn tech specs for the model. There is a premium for the colour, but there is also a larger HDD.

[tape @ May 15th 2007 11:52AM]

@ RandomThoughts

You might want to check out the macbook pro / mac pro for your brushed aluminum computer gear. It will match your nice fridge and stove i guess...

I wish I could buy a systems based on their colors and what they match...

[Dave @ May 15th 2007 9:02AM]

Has anyone ever really determined why the black model is $200 more? Does it just cost more because they feel like charging more? Is there any performance/feature difference?

[Ignacio @ May 15th 2007 9:18AM]

It has a larger hard drive. If you upgrade the white model to match the black model specs, the black model is "only" 50 dollars more (notice the quotes). Personally I like the white model better.

Also, the article is wrong:
"run up to 2.16GHz if configured"

No, there is no need to configure it to get a 2.16GHz model, these are three pre-configured models:
- 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, 80GB HD, Combo Drive, white - $1099
- 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, SuperDrive (8x dual-layer burner), white - $1299 (not sure about this price, store is still down)
- 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, 160GB HD, Superdrive (8x dual-layer burner), black- $1499 (not sure about this price, store is still down)

[Tim Haines @ May 15th 2007 11:03AM]

When it was released the black MacBook was the only mac model with a glossy screen (though that isn't the case anymore). And it looks pretty slick in black...Oh and the finish is different too. I can't describe it. You'll have to take a look at one. Anyway the extra cost is basically a premium for owning a cooler looking mac. To help justify the cost, Apple also sticks in a slightly larger hard drive.

[Matt Hall @ May 15th 2007 6:23PM]

Remember market clearing price? Apparently, black has a higher one. They wont lower their price unless people dont buy the overpriced one. I own a mac, and will deffinately not get the black one when I upgrade before boot camp!

[Josh @ May 15th 2007 9:07AM]

Crap! I just bought a MacBlack a few weeks ago, oh well. I'll wait for the Santa Rosa chips before I upgrade again.

[john @ May 15th 2007 9:09AM]

Josh, you can probably still return the Macbook?

[andy @ May 15th 2007 9:16AM]

if its within 2 weeks you can take it back, no questions asked (if it was from applestore anyway)

[Ian @ May 15th 2007 9:13AM]

The white MacBook with equivelant specs to the black one is the same price. They just don't make the lower end models in black. Black = super drive, more ram, bigger HD, faster cpu than the $1100 model.

[James Laver @ May 15th 2007 9:19AM]

Actually, In the UK store, you will pay a £67 premium just for the paint job, last I checked. I worked that out by comparing a blackbook and a whitebook with bumped specs to make them equal.

I think £67 is a lot to pay for a change of colour.

[Ian @ May 15th 2007 10:23AM]

I don't know how things work in the UK store, but in the US store, all specs equal, they are priced the same. I just checked, the White 2.16ghz MacBook has a 120gig HD, the Black has a 160. I'm not sure if thres any other difference, but that is $75 for that upgrade. Looks like there is a premium now though... there wasn't a few months back when I was pricing them. Odd. Its ~ $125US

[Zobi @ May 15th 2007 9:20AM]

Yay, this is the start of all the Apple Changes!! If you get what I mean...?

[Beef Stallmer @ May 15th 2007 9:23AM]

"Yay, this is the start of all the Apple Changes!! If you get what I mean...?"

You mean: they're going to introduce a whole line of hardware and gadgets based on yesterday's technology and sell it at a premium?

[stud18 @ May 15th 2007 9:26AM]

Nice one....too true.

[Zobi @ May 15th 2007 7:26PM]

basically

[BoZs13 @ May 15th 2007 9:28AM]

Yeah, I'm a Mac guy all the way but I'm pissed about no Santa Rosa :( Oh well, I have massive amounts of patience.

[JohnnyCashAK @ May 15th 2007 4:35PM]

"Oh well, I have massive amounts of patience."

Something every dedicated mac owner requires, if they are going to stay a Mac owner that is.

Whats going on over at Apple? Is this lack of real updates to their notebook and ipod lines all because of the iphone? If that's true, then SJ can just shove that iPhone up his iAss, and get back to making products people care about. Personally, I hope the iPhone crashes and burns, hard. Not because I'm a mac hater or something, obly because it's a surefire way to get the point across to Jobs. I'm tired of waiting to update my 5G. It's got a broken screen and essentially it's just a huge glorified shuffle right now, but I'll be damned if I'm going to shell out 300 bucks, only for it to become obsolete a few weeks later. Maybe if Apple actually ANNOUNCED their product release schedule, this wouldn't be an issue, but Ooooooh no, Stevie J doesn't roll that way.

[Davidson @ May 15th 2007 9:32AM]

So what the chances of a Mini update soon? Slim I reckon. Regardless, I still can't believe how much cheaper Apple's products are in the US. Tis not fair...

[Kevin C. Tofel @ May 15th 2007 9:42AM]

Two base models in white are $1099 and $1299. Base black model is $1499, not "$1300 in black" as stated.

[mathew @ May 15th 2007 10:04AM]

UK folk: If you don't like Apple UK prices, why not just buy a machine from the US? It's the exact same hardware, the PSU works on 240V 60Hz if you replace the plug on the end of the cord, and it's the exact same OS.

[Martin Trautmann @ May 15th 2007 10:24AM]

> UK folk: If you don't like Apple UK prices, why not just buy a machine from the US?

Who will send to UK/Europe?

You'd have to add delivery and taxes for imports,
you might have trouble about the warranty (worldwide indeed?)
and any goods in Europe come with 24 months of warranty (not by the company but from the local dealer, including the first 6 months where the dealer would have to prove the reason of a malfunction).

Macs always where overpriced in Europe - but it may be a bad advice to take them from abroad.

[Danbo @ May 15th 2007 10:05AM]

err, drat, I just ordered a middle-of-range Macbook (about 5 days ago); does anyone happen to have an opinion on whether they'll send me the updated (as of today) version, or the "what i would have got five days ago" version?? should probably check with Apple customer service...

[Danbo @ May 15th 2007 10:23AM]

please ignore my previous message; i just checked the Apple store, and they've upgraded me to the shiny new one! Now that, all you Apple-haters, is why I like Apple; they do look after their customers better than a lot of other companies out there.

[nik @ May 15th 2007 3:59PM]

Also, with educational discounts, the cheapest white macbook is not $1050 anymore, but $999... that's $50 cheaper

this is a huge price drop already

[Anthony @ May 15th 2007 10:20AM]

The Apple store is down is news? This is kind of funny. Well while the author is at it, if you could also let me know when Steve Job takes a piss or sneezes too will you let me know? He is, to all Apple fanboys, a god and as such I wouldn't want him to experience any humane bowel movements or anything.

If you are that obsessed with Apple to be upset when the store is down then you need a hobby which involves the sun.

[Nick @ May 15th 2007 2:02PM]

#1 When the apple store goes down that means they are adding a new product or an existing product is getting an upgrade on specs.

#2 No where does the author mention being upset that the store is down. You must have ment to post in the article "Apple store is down"... so next time i guess learn how to manage your tabbed browser before being a smart a$$.

[mathew @ May 16th 2007 4:50PM]

a) Plenty of places will ship to Europe.

b) Apple's warranty is valid worldwide. It says so on their web site.

c) If adding the tax makes it not cost effective, then the problem isn't Apple's pricing--the problem is your taxes.

[Martin Trautmann @ May 16th 2007 6:59PM]

a) what's the price of delivery? What's the conditions for insurance?

b) warranty may depend on the stuff. Most of the mobile parts where for worldwide warranty, while some are excluded

c) taxes part of the local problem - but a typical assumption is that the price tag may be converted from $ to EUR 1:1. The exchange rate may have been 1 EUR = 1.20 $, while tax now is 19%. But the current exchange rate is better that 1:1.30, while the European prices are still much higher.

It would be nice if worldwide purchase would be easy - unfortunately it isn't.

[Sapo @ May 15th 2007 10:26AM]

guess why the minimum ram is now 1giga, because osx it's RAM hungry! and runs sluggish with 512mb..
then people complains about vista minimum requirements..

[Davidson @ May 15th 2007 10:37AM]

Anthony - it's news because it suggests there are changes being made to Apple's range, as shown by the MacBook news. Read.

[nikster @ May 15th 2007 10:45AM]

How many of those people endlessly complaining about the $50 extra for black can honestly say there is no extraneous feature on their car that cost more than $50.
Are you all driving 10 year old Corollas? Because those cars don't break and they get you from A to B and you can't beat the price - why would you want anything else?

I would pay $50 extra to have the sexiest laptop on the market.
Sadly I need the MBP features even though the silver look is downright old in comparison... if anything I would complain that Apple unprofessionally failed to put its best design on the highest end machine. The blackbook should cost more and have better features.

[Adam @ May 15th 2007 10:48AM]

Dont Macbooks still only have 32mb of video memory? Doesnt that put a huge bottleneck in their performance? How can these handle any type of video intensive work with that little video memory?

[Derrick @ May 15th 2007 2:41PM]

They have 64MB of shared SDRAM. Keep things in perspective here. Do you really want to be doing anything video intensive on a 13" laptop?

[nikster @ May 15th 2007 10:48AM]

Sapo - the difference being that OS X runs fast with 1GB whereas Vista runs slow with 1GB. I have 2GB and find Vista slow and cumbersome. Not the graphics, either - just the overall feel.

[harpreet @ May 15th 2007 10:52AM]

I hate apple...i bought my macbook for 13000$ just last week and they've upgraded it now with better hdd and processor

[ravuya @ May 15th 2007 11:06AM]

Apple will replace your machine with the new model if you bought it less than two weeks ago.

[Ignacio @ May 15th 2007 11:19AM]

"When it was released the black MacBook was the only mac model with a glossy screen"

Not true. All MacBooks have had glossy screens from the start (that is, both the white & black models come with glossy screens and glossy screens only). The only models that has the option of glossys/non glossy are the MacBook Pro 15" & 17".

[harpreet @ May 15th 2007 11:37AM]

anyways .32ghz (as its c2d) is nothing much of a difference and i can anyways upgrade the harddisc afterwards

P.S. (the reason why i m consoling myself because i live in india and i bought it from dubai...so i can't go back to get my macbook replaced!!!)

[joseph @ May 16th 2007 1:32PM]

I find it quite interesting the entitlement people have with their money. I have money and i demand that it not change in value. As the consumer I have an objective opinion on cost.

If you dont want to pay for a black one, then dont buy it. Do you go to the grocery store and bitch about the price of eggs? No! because it would be absurd. So why isnt it absurd when you bitch about the price of other things?

When I was growing up, there was one man that could bitch about prices and have it make an effect and his name was Allen Greenspan.

[required @ May 15th 2007 12:49PM]

You people don't seem to mind that there is a premium for the color? Please help me understand, because I think it's really weird.

[Stripes @ May 15th 2007 2:26PM]

"You people don't seem to mind that there is a premium for the color? "

Color and different plastic (feels less slick, sticks to your hand better). Claims have been made that the different finish really is a lot more costly to make. I don't know if they are true (or if true if they match the price bump), but they at least seem in the realm of believable.

Yeah, I mind. A little. Like I mind for the mustang color change paint which is (or was) a very expensive option (I think DuPont charged enough for that paint that it really did cost $500 more to Ford, but they charged like $4000 - memory hazy 'tho since it wasn't my mustang but a friends). I don't mind enough to not buy the black if I was in the market for a MacBook, but I like the bigger screen on the Pro.

[NTD @ May 15th 2007 3:31PM]

and still no superdrive on the cheaper model. that's basically the single reason i'm not getting one. i find it appalling considering dvd burners cost $30 in retail. of course the slot loading is more expensive than that but still, i find it very hard to believe it would be substantially more expensive than a combo drive that requires two lasers. so either apple has a huge bloody stock of combo drives or they're really just being greedy a-holes.

[billybil @ May 15th 2007 4:41PM]

OR

maybe they want to differentiate the models? you need to learn some basic economics there buddy.

[NTD @ May 16th 2007 4:15AM]

It seems you need to learn some basic computer tech there, son. Your argument would've stood say three years ago, but not anymore. When's the last time you've seen a PC laptop with a combo drive, even at the el cheapo price points? Yeah, that's what I thought.

[JohnnyCashAK @ May 15th 2007 4:41PM]

"Also, with educational discounts, the cheapest white macbook is not $1050 anymore, "but $999... that's $50 cheaper

this is a huge price drop already"

A 9% discount on last year's tech is not a 'huge' price drop. What it is is a horrible value proposition, even with the student discount, considering I can get a comparably built system using state of the art tech for a hundred dollars less WITHOUT any discount from the other laptop makers.

[Josh* @ May 15th 2007 4:49PM]

Then... go get one?

I missed the memo where Macs and PCs, specs aside, were completely the same.

[krizoitz @ May 15th 2007 7:00PM]

Gee thats funny JohnnyCashAK because when i configured a Dell Inspiron with specs to match the low end MacBook:

Inspiron
2ghz Intel Core 22 Duo
Vista Home Premium (actually this is probably missing features available in OS X, ultimate would add more)
14.1" XGA+ Glossy display (1152x864 )
1 GB 667MHZ Ram
80 GB Sata HD
Combo Drive
Intel Integrated Graphics
Wireless N
Dell Wireless Bluetooth
Media Center Remote
2 year warranty

TOTAL: $1,419

MacBook
2.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
Mac OS X 10.4
13" 1280 x 800 glossy display
1 GB 667MHZ Ram
80 GB Sata HD
Combo Drive
Intel Integrated Graphics
Wireless N
Builtin Bluetooth
Frontrow Remote
3 year Apple Care warranty

TOTAL: $1348

Hmmmm, so with the same technology, an entry level MacBook (which btw i'm not including the value of the iLife suite or the extra cost to get a fully featured copy of Vista) is LESS than a PC.

[JohnnyCashAK @ May 16th 2007 1:49AM]

Dell is overpriced trash... apparently everyone but you knows that by now.

I just went over to the Hp website, and configured their new dv2500t with the same spec's as the low end macbook (other then the 14.1 vs 13.3 screen, and Hp's warranty is 2 years vs applecare's 3 year plan, which had to be purchased seperately when I bought my Mac mini a few months ago btw) and the final price came out to 976.29. Without the discounts they add for free right now(not including student discount, which is 7-8% I believe), final price would have been 1076.29, which is still 23.71 cheaper then the Macbook, AND uses state of the art tech vs last year's tech. I didn't include the media remote because the usefulness of a remote for a laptop is pretty questionable, but if you really want one you can add one for 20 bucks more, and it even slips inside the express slot when not being used.

As far as iLife adding any sort of 'value,' there are better third party apps out there for PC's and Mac's that do everything the iLife suite does, and are free in most cases. Besides, other then just messing around, does anyone seriously use Garageband on a regular basis?

In the end, lets not forget that we aren't even comparing 'Apples to Apples' here. The Hp not only is using the latest centrino chipset, it's also packing the latest T7300 processor with improved power management, cache allocation, core management, and is operating on an 800mhz frontside bus, vs the Macbooks T7200 processor, which runs on a 667mhz bus. While both systems include Intel integrated graphics, the Macbook uses the GMA 950 chip, sharing up to 64 megs of system memory, while the Hp uses the brand new x1300 chip, sharing up to 385 megs system memory. In 3Dmark, the Hp scored nearly twice as high as the Macbook, although that doesn't even really matter seeing how there aren't really any 3D intensive games out for Macs anyhow.

Long story short, unless you're an Apple fanboy, it's pretty clear the macbook gets it's hand handed to it in the value department right now. Like I said earlier, I own both types of systems, and while I'm very happy with my mini, I'm a little sick of Jobs either overcharging for underpowered systems, or overcharging for overpowered systems. Anyone remember the Quadra? Apple computers are good products, but there is a reason they are still getting their butts kicked in the overall market share. The numbers speak for themselves, and while they are getting better, they are still nowhere near as good as they could be if Apple would just realistically update it's corporate philosphies.

[krizoitz @ May 16th 2007 3:52AM]

Lets see, going to HP's website and looking at the 2500T:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Display&v1=14.1%26quot%3B&series_name=dv2500t_series

which starts out at $999
We have to add:

$35 for Home Premium
$75 for the 2.0 Ghz proccessor
$25 to add a built in webcam
$45 for N networking and bluetooth

Meaning you are up to $1180

Add in the 3 year warranty at $290 brings the price up to: $1470

Getting the MacBook with AppleCare and we have...drumroll please....$1350

$120 cheaper.

Next time try and be fair in your comparisons. And heck, we don't even know what speed the HP memory is. Why? Its nowhere to be found on HP's site. How long does the battery last? No mention on HP's site.

So the Macbook is cheaper than Dell. Cheaper than HP. What are you going to throw up next? Could i get a cheaper notebook from either place? Sure i could, but it would mean cutting features. If thats what you want great, but quite lying by sayign Mac's are more expensive. The simple fact is that feature for feature they are competitive and heck even cheaper. oh and the HP is heavier too.

Wanna try again?