Apple is fairly reliable, but not the most reliable company of all when it comes to notebooks, according to a new study by research firm SquareTrade. The top honor goes to Asus, which surprised me, but I suppose shouldn’t have when I consider the build quality of my fairly inexpensive Eee PC. Toshiba and Sony rank next most reliable, with Apple coming in a close fourth.

I remember a time not too long ago when IBM and Apple would top the list every time, with other manufacturers coming in a fair distance behind them. IBM sold its hardware business to Lenovo, which seems to be having some effect on quality, but is Apple also slipping as it grows? I don’t think there’s enough data to identify a trend, but it is a little worrying.

Still, at least Apple is still under the 20 percent mark for three-year laptop malfunction rates, which is the measure that indicates reliability in the study. Dell is the only company below it, also under 20 percent, with 18.3. After that, things take a significant turn for the worse, with HP coming in ninth place at 25.6 percent. That means Apple is still showing better-than-average performance overall.

Electronista suggests that the reason for the divide between top-tier manufacturers and those that fall below the average is that the companies with greater than 20 percent malfunction rates tend to do much of their business in the budget laptop and notebook categories, which see higher failure rates overall than premium-priced laptops, where Apple exclusively does its business. It’s possible NVIDIA-gate accounted for some of those failures, although SquareTrade doesn’t go into detail about malfunction causes in this report.

AppleGazette’s Kevin Whipps addresses the quandary over how to choose between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro, noting that it used to be that if you wanted a 13-inch Mac laptop (excluding the MacBook Air), the only option was the original MacBook. Now with a 13-inch aluminum MacBook Pro on the market, the decision has become more complex.

Kevin allows that the 13″ MacBook Pro doesn’t give you a lot more value for your dollar, comparatively. I beg to differ, but there’s a large element of subjectivity in any such judgment, with many variables such as how much you value FireWire support (some of us a lot), how important a SD Card slot is to your needs, and whether the premium look, fit, finish, and durability of the Pro’s aluminum unibody construction justifies the 20 percent higher price.

20 Percent Higher Price — 20 Percent More Value?

Personally, I think these factors do add up to 20 percent more real value and then some, although Kevin has a point about the two machines being pretty much clones when it comes to core computing power. For example, it now appears that even Apple’s nominal 4GB maximum RAM upgrade spec for the MacBook is completely arbitrary. OWC is offering 8GB memory upgrade kits for the plastic unibody MacBook.

The MacBook comes with a 250GB hard drive, which is more than respectable for standard equipment, especially since the 13″ MacBook Pro’s base $1,199 model comes with a more modest 160GB drive. With the MacBook, 320GB and 500GB drives are BTO options, but that bumps the price to MacBook Pro levels.

The Case for the 15″ MacBook Pro

Kevin actually includes the 15″ MacBook Pro in his comparison, noting that at 5.5 pounds, the unibody 15-incher is not a whole lot heavier than the 13″ MacBook and MacBook Pro units at 4.7lb. and 4.5lb. respectively, and offers much more expansive screen real estate at its 1440 x 900 resolution. Being a former 17″ PowerBook user who recently switched from the big, old ‘Book’s 1440 x 900 display to an aluminum unibody MacBook’s more cramped 1280 x 800 13.3″ screen, I have to agree, and the latest $1,699 entry-level 15″ Pro is especially price-enticing.

However, note well that if you need the heavy-duty graphics support provided by the discrete NVIDIA 9600M GT GPU with 256MB of dedicated VRAM, you’re still going to have to pony up $1,999 for the middle-model 2.66GHz 15″ Pro. The $1,699 unit is essentially identical in power to the high-end $1,499 13″ MacBook Pro, and has only the integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics chipset (which should be more than adequate if you’re not into high-end graphics or video, or serious gaming) that annexes up to 256MB of your system RAM for video support.

A No-Brainer

Personally, while I find the new polycarbonate unibody MacBook very attractive — a quantum improvement over the old, iBook-esque MacBook form factor — my recommendation remains if you can somehow scratch up the extra $200, the base 2.26GB MacBook Pro 13″ represents the zenith of value and power for the money that Apple has ever offered in a portable computer, and if you’re willing to go with an Apple Certified Refurbished unit, the Apple Store currently has them available for the same $999 price as the new plastic MacBook, with the same warranty and AppleCare eligibility.

For me, it’s a no-brainer.

The new plastic unibody MacBook is arguably the second-best MacBook model Apple has produced yet (trumped only by the late 2008 aluminum unibody MacBook). So why am I finding myself unexpectedly underwhelmed and disappointed with it?

When rumors began circulating in late summer about an imminent new unibody MacBook in polycarbonate plastic. Being a consummate Apple laptop aficionado, I was excited. Speculation that it would sell in the $700 – $800 range further whetted my anticipation but I was also expecting something insanely great. After all, Apple could build on what it had learned making polycarbonate MacBooks for three and half years (the best-selling Mac model ever) combined with the unibody engineering of the MacBook Pros adapted to plastic materials.

Instead of Insanely Great, We Get…OK

However, instead of insanely great, we get OK — or perhaps just a bit more than OK. I like it a lot better than the original MacBook, but there’s nothing really exciting or special to get up in the night and write home about. It’s just a good, solid-performing machine with better case engineering and build quality than its predecessor, and better-looking, but alloyed with some strange compromises that undermine its desirability and the “must-have” factor.

The case aesthetics are definitely a major step up from the iBook-esque previous model, whose looks were getting tired after eight and a half years. I like white computers and I like glossy finishes, and this has both, although I think Apple is blowing an opportunity by not offering it in black as well, and the high gloss is proving quite controversial with some.

I think the MacBook’s all-white keyboard looks more attractive and inviting, and will be easier to see (I’m not a touch typist), than the black keys on my aluminum Macbook, which are probably my unfavorite element of its generally pleasing appearance.

As for robustness, I haven’t got my hands on one yet, being out here in the Nova Scotia backwoods 150 miles from the nearest Apple reseller, but reportedly this new unibody machine has a solid feel, with no case flexibility or squeaks and rattles, and excellent panel fits, which is what I would expect based on my own aluminum unibody machine. Actually, the new MacBook’s rubbery-coated bottom panel is an aluminum stamping.

True Mediocrity Rears its Ugly Head

On the downside, true mediocrity rears its ugly head in the context of I/O connectivity and expansion, with an impoverished port array comprised of two USB ports (only one fully powered), Ethernet, a mini DisplayPort a combo headphone/line-in port (you can’t use both earphones and a microphone at the same time) and a security slot. No FireWire and, most bizarrely, no SD card slot (“Pro feature?” — get real Apple). No HDMI either.

FireWire and no expansion headroom are the big disappointments to me. I’m living daily with the vicissitudes of FireWirelessness with my aluminum unibody MacBook, and I’m not cheerily disposed, but Apple seems determined to dump FireWire wherever it can get away with it. When USB 3.0 is finally incorporated, maybe there will be a case for dropping FireWire, but USB 2.0 is an abominably lame and crippled substitute at this point. I’m dumbfounded that Apple didn’t learn its lesson from the chorus of boos when it tried that with the aluminum MacBook (OK, so I bought one anyway, and I like it almost unreservedly except for the FireWire crippling, but that really rankles).

No Legitimate Excuse

As for no expansion, there’s no legitimate excuse. Even the humblest tiny little $300 PC netbooks comes equipped with SD Card readers, and often three USB ports as well. There’s no satisfactory excuse for Apple leaving the SD Card slot out of the new MacBook and providing a measly two USB ports — only one of them delivering full bus power. My speculative deduction is that it’s just Apple contriving to put some distance between the MacBook and the more expensive 13″ MacBook Pro specs-wise.

Ample Power

In the positive column, the new MacBook’s internals pretty much match the current base 13-inch MacBook Pro’s: a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo with a 3MB L2 cache, a 1066MHz frontside bus and 2GB of standard RAM, and the ubiquitous NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics chipset, as well as a similar LED backlit display — the only difference being that the Pro has a 60 percent greater color gamut. Power-wise, I would find it more than satisfactory, having no complaints in that department about my 2.0GHz MacBook.

Then there’s the built-in, non swappable battery, which I have definitely mixed feelings about. Apple rates it at seven hours runtime, but a real-world four-to-five hours will be experienced more typically, after which you have to find a power outlet. I prefer swappable batteries.

In summary, while I want to like this new MacBook, I don’t find its $200 lower price nearly compelling enough to even tempt me to not opt instead for the $1,199 13-inch MacBook Pro with its SD card slot, FireWire port, brighter, better color gamut display backlit keyboard, and aluminum case, Certified Refurbished examples of which should be available for about the same price as a new unibody MacBook.

If this machine sold for, say, $799, it would be a whole different value equation — an opportunity missed in my estimation, although it’s harder and harder to argue with Apple’s pricing and marketing strategy given its latest quarterly financial results. I think the new MacBook will continue to be a strong seller for Apple, but I wish it would have tried a little harder with this one, though. Don’t you?

Today Apple announced the release of an updated MacBook, and Senior VP Phil Schiller says it best in a press release for the new Macbook:

“The new MacBook includes many of the great features found on the innovative MacBook Pro, such as an LED-backlit display, glass Multi-Touch trackpad and built-in long-life battery.”

The new MacBook remains priced at $999, which will disappoint some hoping Apple would compete more aggressively with netbooks. However, the new MacBook does not disappoint on specifications or build quality. Featuring a unibody, polycarbonate enclosure with magnetic latch, the new MacBook weighs in at 4.7 pounds, down from 5 pounds, and is 1.08-inches thick. The LED-backlit display is the same as used on the MacBook Pros. Apple is claiming the built-in battery will last up to seven hours.

As for specifications, the new MacBook has a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and integrated graphics with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. The two DIMM slots support up to 4GB RAM, available for another $100 from Apple. A 320GB or 500GB hard drive is optional, $50 and $150 extra, respectively.

About the only thing missing, besides a price drop, would be the SD card slot and FireWire port included across the MacBook Pro lineup. Nonetheless, even at twice the price of the best netbook, the new MacBook is easily more than twice as fast with double the battery life, and is many times more aesthetically pleasing.

Apple has released what it calls “Performance Update 1.0,” an update to its Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and 10.6 (Snow Leopard) operating systems for selected iMacs and MacBooks.

As Apple describes it — in typically brief fashion — in its Support pages, ”This update addresses intermittent hard drive related pauses reported by a small number of customers.”

Gotta love those detailed descriptions!

The update may be related to an EFI Firmware Update in June that some MacBook owners suspect was the cause of intermittent crashes and system freezes. This latest update may well put these problems to rest once and for all, except there’s something interesting about the name…that 1.0 suffix hints at the possibility of further revisions to come. A “Performance Update, Update” perhaps?

The update isn’t for everyone, however. It applies only to the following Mac models.

MacBook
MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008)
MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)
MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009)

MacBook Air
MacBook Air (Late 2008)
MacBook Air (Mid 2009)

Mac Mini
Mac Mini (Early 2009)

iMac
iMac (24-inch, Early 2009)
iMac (20-inch, Early 2009)
iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009)

NVIDIA, makers of graphics chips for Apple’s range of iMacs and MacBooks, has announced that it is putting its Nforce chipset development on hold until the conclusion of a legal dispute with Intel, expected to be reached in 2010.

At the core of the matter is the claim by Intel that its four-year deal with NVIDIA does not include the Core and Nehalem series of microprocessors.

Nvidia’s PR Manager, Ken Brown, told Engadget:

…the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M/ION brands have enjoyed significant sales, as well as critical success. Customers including Apple… and others are continuing to incorporate GeForce 9400M and ION products in their current designs. There are many customers that have plans to use ION or GeForce 9400M chipsets for upcoming designs, as well.

This makes sense, given that these chipsets have been in production for a while and customers (such as Apple) have long-term supply contracts NVIDIA is obliged to honor. Indeed, Apple’s upcoming rumored iMac refresh may well see no change in the use of GeForce 9400M chips in its low-end 20 and 24 inch iMacs. Brown continues:

We firmly believe that this market has a long healthy life ahead. But because of Intel’s improper claims to customers and the market that we aren’t licensed to the new DMI bus and its unfair business tactics, it is effectively impossible for us to market chipsets for future CPUs. So, until we resolve this matter in court next year, we’ll postpone further chipset investments for Intel DMI CPUs.

Despite Intel’s actions, we have innovative products that we are excited to introduce to the market in the months ahead. We know these products will bring with them some amazing breakthroughs that will surprise the industry, just as GeForce 9400M and ION have shaken up the industry this year.

In the world of corporate communications, this is about as bitchy as executives can get.

AppleInsider reported on its website yesterday that,  “…earlier this year, Intel sued Nvidia in an attempt to stop the company from developing compatible chipsets for future generation Intel processors. Many of NVIDIA’s gains — including the partnership with Apple — have amounted to Intel’s loss.” So perhaps all this legal maneuvering is indicative of Intel’s desire to wrest-back control of that sector of the market (and the associated profits) with its own chipset offerings. Perhaps.

Undoubtedly, there has been trouble for NVIDIA in the last year, though reading between the lines of countless reported rumors proves a bit of a challenge. It was only a year ago that Apple switched to the GeForce 9400M G integrated controller in their MacBooks. Shortly after, iMacs and Mac Minis got the same chip-love with the NVIDIA MCP79. But by mid 2009, rumors circulated that relations between Apple and NVIDIA were deteriorating due to reports of manufacturing defects that affected a number of MacBook Pros.

More recently, there have been rumors thatNVIDIA’sCEO and President Jen-Hsun Huang directly asked partners if there was any reason NVIDIA should stay in the chipset business. As the story goes, no one could offer a reason, and the division is closed. NVIDIA denied it. It’s hard to know what’s really going on, but it’s not hard to see that trouble is brewin’.

Where does this leave Apple once its existing orders of  NVIDIA chips are satisfied? A mix of Intel and ATI solutions aren’t beyond imagining. ATI cards are already offered in the high-end iMac and Mac Pro configurations available on the Apple Store. So perhaps Intel chipsets can replace NVIDIA’s on the low end of the scale — I just wonder whether Intel’s chips (and experience in mobile technology) can offer appropriate gains in performance, reliability and power efficiency.

A little over ten days ago Apple launched a shiny new Apple and the Environment microsite showcasing the company’s commitment to greener production and business practise. So I thought it would be appropriate to take a leaf (pun intended) from Apple’s book and look at ways to be more energy efficient in my daily computing.

Mac OS X has some great power-saving features for MacBook users, but there are simple things you can do to squeeze those precious extra minutes of useful life out of your battery. And, to prove it to myself, I’m doing all of my writing today on my MacBook Pro in my garden, without the power cord. Oh yes, I’m living life on the edge, people!

Some of these tips are screamingly obvious; others contribute only modest energy savings. In aggregate, though, these tips can help you get significant life out of a single charge. So here they are, presented in no particular order of importance.

1. Dim the screen

Relatively speaking, that LED panel uses a fabulous amount of power, and, most of the time, simply doesn’t need to be so super bright. Turn it down to a comfortable level where you don’t have to squint to see what you’re doing.

2. Dim the Keyboard

The optical fiber backlighting in the keyboard can sometimes be brought to life even when you can see the keys perfectly well. When that happens, you can probably afford to turn it down a bit.

3. Stop Playing DVDs/CDs…

Your optical drive uses a motor. And a laser. They exhaust batteries in no time.

4. …and Stop Playing Video/Music from the HDD

Sorry, I know you stopped using your Optical Drive, but playing music or video is a power-guzzling process irrespective of where the source files happen to be.

5. Spin Down That Disc

Avoid doing anything that requires the hard drive to spin. Be mindful of the applications you run, and avoid those which require lots of read/write activity. Also, pop in to your System Preferences → Energy Saver and select “Put the hard disk(s) to sleep whenever possible.”

6. Go Easy on Your CPU

You can’t put the CPU to sleep, but you can go easy on it. Cycles spent crunching numbers equals battery drain. Quit anything you absolutely do not need. Mail, iCal, iTunes and goodness knows what else, even when hidden, are claiming CPU cycles.

7. Select the Right Video Card

If you own a late 2008 model MacBook Pro or later, you’ll have two graphic chips at your disposal. There’s the NVIDIA 9600, ideal for web browsing and text editing, or the more powerful 9600M, a better choice for gaming and video editing. In your System Preferences, choose Energy Saver and select Graphics: Better Battery Life. This will tell Mac OS X to use the 9600 chipset rather than its power-crazed big brother.

8. Internal Fans

Your MacBook should do a decent job of managing its own internal cooling, but if you’re competent doing this yourself, you might consider using a tool like smcFanControl to spin those things down. Just don’t blame me if you melt your MacBook as a result. (Seriously, if you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t even try this tip!)

9. Switch Off the Radios

Your Wi-Fi and bluetooth radios don’t have to be on all the time, do they? If preserving power matters to you, turn them off.

10. Ditch the Mouse

If your bluetooth radio is turned off, you can pack away that wireless Mighty Mouse. Using a wired Mighty Mouse? You should pack that away, too; that laser is sucking-up the juice.

11. Unplug That iPod!

If you keep your iPod or iPhone connected to your MacBook, remove them. Even if you’re not actively syncing them (and you’re not — if you followed my advice, iTunes is turned off by now) they’re keeping their own batteries topped-up via that good old USB copper. Your MacBook’s battery will thank you for unplugging them.

12. External Drives

If you’re using USB-powered external hard drives for backup/storage, unplug them (but be aware this means your backup routine may be disrupted!) Even if you’re not using your external drive all the time, remember that if you invoke an Open or Save As dialogue, those connected storage devices will spin-up on the off-chance you want to use them. If you don’t, that was power wasted!

13. Close the Lid

If you are going to be inactive for a while, consider putting the machine to sleep (or if you’ll be inactive for a long time, go one better and shut-down completely.)

14. Plan Ahead

If it’s at all practicable, plan what you are going to do before you even power-up your MacBook.

So there you have it. Combine these tips into your daily mobile-compute and you ought to see some serious improvements in productive, working battery life. Also, remember to let your battery fully drain at least once a month.

How well did I do here in the garden today? I squeezed about four hours out of my battery before I had to plug in. Give it a try, you might be surprised at just how much power your little lithium friend can muster.

How do you maximize battery life? Short of actually plugging in to the nearest wall or carrying spare batteries (that’s cheating!), what tips have I missed from this list? Share them in the comments below.

AppleInsider was first to report on a series of Google AdSense placements temporarily appearing in several European countries hinting at new iMacs, Mac minis, and MacBooks.

Google searches for those models in countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Austria returned ads for the respective Apple Stores with new features and prices. Translations from the Dutch ads describe the new Macs as follows:

• iMac: Ultra Thin 20 & 24 inch models. From only €1099.
• Mac mini: Faster and more affordable than ever. From only €499. Order immediately.
• MacBook: Apple’s Newest MacBook. Thinner, lighter and faster! Free delivery. Order today.

While the iMac ad confirms the long-rumored redesign reducing thickness and weight, the even-longer-rumored addition of Blu-ray drives is not mentioned. In a way, this is not too surprising. If Blu-ray comes to the Mac, it seems odd that the iMac would get it first. The Pro machines would seem more likely candidates to introduce the Blu-ray drive, if for no other reason than price premium. The rumor of a price drop is not reflected in the ad, either, unlike the Mac mini.

The current price for the Mac mini at the Netherlands Apple Store is €599, the new price fitting nicely with recent rumors that the low-end model has been discontinued. A lower-priced, faster Mac mini, hopefully with more than a miserly 1GB of RAM, would be a welcome change to what is arguably the poorest price/performance Mac currently for sale.

While the MacBook ad does not specify a price, “thinner, lighter, and faster” fits in with current expectations. At $999, the polycarbonate MacBook is Apple’s answer to the netbook—despite what Apple executives say about the iPhone—but at double or even triple the price of the budget portables, it’s a tough sell. While Apple may not be losing business to Acer and Toshiba, it’s arguable that the MacBook isn’t taking business, either. At $899, or even $799, a MacBook becomes a more attractive “real notebook” upsell to the hot-selling netbooks.

It’s likely we won’t have to long to wait to find out, though. Look for that familiar sticky note at the Apple Store saying “we’ll be back soon” in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Apple beat Microsoft to market in terms of new operating systems (although “new” doesn’t really apply in the case of either 10.6 or Windows 7), but that means Microsoft will have the spotlight uncontested when it launches Windows 7 on Oct. 22. That’s why one research firm, Wedge Partners, is predicting new MacBook and iMac hardware in the coming weeks.

A significant hardware upgrade on Apple’s core lineup of iMac desktops and the lone MacBook notebook would indeed go a long way towards stealing the wind from Microsoft’s sails. Especially if it prices the new models lower, as the same research firm suggests it may.

Normally, I don’t have much patience for the ramblings of those soothsayers in the so-called “analyst” line of work, but this report struck a chord with something I heard earlier in the month, which alone wasn’t substantial enough to write up. A source who works for Apple told me at the beginning of September that new iMacs were definitely on the horizon, and that retail management was being prepared for a major launch of the updated computers.

No mention was made of the MacBook, but it, like the iMacs, are definitely due for a refresh, and, as Wedge Partners predicts, a visual design change as well. The aluminum and glass iMac design has been in play since August of 2007, and the white plastic MacBook case goes back to May 2006. The specific design predictions made by Wedge partners stand little chance of being accurate, but a new look would definitely be in order. Expect Apple to leverage its unibody construction method for both, since it represents significant investment on its part.

The iMac is also well behind its PC counterparts in terms of internal specs, so the prediction that it could see the introduction of Core i5 or i7 processors is probably not too far off base. We may also see Apple’s first move away from NVIDIA’s GeForce 9400M as the fallout from GPU-gate continues. Expect any internal hardware changes to specifically compliment user experience with the new Snow Leopard operating system.

While some point to the significance of the recent iPod event as evidence that Apple would not make another major announcement so closely on its heels, it was only last year that Apple’s “Let’s Rock” iPod and music special event in September was followed immediately in October with its major notebook event, at which it introduced the new unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro design. Clearly, it’s historically possible, and Apple has seen the financial sense it makes in the sales numbers it recorded last holiday season.

AppleInsider’s Kasper Jade today reports that Apple has new plans for its workhorse laptop, the MacBook. This will be the first time since the product’s launch in 2006 that the company’s entry-level Mac has received a complete design update.

The MacBook is the best-selling computer in the history of the company. It introduced many of the features we take for granted in today’s high-end MacBook Pro machines. The MagSafe connector and latchless lids might be expected of Apple’s laptops these days, but they originally debuted in the diminutive MacBooks more than three years ago.

The report claims that the MacBooks were slated to be discontinued, but that at a redesign the company will “solidify them at the base of the Mac maker’s notebook offerings for the foreseeable future.”

There is no news as to what the redesigned MacBook might look like, but if Apple is to position the machine as a low-cost, entry-level device while keeping it distinct enough from its 13-inch MacBook Pro cousin, it seems unlikely it will be made using the same unibody extrusion process.

A carbon fiber composite would make sense, given this 2006 patent application filed by Apple. It describes a method for producing a carbon fiber composite used as an exterior shell for electronic devices. Of particular note is mention of a “scrim” layer designed to improve the cosmetic finish of the material.

Furthermore, there was talk last year of Apple planning to replace at least part of the MacBook Air’s aircraft-grade aluminum body — specifically, the bottom cover — with the tough-but-light carbon fiber material. While the latest updates to the Air continue to use an all-aluminum body, it is conceivable the carbon fiber plans will see the light of day in the new MacBook.

As for the refreshed internals, there’s only speculation, guided by the assumption Apple will want to position the new MacBook as an affordable (read “cheap”) machine:

Apple is expected to achieve these markdowns through largely existing tactics, such as using lower-end components and previous-generation Core 2 Duo chips and architectures from Intel Corp. Battery life should receive a boost from cutting-edge technology that recently found its way into the company’s other notebook offerings, while high-end legacy features like FireWire connectivity are likely to be sacrificed in the tradeoff.

[Apple] toyed with the prospect of throwing an Intel Atom processor into the existing white MacBook enclosure as [an] interim solution aimed at delivering a low-cost Mac portable for those consumers eying a Mac but hit hard by the recession.

Interestingly, Jade explains that this idea was dropped earlier in the year right around the time when Apple “solidified the forthcoming Newton web tablet for a first-quarter 2010 rollout”.

If Apple prices the new MacBook around the same $999 mark as the current machine — which it most probably will — what will that mean for the price of the tablet? Whatever the outcome, it sounds as though Apple has a clearly defined product/feature differentiation in mind for these devices, despite their similar price points.

It’s all just speculation, of course. But it’s nice to see that Apple is potentially breathing new life into an old and trusted friend.

The question isn’t whether there will be another Apple event in 2009. The release of Snow Leopard and the introduction of new iPods guarantees that. The real question is whether there will be two events.

Not surprisingly, predicting what will happen with Apple has a lot to do with what has already happened. A good way to visualize Apple events and product updates is to imagine us all living on planet iEarth revolving around the sun that is Apple — really more like a collapsed star, so little information about new products escapes Cupertino, but still a solar mass. Apple events and Mac updates occur with (mostly) seasonal regularity. What follows this year follows from previous years, and that makes the remainder of 2009 very interesting indeed.

Until Apple effectively ended Macworld Conference & Expo in 2009, it always took place in January. The World Wide Developers Conference has taken place in June for six out of the last seven years, the last three of which featured new iPhones. Since 2005, Apple has held a music event every September to introduce new iPods. The last two years have seen an iPhone OS event in March. Updates to Macs most often occur in spring and fall, often March and October, and this is where stating the obvious becomes more interesting.

While the 13” MacBook Pro was praised by many in June, more than a few may have felt a little disgruntled. Unibody MacBook buyers from as late as May saw their shiny, silver laptops depreciate an extra $100 with the 13” MacBook Pro price drop, probably more considering the FireWire port and improved battery life. Of course, the Apple obsessed knew something was coming as soon as the unibody MacBook was passed over during the March update for Macs. Now, all the laptops have been updated, which brings us to the update history of Apple’s flagship desktop, the iMac.

Looking at the calendar, the spring/fall update cycle for the iMac is pretty obvious. 2006 was an outlier, that being the introduction of the Intel iMac. Also, last year the iMac missed an update, possibly because of the focus on the major redesign of the MacBook. Coincidentally, that redesign came a little over two years since the first MacBook was introduced. It’s now two years since the polycarbonate iMac was replaced with glass and aluminum model.

It’s time for the next major revision of the iMac. Rumors of Blu-ray drives and secret features aside, the announced release of Snow Leopard in September would seem to indicate an Apple event for Macs is imminent. The only problem is the imminent Apple event for iPods, and possibly a tablet, too.

While past performance is not necessarily an indication of future Apple events, there has been a pattern of iPod updates taking place after Labor Day. Whether this has been because Steve Jobs has been busy prepping for his tofu barbecue on the holiday weekend, or because there has been no Tuesday in September before Labor Day, has not been tested, until now.

That’s the first possibility, that there will be an Apple event on the first Tuesday or Wednesday of September, in which case the event will be announced around August 24. The best reason for an early September event for iPods, and possibly a tablet, would be a late September event for Snow Leopard and the iMac. It’s hard to imagine two events in September with the first one occurring on Wednesday, September 9, leaving just three weeks until the second. That’s a lot of preparation in a short time for a company as image-obsessed as Apple.

The other possibility would be a single event combining iPods, Snow Leopard, a new iMac, and possibly a tablet. This would be the mini-Macworld option, but if there is a tablet that seems unlikely. The tablet is a big, big deal, and more of a device for media consumption, like the iPod, or the Apple TV. The Apple TV was introduced at the Apple event for iPods in September 2006.

Of course, the third possibility is that Snow Leopard will be a silent update. Instead of an Apple executive introducing “the world’s most advanced operating system” on a brand new iMac, maybe with Blu-ray, the company will just quietly ship it to the stores. After all, it’s not like any other operating system will be launched this year.

So, two Apple events, first and last Tuesday in September, you heard it here first.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my new 13-inch MacBook Pro. In many, many ways, it is far superior to any older computer I have lying around. I can’t get over how far Apple design and function has come. But I do have to admit to shifting and tilting the device around when I’m sitting on the couch with my window in the background. I suppose I could close the window, or rearrange my living room furniture, but I’d have much preferred just clicking a matte display option when buying my notebook. That option may reappear soon.

Or, I could’ve opted for the 17-inch MacBook Pro, which I’m sure is what Apple was hoping for, considering the $2,500 price tag. Sadly, I am not independently wealthy, nor do I have a job that justifies that kind of computer muscle. I just don’t like glare with my computing. Unlike some, I don’t find the MBP’s screen intolerable, just mildly annoying in certain lighting situations, but choice is still nice.

According to reports by AppleInsider, Apple is considering a reintroduction of matte screen options on machines other than the 17-inch MacBook Pro. This is according to “people who have proven familiar with the company’s plans.” Perhaps not the most reassuring of sources, but there is a lot of vocal support of such a move, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple was at least entertaining the thought. The company did, after all, reintroduce Firewire on the 13-inch MacBook (Pro) after much protest about its demise.

Professional users have even more reason to complain than I do, since the glossy screens and glare pose a serious problem when color and image accuracy are of paramount importance. I expect that any screen options Apple does introduce will also carry the $50 charge that currently attaches to the upgrade on the 17-inch model, but that’s nothing compared to the price of upgrading to the pricier model and still paying an extra $50.

I’m not saying the current screen is that big of a problem, but I can’t help but notice the difference between it and the screen on the 12-inch PowerBook I recently picked up as a hobby machine. Yes, everything appears more vivid, more rich, and just generally more impressive, but only in low-light situations. My home workstation is right next to a window, which is necessary to prevent me going completely stir-crazy, and the PowerBook looks a lot more at home there than the MBP does. Would I swap the screens if I could? I’d be mighty tempted, that’s for sure.

I’m a huge fan of Moshi’s Apple-centric line of products and accessories. In fact, my entire collection of Apple products has now been complimented by Moshi. For example, I use the iLynx USB/Firewire hub and Celesta keyboard with my iMac; my iPhone is protected by the iGlaze 3G; and recently, my Macbook Pro experienced a thorough makeover.

Over the years I have owned a variety of Apple laptops, and each one inevitably ends up with scratches on the screen, discoloration on the wrist area, disgusting keys, and other forms of wear and tear. I decided to not endure this experience with my new aluminum MacBook Pro. My goal is to maintain a pristine look for as long as possible, and I intend to achieve this goal by combining Moshi’s products into the ultimate protection solution.

Clearguard MB: $25

The Clearguard MB is a thin cover for your MacBook or MacBook Pro keyboard. Installation is simple: lay it across the keyboard. After a few minutes of typing, it’s barely noticeable. It’s virtually transparent so your backlit keys are still visible in dark rooms. I have been using it for a couple of months, and you can clearly see how my keyboard still looks like I just slid the computer out of the box. Cleaning the Clearguard is a simple process involving dish soap and water.

The best part about the Clearguard MB is I no longer see key indentations on the screen (a problem MacBooks and PowerBooks have experienced for a long time). Below is a picture of the Clearguard after a couple months. See the keys on the right side? I’m impressed.

Palmguard: $20-$28

The Palmguard is used to protect the area where your wrists sit on the computer. For me, that’s the part that receives the most damage over time. I’m always amazed at how powerful skin oil is. Again, installation is simple: Line up the Palmguard carefully in the corners and then firmly slide your hand across. If you aren’t satisfied, it’s easy to take the Palmguard off and try again without leaving any residue.

In the past, I used a competitor’s product to protect the wrist area. One thing missing was something to place onto the trackpad area. The Palmguard comes with a separate piece just for that. The accuracy and clickability (I just made up that word) of the trackpad are not affected.

Moshi sells a variety of Palmguard products to match the color and size of your Apple laptop. Below is a picture of the Palmguard after a couple months. Again, I’m impressed.

iVisor AG: $35-38

iVisor AG is the flagship laptop protection product by Moshi. Not only does it protect the screen from scratches, dust and fingerprints, but it also eliminates glare. Remember when we had a choice between matte and glossy screens for our MacBook Pros? Well, this is as close as you can get to owning an aluminum MBP with a matte finish without swapping the screen.

Installation is shockingly easy. You just line up the corners, press down, and firmly slide your hand across the screen. The air bubbles you see while applying a protective layer on your iPhone are not a problem. I was nervous about this, but fortunately Moshi delivered on its promise. There’s a hole at the top for your iSight, and a transparent part in the black border so the “Macbook Pro” text on the bottom is still visible.

Below is the iVisor after a few weeks. No reflection, no scratches.

Conclusion

A MacBook Pro is an investment. It deserves to remain in perfect condition. What I love about Moshi’s products is that they can be installed in minutes and they perform to my standards: no air bubbles, no scratches, and no damage.

I purposefully did not include outer cases because I dislike adding bulk to the laptop. Also, a simple and artistic way to protect the top from scratches is to add a Gelaskin.

Moshi products are available for purchase at Dr. Bott and nuCourse.

If you bought a MacBook Pro between May 2007 and September 2008, you might be painfully aware of NVIDIA’s major screw-up in providing fundamentally faulty 8600M GT graphics processors for Apple computers, as well as others. Apple no doubt still remembers that, too, since the warranty extension and repair refund policy is undoubtedly costing it large sums of money. That unpleasant memory may have partially led to a falling out between the two, according to recent reports.

SemiAccurate is reporting that, according to multiple sources, at recent negotiations between the two companies, discussions became rather heated, in part due to NVIDIA’s apparently arrogant stance concerning its supplier relationship with Apple. Evidently, Apple was expecting more modesty from a company that has cost it so much cash, thanks to a problem it didn’t even acknowledge existed.

The end result of the rift will basically see NVIDIA locked out of Apple for at least three to four years, according to SemiAccurate’s sources. Which means the sweetheart deal that saw the advent of the now ubiquitous 9400M graphics processor and NVIDIA chipset may be at an end. According to the same report that announced the split, Apple will be going back to Intel for its chipset needs in the immediate future.

But why now? Apple has known about NVIDIA’s somewhat questionable dealings with it for a while now, and hasn’t yet stopped rolling out computers boasting graphics processors from the chipmaker. Part of the reason might be that NVIDIA has only now started to become unbearably arrogant in its dealings with Apple, following the success of the 9400M.

A more likely reason we’ve yet to see the effect of the fallout on actual Apple products is that the company’s design cycle is so long that the current models were already irrevocably in the queue when news of the faulty 8600M GT processors broke. Apple’s own investigation only wrapped up in mid-2008, at which point its product plans for at least the next year are no doubt pretty much set in stone, especially regarding major internal components. Other companies affected by the NVIDIA screw-up are likewise only just beginning to show signs of the fallout, lending credence to this idea.

While NVIDIA screwed up huge when it supplied Apple with a large number of faulty graphics cards and then refused to own up and take responsibility, does a lock-out really benefit current Apple customers? I spent most of last weekend playing Spore on my brand new 13-inch MacBook Pro, something which I never would’ve been able to do enjoyably (or at all) using a model sporting an integrated Intel chipset. To me, going back that way would feel like backsliding.

Maybe Apple’s own chip design machinations will pan out when it comes time to show NVIDIA the door, in which case it could shock us all with a completely revamped platform. Let’s hope so, because I’m not so sure I want my next computer to bring back the Intel GMA headache I only just managed to get rid of.

One of the best reasons to get a new MacBook Pro, aside from the dazzling new screen on the 13-inch, and in spite of the SATA capping that’s apparently in place, is the extended battery life courtesy of the new built-in lithium polymer batteries. And by all accounts, even if you won’t necessarily reach Apple’s estimates, you will get more usage out of your notebook without having to connect to a power source. Or you’ll get more usage as long as you’re not running in Windows under Boot Camp, that is.

AnandTech’s Anand Shimpi has been running a MacBook Pro 15-inch through its paces over at his site, and while he was very impressed with the machine’s new battery overall, he noticed a considerable disparity between apparent power consumption under OS X, and under Vista. Nor was the difference marginal. Running OS X while only web browsing, Shimpi was able to coax a little over eight hours out of the notebook under OS X, and only six using Vista. That’s a two hour, or 25 percent difference.

Windows 7, which is supposed to make up for a lot of the mistakes Microsoft made with Vista, fared no better. The RC 1 version of the upcoming OS lasted only 5.48 hours using the same test conditions. Some of that can be ascribed to there not being final, optimized drivers for Windows 7 yet, but I doubt that accounts for the more than two-hour deficit it has compared with OS X running on the same hardware.

Windows supporters will no doubt chime in with claims that the Apple hardware is to blame, but Shimpi found some reason to believe that may not be the case. He spoke to a number of PC OEM manufacturers to see if they’d found a difference in battery life between OS X and Vista, and though none would officially go on record, some at least admitted to seeing a similar difference to the one Shimpi had found.

Since Apple doesn’t officially support any third-party hardware, it’ll be hard or even impossible to prove that OS X is, in fact, a more battery-efficient operating system, completely independent of any hardware considerations. Still, that’s one less reason to ever commit sacrilege by dual-booting your Apple notebook, which is bad news for Windows sales, no matter what the cause.

All you hackintosh experts out there, feel free to chime in with your own battery life tales, since your experience running OS X on non-standard hardware might be the closest thing we can get to a fair standard for comparison.

A Mac laptop question I’ve been getting asked over the past few months is which 13-inch MacBook is the better value — the posh aluminum unibody model, or the $300 cheaper carryover white polycarbonate unit, which, after two substantial updates in 2009, had been upgraded to pretty closely match the more expensive machine performance-wise, and had the bonus of a FireWire port, which the unibody didn’t.

My take has been that it’s a nice sort of dilemma, since you really couldn’t go wrong. Both models offered excellent value — more computer for the money than ever before in Apple portables.

However, the Mac portable landscape, and the relative value equation for these two models, shifted dramatically with the MacBook Pro line announcements at WWDC, and I can now declare a clear value-leader. The renamed, upgraded, and price-chopped 13-inch MacBook Pro now wins at a walk, retaining all the goodness of the aluminum MacBook but with a boatload of value added, along with a $100 price reduction. You really can’t go wrong with the new baby MacBook Pro now having a FireWire port restored and the welcome addition of an SD Card slot for good measure — something that’s never been seen before on an Apple laptop. You also get a backlit keyboard, a quarter-gigabyte more clock speed, and a built-in battery claimed to go up to seven hours between recharges.

The WhiteBook, now sole designate of the plain “MacBook” name, is still a formidable machine for $200 cheaper if you’re on a tight budget. Last week, prior to WWDC, Apple refreshed the white MacBook, quietly bumping the Core 2 Duo clock speed to 2.13GHz, the RAM speed to 800MHz, and matched the base unibody’s 160GB standard hardware drive capacity (upgradable to 500GB), which for a brief interval actually made the price-leader MacBook faster than the more expensive base unibody. But no longer. Here’s how it all shapes up between the WhiteBook and the 13-inch MacBook Pro now that the dust has settled a bit.

The Shootout

Processor Clock Speed
WhiteBook: 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo
Unibody: 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo
Advantage: Unibody

Frontside Bus Speed
WhiteBook: 1066MHz
Unibody: 1066MHz
Advantage: Draw

RAM speed
WhiteBook: 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Unibody: 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
Advantage: Unibody

Standard RAM
WhiteBook: 2GB
Unibody: 2GB
Advantage: Draw

Graphics Chipset
WhiteBook: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory
Unibody: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory
Advantage: Draw

Hard Drive Capacity (Standard)
WhiteBook: 160GB
Unibody: 160GB
Advantage: Draw

Display Backlight
WhiteBook: CCFL
Unibody: LED
Advantage: Unibody

USB Ports
WhiteBook: 2
Unibody: 2
Advantage: Draw

FireWire Ports
WhiteBook: One FireWire 400
Unibody: One FireWire 800 (backwards compatible with FW400 via optional adapter)
Advantage: Unibody

SD Card Slot
WhiteBook: None
Unibody: 1
Advantage: Unibody

Backlit Keyboard
WhiteBook: No
Unibody: Yes
Advantage: Unibody

Bluetooth
WhiteBook: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Unibody: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Advantage: Draw

Ethernet Port
WhiteBook: One Gigabit Ethernet
Unibody: One Gigabit Ethernet
Advantage: Draw

Video Out
WhiteBook: Mini-DVI
Unibody: Mini DisplayPort
Advantage: Depends on your needs and legacy hardware

Trackpad
WhiteBook: Conventional with button
Unibody: Glass multi-touch buttonless
Advantage: Unibody

iSight Camera
WhiteBook: Yes
Unibody: Yes
Advantage: Draw

Housing Enclosure
WhiteBook: White polycarbonate plastic
Unibody: Aluminum carved from a single billet
Advantage: Unibody

Price
WhiteBook: $999
Unibody: $1,199
Advantage: WhiteBook

Score (Wins in these 18 categories)
13″ Unibody MacBook Pro: 8
13″ White MacBook: 1
Draws: 9

There are also a few important distinctions that don’t show up in a straightforward features inventory comparison. While both machines have 13.3-inch glossy displays, the unibody has also been upgraded to a higher-quality screen from AU Optronics with 60 percent greater color gamut, another advantage over the WhiteBook.

Drop-Dead Gorgeous Jewelry Finish

The advantages of the unibody case are partly aesthetic (it is drop-dead gorgeous) but also structurally much more rigid, and presumably more durable and rugged than the white machine’s plastic case (which has had a history of cracking issues). The solid aluminum also has a sound-deadening effect that makes the machine virtually silent. You really have to see, feel, and (not) hear the unibody firsthand to truly appreciate its quietness, jewelry standard of finish, and precision component fits.

The Mini-DVI versus Mini DisplayPort advantages and disadvantages will depend partly on how important connecting to existing monitors and/or other devices you might have on hand is to individual users.

I like the buttonless trackpad in the unibody better than I thought I would, and it’s one of the best trackpads I’ve ever used. I experienced no difficulty in adapting to “buttonless” clicking. Both machines have “chicklet” type keyboards of which I’m not the biggest fan, but you get used to them.

I think the value equation between the two, which prior to this month’s revisions had been a bit of a saw-off, is now crystal-clear. The only category on which the WhiteBook beats the 13″ MacBook Pro is price, and my recommendation is that if you can somehow scrape up the extra $200, the unibody machine is well worth the extra outlay. My 2.0GHz 13-inch unibody MacBook is a delightful computer, and the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is even better in an abundance of ways.

What about the $1,499, 2.53GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro? I’ve never thought that the top-of-the-line MacBook’s higher price was justified by what you get extra, but if a quarter GHz greater processor speed, 90GB more hard drive capacity, and an added 2GB of RAM look like $300 more value to you, then go for it. Also worth considering is that for another $200 on top of that, you can get a 15-inch display with basically the same specs as the $1,499 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple pulled a flanking maneuver on us today, catching us by surprise. While there were some rumblings about the unibody 13” MacBook possibly being brought into the “Pro” family, there were no rumors about changes to the MacBook or Pro line in general beyond perhaps the usual speed bumps.

Instead, we got some major updates to the MacBook Pro line, and lower prices. Let’s take a look…

The 13” MacBook Pro

I already considered the unibody 13” kind of a MacBook Pro Lite, so in my view it’s fitting they’ve officially added it to the family. Some of you who claim it can’t be a “Pro” without FireWire, well, then it’s a Pro. Let’s just get right to the additions today:

• Processor speed bumps. From 2.0 to 2.26 on the entry model, 2.4GHz to 2.53 on the high end.
• FireWire 800. There you go! Probably the single biggest complaint about the MacBook just got silenced.
• SD Card Slot. I’ve wanted one of these for a while. Easier to use on the road; no cable needed.
• Improved battery. A whopping 7 hours of battery life; and the battery itself should last nearly 5 years. When they did this for the 17” MacBook Pro I mentioned that I’d love them to bring this technology to the rest of their line; I’m glad they did so.
• Better screen. It’s hard to quantify this, but I believe it’s the same screen they use in the MacBook Air, which is a visibly better screen than the first unibody 13” MacBooks.
• Base Memory on the entry remains 2GB, but increases to 4GB on the high end (maximum memory for both increases from 4GB to 8GB).
• Hard Drive configurable maximum is now 500GB.
• Backlit keyboard for all models (previously just at the high end).

And all of this for $100 less than yesterday; $1,199 entry, $1,499 high end. These are tremendous upgrades for the “little” MacBook. I have an original high-end unibody 13” and am jealous. I’d especially love the battery, SD slot, and of course the “free” 4GB RAM upgrade all for $100 less than I spent. The better screen, faster processor, and FireWire are just icing on that cake.

The MacBook Pro 15”

This model shares many updates with its little brother:

• Speed bumps from two models at 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz, to three models at 2.53, 2.66, and 2.8GHz.
• Improved battery with the same characteristics as above.
• Same SD slot as above.
• Base memory of 4GB on all models (maximum of 8GB).

Unlike the 13” model, where all they did was add features, the 15” models got some trimming:

• These models no longer have the Express Card slot.
• The new low-end model lacks the discrete NVIDIA 9600M graphics

With the low-end model priced at $1,699, the upshot is that the price of entry for a 15” MacBook Pro is now $300 less than yesterday. And, though it lacks the discrete graphics and Express Card slot, it gains the SD card slot, greatly improved battery, and a faster processor. This is basically a 15″ version of the high-end 13″ MacBook Pro for only $200 more.

The $1,999 price that used to be the entry point for 15” is now a beautiful “middle” machine lacking only an Express Card slot from yesterday’s model, but gaining the SD slot, battery, etc. At $300 over the entry 15” version, you get a faster processor, discrete graphics, and a bigger hard drive. This thing is comparable to what Apple sold for $2,499 yesterday!

Finally, the high-end 15” is another $300 over the middle model. Still no Express Card, but you get a faster processor and a 500GB hard drive in addition to the SD slot, great battery, and discrete graphics. Note that the high-end 15″ costs $300 less than yesterday, and is a better machine.

It’s amazing what you get in a 15” MacBook Pro today compared to yesterday. Unless you require the Express Card slot, these are superior machines, at significantly lower prices, than before.

The MacBook Pro 17”

This model is the newest of the bunch, and as such needed the least upgrading. It already had the great battery, for instance. In addition, the 17” model retains the Express Card slot instead of getting an SD slot. Still, you get a bigger hard drive (500GB up from 320GB) and save $300 since it now starts at $2,499.

Summary

The 13” models are truly MacBook Pros, with more and better features, lower prices, and they lost nothing in the process. They are fantastic machines.

The 15” models are excellent values, shedding only the Express Card slot (and discrete graphics at the low-end) but gaining an SD slot, the better battery, and other things in the process. The three new price points make the larger 15” screen more affordable than ever.

The 17” is primarily unchanged, but getting a larger hard disk while saving $300 in the process is a pretty sweet deal.

Apple announced a slew of hardware updates today, including a number of upgrades to its notebook lineup.

For me, the most notable among these was the upwards shift of the 13-inch aluminum MacBook into the MacBook Pro category, alongside the 15- and 17-inch models, both of which also got their own feature and hardware improvements. The white, plastic polycarbonate MacBook is looking mighty lonely down at the low end of the scale.

Alongside the name change, the 13-inch MacBook Pro (I’m glad I no longer have to specify “unibody” or anything else to distinguish it from the regular white MacBook anymore) gets an SD card slot, up to 8GB (if you’re partial to a $1,000 upgrade) of memory, a max hard drive size of 500GB (or 256GB SSD), and a backlit keyboard, standard.

Also, making a triumphant return, is FireWire thanks to an FW800 port, as is standard for the Pro line of computers. All this at a new entry-level price point of $1,199, which comes standard with a 2.26GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 160GB HDD. Another higher-priced option with a 2.53GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 250GB HDD goes for $1,499.

The price drop, combined with the spec upgrade, makes this one of Apple’s most appealing machines to those of us who are cost-conscious Mac addicts. Add in the inclusion of the same battery tech that was first introduced in the 17-inch MacBook Pro, with a reported battery life of seven hours (likely exaggerated), and I’m sold. If you’re an education customer, you get another $100 off, bringing the total price of the laptop to $1,099 before taxes. Someone’s going shopping later today, and I’ll let you in on a little secret: It’s me.

I’d wait for Snow Leopard to come out in September, but with $29 upgrade pricing, and a $49 family pack (I have three Macs), there’s not really any cause to wait. One might argue that not enough has changed with this upgrade to justify slapping the “Pro” moniker onto the end of the name, but honestly, the company cut the price along with the title rather than raising it, so I’m not complaining. I seriously believe that this is the best value proposition in Apple’s lineup as it stands, especially given that it’s still relatively easy to upgrade RAM and hard disk (compared with the Mac mini) on your own — much cheaper than it would cost to do so with Apple-installed components.

Last week Apple quietly upgraded the entry-level white MacBook’s Core 2 Duo processor clock speed from 2.0 GHz to 2.13 GHz, added an additional 40GB of standard hard disk capacity, and upgraded its RAM specification to 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM. Obviously, additional speed and capacity is a plus, but as The Mac Observer’s Ted Landau questions, why upgrade this long-in-the-tooth laptop at all?

Significant Value-Added

To recap recent developments in the MacBook world, the unibody aluminum machines, released October 2008, mostly replaced the preceding white-and-black polycarbonate models, with the entry-level unibody model featuring a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor, which remains the current spec at this writing (although reportedly there has been an unheralded upgrade of display quality).

Meanwhile, Apple continued selling one, last, lonely representative of the previous MacBook form factor — a white MacBook model, initially with a 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. However, the “WhiteBook” received a substantial upgrade on January 21, 2009 with the addition of an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics chipset replacing the older and much slower Intel GMA X3100 graphics of the previous model. The standard RAM allotment doubled from 1GB to 2GB, and its system bus speed was increased from 800 MHz to 1066 MHz, but the processor speed dropped slightly to 2.0 GHz, matching the base unibody MacBook spec. With the price remaining steady at $999, this obviously represented significant value-added, and presumably the last revision of this machine.

But Apple wasn’t finished with the WhiteBook yet, and last week, as noted, it gave that machine a nice little spec bump — still at a price $300 less than the base unibody MacBook.

Not Dead Yet

Since around Christmas, many pundits have been predicting that Apple would soon drop the polycarbonate-bodied MacBook, possibly replacing it with a bare-bones version of the unibody MacBook at the $999 price point. But that hasn’t happened, and this latest refresh seems to indicate that Cupertino intends to carry on selling the WhiteBook for quite some time, which is good news for budget-conscious Apple laptop purchasers who have been dismayed with Apple’s decision to drop FireWire support from the unibody MacBooks. (The WhiteBook still has a FireWire 400 port.)

Landau speculates that Apple hasn’t yet found a way to make selling a $999 unibody profitable, which is a reasonable surmise, and with development and tooling costs for the plastic MacBook long since amortized, it’s probably able to turn a tidy profit on the white MacBooks at that price point, even with the two value-added revisions this year keeping it current and competitive in terms of power.

The Education Market Factor

Another factor cited by Landau is the WhiteBook’s popularity in the education market, where its relatively modest price (it sells for $949) and scuff and bump-resistant ruggedness of its polycarbonate housing make it especially attractive, as do its FireWire 400 port and mini-DVI connector (as opposed to the unibodies’ Mini DisplayPort connector). Again, I think that’s a reasonable assumption.

The value of the $999 MacBook has again been significantly enhanced without a price increase, and while the WhiteBook still sells for twice as much or more than a typical PC netbook, it’s more than arguable that you get more than twice the computer.

Apple must be trying to throw us off with its erratic update schedule. First, it released iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5 only one week after beta 4, and it hasn’t released one since, and now it surreptitiously updates the entry-level white plastic MacBook model like a thief in the night, instead of during Tuesday Apple Store downtime, as is tradition.

Whether Apple just wants to keep us guessing, or the update wasn’t deemed significant enough for the standard procedure and its attendant fanfare, the company did indeed post a slightly upgraded version of its remaining plastic-body notebook early this a.m. Maybe the better internals are a way of increasing the value proposition of its only sub-$1,000 laptop offering as students mull a computer purchase for the fall, or as parents select choice graduation gifts for those who’ve already come through the gauntlet. It becomes an even better deal when you throw in the education discount, which drops the price to $949.

Changes include a new 2.13GHz processor (up from 2.0GHz), 40GB more storage with a 160GB HDD, and faster 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM (vs. 667MHz in the previous version). The new hard drive definitely brings the computer more in line with the times, as does the RAM speed bump, though PC enthusiasts will be quick to point out that these specs still lag far behind comparably priced Windows-laptop offerings. The polycarbonate MacBook also retains the same NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card that is now standard fare among Apple’s lower-priced notebooks and desktops.