14 DAY TRIAL // Just as the two upgraded Apple MacBooks were released, uncertainty started hovering over the new laptops' performance and battery life. Intel Core 2 Duo - Penryn sports a 45nm refresh which, surprisingly (to some), doesn't improve performance as much as it does battery life.
Blokes over at AnandTech have carried out thorough tests on the new Penryn-based MacBooks and MacBook Pros, concluding the folllowing: "The biggest improvement by far comes in the battery life department. Just as we had seen earlier, you can expect these new models to outlast their predecessors by a good 7 - 15%. The performance side of things is more of a mixed bag. There are some situations where Penryn is clearly faster than Merom while others show the two with equal performance. It's for this reason that we say the biggest improvement lies in battery life, not performance."
The new MacBook features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors mentioned above, larger hard drives, and up to 2GB of memory standard and still starts at $1,099. As for the updated MacBook Pro, it sports the same Intel processor (part of the Penryn family - dual-core for laptops), a bigger hard drive, plenty of memory, and even more new features. The 15-inch display, 2.4GHz processor and 200GB hard disk model sounds much better with the same $1,999 price tag, while the 17-inch model, which sports a 2.6 GHz processor, 6MB of cache memory, and a 250GB hard drive, is priced at $2,799, according to Apple. What's really great about the Pro, however, is that it ships with an upgraded multi-touch-capable trackpad that everyone's been dying to see implemented.
"MacBook Air features the most advanced trackpad we've ever made, integrating the multi-touch technology from the iPhone. This integrated feature is unique to MacBook Air," said Apple a while ago, confusing the press in typical Apple manner.
MB Pro users are now able to pinch, swipe, or rotate to zoom in on text, advance through a photo album, or adjust an image.