I didn’t have a choice. My long suffering black MacBook was near death with one of the esoteric but notorious overheating CPU ailments and I had to get a new one. I am not sure I would have bought a new portable otherwise, but it certainly was a good excuse and a strong incentive. As usual, I took advantage of the situation to properly review my options and reconsider the way I work. Would a 15” be better, or even a 17”? Since Apple didn’t make a smaller computer, should I go for a Sony VAIO and get something really pocketable? My girlfriend uses one of the incredibly fully featured 11” Sony and loves it. I must say I am a bit upset at Apple not being able to put a firewire socket in the new MacBook when Sony manages to fit pretty much one of everything in the TZ series.

I already knew the answer to that. A few months earlier, in desperate need for something to run Windows on and program my camera robot with, I bought an Eee PC 901. I loved it for at least a couple of weeks. It is small, tough and convenient but really too small for proper work and it soon caught a trojan that forced me to reinstall it from scratch. Not an easy task in a computer lacking a disk drive. And Windows is still not much fun to use. Actually, I still hate its mix of obscure interface and intrusive, obnoxious helper applications with a vengeance.

Comforted in the notion that 13” was a minimum and that Mac OS still was the best, I started comparing the MacBook with its larger siblings. Apple cladding both the 13” and the 15” in the wonderful Unibody enclosure made the decision easier. The new MacBook lost both in size and weight while the MacBook Pro was either the same or worth on both accounts. I got used to working with a 13” screen and any additional weight meant I would have to leave another lens at home. The only real advantage of the 15” over the 13” was the better graphics chip, but its benefit in helping run Aperture was unproved. The 17” hadn’t been updated and weighted even more so that wasn’t going to be an option.

I therefore bought the best 13” MacBook I could find, on the day they were released.

The computer looks much better than the old plastic MacBook and feels much tougher. The plastic case of my old MacBook was already cracked but I expect the solid block of aluminium of the new one will last forever. I suspect the new all glass screen should also be more durable but I have noticed it already has keyboard imprints on it, showing it can flex enough to touch it. I routinely pick up the computer by one of its corners while it’s open without apparent damage but have heard the case could bend when doing so. In the negatives, the LED backlit screen is nice, but really too glossy and reflective to work well with photographs. For some reason, Apple got rid of the useful “Enter” key and put another “Option” key instead. Finally, the lack of a firewire port annoys me but hasn’t been a hindrance as I just switched to USB portable drives and the latest Canon EOS cameras also use USB.

On the good side, the lit keyboard comes in very handy at times, the new screen can be made extremely bright when needed and the battery indicator is now located on the side of the computer and much more useful for it. The battery life seems a bit improved form my previous MacBook although it would always be better than a 2 years old battery. The best improvement, of course, is the new trackpad. It is smoother, larger and allows for really smart multi touch gestures. If you think of how much you use this interface, it is worth the upgrade alone. Also, made of glass, it marks much less than the plastic and metal ones which all quickly show an unwelcome patina.

UPDATE - Its now been two months and as my old PowerMac G5 just died, the Macbook, upgraded to 4GB or RAM, has been pressed into service as my main computer, driving three printers, 7TB of hard disks and a number of USB peripherals. Amazingly, it is possible to drive a 30” Cinema Display from a MacBoook using an exotic Dual Channel DVI adaptor. There are some issues, such as random video noise, but it works well enough in an emergency. I am still eagerly waiting for my new Nehalem Mac Pro but at least I can do some proper work right now.