MULTIMEDIA

With all the emphasis Apple placed on the new design and construction, it's really the performance, rather than the aesthetics, that stand out for us. Our black MacBook (2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM) got an Xbench of 68.03 with a battery rundown of 2:52. On the other hand, our new aluminum MacBook (2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM) scored an Xbench of 116.70 with a battery rundown of 3:01. We know, we know ... Xbench is a synthetic benchmark. But that's a pretty shocking improvement in the performance numbers, and in our use of the new MacBook, it's noticeable across the board. This machine, in comparison to the very capable Black Book, just screams. The new Pro machine is also faster, in Xbench at least.

It's hard to evaluate aesthetics — a jaw-dropping beauty to one person is an eye-crunching catastrophe to another — but to my peepers, the new Mac laptops are some of the most handsome the company has ever released. I’m a sucker for the black bezel around the screens, and for the glass all the way to the edge of the display. (One bonus is that the laptops and the iMac, as well as Apple’s new Cinema Display, all share the same black-and-aluminum look. Jony Ive must be doing the dance of joy). This isn't the sort of redesign that makes your jaw drop, although it might be unreasonable to think that Apple has to reach that standard every time they launch a revision. That's a measure of how inflated our expectations have become. But the Apple notebook line is just miles ahead, and these two machines — especially the MacBook — only put them further out in front.

MacBook: $1,600 as tested, Apple

MacBook Pro: $2,500 as tested, Apple

Photos: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com

Read the rest of our in-depth MacBook and MacBook Pro review.

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