Apple's White MacBook Goes All Unibody On Us

The white MacBook has been a staple of the Apple notebook line for about four years now. Today, Apple gave it a facelift—it now boasts a curved, polycarbonate unibody enclosure.

Fortunately, the updated white MacBook has new features under the hood as well. Along with the new enclosure and non-slip rubberized bottom (much like the Mac mini, the entry-level machine on the desktop side), it has a (much larger) glass Multi-Touch trackpad, an LED backlight, a longer-lasting (7 hr) non-replaceable battery and updates to its specs.

The processor has been bumped to 2.26 GHz from 2.13GHz and the hard drive is now 250GB (formerly 160GB). The RAM is now slightly faster, with 2GB included, and upgradable to 4GB. It now features the Mini DisplayPort, a new standard in video connectivity.

All notebooks meet EPEAT Gold status and Energy Star 5.0 requirements. The LED-backlit displays are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. All internal cables and components are PVC-free and are constructed of recyclable materials.

Overall, the white MacBook now includes things that were formerly exclusive either to the Pro line (built-in battery) or the aluminum unibody models (Mini DisplayPort, unibody enclosure and LED backlight). Many of these features have a reduced environmental impact, which is great to see carry over into Apple’s entry-level machines.

Here’s a rundown of what the white unibody MacBook includes:

• 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 × 800 glossy display
• 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• 1066 MHz front-side bus
• 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, upgradable to 4GB
• an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics card
• 250GB serial ATA 5400 rpm hard drive with Sudden Motion Sensor (in case you drop it)
• slot-loading double-layer 8X SuperDrive (DVD+ / -R DL/DVD+ / -RW/CD-RW)
• Mini DisplayPort for video output
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• built-in iSight video camera
• (2) USB 2.0 ports (and NO FireWire)
• (1) audio line in/out port, supporting optical digital out and analog in/out
• glass Multi-Touch trackpad
• built-in 60WHr lithium polymer battery
• 60W MagSafe Power Adapter

The white unibody MacBook still starts at $999.99, with multiple custom configurations available as well. We will be listing them momentarily. More to come!

Read Apple’s press release here.