Apple quietly updates $999 white MacBook with unibody specs

Hmmm, what's this? Did Apple just update its lowly, $999 white plastic polycarbonate MacBook to more closely align with its new unibody MacBooks? Why yes, yes it has... sometime in the last 3 days according to Google's cache. So for the same $999 you now get that newer generation 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor with faster 1,066MHz frontside bus, 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory standard (up from 1GB), and integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics. Whitey is still stuck with DDR2 SDRAM though, not the speedier DDR3 found in the unibodies. Disk drive and other specs (including Firewire 400) appear to be the same. Getting ready for Snow Leopard's OpenCL GPU support are we Apple?

Update: Bluetooth received a bump from 2.0 to 2.1 as well. Anything else?

[Thanks, Uncontrol]

Read -- Old white MacBook
Read -- New white MacBook

[Lundmark @ Jan 21st 2009 5:33AM]

Damnit, I just sent engadget the tip. Too slow!

[Uncontrol @ Jan 21st 2009 5:37AM]

B)

[Daniel @ Jan 21st 2009 6:26AM]

http://www.apple.com/macbook/white/

seems to have the feature updates

[Jash Sayani @ Jan 21st 2009 10:44AM]

I just ordered a unibody MacBook a few hours ago, at that time, it said Intel GMA.....

However, the RAM is still DDR 2....

[Lundmark @ Jan 21st 2009 10:50AM]

The unibody MacBook has never shipped with Intel GMA, nor DDR2.

The white MacBook this article is about is not unibody and features DDR2 memory, just like the previous white MacBooks.

[KAIKAI @ Jan 21st 2009 9:17PM]

WHEW that was close
i was this close to buying the old non unibody macbook

[Freestyle Farfetchd @ Jan 21st 2009 5:34AM]

Not in the UK. If these specs were available when I got my laptop, may have gone for this macbook. Finally! One that's not too much of a rip off!

[Rory @ Jan 21st 2009 6:25AM]

Just saw that too. I expected it when I saw the article though.
Disappointing, but I doubt I would have bought one anyway... Got to go unibody.

[DiGiC @ Jan 21st 2009 7:24AM]

I just ordered my 2.0GHz Unibody Macbook yesterday, only reason why I went with it in the first place is cos of the graphics :@:@:@

[Lundmark @ Jan 21st 2009 9:33AM]

Yes, in the UK.
Anybody that has ordered the old white MacBook should cancel and place a new order within a few days.

[Mark Anderson @ Jan 21st 2009 5:37AM]

Does the motherboard actually support DDR3?

Too pricey for what it is and what's currently available.

[Jacob @ Jan 21st 2009 6:24AM]

No, still only 667mhz DDR2

[beelaiyke @ Jan 22nd 2009 7:11AM]

tho lol i guess its cheaper to get the plastic macbook with FIREWIRE then the unibody that doesnt.
seriously, if you really dont care about the unibody enclosure, lawl

[Uncontrol @ Jan 21st 2009 5:38AM]

What a weird move by Apple. I expected them to simply tear through their current stock and discontinue it, not actually update it. I guess they're not prepared to lower the price in the Aluminum MacBook yet. Is the construction really that expensive?

[Verythrax @ Jan 21st 2009 6:55AM]

I think those will go "undead", like the G5 family that got dragged along for a quite long way, until they had real new goods to offer - it's not the first time Apple does that, and certainly will not be last.

Maybe it's just a placeholder until the next gen of intel/nvidia goodness strikes.

[cg0def @ Jan 21st 2009 7:50AM]

Sure it is. Why do you think noone else is using aluminum construction let alone carving it out with lasers? Aluminum is very expensive as a material and also very expensive to wok with. But it is actually worth the price hike especially if you've ever had a notebook that a body construction malfunction.
Plus you can also be certain that Apple is getting one heck of a deal on those 9400 chips. It probably cost them less to use one of them than the older Intel chips. Not to mention that with Snow Leopard you will get a huge performance hit if you have Intel's excuse for a graphics card.

[bioadam @ Jan 21st 2009 9:56AM]

The unibody MacBook not only has a more expensive aluminum shell, but also a large multitouch trackpad. As a unibody MacBook owner, I can say that both features are worth at least an extra Benjamin (which is what you'll pay if find a deal like I did or shop Apple's refurb store).

[Uncontrol @ Jan 21st 2009 9:57AM]

I have the Unibody MacBook too. I love it. Was just honestly asking if the construction is so expensive. It'd be nice to see some figures on it!

Maybe this has to do with the Air's price as well?

[Artr @ Jan 22nd 2009 5:15PM]

If you watched the previous keynote from October, Steve Jobs stated that they'd be keeping the white MacBooks around for a long time.

[Adderz @ Jan 21st 2009 5:43AM]

Hasnt been updated here in Australia. Its still $1649 for the x3100 base model.

The white Macbook really is the ugly duckling in Apples lineup. It cracks, it creaks, it stains...the black model would of been much more suited until they switch the entire lineup to Aluminum.

Damn Apple...neglecting their core computer market. They havent been getting things right lately. Still no Mac Mini...iMacs havent been updated...Mac Pros havent been updated...

The danm iPhone put a spanner in things.

[Benson @ Jan 21st 2009 10:20AM]

Yes, but I think the white is more iconic.

[michas_pi @ Jan 21st 2009 10:57AM]

My white MacBook takes offense to your scathing comments.

[kasn @ Jan 21st 2009 5:52AM]

we still have the old specs in the german store

2.1GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo Prozessor
1 GB DDR2 Arbeitsspeicher
120 GB Festplatte1
Intel GMA X3100 Grafikprozessor
Standard tastatur
Weiße Polycarbonatschale

[DeepKeeper @ Jan 21st 2009 5:54AM]

Also

Height change - 1.08 to 0.95
Wieight change - new MacBook is half pound lighter!
Mini DisplayPort instead of Mini DVI => No more composite or D-vidio output, put Dual Link DVI is now possible
45Whr battery instead of 55Whr (but claims a half hour more battery life)
bigger HDD in base configuration (160Gb instead of 120Gb)
No more FireWire 400!

[Jacob @ Jan 21st 2009 6:23AM]

It does have Firewire according to Apple's "Compare" tab:

"Expansion Two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 port"

Which is good news :)

[Uncontrol @ Jan 21st 2009 6:57AM]

lol those are the alu macbook specs

[Sin @ Jan 21st 2009 7:58AM]

DeepKeeper: That happened in October

The change now is the updates speccs on the white old MacBook, the main thing is the change from Intel GMA X3100 to NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, and also updated CPU and double memory.

[DeepKeeper @ Jan 21st 2009 5:55AM]

oh, sorry. Of course I meaned S-VIdeo, not D-Video =)

[NLI @ Jan 21st 2009 6:12AM]

now this is a great opportunity for all the people complaining about the lack of FW on new macbooks to put their money where their mouth is.

[Jacob @ Jan 21st 2009 6:23AM]

Not here in the New Zealand store yet either :\

Although personally I wouldn't see the point in downgrading my 2.2ghz Macbook just to get the better gfx/chipset (and lose money from selling the old MB)

On a related note, wheres our Core 2 Quad notebooks, computer industry!?

[Kelmon @ Jan 21st 2009 6:36AM]

Perhaps I have my sarcasm detection turned off, but was that an attempt at humor or did you really think that you can massacre the English language and call other people stupid? If I did miss the sarcasm then let me know and I'll get my detector checked out...

[Kelmon @ Jan 21st 2009 6:39AM]

Oh, this is going to be a dilemma later this year when the wife's laptop gets replaced. On the one hand you get a better hardware design with the new unibody models and DDR3 but on the other hand this model is cheaper, very close in specification and still has Firewire 400. Damn you, Apple!

[Verythrax @ Jan 21st 2009 6:58AM]

Maybe it's worth to wait a bit and see if this new model is prone to cracks, like the older model.

[Uncontrol @ Jan 21st 2009 7:10AM]

My MacBook cracked on the palmrests twice, the bottomcase twice, the bezel once. The HDD also died. They ended up giving me the aluminum MacBook for free because of this.

[Kelmon @ Jan 21st 2009 9:02AM]

Well, the upgrade isn't due until around October so I guess that's plenty of time for feedback to roll in, although I'd like to think that they sorted out any issues by now with the older MacBook design. Mind you, by then they'll probably have replaced the model entirely but I'll wait and see.

[Hawkman @ Jan 21st 2009 9:57AM]

@Uncontrol: seriously? You lucky sod. Apple have a semi-official extended warranty on the white macbook's body. They'll replace it out of warranty; mine got done about 3 times.

[LukeCarroll @ Jan 21st 2009 6:40AM]

Still the same in the UK:

2.1GHz

* Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB DDR2 Memory
* 120GB hard drive1
* Intel GMA X3100 graphics
* Standard keyboard
* White polycarbonate shell

[Lundmark @ Jan 21st 2009 9:37AM]

You just wait. All the UK stores are out of stock of the old one.

[Martin C @ Jan 21st 2009 7:07AM]

Just a tip...The swedish version has the 2 Gb DDR3 Ram....

http://store.apple.com/se/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook

[doctorSpoc @ Jan 21st 2009 12:51PM]

not is doesn't... i just copy pasted this with your link... the white MacBook is over towards the right the unibodies are over on the left if that's what you were looking at

2.1GHz
Core 2 Duo de Intel
***1 GB DDR2 Minne***
Hårddisk på 120 GB1
Grafikprocessorn Intel GMA X3100
Standardmässigt tangentbord
Skal av vit polykarbonatplast
Färdig att skickas: 3 dagar
Gratis frakt
9.495,00 kr

[Martin C @ Jan 21st 2009 7:10AM]

oops sorry...my mistake :)

[Paul @ Jan 21st 2009 7:13AM]

Does this model have the LED screen?

[Nick @ Jan 21st 2009 10:12PM]

It does not
feature reserved for the aluminum macbook for now

[[e-mail] @ Jan 21st 2009 7:27AM]

The german store just updated the specs and has listed the 2GB DDR3 memory, maybe a typo in the US store?

[DiGiC @ Jan 21st 2009 7:28AM]

I thought it was stange that the White Macbook (and Unibody 2.0GHz) has been sold out in the UK EVERYWHERE (Dixons, Currys, Comet, PC World etc) since new year...

[Zorque @ Jan 21st 2009 7:31AM]

I didn't know they were still making these, it's kind of a nice surprise. I prefer the white case to the aluminum one.

[7egend @ Jan 21st 2009 7:35AM]

I am guessing they updated this instead of discontinueing it cause this is their lowest cost MacBook and with the upcoming release of Snow Leopard that will take advantage of GPU processing this will bring it's processing power more inline with current offerings.

I think target audience for this is really the NetBook lovers that want something small and portable but don't want to really sacrifice that much. I think the price is good for what you are getting not to mention for a College student on a budget this is a great deal.

Just cause you don't think it's good or isn't for doesn't mean there isn't another 2 billion people looking at it thinking "that's perfect".

[bobartig @ Jan 21st 2009 12:58PM]

I really don't think this is 'netbook' territory. The screen is 13.3 inches, and it weighs 5.2 lbs, close to twice the weight of a netbook. The cost is $1k, twice that of a netbook.

On the flip side, its LOADED compared to a netbook with a DVD burner, 9400M gpu, firewire, C2D CPU. It's just a consumer laptop. Whether you choose this or a netbook of some sort, you get what you're paying for, but I wouldn't exactly try and conflate the two.

[homan85 @ Jan 21st 2009 7:41AM]

You can also buy it with 320GB Harddrive now!

[john @ Jan 21st 2009 7:43AM]

Now they just need to reduce its diagonal measure by about 4" ... and reduce the price accordingly. Then I'll buy one.