6362 On Wednesday evening Apple, in one of its inexplicable "stealth" product updates, released the a "Revision D" 13-inch MacBook with an upgrade to Intel Santa Rosa CPUs. The top MacBook now comes with a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. Also very welcome is a video support upgrade to the Intel GMA X3100 integrated video chip with 144 MB of graphics allocation instead of the 64 MB with the previous GMA 950 unit. Rounding out performance tweaks, the MacBook now supports up to 4GB RAM, double the 2GB ceiling in the previous models, and the frontside bus has been upgraded to 800MHz from 667MHz. Standard RAM, hard drive and SuperDrive options remain the same.

Approximately a 10% speed improvement over the previous model is being reported.

The processor chip upgrade moves the MacBook closer to the MacBook Pro line which has had Santa Rosa power for some time, although notwithstanding the graphics support upgrade in the new MacBooks, the MacBook Pro's real Graphics Processor Unit with dedicated VRAM still gives it a substantial edge, especially for graphics, video, and gaming performance.

A new Apple Knowledge Base article says there are a couple of key, visual differences in the new MacBooks.

The keyboard has new media control keys across the function key row:

Function Key Features:
F1, F2 Decrease or increase the display brightness
F3 Exposé allows quick access to all open windows
F4 Dashboard allows access to widgets
F5, F6 Programmable keys
F7—F9 Media controls for rewind, play, or fast forward
F10 Mute the sound coming from the speakers or headphone port
F11, F12 Decrease or increase volume from speakers or headphone port

The rear vent spacing has also been reconfigured, with the "MacBook 13-inch Late 2007" having much wider spacing between the vent fins than the previous MacBook models.

In other Mac notebook update news, you can now order the MacBook Pro BTO with a 2.6Ghz chip at a $250 premium and with available 4Gb of RAM and 250GB hard drive options.

The revised MacBook model lineup includes:

2.0GHz 13-inch MacBook (white)
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory
80GB hard drive
Intel GMA X3100 w/ 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM
Combo drive
$1,099.00

2.2GHz 13-inch MacBook (white)
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory
120GB hard drive
Intel GMA X3100 w/ 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM
Double-layer SuperDrive
$1,299.00

2.2GHz 13-inch MacBook (black)
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory
160GB hard drive
Intel GMA X3100 w/ 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM
Double-layer SuperDrive
$1,499.00

For more information, visit apple.com or the Apple online store.

Charles W. Moore

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