MacBook is a Machintosh notebook computer line produced by Apple Inc.It has replaced the original Machintosh notebook series that Apple was producing,the PowerBook and the iBook.The first model of the MacBook was developed as a polycarbonate and fiberglass combination case notebook and it was modeled after the iBook G4.
The second model uses an aluminum case and was later rebranded as the 13-inch MacBook Pro.The model was introduced alongside the 15-inch MacBook Pro.As now aluminum is reserved for the high-end MacBook Pro,the third MacBook model used an unibody polycarbonate shell for its casing.The MacBook is the most successful Machintosh in history as NPD sales-research group declared that it was the single best-selling notebook of any brand in U.S retail stores during five months until October 2008,when Apple Inc. released the first of the MacBook Pro serie.The MacBook is however considered to be the low-end of the MacBook family.
The original MacBook is available in both black and white casing and has Intel Core Duo CPU technology that works with 945GM chipset and GMA950 integrated graphics a 667 Mhz front side bus.Later revisions of the MacBook however were upgraded to Core 2 Duo CPU and GM965 chipset,with Intel's GMAX3100 integrated graphics card.The Intel graphics card solution did not last as it was replaced with the more powerful Nvidia GeForce 320 M.The system works on a 800 Mhz front side bus.Sales of the original black polycarbonate model of the MacBook stopped in October 2008 when the aluminum MacBook Pro was introduced.Several improvements were made as the MacBook is thinner and wider than the iBook G4 that it replaced.The video output was changed also as the mini-VGA output is no longer present.A mini-DVI port was placed instead.The MacBook was the first after the MacBook Pro to adopt the MagSafe technology developed by Apple.
Although it basically followed the industrial design of the notebook it has replaced,the MacBook also introduced some interesting features that were new and innovative for notebooks,such as the glossy display,the sunken keyboards design or the non-mechanical magnetic latch.The keyboard received several updates as it was reduced in the end to the form of the keyboard shipped when buying an iMac.This means that the Apple logo was removed from the control key,the virtual numeric keys were also removed,and the multimedia shortcut control key is now the same as the one one the iMac's keyboard.
The improvements that were made to the MacBook opposing the PowerBook or iBook are beyond keyboards,as everything from display features to input and output ports design,models and quantities were changed.Such improvement is represented by the adding of FireWire 400(and later FireWire 800) or the USB port update,from USB 2.0 to USB 2.1.
All these said,the MacBook is one of the best notebooks available for the moment.