Yesterday I attended a large meeting at Apple where they introduced the MacBook for their mayor accounts in the Netherlands.

Yes, I actually got my hands on a white MacBook. So after seeing this nice piece of hardware I could give a little review about my experience. This is purely based on the exterior of the machine; I did not have the time to actually play with it and do some performance tests.

The first thing I noticed was the new “glossy screen.” I really don’t like it!
Yes, the screen is very bright and the pixels are displayed very clearly. But there is a big annoyance. The lights in the room were reflecting on the screen which, I think, was very annoying.

I asked about this problem and Apple said that the screen was perfect for designers; there are great possibilities when you’re editing photos or movies because you have the ability to see your work in such a bright and clear way. I think that this is a bad argument because the MacBook is targeted for consumers and not the fancy designers.

I know that in the PC laptop business these glossy screens are pretty standard, but I hate those screens also for exactly the same reasons.

The glossy screen is also available for the MacBook Pro, but this is an optional feature.
I would also prefer the same construction for the MacBook. Make the glossy screen optional so the consumer can choose whether they want this screen or not. I don’t understand why Apple made the glossy screen default on the MacBook. Then again, maybe I’m the only one who feels this way.

The new resolution is awesome though; you can work with the MacBook at a resolution of 1280 x 800, which is a great improvement, if you ask me.

The other thing was the new keyboard. I was a bit skeptical about this, but it was a surprise: This keyboard rocks! The keyboard looks very slick and it types well.
The downside is that you can’t easily remove it.

Apple removed the 12″ iBooks from the laptop family. This was mainly because there wasn’t much demand for this laptop. It’s sad for the people who loved the 12″ model, but I can understand this.

Conclusion
I think this is a great machine and will cause many people to spend some hard-earned cash. Although the screen still bugs me, maybe this is something you just have to get used to!

Tags: macbook, apple, macbook pro, glossy screen, pc laptop