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

Basically you’re looking at an aluminum MacBook…without the aluminum…with FireWire.

Yes, FireWire. Apple seems to have listened to the plaintive cries of Mac tech-heads everywhere. For the people who don’t need the aluminum housing, the new white MacBook has pretty much all the features of the aluminum model, albeit at a price point $300 lower than the metal model.

So what don’t you get?

• DDR3 memory (667MHz DDR2 is still plenty fast, and it’s cheap if you want to upgrade)
• Gesture support\buttonless touchpad (just scrolling…smaller touchpad too, but it works okay)
• Mini DisplayPort (no 30-inch displays), just Mini-DVI
• Aluminum housing (the white MacBook is five pounds, the aluminum model is four and a half)
• 40GB of hard disk space (120GB vs. 160GB)
• A half-hour of battery life (4.5 vs. 5)

However you do get the new Intel platform (1066 MHz bus, GeForce 9400), 2GB of memory, and all the amenities of having a Mac portable. The price? $999, $949 if you’re buying educational.

The bottom line? It’s fast, it’s relatively cheap, it’s a Mac and it’s available wherever Apple computers are sold (including your local Mines bookstore).

I, for one, am buying.

UPDATE: A member of NotebookReview has posted their impressions of the new MacBook. A few things of note: build quality on the white MacBook is lower than that of the aluminum model, and graphics take a 15% hit due to the use of slower memory in the plastic model. Then again, the white MacBook still outperforms Intel’s best integrated chip, the GMA X4500MHD, by about 80%.

The Macbook Pro 17″, in its six-and-a-half-pound “unibody” incarnation, will have a non-user-replaceable battery. Roughly comparable to a ten-cell unit form anywhere else, this lithium polymer unit sits below the front-right side of the notebook’s casing, and propels the LED-backlit 17-inch model of Apple’s pro notebook to a crazy eight hours of battery life if you use integrated graphics, seven if you use the Macbook Pro’s dedicated chip.

I gotta ask, why?

First, why a built-in battery? Apple said they made the battery 40% larger by making it non-removable. Doing some quick math, that means they could’ve made a battery with 5.5 hours of life on integrated graphics, 4.5 on dedicated. Slightly less than the 15-nch Macbook Pro, but still very, very reasonable for such a large computer.Don’t get me wrong, a computer can never be too thin, too light or have too much battery life, but why make the technical leap here and now?

Oh wait, I know. Apple, to my knowledge, has never made an extended battery for any of their computers, and I suppose they aren’t about to start now. Pus, an extended battery wouldn’t work so well poking out of the bront of the computer. Really bad ergonomics. Also, if you build in a battery, it costs more to replace (to the tune of $130 on the three-cell Macbook Air, $180 on the MacBehemoth…erm…MacBook Pro 17) and it keeps Apple store tech folks busy. How now, cash cow?

Second, why a 17″ computer? I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on the Macbook Pro yet, and won’t for a few weeks, but the contents of my change bowl say we’re looking at a computer that won’t fit in my backpack; the 15″ Macbook Pro was a squeeze as it stood. Sure, it’s cool and all to have an under-inch-thick, reasonably light portable powerhouse, but let’s think of applications here. 99.9% of them are within a cord-length of an outlet, and the other 0.1% are great chances for toting along an extra battery. The only place yu might be without power is on some form of transportation. The thing is, I have a hard enough time getting my Macbook Air, with its 13.3″ screen, pen in coach class; the 17″ Macbook Pro would require me to fly a different airline, and buy a first-class seat in said airline. Ouch.

All told, this move by Apple sets an interesting precedent that PC makers may follow: built-in batteries on normal-sized computers. Once they do that, Apple loses its advantage; if they can make batteries bigger by removing components that make said batteries user-replaceable, so can Dell, Gateway and HP. Then again, Apple had to do its best to spice up an otherwise bland, “we’ve seen that before” product that should have been updated a few months ago. Plus, they had to make sure the computer was in line profile-wise with its other aluminum MacBooks: less than an inch thick, growing gaunter by the minte. Or is that the company’s CEO?

Macbook Pro – Breaking the inch-thick barrier, the new 15″ Macbook Pro, taking cues from the Macbook Air and the newest generation of iMac, is 0.95″ in height and weighs a mere 5.5 pounds. These astounding specs stem from a manufacturing process pioneered with the Macbook Air: the body of the Macbook Pro is constructed from a handful of pieces of machines aluminum. The glass-covered LED-backlit screen is powered by either an nVidia GeForce 9400 or a 9600 chip, depending on whether you want four or five hours of battery life (both are included, and you can switch between them). The touchpad, also made of glass and tuned for the ultimate tracking experience, has no buttons and four-finger (!) gestures.

The new Macbook Pros start at $1,999 and also include the expected processor and memory upgrades from the new Intel Montevina system. The 17″ Macbook Pro looks to be untouched by these advances, but it is still available for sale on Apple’s website.

Macbook – Sporting the same striking construction and thickness as the Macbook Pro, the regular Macbook pares its weight down to 4.5 pounds. Its 13.3″ screen is now LED backlit and the graphics processor is the same nVidia 9400 that the Macbook Pro now uses to save battery power. Speaking of battery power, the new Macbook is billed as having up to five hours of battery life, despite having a smaller 6-cell unit on board than in previous models.

The new aluminum Macbook starts at $1,299 (less for academic purchases) and can be upgraded to a 128GB SSD for storage if you so choose, though this is an expensive option. If you want something less expensive, the previous generation of Macbook is still available, in its lowest-end iteration, for $999, a $100 drop overnight.

Macbook Air – The smallest, lightest Macbook available also gets processor and memory upgrades (all members of the Macbook series now have 1066 MHz DDR3 RAM), as well as a hard disk and SSD capacity bump (from 80 to 120, and from 64 to 128, GB of space, respectively). Finally, the display port on the Macbook Air has been standardized…it’s now a miniaturized version of the new DisplayPort standard, which allows for ultra-high-resolution video and audio to be output over one link. Pricing on the Macbook Air remains the same as the first-generation model.

Cinema LED Display – Sporting a 24-inch LED-backlit panel, the new Apple Cinema display is billed as designed for use with a Macbook. It has three USB ports, built-in iSight (webcam and micrphone) and built-in speakers. Its connection portfolio delineates its purpose: MagSafe for charging your Macbook, USB for turning two usable ports on the laptop into four on your desk, and a mini DisplayPort connector, which works with any new Macbook model. The price? $899.

That is, in a nutshell, what Apple introduced Tuesday, October 14th. Look for reviews of the new Macbooks here soon!