Apple chasing budget buyers with MacBook newbies

The big news with Tuesday's MacBook announcement is obviously the new design. Replacing the white or black plastic chassis is an aluminium body built from a single piece of metal.

Gone is the mouse button, consumed by a large glass trackpad with multitouch gesture support. The screen stays at 13.3 inches but gets LED backlighting and a piece of glass that runs from edge to edge of the laptop. And a mini DisplayPort makes an appearance, but it kicks the mini FireWire port to the curb in the process.

Less has changed on the inside. The biggest change is the move from the Intel GM965 chipset and integrated GMA X3100 graphics to an Nvidia chipset and integrated GeForce 9400M graphics, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs says is up to five times as fast as the old Intel graphics.

The default memory allotment stays at 2GB, but you trade 667MHz DDR2 memory for faster 1066MHz DDR3 memory. You can also upgrade to 4GB of RAM for only $150; previously adding 2GB of RAM cost $200.

Moving in the opposite direction, however, is the CPU offering on the low-end model. The $1,299 MacBook features a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, down from the 2.4GHz chip in the previous model. The new $1,599 MacBook features a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo chip like the older $1,499 model. Both new models feature a faster 1066MHz frontside bus, up from 800MHz on the old MacBooks.

The hard drive offerings stay the same: 160GB on the lower-end model and 250GB on the higher-end model. But new upgrades will net you a 320GB drive for $100 or a 128GB solid-state drive for $600.

Meanwhile, the black MacBook has gone the way of the Newton, while the old entry-level white MacBook is still kicking around, with a $100 discount that brings its price under $1,000.

Of Apple's MacBook Pro lineup, only the two 15-inch models received the complete workup today.

Pricing remains the same, with $1,999 and $2,499 default configurations. Aside from slightly larger hard drives, the biggest change is the move away from Intel and to the Nvidia GeForce 9400M chipset and a slight bump to the graphics, moving from the GeForce 8600M GT to the GeForce 9600M GT. The higher-end model now ships with 4GB of RAM by default, and doubling the RAM on the lower-end model is $50 cheaper at $150.

The CPUs remain largely unchanged, but now operate on a faster 1066MHz bus. The $2,499 MacBook Pro lets you upgrade to a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo for $300; previously, the fastest chip offered was a 2.6GHz processor. Larger 320GB hard drives are now offered, including a 7200rpm unit, as is a 128GB solid-state drive.

The 17-inch model is still available at the same $2,799 price in the old all-silver chassis, and with the same 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 512MB GeForce 8600M GT graphics card. The RAM has been doubled to 4GB and the hard drive goes from 250GB to 320GB. Strange that the new design is available in the 13-inch MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro, but not the 17-inch MacBook Pro. The 17-inch model gives you the choice of a glossy or matte finish on the display; the new 15-inch MacBook Pros are glossy only, which might be problematic for those whose first priority isn't watching movies on a $2,000 laptop.

Original article: New MacBook lineup vs. old MacBook lineup from CNET News.com