Unibody MacBook the Logical Successor to the 12" PowerBook

Something that occurred to me early on after the new Unibody MacBooks were introduced last month is that here is about as close as we are likely to get to a Macintel replacement for the erstwhile, much admired and loved 12" PowerBook that the MacBook Air wasn't.

Introduced at Macworld Expo in January 2003, the 12" PowerBook represented one of the most convincing smash-hit model introductions in Apple history back in 2003. Sharing much of the general layout in engineering and the 12" display of the 12" iBook, the baby PowerBook added an aluminum housing and G4 power - plus most (but not all) of the usual slate of PowerBook features.

While the new MacBook with its 13.3" display of necessity has a bit larger footprint than the old 12-incher, otherwise it compares very favorably as a machine for serious road warriors. It's thinner at 0.95" thick, and weighing 4.5 pounds, it's a tenth of a pound lighter than the 12" PowerBook, arguably making it the Macintel replacement for that machine - not to mention being a couple of hundred bucks cheaper to buy than the 12" PowerBook at its least expensive. (Some will argue that the footprint obligated by its 13.3" display still makes it too large for a real 12" PowerBook replacement.)

Joe Leo, my columnist colleague at PB Central and a 12" PowerBook owner, says no way. He'll only accept a machine with a footprint as small as or smaller than the baby PowerBook as a true replacement machine, but I expect he'd best not be holding his breath waiting. I would suggest that for Joe and other purist 12" PowerBook aficionados, this is probably as good as it's going to get - unless Apple takes my advice and engineers a netbook Mac.

I very much hope Apple will eventually address the netbook market, but a netbook would have power limitations that would rule it out as a true successor to the 12" PowerBook, while the new MacBook's only major deficiencies are its lack of FireWire, its slightly larger footprint, and, for some, its glossy display in certain lighting environments one might encounter on the road such as aboard aircraft.

The new MacBook, which shares the all-metal unibody enclosure motif with the MacBook Pro, for all intents and purposes is a downsized MacBook Pro in everything but name. No, it doesn't have FireWire (an Apple blunder, IMHO), and there is no ExpressCard slot, but the 12" PowerBook differed from its larger PowerBook siblings in not having a CardBus slot, so that aspect is a wash. I think it's small, light, trim, and cool enough to stop my griping about no Macintel 12" PowerBook successor, and I expect a lot of others' discontent on that score will feel the same way.

Here are the respective specs of the new Unibody MacBook, the 12" PowerBook, and the old MacBook:

In all aspects except the nearly two inches greater width, the MacBook stands in very favorable light in this comparison. And, of course, in terms of performance the MacBook blows the fastest 12" PowerBook into the weeds.

Computerworld's Scot Finnie posted a commentary this week suggesting that the 13" MacBook could turn out to be an Apple Trojan horse for the medium to large enterprise market, noting that unlike the old MacBook, the new one looks and feels like a business machine.

"I'm not predicting wholesale adoption of Macs by larger enterprises anytime soon," says Finnie, "but the new MacBook will make the most significant inroads into the enterprise market of any Apple product, probably ever. It comes down to price/performance, price point, design focus, durability, suitability to task and market timing."

Finnie further notes that "unlike the old MacBook, the new one looks and feels like a business machine. Instead of a cheap plastic enclosure, it has a slimmer, stronger one-piece aluminum case . . . It blends power and portability, with its design more carefully balancing the primary needs of the average business user."

Or the sort of user that found the old 12" PowerBook an ideal compromise between size, weight, features, and price. So if you've been waiting for Apple to replace the 12" PowerBook G4 with a Macintel machine, wait no longer - it's here.

Appendix: 13" Unibody MacBook vs. 12" PowerBook