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White & Black MacBook Q&A - Published January 24, 2009
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What are the differences between the "Early 2009 NVIDIA" MacBook Core 2 Duo and the "Late 2008 Unibody" MacBook models?
Please note that the "Early 2009 NVIDIA" MacBook Core 2 Duo was discontinued on May 27, 2009.
Externally, the "Early 2009/NVIDIA" MacBook system -- the MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 13-Inch (White - Early 2009/NVIDIA) -- is completely different from the "Late 2008/Unibody" MacBook models.
It is worth noting that the "Early 2009/NVIDIA" did not replace the "Unibody" models, but was unexpectedly introduced as a "low end" accompanying system to the "Unibody" series and replaced a largely externally identical "Late 2008" MacBook model that was held over from the previous "Early 2008" line.
Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Early 2009 - Left, Late 2008/Unibody - Right)
The "Early 2009/NVIDIA" model uses a white polycarbonate case that weighs 5 pounds, and the "Late 2008/Unibody" series uses a 4.5 pound aluminum black and silver case milled from a single block of aluminum that provides greater strength.
The "Early 2009/NVIDIA" system has a "scrolling Trackpad" with "two-finger click" -- compared to a more advanced "no button" glass "multi-touch" trackpad with support for "four finger" gestures and programmable "zones" on the "Late 2008/Unibody" models. The "Early 2009/NVIDIA" model also does not have an LED-backlit display as the "Late 2008/Unibody" models do, nor does it have a backlit keyboard, like the higher-end MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 13" (Unibody).
With the exception of external display capability -- the "Late 2008/Unibody" models have a "Mini DisplayPort" which supports an external display at 2560x1600 and the "Early 2009/NVIDIA" models have a mini-DVI port and 1920x1200 support -- connectivity is actually superior on the "low end" model. The "Early 2009/NVIDIA" model has a Firewire "400" port -- and the "Late 2008/Unibody" models do not -- as well as AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, and optical digital/analog audio in/out that are shared by all these systems.
Internally, however, the "Early 2009/NVIDIA" model has much in common with the "Late 2008/Unibody" line -- the MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 13" (Unibody) in particular -- with the same 45 nm "Penryn" Core 2 Duo processor (P7350), same 1066 MHz system bus, and same NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256 MB of RAM shared with main memory. Memory, however, is different -- both are equipped by default with 2 GB of RAM -- but the "Early 2009/NVIDIA model uses the older 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM standard and the "Late 2008/Unibody" model uses faster 1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM.
These differences, as well as configuration differences, are summarized below:
| MacBook 13": | "Early 09" 2.0 (White) | "Late 08" 2.0/2.4 (Unibody) |
|---|---|---|
| Processor: | 2.0 GHz "Core 2 Duo" | 2.0, 2.4 GHz "Core 2 Duo" |
| System Bus: | 1066 MHz | 1066 MHz |
| L2 Cache: | 3 MB | 3 MB |
| Standard RAM: | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| RAM Type: | PC2-5300 DDR2 | PC3-8500 DDR3 |
| Int. Graphics: | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M |
| Shared VRAM: | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Ext. Display: | 1920x1200 | 2560x1600 |
| Hard Drive: | 120 GB | 160 GB, 250 GB |
| Optical Drive: | 8X DL Write "SuperDrive" | 8X DL Write "SuperDrive" |
| Firewire 400: | Yes | No |
| Display Port: | mini-DVI | Mini DisplayPort |
| LED Display: | No | Yes |
| Backlit KB: | No | No, Yes |
| 4 Finger Keypad: | No | Yes |
| Battery Life: | 4.5 Hours | 5 Hours |
| Weight: | 5.0 lbs (2.27 kg) | 4.5 lbs (2.04 kg) |
| Apple Part No: | MB881LL/A | MB466LL/A, MB467LL/A |
| Original Price: | US$999 | US$1299, US$1599 |
*The 2.0 GHz model does not have a backlit keyboard, the 2.4 GHz model does.
Also see: What are the differences between the "Early 2009 NVIDIA" MacBook Core 2 Duo and the MacBook that it replaced?
Please refer to the Ultimate Mac Comparison feature to dynamically compare any MacBook model to any other G3 or later Mac.
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