Apple's 13" Aluminum MacBook
It’s been more than half a year since I got my 13″ Aluminum MacBook, and I’ve (sorta) gotten over its… uh, initial charm. The right description won’t come to me, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about – the charm that seduces innocents like you and me into impulse buying. I’m not saying I regret ever getting it, since my 13″ White MacBook started to be a pain in the ass with 5 keys failing to work, and I desperately needed a laptop to work on.
I’m still not sure if I’m thrilled about Apple deciding to abandon their white colour schemes and plastic finishes – I really liked that unique “Apple” look, but the aluminum isn’t the eyesore I expected it to be, even if it does look like an uglier Dell machine. There’s no mistaking that glowing bright Apple logo on the cover, one thing Apple did right.
Neat keypad that unfortunately wears out too soon.
Still, things do experience wear and tear after a while, and the 13″ Aluminum MacBook (“AMB” from now) isn’t spared. One thing I’ve discovered is the keys do wear out a lot faster compared to the older white models. It could be because the AMBs have black keys that the shiny, worn-out surfaces are more noticeable, but I remember first catching sight of them just two weeks after purchase. I’m a heavy user (> 7 hours usage per day), but I was just as heavy a user when I had the white one. The keys definitely feel like they’re wearing out faster than the older models, and they don’t feel as bouncy as the white keys. I am a person who loves hearing that satisfying, noisy “clackity-clack” rebounding of keys, so if you love working on a quiet keyboard, this wouldn’t be an issue.
But speaking of wear and tear, it’s quite pleasing to note that the shiny trackpad problem hasn’t surfaced with the AMB’s glass trackpad. It’s still extremely smooth to the touch, the way it felt when I first ran my fingers over it. It also feels safer to clean, i.e. you don’t feel as paranoid that cleaning would cause dirt to embed themselves into the less-smooth surface of the white models. Imagine using a damp cloth and wiping a slightly rough surface – most of the time dirt just gets smudged. Since the AMB’s trackpad is made of glass, wiping it keeps it clean, like wiping a window.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that my AMB has a higher frequency of kernel panics (screen freezes, a grey layer appears with instructions telling you to restart your computer). Maybe that’s just my set, but so far I’ve experienced more KPs in the past months than a whole lifetime on the old machine (2 years). I don’t know if its any cause for alarm, since all you need to do is hold the power button down like the instructions says on the screen and restart it.
Kernel Panic On A Mac
I’m starting to think I got an unhealthy set since I’ve also had to experience extremely long charging cycles each time the juice runs out of my battery. Here’s what happens: the battery icon on the menu bar says 0%, it goes to sleep, yet when I tap the trackpad it comes back from sleep. I know this isn’t the usual sleep mode when the set is inactive, since this sleep happens when I’m literally still on the computer, in the midst of typing or scrolling. It most definitely is the sleep that happens when you’ve totally run out of battery, yet mine comes back! I get to surf about 30 minutes more before it totally dies on me without sleeping, needless to say without saving my work. And every time it does this, I take about 9 whole hours to fully charge the battery to 100%. A usual cycle should take only about 4 hours, from what I’ve read, since the set speed-charges from 0-80%. It’s extremely annoying since I’m always in danger of losing my work.
In the event when it does go to sleep normally (i.e. it doesn’t wake), I get a grey screen whenever I fit the charger in, with a loading bar before I can resume my work. I don’t know if this is a new feature (the loading screen), since my old white model didn’t have that.
Screen borders don't "pop out" - screen protectors would just look shitty.
Another annoyance is how glossy and reflective the AMB screen is, especially in bright room conditions. Since the screen border has been designed such that it doesn’t physically ”pop out”, I can’t stick an anti-gloss sheet on the screen without it looking funny.
Other than the above inconveniences though, I’m extremely satisfied with the wider range of screen brightness and volume, the multi-touch trackpad, and the lever used to get the battery out (no more searching for loose change!). The AMB’s lid also shuts gently compared to the rather rough “snapping shut” of the white model. I guess they did something to the magnets?
Lid doesn't snap shut, it closes gently instead. I like.
But best of all, the aluminum case doesn’t conduct electricity, giving you shocks every minute or so! I know this sounds idiotic – what laptop manufacturer would create something that shocks you every 1.5 seconds – but this problem does happen on the Powerbooks and the older notebooks with metallic cases. Some argue that it doesn’t happen when it isn’t charging, or that it won’t happen if you use the earthing plug/wire/fuse that comes with it, but I’m telling you now that the AMB doesn’t give out any form of electrical current or static, charged or not. This is probably the best improvement, second the multi-touch trackpad.
One final thing to note: the AMB uses the same magnetic charger as the white versions, so that’s convenient if you have an older white model and have a habit of using something till it completely breaks down. I still have the AMB’s charger packed in the box!
