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White & Black MacBook Q&A - Published May 31, 2009
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What are the differences between the White "Mid-2009" MacBook Core 2 Duo and the "Late 2008/Unibody" MacBook models?
Please note that all models mentioned in this Q&A have been discontinued. The "Mid-2009" MacBook was replaced by the "Late 2009/Unibody" MacBook on October 20, 2009 and the "Late 2008/Unibody" MacBook was replaced by the 13-Inch "Mid-2009" MacBook Pro on June 8, 2009.
Externally, the White "Mid-2009" MacBook system -- the MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.13 13-Inch (White - Mid-2009) -- is completely different from the "Late 2008/Unibody" MacBook models.
It is worth noting that the White "Mid-2009" MacBook did not replace the "Unibody" models, but instead replaced another White "Early 2009" model that was introduced as an unexpected "low end" accompanying system to the "Unibody" series.
Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Mid-2009 - Left, Late 2008/Unibody - Right)
The "Mid-2009" 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 "Mid-2009" 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 "Mid-2009" 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 "Mid-2009" models have a mini-DVI port and 1920x1200 support -- connectivity is actually superior on the "low end" model. The "Mid-2009" 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. Officially, battery life is an identical 5 hours for both lines.
Internally, however, the "Mid-2009" model is quite similar to the "Late 2008/Unibody" line -- the MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 13" (Unibody) in particular -- with the same 1066 MHz frontside bus and the same NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256 MB of RAM shared with main memory. Memory is slower on the on the low end "Mid-2009" model -- 800 MHz PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM compared to 1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM. Perhaps most oddly -- and indicative of a forthcoming revision to the "Unibody" line -- the low end "Mid-2009" model has a faster processor than the entry-level Unibody model (2.13 GHz rather than 2.0 GHz).
These differences, as well as configuration differences, are summarized below:
| MacBook 13": | "Mid-09" 2.13 (White) | "Late 08" 2.0/2.4 (Unibody) |
|---|---|---|
| Processor: | 2.13 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: | PC2-6400 DDR2 | PC3-8500 DDR3 |
| Int. Graphics: | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M |
| Shared VRAM: | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Ext. Display: | 1920x1200 | 2560x1600 |
| Hard Drive: | 160 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: | 5 Hours | 5 Hours |
| Weight: | 5.0 lbs (2.27 kg) | 4.5 lbs (2.04 kg) |
| Apple Part No: | MC240LL/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 White "Mid-2009" MacBook Core 2 Duo and the White "Early 2009" 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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