The new white MacBook was about five percent slower in our Speedmark 5 tests than the 2GHz aluminum MacBook, but in many tests the results were very close, with the white MacBook even turning in a slightly faster time than its aluminum sibling in a few tests. Against the high-end 1.86GHz MacBook Air, the white MacBook was faster in most of the tests, though the Air's speedy solid state drive gave the Air an edge in hard disk-intensive tasks.

Apple says the new MacBook's battery life will last about 4.5 hours, but in our worse-case scenario testing--watching a movie from the hard drive at full screen and full brightness--we got 2 hours and 42 minutes of battery life, about 10 minutes more than with the last generation white MacBook, and about 6 minutes more than the 2GHz aluminum MacBook.

Macworld's buying advice

As far as system updates go, the changes to new white MacBook are welcome, if subtle. The new faster graphics will make casual gamers happy, and who doesn't like additional RAM? Though the slightly slower processor didn't help performance any, this new white MacBook is a solid entry-level product. And if you need a Mac portable with FireWire, it's your most affordable choice, with the cheapest MacBook Pro costing twice as much as the white MacBook.

[James Galbraith is Macworld's lab director.]