This page deals with the White and the Black MacBooks. The Aluminium MacBooks released October 2008 are covered here.
The MacBook was introduced in May 2006, and completed the
transition of Apple's laptop lineup from PowerPC to Intel CPUs,
following the MacBook
Pro 17" in April and the MacBook
Pro 15.4" in January. The last revision was made in
May 2010.
The MacBook succeeded the iBook G4 as Apple's consumer focused laptop. Unlike the iBook however the MacBook has optical audio in/out, gigabit ethernet and is capable of true dual monitor support (spanning as opposed to mirroring), leaving the main differentiations between the consumer and professional models as screen size, expansion slots (none on the MacBook), graphics subsystem (the MacBook uses Intel integrated graphics) and FireWire 800 (not present on the first revision of the 15" MacBook Pro).
Apple specs for the original MacBook can be found here.
In November 2006 Apple upgraded the MacBook to use the Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Apple specs here. A speed bump up to 2.16GHz on the high end models was introduced in May 2007. Apple specs here.
In November 2007 the MacBook moved to the Santa Rosa chipset.
These MacBooks have a marginal CPU speedbump, use an improved
Intel integrated graphics card and an increase of the front
side bus from 667MHz to 800MHz. Importantly these MacBooks
can take a maximum of 6GB RAM rather than the 2GB on all previous
models. Apple specs here.
In February 2008 the MacBook moved to the Penryn processor running at 2.1GHz or 2.4GHz, with the default RAM increased to 2GB and default hard drives increased on the black model. Compatibility for upgrades was unchanged. Apple specs here.
In October 2008 Apple released the MacBook Aluminium, while continuing to sell the then current generation of the white MacBook along side it. White MacBooks purchased after this date are dealt with on this page, for the Aluminium MacBooks please go here.
In January 2009 the White MacBook was updated, and continued to be sold
alongside the Aluminium model. The major change in this revision
was the replacement of the integrated Intel graphics chipset
with an NVidia GeForce 9400M and a change in the front side bus to 1066MHz.
Apple specs here.
An update in May 2009 increased the memory bus to 800MHz (from 667MHz), this model changes the RAM type used from DDR2 PC5300 to DDR2 PC6400. Apple specs here.
In October 2009 the range was updated with the white Unibody MacBook.
This model has a redesigned case and the
memory bus upgraded to 1066Mhz taking up to 8GB of DDR3 PC8500
memory. The battery was changed to a non-removable type and
the FireWire port was dropped. Apple specs here.
In May 2010 a minor update increased the processor speed and upgraded
the graphics card to the NVidia 320M. Upgrade compatibility
remained unchanged. Apple specs here.