ALTHOUGH I chose my uni-body MacBook Pro for specific reasons, I have to say I admire the new uni-body MacBook mightily. It is now being seen around in increasing numbers and I have to say I am always a little envious. I used to love the old white and black MacBooks, but the new model is in a league of its own: neat, tidy and absolutely gorgeous. It looks like a proper, small notebook while the much-lauded Air is thin to the point of anorexia and, in my view, isn't quite as pretty.
For most people, the new MacBook is all the computer they would ever need and it is the sensible main-stream choice. The few compromises, in particular the lack of a FireWire 800 port, are just not of that much importance to most people. The MacBook Air, while excellent in its own way, is more expensive and makes many more compromises. That single USB port is a constant annoyance.
I went with the MacBook Pro because I use it as a desktop machine and I spend extended periods abroad. I don't need to carry it around with me all the time and, basically, the Pro gets lugged from one country to the next and then sits on a desk. As a desktop computer, the Pro is more usable, particularly because of the larger screen and higher specifications available. But it's a close-run thing. Even though I own both a Pro and a MacBook Air, I still lust after the MacBook when I see one in the wild.
Apple have come up with a winner with the new MacBook and it has seriously narrowed the gap which previously existed between the MB and MB Pro. It's a model I now unreservedly recommend to anyone contemplating a new laptop.