Apple updates MacBook spec

If you're a fan of Apple's polycarbonate MacBook systems you'll be pleased to hear that the little white marvel has received a timely hardware refresh, bringing the device closer in specification to its younger brother.

The system, which remains at its US retail price of $999 after the update, was spotted with its new specification by Engadget – despite no official word from Apple itself.

So, what's changed? The 2.10GHz Core Duo processor has been swapped out for the better performing 2GHz Core 2 Duo at a higher bus speed, the RAM has been doubled to 2GB of DDR2, and the onboard Bluetooth module has been upgraded to version 2.1 of the specification.

Perhaps the biggest change is the graphics chipset: gone is the Intel GMA that graced the devices previously, and in is place is a spanking new Nvidia GeForce 9400M mobile chipset. A fairly hefty upgrade from the original, it also opens a path for the OpenCL GPGPU offloading support expected to feature in the next version of the MacOS X operating system – something which the original Intel graphics chip didn't support. As an added bonus, anyone hoping to dual-boot the device for some gaming action might actually be able to play games from this century.

The remainder of the specifications remain the same, with a 120GB hard drive and the older Firewire 400 port being carried over from the old hardware revision.

Has the refresh tempted you towards the Mac side of town, or are there better Windows-based laptops out there for the money? Share your thoughts over in the forums.