The new aluminium MacBooks introduced by Apple earlier last week has been getting mixed reviews. On the one hand, critics are raving about its aluminium body and graphics card, while Apple’s discussion forums have been filled with upset Mac users complaining about a range of topics.

So what’s the big deal about? Here’s a look at the pros and cons of the new MacBook so you’ll be a better informed customer when they become available in Malaysia early next week.

The Pros: Better Graphics and Smoking Looks

One of the major highlights of the new MacBooks is the Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chipset. It still shares your MacBook’s RAM, but now has a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU). What this means is that you can now reasonably play 3D games on your MacBook, hooray! MacWorld has published some benchmarks on the new MacBooks and they are suitably impressive.

The other selling point of the new MacBooks doesn’t really make it perform better, but it’ll draw some envious looks. That feature is the new aluminium body of course! The precision engineered unibody and full glass screen gives you the impression of a sleek race car and offers the benefit of increased durability and strength.

The Cons: Goodbye Firewire, hello DisplayPort

Long time Mac users will miss the lack of Firewire in the new MacBook, an interface that Apple has touted and encouraged for so many years. I myself purposely bought a Firewire external drive to free up the limited USB drives on the MacBook. Unfortunately I won’t be able to do so any more with the aluminium MacBook. The lack of Firewire also means that the aluminium MacBook can’t do target disk mode, which was pretty useful. This omission is the source of much outcry and some say that it is a deal-breaker. (What do you say? Tell us in the comments.)

Apple introduced another ‘innovation’ with their new line of portables: the DisplayPort. The mini DisplayPort on the MacBook replaces the mini DVI port. MacWorld points out the benefits of DisplayPort, but if you’re like me, you’re thinking to yourself that you now need another adaptor to plug your Mac into a regular projector. So budget an additional RM100 if you usually do presentations on your MacBook. Bah.

Price

In our current economic climate this is probably a big factor. The 2 higher-end old MacBooks were previously retailing for RM4,599 (white) and RM5,299 (black). The new aluminium MacBooks are now RM200 and RM600 more expensive for the 2 higher-end aluminium models. More price details.

Other Things to Consider

Some other things to consider before buying your sleek new aluminium MacBook..

No trackpad button. That’s right. The whole trackpad is the button now, so you click by clicking the trackpad. Try before you buy.

Glossy screens only. Because of the new all glass screens, the new MacBooks doesn’t come with a matte option. This is a big bother for some people, so again, try before you buy.

No Blu-ray. According to Steve Jobs, licensing Blu-ray is a “bag of hurt” at the moment so Apple would rather not offer a Blu-ray option.

APC also has a handy list of top 10 things you didn’t know about the new MacBook, so be sure to check that out.

Are you going to buy a MacBook? Whatever the answer, tell us your reasons in the comments.