What’s the Difference Between the Unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro?

These days $200 is a lot of money, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of you are wondering what you”ll be sacrificing if you opt for the new unibody $999 MacBook, or what you’ll gain if you spring for the $1,199 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Here’s a quick summary.

Unibody MacBook: What You Don’t Get

• Aluminum design (though polycarbonate MacBook feels pretty sturdy to us)
• SD Card reader (deal-breaker for me, but others will be okay with this omission)
• Display with 60 percent greater color gamut (photo editors may think twice about new MacBook, but it was plenty bright in our early hands-on)
• No backlit keyboard (bummer, but we can live with it)
• No FireWire 800 (some video producers demand it, but most peripherals use USB, and USB 3.0 is on the way–so expect a refresh next year)
• No infrared port (nothing to see here).

Overall, the unibody MacBook Pro looks like a good deal. You get a fast Core 2 Duo processor, Nvidia 9400 graphics, and a rated 7 hours of battery life. All in a stylish package that’s under 5 pounds with a DVD drive. Stay tuned for a full review.