Updated MacBooks Boast "Santa Rosa" Chipsets

The just-refreshed MacBooks look the same from the outside; under the hood, though, you'll find faster, more efficient "Santa Rosa" chipsets and better video cards. Considering that you can run Windows on them as well, the new MacBooks are looking like a pretty sweet deal.

MacRumors has the scoop on the latest MacBook speed bumps, which are relatively modest overall: the 2GHz model keep the same clock speed, while the 2.16GHz version gets a bump to 2.2GHz. The bigger news is that the new MacBooks all come with Intel's new "Santa Rosa" architecture, which means better power efficiency (and therefore longer battery life) and improved performance. Also new: a much faster video card, good news for gamers and movie fanatics. The new MacBooks will also ship with Mac OS X "Leopard" pre-installed, so no need to deal with a potentially painful installation process.

The MacBook pricing scheme is essentially the same as before: $1,100 for the white 2GHz model with an 80GB hard drive, $1,300 for the white 2.2GHz version with a 120GB hard drive, and $1,500 for the jet-black 2.2GHz MacBook with a 160GB drive (each model comes with 1GB of RAM).

Overall...pretty impressive, considering the price, plus the fact that a MacBook can effectively double as your Windows machine (as this PC World review of a MacBook Pro attests). If you've been holding out for a new MacBook, now's the time.

Related:
Apple Updates MacBooks to Santa Rosa, GMA X3100 [MacRumors]