Apple’s Todd Benjamin, director of portables worldwide product marketing, took a few minutes out of his hectic schedule to speak with Macworld UK Wednesday.

He offered a whistle-stop tour of some of the new features in Apple’s new MacBook systems.

"The performance improvement in these systems over the preceding systems is dramatic," he explained. "Performance is going to be a really big draw [for customers]," he said.

"The improvement will be evident to anybody who has been using a G4 notebook," he added.

Faster, brighter and better

Apple claims the new portable to be up to five times faster than comparable iBooks. A range of tests published on the company’s website confirms the claims.

Benjamin stressed the numerous enhancements in the new systems as compared to the iBooks and 12-inch PowerBooks these new machines replace. "The new MacBooks have a really compelling feature set," he said.

The new MacBooks include a 79 percent brighter display, much faster processors, Sudden Motion Sensors, MagSafe power cables, Front Row and integrated iSight cameras. Benjamin called this "a very robust feature set."

Apple has been describing the new Macs as boasting "glossy" displays. Benjamin explained what this means. "We say glossy because when you look at the screens you’ll see a glossy appearance. It means colors are much richer; they look great," he said.

Benjamin said users watching DVDs on a new portable MacBook should appreciate the extra luster. "I think people will really enjoy these displays," he said.

Unlike previous-generation iBooks, the new MacBooks simultaneously support full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 1,920 by 1,200 pixels on an external display. IBooks couldn’t do this.

Thin, well-featured Macs keep level price

"The enclosure is amazing," Benjamin explained. "The machines are 20 percent thinner than the previous iBooks." They weigh 5.2 pounds, which is "slightly more" than 12-inch PowerBooks, "but you get a 13-inch screen," he observed.

Apple has also maintained a general equivalence on price, though the entry-level model is 50 pounds (US$94) more expensive than the previous entry-level iBook. "But you are getting plenty of extra features," Benjamin explained. "It’s fabulous value for the money."

The mid-range MacBook (899 pounds) costs the same as the iBook model it replaces, while the new black top-of-the-range model actually costs a little less, he said: "This model is 70 pounds cheaper than the 12-inch PowerBook G4," he observed.

However, with the only differences between the 2.0GHz white and black MacBooks evidently being the hard drive size and color, it’s strange to note that the white model costs 939 pounds with an 80GB drive installed—97 pounds cheaper than the black model. This matter wasn’t addressed during the conversation.