Sunday, June 11, 2006; Page F06

Apple's new MacBook ranks as one of the company's most anticipated laptops ever. This machine isn't Apple's first portable computer to run on Intel chips -- with all the added speed and Windows compatibility they bring -- but it is the first to sell at consumer-friendly prices. And it brings the first fundamental change to Apple's entry-level laptops since 2001.

The MacBook almost justifies the wait for it to arrive. Apple has delivered an exceptionally versatile machine, but three issues can't help but hold it back a bit. The most serious among them should be fixable with a software update; the others are less critical but can't be cured without changes to the MacBook's hardware (and one may not matter to many users anyway).