2008 Unibody MacBook

By 2008, Jobs’s pancreatic cancer was taking hold, and it showed in his gaunt appearance at that year’s events. But that didn’t stop him producing one of our favorite “one more thing” moments at a “Special Event” in October, when he revealed the unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro.

Users of the white plastic bodied MacBook “lusted after” the all-metal MacBook Pro, according to Jobs. They also wanted faster graphics and an LED-backlit display, he added. Well, Apple was giving them all three, in the form of a new unibody MacBook with a full‑metal enclosure.

Despite eliminating almost 60% of the major structural parts in its polycarbonate predecessor, the new metal MacBook had a much more rigid construction.

As for graphics, the new MacBook was five times faster, while its LED display was brighter — as well as being more environmentally responsible than before.

But that wasn’t all. Prior to the announcement, those same MacBook fans had to pay $1,999 and step up to a MacBook Pro to get the three features they most desired. After Jobs’s “one more thing,” they needed to pay only $1,299 for a metal unibody MacBook.

The decision to go with a unibody design grew out of the manufacturing process of the MacBook Air, which had been revealed in January 2008 — its palm rest was milled from a single, large block of aluminum. That got Apple thinking: Could the same thing be done for an entire notebook?

It turns out it could, in a big way. Not only did Apple bring a full metal enclosure to the MacBook, but it did so while making it stronger and longer-lasting too. The benefits were clear, and it’s been with us ever since.