The MacBook is a brand of notebook computers manufactured by Apple Inc. from May 2006 to February 2012, and relaunched in 2015. It replaced the iBook series and 12-inch PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple-Intel transition from PowerPC. Positioned as the low end of the MacBook family, below the premium ultra-portable MacBook Air and the powerful MacBook Pro, the MacBook was aimed at the consumer and education markets. It was the best-selling Macintosh ever. For five months in 2008, it was the best-selling laptop of any brand in US retail stores. Collectively, the MacBook brand is the "world's top-selling line of premium laptops."
There have been four separate designs of the MacBook. The original model used a combination of polycarbonate and fiberglass casing which was modeled after the iBook G4. The second type was introduced in October 2008 alongside the 15-inch MacBook Pro; the MacBook shared the more expensive laptop's unibody aluminum casing, but omitted FireWire. A third design, introduced in late 2009, had a polycarbonate unibody casing.
On July 20, 2011, the MacBook was discontinued for consumer purchase as it had been effectively superseded by the MacBook Air whose starting price was lowered. Apple continued to sell the MacBook to educational institutions until February 2012.
A new, redesigned MacBook line was launched on March 9, 2015. Available in silver, gold or space grey, it is thinner than the MacBook Air and removes the traditional MagSafe charging port (along with all other ports, except the headphone jack) in favor of the multi-purpose USB Type-C port. It also features a Retina display. On April 19, 2016, Apple updated the 12-inch Retina MacBook with new sixth-generation Intel Core M processors, longer battery life and a rose gold option.
The original MacBook, available in black or white colors, was released on June 28, 2006, and used the Intel Core Duo processor and 945GM chipset, with Intel's GMA 950 integrated graphics on a 667 MHz front side bus. Later revisions of the MacBook moved to the Core 2 Duo processor and the GM965 chipset, with Intel's GMA X3100 integrated graphics on an 800 MHz system bus. Sales of the black polycarbonate MacBook ceased in October 2008, after the introduction of the aluminum MacBook.