Benchmarks Confirm New MacBook Air Brings Decent Speed Improvements, MacBook Pro Less So

[cppguy]

Out of curiousity how many ports do you (or anybody else reading this) use day to day on a notebook? I can only think of a thumb drive.

Definitely no thumb drive. I have the following connected to my MBP every day:
0. Charger
1. Dell 24" 4K monitor
2. Keyboard. Logitech used to have the diNovo bluetooth keyboard, but it's not manufactured anymore, and there's no usable bluetooth keyboard by any company. They all lack PgUp, PgDn, Home, End, Del, PrintScreen, which are must have buttons for my work.
3. Razer mouse.
4. Ethernet - USB adapter. Wifi is sometimes spotty at work, on and off.
5. A couple of External drives.

And sometimes a CF card reader. Yes, professional cameras still use CF cards, because they're much faster than SD.

 

[moderately]

Love my 2012 MacBook Pro with i7 in it! Made a SSD upgrade and I love it!!!

Created a fusion drive on mine and feel like it is a whole new machine. woo-hoo!

 

[Mildredop]

now how 'bout them new MacBooks, eh?!

can't wait to see the results for those

Are they likely to be good? Or a bit lacklustre?

And, for every day tasks, does it really matter?

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Out of curiousity how many ports do you (or anybody else reading this) use day to day on a notebook? I can only think of a thumb drive. Is it annoying to unplug the charger when you want to insert a thumb drive?

I plug in an external drive to back-up every now and again and slot in an SD card from my camera once in a blue moon.

The SD card is no big deal, I'll just go back to cable or, more likely, upgrade my camera to one that can transfer wirelessly (they must exist).

My only question is, when doing a big back-up and I can't charge the Macbook at the same time, what's the deal?? Or is USB-C so fast that it'll back-up the whole computer in a few minutes with no need to worry about the battery lasting out.

 

[Poly]

I have the mid2011 13" Air with an i5....can someone show or tell me the benchmark results? I want to make a decision to get the new MBA now.

 

[Wahlstrm]

The i7 seems nice

7000+ is not bad

 

[redbeard20]

I have a late 2008 MacBook Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 240 GB SSD. On Geekbench 3 it clocks around 1100 single core, 2000 dual core. Given the rough similarity in specs between this 6+ year old machine and these latest offerings, what explains the dramatic difference in scores?

 

[Wahlstrm]

I have a late 2008 MacBook Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 240 GB SSD. On Geekbench 3 it clocks around 1100 single core, 2000 dual core. Given the rough similarity in specs between this 6+ year old machine and these latest offerings, what explains the dramatic difference in scores?

You can never compare GHz vs GHz unless its the same exact brand and model..

It´s 2008 tea spoons vs 2015 snow shovels (not really but kinda..)

 

[leman]

I got bored between doing stats so I decided to do some stats for you guys Here is a comparison of all Geekbench3 results between the new and the previous base 13" MBP. I only took 32-bit OS X results as there are not enough 64-bit ones in the database. I also only took a random sample of older results, because copy and pasting was tedious. So this is based on 64 results for the new MBP and 404 for the old one.

What do we see here? The i5-5257U benchmarks have a very long tail, probably because of users tart to benchmark while doing other things in the background. So far, when taking the median, the difference between the two CPUs is under 5%

Of course, Geekbench should not be taken too seriously. In real life average tasks, the Broadwell is likely to be much snappier because of its faster Turbo Boost.

 

[redbeard20]

You can never compare GHz vs GHz unless its the same exact brand and model..

It´s 2008 tea spoons vs 2015 snow shovels (not really but kinda..)

Uhm, comparing different brands and models is exactly what Geekbench does.

 

[Zimks]

Benchmarks Confirm New MacBook Air Brings Decent Speed Improvements, MacBook ...

For me it's not about thinness, it's about weight. I want a lighter laptop. It just so happens that that generally means thinner as well. So until they start making a balsa wood laptop, I'll go for a thinner one almost every time.

Okay but let's compare the 2015 MacBook Pro 13 inch vs 2015 12 inch MacBook

Apple MacBook – 2015
Size 11.04 x 7.74 x .14-.52 in
Weight 2.03 lbs
Screen 12-inch IPS Retina display
Resolution 2304×1440 pixels
Storage 256, 512 GB SSD
Processor Intel Core M – 1.1 GHz
RAM 8 GB 1600MHz DDR3
Sd card slot No
Camera 480p FaceTime camera
Bluetooth Version 4.0
Battery 39.7 Wh lithium-polymer
Charger 29W USB-C
Starting Price$1299.00

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch – 2015

Size 12.35 x 8.62 x .71 in
Weight 3.48 lbs
Screen 13.3-inch IPS Retina display
Resolution 2560×1600 pixels
Storage 128, 256, 512 GB, 1 TB SSD
SD card slot Yes, SDXC compatible
Processor Intel Core i5 – 2.7 GHz
RAM 8, 16 GB 1866MHz DDR3
Camera 720p FaceTime camera
Bluetooth Version 4.0
Battery 74.9 Wh lithium-polymer
Charger 60W Magsafe
Starting Price$1299.00

So with less then a pound and half difference and with the new MacBook with its horrible specs but the same cost you choose the MacBook over the MacBook Pro for a pound difference...

If the price was cut to like 500 bucks I could see it but if you're paying 1299.00 for this you're crazy

 

[Will0827]

Besides the graphics performance the macbook air is looking pretty good. Could there be a future where apple phases out the 13inch Pro. Unless they make a quad core 13inch pro with dedicated graphics why not go for the air besides the retina screen.

 

[Naimfan]

is the core i5 1,6 ghz mba 2015 more powerful than the core i5 2,7 ghz mbp 13"'2015 because that models has so many more pixels to push?

No.

 

[Roller]

What I really want to know is how the 13" MBA compares to the new ultra-thin MacBook. I want to upgrade my old MBA from 2009 and don't want to make the wrong decision. If the new MB has all the power and less caffeine, then that's the one I'll snag.

Thoughts?

I have a 2011 11" Core i7 MBA, but it's starting to lag and struggles to get 4-5 hours on a charge, so I'm also looking to replace it. But, while the light weight, longer battery life, and retina display of the new MacBook are attractive, I'll be surprised if the upgraded Core M will perform adequately. Still, I'm going to wait and see when the MacBook is released.

I can see where the single USB-C port is a concern for some. My MBA only has a power cable connected to it except when I have to use a projector. I also use a remote that plugs into a standard USB port, but the adapter will take care of that. I think that the MacBook is aimed mostly at people who want more than an iPad (keyboard, OS X, trackpad) but don't need everything a MacBook Pro or MBA can provide.

Unfortunately, none of Apple's laptops offer the exact combination of features that I want, so whatever I choose will be a compromise.

 

[magbarn]

I got bored between doing stats so I decided to do some stats for you guys Here is a comparison of all Geekbench3 results between the new and the previous base 13" MBP. I only took 32-bit OS X results as there are not enough 64-bit ones in the database. I also only took a random sample of older results, because copy and pasting was tedious. So this is based on 64 results for the new MBP and 404 for the old one.

Image

What do we see here? The i5-5257U benchmarks have a very long tail, probably because of users tart to benchmark while doing other things in the background. So far, when taking the median, the difference between the two CPUs is under 5%

Of course, Geekbench should not be taken too seriously. In real life average tasks, the Broadwell is likely to be much snappier because of its faster Turbo Boost.

The turbo boost does make a big difference with the MBA as Broadwell is a die shrink and given the MBA's cpu power restrictions and limited cooling, it allows to run at a higher boost (along with a higher boost frequency) more consistently than Haswell. The cpu in the rmbp has a much higher power ceiling and better cooling so even the Haswell cpu is able to stay in boost longer. That's why the gap between Haswell/broadwell is much more pronounced with the mba than the rmbp.

A big concern I have for the new retina MacBook is that previous iterations of the broadwell M in other laptops is that the 4-5 watt limitation if the that cpu severely limits the boosting capability and therefore crippling performance.

 

[mzhamad]

rMBP

I've been in the market for a new rMBP13" not interested in the air or new MB, i was going to get the 2014 model last summer but I thought i could wait till 2015 because I was expecting a completely new rMBP13". They just updated it last week with some minor chamges, i want to get it but i feel in their summer event they will announce a new rMBP for a late 2015 release. Should i wait it out to see wat they will release or should i go today and buy the 2015 rMBP. I would hate getting it then they come out with a whole new 13"rMBA. thoughts on my situation?

 

[magbarn]

I've been in the market for a new rMBP13" not interested in the air or new MB, i was going to get the 2014 model last summer but I thought i could wait till 2015 because I was expecting a completely new rMBP13". They just updated it last week with some minor chamges, i want to get it but i feel in their summer event they will announce a new rMBP for a late 2015 release. Should i wait it out to see wat they will release or should i go today and buy the 2015 rMBP. I would hate getting it then they come out with a whole new 13"rMBA. thoughts on my situation?

The retina MacBook basically nixes the chance of a retina MacBook air in its current chassis. Look what apple did with the classic MacBook pro.

I have a feeling the only other major release for MacBooks this year is going to be the rMBP 15 which will likely be skylake with a maxwell 950m gpu.

 

[mzhamad]

re:

The retina MacBook basically nixes the chance of a retina MacBook air in its current chassis. Look what apple did with the classic MacBook pro.

I have a feeling the only other major release for MacBooks this year is going to be the rMBP 15 which will likely be skylake with a maxwell 950m gpu.

yea im only interested in the 13'rMBP, idk if they will update that this year with skylake, if they dont then ill go buy it today i cant wait a year for that. I just wouldnt like to buy one then they update it in the same year, in the past they updated the rMBP twice within the same year

 

[scupking]

Like others have said what's the point of an under powered expensive MacBook? The mpb is such a better machine for about the same amount of money. Even the Mba is better except the screen.

 

[magbarn]

yea im only interested in the 13'rMBP, idk if they will update that this year with skylake, if they dont then ill go buy it today i cant wait a year for that. I just wouldnt like to buy one then they update it in the same year, in the past they updated the rMBP twice within the same year

If you need it now, then get the rmbp 13. It's a great machine. Intel also seems to have really plateaud in there performance recently. The biggest improvement with sky lake is going to be the gpu. I don't know if apple is ready to embrace wireless charging with their rmbp line yet.

 

[leman]

The turbo boost does make a big difference with the MBA as Broadwell is a die shrink and given the MBA's cpu power restrictions and limited cooling, it allows to run at a higher boost (along with a higher boost frequency) more consistently than Haswell. The cpu in the rmbp has a much higher power ceiling and better cooling so even the Haswell cpu is able to stay in boost longer. That's why the gap between Haswell/broadwell is much more pronounced with the mba than the rmbp.

A big concern I have for the new retina MacBook is that previous iterations of the broadwell M in other laptops is that the 4-5 watt limitation if the that cpu severely limits the boosting capability and therefore crippling performance.

Thats not what I meant (sorry for being not clear enough). AFAIK, the Broadwell chips are able to turn on Turbo Boost substantially quicker than Haswells. So by 'quicker Turbo Boost' I wanted to say 'the speed with which the CPU changes the clock', not 'the highest clock speed'.


And this is very interesting for everyday applications, because the normal user-facing software operates in very short bursts of activity separated by rather long low-energy waiting intervals. Say, the app is waiting for user to do something (enter some text, click a button etc.). Then it needs to respond to this activity as quickly as possible — after which it starts waiting again. If I understood this correctly, the Broadwell will be able to boost during this short response period while Haswell is a bit more conservative and needs a longer boost activation delay. E.g. Core M showed quite good results in browser benchmarks, well above what you'd expect by looking on synthetic benchmarks. This is specifically because real-world applications consists of the above mentioned burst-wait periods, while micro benchmarks are just intervals of 100% CPU load.

 

[mzhamad]

If you need it now, then get the rmbp 13. It's a great machine. Intel also seems to have really plateaud in there performance recently. The biggest improvement with sky lake is going to be the gpu. I don't know if apple is ready to embrace wireless charging with their rmbp line yet.

yea i can probably wait until the summer, but i think i will just go this week to buy it

 

[Macintosh1984]

About the size of the text on the the MacBook Pro 13" Retina, is too small, or it is OK? My experiences are with an oldMacBook Pro 15" and an iMac 27" and I can read all text at max resolution.

 

[KPOM]

What I really want to know is how the 13" MBA compares to the new ultra-thin MacBook. I want to upgrade my old MBA from 2009 and don't want to make the wrong decision. If the new MB has all the power and less caffeine, then that's the one I'll snag.

Thoughts?

----------



That's the other annoying thing about the new MB. One port. And more dongles to buy. Ugh.

AnandTech has a review of the Lenovo Yoga, which uses the same Core M chip that the higher-end MacBook does (1.2GHz with 2.9GHz Turbo boost). The CPU performance is on par with the base Core i5 2014 MacBook Air, but the graphics performance is much lower. There is only so much a 4.5W chip can do, I guess.

 

[magbarn]

About the size of the text on the the MacBook Pro 13" Retina, is too small, or it is OK? My experiences are with an oldMacBook Pro 15" and an iMac 27" and I can read all text at max resolution.

go to your nearest apple store and check it out. The rMBP 13 is much kindler to my middle age eyes than the mba 11/13.

 

[Macintosh1984]

Yes I will!

I have seen it 100 times but not with the right focus, because I want to buy it now.

Then it reads well, you say? You've got to compare it to a normal iMac 27"?