2012 MBA vs 2017 MB

[Jacobi]

Upgrading from a 2012 Macbook Air. If I go with a base model 2017 MacBook, how will the performance compare? Will it be faster due to be being 5 years newer, or will the lower-clocked processor mean that I'm actually downgrading from my MBA? Both would have 8GB RAM.

Main reason I want to upgrade is the Retina display and sleek form factor. A secondary question is: is there any reason people have chosen the MB over the newest MBA, which I would also consider?

 

[mbdownunder]

I recently upgraded from a 2013 MBA (i7, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) to a base 2017 MB. The 2017 feels just as fast as the MBA. The screen and the compact size are a huge improvement. I'm very happy with the upgrade.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Upgrading from a 2012 Macbook Air. If I go with a base model 2017 MacBook, how will the performance compare? Will it be faster due to be being 5 years newer, or will the lower-clocked processor mean that I'm actually downgrading from my MBA? Both would have 8GB RAM.

Main reason I want to upgrade is the Retina display and sleek form factor. A secondary question is: is there any reason people have chosen the MB over the newest MBA, which I would also consider?

Geekbench isn't everything but it is something. For some reason MacTracker doesn't give the i7 version of the 2017 MacBook, but the Geekbench score for it is 7557.

The single core differences are greater as a percent. i7 is 3932.

People will say that the MacBook will throttle back due to not having a fan, but the effect is much smaller than generally believed, around 10% max after prolonged load.