Air '18 vs MBP nTB '17 performance

[melchiorsen]

With the new laptop lineup being more confusing as ever, I was wondering what the performance gap between the new MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro nTB from 2017 really is.
1) What is the difference between the Y and U-series CPU's in the two machines, and how will it affect e.g. FCPX editing?
2) What is the difference in graphics performance between the two?
3) Is there a difference in the screen's color range (color gamut) and brightness between the two?

 

[0014]

MacBook Pro 13" nTB

MacBook Air 2018

Display is 500nits with P3 colour for MBP and 300nits with sRGB for the Air

Graphics performance will be a bit better with the MBP as it has the Intel Iris Plus 640. But don't expect to do any intensive gaming on it.

 

[Falcon80]

So MacBook Air single core is actually better than ntb MBP. I kept reading the MBP is much better in terms of performance.

 

[0014]

You won’t notice 38pts difference.

The MBP results are an average whereas the MBA is one machine as they have only just come out.

My early 2015 rMBP scores quite a bit higher than the average. So user results will vary from machine to machine.

 

[RegularGuy09]

The CPU performance difference isnt as drastic as people have made it out to be. I'd say its pretty much the same. GPU and screen are slightly better on the Pro. The Air is lighter, tapered, has better battery life, touch ID, T2 chip, better keyboard, and $100 cheaper.

If you need more performance than the Air, get the 13inch TB Pro.

 

[Jimmy James]

I’m certain the cpu in the air is sufficient for me. My uncertainty is with graphics performance. Will it smoothly play 4K video on an external monitor? If so, that’s sufficient for me. I’m currently using a 10 year old machine that stutters on 1080p YouTube videos and it’s not my bandwidth.

 

[thunng8]

MacBook Pro 13" nTB


View attachment 802065


MacBook Air 2018

View attachment 802066

Display is 500nits with P3 colour for MBP and 300nits with sRGB for the Air

Graphics performance will be a bit better with the MBP as it has the Intel Iris Plus 640. But don't expect to do any intensive gaming on it.

Here are the result from gfxbench which tries to represent graphics performance.

Iris plus 640 in the pro

https://gfxbench.com/device.jsp?benchmark=gfx50&os=OS X&api=metal&cpu-arch=x86&hwtype=GPU&hwname=Intel(R) Iris Plus Graphics 640&did=50936050&D=Intel(R) Iris Plus Graphics 640

Uhd graphic 617 in the air

https://gfxbench.com/device.jsp?benchmark=gfx50&os=OS X&api=metal&cpu-arch=x86&hwtype=GPU&hwname=Intel(R) UHD Graphics 617&did=65620111&D=Intel(R) UHD Graphics 617

So overall about 70-80% faster for the mbp which is quite significant.

Just in case you are wondering, the new iPad Pro is more than double the speed of the mbp and close to 4x faster than the air

https://gfxbench.com/device.jsp?benchmark=gfx50&os=iOS&api=metal&cpu-arch=unknown&hwtype=GPU&hwname=Apple Inc. Apple A12X GPU&did=69121294&D=Apple iPad Pro (11-inch)

 

[0014]

Here are the result from gfxbench which tries to represent graphics performance.

Iris plus 640 in the pro

https://gfxbench.com/device.jsp?benchmark=gfx50&os=OS X&api=metal&cpu-arch=x86&hwtype=GPU&hwname=Intel(R) Iris Plus Graphics 640&did=50936050&D=Intel(R) Iris Plus Graphics 640

Uhd graphic 617 in the air

https://gfxbench.com/device.jsp?benchmark=gfx50&os=OS X&api=metal&cpu-arch=x86&hwtype=GPU&hwname=Intel(R) UHD Graphics 617&did=65620111&D=Intel(R) UHD Graphics 617

So overall about 70-80% faster for the mbp which is quite significant.

Just in case you are wondering, the new iPad Pro is more than double the speed of the mbp and close to 4x faster than the air

https://gfxbench.com/device.jsp?benchmark=gfx50&os=iOS&api=metal&cpu-arch=unknown&hwtype=GPU&hwname=Apple Inc. Apple A12X GPU&did=69121294&D=Apple iPad Pro (11-inch)

Regardless of the benchmark performance difference neither chipset can run any modern game on decent quality settings.

The Air shouldn’t be used for gaming anyway and if you want to game on a MacBook Pro you would need to opt for the 15” with dedicated Radeon 555/560 graphics (and Vega 16/20 from late Nov)

Comparing the iPad Pro to any Laptop is dubious. Whilst it can be used for day to day tasks such as web, email, odd document editing etc. It’s still not a laptop replacement and won’t be for some time. I have a IPP 10.5 complete with Keyboard.

I still use my MBP for proper document/spreadsheet creation/editing and only use the IPP for minor editing or reviewing whilst travelling.

Apple really need to ******* Intel and use their own ARM cpu in their MacBook lines.

 

[Cosmo M3]

I just received my 2018 MBA and compared the performance between this and my base model 2.3 GHz 8GB nTB MBP and there are times when the MBA would have slower response times compared to my base model MBP. I think it may have to do with some background tasks that are setting stuff up as I've setup my MBA as a new computer. The keyboard on the new MBA is superior to the 2017 MBP though.

 

[SoApple]

I just received my 2018 MBA and compared the performance between this and my base model 2.3 GHz 8GB nTB MBP and there are times when the MBA would have slower response times compared to my base model MBP. I think it may have to do with some background tasks that are setting stuff up as I've setup my MBA as a new computer. The keyboard on the new MBA is superior to the 2017 MBP though.

It could be the laptop indexing. Can you give us an update on their your day to day tasks performance difference?
Thanks!

 

[digger10]

I’m certain the cpu in the air is sufficient for me. My uncertainty is with graphics performance. Will it smoothly play 4K video on an external monitor? If so, that’s sufficient for me. I’m currently using a 10 year old machine that stutters on 1080p YouTube videos and it’s not my bandwidth.

2 4K displays or 1 5K.

 

[Howard2k]

I just received my 2018 MBA and compared the performance between this and my base model 2.3 GHz 8GB nTB MBP and there are times when the MBA would have slower response times compared to my base model MBP. I think it may have to do with some background tasks that are setting stuff up as I've setup my MBA as a new computer. The keyboard on the new MBA is superior to the 2017 MBP though.

What Wifi router are you using and what connection speeds are you seeing?

 

[Cosmo M3]

What Wifi router are you using and what connection speeds are you seeing?

I'm on my work Wi-Fi but I'm seeing 11 ping, 55mbps/20mbps

Where I do notice slowdowns are closing and opening apps and some sites have been slow on opening.

 

[Jimmy James]

2 4K displays or 1 5K.

It’ll display on 4K but will it play a high bitrate video smoothly?

 

[PalidinoDH]

I just received my 2018 MBA and compared the performance between this and my base model 2.3 GHz 8GB nTB MBP and there are times when the MBA would have slower response times compared to my base model MBP. I think it may have to do with some background tasks that are setting stuff up as I've setup my MBA as a new computer. The keyboard on the new MBA is superior to the 2017 MBP though.

How do you feel about the air having a worse screen? Is it very noticeable or can you not really tell? Also with screen brightness, how does the air compare to the ntb at 50-60%? I only ask because that's where I keep my brightness at for my 2016 ntb.

 

[Cosmo M3]

How do you feel about the air having a worse screen? Is it very noticeable or can you not really tell? Also with screen brightness, how does the air compare to the ntb at 50-60%? I only ask because that's where I keep my brightness at for my 2016 ntb.

What is your definition of a 'worse screen'? They're both retina displays with the same resolution and the main two differences is the P3 wide color gamut on the MBP vs. sRGB on the MBA (which is immaterial if you're not editing, and if you are, you wouldn't be buying a MBA). The brightness difference between the two is only noticeable to me in direct sunlight.

 

[Jimmy James]

I’m comparing the 617 against the previous Air with the HD 6000. For the price it’s worth considering. Off screen 617 results are significantly better. On screen they’re a bit worse, presumably due to driving the retina display.

 

[ChrisChaval]

So MacBook Air single core is actually better than ntb MBP. I kept reading the MBP is much better in terms of performance.

that's one close call

much closer than I expected it to be

 

[Dave245]

So the Air isn’t as bad as it’s been made out to be, it’s the 12” MacBook situation all over again.

Anyone know what the difference would be with the Touch Bar version of the 13” MacBook Pro?

 

[PalidinoDH]

What is your definition of a 'worse screen'? They're both retina displays with the same resolution and the main two differences is the P3 wide color gamut on the MBP vs. sRGB on the MBA (which is immaterial if you're not editing, and if you are, you wouldn't be buying a MBA). The brightness difference between the two is only noticeable to me in direct sunlight.

You covered it all. I went from a macbook air with i7 from maybe 2013 to the entry ntb 2016 and the difference with the screen was night and day. The keyboard has given me issues lately though, and I don't really want to switch over to my old air while I send my pro in. Basically, I'm considering full on replacing my 2016 ntb pro with the new air, and wanted to know if there's any obvious "downgrades." It seems the CPU is about the same as the 2016 ntb and a longer lasting battery, which really only leaves the screen and speakers that I don't know about.

 

[Jack25]

Played around with the new MBA ins tore earlier. Found it noticeably more laggy than the MBP 13.

 

[Ma2k5]

Played around with the new MBA ins tore earlier. Found it noticeably more laggy than the MBP 13.

I guess there is to be some more spinning load wheels, or even delays in things opening/closing - but how bad would you say it was?

 

[Jack25]

I guess there is to be some more spinning load wheels, or even delays in things opening/closing - but how bad would you say it was?

Very similar to 1.48 in this Verge review

Scrolling through a few pages in Safari was choppy too.

 

[Ma2k5]

Very similar to 1.48 in this Verge review

Scrolling through a few pages in Safari was choppy too.

I see. I guess I foresee quite a few people returning these in the 14 day period if they are coming from a Pro (similar occurred with th 12” MacBook, I remember when I returned mine for another reason, Apple staff had presumed I was returning it because it was too slow - guess they are used to it).

 

[Dave245]

Does anyone know how the new Air would compare to my old Macbook Pro 2011? in terms of specs? i'm guessing the new Air would be a lot faster.