Benchmark tests show iPhone 6s is as powerful as the Retina MacBook

[pastrychef]

If what you're saying is that the iPhone 6S is an amazing piece of machinery because it can replicate the fantastic specs of a best-in-class thin/light Apple notebook then we're in agreement. But methinks that's not your agenda here. You're here to get your jollies by insinuating that the RMB is underpowered. Yawn. Like you're not the 100th person to attempt that nonsense since May.

Benchmarks about processing horsepower are ridiculous since every RMB owner knows that going in. Apple never claimed that the RMB is its powerful workhorse notebook for data processors, gaming coders, or videographers. They claimed it is a next-gen notebook for the ultimate in portability with a full-sized keyboard. Anyone who bought an RMB knows this going in.

If you went into a BMW dealership looking for a vehicle to transport your family of 6 during the week and cut lumber on the weekends and came out driving a Z4 Roadster instead of an X5, that's on YOU, not BMW. So far, no dimwits have come into this forum saying "Gee, I am a movie producer and I require my notebook to assemble 50GB 4K multi-layered video files and the 12" Retina MacBook is really disappointing" because we're not ignorant, we know what we're buying at the time of purchase.

Again, and hopefully for the last time, your argument makes no sense because you're arguing the wrong point to the wrong people. You want to fight this 'performance' battle, go to the MacBook Pro subforum because that's Apple's performance notebook. Processing power matters over there. Horsepower benchmarks count over there. This forum is for Apple's 'premium portable' notebook, and so if you want to make an argument you need to make it about size, weight, form factor, screen clarity, or design. That's how you judge the RMB. You're talking to 2-seater sportscar owners about towing capacity. It's a waste of everyone's time.

BJ

Which part of any of my posts have I said anything negative at all about the MacBook???? I love the machine and wish I owned one! You really have reading comprehension problems.

Your insecurity of your purchase is ridiculous. Why do you care what others think about the MacBook??? Why do you need anyone's approval??? If you are happy and content with your purchase, that's fantastic!

All your car analogies are that really make no sense. 600 horse power on the streets and in school zones??? There are no speed limits on CPUs and GPUs. Buying a 2 seater for a family of 6 and towing??? WTF are you talking about? The only dimwit even to consider doing 4K movie edits with a MacBook is you.

Which of my arguments make no sense??? You're the one who said benchmarks don't matter. How can they not matter??? I have not judged the MacBook in any of my posts here!! You're the one who jumped in being insulting and defensive.

Again, there's absolutely no need for you to defend your purchase. No one here has stated your MacBook sucks. Stop thinking the whole world is out there to get you. You're the one who's really wasting everyone's time here with your paranoia.

 

[boltjames]

Again, there's absolutely no need for you to defend your purchase.

Excellent. Then stop throwing around negative benchmarks in a thread comparing a notebook computer to a telephone.

BJ

 

[pastrychef]

Excellent. Then stop throwing around negative benchmarks in a thread comparing a notebook computer to a telephone.

BJ

There's no such thing as a negative benchmark. It's just a series of tests. The links I posted to can be run on any device that has a browser.

 

[lite426]

Excellent. Then stop throwing around negative benchmarks in a thread comparing a notebook computer to a telephone.

BJ

Does everyone need your permission before they post a benchmark in case it upsets you? The iPhone isn't a "telephone", it's a highly efficient portable computer and personal digital assistant, which also makes calls.

 

[boltjames]

Does everyone need your permission before they post a benchmark in case it upsets you? The iPhone isn't a "telephone", it's a highly efficient portable computer and personal digital assistant, which also makes calls.

The original article was written as a way to prop the iPhone 6S up by saying it was as powerful as the new MacBook Retina. It's a terrific accomplishment.

The reason this article and it's subject line was posted in this particular subforum was as a way to upset MacBook Retina owners. It was posted to put down the RMB. "I've got a phone that's more powerful than your notebook!"

Publish any benchmark you like. But if you want to judge the RMB those benchmarks better be about a) slim/light form-factors, b) emerging technologies, and c) commuter/airport/hotel portability. Those are the only metrics on which the RMB should be judged. Processing power, speed tests, none of that matters. All its owners get the fact that we're trading off MB Pro-like performance for best-in-class portability. It's the reason we bought the RMB to begin with.

BJ

 

[jerwin]

so I decided to run my imac 5k through the Octane 2.0 benchmark

Safari: 26689
Chrome: 35394
Firefox: 32393

so maybe it's not the best benchmark for comparing hardware.

 

[lite426]

The original article was written as a way to prop the iPhone 6S up by saying it was as powerful as the new MacBook Retina. It's a terrific accomplishment.

The reason this article and it's subject line was posted in this particular subforum was as a way to upset MacBook Retina owners. It was posted to put down the RMB. "I've got a phone that's more powerful than your notebook!"

Publish any benchmark you like. But if you want to judge the RMB those benchmarks better be about a) slim/light form-factors, b) emerging technologies, and c) commuter/airport/hotel portability. Those are the only metrics on which the RMB should be judged. Processing power, speed tests, none of that matters. All its owners get the fact that we're trading off MB Pro-like performance for best-in-class portability. It's the reason we bought the RMB to begin with.

BJ

No, the only MacBook owner who's upset here is you. As a MacBook owner myself, I'm not in the least upset by benchmarks like this.

You do not get to selectively decide what benchmarks should be published and which shouldn't, and which should be discussed and which shouldn't. It's on the basis of such benchmarks in the first place - NOT marketing gibberish - that a buyer would know whether the MacBook is suitable for their needs or not.

 

[boltjames]

You do not get to selectively decide what benchmarks should be published and which shouldn't, and which should be discussed and which shouldn't. It's on the basis of such benchmarks in the first place - NOT marketing gibberish - that a buyer would know whether the MacBook is suitable for their needs or not.

You're not listening. Performance benchmarks are not necessary because no one is buying a Retina MacBook for performance. It's not a Pro. If people wish to keep posting benchmarks, that's fine, but where they are being posted for a transparent malicious intent (like this thread with this title in this forum) myself or others will respond to it so that newcomers and potential buyers have a neutral point of view and not incorrectly skewed as could happen if not otherwise corrected.

This benchmark shows that the iPhone 6S is over-powered, not that the RMB is under-powered. The article was published to prop the 6S up. The OP posted the article here as a way to put the RMB down. It's not right.

BJ

 

[pastrychef]

"I've got a phone that's more powerful than your notebook!"

You seem to be the only one who has managed to construe it this way. This is more about "wow, it's amazing how far the the iPhone has advanced" than it is about "jeez, look how crappy the MacBook is".

Publish any benchmark you like. But if you want to judge the RMB those benchmarks better be about a) slim/light form-factors, b) emerging technologies, and c) commuter/airport/hotel portability. Those are the only metrics on which the RMB should be judged. Processing power, speed tests, none of that matters. All its owners get the fact that we're trading off MB Pro-like performance for best-in-class portability. It's the reason we bought the RMB to begin with.

If you want to simply compare by those metrics, then an iPhone is:

a. slimmer/ligher than your MacBook
b. emerging technologies??? (no idea what you're talking about here)
c. more portable than your MacBook

 

[pastrychef]

You're not listening. Performance benchmarks are not necessary because no one is buying a Retina MacBook for performance. It's not a Pro. If people wish to keep posting benchmarks, that's fine, but where they are being posted for a transparent malicious intent (like this thread with this title in this forum) myself or others will respond to it so that newcomers and potential buyers have a neutral point of view and not incorrectly skewed as could happen if not otherwise corrected.

This benchmark shows that the iPhone 6S is over-powered, not that the RMB is under-powered. The article was published to prop the 6S up. The OP posted the article here as a way to put the RMB down. It's not right.

BJ

How would potential buyers know exactly what a MacBook is and isn't capable of without reading reviews with benchmarks? Performance matters to most people shopping for computers. Benchmarks help them determine what levels of performance a particular machine is capable of. I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that you are of a small minority who really seems to not care at all how a computer performs before buying it.

Malicious intent??? Seriously, dude, your schizophrenia and paranoia has gotten the best of you. It's time to renew that thorazine prescription.

 

[boltjames]

You seem to be the only one who has managed to construe it this way. This is more about "wow, it's amazing how far the the iPhone has advanced" than it is about "jeez, look how crappy the MacBook is".

That's incorrect. No one would post about the amazing iPhone 6S in the Retina MacBook Subforum which is where you are. If the intent of the post was to praise the iPhone 6S it would have been posted in the iPhone Subforum which this isn't. I've been here long enough to know when we're being baited. Trust me on this one.

If you want to simply compare by those metrics, then an iPhone is:

a. slimmer/ligher than your MacBook
b. emerging technologies??? (no idea what you're talking about here)
c. more portable than your MacBook

Emerging Technologies In A Notebook: USB-C. Retina Display. Butterfly Keyboard. NFC.

I own 2 iPhone 6's and 2 iPhone 6S's, I really don't need a lesson on how light and portable a smartphone is. It's not a notebook. Even my 3 year old son knows this.

BJ

 

[AleXXXa]

I am not surprised. The iPhone is pretty powerful, but that macbook is a dog. Of course a flagship phone is faster.

 

[pastrychef]

That's incorrect. No one would post about the amazing iPhone 6S in the Retina MacBook Subforum which is where you are. If the intent of the post was to praise the iPhone 6S it would have been posted in the iPhone Subforum which this isn't. I've been here long enough to know when we're being baited. Trust me on this one.

Let's say you are correct. Why does it matter what others think??? If a MacBook suits your needs, it doesn't matter what others think about it. Attacking anyone who replies to the thread isn't going to change anyone's mind.

Emerging Technologies In A Notebook: USB-C. Retina Display. Butterfly Keyboard. NFC.

I own 2 iPhone 6's and 2 iPhone 6S's, I really don't need a lesson on how light and portable a smartphone is. It's not a notebook. Even my 3 year old son knows this.

BJ

Those are not emerging. They've already emerged in the MacBook.

How many people do you talk to? Carrying around four phones must be a pain.

I never said they were notebooks. Only you managed to think that.

 

[EthanNixon]

I can run Photoshop on a MacBook.

I can run a watered down version of some of the features that appear in Photoshop on an iPhone.

I can render and compile different libraries on a MacBook.

I can...render a quick video in iMovie on an iPhone?

I can run CS:GO on a MacBook.

I can run Crossy Roads on an iPhone.

If you put the A9 in a desktop environment, it would 'benchmark' a lot less. There is virtually no overhead for iOS. There is a ton of overhead for Mac OS X or any desktop operating system.

Benchmarks from a mobile operating system and a desktop operating system should never be directly compared in any way.

 

[boltjames]

Malicious intent??? Seriously, dude, your schizophrenia and paranoia has gotten the best of you.

Perhaps you're right. Perhaps this thread is just a public service announcement, a nice way to give the iPhone 6S it's props albeit in the wrong subforum...

I am not surprised. The iPhone is pretty powerful, but that macbook is a dog. Of course a flagship phone is faster.

...or perhaps you're wrong (again).

BJ

 

[pastrychef]

Perhaps you're right. Perhaps this thread is just a public service announcement, a nice way to give the iPhone 6S it's props albeit in the wrong subforum...



...or perhaps you're wrong (again).

BJ

Awesome! We finally have a person on the thread who thinks your MacBook sucks. Go sic 'em.

How does his/her opinion affect your computer???

 

[pastrychef]

I can run Photoshop on a MacBook.

I can run a watered down version of some of the features that appear in Photoshop on an iPhone.

I can render and compile different libraries on a MacBook.

I can...render a quick video in iMovie on an iPhone?

I can run CS:GO on a MacBook.

I can run Crossy Roads on an iPhone.

If you put the A9 in a desktop environment, it would 'benchmark' a lot less. There is virtually no overhead for iOS. There is a ton of overhead for Mac OS X or any desktop operating system.

Benchmarks from a mobile operating system and a desktop operating system should never be directly compared in any way.

If you want to compare how two devices renders JavaScript, you run the same test on both devices. Why can't that be compared directly?

What overhead are you speaking of? If your Mac is idle, it's idle.

 

[lite426]

I can render and compile different libraries on a MacBook.

I can...render a quick video in iMovie on an iPhone?

I can run CS:GO on a MacBook.

I can run Crossy Roads on an iPhone.

If you put the A9 in a desktop environment, it would 'benchmark' a lot less. There is virtually no overhead for iOS. There is a ton of overhead for Mac OS X or any desktop operating system.

Benchmarks from a mobile operating system and a desktop operating system should never be directly compared in any way.

CS:GO is a poor example of what MacBook can do vs the iPhone. Yes, Source engine games will run on the MacBook but it won't look pretty. The resolution needs to be lowered far below native to get playable frame rates, and generally look/play poorly on OS X. On Bootcamp Windows they're better, but you'll find your battery zapped in an hour or so and the bottom of the MacBook intolerably hot. In comparison you have some absolutely stellar multiplayer FPSses on the iPhone with very promising titles in development. Among them, Modern Combat 5 has comparable visuals to CS with fantastic gameplay. Blitz Brigade is another favourite of mine. Critical Ops is one that's similar to CS, and Afterpulse will have possibly the best graphics so far. All of which run at the iPhone's native resolution at 60+ FPS.

I'm not familiar with video editing on the iPhone or OS X, (I have some experience on Android) but then everything I've read suggests MacBook isn't particularly suited to that either. Most owners that I've seen around here seem to have a primary and more powerful machine that they use instead. The selection of apps on iOS for production are surprisingly good and grow better. The iPhone will handle all them perfectly too.

There's no reason a notebook and smartphone shouldn't be compared in performance, if they're going to be used for the same tasks. The general consumer doesn't care or know about "CPU overhead" or an "X86" environment or whatever else. He cares if one device is faster in actual use than the other for the same task. If web browsing was my primary use, and the experience of web browsing was smoother on an iPhone, then I absolutely WOULD be interested in a comparison. Actually, I can state that my iPod Touch 5th gen does in fact get used an equal amount of time as my MacBook for web browsing, simply because it's so convenient. (I wrote this post on the iPod Touch). I haven't had any problems as such with web browsing on the MacBook, but I do notice a stutter every now and then scrolling image heavy sites. For some a few small stutters could well be an off-putting irritation. Of course, some people won't care about a few stutters. They might tend to have multiple tabs open at once and not like the nature of iOS in which pages are reloaded after you switch to another tab and back, so they'd actually want a computer with OS X. Everyone's desires are different, which is why ALL benchmarks and nuances - and for the general consumer, the conclusions we derive from them (rather than raw numbers) - are relevant for discussion. We don't selectively conceal the ones we don't like and attack people for posting them.

 

[toddzrx]

Everyone's desires are different, which is why ALL benchmarks and nuances - and for the general consumer, the conclusions we derive from them (rather than raw numbers) - are relevant for discussion.

Good post, but this statement is a bit ambiguous: raw benchmarks (such as the one cited by the OP) are certainly not synonymous with everyone's desires; one's quantitative while the other is generally qualitative.

I think that's part of what James Bolt keeps getting at (very passionately!): there has been a lot of rMB bashing going on when it comes to processor power (among other supposed shortcomings), and quite a bit of it by posters who haven't even bought and used one to truly experience it. An article such as the one the OP linked to goes on to reinforce the idea that it's underpowered (for the record, the Geekbench scores cited show the rMB to be faster, albeit by not much). The bashing gets a little old though; simple numbers don't tell the whole story about how the computer works (for better or worse) in real world use.

That said, I don't own the rMB, but I review this forum regularly because I'm very interested in it as a replacement for my iMac which I hope to get another 2 years out of (2010 model with an SSD; still runs great). IMO, I see the rMB as the perfect solution to the problem of a computer that serves desktop needs but can go on the road with ease. I don't need pro level power; if I did I would not be interested in the rMB. I need to do typical consumer grade tasks, with the option to take the computer with me every now and then. A rMB, with the ability to dock into a future Retina Thunderbolt Display with one cord, is pretty appealing.

 

[jerwin]

should be interesting to see the ipad pro benchmarked.

 

[duervo]

An article such as the one the OP linked to goes on to reinforce the idea that it's underpowered (for the record, the Geekbench scores cited show the rMB to be faster, albeit by not much). The bashing gets a little old though; simple numbers don't tell the whole story about how the computer works (for better or worse) in real world use.

I think it's somewhat interesting that the OP has never replied to their own thread after they created it. That says more than anything else about true intentions with this thread, IMO.

As far as the rMB itself is concerned, I still have my 2012 non-retina MBP to serve my portable OS X needs for the time being. That will do me fine until I see what Apple does with the "gen2" rMB. Probably going to get the next one they release. Ports don't concern me much. I'm more interested in seeing what they do with that FaceTime camera, if anything.

If I didn't already have the 2012, I'd have gotten a rMB by now. Not selling the 2012 ... it's going to be hand-me-down for a family member.

 

[EthanNixon]

CS:GO is a poor example of what MacBook can do vs the iPhone. Yes, Source engine games will run on the MacBook but it won't look pretty. The resolution needs to be lowered far below native to get playable frame rates, and generally look/play poorly on OS X. On Bootcamp Windows they're better, but you'll find your battery zapped in an hour or so and the bottom of the MacBook intolerably hot. In comparison you have some absolutely stellar multiplayer FPSses on the iPhone with very promising titles in development. Among them, Modern Combat 5 has comparable visuals to CS with fantastic gameplay. Blitz Brigade is another favourite of mine. Critical Ops is one that's similar to CS, and Afterpulse will have possibly the best graphics so far. All of which run at the iPhone's native resolution at 60+ FPS.

I'm not familiar with video editing on the iPhone or OS X, (I have some experience on Android) but then everything I've read suggests MacBook isn't particularly suited to that either. Most owners that I've seen around here seem to have a primary and more powerful machine that they use instead. The selection of apps on iOS for production are surprisingly good and grow better. The iPhone will handle all them perfectly too.

There's no reason a notebook and smartphone shouldn't be compared in performance, if they're going to be used for the same tasks. The general consumer doesn't care or know about "CPU overhead" or an "X86" environment or whatever else. He cares if one device is faster in actual use than the other for the same task. If web browsing was my primary use, and the experience of web browsing was smoother on an iPhone, then I absolutely WOULD be interested in a comparison. Actually, I can state that my iPod Touch 5th gen does in fact get used an equal amount of time as my MacBook for web browsing, simply because it's so convenient. (I wrote this post on the iPod Touch). I haven't had any problems as such with web browsing on the MacBook, but I do notice a stutter every now and then scrolling image heavy sites. For some a few small stutters could well be an off-putting irritation. Of course, some people won't care about a few stutters. They might tend to have multiple tabs open at once and not like the nature of iOS in which pages are reloaded after you switch to another tab and back, so they'd actually want a computer with OS X. Everyone's desires are different, which is why ALL benchmarks and nuances - and for the general consumer, the conclusions we derive from them (rather than raw numbers) - are relevant for discussion. We don't selectively conceal the ones we don't like and attack people for posting them.

Uh... My point was they are two different devices and shouldn't be compared. You read WAY too much into my post. I was showing examples of things you can't benchmark on a mobile OS because it's not possible to, but a desktop operating system can do anything albeit with differing performance. You can't do everything on a phone or mobile OS. Therefore, comparing the two in benchmarks isn't possible. There is no benchmark for convenience, that is not measurable.

I can't believe you actually just compared Modern Combat 5 to CS:GO. lol

 

[EthanNixon]

If you want to compare how two devices renders JavaScript, you run the same test on both devices. Why can't that be compared directly?

What overhead are you speaking of? If your Mac is idle, it's idle.

View attachment 587496

Your computer at idle is still running thousands of processes per second that a mobile OS is NOT doing.

 

[lite426]

An article such as the one the OP linked to goes on to reinforce the idea that it's underpowered (for the record, the Geekbench scores cited show the rMB to be faster, albeit by not much). The bashing gets a little old though; simple numbers don't tell the whole story about how the computer works (for better or worse) in real world use.

The MacBook is underpowered when it comes to 3D gaming, compared with the iPhone.

It also seems to be underpowered for PDF documents, incredibly, it struggles with the most basic plain text documents! I've tried all sorts of PDF readers including QuickView and Skim, and my iPod Touch can scroll through PDFs smoother than my Macbook with any of them!

 

[lite426]

Uh... My point was they are two different devices and shouldn't be compared. You read WAY too much into my post. I was showing examples of things you can't benchmark on a mobile OS because it's not possible to, but a desktop operating system can do anything albeit with differing performance. You can't do everything on a phone or mobile OS. Therefore, comparing the two in benchmarks isn't possible. There is no benchmark for convenience, that is not measurable.

I can't believe you actually just compared Modern Combat 5 to CS:GO. lol

Can't convenience be benchmarked? Portability is convenience, and portability is weight. Weight can be measured. An iPhone is lighter than a Macbook.

You can't do "everything" on a desktop operating system. There are things you can do on the iPhone 6, for instance, record high res video with the camera, that you can't with the MacBook. There are apps that are exclusive to mobile.

Yep, Modern Combat 5 is amazing and one of my favourite mobile FPSses. I gave it as an example, because your own example of "Crossy Roads" was ridiculous as there are far more advanced games than that for the iPhone.