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Benchmarks Confirm New MacBook Air Brings Decent Speed Improvements, MacBook Pro Less So
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The Pro also has a better GPU than the Air. Though some may say that the retina screen vs non-retina screen makes that difference smaller. I don't know how much of a difference that makes, but the GPU itself is still more powerful.
That's not great reasoning unless your workflow has a lot of CPU-bound activities... And if that's the case, th Air probably isn't Tge best choice in the first place.
A lot of things people do on an Air might be affected by the GPU performance, network connection, etc., so paying a lot for a 20-25% CPU upgrade might not make sense.
I hope not! But there are people who don't understand it and are looking for advice and might listen to this kind of thing. Hopefully we can steer them away from that!
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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? For sure. But I expect 3rd party chargers with 2-3 extra USB 3 ports to show up within a few weeks. And since you already have to carry a charger with you, I don't see the problem. But I do think Apple has actually researched this, and it wouldn't surprise me if there are a lot of people out there are OK with just one port. They make sure their notebook is fully charged at the start of the day and the only thing they might connect "in the field" is a thumb drive. So one port is OK.
edit: additionally, I have no idea how big Apple's charger is going to be, but it wouldn't surprise me if a dongle + Apple's charger takes up less space than the Dell "brick" I have here. Maybe a 3rd party will come up with a charger + dongle that can be clicked together and still smaller than a regular power brick. Win-win.
Speaking for myself I definitely have to use several ports at once sometimes. For example, when I want to use a laptop in a classroom at the university I have to connect it to a projector (via VGA) AND to ethernet to authenticate the login. Apple seems to think that ethernet is not needed anymore. this might be true in a few years but not yet. Also, when doing presentations I need to plug in a usb stick for a pointer and as before connect it to a projector via VGA. this is two or sometimes 3 things I have to plug in at the same time. so as much as I like my laptops light, one port is just not enough for me now. so I'll probably get the 13'' air.
Unless there are enough products that take advantage of TB3's speed, it will end up being a niche market for specialized users.
I see USB-C being more marketable to the masses and that's where we'll see the products being manufactured. It's just a matter of time.
Updates
I wish in these updates that they would include more of the older PCs in their charts and graphs. If you have a one or two year old Mac, the answer is really simple and pretty much always the same: you should not replace it. For many of us, the upgrade cycle for our computers is between 4 and 6 years out. But those PCs never make the chart.
I had a call from a friend today and he wants to upgrade his 2009 Macbook Pro. My other friend is considering upgrading a 2010 Macbook Air with the Macbook. That is the sort of upgrade that I see in the real world. But you have to dig around to find the data on those older machines.
Anyway, my friend was considering the 15" Macbook Pro. I quickly set him straight that he was not allowed to buy that machine at this time. It looks like he will go with a souped up highend 13" Macbook Pro.
I wish in these updates that they would include more of the older PCs in their charts and graphs. If you have a one or two year old Mac, the answer is really simple and pretty much always the same: you should not replace it. For many of us, the upgrade cycle for our computers is between 4 and 6 years out. But those PCs never make the chart.
I had a call from a friend today and he wants to upgrade his 2009 Macbook Pro. My other friend is considering upgrading a 2010 Macbook Air with the Macbook. That is the sort of upgrade that I see in the real world. But you have to dig around to find the data on those older machines.
Anyway, my friend was considering the 15" Macbook Pro. I quickly set him straight that he was not allowed to buy that machine at this time. It looks like he will go with a souped up highend 13" Macbook Pro.
You guys assume it is on intel's end when it has nothing to do with intel unless it's just an issue of bandwidth. People on here drone on about needing discrete graphics to power their scrollbar, yet if you try one with an NVidia chip and integrated graphics disabled via system preferences, it behaves the same way.
Well they just released an ultra-light fanless model. If they were about to test an A-series, we wouldn't have seen such a thing. As it is I suspect they could do something like that in a few years if this doesn't work out. I just wouldn't count on it.
Poole is either misguided or very biased, as he portrays a 25% difference in processor benchmarks as a 25% performance improvement. This is extremely unlikely.
Thunderbolt was never meant to be more marketable than USB. For the niche market were USB is not an option you have thunderbolt. I have never used thunderbolt but I have used the port on my Macbook, macbook air and Mac mini to connect to a monitor. As long as Apple has products like the Mac Pro I think thunderbolt will be around.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
YESSSS! Because nobody needs bootcamp or Parallels compatibility with Windows, nor does anyone mind waiting a couple of years for OS X software by entities other than Apple to be re-written (AGAIN) to support yet another CPU (and now GPU) change, likely leaving a few important programs for some without a re-written upgrade. Just loved the switch from PowerPC to Intel back in '06. When can we go through that again (this time without a "rosetta" to keep third party software working until they can get around to re-writing their software again)?
Personally, I think Intel and the others are quite good (great!) at what they do. And the utility that comes from also using Intel is pretty valuable to me (some software that I need only exists for Windows and some client tools only work with windows). 2 fully functional computers in one case is quite great for those who need access to both.
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It's not always about day-to-day. Does your car have optional 4-wheel drive that you can use when you need it? Does your house have heat to use when you need it (in the winter) and AC to use when you need it (in the summer)? Depending on where you live right now, why do you have the other one (heater or AC) you are not using right now?
I like having standard ports for when I need them. For example, anyone buying this very portable, "only 2 pounds" laptop to take on the road for work will almost certainly need the ability to connect to some wired things. Ethernet is still very common- even when wifi is available. For me, I have both at the hotel where I am right now: the wifi is too slow to use but the ethernet screams-- glad I have the dongle for that one with me.
Just needed to print some airline tickets and that involved either plugging in a regular USB cable OR plugging in a USB drive to then plug into the printer (no wireless printing at this hotel). If I had this new MB with me, I'd need another dongle to do the same.
I put a few movies on this MB because I may have some downtime while flying or between flights. However, right now, I have some downtime in the hotel room. The HDTV has basic cable hooked up (glorious SD upscaled to HD for that blurry, "where's the HD???" quality). If I had the HDMI jack or HDMI dongle, I could connect and actually watch something I want to watch in HD on this HDTV (the hotel might even have a HDMI-to-HDMI cable I could borrow, but they certainly would not have a USB-C to HDMI dongle). Back home, no problem, I have the movie in iTunes and an AppleTV. But here is another one of those "when I need it" situations.
Back at home, I have everything wireless so I could get by with just one port for charging. But I'm not always at home or where I can depend on the same kind of setup. Instead- for work- I can be in all kinds of situations where there are no direct connections for USB-C (yet). Depending on "just bring an adapter" and/or "just bring a dongle for what you'll need" when you can't always know exactly what you need translates into having to bring ALL of your adapters and dongles so that you are ready for just about anything you'll encounter... OR just trying to deal with ultra slow wifi and/or not being able to print those airline tickets, etc. If a client has wifi access restrictions such that I can only hook in via ethernet, I'd have to have that ethernet dongle along. Etc.
I can't completely swallow the argument for "thinner & lighter" if the price of that is to carry along several accessories to make it work well for what was previously common uses of a mobile computer. Apple might as well move the battery and circuit board outside too to make the next one even thinner & lighter. It seems if they did, some of the faithful would help spin that as a positive as well: "Why does anyone need a battery inside? I just have mine plugged into the wall socket here at home."
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My 15" rMBP is my only computer, so what I currently have plugged in.....
Power
External display via 1 Thunderbolt/mDP port
External hard drive via the other Thunderbolt port
Lightning cable in one USB port for iPhone or iPad
External speakers
USB 3.0 hub in the other USB port, which has my keyboard and receiver for my wireless mouse plugged in. Then my monitor has a built in USB 2.0 hub which is plugged into it. I also occasionally need to connect a thumb drive or other external storage to a USB port.
I like connectivity, and am willing to have a thicker and heaver laptop. My laptop is still less than an inch thick and only weighs a few pounds, I really don't need thinner and lighter.
Does anyone know for sure that Apple could even add another port or two on the MacBook? I mean, it's even thinner than the Air. So maybe there's a real reason why there only USB and headphone.
I also agree with the guy who said about not needing more ports. The majority of people just need to plug it in. I'd put anything on that prediction. In fact obviously Apple agree - after all, they've only gone and done it with the MacBook.
I also agree with the guy who said about not needing more ports. The majority of people just need to plug it in. I'd put anything on that prediction. In fact obviously Apple agree - after all, they've only gone and done it with the MacBook.
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