Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Early Benchmarks Put Retina MacBook CPU Performance in Range of 2011 MacBook Air

mattopotamus said:
And you think those task merit a $1300 Mac? At most get the air unless you want to throw money away.

It is grossly overpriced and there is no question about it.
Click to expand...

Ha ha ha! Can you not see that it's just your opinion and other people think different? I'd pay even more for a super thin OS X/Windows device.
 
such a weird computer. Loaded with the next evolution in Apple design, but runs like something 4 years old and costs the same as a Pro from 2 years ago. The consumer market will pay that much for the machine?

I mean, yeah, unless it's April Fools, then, ok, point taken.
 
That's pretty bloody good.

The 2011 MacBook Air wasn't wanting for performance in its target market but the battery life was abysmal.
 
cfedu said:
But they could make it thinner if they do that, isn't that what you want?
Click to expand...

there would be an insane risk of alienating a segment of your market that allows the hardware to be used by windows and therefore, from a hardware sales perspective, be usable in most of the corporate world.

that alone, currently, would be a bad move. nevermind technical limitations.
 
gregrose said:
The next MacBook will probably decrease speed and to the level of the first ipad and people will find ways to give excuses for apple. Such a greedy company that gimps all their technology and makes people pay premium
Click to expand...

They do what to people? If you don't see the value then don't buy the product. How simple is that?

Why do people begrudgingly buy every single Apple product and complain incessantly about the ones that don't meet their needs?
 
MacBook 2015

I don't know why all the complaints regarding the new MacBook. It cannot be compared with current Apple laptops. This is their first FANLESS laptop. Without a fan they are limited to the power they can put into it without getting too hot. They are aiming at the people who want a super portable laptop for travel and primarily use it to surf the web and communicate. They are not aiming at people who need a lot processing power. For that they have the MacBookPro machines.
Can it be compared to the iPad Air 2? Sure it can be, but I will say the new MacBook with a full keyboard will get my vote over inputing with a touch keyboard any day.
I will be buying one as soon as it is available in my area. I have always wanted a super light Macbook with no fan & no moving parts.
 
KPOM said:
How so? The CPU draws about 1/3 of the power as an LED light bulb. The new MacBook isn't for power users. It is for road warriors looking for something that can be thrown into the front pocket of a briefcase. Heck, it will fit into the padded pocket of a Tumi messenger bag I have. It reminds me of the original MacBook Air from 2008.
Click to expand...

Don't think so. More like roadshow.
 
Virinprew said:
Don't think so. More like roadshow.
Click to expand...

Investment bankers on a road show don't need the most powerful processors. They need to run PowerPoint or Keynote, and Outlook or Mail. The MacBook is just fine for that. The 2015 MacBook Air doesn't perform that much better than the 2011. Intel has focused more on power consumption and graphics performance than CPU power. This isn't a gaming PC or a power user device. That's why they haven't dropped the Air. They will keep the more mainstream choices around until the Core M technology catches up. That's exactly what they did with the original MacBook Air.
 
It's not a joke, but you know what's worse; I'm not surprised.. Because every year Apple loses their ambition to make better laptops.. They put some make-up on the existing line and TaDaa Here comes 2016 Macbook or Pro or Retina or..
 
It is indeed sad that just because there is an Apple on it, it will sell, because everything else about it is a fail. Performance of 5 years ago at a higher price tag?

There is nothing here that the Air isn't better at, except the retina display and the fancy paint jobs. In fact, it does much less. But it is definitely set apart from the other Apple offerings... I'll give them that.
 
I have a 2011 i7 MBA 11", and even as an IT professional, this computer suits me fine. The MB usage while using a non-scaled resolution interests me. I am tired of the 1366x768 display, I want more usable real-estate.

So I wait for GPU benchmarks. The MBPr 13" is still too big, and too heavy for my needs as I just love my 11".

As far as complaints, Apple doesn't make the CPUs, and IMO the pairing is pretty damn nice minus the Gen 1 USBC, but that's a fail on the USB consortium, not Apple.
 
KPOM said:
Investment bankers on a road show don't need the most powerful processors. They need to run PowerPoint or Keynote, and Outlook or Mail. The MacBook is just fine for that. The 2015 MacBook Air doesn't perform that much better than the 2011. Intel has focused more on power consumption and graphics performance than CPU power. This isn't a gaming PC or a power user device. That's why they haven't dropped the Air. They will keep the more mainstream choices around until the Core M technology catches up. That's exactly what they did with the original MacBook Air.
Click to expand...

You seem to leave out that a) the Air can do all of those things, and b) at a lower price.
 
Naimfan said:
That looks like reasonable performance for what the machine appears to be designed for.

It's never going to be the fastest - get a Pro if you need speed.

For most, this will be fine.
Click to expand...

Yeah, similar to the MacMini. ;)

musika said:
More interestingly than it being comparable to a 2011 MacBook Air is that it actually ranks pretty much equally to an iPad Air 2, with the iPad even outperforming it in multi-core tests.
Click to expand...

Yep, the single core score is equal, adding more cores will score better in a multi core test (A8X has 3). Also worth mentioning is that the A8X is 20nm, compared to 14nm here.

LordVic said:
Intel started in the "higher end" Market. high power usage CPU's with the high end performance.
Click to expand...

It's probably more accurate to say that they started in the middle ground as the CPU for the PC platform.
 
Rogifan said:
Hmm...I seem to remember Steve Jobs pulling a MBA out of a manila envelope and crowing about how thin it was. Can you tell me in what way(s) the 2008 MBA was better than the rMB? I can't think of any.

Image

Image

Image

Image
Click to expand...
The early MacBook Airs were some of my favorite devices ever. I had both the first and second generations. The 2nd gen was my first notebook with an SSD and I resolved never to buy another mechanical hard drive-equipped PC for myself.

Skylake is coming soon so I would not be surprised to see an early refresh with more power by this winter. That said, I am more excited about the MacBook than any Mac since the original MacBook Air.

----------
jcmeyer5 said:
You seem to leave out that a) the Air can do all of those things, and b) at a lower price.
Click to expand...

But it's heavier and doesn't have a Retina display or Force Touch.
 
Right now all this machine accomplishes is making the 13" rMBP look like a good value in comparison.

I hope that like the MBA a few years ago, this is just an example of a cutting edge but overpriced and underpowered v1.0 and that within a few iterations both the price and performance relative to the rest of the lineup improve, just as the MBA's price decreased and relative performance improved until it eventually became a reasonable choice if you needed a less expensive laptop or were willing to trade power for portability.
 
manu chao said:
You don't get it, Apple doesn't make their profits by selling at prices you consider fair, they make their profits by selling at prices that enough people are willing to pay.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you are conceding the point that the new MacBook is indeed an overpriced, underperforming dog when compared to the rest of the line... from 5 years ago. Yeah, I know you probably don't see it that way, but when you say that Apple isn't worried about fair pricing (in other words, in accordance with the performance and capabilities of the machine), you admit it.
 
I dont think I would put to much into the geekbench scores

Look at these they are all the same computer, many with the same cpus and speed but their scores are all over the map...

http://browser.primatelabs.com/geek...Air+(13-inch+Early+2015)&sort=multicore_score

Mar 28, 2015 MacBook Air (13-inch Early 2015) Intel Core i7-5650U 2200 2 Mac OS X 32-bit 2694 5268

Mar 21, 2015 MacBook Air (13-inch Early 2015) Intel Core i7-5650U 2200 2 Mac OS X 32-bit 3058 6296
 
KPOM said:
But it's heavier and doesn't have a Retina display or Force Touch.
Click to expand...

The Air doesn't have retina because Apple does not wish it. Same with Force Touch. The weight... Really? THAT is actually the selling point vs the Air?

They eliminate functionality, reduce performance, throw in some gimmicky touch pad and display tech that is 3 years old (in the MBP line)... but hey, it weighs under a pound less!
 
CE3 said:
But it's so thin and light and portless!

This seems to be a new trend with Apple (and I've noticed it with other tech companies too): new products with either marginal performance improvements, or older models outperforming them.

Laughing all the way to the bank.
Click to expand...

I will gladly give them my money for their beautiful masterpiece of engineering.
 
Pretty disappointing for a $1300.00 machine. Its about as fast as the iPad Air 2 I'm currently typing on.. What is apple doing? I'm at a lost for words,...:rolleyes::confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back