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

[consumeritis]

Remember they just updated the Air with Broadwell at the same time they updated the MBP.

I don't think they'll be updating them again for another year - and maybe never again, if the rMB takes over the 'thin' space.

So you have the choice of three laptops, all of which are non-ideal:

rMB has an anaemic processor.
MBA has an outdated screen and an outdated trackpad.
rMBP is comparatively bulkier and heavier.

The MBA was the perfect machine. Thin, light, but still powerful. I maxed mine out in 2010 and it was future-proof enough that it's still hard to justify an upgrade half a decade later.

The perfect laptop in 2015 would have been an updated Air with Force Touch and Retina, or a slightly thinner Pro (maybe using the 'contoured' battery from the rMB). Such a thing doesn't exist.

Guess I'll be holding onto my 2010 machine for another year - or maybe checking out the XPS 13.

 

[gnasher729]

That's because it's not for professionals.

It _is_ for professionals who don't need a powerful CPU. And there are plenty of professionals who don't need one. And who are very glad not to be weighed down with a heavy laptop and prefer one that weighs two pounds.

 

[jimbo1mcm]

If you think this machine is underpowered, you are right. Move on. This computer was not designed for you. If you want something that is light, has a beautiful screen, good battery life, surfing and commo capability, stay right here. It was designed for you. Later on, if you get bored, you can sell it for a good price.

 

[dugbug]

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.

Missing the point of this machine. It's for portability. All the machines like this are priced similarly

 

[consumeritis]

The thing is, when I bought my current machine I could get all three of thin, light, and powerful.

Now it's 'choose any two', unless I want to spend the next five years staring at the same screen I've been looking at for the last five.

 

[gnasher729]

Ahem...did you click the link?

Stay powered longer: With up to 15 hours of run time on the FHD display (and 12 hours on the QHD+), it’s leading the industry in battery life. Paired with the Dell Power Companion, you get up to to 22 hours and the freedom to power all of your bonus devices.

Dell is well known as the master of exaggerated claims. For example, if Intel sells a CPU that is "1.1 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 2.4 GHz", a Dell computer with that CPU will be sold as 2.4 GHz, while a Mac with the same CPU will be sold at 1.1 GHz.

Some people just don't understand, I don't think we can convince them.

Some people don't _want_ to understand.

 

[dexterbell]

They didn't turn anything into anything. This is a new product.

They also still have the other options.

Yea, a MBA that doesn't even have a 1080 display, a new rMBP 13 with a sorry, integrated GPU and an expensive rMBP 15 running a two year old GPU. Not very good options.

 

[bcc2k]

The 11-inch Macbook Air 2015 with the entry-level i5 is just a little bit faster than the retina Macbook (with results of 2321 and 4810). So, I don't get what's all the fuss about. This is a very light and enduring device for road warriors. If you care about performance you're better off with a rMBP. If you care about mobility, your better off with a rMB.
Nevertheless, I would wait for the 2nd generation because of the lacking second USB port.

 

[Applefreak007]

I don't think that Apple will update the Air with anything different than CPUs anymore.
I'd either get the new Macbook (if you don't care about the lack of ports) or get the overall awesome retina MacbookPro (if you don't care about the added weight and thickness).

Thanks for pointing this out. Good. I think the Pro is more my style. Great!

 

[hans1972]

If your usage has all your applications load in .1 second in 2011,
and your applications still load at .1 seconds in 2015, even though the hard drive speed is 100x as fast, then is that metric relevant? or is it just spouting specs for the sake of it?

I am of the opposite opinion. The need for an increased CPU performance is almost worthless for a lot of typical workloads where the bottlenecks will be (Internet) network speed and random reads (and to some degree random writes).

For every computer I own I would always choose better random reads and writes before CPU performance.

 

[dexterbell]

Link to the Benchmark scores doesn't work anymore. April fools joke?

 

[Marx55]

Four-years outdated. Instead, Apple should have made a Mac tablet.

 

[windywalks]

Not crying about the price, crying about crap performance...
My iPad air 2 with 2GB of RAM, LTE and 128 GB of SSD is cheaper, better, faster and the only thing it doesn't do is run OS X...
Hopefully ipad pro wil bridge the gap and raise it by country mile...
one can only hope so...

Bear in mind that the iPad has a mobile processor than can't handle all the instructions a desktop-class processor can so this is only half the picture.
Also the graphics performance is hardly comparable with the two and the 128GB NAND memory is in no way an SSD, it is solid state memory but without the speed and durability of an SSD.
So yeah, it's faster on paper.

----------

Link to the Benchmark scores doesn't work anymore. April fools joke?

They've been taken down, as per the update.

 

[Steve121178]

Yea, a MBA that doesn't even have a 1080 display, a new rMBP 13 with a sorry, integrated GPU and an expensive rMBP 15 running a two year old GPU. Not very good options.

Integrated graphics on 13" rMBP is more than adequate.

 

[n-evo]

Link to the Benchmark scores doesn't work anymore. April fools joke?

Read the whole text next time.

Update 8:34 PM: The original Geekbench results have been deleted, but a Google cache is available.

 

[ValSalva]

Not bad for what it is. But this is definitely a "wait for generation two" machine for me.

 

[dazzer21]

Confused...

...just WHO is the new Macbook intended for? If the MacBook Air is faster and cheaper and, if I'm reading it right, the iPad Air 2 is more powerful in terms of its computing power, the only thing I can see it having going for it (other than its lighter/thinner form factor) is a Retina display. For all that extra cash?

 

[Serban]

Not bad for what it is. But this is definitely a "wait for generation two" machine for me.

So if second generation will have 2 usb-c ports, 720p camera and 1 more battery usage up tp 10h you will buy it?

----------

...just WHO is the new Macbook intended for? If the MacBook Air is faster and cheaper and, if I'm reading it right, the iPad Air 2 is more powerful in terms of its computing power, the only thing I can see it having going for it (other than its lighter/thinner form factor) is a Retina display. For all that extra cash?

The gpu in ipad air 2is not faster than the hd5300 and this macbook run full osx and windows

 

[s2mikey]

Can't believe the A8X performs on par with the MacBook's Intel Core M.

Yeah, that's lame. I understand that sometimes Apple laptops and such don't always have the greatest specs but usually that doesn't matter with day to day performance. But, in this case, it's clear that the severely under-spec'd MacBook just doesn't have enough oomph to be taken that seriously.

It's like Ferrari coming out with a slick looking new model that has a 165hp V6 in it.

 

[coldsweat]

I still badly want one - but alas I've got to rag another 2 years out of my 13" Pro before I can justify the purchase..........

Oops, I just dropped my laptop

 

[markcres]

You're benchmarking it wrong !

 

[bcc2k]

Let's see if this benchmark is really true. It was uploaded on April 1st by a user who also uploaded a benchmark of an iPhone 7,2.
So, don't take this benchmark too seriously yet.

 

[D-Dave]

I wonder how this stacks up against the new Microsoft Surface 3 performance-wise?

When comparing to current Models, some are clearly faster, some may not...there are models from i3/4GB to i7/8GB so there is a HUGE variety in performance...
If you are not in a hurry though, better wait for Summer when most likely the Surface Pro 4 will be launched alongside Win 10...

Still feels VERY odd to post about MS here, but considering the direction both apple and MS are currently taking, it may actualy be a viable alternative for some...

----------

When did Apple ever bill this machine is a powerhorse?

The moment they put the Pricetag on it...

 

[lcseds]

All I wanted was an Air with a Retina display and an updated processor. I realize the Air design is somewhat old, but I don't think it really needed a redesign. I'd break the doors down for a 13" Air with Retina.
This Macbook? Well, not so much.

 

[iamMacPerson]

Not surprising honestly. I have always thought of this as being an iPad with a keyboard considering that, like the iPad, it only has two ports, one of which is a headset jack (ironically my iPad has a better FaceTime camera, just saying).

Anywho, I won't be buying this machine personally nor would I recommend it to anyone for a few years but what were y'all expecting? The same performance as a Broadwell i7 dual core? My current 13" MBP is still faster then this machine which comes into play when doing light editing in FCPX but even my machine ain't a workhorse. This machine will either be bought as a supplemental machine to a desktop or as a dedicated blogging machine. I think we might see a lot of these at Apple keynotes in the crowd blogging.