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

[junkw]

Some Core M PC laptops:

Samsung ATIV Book 9 1399$
Panasonic Let’s Note RZ4 1499$
HP EliteBook Folio 1020 1199$
Dell Latitude 13 7000 1199$
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro 1349$

Is the Macbook 12" really overpriced?

 

[VTPete]

But honestly...

I've been waiting for a great update to my late 2010 11" Air CTO; you know, the one with the 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo and 4 GB of RAM? You know, the one I use every day after I put down my brand new MacBook Pro Retina?

I've been waiting for a screen that gets rid of the bezel. And maybe retina.

So, like many of us, I was sad to see the new MacBook not be the Air replacement we were hoping for.

But honestly, what do I use my 11" Air for? I use it to browse the internet and watch movies on planes. I program on my new (work owned) 15" or my dinosaur 17". But, it's my 11" that I grab when I'm sitting comfortably relaxing.

I want a fast computer. Yet, when I think about it, I never tax the CPU on my 2010 Air! So while frustrated that the new MacBook wasn't what I hoped for, I'm going to walk into an Apple store when they come out and give it a try. Play a video on it. Try out the keyboard. Hold it in my hand and ask myself honestly, "Do I want it?"

In the end the specs don't matter as much as whether it does what I want in a little, portable laptop that allows me to type, browse, watch movies and occasionally open an XCode project or Word document.

I'm going to keep an open mind.

 

[newellj]

The funny thing is that screen resolution and design is exactly what is special about this product. The macbook air's resolution is awful.
<snip>

What I see ridiculous is the MBA's cheap and old looking screen

Not just the resolution. The TN panel is poor, at best, in every respect. It was bad in 2008. In 2015 it is inexcusable, beyond embarrassing.

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Room for improvement in facetime camera, but the price.... won't drop that much for the same configuration. They will likely come with lighter configuration (4GB memory, 128GB SSD). A Macbook Air (base) configured with 8GB of memory and a 256GB SSD is $100 difference ($1199) which you have to figure is the difference in the screen price (retina vs normal).

There will likely be some improvements later this year once Skylake CPUs are released..... but the difference will not be huge.... just a range of selection for the Macbook once supplies are no longer constrained.

That seems like the likely path. The MBA is clearly headed for oblivion, the only question is time, and the driver on the timing question is probably getting the price on the rMB under US$1k, which is probably as easy as your suggestion getting to the Apple Store as an option.

----------

You are spot on. The early adopters take the hit, those who wait will get an improved offeringe.

Yup, it's part of the deal with early adoption. Hopefully will buy this with their eyes open.

 

[Mike MA]

Wanted to replace my 2010 Macbook Air, which is still running pretty fine, but slowly getting to its limits, especially its battery. But for sure I also wanted to have some performance bump.

Well, let's see what will happen to the Macbook Air...

 

[Mal67]

Wanted to replace my 2010 Macbook Air, which is still running pretty fine, but slowly getting to its limits, especially its battery. But for sure I also wanted to have some performance bump.

Well, let's see what will happen to the Macbook Air...

The Airs got a performance bump this time around and display quite nicely on an external not up to retina but still looks quite nice. However 4 gig as standard continues to be a big letdown for me anyways.

 

[Jobsian]

"The New MacBook: Facebook Edition."

Because, really, that's all anyone really is going to be doing on this toy.

ie most users including myself. No shame in it. Remember the inherent bias in opinions on a Mac forum. Most users don't in fact process 50MB raw images and so on.

I can't wait to get my hands on this.

 

[iRun26.2]

See, this is what I don't get. If I were even in the market for a laptop in that price range, I'd just go with the MBP instead. To each their own I suppose.

I guess I'm lucky. I don't shop by 'price range', I shop for use case. The portability of the new rMB is the driving force for me. It just happens to be in the $1600 range (for the upgraded model) so that is what I'll get.

 

[Shivetya]

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.

the price it appropriately. Apple seems hell bent on charging for style over performance lately and that is not a great direction to go in

 

[iRun26.2]

I'm still lost. The current MBA is faster, has the same battrey life, more ports (but an inferior screen). For real world application why would I buy a rMBP over a MBA?

I'm not trying to be hard, just trying to understand how this is a better computer then an MBA.

To put it another way, for day to day tasks of running office apps, internet stuff (email/web browsers), why would I buy a rMB over a MBA if the MBA offers more speed and the same (or better) battery life?

Much much better screen (and noticeably more portable ).

 

[Mal67]

^ Agree with Shivetya 2 above. But having just seen how little room the logic board takes up that bits impressive. However I still believe this will come down in price for the next iteration and/or they will change the design to either update things like the facetime camera and possibly the external connectors. So why buy now. Each to their own I suppose.

 

[iRun26.2]

But aren't the people who say they don't need or want ports also the same people touting it comes with 256GB SSD? I mean, if you don't need ports in 2015, you must not need hard drive space either right? Everything is in the cloud right? How about if this computer only had 16GB SSD?

On my current 128GB 11" MBA, I am often connecting a 128GB USB drive that has large amounts of data for processing. On my new rMB (512GB) I will be able to copy all of my data to my main hard drive, not needing the external port.

I do agree that the new rMB machine could use another port but, for me, having more SSD space definitely removes my number one use case for ports.

 

[Mike MA]

The Airs got a performance bump this time around and display quite nicely on an external not up to retina but still looks quite nice. However 4 gig as standard continues to be a big letdown for me anyways.

True, but was speaking about a potential redesigned Air sometime in the future. I'm not willing to again by the same design with only improved specs five years after my first Air. This is why I was considering buying the new Macbook - till I read the benchmarks...but I really love the design though.

 

[iRun26.2]

You actually sat around and thought about what numbers the new rMB would produce in GeekBench scores? Within a range of 100-200 points?

That's a bit odd.

No it's not considering that there are already plenty of Core M machines that already have been benchmarked.

 

[zhenya]

the price it appropriately. Apple seems hell bent on charging for style over performance lately and that is not a great direction to go in

No, Apple, and other manufacturers are finally starting to look at how people actually use their computers. A whole lot of people spend a lot of time using them in ways that don't tax the cpu and without the need for the majority of the ports. What people do like is great screens, great battery life, and great portability. Manufacturers like Apple, Microsoft, and Lenovo should be commended for finally building computers that cater to that large majority of computer users, not the vocal minority of geeks who still want their cd drives and Ethernet ports.

 

[grafkaal2]

iMacPadBook!

So Apple have finally created the iPad they always wanted! Thanks Apple!

 

[Hurda]

Some Core M PC laptops:

Samsung ATIV Book 9 1399$
...

Is the Macbook 12" really overpriced?

"How small, you ask? How about a razor sharp 0.46 inches thin and an airy 2.06 pounds?
MB:
Height: 0.14–0.52 inch (0.35–1.31 cm)
Weight: 2.03 pounds (0.92 kg)2

"The 12.2-inch LED panel on offer puts out a sharp 2,560 x 1,600 pixels"
MB:
12-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology
2304-by-1440 resolution

"And for being such a smallfry, Samsung managed to cram two USB 3.0 ports, micro HDMI, a headphone and mic jack and an SD card reader into the new Ativ Book." + charging-port
MB:
One USB 3.1 port
One headphone jack

"But taking that one step further, the company also included the option to disable audio and video recording for the 720p webcam with integrated microphone."
MB:
VGA (640*480)
dual mics

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...books/samsung-ativ-book-9-2015-1278451/review

Well?

 

[KPOM]

Some Core M PC laptops:

Samsung ATIV Book 9 1399$
Panasonic Let’s Note RZ4 1499$
HP EliteBook Folio 1020 1199$
Dell Latitude 13 7000 1199$
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro 1349$

Is the Macbook 12" really overpriced?

True, but the Asus UX305 is $699. That said, it has a 1920x1080 screen, the slowest Core M processor out there, and weighs 0.5 lbs more than the MacBook.

On the whole, the MacBook is at the high end of the range, but it is one of the nicer Core M machines out there. It should get significantly better with the Skylake processor.

 

[Gudi]

This is my current machine.

MBP 13-inch Early 2010
Single Core (64-bit) 1434
Multi Core (64-bit) 2588

MB 12-inch Early 2015
Single Core (64-bit) 1924 +34%
Multi Core (64-bit) 4038 +56%

Performance is not an issue, one inch less screen space and one hour less battery life are the things to consider.
If only the euro price would be better.

 

[Mal67]

5^ They make these things really small and then make you buy an adapter to plug in the things you want. Downloading suits Apple because it's a core business. Minimalising (simplifying) everything is a Jobsian ideal and appeals to their designer. If you wirelessly print; download and/or stream music and video; wirelessly upload from your camera and do your backups to the cloud then your set to go. Meanwhile there's a large chunk of us who print via wired usb connection; save files to thumb drives and back up to hard drives; get some video and music from disc (which is sometimes also cheaper) rather than chewing up internet bandwidth to get the same but less and which then also has to compete with regular software updates up to and beyond a gig on some occasions and who sometimes need to plug an external monitor in because 1 screen no matter how sharp really just doesn't cut it. I'm sure though that the new MB will sell like hotcakes and will receive a few tweaks for its next iteration and will then sell even more. My 2 cents

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Well, if you connect to an external display, using a power source would be good. If you have a USB-C hardrive and a 27" monitor, you will require at least 3 adapters at present to make it work, if it is even possible with the new Macbook.

Good grief. Wait for a USB-C dock that has the ports you need. Sure seems like people moan and groan about having to buy a computer that doesn't meet their needs and then adding on a bunch of junk to make it work for them. If that's what you need to do to make this computer work for you then this computer is not for you.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

But aren't the people who say they don't need or want ports also the same people touting it comes with 256GB SSD? I mean, if you don't need ports in 2015, you must not need hard drive space either right? Everything is in the cloud right? How about if this computer only had 16GB SSD?

Data can live in the cloud if you want but most applications still reside local. Some day that may change as well.

Some people want a desktop replacement so they can have a minimal computer at home. The MB is not that. Others want a computer that is as portable and efficient as it can be. The MB is that. Most people, when on the go, only plug in a flash drive or HDD on occasion. They need a $20 adapter (for now). I guess that kind of stinks but the overall freedom of having such a tiny and light laptop may make it worthwhile.

 

[zhenya]

Further, most cloud services for data other than music and video currently use some form of local synchronization. Dropbox, Onedrive, Box, etc. all need to keep local copies on your device in order for them to work in their smoothest manner. That requires space on the local device.

 

[newellj]

Data can live in the cloud if you want but most applications still reside local. Some day that may change as well.

Some people want a desktop replacement so they can have a minimal computer at home. The MB is not that. Others want a computer that is as portable and efficient as it can be. The MB is that. Most people, when on the go, only plug in a flash drive or HDD on occasion. They need a $20 adapter (for now). I guess that kind of stinks but the overall freedom of having such a tiny and light laptop may make it worthwhile.

I don't know how long it will work, but I'm boycotting software upgrades that are subscription-only or otherwise require ongoing cloud verification. So far I haven't felt any compulsion to upgrade to versions that would be in those categories, but it's probably only a matter of time.

 

[Liquorpuki]

Some Core M PC laptops:

Samsung ATIV Book 9 1399$
Panasonic Let’s Note RZ4 1499$
HP EliteBook Folio 1020 1199$
Dell Latitude 13 7000 1199$
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro 1349$

Is the Macbook 12" really overpriced?

My opinion = any Core M in a clamshell is overpriced. Because you have netbook power masquerading as an Ultrabook. This includes the Book 9 and Elitebook 1020. Value proposition of those and the new MB are halfway to Chromebook Pixel territory

All the others are convertibles, hybrids, or detachables with touchscreens.

 

[NT1440]

My opinion = any Core M in a clamshell is overpriced. Because you have netbook power masquerading as an Ultrabook. This includes the Book 9 and Elitebook 1020. Value proposition of those and the new MB are halfway to Chromebook Pixel territory

All the others are convertibles, hybrids, or detachables with touchscreens.

Can you show me any netbook with specs like the core M's?