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PhaserFuzz

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 12, 2007
485
38
I'm looking to upgrade to a new laptop since my current one is about 5 years old. I'm just curious how the new MacBook will compare to my aging Retina MacBook Pro? I honestly don't need the power of the Pro line and I love the form factor of the new MacBooks, but I'm really curious if it'll be significantly slower.. or if the 5 year gap will cause it to actually be faster with the newer hardware? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
If you have the Mid-2012 15" rMBP, the new MacBook wouldn't touch it in terms of performance. The quad-core CPU absolutely screams and still performs admirably.

The only performance advantage you'll get with the m5 MacBook is faster Flash storage, so for light usage like web browsing and working on documents, it may well feel a little snappier. Otherwise, your current Mac would still be quicker.
 
I did a similar switch to the 2015 Macbook and I never looked back. Although it depends on your use for the machine. I only use mine for web/app development and light gaming (Civ 5).
 
If it's the 13" then the m5 would be comparable except when you really tax the CPU (such as video encoding) when it needs to throttle. The SSD is also faster than your 2012. That said, assuming Apple updates it in March or April to Kaby Lake, it might be worth the wait. While Kaby Lake isn't faster per clock cycle than Skylake, Intel was able to crank up the CPU speed of the m5 and m7 equivalents (they now are called Core i5/i7 while the m3 remains, with a much lower Turbo Boost).
 
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