Macbook 1.3 Ghz - ~4 weeks in

[Queen6]

@Queen6 That wouldn't surprise me at all to see some pretty noticeable performance improvements when using a fan or a cooling system of some kind. I stick to my guns though that if one needs to do this more than a few singular times, then one should probably consider the macbook that already has a cooling system in it. That aside, I bet it's still really cool to get the machine moving that quickly

Very much agree, I have far more powerful Mac`s for any serious computational loads, equally in a pinch the MacBook can step in, if needs be

Q-6

 

[NavySEAL6]

Thanks for the review. I'm debating getting the second or third model of this machine (don't really need the MBP firepower but I want to get more life out of my machine)

 

[Sean.Something]

Thanks for the review. I'm debating getting the second or third model of this machine (don't really need the MBP firepower but I want to get more life out of my machine)

I suspect I will get about 3 years out of this machine unless Apple decides to make some kind of change to OS X that would reduce performance but - for the time being - upgrading OS versions is optional. Though I believe the upcoming OS release is designed to improve performance quite a bit on the rMB. I am curious to see if Metal results in any tangible difference on this machine for Apple made software.

 

[Serban]

what do you mean will scuff if you breath ?

 

[jmikhail490]

About four weeks ago, my 15 inch Macbook Pro (2.7 ghz i7 Matte, Hi-res) laptop decided it was time to evacuate the planet. I've owned many Apple products over the years and at the time I owned an iPad air 2, an iPhone 6 plus, and the above described machine. In need of a computer that actually worked, I went to Craigslist and found someone who had decided they loathed their new Macbook (SG, 1.3 Ghz, 8 GB Ram, 512 SSD) and was looking to sell for 10,000 HKD. In Hong Kong this effectively was the cost of purchasing a new MacBook Air. Given the item was barely used and my lust for a new shiny Apple product was kicking in with full force, I bought it. I sold my old laptop for parts and the iPad air 2 to absorb the cost of this experiment/splurge

Previous to this machine I had never owned a Macbook Air but I had really begun to notice how much I was personally bothered with carrying around a 15 inch laptop when I barely tapped it's performance power. Thus the idea of getting something more mobile became a motivating factor in my search for a replacement.

What I use my computer for: Almost everything I do is based in working with web tools, Notes, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Preview for converting photos, and I stream a lot of television with my Indian takeout. Photo editing is limited to the Photos app, I leave sound production to Skrillex, and I do not use this machine for any type of coding. Generally speaking I have Safari and Firefox open with about 8 tabs per window open, I run a VPN with Firefox, and have Skype, E-mail, Calendar, and iTunes Open.

Things that I like:

• I have been very pleased with the performance so far. Core M had me a bit nervous but it has met my expectations. I will say that using HandBrake to convert video is an absolute time funnel so anything particularly CPU bound will obviously - as expected - move at a glacial pace. It took about an hour to convert Thor: the Dark World in Blu-Ray (about 2.8 GB) to Mp4 from Mkv. This was not a surprise - I was just somewhat spoiled by my last machine's proficiency in this area.
• The battery life has exceeded my expectations in almost all cases. I have no problem reaching 8-10 hours on normal usage with the above described activities.
• The MacBook CAN BE CHARGED BY AN EXTERNAL BATTERY! This has been huge breakthrough for me. I am sloppy about charging my devices and have a Xiaomi 16,000 Mah battery with me at all times. The fact that I can charge my laptop with this should I forget to plug it in the night before is a revelation.
• The display is gorgeous, clear, and a huge upgrade from what I was working with previously. I do not miss the extra screen real estate.
• The machine is incredibly mobile. I use the same man purse I used with my iPad and I haven't noticed a difference in how it feels to be constantly walking around with a laptop over a tablet
• It looks really good - which when you're paying for a premium product - the looks matter. (Oddly, the MacBook label is back at the bottom of the display. Can't figure out why Apple added this back as it somewhat distracts from the clean lines of the device).
• I really enjoy the new trackpad and use force touch when browsing frequently to call up a preview window. Not a lot to say here - I think it's a great trackpad.

Things that piss me off:

• The bottom edge along the trackpad will scuff if you breathe too loudly. I am used to handling my iPhone like a newborn with brittle bone syndrome but I was not expecting the same with my laptop.
• I am not sure if this is 1.3 Ghz limited, but the device can get very hot at the bottom. I know the device relies heavily (entirely) on passive cooling, so this isn't a surprise that it gets hot. What has surprised me is how hot it gets.

Things I've noticed, didn't expect, and am not sure how I feel about:

• The Keyboard is very easy to type on once you get into a groove. It reminds me of typing on the iPad - you have to trust yourself a bit with it. The problem is that whenever you switch to any other keyboard, you have to adjust back. And then when you switch back to the MacBook, one needs to adjust again. This is probably a personal quirk.
• While the device is no slouch it performs noticeably better when plugged into an outlet OR an external battery. When I say noticeably better I mean that quite literally. I can see a visual difference. Handbrake conversion queue times go down, lag between switching full screen apps decreases, etc.
• Based on the reviews I have read - apparently only having one port is an issue. It hasn't been for me and I've never thought about it or really even noticed. I connect all of my devices wirelessly and move my photos from my Nikon onto my phone via lightning to SD Card and then place them in iCloud. I can see others being upset if they need to change their workflow - this however was not my experience.

Overall: I am very satisfied with my purchase and given my current needs I think the MacBook hits all the marks well enough and then some. I think folks need to consider their needs before purchasing. If you need an SUV, you shouldn't buy a Prius. I will say that I haven't missed that iPad yet, and it's really amazing having a machine that runs OS X with this level of portability. We will see how the device ages but for the moment, the battery life, performance, mobility, and user experience have all been exactly what I was looking for in my next device.

Amazing review thank you very much for your input!!

I do have a question as to what you would recommend for me as you do seem to know what you are talking about and the past two days when I went to apple store to decide what I want the employees all say the same thing and it didn't really help, "if you want something that looks and feels awesome get the macbook but for the same price or even cheaper (if you opt for the higher end rMB, get the macbook pro because its just so much fast"

I feel like they were all programmed to say that.

so in short my needs are very basic i think.
-I listen to music - i have about 13gb (not much)
-I have a few other apple products that i would back up to this machine because thats what i need it for
-I use quickbooks for my business although it doesn't have too many extensions
-I need an inventory system for my other new business to keep track of all my inventory and i would have a few iPads to do transactions on
-I use excel for writing and editing formulations for my cosmetic manufacturing company ( my first business)
-word documents
-millions of emails
-movies movies movies -although i do not download them i just use hbogo, xfinity on demand, fios on demand, showtime on demand and others like those
-notes - lots of them


A few other things that don't really matter and can be done on an iPad

I just purchased the rMB 1.2ghz 512gb model and I figured I would try it out for 14 days and if i don't like the speed then I would exchange it for the new MBP


Yesterday was my first day with it and i took it everywhere with me and i can not get over how amazing it is to travel with and how much i love the keyboard.

my one concern is that i can easily see this type of machine slowing down a lot in 6-12 months and that would really bother me because i want something that will last me at least 2.5-3.5 years hopefully the 3.5 year end of the spectrum.

So i think it can handle what i need because internet browsing a million tabs and using quickbooks are the most important things for me. and i love how it looks and feels.

Now do you recommend that i stay with this machine or for less money get something that is according to the apple employees and a lot of other reviewers and people- much faster and cheaper and still very portable for the power it produces.

Im in a funk and can not decide!
PLEASE HELP lol I want to make sure I do not regret keeping this or exchanging it if i do decide to get the MBP

thanks a lot!!!

 

[Sean.Something]

Amazing review thank you very much for your input!!

I do have a question as to what you would recommend for me as you do seem to know what you are talking about and the past two days when I went to apple store to decide what I want the employees all say the same thing and it didn't really help, "if you want something that looks and feels awesome get the macbook but for the same price or even cheaper (if you opt for the higher end rMB, get the macbook pro because its just so much fast"

I feel like they were all programmed to say that.

so in short my needs are very basic i think.
-I listen to music - i have about 13gb (not much)
-I have a few other apple products that i would back up to this machine because thats what i need it for
-I use quickbooks for my business although it doesn't have too many extensions
-I need an inventory system for my other new business to keep track of all my inventory and i would have a few iPads to do transactions on
-I use excel for writing and editing formulations for my cosmetic manufacturing company ( my first business)
-word documents
-millions of emails
-movies movies movies -although i do not download them i just use hbogo, xfinity on demand, fios on demand, showtime on demand and others like those
-notes - lots of them


A few other things that don't really matter and can be done on an iPad

I just purchased the rMB 1.2ghz 512gb model and I figured I would try it out for 14 days and if i don't like the speed then I would exchange it for the new MBP


Yesterday was my first day with it and i took it everywhere with me and i can not get over how amazing it is to travel with and how much i love the keyboard.

my one concern is that i can easily see this type of machine slowing down a lot in 6-12 months and that would really bother me because i want something that will last me at least 2.5-3.5 years hopefully the 3.5 year end of the spectrum.

So i think it can handle what i need because internet browsing a million tabs and using quickbooks are the most important things for me. and i love how it looks and feels.

Now do you recommend that i stay with this machine or for less money get something that is according to the apple employees and a lot of other reviewers and people- much faster and cheaper and still very portable for the power it produces.

Im in a funk and can not decide!
PLEASE HELP lol I want to make sure I do not regret keeping this or exchanging it if i do decide to get the MBP

thanks a lot!!!

I think it depends. It definitely is portable but if you are using this as work machine for a non trivial amount of the time (and if the work you are doing today is pushing the cpu pretty hard already) then it may be worth considering getting a pro.

I think you will want to evaluate your core needs and tolerances. Rather than worry about it being slower than it is now in 2 years (all machines slow down over time) I would ask yourself if you can set a firm tolerance for how much slow down is too much slow down.

If it were me I would just get a basic Mac mini and a monitor for the work functions and keep the MacBook for portability. Sell the iPad.

Does this help at all?

 

[jmikhail490]

I think it depends. It definitely is portable but if you are using this as work machine for a non trivial amount of the time (and if the work you are doing today is pushing the cpu pretty hard already) then it may be worth considering getting a pro.

I think you will want to evaluate your core needs and tolerances. Rather than worry about it being slower than it is now in 2 years (all machines slow down over time) I would ask yourself if you can set a firm tolerance for how much slow down is too much slow down.

If it were me I would just get a basic Mac mini and a monitor for the work functions and keep the MacBook for portability. Sell the iPad.

Does this help at all?

Yes this helps a lot thank you but.....

You really like it that much that you would recommend me to keep it and get a mac mini for work? thats good to hear i think. Also what I meant by I see it slowing down is not that I am pushing it that hard today already that i think it will slow down, I just think it will slow down in general in a year or so to the point of where it would be annoying to use which i definitely don't want. But yeah i guess i shouldn't really worry about that far down the line right now as i never know what ill have at that time, although it is important to plan a little for the future. But today I basically just did a bunch of research on it for my work which it handled tremendously and I used mail and quickbooks all day and it was great so i don't see those pushing it too much to slow down.

I was just wondering if for my basic needs you can relate and if you think it would be sufficient to use.

I do plan on getting a mac mini or iMac soon so that will help but it will be for home and i will still bring this to work. IDK i guess I'm just looking for someone to tell me its a good purchase even though I know that I am the only one that can make that decision and really be happy with it for good.

Its amazing art, it really is and just that aspect of it makes me want to keep it so badly but with no ports and with a 200$ higher price tag than the MBP i would buy it doesn't seem like the smartest decision to me because of the fact that portability is not the #1 priority on my list. Although the portability that i experienced the past two days makes it more important now. Im just not good with making decisions like this lol.

thanks again !!!

 

[mkelly]

my one concern is that i can easily see this type of machine slowing down a lot in 6-12 months and that would really bother me because i want something that will last me at least 2.5-3.5 years hopefully the 3.5 year end of the spectrum.

I guarantee you that your processor will run at the same speed in 6 months as it does today. If it's working for your workload today, it will handle the same workload equally well in 6-12 months.

 

[wchigo]

Its amazing art, it really is and just that aspect of it makes me want to keep it so badly but with no ports and with a 200$ higher price tag than the MBP i would buy it doesn't seem like the smartest decision to me because of the fact that portability is not the #1 priority on my list. Although the portability that i experienced the past two days makes it more important now. Im just not good with making decisions like this lol.

thanks again !!!

To be fair, it's not truly $200 more than the MBP. You went with the 1.2ghz 512GB version assumably for both the faster clock speed and more storage, which is $1599. If you really require that amount of storage, a 13" rMBP with an equivalent SSD will run you $1799 (base rMBP only comes with 128GB for $1299, 256GB for $1499), though of course you get the added benefits of a faster processor, faster SSD speeds and more ports.

For your use case, I imagine the rMB should be good enough. Honestly, you could even move to the MBA and it would be more than powerful enough for your use case, though of course you'd have to deal with a vastly inferior screen.

Also, just wanted to figure out one thing. You stated that the rMB had no ports but earlier didn't really mention the use of any peripherals when listing off what you required of the machine. Do you use a lot of external storage or external displays? If not, I don't see why you should let the lack of ports bother you. If anything, I would be worried less about drops in performance versus the drop in battery life during the expected time of ownership.

 

[jmikhail490]

To be fair, it's not truly $200 more than the MBP. You went with the 1.2ghz 512GB version assumably for both the faster clock speed and more storage, which is $1599. If you really require that amount of storage, a 13" rMBP with an equivalent SSD will run you $1799 (base rMBP only comes with 128GB for $1299, 256GB for $1499), though of course you get the added benefits of a faster processor, faster SSD speeds and more ports.

For your use case, I imagine the rMB should be good enough. Honestly, you could even move to the MBA and it would be more than powerful enough for your use case, though of course you'd have to deal with a vastly inferior screen.

Also, just wanted to figure out one thing. You stated that the rMB had no ports but earlier didn't really mention the use of any peripherals when listing off what you required of the machine. Do you use a lot of external storage or external displays? If not, I don't see why you should let the lack of ports bother you. If anything, I would be worried less about drops in performance versus the drop in battery life during the expected time of ownership.

Thats a great point. Thanks!

And yes you are correct i don't really use external hard drives or ports and i started using an apple tv to stream to a tv so i don't need an cdmi anymore for now and theres an adapter that has one anyways if i do ever need it again.

If thats the case then I should be okay, and I really don't like the form factor or the screen of the MBA at all it would be the rMB or the rMBP 13' for me.

You really think the batteries will be that much worse a few months or even a year down the line? A year for a 1600$ computer is nothing and should definitely perform the same after a year. IMO

I think I will try this out for at least another week and stick to it if it feels like it can handle everything I need it for.

Thanks a lot for your help and input.

 

[wchigo]

Thats a great point. Thanks!

And yes you are correct i don't really use external hard drives or ports and i started using an apple tv to stream to a tv so i don't need an cdmi anymore for now and theres an adapter that has one anyways if i do ever need it again.

If thats the case then I should be okay, and I really don't like the form factor or the screen of the MBA at all it would be the rMB or the rMBP 13' for me.

You really think the batteries will be that much worse a few months or even a year down the line? A year for a 1600$ computer is nothing and should definitely perform the same after a year. IMO

I think I will try this out for at least another week and stick to it if it feels like it can handle everything I need it for.

Thanks a lot for your help and input.

Since you don't really need the additional ports, the only real benefits of moving up to a rMBP would be faster processor and faster read/write speeds on the SSD, but of course you lose some points in portability.

No, I think the battery should be fine under normal use for at least a year. I was more referring to your desire for something that could last you for 2.5-3.5 years. During that time, your battery should have gone through a fair amount of cycles, so it won't hold the same charge that it once did. Unless there was something wrong with the battery itself, I don't think you should notice any significant difference in battery life for the first 6-12 months of its life.