Macbook 12 for science sphere: Recommended it to me?

[dyn]

After Sony started to produce its notebooks in China I went to Apple.

That's where the majority of computers are made. You can't blame China for crappy quality, you can only blame Sony for that. They probably made a decision to cut costs which usually means thinner materials, lower end stuff, etc. because they are cheaper; in the end quality suffers. Remember, it's the same factories that make the crap stuff and the high quality stuff!

I use Windows 8.1 and now Windows 10 on it. It is the only system I use for my work, because I need this special programmes as You noticed.

Windows 10 and El Capitan should run really great on the MacBook. Don't know about the other machines. Officially Windows 10 on a Mac is not supported which isn't strange as it has just been released. Over time this will change. Just something to keep in mind.

I am typing a lot - about 8 hours a day, I need the best keyboard.

The keyboard on the MacBook is highly debatable. Some like it, some hate it. If you really need a proper keyboard I suggest to look at a mechanical keyboard. The switches used for the keys are suited for people who type a lot; they are more durable and usually also nicer to type on. Only downside: they are not cheap but no quality keyboard is.

I also read this article about three new business notes (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-O...-X250-vs-Dell-Latitude-12-E7250.144831.0.html). But are they really better than Apple products?
No - Bad chinese quality, bad keyboards, and screens that burn your eyes.

Thinkpads are known for their good quality and good keyboards. Lenovo has made a bit of a mess with the keyboards which aggravated the Thinkpad purists (or fans or fanboys or however you want to call them). They are also designed to be spilled on which the MacBooks aren't. Spill anything on a MacBook and the change of it being dead is rather huge.

Nowadays they all have IPS panels or they have it as an option so their displays are good. Quite a lot are hi-dpi which is something that you may want to avoid when using Windows. If you do want it then make sure you are running Windows 10. That version solves the issue with external displays and dpi settings (dpi settings are now actually per display instead of 1 setting for all displays; Windows 8.1 should have fixed it but it doesn't).

At work we used the HP EliteBooks. We had one of the more sturdy models that you could actually dance on (which a colleague eagerly demonstrated). You could do that on a MacBook too, only difference is that the HP survives, the MacBook doesn't. In businesses it really doesn't matter all that much. People manage to break them all within a few months because they are completely careless.

In the end it really depends on what model you pick. Some are really bad, you want to avoid those. When I look at that review my choice would be the Thinkpad X250 or the HP EliteBook with Windows 10 and not any of the Apple MacBooks. They are not made for Windows although you can still run Windows on them. They are also not meant to be serviced whereas the Lenovo and HP are.

 

[viktit88]

The keyboard on the MacBook is highly debatable. Some like it, some hate it. If you really need a proper keyboard I suggest to look at a mechanical keyboard. The switches used for the keys are suited for people who type a lot; they are more durable and usually also nicer to type on. Only downside: they are not cheap but no quality keyboard is.


Thinkpads are known for their good quality and good keyboards. Lenovo has made a bit of a mess with the keyboards which aggravated the Thinkpad purists (or fans or fanboys or however you want to call them). They are also designed to be spilled on which the MacBooks aren't. Spill anything on a MacBook and the change of it being dead is rather huge.

Nowadays they all have IPS panels or they have it as an option so their displays are good. Quite a lot are hi-dpi which is something that you may want to avoid when using Windows. If you do want it then make sure you are running Windows 10. That version solves the issue with external displays and dpi settings (dpi settings are now actually per display instead of 1 setting for all displays; Windows 8.1 should have fixed it but it doesn't).

Dear Friend! It seems that You are really professional. Thank You!
About what mechanical keyboard do You speak? It is the first time I really hear about this type of keyboard. I always use my notebook, because I travel a lot. I do not have PC and I also use in my working place my notebook. So external keyboard is not for me.
Do You really think that I will be happy with Lenovo thinkpad? Does the keyboard really good on them?
The only plus for thinkpad is that it has lte modem inside. And in Russia it is very useful. Also You can put 9cell battery.
It has ips full hd matte panel. I won't buy touch glossy panel. Is it really good You think? Because my eyes are really happy with retina screen. Matte is better?
Thinkpad is better than this HP I think. No?
Can You please tell me a link to some famous thinkpad purists forums? I do not know where to find it. Thank You!

 

[dyn]

A very good starting point for mechanical keyboards is Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/index
It has all the info you could possibly need, maybe a bit too much It simpler starting point is this: http://deskthority.net/wiki/(Mechanical)_keyboards:_getting_started

I wouldn't know if you like Lenovo Thinkpads. It depends on which you pick and what you require to build quality and feel. Same applies to the other brands. Reviews of the particular models tell you more.

As for the screen: IPS is the kind of people you should look at. Due to the better colour reproduction and larger viewing angles it is less stressful to your eyes. Matte or glossy is a personal choice. Some find matte to be better on their eyes, others rather have glossy. Matte is a good idea when you are in an environment with lots of reflections.

Famous Thinkpad forums: http://forum.thinkpads.com And nowaydays there is also a subreddit and a Thinkpad wiki. Wikipedia has a nice wiki about Thinkpads including their history.

 

[zhenya]

It is very difficult for us to tell whether the rMB will work for your needs or not. It's unfortunate that you do not have the opportunity to test one. In lieu of that, do you have a computer that you are using now that you can take some benchmarks from? What computer is it, and what are the specs? I would suggest watching the CPU usage during your normal use in order to determine how much you are relying on the CPU power. If the CPU is only used in short spikes, there is a good chance the rMB will be just fine for you. If you run computations that see the CPU under 100% load for an extended period of time, then you either have to accept that you may have to wait a bit longer when using the MacBook, or choose something else.

 

[viktit88]

A very good starting point for mechanical keyboards is Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/index
It has all the info you could possibly need, maybe a bit too much It simpler starting point is this: http://deskthority.net/wiki/(Mechanical)_keyboards:_getting_started

I wouldn't know if you like Lenovo Thinkpads. It depends on which you pick and what you require to build quality and feel. Same applies to the other brands. Reviews of the particular models tell you more.

As for the screen: IPS is the kind of people you should look at. Due to the better colour reproduction and larger viewing angles it is less stressful to your eyes. Matte or glossy is a personal choice. Some find matte to be better on their eyes, others rather have glossy. Matte is a good idea when you are in an environment with lots of reflections.

Famous Thinkpad forums: http://forum.thinkpads.com And nowaydays there is also a subreddit and a Thinkpad wiki. Wikipedia has a nice wiki about Thinkpads including their history.

Thank You very much!

 

[viktit88]

It is very difficult for us to tell whether the rMB will work for your needs or not. It's unfortunate that you do not have the opportunity to test one. In lieu of that, do you have a computer that you are using now that you can take some benchmarks from? What computer is it, and what are the specs? I would suggest watching the CPU usage during your normal use in order to determine how much you are relying on the CPU power. If the CPU is only used in short spikes, there is a good chance the rMB will be just fine for you. If you run computations that see the CPU under 100% load for an extended period of time, then you either have to accept that you may have to wait a bit longer when using the MacBook, or choose something else.

Dear friend! I am using MBP 13 retina late 2013. Everything works good. Before it I used Vaio duo 13. Everything works fine too. I am using only windows on my MacBook. I do not use OS X, because I need a lot of special programmes that are not available for Mac OS X.

 

[ApoorvPrem]

I use my MacBook 12 for latex, Matlab, Mathematica. However, for heavy duty computations (Matlab/Mathematica) I offload to my iMac, sometimes through remote connection, same thing I did for my MacBook air. If I had only one computer, I'm not sure I would have chosen the MacBook or MacBook air, I would probably have gone for the MacBook pro.

Hi,

You mentioned you use MATLAB on your MacBook. Now I won't be doing tons of calculations since I am just starting on the software I wanted to know how does the Mac handle the software? Is it smooth or jerky? I use mine on a 2011 Macbook Pro 13 with HDD. Works fine. Just want to get a perspective.

 

[ApoorvPrem]

I use my MacBook 12 for latex, Matlab, Mathematica. However, for heavy duty computations (Matlab/Mathematica) I offload to my iMac, sometimes through remote connection, same thing I did for my MacBook air. If I had only one computer, I'm not sure I would have chosen the MacBook or MacBook air, I would probably have gone for the MacBook pro.

Hi,

You mentioned you use MATLAB on your MacBook. Now I won't be doing tons of calculations since I am just starting on the software I wanted to know how does the Mac handle the software? Is it smooth or jerky? I use mine on a 2011 Macbook Pro 13 with HDD. Works fine. Just want to get a perspective.

 

[viktit88]

Dear Friends!
I have decided to buy the new MacBook 12 256gb version. Please tell me, are there any big difference between 1.1 vs 1.2 vs 1.3 core m?
Thanks!!!!!!

 

[dyn]

There are no big differences between those, only minor ones (cpu and gpu is a bit faster).

 

[wchigo]

There are no big differences between those, only minor ones (cpu and gpu is a bit faster).

Is that the case? I would've thought only the CPU would be affected by the higher clock speed and the GPU would be the same for them all...?

 

[dyn]

They all have the same GPU but not the same speeds (2 of the 3 have the same speeds, 1 has a lower speed). This also depends on the thermal envelope. The faster the cpu/gpu, the more heat. The differences are really really small here. The 0.1 GHz jump is the biggest difference and even that is teensy.

 

[viktit88]

So I will buy 1.1 and 256gb model! Thank You very much Dyn!

 

[zhenya]

Keep in mind that the cpu bursts to between 2.4Ghz on the 1.1 and (iirc) 2.9Ghz on the 1.3. In practice, each level shows about a 10% performance gain over the one below it, so the 1.3 is about 20% faster than the 1.1. Whether you will be able to tell or not is another question, but given that you are likely going to be pushing the envelope of this machine with your workload, if you can afford it you may be happier with the faster models.

 

[viktit88]

Keep in mind that the cpu bursts to between 2.4Ghz on the 1.1 and (iirc) 2.9Ghz on the 1.3. In practice, each level shows about a 10% performance gain over the one below it, so the 1.3 is about 20% faster than the 1.1. Whether you will be able to tell or not is another question, but given that you are likely going to be pushing the envelope of this machine with your workload, if you can afford it you may be happier with the faster models.

Thank You! And what is the model of the processor 1.3? I did not find it on intel web. Only 1.1 and 1.2

 

[viktit88]

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-m-processors-new.html
So where is 1.3?????

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

All three of Apples processors are overclocked versions of those three listed on that website.

 

[viktit88]

All three of Apples processors are overclocked versions of those three listed on that website.

What do You mean overclocked? Made specially for Apple?

 

[maylen]

It's still the same cpu, just made to run on higher freq.

I'm not sure if 1.3 will run hotter than 1.1, in fact the 1.1 is the most overclocked cpu by +0.2ghz and I think that will cause it to use more energy.

But for day to day performance 1.1 is enough. The thing that slows the macbook is not cpu, but the gpu, which is the same for all models.

 

[dyn]

Keep in mind that the cpu bursts to between 2.4Ghz on the 1.1 and (iirc) 2.9Ghz on the 1.3. In practice, each level shows about a 10% performance gain over the one below it, so the 1.3 is about 20% faster than the 1.1. Whether you will be able to tell or not is another question, but given that you are likely going to be pushing the envelope of this machine with your workload, if you can afford it you may be happier with the faster models.

That's highly theoretical. In reality the max of Turbo Boost speeds is never reached on much faster hardware that actually is designed for high computing workloads. The Core M isn't, it's only designed to do very short burst of high computing performance and it is also passively cooled in the MacBook. It is more likely that you'll see a 5% or maybe even 10% increase in performance of the 1.3GHz version over the 1.1GHz one (slowest vs fastest); it's not going to be big. It seems that most people are happy with the 1.1GHz model as it is quite capable but you could play it safe and buy the fastest model.

BTW, according to MacTracker the Core M cpus used are the 5Y71 for the 1.3GHz model (specs say 1.2/2.9GHz), 5Y51 for the 1.2 GHz model (specs: 1.1/2.6GHz) and 5Y31 for the 1.1 GHz model (900MHz/2.4GHz). When looking at them on ark.intel.com you can see that they have a base frequency and a configurable TDP-up frequency. It seems that Apple is either using that feature to reach the 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3GHz speeds or that they've downclocked the CPUs so they top at 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3GHz. This will affect the TDP.

EDIT: came across someone explaining what cooling his MB did for the CPU speed: check here. And there is the watercooling test from Linus which gives a nice overview of what cooling the MacBook does with the computing power and clearly shows that the MacBook was never meant for performance.

 

[Dave245]

Ok so I'm thinking of replacing my 2011 MacBook Pro with the 12" MacBook (gold one looks really nice) I was wondering if the MacBook would be faster? At this stage I'm only using my MacBook Pro to write documents, watch iTunes content, browse the Internet, watch Netflix and email. I have a iMac that I use for playing games and more intensive stuff. I would say using my iPad Air 2 but I do a lot of typing and an iPad is not exactly the best that.

What's the battery life like?
Would the 1.1ghz be enough or should I max out to 1.2 or 1.3?
Is the screen worth the upgrade from a standard non retina 2011 MacBook Pro?

 

[dyn]

Don't hijack someone else's topic please. The questions you are asking can be found by simply going through the topic list here!

 

[Fthree]

i hate to sound negative but most of the posts I've read about the mbs keyboard have been semi negative. Seems as if most point out that short term typing is great but anything over a long period is terrible. Please tell me I'm not the only one that has recognized this. Also if you were good with the 13 before why switch it up? Just want to try something new?

I have a 2015 13 and typing on it is amazingly smooth. (I actually prefer typing on it more than my 15)

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

There's a lenghty thread dedicated solely to the keyboard.

 

[viktit88]

Dear Friends! Yesterday I went to retail Apple shop to buy rMB. And I met a really good manager, who allowed me to install on it matlab and spss before buying. I made two analyses with simple data that I have on my flash. I found rMB much slower than my MBP and it seems to me that it is really slouch in this operations. I was very upset and didn't buy the rMB.
So now I am thinking of buying new MBP 13 or new MBP 15. What do You think about these models? MBP 15 2015 better sound, more comfortable keyboard, faster?
Why Apple put in it 4770hq and not 5770hq?