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Macbook 12 in retina 1.2, can it handle... transmission and handbreak?

1rottenapple

1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Original poster
Apr 21, 2004
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Transmission and Handbreak?

Ok so I'm trying to see if I should open my order from B&H, a 1.2 Macbook with 512gb. I sometimes use Transmission for research purposes, a few times a week. Can the Macbook handle this?

I heard transcoding from one format to the other using handbreak will take time, but I don't often do so this. The longer time the macbook will take to transcode will not matter since I can do this overnight.

Any thoughts?
 
"Research purposes"...

In all seriousness, yes, you'd be fine with transmission, and Handbreak will run fine, just a tad bit slower than you might expect from a retina Macbook Pro.
 
thank i'm not looking for a speed demon here. Just trying to make sure I can still read and use the mac while running transmission in the background.
 
1rottenapple said:
Transmission and Handbreak?

Ok so I'm trying to see if I should open my order from B&H, a 1.2 Macbook with 512gb. I sometimes use Transmission for research purposes, a few times a week. Can the Macbook handle this?

I heard transcoding from one format to the other using handbreak will take time, but I don't often do so this. The longer time the macbook will take to transcode will not matter since I can do this overnight.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Laptops ain't cut out for prolonged periods of high cpu activity. The retina Macbook doesn't have a fan so has to use passive cooling to dissipate the heat. That should be a red flag for this sort of application. A rMB is fine for Facebook but I'd leave the cpu heavy workload to something which can explicitly cool the interior in a controlled manner.
 
I'd be reluctant to ever use Handbrake on the rMB. In a pinch maybe for a short transcoding sesh, but even then I'd be wary. Equally, a "short" session would take exponentially longer than pretty much any other Mac from recent years.

Prior to using Handbrake, I always jack up the fans to max with smcfancontrol on my other macs, which is obv not possible on the rMB. Even with max fans the temp has always hit the mid 90s across the board, it'd be downright scary on the rMB without fans or temp gauge*.

*Is there a method of gauging temp on the rMB? Probably.
 
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Transmission will be no problem at all on the rMB.
For video transcoding: The rMB has a good built-in temperature-regulation, so you'll be just fine "handbreaking" over night. As mentioned by the guys above, it will last longer to transcode than any other new mac. For a bit faster transcoding performance, wait for the apple event on march, if apple announces a skylake update, pick one of these machines.

To protect the battery from the heat while transcoding, be sure the rMB stands in a cool (dry) room and protect it from direct sunlight or other heat sources. Beside that, the table/surface on which the rMB stands, is very important:
- Good: Be sure the rMB sits on a plane plate (glass or metal would be great, wood is ok, table cloth or pillows are no-go's)
- Better: Levitate it with two pencils on the side, so there is air circulation under the rMB.
- Best: use an active cooling pad as described in this thread.
(of course the rMB has battery temperature control, but it's batteries nature: if they get warm or hot on a regular base, even within all standards, the lifetime will melt rapidly. Same thing if they get too cold)
 
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Other than just the opinions expressed here, has anybody, you know actually run these programs on the rMB ? Having used handbrake on other Macs I have my doubts but no data.
 
Last June I tried out Handbrake in an Apple store using the standard Big Buck Bunny video (480p h264 version). Here are the average fps results for my late 2008 MacBook (4 GB and SSD upgrade), a 1.1 GHz rMB and a 1.6 GHz MBA (higher number is better). I used whatever Handbrake version was the latest available and the Normal encoding preset.

'08 MB (Core2Duo 2.0 GHz) - ~50 fps
'15 rMB (Broadwell Core M 1.1 GHz) - ~ 120 fps
'15 MBA (Broadwell Core i5 1.6 GHz) - ~ 145 fps
'15 MBP (Broadwell Core i5 2.7 GHz) - ~ 180 fps

Of course, these numbers will change for HD video and over a longer period the rMB may start to thermall throttle down, but it's closer than I would have guessed.
 
i'll try it this weekend. I have a 1.2 rmb. love it the computer so far. the weight savings and the sound is nice. its not a speed demon for sure but for the occasional handbrake transcoding of 60 min research video or 20 min research video to transfer to my iPhone, i'll be happy. most research vids are mp4 compatible anyways.
 
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i use handbrake (or other programs that use the same engine) once a week at least and the rMB (1.3) is doing fine, about the same speed as my 2012 Air (i7, 8gig, 512). I'm not saying it was designed for that purpose but it sure can do it, and it does it in silence and that does matter to me as it sits in the living room....
i don't know why people worry about heat, the laptop will throttle to avoid overheating anyway. Now if you can cool it it will run faster, that is for sure...
 
Transmission won't be a problem (not really a resource hog), but Handbrake isn't the MacBook's field...
Yes, you can use it on occasions, but don't expect good performances...
 
So many nonsense answers in this thread.

YES, a MacBook can run transmission and handbrake. Why wouldn't it? Any computer can transcode video, it will just take longer depending on the CPU. Also, don't worry about heat. Do you guys really think Apple would release a computer that could get damaged from heat? No. If the computer truly overheats then it will shut itself down before any damage can take place.

Sorry for all the BS and misinformation in this thread OP.
 
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