new MAC BOOK performance

[CharlesN]

Hi, I ordered a 1.3 GHz / 512 rMB. I am aware there are none out there to provide some benchmark. However, does anyone have a 1.2GHz and can provide some insight on the following performances:

- general use of MAC Office 2015 (outlook, word, excel, etc ...)
- VM Ware with Windows 7

The rMB will replace my Retina MACBook Pro (high end), but I am sold on the portability. I use my iMAC (high end) for photos video etc .... I just need some level of performance on the rMB when I am on the move.

Thank you,

Charles

 

[KPOM]

I have the 1.2GHz. So far it's been fine running Office for Mac 2016 Preview, Safari, and iTunes, at least once the initial FileVault and Spotlight indexing were done. I am running Windows 8.1 in Parallels Desktop. It was slow to set up and download all the updates, but once it was all set up it's been reasonable. I wouldn't rely on it for 100% virtual machine work, but it should be OK. I came from a late-2013 13" rMBP Core i5, which is about as fast as the fastest MacBook Air, and this is about 90% of the speed of the slowest MacBook Air. So it is noticeable, but still reasonable and FAR more portable.

Just know what you are getting yourself into. Native Mac should be fine for what you plan to use it for. What Windows apps do you use? I primarily use Quicken.

On a side note, you may consider installing Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 Preview in Boot Camp. I briefly ran Windows 8.1 natively in Boot Camp, and it was noticeably snappier than in Parallels. I did have an issue (which I've run into before with Boot Camp) where Windows froze up and damaged the EFI boot routine (to be fair, it might have been caused by WinClone or by Dell EMS Encryption, which wouldn't even run unless I ran it in Windows 7 compatibility mode) to the point where it wouldn't even boot into OS X and I had to start from scratch using Yosemite Recovery Mode. After that point, I decided I don't use Windows often enough to justify Boot Camp, and just went the Parallels route.

 

[shenan1982]

1.2 / 512 here, one week of owning it today. Been putting it through the ringer, and I've been very impressed. Sure you can get more powerful computers, but for web browsing, email, word, and other light use tasks it's great. Currently traveling and I can't tell you how nice and portable it is! And this coming from a MBA 11". This screen is 10000x better than my 2014 Macbook Air! Love it!

 

[CharlesN]

Thanks a lot for your prompt response. It looks like it will do just fine. I am only using Windows on WMWare to access some specific corporate tool which aren't supported in anything else than IE Explorer (believe it or not!), and from time to time to use MS Project plan and Visio.

 

[legioxi]

corporate tool which aren't supported in anything else than IE Explorer (believe it or not!)

Speaking as an IT person, I believe it. What's worse are apps that require specific versions of IE (old ones) and specific versions of Java (old ones). Makes managing them a living hell.

 

[Atimix]

Hi, I ordered a 1.3 GHz / 512 rMB. I am aware there are none out there to provide some benchmark. However, does anyone have a 1.2GHz and can provide some insight on the following performances:

- general use of MAC Office 2015 (outlook, word, excel, etc ...)
- VM Ware with Windows 7

The rMB will replace my Retina MACBook Pro (high end), but I am sold on the portability. I use my iMAC (high end) for photos video etc .... I just need some level of performance on the rMB when I am on the move.

Thank you,

Charles

I'm so sorry, the MacBook won't be able to run office at all, it's just too slow. :'( hope you don't like web browsing either! Can't wait for mine!

 

[enduser99]

Hi, I ordered a 1.3 GHz / 512 rMB. I am aware there are none out there to provide some benchmark. However, does anyone have a 1.2GHz and can provide some insight on the following performances:

- general use of MAC Office 2015 (outlook, word, excel, etc ...)
- VM Ware with Windows 7

The rMB will replace my Retina MACBook Pro (high end), but I am sold on the portability. I use my iMAC (high end) for photos video etc .... I just need some level of performance on the rMB when I am on the move.

Thank you,

Charles

Your use case sounds similar to mine (but I was using Parallels). Was dissapointed with the 1.2G, and returned it. My 2012 13" MBA is faster.

 

[newellj]

Thanks a lot for your prompt response. It looks like it will do just fine. I am only using Windows on WMWare to access some specific corporate tool which aren't supported in anything else than IE Explorer (believe it or not!), and from time to time to use MS Project plan and Visio.

Are you using HTML access or the VMWare client?

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Speaking as an IT person, I believe it. What's worse are apps that require specific versions of IE (old ones) and specific versions of Java (old ones). Makes managing them a living hell.

Sounds like our platform.

 

[CharlesN]

Hi, I am using WM Ware but I also could also Citirx to access virtual environment. Anyway, On the move, I won't use WM Ware extensively so I don't mind too much even if this is slow. I have a very fast iMAC at home, which is my main machine.

As long as MAC Office runs well, I don't mind.

Are you using HTML access or the VMWare client?

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Sounds like our platform.

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Your use case sounds similar to mine (but I was using Parallels). Was dissapointed with the 1.2G, and returned it. My 2012 13" MBA is faster.

Were you using extensively Parallel? or is this just not usable at all?

 

[fatefulwhisper]

I finally got around to installing VMWare Fusion 7 Pro on my system with Windows 8.1. I use IE for work as well (dev stuff mostly), and I've had no issues. I took a screenshot of what the CPU and resources look like while idle, but when doing anything in the VMWare environment, the CPU usually spikes up to around 70-80% for a few seconds, then drops back down to about an average of maybe 10%, and 4%-6% when not in focus (i.e. doing stuff on the Mac side).

The 2nd screenshot is after I tried open 20 tabs in IE with various news sites open containing video content. The CPU shot up as high as 110% for a couple of seconds, and then idled out to about 30%. Again, the system still seemed operational.

I haven't experienced any slowdowns or throttling; but then again, all I'm doing is using IE, so I'm not really using much in terms of resources. As you can see in the screenshot, I'm even using the famously resource intensive Chrome too, and I again, still don't experience anything that makes the system seem "sluggish". I think if I open 40 tabs on IE, the system will probably start to crawl, but realistically, I never do that on a day-to-day basis.

FYI: I have the 1.2GHz model.

 

[CharlesN]

I finally got around to installing VMWare Fusion 7 Pro on my system with Windows 8.1. I use IE for work as well (dev stuff mostly), and I've had no issues. I took a screenshot of what the CPU and resources look like while idle, but when doing anything in the VMWare environment, the CPU usually spikes up to around 70-80% for a few seconds, then drops back down to about an average of maybe 10%, and 4%-6% when not in focus (i.e. doing stuff on the Mac side).

The 2nd screenshot is after I tried open 20 tabs in IE with various news sites open containing video content. The CPU shot up as high as 110% for a couple of seconds, and then idled out to about 30%. Again, the system still seemed operational.

I haven't experienced any slowdowns or throttling; but then again, all I'm doing is using IE, so I'm not really using much in terms of resources. As you can see in the screenshot, I'm even using the famously resource intensive Chrome too, and I again, still don't experience anything that makes the system seem "sluggish". I think if I open 40 tabs on IE, the system will probably start to crawl, but realistically, I never do that on a day-to-day basis.

FYI: I have the 1.2GHz model.

This is excellent. thank you so much for providing these details. This is exactly what I needed to know.
Again, many thanks for taking the time to do this.

Charles

 

[phas3]

I finally got around to installing VMWare Fusion 7 Pro on my system with Windows 8.1. I use IE for work as well (dev stuff mostly), and I've had no issues. I took a screenshot of what the CPU and resources look like while idle, but when doing anything in the VMWare environment, the CPU usually spikes up to around 70-80% for a few seconds, then drops back down to about an average of maybe 10%, and 4%-6% when not in focus (i.e. doing stuff on the Mac side).

The 2nd screenshot is after I tried open 20 tabs in IE with various news sites open containing video content. The CPU shot up as high as 110% for a couple of seconds, and then idled out to about 30%. Again, the system still seemed operational.

I haven't experienced any slowdowns or throttling; but then again, all I'm doing is using IE, so I'm not really using much in terms of resources. As you can see in the screenshot, I'm even using the famously resource intensive Chrome too, and I again, still don't experience anything that makes the system seem "sluggish". I think if I open 40 tabs on IE, the system will probably start to crawl, but realistically, I never do that on a day-to-day basis.

FYI: I have the 1.2GHz model.

Thank you for your reply, I was wondering the same thing as I use VMWARE for work as well.

 

[lch6257]

Hi, I ordered a 1.3 GHz / 512 rMB. I am aware there are none out there to provide some benchmark. However, does anyone have a 1.2GHz and can provide some insight on the following performances:

- general use of MAC Office 2015 (outlook, word, excel, etc ...)
- VM Ware with Windows 7

The rMB will replace my Retina MACBook Pro (high end), but I am sold on the portability. I use my iMAC (high end) for photos video etc .... I just need some level of performance on the rMB when I am on the move.

Thank you,

Charles

I am running a 1.1/256. I updated to 10.10.3 out of the box and runs like butter. I am not running a VM on it. I have an older 2007 MB that I use to run a windows VM that works just fine. Advice I can offer is use Fusion and not Parallels for better performance. I love my new rMB. I have a 1.3 on order, waiting on Apple. I am test driving one I picked up from Best Buy and love it. I am able to do my Epic Systems manager with it with no issue.

 

[Mattymoocow]

Advice I can offer is use Fusion and not Parallels for better performance

really? Not from my experience.
http://www.tekrevue.com/parallels-10-fusion-7-virtualbox-benchmark/

 

[maflynn]

Advice I can offer is use Fusion and not Parallels for better performance.

I can't speak for the rMB but prior reviews had Parallels running faster then Vmware Fusion, with that said though. Fusion is a more stable rock solid product with better customer support imo.

 

[hErr.cHilloR]

has someone tested Photoshop or iMove / FCPX?

i currently use a MBA 2013 i3 8GB RAM for the normal day to day study-taskes:

Office Word / Excel / Powerpoint / Pages / Keynote
For any Presentation i use my iPhone 6+, so no need for an adapter for the nMB.

Maybe 2 or 3 times a month i need Photoshop (just basic work) i saw a video on youtube i thing it fit my needs.

The Photos app ist just to manage my pics.

But has someone tested iMovie/FCPX?
I do a lot of Sports Video analysis - Dartfish and CoachsEye. Both apps can playback a side by Side video, but sometimes i want to merge the movies, creating a changeover, insert a picture, Videos Side by Side... nothing special, but more than these apps can do! Can the 1.1 or 1.2 nMB handle it?

My MBA can do it, so the nMB doesn't need to be any faster, i just want to have the Retina screen.
(I worked 2 Weeks on an 15,4" MBPr and overall the MBA TN-Panel is ok, but the IPS Panel is much better)

 

[Chad Brostorm]

I picked up a 1.1/256 yesterday, and so far I am more than pleased with my purchase. I have a quad core i7/SLI'ed/4K Mac rig at home, and a 15-inch rMBP, so I fully understand that there are certain performance-related tradeoffs when going to an low TDP/fanless design. So far though, I have not seen any of these when I am actually using the machine.

I am a writer so my intent was to purchase a super mobile machine that could easily be used anywhere. The apps I normally use are: Slugline, Fade In Pro, Scrivener, Ulysses, Evernote, and Dropbox. I have the MS Office preview installed on the machine as well. I don't use Chrome, run VMs, or do any kind of rendering.

And it works perfectly for my needs. I don't intend to install iStat or any performance monitoring software on the machine for that reason. Still getting used to the keyboard, but loving the screen. I was thinking about getting an 11 or 13-inch Air, but just can't look at anything non-retina for extended periods of time anymore. When the 1.3s become readily available I may consider purchasing one and giving the 1.1 to my SO, but only because she's due for an upgrade from her 2009 MBP as well.