Does it really matter in the real world application...? I would be inclined to think that the "2X faster" hype is just a marketing ploy after all this report saying the upgrades were negligible. It could be something Apple wanted to play out since they knew about the negligible synthetic performance improvement of the Intel craps...
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New MacBook Pro and Air Benchmarks Comparable to Mid-2014 Models
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Does it really matter in the real world application...? I would be inclined to think that the "2X faster" hype is just a marketing ploy after all this report saying the upgrades were negligible. It could be something Apple wanted to play out since they knew about the negligible synthetic performance improvement of the Intel craps...
I wouldn't say that hardly anyone uses AMD. They are very popular among PC builders because they offer great value for their money, and they are main CPU supplier for PlayStation and Xbox for that very reason.
He asked about the the MACBOOK AIR...
If you don't want to buy the new model (aka MacBook) don't do so --- the Air is still there, same as before, and improved slightly (in battery life and GPU).
Yes! My MBA mid 2011 just increased in value
Amen, brother. Mine is still running fine and nothing in the "improved" models has caused me the slightest temptation.
If I was in the market for a new laptop I agree with the guy who recommended the refurbished 13" 2013 MBP. $929 currently at the online Apple store. Or, maybe the 13" 2014 MBP at $979. You get retina with both of those, so essentially they're MBAs that weigh a bit more but have retina and more options to upgrade.
As some have mentioned, it will be nice to see more benchmarks.
One caveat for benchmarks though is that most are run when the computer is "cold". If somebody runs Geekbench, Cinebench, or any other benchmark test on a recently booted computer, they will surely see better results than immediately after 2 hours of heavy Photoshop or Cinema use.
The proof in the pudding will be if Broadwell can significantly outperform Haswell after an hour of heavy usage when the CPU and iGPU throttle down.
One caveat for benchmarks though is that most are run when the computer is "cold". If somebody runs Geekbench, Cinebench, or any other benchmark test on a recently booted computer, they will surely see better results than immediately after 2 hours of heavy Photoshop or Cinema use.
The proof in the pudding will be if Broadwell can significantly outperform Haswell after an hour of heavy usage when the CPU and iGPU throttle down.
It may finally be time for me to upgrade to rMBP. I have a cMBP that's not even a year old and an iPad Air 2 that I rarely use since I love my MBP so much.
Maybe I'll sell both to buy a rMBP 8GB 256GB...now to decide between this years and last years...
Maybe I'll sell both to buy a rMBP 8GB 256GB...now to decide between this years and last years...
OWC ran some benchmarks and it looks like the flash for the 13" MBA is twice as fast. Did the 11" also get the flash speed bump?
http://blog.macsales.com/28910-owc-unboxes-tests-speeds-of-ssds-in-new-2015-macbook-airs
http://blog.macsales.com/28910-owc-unboxes-tests-speeds-of-ssds-in-new-2015-macbook-airs
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1. Negligible performance improvement...
2. OS X quality drops without options to downgrade...
3. Price increased exorbitantly (from where I am)...
I'll be keeping my soon-to-be 5-year old MBP for another year I guess...
This is why I went refurb mid 2014.
Going to load Mavericks on it if isn't already on there.
Yosemite only is a scary thought to me.
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Yes! My MBA mid 2011 just increased in value
How come?
I have this same model,
Twice as fast as the outgoing Air, but the same as the rMBP now (x4 PCIe lanes).
Agreed! I've almost given up...
my 2012 i5 13" MBP still gets a Geekbench of 6100, My 2013 Mac Mini i7 Quad still gets a Geekbench of 13,600
..... Both beat all the existing MacModels short of the over $2000 current i7 quads. The new Mini 2 core i7 gets a whimpy score of 7000Oh wait! you can still buy a regular 13" MBP in i7 duo for $1250 that gets 6700. seems like a BARGAIN! (compared to all the other new models).
The fact that many of the new models get scores less than 3500 is a complete sham!
Intel is late on everything and has no competition.
so sadApple
does a masterful job of hiding all this with Shiny new Aluminum that makes it all go away HA!
Any system with the 1TB was 4 lane. I was not aware the 13" had the 1TB SSD option.
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No. The 13" does, the 15" are unchanged and discreet graphics are available.
Okay, well at least there's that. Maybe I should take bets on when they'll discontinue it., hmmmm...
I ran "Heaven" on a pair of 11" MBAs, 2014 and 2015, that were both standard config i5/8/256 machines. I ran them both in for a while to get everything toasty (80 degrees C) then compared the benchmarks. The min/max FPS results were 14.4/34.5 FPS for the 2015 vs. 11.8/23.8 FPS for the 2014.
FWIW...
FWIW...
Yes, but the whole world would benefit if we had more than 1 CPU chip company that is competing. AMD is probably as you said, tries to give lower prices for the weaker specs.
its funny that something as big and important as the PC invention has basically 1-2 suppliers, Intel and AMD.
For a laptop capable of doing graphics, including rendering, I have need for bigger, faster, better, and Apple is not coming through for me.
I will need a reasonably high-powered CUDA GPU in my next laptop, and quite frankly, I'm disappointed in the old-tech quad-core i7s available, as well as the "meh" 15" screens.
It's not Broadwell that is "old tech" to me, it is 4-core CPUs with low-power (aka; low performance) that frustrate me, along with the proliferation of Intel Iris that can't really do GPGPU compute.
The 15" rMBP is using top of the line mobile CPUs, as there's no suitable Broadwell part yet. It's not "Apple not coming through", your expectations are just way too high, judging by your signature. If you want more - the only option is a desktop-class CPU, but then the thing will end up looking like those huge Dell Precision bricks, or worse.
As for graphics, Apple will never put anything beefier than consumer mid-range in a laptop, they never have before. And judging by the recent developments they may even decide to drop discreet graphics completely with Skylake release. You know, to make it thinner
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I re-ran the Heaven 4.0 benchmarks. The 2014 11" i5/4/256 got FPS = 20.3, score = 510, min/max FPS 7.0/33.7.
The same configuration 2015 didn't do as much better as I had thought: FPS = 20.8, score = 525, min/max FPS 7.0/37.4.
Subjectively, even side by side, I didn't see a big difference.
The same configuration 2015 didn't do as much better as I had thought: FPS = 20.8, score = 525, min/max FPS 7.0/37.4.
Subjectively, even side by side, I didn't see a big difference.
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Personally, I think it's pointless to upgrade the Broadwell processors in the 15" pro at this point, just wait for Skylake.... I really wanted an updated 15" MacBook Pro this year, but my Late 2011 works relatively well.... I don't care about a redesign on the body, but maybe a higher resolution display and some new ports. Mainly, I want to see a performance jump in cpu, gpu, ram, and battery...
Basing your purchase on informed collection of requirements is to be commended. I'm happy these work out for you. Sadly, I can't say the same for me, with Apple's move to glued in everything and charging 2.5X+ standard for upgrades. Those pesky requirements again.
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Certainly not. My 15" 2012 cMBP runs circles around these 3 year newer machines, in any task that utilizes multi-core. Post purchase, I upgraded to 16Gigs of RAM and SSD.
I don't chase specs, but then again, I refuse to downgrade CPU performance, and I refuse to pay 2.5X+ for upgrades from Apple.
Apple has left me behind as a customer, sadly. And if Apple had done the same for you, you would be complaining as well.