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New Macbooks have no Turbo Mode, poor battery life and worser display?!

C

callisto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 26, 2011
2
0
Hey guys,
my English is not very good, but since I do not find reliable information about this in the net I ask you if you can confirm this review of the new Macbook 13" of a german page:
http://www.notebookjournal.de/news/13-zoll-macbook-pro-ohne-intel-turbo-boost-nkst-2882

They claim that the new macbooks (2011) do not change their CPU frequency (constantly with 2,7Ghz) which means they do not use Intels Turbo Mode. Moreover they say that the books have a bad battery life of only about 90 minutes with 50% load, no network connection and bright screen. This is also a result because the CPU runs always at 2,7Ghz!

I would be happy if anyone can post first experiences about this or other reliable reviews! Thank you!

Edit: Sorry, this is the direct link to the review: http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests...cbook-pro-13-3-early-2011-mc724da-nkst-1305/2
 
Last edited:
I really hope you are right. Anyone who has already a link to a good review?
 
callisto said:
I really hope you are right. Anyone who has already a link to a good review?
Click to expand...

There are no extensive reviews yet on Turbo boost. Everybody is just having mindless orgasms over their useless geekbench scores.

There is however another thread around here where the user finds his MBP won't boost past 2.7ghz. (I can't find it).

That anandtech article was back in June when no MBP's were using Sandy Bridge. I wish people would stop dredging it up.
 
My 15" MBP doesn't go PEW PEW... it goes....

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
 
derbothaus said:
I am using "worser" from now on. I forgot it's use after turning 8 years old. :)
Click to expand...

callisto is apparently not a native English speaker. I wish I were as proficient as he/she is in other languages - I'm impressed.

Plus, using "worser" is a logical mistake. Normally, when something is more it is "-er" Bigger, better, slower, faster, bluer, taller.... pettier.... So this shows that the OP knows and is trying to apply the usual pattern.

Rock on callisto :) :apple:
 
Miss Terri said:
callisto is apparently not a native English speaker. I wish I were as proficient as he/she is in other languages - I'm impressed.

Plus, using "worser" is a logical mistake. Normally, when something is more it is "-er" Bigger, better, slower, faster, bluer, taller.... pettier.... So this shows that the OP knows and is trying to apply the usual pattern.

Rock on callisto :) :apple:
Click to expand...

I am aware of that. No offense was intended. I thought it was cute and reminded me of when I was a child. My gaffe with "it's" is very disconcerting though.
 
The Intel chips support Turbo, but only when it is feasible to add the extra power.

The MBP 13 is small and heats up faster compared to a desktop or larger notebook. If the turbo isn't kicking in, it is probably because your CPU/board is running too hot to allow for a turbo boost, which would produce more heat.

Yeah, it sucks if we can't really make use of a great feature, but if you're really not getting enough out of an i5 or i7, which are a huge CPU improvement over C2D, then maybe the MBP 13 is not for you.
 
Jarg said:
The Intel chips support Turbo, but only when it is feasible to add the extra power.

The MBP 13 is small and heats up faster compared to a desktop or larger notebook. If the turbo isn't kicking in, it is probably because your CPU/board is running too hot to allow for a turbo boost, which would produce more heat.

Yeah, it sucks if we can't really make use of a great feature, but if you're really not getting enough out of an i5 or i7, which are a huge CPU improvement over C2D, then maybe the MBP 13 is not for you.
Click to expand...

It's not really getting enough, but getting more. If I can encode really fast with what I have now, why not even faster if it's a feature available to us?

Anyway it was my thread that I cannot get it to turbo boost under load and with a laptop cooler underneath. I've found another sandy bridge mobile user non MBP that got it to turbo. Also Turbo 2.0 allows boosting on all cores, not just less cores like arrandale.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1103799/

I don't want to make any assumptions yet, which is why I wanted to know if the quads are boosting at all either? Or even the i5's in the 13"
 
Jarg said:
The Intel chips support Turbo, but only when it is feasible to add the extra power.

The MBP 13 is small and heats up faster compared to a desktop or larger notebook. If the turbo isn't kicking in, it is probably because your CPU/board is running too hot to allow for a turbo boost, which would produce more heat.

Yeah, it sucks if we can't really make use of a great feature, but if you're really not getting enough out of an i5 or i7, which are a huge CPU improvement over C2D, then maybe the MBP 13 is not for you.
Click to expand...

Summary from an article explaining the matter: The cores in the 2.3 GHz quad core i7 are tested to run at 3.4 GHz. Unfortunately, running all cores at that speed would require a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 110 watt. The same processor, built into a desktop machine with powerful cooling, could actually run at 4 cores, 3.4 GHz.

However, the chips that Apple uses are rated at 45 watt TDP. Because of that, no matter how many cores you use, the clock speed will be reduced so that the power used stays within the limit of 45 Watt TDP. The clockspeed depends on several things: How many cores are you using, are you using hyperthreading, what instructions (floating-point instructions use more power than integer instructions). And the speed can be different from core to core, since they might be doing different things. In every case, the official clock speed that Intel says is a clock speed where the processor is guaranteed to stay within the thermal design limits, no matter how hard you work it. That is why the quad cores have lower official GHz than dual cores, because four cores produce more heat than two.

The person who was complaining was apparently running some test software that was pushing the cores as hard as possible. When that happens, Turbomode will definitely not be turned on. It doesn't get turned on when the computer works hard, it is exactly the opposite.
 
aznguyen316 said:
It's not really getting enough, but getting more. If I can encode really fast with what I have now, why not even faster if it's a feature available to us?

Anyway it was my thread that I cannot get it to turbo boost under load and with a laptop cooler underneath. I've found another sandy bridge mobile user non MBP that got it to turbo.

I don't want to make any assumptions yet, which is why I wanted to know if the quads are boosting at all either? Or even the i5's in the 13"
Click to expand...

Was this other sandy bridge user on a small laptop like the 13"?
I guess my point is that the 13" size really limits how far you can push it. Apple seems to be unwilling to remove the ODD in exchange for a discrete GPU / more battery / better cooling.

If you look at the geekbench scores for the new 2011 MBPs, you'll see that the 17" outscores the high end 15" a little even though they have the same hardware. This is probably because the 17" has more room for cooling, thus the turbo can push the numbers higher. Maybe with Haswell, or some CPU tech in the future, heat will not be as big of deal.

Or maybe Apple could redesign the MBP to increase cooling (eventually). If my idea about the geekbench scores is supported, then it seems the 15" has some cooling problems, too.
 
gnasher729 said:
The person who was complaining was apparently running some test software that was pushing the cores as hard as possible. When that happens, Turbomode will definitely not be turned on. It doesn't get turned on when the computer works hard, it is exactly the opposite.
Click to expand...

what?? I have a video that shows cinebench running - which pushes the computer to the limit and the quads are turbo boosting on their own. As for the TDP argument, I don't know. Turbo will turn on if you're benching it. Or at least it should.
 
derbothaus said:
I am aware of that. No offense was intended. I thought it was cute and reminded me of when I was a child. My gaffe with "it's" is very disconcerting though.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, derbothaus. It sounded like you were mocking callisto is all, after he/she apologized for any possible errors.
 
ZZANG said:
My 15" MBP doesn't go PEW PEW... it goes....

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Click to expand...

Made me think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnGQeaAgyc
 
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