rMacBook 2015 vs rMacBook 2016?

[hamish.b]

Hi all

New poster. I have a base 2015 rMacBook and wanted to ask, does the rMacBook 2016 feel faster and 'zipper' in real world usage? I understand the geekbench/benchmarks scores are like 10% better on the 2016 model, but I've also read reviews where reviewrs say the 2016 model feels faster in day to day usage than the 2015 model.

Could this be down to the fact that they're using a brand new machine with a fresh OS instalation, or is the 2016 model notceibaly faster in day to day tasks?

Thanks all

 

[DougFNJ]

Hi all

New poster. I have a base 2015 rMacBook and wanted to ask, does the rMacBook 2016 feel faster and 'zipper' in real world usage? I understand the geekbench/benchmarks scores are like 10% better on the 2016 model, but I've also read reviews where reviewrs say the 2016 model feels faster in day to day usage than the 2015 model.

Could this be down to the fact that they're using a brand new machine with a fresh OS instalation, or is the 2016 model notceibaly faster in day to day tasks?

Thanks all

Coming from the 2015 to 2016, I am not finding a night and day difference, but I am finding noticeable improvements in app load times, and particularly when rendering videos, and doing higher processor intensive tasks. The updated SSD and RAM made this machine what it should had been all along

 

[maxsix]

I currently have both. Side by side tests reveal the only significant difference is the keyboard. The new one is about 30% less noisy. That's worth it for my purposes.

 

[hamish.b]

Coming from the 2015 to 2016, I am not finding a night and day difference, but I am finding noticeable improvements in app load times, and particularly when rendering videos, and doing higher processor intensive tasks. The updated SSD and RAM made this machine what it should had been all along

I currently have both. Side by side tests reveal the only significant difference is the keyboard. The new one is about 30% less noisy. That's worth it for my purposes.

Thank you. So you think there isn't much of a difference between the 2015 and 2016 apart from some app loading times and video-editing? How about general tasks like browsing, word/powerpoint etc?

And thank you about the keyboard, I wasn't even aware there was a difference!

 

[maxsix]

Thank you. So you think there isn't much of a difference between the 2015 and 2016 apart from some app loading times and video-editing? How about general tasks like browsing, word/powerpoint etc?

And thank you about the keyboard, I wasn't even aware there was a difference!

Although I am very Pro-Apple when it comes to laptop's, and own every current model, I report my experiences carefully and accurately. Never exaggerated.

That said, it is important to mention most everything I do is resource intense, moderate to heavy work and personal computing that taxes the system. A lot of personal work is video editing. While it can be done on the MBr, I greatly prefer to use either my 13" or 15" MBPr.

Speed of overall use, smooth transitions and speed of daily tasks is so close to the same between last year's and this year's MBr it's of little consequence.

 

[boltjames]

Speed of overall use, smooth transitions and speed of daily tasks is so close to the same between last year's and this year's MBr it's of little consequence.

This is why I'm not going to upgrade my 2015 RMB until Apple does something significant. Like make it lighter, add an HD cam, remove ports, etc.

BJ

 

[hamish.b]

Although I am very Pro-Apple when it comes to laptop's, and own every current model, I report my experiences carefully and accurately. Never exaggerated.

That said, it is important to mention most everything I do is resource intense, moderate to heavy work and personal computing that taxes the system. A lot of personal work is video editing. While it can be done on the MBr, I greatly prefer to use either my 13" or 15" MBPr.

Speed of overall use, smooth transitions and speed of daily tasks is so close to the same between last year's and this year's MBr it's of little consequence.

This is why I'm not going to upgrade my 2015 RMB until Apple does something significant. Like make it lighter, add an HD cam, remove ports, etc.

BJ

Thanks. Any idea why the reviews are saying that the 2016 feels faster than the 2015 then? What tasks have they noticed these speed differences in?

I'm waiting for an anandtech review as that's teh only site which really does an indepth review. Other sites hardly touch on improtant subjects.

 

[lite426]

I currently have both. Side by side tests reveal the only significant difference is the keyboard. The new one is about 30% less noisy. That's worth it for my purposes.

Wow, this is interesting. A keyboard noise reduction would be a very welcome upgrade for me. I hadn't seen that mentioned in reviews so thanks for mentioning that. Is it the same across all 2016s or maybe you just got lucky?

 

[SSD-GUY]

This is why I'm not going to upgrade my 2015 RMB until Apple does something significant. Like make it lighter, add an HD cam, remove ports, etc.

BJ

You do realise we only have 1 USB-C port as it is?

 

[Biggie Robs]

Wow, this is interesting. A keyboard noise reduction would be a very welcome upgrade for me. I hadn't seen that mentioned in reviews so thanks for mentioning that. Is it the same across all 2016s or maybe you just got lucky?

There is no difference between the keyboards, 2015 vs. 2016.

It's an awesome keyboard, full stop.

 

[LouisLoh]

You do realise we only have 1 USB-C port as it is?

Stop feeding the troll...

 

[boltjames]

You do realise we only have 1 USB-C port as it is?

Headphone jack. Could reduce weight and thickness.

BJ
[doublepost=1463450038][/doublepost]

Thanks. Any idea why the reviews are saying that the 2016 feels faster than the 2015 then? What tasks have they noticed these speed differences in?

If it's 10% faster and it takes 0.9 seconds to launch Safari, you definitely get a 0.09 second savings.

But you can't feel 1/10th of an eyeblink.

So it doesn't matter.

BJ

 

[maxsix]

Wow, this is interesting. A keyboard noise reduction would be a very welcome upgrade for me. I hadn't seen that mentioned in reviews so thanks for mentioning that. Is it the same across all 2016s or maybe you just got lucky?

Three others at work bought the latest 2016 model after being very disappointed in the noisy keyboard of the original.

In typical Apple fashion they did what's generally known as a "silent upgrade" a practice they've been doing for years. We're happy they did. All four of these latest models are significantly less noisy than the ones they replaced.

Mine sees lots of use as a travel laptop, frequently in environments where I'd refrain from using the early model due to the unwanted attention it drew.

 

[Biggie Robs]

Three others at work bought the latest 2016 model after being very disappointed in the noisy keyboard of the original.

In typical Apple fashion they did what's generally known as a "silent upgrade" a practice they've been doing for years. We're happy they did. All four of these latest models are significantly less noisy than the ones they replaced.

Mine sees lots of use as a travel laptop, frequently in environments where I'd refrain from using the early model due to the unwanted attention it drew.

I had a 2015 for ten days before exchanging it for a 2016 after the update. There is no difference in the keyboards. None.

 

[deeddawg]

This is why I'm not going to upgrade my 2015 RMB until Apple does something significant. Like make it lighter, add an HD cam, remove ports, etc.

I saw what you did there...