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Waiting for Broadwell MBP Thread
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Currently I own a 2011 Macbook Air 13" top spec. I'm considering the new macbook pro 13" and planning to max the specs. I just did some research on the processor and iGPU and the comparison some what bothers me.
Why does the new Broadwell has lower L2 cach capacity + speed? And the iGPU has a slower GPU+Turbo clock speed? I always thought higher is better
Why does the new Broadwell has lower L2 cach capacity + speed? And the iGPU has a slower GPU+Turbo clock speed? I always thought higher is better
Why does the new Broadwell has lower L2 cach capacity + speed? And the iGPU has a slower GPU+Turbo clock speed? I always thought higher is better
This is the problem with just comparing specs. Your processor is limited to 17W of power, while the new one has 28W allowance. This means that it will be able to stay at Turbo speeds for much longer, while yours will throttle a lot when it overheats.
The same goes for the graphics. In reality, yours will be stuck most of the time at 350 Mhz because of the low thermal allowance, while the new once wil turbo to 1100Mhz much longer. Also, a spec you're missing: the new Iris 6100 really makes a difference on the number of execution units: 48 vs. 12 on the HD3000. That's 4x better graphics performance. So the 50Mhz difference in base clock speed is trivial.
the 4 year old sandy bridge has 0.5MB while the new Broadwell has only 0.25
Oh, I see; I didn't realize I was looking at the older processor on the left in that second comparison. Reading comprehension fail on my part.
I really have no idea about how the Intel CPU evolves. I understand the execution unit part. However,intuitively thinking, shouldn't an upgrade have at least the same clock speed+capacity and have higher allowance? Or same allowance with better clocks peed + capacity? Loading more power into a processor for longer turbo and allowing it to withstand more heat hardly sound like an upgrade to me, considering one is from 2011 and the other 2015.
One more question, if the iGPU has higher power allowance and turbos longer but is lower in clock speed. Is it more or less power efficient?
Thx for the lecture
Currently I own a 2011 Macbook Air 13" top spec. I'm considering the new macbook pro 13" and planning to max the specs. I just did some research on the processor and iGPU and the comparison some what bothers me.
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Why does the new Broadwell has lower L2 cach capacity + speed? And the iGPU has a slower GPU+Turbo clock speed? I always thought higher is better
Don't trust random third party websites. the i7 5557U has 4MB cache.
Clocks speeds alone are not a measure of power or speed. As was pointed out below, the newer iGPU has 4x the execution units, i.e, almost 4x the graphics performance. Also over 50% improved CPU power (geek bench). I wouldn't put too much weight on the power consumption, the CPUs run in low power modes most of the time, and newer machines tend to save even more power there.
(Also if you want to be precise, since a year or two, the CPU die has much more infrastructure on it than before, i.e. comparing the TDPs of the CPU alone doesn't make sense).
Cinebench R15 OpenGL Test
2014 = 24.7 FPS
2015 = 28.9 FPS (17% faster)
GTXBench OpenGL T-Rex 1080p Off-Screen
2014 = 88.3 FPS
2015 = 92.8 FPS (5% faster)
LuxMark 2 OpenCL Sala Scene
2014 = 540 KSamples/Sec (88% faster)
2015 = 287 KSamples/Sec
GPUTest FurMark at 1280x720 Windowed no AA
2014 = 12 FPS
2015 = 12 FPS (tie)
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I don't like to bring up old thread's but wow was I close. Shame about the lack of TouchID on the new MacBook(s).
You are moving from an Air Mac to a Pro Mac. The Pro line has a different class of processors (the 28W type) while Air is at 15W. These are not directly comparable. Air is more energy efficient, the Pro is more powerful. If you want the best battery autonomy, you have to stick with the Air.
It's hard to separate GPU efficiency from the CPU on an integrated chip. The bottom line is: Core-M at 4.5W is the most power-efficient (Macbook) followed by Broadwell-U 15W (Air) and Broadwell-U 28W (rMBP 13). Performance goes the ther way around (Macbook is the slowest).
If you want to know more about the Broadwell GPUs, read this great analysis: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8814/intel-releases-broadwell-u-new-skus-up-to-48-eus-and-iris-6100/2
We should just rename this thread to "...Skylake" since half of all discussion here is about Skylake, the only Broadwell machine we'll see is already here, and there will never be a Broadwell 15"
I'm pretty sure there will be it.
Why? NVidia just announced 950m and 960m (the former the most probable candidate). Quad-Core 45W Broadwells are scheduled for mid-15. It will be "questionable" not to update rMBP 15'' with these ones, maybe not in June at WWDC (remember, last year update came on July 29).
Do you have any proof /source for this? All I found in the roadmap was the 65W variant, to be released in summer, with Skylake 35W to 95W coming a quarter later.
Opinion being spoken as fact, I think it's fair to say there's a decent chance we'll see a broadwell refresh for the 15" rMBP come June with many of the same upgrades as the 13" ie faster SSD's, higher clock speeds, force touch trackpad and updated I and dGPU.
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This is just a wishful-thinking type of article about what should happen. Not a leak and not even a rumour. Here is proper source:
No word of Broadwell-K, aka the Mac 15" type.
But if I read the graph correctly, it says that just Skylake-U Dual Cores will be released in Summer. No Quad-Cores -> No 15" rMBPs this year.
Right?
Yes, but the new rMBPs will most likely usw 28W CPUs, so Skylak-U, or am I wrong?
So far in Broadwell we have :
4.5W in Macbook
15W in Mac Air
28W in MBP 13"
47W in MBP 15"
So unless there will be some crazy efficiency gains in Skylake, the 15" MBP should stay at quad-cores around 45W.
Sure, I believe twimages.vr-zone.net more than ars technica.
Let's talk about it this summer, agreed?
Skylake will be the bigger bump in speed from what I am reading. Broadwell will bring mostly battery life and some efficiency. Although, I don't think I can wait that long to replace my aging 2011 MBP.
I'm basing my opinion on very obvious facts that we already know. By the time Broadwell CPUs for the 15 are available, Skylake CPUs will be literally weeks away. There is absolutely no logical reason we'll see a Broadwell 15 unless Apple somehow decides to throw the towel in.