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Which MacBook is more powerful, the new 2015 MacBook or the 2010 white MacBook?
- Thread starter SHEEPOS
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I think it's more accurate to say that regardless of the task, the new rMB will run circles around a white MacBook from 2010. Even the base model rMB gets geekbench scores which are almost identical or superior to my 2010 MacBook _Pro_, and that's talking about a top of the line i7 from that year, not a consumer MacBook. It also has PCI integrated storage which is quite a bit faster than an SSD drive added to an older MacBook, and this will contribute significantly to it being noticeably zippier.
Phew that's reassuring. I have just sold my white unibody, reluctantly I might add, and always had this niggiling thought in the back of my mind. Just can't wait for it to arrive now. 16th of May and still no idea when I might get my hands on it.
I agree with you for the most part - but if the decision is doing a few hardware upgrades to the 2010 Core 2 Duo for, say, $150-$200 as opposed to $1300+ for a new rMB, I thought it was worth mentioning that within the realm of "everyday tasks" they will generally be equally as fast. In other words, it depends on the usage.
Can't argue with your value proposition point, but as someone who uses both a late 2008 iMac with a C2D, SSD and 6GB RAM and the new Macbook, the new Macbook is significantly faster in every way that I have found. Certainly noticeable in even casual use.
Pretty amazing to me that what was a reasonably high-end machine in 2008 is now out-classed in every respect - CPU, RAM, SSD, video, number of pixels, by a 2lb laptop with nearly 10 hour battery life!
By "white unibody" you mean that series of MacBooks in plastic that came in black and white from around 2007-2009 right? As far as I remember, they only got as far as putting core 2 duo CPUs in those machines, so you have absolutely no reason to worry. The rMB will neither feel slower nor actually be slower at anything you throw at it.
I guess it all depends on what matters to you most. I have a Core 2 Duo 2010 Pro that still gets excellent battery life considering its age (~6-7 hours typical usage) and starts up in seconds on a Crucial M4 and I don't really notice the real world different between everyday tasks such as web browsing and the like. Everything starts in one bounce and I experience no lag whatsoever so I don't necessarily understand how that can be improved upon (again, in terms of "everyday tasks"). I'm not discrediting you however, I believe what you're saying but just stating that my experience has been different.
Of course there are many other factors that would play into this besides cost effectiveness - such as form factor, screen resolution, battery life as you mentioned, portability on paper, etc. Like I said, all depends on what matters to you most - and I am a "if it's not broken, don't fix it" type of person.
Yes I do, that's the one I had, a white one which I loved by the way. It was beginning to show too many beach balls so I upgraded to a SSD drive and that transformed it. Anyhow it's now been sold on via eBay so I'm eagerly waiting for its replacement.
Yep fair enough. With the rMB it's true that you aren't exactly getting premium performance by today's standards when you look at what the price category it's in would buy you in a different machine. So yes, if your needs and value equation are weighted towards maximum performance bang for the buck and only that, it's not the best way to spend your money. It's absolutely about having a machine that is close to the cutting edge in terms of compact size and portability with a high-end display experience, all at a premium price.
But I think people are also getting a confusing message about the way the rMB's feel in actual usage, from all this unqualified talk of them being "underpowered" that's going around. You could be forgiven for thinking that using one would feel unresponsive, slow and immediately recognisable as some kind of compromise. This perception isn't helped by the instincts people have when they hear that it "only" has a 1.1 CPU. I mean, what is anyone supposed to do with that? But the reality is very different to what the low numbers would suggest. I actually think that it's more useful to get a feel for the pep of these machines by looking at the turbo clock speed for each model, not the base number.
In any case, sure if someone just has value for money and computing performance as purchasing criteria, they can absolutely do better on this front by buying either a different current machine (like an air, many windows options or even a base model 13" rMBP), or any number of second hand MacBook Pros from a few years ago. But what your money gets you in a rMB is a very high quality retina display experience in an extremely compact and lightweight form factor, with performance that feels absolutely contemporary in general use. It only falls behind when you attempt to use it for any kind of tasks that we're used to breezing through on fast quad core (or better) machines.... but in that case, so does any MacBook or MacBook Pro from 2010 or earlier.
I understand this completely, and fear not, I am not one of the confused ones in terms of it being underpowered or as to why it would be purchased. I'm not saying that my suggestion is superior and trumps the new rMB, not even by a long shot, just that I believe it is definitely worth mentioning in response to such a vague initial post.
If the user goes out and gets a rMB just because a decent amount of people here said "rMB. It's FASTER." with no relative information other than possibly looking at some benchmarks and the like, or maybe even with personal user experience, it may not be what the OP is looking for exactly. He/she could go out and get a rMB just because it was mentioned that it's "faster" and then later realize they could have spent $200 on some upgrades to a White MacBook that offers them the same general experience in relation to what they do - and not purchase the rMB for why it truly shines.
In other words, if I didn't care about screen resolution and percentages on paper didn't directly influence portability for me, I'd rather upgrade my older notebook before spending money on a more premium notebook if my usage wouldn't notice the difference because - for example. I personally don't think that if my usage will feel the same or even similar, that an extra $1000+ is worth a Retina panel and a thin form factor/smaller footprint. That's just my opinion, some may feel that it is - and again, there are many other factors that would come in to play here. We haven't even started talking about connectivity.
Yes, totally correct. However one detail you might have missed (because you're right the initial post was somewhat unclear): I think the OP already did do both a RAM _and_ SSD upgrade to the white MacBook. So the options for getting the most out of that machine had already been exhausted. I think the OPs question was more about, "OK I've already souped up my white MacBook, if I buy a rMB am I going to be basically buying the same (or worse) performance as I already have on this upgraded old machine but for too much money?"
So in that case, I think it's fairly reasonable to respond that no, performance won't be a disappointment, but that really what all that money is going towards is a different league of portability and a very big upgrade in terms of display experience.
I think so too but I really don't know, which is why I asked what is going to be done on the computer. "Get the rMB because it's faster" doesn't mean anything if all I am doing is browsing the web with iTunes open on a 2010 MacBook. I understand what you're saying fully. I'm informed as to why the rMB appeals to users, not knocking it any respect, just offering my end of the spectrum.
I want to explain something briefly regarding portability, not because I think you're missing the point as I think you're very well informed, but rather so it is out there for everyone - portability is relative to some people instead of a statistic on paper - myself included. I can obviously feel the weight difference between a rMB and a 2010 13'' MacBook Pro (using what I have as an example), but the 2010 is not heavy to me. It's light to me, and I can lift it and carry it with ease. On paper, the rMB is obviously "more portable," but that depends on how you are defining portability. It is defined in relation to the user in my opinion, therefore if I can handle the 2010 MacBook Pro with more than ease, they're both "as portable" as one another to me. Then, you have factors such as storing the notebook as well as its footprint on the same exact spectrum as what I just mentioned. If I have a place in my bag, backpack or whatever, as well as a spot on a desk, table or what have you that can fit the thickness or the footprint of either machine respectively, to me, they are still "as portable" as one another. If I didn't, then perhaps I would find something that offers smaller, thinner, and lighter statistics on paper to offer more portability for me.
Again, there are many more factors that come into a decision of deciding between two or more laptops, but since portability is mentioned so much I wanted to put this out there. I hope it makes sense and helps some people who receive advice here.
Very good points re portability. It's clearly one of the most subjective areas when it comes to how people feel about a laptop and how happy they feel about carrying it around for their own particular type of use. For example, for me the rMB is the first laptop design in a long time that reminds me of the happiest I ever was with a portable computer - my old Powerbook G4 12". Loved that thing, for the times it absolutely hit every sweet spot I wanted for a personal-use non work-intensive machine. I hung on to it as long as I could, even upgraded the drive in it to the biggest storage size I could get at the time a few years after purchase so as to make it the ultimate long haul flight movie watching machine. Ultimately I think that lead to its demise because the reseller who did the drive upgrade must have botched something up, it died not too long after. Sigh. But in any case, for me the rMB reminds me of a personal category of portability that somehow I have defined in my own head and it fits that bill very nicely. It even has remarkably great speakers which was the one shortcoming of the 12" Powerbook G4 (and the Air for that matter) which for me cements even more its usefulness as a portable machine. For me. Which is exactly your point - the portability of this machine and whether it qualifies as exceptional or just fine compared to other machines really depends on your own metrics, end of story. Someone who is used to an 11" Air might not get any appreciable sense of game-changing portability with the rMB. And indeed, for many people, being able to put a 15" rMBP in a perfectly normal bag and take it to work is an absolutely perfect portable computing setup.
That said, there are still some clearly objective criteria when it comes to defining portability: the rMB is currently the smallest and lightest computer that Apple sells, so it's not inaccurate to qualify it as Apple's current expression of what the cutting edge of portability is supposed to be - from the point of view of the lineup they offer.
Re the performance debate. Again you're right, there's a lot of information to take into account in order to balance your opinion and calibrate your expectations for this machine. And you need to be clear about what you actually do and/or expect to do. With respect to the OP, I think the question was pretty specific: They were concerned about moving from a white MacBook which had already been upgraded with an SSD and more RAM, and wanted to get some reassurance that this new expensive purchase wasn't going to be a step backwards. In that case, I think it's not unreasonable to just give a simple response that it won't be a letdown.
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Interesting that you bring up a 12'' PowerBook G4 - as I have been debating recently on getting one and using it as my primary laptop in 2015 lol. This could be destiny.
Indeed, I agree.
I miss my PB 12, may it rest in peace. Sometimes I take it out of its laptop sleeve which has become its coffin, to behold its loveliness. I'd actually love to find a working one on eBay, there is this one os9 only audio mangling app that I used to use which I'd love to be able to run again. os9!!
I feel the same way about my Core 2 Duo. For me, I have never experienced PPC and my notebook usage has moved from very heavy to extremely light in recent times - therefore I feel as though I can handle it with an older G4 - sell my MBP and still come out ahead quite a bit in funds while having OS X and a laptop with superb build quality. It's just an idea I'm tossing around at the moment.
Hmmm, I probably wouldn't do it as a main machine replacement. Those things are pretty long in the tooth now, if the hardware fails, it fails. But if you find one in decent condition on eBay for next to nothing, sure why not have one around as a sidekick and/or conversation starter box?
I feel that the rMB's power is greatly underestimated by a lot of people
No, those are the non-unibody machines. The unibody white ones were around between 2009-2012 and are the ones with a rubberized bottom case and no Firewire port.
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