AppleInsider Staff
Fresh benchmark statistics posted to the Web on Wednesday suggest Apple's upcoming 12-inch MacBook laptop will perform at levels commensurate of older MacBook Air models from 2011.
According to Primate Labs' Geekbench test suite, Apple's base model 2015 12-inch MacBook, designated MacBook 8,1, achieved a single core score of 1,924 points, while multi core operations came in at 4,038 points.
Apparently submitted online by Mashable journalist Christina Warren, the performance notches just below a recently tested 2011 11-inch MacBook Air sporting an Intel Core i7 CPU clocked at 1.80 GHz.
The new MacBook runs a power efficient dual-core Intel Core M processor clocked at 1.1 GHz. Requiring only 5 watts of power, Intel's mobile-minded Broadwell architecture sips energy at the expense of performance. Along with the 1.1 GHz chip, Apple is offering a 1.3 GHz version as a $300 add-on option.
For an ultralight laptop fitted with a high-resolution Retina display, however, raw processing power is not necessarily as important as squeezing out acceptable battery life. Apple says the MacBook's 39.7-watt-hour battery can handle up to nine hours of Web browsing activities or up to ten hours of movie playback.
While Apple's 12-inch MacBook is slated to hit store shelves on April 10, an unboxing video posted earlier today offered a first look at the hardware.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
106 Comments
Great if you really [I]really[/I] need the thinness (maybe you have to slip the MacBook under people's doors daily in your job?), but "on a par" with a 4 year old machine is not really much to be proud of. Especially when the current MacBook Air is almost as thin, has better battery and a much beefier CPU. In fact, my 2008 Macbook scores 1500 single core, so a 20% single core improvement after 6 years really isn't great. Apples and oranges I know, but even so.
For an ultralight laptop, however, raw processing power is not necessarily as important as squeezing out battery life.
Man, I don't know about you guys but I like an ultralight laptop because I'm a lazy bastard who likes to move his computer easily about the house while it's still plugged in to the power socket in whatever room it's in. I don't give a bugger about battery life.
(Happy Birthday Apple)
[quote name="Elijahg" url="/t/185522/apples-ultra-thin-12-inch-macbook-benchmarks-on-par-with-2011-macbook-air#post_2702569"]Great if you really [I]really[/I] need the thinness (maybe you have to slip the MacBook under people's doors daily in your job?), but "on a par" with a 4 year old machine is not really much to be proud of. Especially when the current MacBook Air is almost as thin, has better battery and a much beefier CPU. In fact, my 2008 Macbook scores 1500 single core, so a 20% single core improvement after 6 years really isn't great. Apples and oranges I know, but even so.[/quote] So I guess blame Intel? Are people complaining about the Windows PCs using this processor? And how many MBA owners actually need that beefier CPU?
Seems acceptable. Remember, this is faster in every single subsystem than the 2011 Air. Better RAM, better GPU, better storage, etc. I think Joe Average will be very pleased with it, it's not as crippled as the original Air was.
[quote name="Rogifan" url="/t/185522/apples-ultra-thin-12-inch-macbook-benchmarks-on-par-with-2011-macbook-air#post_2702582"] So I guess blame Intel? Are people complaining about the Windows PCs using this processor? And how many MBA owners actually need that beefier CPU?[/quote] Most don't need it. There are some using the Air as a poor-mans MBP, but that's probably going to end. Just like the quad core Mini's went away. The 2008 MacBook (which I use daily) isn't bad, but it's also slower than this 2015 in every aspect, and it also needs a considerable cooling system. Oh, and it gets 4 hours of battery life, roughly. So...comparing a 5W chip to whatever the 2.4GHz Penryn used is ridiculous.