Macbook air performance comparison. MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro: comparison of all Apple laptops

The MacBook is the thinnest member of the Apple family, and with its comfortable 12-inch display and high level of portability, it's the perfect companion: there's no thinner laptop on the market right now, and you can choose from chic colors like Rose Gold ”, gold, space gray and silver. With a passively cooled Core m3-7Y32 (7th generation), it has enough performance for web surfing, office work and rudimentary image processing.

Apple MacBook Air looks like an ageless hit. In design and equipment, unchanged since 2015, it is currently sold as an entry-level model costing about 60 thousand rubles. Due to its age, the MacBook Air does not have modern interfaces - minimalism requires sacrifice. However, the performance of the Intel Core i5 should not be underestimated.

The MacBook Pro is Apple's highest-performing laptop, running the current generation KabyLake i7-7820HQ and AMD Radeon Pro 560 as a dedicated graphics card. Paired with 16GB of RAM, this configuration leaves little to be desired. in terms of performance.

The smallest MacBook in the family comes in Rose Gold, Gold, Space Gray and Silver

Each of the MacBooks is aimed, respectively, at different audiences. In particular, the MacBook Air can be recommended to those who are looking for an affordable entry-level MacBook and can still make some compromises in terms of performance and display resolution. Those who use their laptop mainly for simple tasks like surfing the web or watching movies, but also don't want to give up on a chic and customizable design, will be best satisfied with the new MacBook.

The high-performance MacBook Pro is aimed at all those who need a laptop primarily for work and who, for example, use programs for professional photo and video content processing.

Comparison of MacBook Air, MacBook and MacBook Pro

Test Results: Performance

The new MacBook Pro comes in three configurations with different CPUs and either integrated or discrete graphics. For comparison, we took the previous model with NVIDIA graphics, as well as the junior and top modifications of the 13-inch Broadwell Retina, the basic versions of the 2015 MacBook Air 13" and the new 12-inch MacBook.

Geekbench 3 64-bit

• In single-threaded mode, the base version of the new 15-inch MBP differs little from both 13-inch versions, but still performs much better than the Air or, even more so, the new ultra-compact MacBook.
• The first CPU firmware upgrade to i7-4870HQ brings more benefits than the second upgrade to i7-4980HQ.

• With multiple threads, of course, quad-core processors have no equal.
• The same pattern repeats itself: the first stage of a CPU upgrade is more valuable than the second.

Cinebench R15: CPU

• In this test, all quad-core CPUs are good, dual-core ones are no match. The result depends little on the clock frequency.

Cinebench R15: GPU

• Leaving out the comparison of configurations with different CPUs, let's focus on the differences between the graphics adapters of the old and new MBP 15" models, as well as other MacBooks of the current year.
• CINEBENCH has confirmed, albeit small, but the advantage of the Radeon R9 M370X over the GeForce GT 750M.
• Both discrete GPUs leave no chance for integrated graphics in both Haswell and Broadwell processors.

GFXBench 3.1

• In both GFXBench tests, the Radeon R9 M370X slightly outperforms the GeForce GT 750M.
• The integrated graphics of the Iris Pro 5200 does not look as bad as in CINEBENCH, and compares favorably with the younger modifications of Iris and HD Graphics in dual-core Intel chips.
• However, benchmarks at native resolution of 2880×1800 minimize the differences between multiple GPUs.

For 3DMark tests, we took an Acer Aspire V17 Nitro Black Edition laptop equipped with a GM107-based GeForce GTX 860M discrete graphics that could replace the GeForce GT 750M in the same TDP class. The results of two other machines with GeForce GT 840M and GTX 870M graphics cards are also included to place the Radeon R9 M370X and GT 750M in the context of lower and higher class discrete GPU performance.

But, unfortunately, we don't have 3DMark and game test results for Iris Pro 5200 graphics, and the sample MPB 15" with discrete GPU does not allow using the integrated GPU in Boot Camp.

• Percentage-wise, both 3DMark tests compare the Radeon R9 370X and GT 750M in the same way as the previous graphics tests: the advantage of the Radeon is undeniable, but at the same time small.
• The GTX 860M offers a very different level of performance than both of these adapters, especially under a heavier load in the Fire Strike test than in the forgiving Cloud Gate.
• Be that as it may, the Radeon R9 M370X is much better than the integrated GPU that the 13-inch MacBook Pro is limited to.

Blackmagic Disk Speed ​​Test v. 2

• In the new Macs, SSD speed is highly dependent on volume. Samsung's 128 and 256 GB models differ little in read speed, but the older version has an advantage in write speed. The 512 GB SSD pushes the bar higher - up to 1.8 and 1.5 GB / s for read / write, respectively.
• If we compare the drives in the new and old MBP 15" model, then the performance of the new SSD is more than twice as high.

⇡ Test results: display

The screen of the large MacBook Pro is inferior in brightness and contrast (341 cd/m2, 871:1) to the screens of the 13-inch MBP and the new MacBook (up to 388 cd/m2 and about 1000:1), but in practice there can be no complaints - Work comfortably both indoors and outdoors. By the way, we got worse results from the MBP 15" sample of 2013. Either since then Apple has changed the matrix, or it's all about a different colorimeter model that we currently use.

With the native color grading profile, the range of colors available to the screen is slightly limited in the green area. But the white point is set very accurately, which affects the color temperature - almost ideal for most of the brightness range.

The gamma curves of the primary colors are fairly well matched for a display that has not been professionally calibrated. In general, the gamma slightly exceeds the standard value of 2.2, enhancing the contrast in mid-tones and highlights due to shadows, but this imperfection is not evident.

⇡ Test results: battery life

With this laptop, we tried out a new method for measuring battery life. The test is carried out with a screen brightness of 200 cd/m2, which is comfortable for indoor use. Load - updating the main page of 3DNews in the browser with an interval of 5 seconds and disabled caching, WiFi connection. A more severe test case involves updating four copies of the page at the same time.

The result of almost 8 hours of continuous work under light load is close to what Apple guarantees (9 hours on the web). However, due to the difference in methods (Apple tests at a brightness of 75% of the maximum, which in this case is less than 200 cd / m 2), one does not refute the other. With a more serious load, the laptop lasted 5 hours in the ranks.

⇡ Conclusions

Updated 15-inch "Retina" makes no worse impression than three years ago. With a large screen and quad-core CPU, this is a great laptop for those who make a living sitting at the computer and are not burdened with the need to always have it with them.

But while the new Mac is still good, and in some ways unique in its class, the review still has to end on a minor note. It's not Apple's fault that Intel actually failed to roll out a wide line of quad-core Broadwell processors, but it's bad consolation in a situation where the MacBook Pro 15 "was the only one of the" Apple "laptops stuck in the Haswell generation indefinitely. On the performance of those CPUs, among which Apple offers to choose, it’s still a sin to complain, but Broadwell should have at least contributed to a further increase in battery life beyond what the slightly larger battery already gave.

However, Apple tried to brighten up the disappointment at the expense of other configuration items. The new Radeon R9 M370X discrete graphics card is a seemingly controversial choice, given that an NVIDIA Maxwell GPU would make the MacBook Pro much more playable. But it seems that here Apple preferred a uniform increase in performance on all fronts, including the acceleration of the "creative" applications of interest to it. In this capacity, the R9 M370X is quite appropriate, because buying a Mac mainly for games is not a good idea at all.

PCIe x4 storage is the most valuable addition Macs have received this year. The 512GB mod is even faster than the 256GB one, but both are extremely good and make a noticeable difference in system responsiveness. Touchpad Force Touch - it would seem a trifle, but one of those that you quickly get used to and which you can not refuse.

Finally, the traditional recommendations about the upgrade. Those who already bought a large Retina a year or two ago can relax. The 2015 version did not bring such a radical update, for which it would be worth updating urgently. Newcomers, buy now, because if Apple couldn't wait a little longer, then it means that the release of suitable Broadwell chips is seriously delayed. In the worst case, the platform change will already happen immediately to Skylake processors.

The editors of the site thanks the company "graphitek for providing the X-Rite i1Display Pro colorimeter.

10/29/2016 | 18:49 Analytics

The PC is still far ahead of the MacBook

Let's break down the MacBook Pro and compare it to a PC.

Apple's Three New MacBook Pros: Will Mac Users Really Want to Use Them as Workhorses?

New MacBooks

Apple has announced three new laptops. The most powerful of these is the MacBook Pro 15. As usual, Apple doesn't reveal all the specs, such as the exact processor model, but it does reveal the clock speeds and generation of the Intel processors.

The MBP15 uses a 6th generation Skylake quad-core processor. This may disappoint some users, but 7th Gen Intel Kabi Lake quad-core processors won't be available from Apple until early next year. Apple installs Skylake core processors with Iris Pro graphics.

By elimination, it can be argued that these two processors are installed in the MacBook Pro: Core i7-6870HQ and Core i7-6770HQ. Read about them on ARK Intel. Both are pretty decent processors with Intel Iris Pro 580 graphics and 128MB of integrated eDRAM.

Soldered CPU and GPU in MacBook Pro 15.

The actual graphics performance of the Iris Pro 580 is the best from Intel, but it still falls short of decent discrete graphics. It is roughly between the performance of the GeForce GT 940 and GeForce GTX 950m chips, which are definitely not the fastest GPUs.

In limited processor tests, the new MacBook Pro 15 should be about the size of a quad-core PC. It's not clear why Apple is using a more expensive version of the Iris Pro processor, even if it's paired with discrete graphics. Why not save some money to lower the price of the product?

Speaking of GPUs, Apple is the first computer manufacturer to offer the new AMD Polaris GPUs in the form of the Radeon Pro 450 and Radeon Pro 455. The Radeon Pro 455 is rated 1.3 teraflops by AMD and the Pro 450 is rated 1 teraflops.

Due to the fact that no one has actually seen these GPUs, it's hard to say how fast they will be. This does not mean that you can not try to guess. Apple said the new MacBook Pro 15 will be 60% faster in gaming performance than the previous generation of laptops that use the Radeon R9 M370X.

Taking this laptop's performance (from the Notebookcheck.net review) and adding about 60%, we can see how the new MacBook Pro stacks up against the current generation of PCs.

If the new MacBook Pro 15 with Radeon Pro 455 is 60% faster than the previous generation MBP 15, here's what it would look like compared to a PC.

There are many limitations to performance evaluation. First, what exactly does Apple mean by "60 percent faster in games"? Is it in a specific game? Will the performance be worse or better in each specific benchmark?

However, don't expect the results to change much when we see actual benchmarks. The best the MacBook Pro 15 can hope for is to beat the 1.3 teraflops GeForce GTX 960m. At least the Radeon Pro 455 does this, using almost half the power of the GTX 960m, but if you're hoping for more performance, it won't.

Apple does not allow SSD upgrades. These chips are soldered to the motherboard.

In pure performance, the new $2800 MacBook Pro can be slightly faster under CPU and even GPU loads compared to the Dell XPS 15 (Core i7-6700HQ, GeForce GTX 960M) that came out nine months ago and costs around $1400. The Dell, of course, has a plain old 1920x1080 screen and half the size of the MacBook Pro's SSD, but they can be the same in performance. Models with a 4K panel, large battery, and SSD are still cheaper from Dell.

The problem with the MacBook Pro 15 is the weight for its class. It's fair to compare it to the 1.8kg MSI GS63VR Stealth. It has a quad-core Skylake processor, a 4K screen, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 512GB SSD, a 1TB hard drive, and a GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card.

Again, we don't know how the Radeon Pro 455 will perform, but looking at the 1.8kg MSI GS63VR in this performance chart, you can expect it to tear the MacBook Pro 15 apart in graphics performance.

Dell XPS 15 (top), latest generation MacBook Pro 15 (middle) and MSI GS63VR Stealth (bottom). All weigh about the same.

Boring MacBook Pro 13

Of all the new laptops, the performance of the MacBook Pro 15 is the most interesting. The MacBook Pro 13, on the other hand, is not at all interesting.

As with previous generations, Apple relies on the fastest Skylake-powered graphics. The company doesn't talk about specific models inside, but it's not hard to guess that it's a dual-core Core i5-6360U and a dual-core Core i5-6267U. Read more on ARK Intel.

They're boring because they have the same performance we've seen from PC laptops for most of this year. The new MacBook Pro 13 should offer decent processor performance that will be slightly better overall than the vast majority of Ultrabook PCs based on Skylake processors. This is to be expected, as the MacBook Pro 13 uses a 28-watt Core i5-6267U processor, compared to the 15-watt chips found in most ultrabook PCs.

The new MacBook Pro 13 is better because of the Iris 550 graphics compared to itself.

Here's what happens when you compare them to 7th generation ultrabooks with Kaby Lake processors. Kaby Lake is an improved version of Skylake that runs at higher frequencies. In general, this gives a performance increase of about 10%.

The MacBook Pro 13 can even match some Kaby Lake laptops. The graph below has an Iris 540 Core i7 Skylake processor, which is actually slower than the Core i5 Kaby Lake in CineBench R15, but that's because it's the 15W version of the chip.

A MacBook Pro 13 with higher-end processors could beat the Kaby Lake-based Dell XPS 13 mentioned here, or just match in performance. It's safe to say that a Mac won't be far ahead of a typical Kaby Lake-powered Ultrabook.

The introduction of the MacBook Air in early 2008 revolutionized the notebook market. At that time, "laptop" equaled "suitcase." Or, even worse, "netbooks". In this historical context, Apple showed the world a very compact and lightweight laptop. And, as it turned out, this is exactly what everyone was waiting for.

The warm reception by the public of the laptop of the new format prompted competitors to create numerous models with the same weight and thickness, but at the same time on very vigorous, albeit economical, processors. Sales of the MacBook Air 13 itself are still high, but ten years later this is due to other reasons: this is the cheapest model among Apple laptops. In Russia, the younger version of 2017 can be bought for 65 thousand rubles, while, for example, the younger MacBook Pro 13 without the Touch Bar will cost 94,000 rubles.

What's Wrong with the Apple MacBook Air 13 Mid 2017?

For 65,000 rubles, it is quite possible to take a good ultrabook on Windows. But, unfortunately, Apple is very stingy on the stuffing for these models. And spending so much money on them in 2017 means condemning yourself to constant ridicule from the owners of Windows Books. And not only for this. It's not just about the number of megahertz, cores, and other numbers that don't always have a direct correlation with how the final product performs. Although it will not do without numbers either. For example, Full HD-screen resolution (1920x1080 pixels) has long been ubiquitous - you will find this (and even higher) in the vast majority of laptops. And the MacBook Air 13 has some 1440x900 pixels, and in 2017 this is already a real retro. And even in 2013, in my opinion, it would be doubtful to take a 13-inch laptop with such a low resolution.

MacBook Air 2018 was introduced by Apple in late October. Outwardly, it differs little from its predecessor, but in technical terms, the novelty has been seriously improved. Nevertheless, let's start the review with the appearance of the new MacBook Air, especially since it is still possible to distinguish it from the "twin" Pro 2016.

Changes in the appearance of the MacBook Air 2018

First of all, the presence of Touch ID is striking - a new biometric scanner built into the power button. With it, you can easily unlock your device, open secure documents, and make online purchases quickly and securely. Another external difference is the compact wedge-shaped body. The monitor is attached to it with a visually more reliable hinge, and the display frame has become half thinner.

Also, compared to the previous model, MacBook Air has become more compact and light - it has become easier to carry it in a bag or backpack. The following differences are visible to the naked eye:

1. Dimensions from the previous 1.7 x 32.5 x 22.7 cm have decreased to 1.56 x 30.41 x 21.24 cm.
2. The trackpad is 20% larger, making Multi-Touch gestures even more comfortable.
3. The familiar 3.5mm audio jack on the new MacBook also remains. True, now it is already on the right side, and not on the left, as it was before.

New display quality and operating comfort

In technical terms, the updated Apple product has changed more. First of all, the long-awaited 13.3-inch Retina display draws attention to itself. Now the screen of the new MacBook boasts a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels, which cannot be compared with 1440x900 pixels of a simple HD display of the previous laptop model.

There are four times as many pixels here at once, the display displays almost half as many colors as before. The quality of text display in documents and e-mails on the new screen is so high that it practically does not differ from printed on paper.

Also, technical changes have affected the keyboard. The keys are now equipped not with the usual "scissors" mechanism, but with a more advanced "butterfly". Now the keyboard responds more stable to any finger presses, the response time has become shorter, and the comfort when typing has increased significantly. Each key has an individual backlight, and the presence of a light sensor allows you to work comfortably even in very low light.

Technical stuffing MacBook Air 2018

Now the novelty from Apple is equipped with a modern Coffe Lake - the eighth generation Intel Core processor. The graphics card has also been replaced with an improved Intel UHD. Also, the maximum available SSD volume was increased three times - from 512 GB to 1.5 TB at once. Memory in the new MacBook is also enough - up to 16 GB.

However, not everything about the 2018 MacBook is better than the previous generation. So, there are fewer ports now. The old Pro 2016 model was equipped with the following set of ports:

• two USB 3,
• Thunderbolt 2,
• SDXC card slot,
• MagSafe 2 - power connector.

The 2018 MacBook Air only has two new Third Generation Thunderbolt (USB C) ports. This reduction in capabilities can be partly explained by the reduced size of the hull. However, it is more likely that the manufacturer made it impossible to use SDXC cards in order to prevent the possibility of self-expanding memory by the user.

2018 MacBook Air battery life

"Air" has always been valued for the ability to work continuously without recharging. The charge of the previous model was enough for almost a whole day of work. In the description of the new product, Apple also declares the possibility of a 12-hour operation of the device without recharging.

However, in reality, not everything is as good as the manufacturer claims. The Air 2018 can actually run for no more than 8 hours, which is due to the high power consumption of the new Retina display. Moreover, the capacity of the built-in battery, due to the reduced dimensions, has also been somewhat reduced, which, of course, does not affect the autonomy of the device in the best way.

In short, the MacBook Air 2018 is certainly a high-quality, innovative and modern product with a wonderful screen and a powerful processor. It's ideal for professional use, but the reduced memory expansion and high cost of the previous model certainly won't do much to increase the number of Apple fans.