The April 10 release of Apple’s Retina MacBook (It’s not an Air!) has many wondering whether the power of the laptop will be hampered by its size.
Despite concerns its tablet-based Core M processor will not be able to perform, a Yahoo report says “for many tasks, especially short burst loads, the performance of the 5Y71 is very competitive,” but wont be able to offer the The report adds that “you shouldn’t be surprised to see the MacBook perform rather well in day-to-day tasks, even though it might not match something like the MacBook Pro.” A test run of Lenovo’s Yoga 3 Pro, which uses the same Core M-5Y70 processor, has shown that the processor would allow the MacBook to perform at levels similar to the CPUs on older PCs (or last year’s 13-inch MacBook Air).
Digital Trends says Intel’s Core M is advanced but meant for light systems that are “passively cooled”
This means the MacBook may not be ideal for “sustained workloads.” The site says it offers roughly three-quarters the performance of a standard fifth-generation Core.
Digital Trends says that the Pro line is your best bet if you have to buy an Apple computer. The slimming down of the series with the introduction of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (It weighs only 3.48 pounds compared to the MacBook’s 2.03 pounds) makes you consider paying for a computer that is only 1.5 pounds lighter.
A side-by-side comparison between the MacBook ($1299) and MacBook Air 11-inch ($899) is initially puzzling being that, besides screen size (.4 inch increase on the MacBook), you are paying more for an M processor that can only go up to 1.3 GHz as opposed to MacBook Air’s 2.2 GHz i7 processor. In a nutshell, the lighter MacBook has a relatively weaker processor, a slightly bigger screen (.4 inches larger), and you can get it in gold, silver, or “space gray.” The MacBook also introduces a new pressure sensitive (“Force Touch”) multi-touch trackpad that responds with tactile feedback This new component will allow you to “feel” what’s on the screen, says Apple’s preview video .
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