BENCHMARK APPETIZER:
'early 2016' MacBook Retina 12-inch
Posted April 21st, 2016 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist
Appended on April 28th, 2016, with 1.1GHz and 1.3GHz MacBook 2016 results
We wanted to serve up an appetizer of performance data on the 'early 2016' MacBook Retina 12-inch versus the 'early 2015' MacBook Retina 12-inch and the Razer Blade Stealth UHD, a worthy surrogate for competing Windows thin, light, 12 inch laptops.
GPU GRAPH LEGEND
Blade Stealth 12.5" = 'early 2016' Razer Blade Stealth UHD, 12.5 inch (3940x2160) IGZO screen, 2.5GHz Core i7-6500U processor, Intel HD Graphics 520, 512GB PCIe based flash storage, 8G of 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory; Windows 10
MacBook 2016 1.3 = 'early 2016' MacBook Retina 12 inch (2304x1440) IPS screen, 1.3GHz Core M7 processor, Intel HD Graphics 515, 512GB PCIe based flash storage, 8G of 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory, OS X 10.11
MacBook 2016 1.2 = 'early 2016' MacBook Retina 12 inch (2304x1440) IPS screen, 1.2GHz Core M5 processor, Intel HD Graphics 515, 512GB PCIe based flash storage, 8G of 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory, OS X 10.11
MacBook 2016 1.1 = 'early 2016' MacBook Retina 12 inch (2304x1440) IPS screen, 1.1GHz Core M3 processor, Intel HD Graphics 515, 256GB PCIe based flash storage, 8G of 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory, OS X 10.11
MacBook 2015 1.2 = 'early 2015' MacBook Retina 12 inch (2304x1440) IPS screen, 1.2GHz Core M processor, Intel HD Graphics 5300, 512GB PCIe based flash storage, 8G of 1600MHz LPDDR3 memory, OS X 10.11
Geekbench 3
The OVERALL 64-bit score is a combination of integer, floating-point, and memory performance. (HIGHEST Score = FASTEST)
AJA System Test
Using a 4G test size, we measured the PCIe flash storage sequential transfer speed. (HIGHEST number in Megabytes per Second = FASTEST)
ANALYSIS (updated April 28th)
The 2016 Retina Macbook 12 inch (1.2GHz Core M5) achieves a Geekbench score 16% to 23% higher than the 2015 Retina MacBook (1.2GHz Core M).
The Geekbench scores of the 2016 Retina MacBook with 1.3GHz Core M7 are only 2% slower than the Razer Blade Stealth with 2.5GHz Core i7-6500U.
As for internal flash, the READ speed of the 2016 MacBook (512G PCIe) is 13% higher than the 2015 MacBook (512 PCIe) while the WRITE speed is 87% higher. The Razer Blade Stealth's (512G PCIe) READ speed is 53% higher than the 2016 MacBook (512G PCIe) while the WRITE speed is 35% lower.
WHAT ABOUT GPU?
We have added a "GPU SHOOTOUT" between the 2016 MacBook's HD Graphics 515, the 2015 MacBook's HD Graphics 5300, and the Razer Blade Stealth's HD Graphics 520.
WHY INCLUDE THE WINDOWS LAPTOP?
The Razer Blade Stealth originally got our attention because it supports Thunderbolt 3 through its USB-C port -- a feature we Mac users are craving. The 2016 MacBook has NO Thunderbolt support through its USB-C port. Other distinctives of the Blade Stealth include Touch Screen and the optional Razer Core Thunderbolt 3 Desktop GPU expander.
SPECS COMPARED: BLADE STEALTH (UHD) versus 2016 MACBOOK
DISPLAY NATIVE RESOLUTION: 3940x2160 versus 2304x1440
DISPLAY PIXELS PER INCH: 352 versus 226
WEIGHT: 2.75 lbs versus 2.03 lbs
THICKNESS: .52 inch versus variable .14 to .52 inch
WIDTH/DEPTH: 12.6" x 8.1" versus 11.04" x 7.74"
PORTS: USB-C (USB 3.1, Thunderbolt 3), two USB-A (USB 3 SuperSpeed), HDMI versus USB-C (USB 3.1, DisplayPort 1.2)
PRICE COMPARED
'early 2016' Razer Blade Stealth UHD (2.5GHz Core i7, 8G RAM, 512G flash: $1599.99
'early 2016' MacBook (1.2 GHz Core M5, 8G RAM, 512G Flash): $1599
'early 2016' MacBook (1.3 GHz Core M7, 8G RAM, 512G Flash): $1749
(image above is of Razer Blade Stealth and Razer Core GPU Expander)
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