Will the 'early 2016' MacBook
run Pro Apps as well as
other Apple laptops?
Posted May 12th, 2016 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist
Readers wanted to know: Will the 'early 2016' MacBook Retina 12-inch run Pro Apps if the projects are not too extreme? And how its performance compare to other Mac laptops?
GPU GRAPH LEGEND
M2015 rMBP 15" = 'mid 2015' MacBook Pro Retina 15.4 inch, 2.8GHz Core i7-4980HQ processor, AMD Radeon R9 M370X GPU, 1TB PCIe based flash storage, 16G of 1600MHz DDR3L memory
E2015 rMBP 13" = 'early 2015' MacBook Pro 13 inch, 3.1GHz Dual Core i7, Intel HD Graphics 6100 GPU, 1TB PCIe based flash storage, 16G of 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory
E2016 mB 12" = 'early 2016' MacBook Retina 12 inch, 1.3GHz Core M7 processor, Intel HD Graphics 515 GPU, 512GB PCIe based flash storage, 8G of 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory
E2015 mB 12" = 'early 2015' MacBook Retina 12 inch, 1.2GHz Core M processor, Intel HD Graphics 5300 GPU, 512GB PCIe based flash storage, 8G of 1600MHz LPDDR3 memory
Photoshop CC 2015
Using a sample 6096 x 4558 sample TIFF image we applied two filters. (LOWEST Time in Seconds = FASTEST)
DigLloyd Actions file is designed to force Photoshop into using its scratch volume to mimic behavior when working with large image files, images with many layers, or many images at once. Speed under such conditions is governed mainly by available memory and the speed of the scratch volume, not CPU speed. We used the MEDIUM option.
Final Cut Pro X
Using 1080p sample footage we rendered two effects. (LOWEST Time in Seconds = FASTEST)
Then we exported (transcoded) the 1080p sample to 1080p iPad compatible format.
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
With one exception, the 2016 Retina Macbook is no match for the top 2015 MacBook Pro 15" laptop. However, in 4 out of 6 cases pro functions featured above, it was competitive with the top 2015 MacBook Pro 13".
With Intel M processor, RAM limited to 8GB, and lack of Thunderbolt 2 or 3 support, the MacBook can't be considered a serious platform for demanding professional projects. It will be interesting to see what the next generation of MacBook Pros offer in all areas performance.
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