While the upcoming MacBook from Apple certainly looks the part, early benchmarks have indicated that its sleek, lightweight design has taken its toll on the device’s performance, with it being comparable to the 2011 MacBook Air model.
A performance test orchestrated by GeekBench reveals that the upcoming MacBook is clocked at 1.1GHz with Turbo Boost at 2.4GHz, earning it a single-core score of 1,924, and a multi-core score of 4,028. This level of performance was to be expected due to its Intel M processor, though it’s still underwhelming given its high price point of $1299, with it almost matching the performance specs of the top-tier MacBook Air released 4 years ago.
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However, those who are seeking to purchase the new MacBook will likely be doing so for its portability and crisp Retina HD screen, not to run graphics intensive games or indulge in a spot of video editing. There are plenty of cheaper notebooks out there that could help you achieve the same thing, but the new MacBook certainly looks prettier than its competitors, and it has the added bonus of running OS X.
The MacBook’s high price point will make many prospective buyers balk when they consider its outdated processing power, but for others its prettier screen and the speed of its SSD will prove to be a big selling point. It’s difficult to highly recommend it due to the whopping $1299 it’ll set you back, but for students and professionals who are constantly on the move, its slender 13.1mm, 0.9kg design could certainly prove to be a big selling point.
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.10.2 (Build 14C2513)
Model: MacBook8,1
Processor: Intel Core M-5Y31 @ 1.10 GHz
1 processor, 2 cores, 4 threads
Processor ID: GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 61 Stepping 4
L1 Instruction Cache: 32 KB x 2
L1 Data Cache: 32 KB x 2
L2 Cache: 256 KB x 2
L3 Cache: 4096 KB
Motherboard: Apple Inc. Mac-BE0E8AC46FE800CC MacBook8,1
BIOS: Apple Inc. MB81.88Z.0164.B02.1503241252
Memory: 8192 MB 1600 MHz DDR3
Photo: Getty Images
