“At the heart of Apple’s 12-inch MacBook is the Intel Core M, a processor series launched late last year and meant to power extremely light notebooks and tablets,” Roger Fingas writes for AppleInsider. “But the new chips come with their own set of benefits and sacrifices, particularly for people considering other MacBook models.”
“At the moment there are seven models of Core M available, ranging in speed from 800 MHz to 1.2 GHz. All of them are dual-core, have a 4 MB cache, and are paired with the same integrated graphics chip, Intel’s HD Graphics 5300,” Fingas writes. “Apple has chosen to go with the two fastest speeds — 1.1 and 1.2 GHz — for its stock configurations. The company is also promising a 1.3 GHz upgrade option, though no such chip is (yet) listed on Intel’s website or even when browsing MacBooks at Apple’s online store.”
“Less power also means less heat, allowing Core M machines to run fanless as long as they have proper ventilation channels. This contributes to the tiny dimensions of the MacBook, and should effectively eliminate noise,” Fingas writes. “There is one major drawback to Core M, and that’s performance. Even the upcoming 1.3 GHz chip will still be clocked below the slowest current MacBook Air processor, which is a 1.6 GHz dual-core Core i5. ”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote recently:
This is why Apple offers a range of portable Macs. Everyone has different needs and priorities.
Before the MacBook Air, we were outfitted with 17-inch MacBook Pros. One Mac for everything. On the desktop, it wasn’t optimal – wired everywhere, powering monitors, external drives, speakers, etc. On the road, it was a nightmare of weight and size – it wouldn’t fit on tray tables – and it sucked power that we didn’t need it to have while mobile.
What we have today is much better for our needs: 27-inch iMacs alongside 27-inch external monitors on our desks and 11-inch MacBook Airs in our backpacks. Perfect. Until now. We never use any of our MacBook Airs ports except for recharging, so those can go. We long for Retina displays on the road. The new 12-inch MacBook is a third of a pound lighter than our 11-inch MacBook Air units. The MB offers a 2304×1440 pixel retina display vs. the MBA’s 1366×768 pixel display. The MB offers a Force Touch trackpad and a better keyboard, plus we can even get them in a range of colors.
Can you guess what our next mobile Macs are going to be? It’s like Apple made the new MacBook specifically for us!
Obviously, for anyone doing the “one Mac for everything” thing, their choices are going to be completely different.
Related article:
MacBook vs. MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro: Which is the best value? – March 18, 2015
