3 ms·

Sorry, but the new MacBook Air is not faster than 98% of PC laptops

33 points by neya 6y ago

mthoms 6y ago
If you read carefully, Apple's claim is about the M1 chip, and the supporting "tests" were conducted using the Pro. Then, they separately state that the Air contains the same M1 chip, implying (but not stating) that the Air is faster than 98% of laptops sold. As we know, the Pro should be faster because of the thermal management (fans) so Apple is using a little sleight of hand here. But, I'm surprised the PcWorld writer didn't catch this. Apple is also claiming the M1 is faster than the chip contained in 98% of PC's sold. Not 98% of all PC models sold. But I agree with the author, it's a strange claim because that number would certainly include low and mid end laptops like Chromebooks. Note: I'm going off of the text shown, I'm not aware of what the video (as shown in the screenshot) is specifically claiming and whether that differs from the above.
Spivak 6y ago
Did this author really try to debunk the claim "faster than 98% of laptops" and then name three laptops as a counterexamples. Yes of course this is entirely marketing fluff but I don't necessarily doubt the numbers just because of the sheer volume of cheap low-end laptops. You could probably make the same claim talking about any high-end machine. It's something that sounds fantastical but really isn't -- perfect marketing material!
- zepto 6y ago
  The article is bullshit. Apple is making the claim about laptops sold. Not about particular models. They are clear about that. You could definitely make the same about any high end machine. You could of course find a machine where the figure would be 99% or even 99.99%. But Apple is making this claim for their entry level machine.. And that machine does this with nearly double the battery life of the competitors. That is what makes it impressive.
supermatt 6y ago
This article hasn't aged well :) All the machines he mentions have been outperformed in CPU benchmarks by these entry-level MacBooks.
JohnCurran 6y ago
I really wish the author had gone ahead and done some benchmarking of their own. As it stands, they are mad about Apple making claims about their laptop’s performance which are answered with (paraphrasing) “I bet a Ryzen could run Fortnite better than a MacBook Air.” No hard data anywhere to be seen.
- merb 6y ago
  what benchmark, that only tests cpu and maybe memory could he do? except compiling. I guess only a few people buy these for comiling software. I do not think the apple claims are that valid. I mean the macbook pro 2019 16" is complete garbadge, if they compared it against that and tought that it's the best machine on the market than their claims are simply stupid.
rurban 6y ago
Just compare the benchmarks. https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/singlecore https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/singlecore All the top laptops are AMD Ryzens, such as mine. The new M1 is not on the first page with 16xx but still pretty good. Esp. it's battery life is impressive, and much better than mine.

33 points by neya 6y ago

If you read carefully, Apple's claim is about the M1 chip, and the supporting "tests" were conducted using the Pro. Then, they separately state that the Air contains the same M1 chip, implying (but not stating) that the Air is faster than 98% of laptops sold. As we know, the Pro should be faster because of the thermal management (fans) so Apple is using a little sleight of hand here. But, I'm surprised the PcWorld writer didn't catch this. Apple is also claiming the M1 is faster than the chip contained in 98% of PC's sold. Not 98% of all PC models sold. But I agree with the author, it's a strange claim because that number would certainly include low and mid end laptops like Chromebooks. Note: I'm going off of the text shown, I'm not aware of what the video (as shown in the screenshot) is specifically claiming and whether that differs from the above.

Spivak 6y ago

Did this author really try to debunk the claim "faster than 98% of laptops" and then name three laptops as a counterexamples. Yes of course this is entirely marketing fluff but I don't necessarily doubt the numbers just because of the sheer volume of cheap low-end laptops. You could probably make the same claim talking about any high-end machine. It's something that sounds fantastical but really isn't -- perfect marketing material!

zepto 6y ago
The article is bullshit. Apple is making the claim about laptops sold. Not about particular models. They are clear about that. You could definitely make the same about any high end machine. You could of course find a machine where the figure would be 99% or even 99.99%. But Apple is making this claim for their entry level machine.. And that machine does this with nearly double the battery life of the competitors. That is what makes it impressive.

supermatt 6y ago

This article hasn't aged well :) All the machines he mentions have been outperformed in CPU benchmarks by these entry-level MacBooks.

JohnCurran 6y ago

I really wish the author had gone ahead and done some benchmarking of their own. As it stands, they are mad about Apple making claims about their laptop’s performance which are answered with (paraphrasing) “I bet a Ryzen could run Fortnite better than a MacBook Air.” No hard data anywhere to be seen.

merb 6y ago
what benchmark, that only tests cpu and maybe memory could he do? except compiling. I guess only a few people buy these for comiling software. I do not think the apple claims are that valid. I mean the macbook pro 2019 16" is complete garbadge, if they compared it against that and tought that it's the best machine on the market than their claims are simply stupid.

rurban 6y ago

Just compare the benchmarks. https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/singlecore https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/singlecore All the top laptops are AMD Ryzens, such as mine. The new M1 is not on the first page with 16xx but still pretty good. Esp. it's battery life is impressive, and much better than mine.