MacBook Air M4: Really 23 times faster than the Intel version?
Apple is making some bold promises with its new entry-level MacBook. But it's the small print that counts.
MacBook Air M4 advertising promise: mouth full?
(Image: Screenshot Apple.com)
If you take a look at Apple's information website for the MacBook Air M4, which will be released this week, you will find some eye-catching advertising promises. In addition to the fact that Apple Intelligence and the neural engine for AI features that has long been built into Apple Silicon chips are being advertised, Apple makes two benchmark claims. One: The new engine has "up to 23x faster performance". The other: Battery life is now six hours longer, it says. The problem: Apple measures the first value on an outdated Intel machine and the second on an M1 model – and also relies on a very specific reading.
The number 23
The 23-fold performance only relates to a single function: the so-called Super Resolution feature in Pixelmator Pro in version 3.6.14, which now belongs to Apple. A 4.4 MB image was used here. Super Resolution uses AI to increase the resolution of an image – is a useful function, but also one from which little can be concluded. Especially as the Intel machine that Apple used as a comparison model lacks AI acceleration using the Neural Engine. After all, Apple compared a comparatively fast Intel model with a MacBook Air M4 with 10 CPU cores and 32 GB of RAM: an Intel Core i7 with 1.2 GHz from 2020. However, this only had 16 GB.
Videos by heise
Other benchmarks cited by Apple are more realistic: A spreadsheet calculation in Excel was 4.7x faster compared to the fast Intel variant, video editing in iMovie up to 8x and a Photoshop benchmark up to 3.6x. Apple saw a browser test completed up to 60 percent faster. The comparative values to a MacBook Air with M1 were between 1.6x and 2x faster, depending on the benchmark. According to Apple, prototype devices of the MacBook Air M4 were used in each case.
Battery performance test
For battery life, Apple compared a weaker Intel model (dual-core Core i3 with 1.1 GHz) with a MacBook Air M4. The total runtime was measured when playing movies in iTunes at 1080p.
"All devices had equivalent display brightness settings. Battery life varies depending on usage and configuration," writes Apple. The Mac & i test will show what the machines really achieve.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
