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New Retina MacBook fails to beat 2011 MacBook Air in benchmark tests

Apple’s new Retina MacBook is just one week away, but an early benchmark of the device has given us some clues as to its performance.

The 1.1GHz entry-level Retina MacBook turned upon on Geekbench twice, as first spotted by MacRumors.

The Intel Core M-5Y31 processor inside managed to clock single-core scores of 1924 and 2044, while multi-core tests resulted in scores of 4038 and 4475.

The entry-level 2015 MacBook Air seems to trump the new MacBook however, with a single-core score of 2881 and a multi-core score of 5757. That’s with a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor.

Interestingly, the new MacBook’s Geekbench scores seem to fall in the range of the high-end 2011 MacBook Air, which uses an Intel Core i7 processor clocked at 1.8GHz.

Related: New MacBook is a laptop for the iPad generation

Benchmark tests like these should always be taken with a pinch of salt, as they do come with a margin of error.

Raw processing heft doesn’t automatically translate to improved user experience, and many factors play into how well a device works.

For instance, it’s worth noting that Geekbench doesn’t measure graphical performance. The new MacBook should theoretically prove better at handling graphics than its 2011 predecessor.

That’s thanks to the new Intel HD 5300 integrated graphics, and the faster flash memory on board Apple’s new device.

It’s also important to mention that the new MacBook comes with higher processor clock-rate options, namely 1.2GHz and 1.3GHz, both of which would achieve higher Geekbench scores.

The new MacBook is due to land in stores on April 10.

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