quote:
To say there’s a great deal riding on the launch of Intel’s Core M is something of an understatement. The chip — and Intel’s 14nm hardware — is nearly a year late. The delays have raised investor questions about Intel’s ability to maintain or leverage a technological advantage over its rivals, and while Intel’s own demos have looked amazing, these always take place on very friendly turf under controlled conditions. There’s no substitute for shipping hardware, and that’s why a great many eyes have turned to Lenovo’s Yoga 3 Pro — the first shipping device with Broadwell inside. Somewhat unfortunately, this critical first system doesn’t seem to live up to Intel’s hype.

While many reviewers praise its diminutive size, low weight, and display quality, complaints about battery life, heavy throttling, and poor performance are common. Curiously, reviewers are completely split on whether or not the system even has a fan. Some reputable outlets make specific note that the computer lacks one, while others complain about the sound level. What everyone agrees on is that the system throttles constantly, possibly in part because Lenovo chose to set a 3.5W target for the chip rather than the 4.5W TDP that Intel specifies (the Yoga 3 Pro allows for bursts of up to 12W total system consumption, however).

LINK

Doesn't Apple's new 12" MacBook have the same processor? You think Apple has worked out some of the issues stated in the article? Since the MacBook doesn't have a fan, what happens to it when the processor gets overloaded with heavy tasks? Does it just slow down from the thermal throttling? Will it start to skip frames?

This post was edited on 3/10/15 at 9:34 am

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Posted by kclsufan

Show Me

Member since Jun 2008

12092 posts

Posted on 3/10/15 at 10:00 am to stendulkar

quote:
More laptop launches and reviews will establish which of these is actually the problem, but if I had to bet, I’d bet that the issues are mostly on Lenovo’s side.

Somewhat of a misleading title by the author I'd say.

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Posted by colorchangintiger

Dan Carlin

Member since Nov 2005

30979 posts

Posted on 3/10/15 at 10:08 am to stendulkar

quote:
Doesn't Apple's new 12" MacBook have the same processor?

It has a Core M, yes.

quote:
You think Apple has worked out some of the issues stated in the article?

If it's truly a Core M problem, no.

quote:
Since the MacBook doesn't have a fan, what happens to it when the processor gets overloaded with heavy tasks? Does it just slow down from the thermal throttling?

Probably.

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Posted by ILikeLSUToo

Central, LA

Member since Jan 2008

18018 posts

Posted on 3/10/15 at 12:51 pm to stendulkar

quote:
Some reputable outlets make specific note that the computer lacks one, while others complain about the sound level.

Reviewers need to get their shite together.

From the article:

quote:
The fact that Chrome runs poorly — markedly worse than Internet Explorer — could be indicative of GPU driver issues, while the 3.5W TDP target Lenovo apparently locked in would explain the throttling behavior. The Core M-5Y70 chip inside the Yoga 3 Pro already clocks its GPU down to 100MHz, as opposed to the 200MHz target of other ultrabooks — and if the chip is getting stuck at 100MHz on the graphics core while simultaneously driving a 3800×1800 screen, that would explain a great deal of sluggish behavior.

I'm betting a lot of this really is Lenovo's fault, or whoever's programming their bios chips these days. This sounds like a case of "sell first, fix later." Everyone's been expecting a retina Macbook Air with broadwell for a long time, so Lenovo rushed to get their ultra-book out the door back in October to beat them in price, specs, and timeliness. I'm sure the performance will get better (battery life won't), but it's never fun paying for an unfinished product.

It would surprise me if the Macbook Air, and subsequent Windows-based ultrabooks with Broadwell, suffered from the same issues.

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