What are these x86 laptops that are the same size and price range of an Air or MBP that outperform the M2s in processing power that doesn't involve GPU?
Almost all the benchmarks out there of similarly sized laptops have the M2s (and previously had the M1s) topping the charts in single and multi threaded workloads.
It isn’t, I work as a developer and most developers have no use for a GPU unless you’re doing machine learning or gaming. For this case Macs are really hard to beat, especially given the UNIX like environment.
> It isn’t, I work as a developer and most developers have no use for a GPU unless you’re doing machine learning or gaming.
Okay, well
1. Not every Macbook user is a developer
2. Not every developer has no use for a GPU
If we're going to make comparisons about performance requirements for a specific subset of a specific subset of users, then let's be explicit about that. Otherwise, arbitrarily ignoring a rather substantial contributor to overall performance is indeed arbitrary.
It looks like the Razer Blade 16, with a i9-13950HX can beat the fastest MacBook Pro and is cheaper than that model.
I didn't mention size and don't know how they compare. Size comparisons are largely related to processing per Watt because others need bigger heat pipes and fans than the Macs.
I'm basically an Apple guy and don't pay tons of attention to all the alternatives, I just recognize the Apple products are not the right choice for everyone.
That article's Geekbench single core score for the Mac is substantially worse than what's on the chart while their multi-core score is somewhat better [0]. I don't know what the averages are for the Razer Blade 16, some scores are higher than the M2 Max (especially multi-core), some are lower [1].
That article also compares models with more expensive add-ons, a lot of that higher Razer price is probably from the 4090. The Blade 16 price starts at $2,699 (i9-13950HX, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, GeForce RTX 4060, 16" 240Hz QHD+). For an MBP with an M2 Max, the 14-inch starts at $3,099 and the 16-inch at $3,499. Those Macs have 32GB RAM and Razer charges +$600 for that much but the Blade has RAM slots, you can buy another 16GB for ~$50. Razer also charges a lot for an upgraded SSD (and absurd +$1,600 for 2TB instead of 1TB) but that is also replaceable at a much more affordable price. There's also a second M2 slot available so you can add storage without replacing the original drive.
Edit: the SSD upgrade cost is so high because they make you get other upgrades with it (a 4090 and 32GB RAM).
Almost all the benchmarks out there of similarly sized laptops have the M2s (and previously had the M1s) topping the charts in single and multi threaded workloads.