Testing a 12-inch MacBook's Gaming Capability
Using low-powered Core M processors and fanless architecture, the 12-inch MacBook may not be the best choice for gaming enthusiasts. As such, this review aims to provide insight into the machine's capabilities when running popular games.
The Specs of the Machine
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This particular model is an early 2015 top-tier version with an upgraded processor. The Core M 5Y10 processor runs at one point three gigahertz, while eight gigabytes of RAM are available at 1600 megahertz LP DDR3 memory. For graphics, Intel HD Graphics 5300 with 1536 megabytes of shared graphic memory is used. This means that the integrated graphics share about a gigabyte and a half with the RAM that the system uses.
Gaming Test
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To test the machine's gaming capabilities, Steam was launched as the first game to run. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a somewhat basic yet popular game, was chosen for its relatively low hardware requirements. Offline gameplay with bots was used to gauge the machine's performance under load.
By setting the resolution down and adjusting other settings to their lowest levels, it was possible to get the game running on this MacBook. The result is around 25-30 frames per second (FPS) at a reduced resolution of 1280x800. However, as seen in the gameplay footage, the machine's performance can be quite inconsistent.
Portal 2 Test
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The next test subject was Portal 2, a more demanding game compared to Counter-Strike. To achieve better frame rates, video settings were adjusted to compensate for the lower graphics capabilities of the machine.
Setting the resolution to 800x600 resulted in a noticeable decrease in performance, with frame rates hovering around the teens and low twenties during gameplay. This makes Portal 2 less playable on this MacBook compared to Counter-Strike.
Fortnite Test
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Finally, Fortnite was tested using automatically applied best settings for the system. Unfortunately, these high-level settings are not suitable for the machine's capabilities, resulting in unplayable frame rates of around 15-20 FPS.
Conclusion
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In conclusion, playing games on a MacBook is definitely possible but it may require compromises to achieve playable performance. In this review, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was able to run smoothly at reduced settings, while Portal 2 and Fortnite proved more challenging due to their higher system requirements.
Fortnite was the final test subject in this review, where the machine's capabilities were severely tested. Playing Fortnite on this MacBook resulted in unplayable frame rates, making it clear that serious gaming is not suitable for this machine.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enin today's video we're gonna find out can you game on a 12 inch retina MacBook so this is going to be interesting because the 12 inch macbook uses low powered Core M processors and they use a fanless architecture which means the processor is passively cooled now all of this is not boding well for gaming and I should put the disclaimer that you should not buy a macbook if you are going to be doing gaming on a regular basis it's not really meant for gaming and this is more just for fun to see how well it does so the specs of this machine well this is the top tier early 2015 model with the upgraded processor so we're running a core m 5y10 at one point three gigahertz for ram we have eight gigabytes of 1600 megahertz LP ddr3 memory and for our graphics we are running Intel HD graphics 5300 with 1536 megabytes of shared graphic memory this basically means that the integrated graphics built onto this processor share about a gigabyte and a half with the RAM that the system uses so without further ado let's hop into some games alright so here we are in steam and the first game that we're gonna try to run is Counter Strike global Offensive so this is a pretty basic slightly older game that doesn't really use that much in terms of powerful hardware so we might just be able to get something to run on here alright so we're gonna try and do some offline with bots just so that we can get a sense of what this is capable of so I've set this to run with the lowest settings I've turned the resolution down a little bit but everything is on low and hopefully we'll be able to get some playable frame rates alright and we are in and let's see that's actually not too bad it looks like we're getting around 25 to 30 FPS actually it looks like it's more like 35 fps that's actually better than I thought it was going to be let's see if we can get a kill honestly I'm I'm kind of surprised this is running I mean granted we are on the lowest settings at 1280 by 800 yeah there we go alrighty look at that come back here come back here you there we go got him there we go look at that let's get an ace obviously this is not the most professional setting but I'm legitimately surprised that this is running at all to be honest but that it's running at about 30 FPS like I'd say this is it's kind of touching 40 certainly certainly a playable experience I'm very surprised so you could you can play csgo on this MacBook and the next game that we're gonna launch here is portal 2 so let's take a look at our video options so it's running an 800 by 600 that's a bit low for me feeling the top above the keyboard it is getting warm we've only been playing a couple minutes but it is getting a little warm so it looks like my trackpad is disabled but moving around we're not doing so well frame frame wise I would hazard a guess that portal 1 would be a little easier to run okay so we're gonna turn I've got my settings way too high for this hopefully we'll get some better frame rates ah not really looks like we're in the teens 20s for this so it looks like we're hitting some blips where it's getting up into the 20s and 30s but this isn't really very playable you might be able to get away with playing portal 1 on this though and finally I would be remiss if I didn't run fortnight because this game is just so popular these days that we we just have to see how it runs all right so here we have automatically applying the best settings for your system let's see what those happen to be all right so let's go ahead and take a look at okay well why okay it shows high settings that's absurd there's no way we're gonna be running high settings and we should get something playable oh my goodness it's this is the most pixelated character I've ever seen okay so looks like I don't know we're hitting about 15 20 fps and it's some of the most pixelated stuff I've ever seen oh my goodness look at the lag when we're jumping out there yeah oh my god as you might be able to tell you're not gonna be doing some fortnight's streaming on this laptop but you know we tried and it did not like it honestly I wouldn't even know if I were dead already at this point this is so bad so thank you guys so much for watching this video I hope you enjoyed I know I certainly did and now that we've landed it looks like my frame rates are kind of no no and with that I will I will see you guys in the next video oh no I'm dying I'm dying whoo shoot me stop itin today's video we're gonna find out can you game on a 12 inch retina MacBook so this is going to be interesting because the 12 inch macbook uses low powered Core M processors and they use a fanless architecture which means the processor is passively cooled now all of this is not boding well for gaming and I should put the disclaimer that you should not buy a macbook if you are going to be doing gaming on a regular basis it's not really meant for gaming and this is more just for fun to see how well it does so the specs of this machine well this is the top tier early 2015 model with the upgraded processor so we're running a core m 5y10 at one point three gigahertz for ram we have eight gigabytes of 1600 megahertz LP ddr3 memory and for our graphics we are running Intel HD graphics 5300 with 1536 megabytes of shared graphic memory this basically means that the integrated graphics built onto this processor share about a gigabyte and a half with the RAM that the system uses so without further ado let's hop into some games alright so here we are in steam and the first game that we're gonna try to run is Counter Strike global Offensive so this is a pretty basic slightly older game that doesn't really use that much in terms of powerful hardware so we might just be able to get something to run on here alright so we're gonna try and do some offline with bots just so that we can get a sense of what this is capable of so I've set this to run with the lowest settings I've turned the resolution down a little bit but everything is on low and hopefully we'll be able to get some playable frame rates alright and we are in and let's see that's actually not too bad it looks like we're getting around 25 to 30 FPS actually it looks like it's more like 35 fps that's actually better than I thought it was going to be let's see if we can get a kill honestly I'm I'm kind of surprised this is running I mean granted we are on the lowest settings at 1280 by 800 yeah there we go alrighty look at that come back here come back here you there we go got him there we go look at that let's get an ace obviously this is not the most professional setting but I'm legitimately surprised that this is running at all to be honest but that it's running at about 30 FPS like I'd say this is it's kind of touching 40 certainly certainly a playable experience I'm very surprised so you could you can play csgo on this MacBook and the next game that we're gonna launch here is portal 2 so let's take a look at our video options so it's running an 800 by 600 that's a bit low for me feeling the top above the keyboard it is getting warm we've only been playing a couple minutes but it is getting a little warm so it looks like my trackpad is disabled but moving around we're not doing so well frame frame wise I would hazard a guess that portal 1 would be a little easier to run okay so we're gonna turn I've got my settings way too high for this hopefully we'll get some better frame rates ah not really looks like we're in the teens 20s for this so it looks like we're hitting some blips where it's getting up into the 20s and 30s but this isn't really very playable you might be able to get away with playing portal 1 on this though and finally I would be remiss if I didn't run fortnight because this game is just so popular these days that we we just have to see how it runs all right so here we have automatically applying the best settings for your system let's see what those happen to be all right so let's go ahead and take a look at okay well why okay it shows high settings that's absurd there's no way we're gonna be running high settings and we should get something playable oh my goodness it's this is the most pixelated character I've ever seen okay so looks like I don't know we're hitting about 15 20 fps and it's some of the most pixelated stuff I've ever seen oh my goodness look at the lag when we're jumping out there yeah oh my god as you might be able to tell you're not gonna be doing some fortnight's streaming on this laptop but you know we tried and it did not like it honestly I wouldn't even know if I were dead already at this point this is so bad so thank you guys so much for watching this video I hope you enjoyed I know I certainly did and now that we've landed it looks like my frame rates are kind of no no and with that I will I will see you guys in the next video oh no I'm dying I'm dying whoo shoot me stop it\n"
