Huawei MateBook X Pro (2021) Review: A Sleek and Vibrant Notebook
by Dr. Ian Cutress on September 28, 2021 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Notebooks
- Intel
- Huawei
- Laptops
- Matebook X Pro
- Tiger Lake
System Performance: Web, Emulation, 3D Modeling
As we’ve covered a number of times in reviews of this level of laptop – the offering from Intel compared to AMD is quite different. At the same power level, AMD has up to 8 cores with 16 threads, while Intel only offers half that, in exchange for some go faster AVX512 instructions and built-in on-die Thunderbolt. Also, single thread performance is a key factor of Intel’s design, aiming for a super-fast immediate response for most tasks that are simple point and click on a work device. We saw on the previous page that this 15 W processor will offer up to 38 W instantaneously, and this is likely to be important on a number of our system performance tests.
That being said, we did have some issues running PCMark’s video compute workloads on our machine. PCMark10, no matter that the system was fully updated, would not correctly finish the video display and streaming encoding in its test suite. This is somewhat annoying, as that is the first test in PCMark’s run, and also part of the PCMark battery test. We were unable to find the root cause in our time with the device.
The mix of performance in the 1165G7 is interesting because it clearly lacks on some of the more demanding workloads, but ends up ahead on the lighter workloads like Optane and Dolphin. WinRAR is a mix of multi-thread and DRAM speed, so the Intel is in the ballpark there.
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gijames1225 - Tuesday, September 28, 2021 - link
According to Stack Overflow data, 44% of developers use Windows (or WSL), 30% Mac, and 25% use Linux (rounding and the BSD folks account for that missing 1%). Yeah, that's no horrible representation, but shows that LinkedIn recruiting photos of everything getting a MacBook aren't indicative of the industry (that said front-end developers do, in the States at least, use Macs by a slight majority, but then again, those guys write JavaScript so there's no telling what motivates them).Now, we'll have to see
gijames1225 - Tuesday, September 28, 2021 - link
In the US it is a bit more common to be a developer and use a Mac, but it's still the minority platform by far, and in Europe and elsewhere it's very, very uncommon. Also, the couple of developers I work with who do use Macs don't use MacBook Airs, they use MacBook Pros. I've never encountered anyone in comp-sci besides budget constricted students who use MBAs.I'd also agree with TheinsanegamerN that now that Windows has WSL in good shape I'd be surprised if Macs don't eventually become solely Swift compilers over the next decade. Apple's whole attitude is around how to lock-in, control, and monetize developers rather than empower them, and that's just so night and day different than any other tech company / platform I've had to work with besides Oracle (at least since Microsoft came to Jesus under Nadella is open-sourcing and cross-platforming everything they get their hands on).
vladx - Wednesday, September 29, 2021 - link
" you appear to be forgetting about programmers."I'm a programmer and would never buy a MacOS device, there's a world outside US you know.
jospoortvliet - Tuesday, September 28, 2021 - link
Hum. Odd. Every designer including our video guy use a MacBook air m1 in our company as do several developers. Some have a m1 pro but it offers little extra. Most of the rest use Linux. But then, we don't have an ignorant it department telling ppl what to use, they can pick what they want.dontlistentome - Wednesday, September 29, 2021 - link
How do they manage with just 16GB and a single external screen?SaolDan - Wednesday, September 29, 2021 - link
Where i work the owner is a hard core apple guy so all cad, office ppl use apple. Field Programmers, technicians and installers use windows. All the software we use is for windows. There's one manufacturer that states "if you have MacOS good luck". I convinced the owner to buy surface pros 6 for the field guys and they all love it. Look ad drawings, make notes, runs all the lighting controls software all in a very light and decent size. I like having 1 device that will do everything i need. Yes apples devices hardware is pretty sweet but the world runs on windows.drvivek - Tuesday, September 28, 2021 - link
The Mac ecosystem is also an extremely common choice amongst the academic community, am specifically talking about medicos here and its popularity increases are one becomes more senior. In my institute, inwould put its usage as 30% amongst faculty. So yes, while popular, its would still not be majority. Quite a few of us have both the organization supplied windows desktops as well as self procured Macs. Macs are procured nkt because they get the job any better than windows laptops but because they are a statement. And yes, the build quality and the smooth user experience of macs in their base models is something that only recently is being matched by windows laptopsSaolDan - Wednesday, September 29, 2021 - link
This comment is pretty sad. Its all about making statements now. All about how others see us.Kuhar - Thursday, September 30, 2021 - link
I agree that having an Apple device USED TO make a statement. But if you walk the streets of NYC (or anywhere on east coast) any (sorry to say it) low life has an Iphone 12/Ipad/Imac. It is not a statement anymore. Same goes about comparing build quality. The newest MBA is very very fragile while HP/Dell/Lenovo are way sturdier. And my last point would be: never compare a 1,5k $ mac with a 400 $ wincomp. Even kids know that for more bucks you get more bangs.TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, September 28, 2021 - link
LOL nobody cares about apples. Those who are in the mac cult will buy macs, the rest of the world will continue to ignore them.