Smartphone: 1 Laptop: 0

The dream of having a phone as your only digital device is about to come true. A modern-day smartphone has substituted a lot of old school electronics in the past, like a recorder, radio, and camera. According to the latest benchmarks, the next victim is your laptop.

When we compare the Geekbench Multi-Core Scores of Galaxy S7 and the Macbook (2016), the Galaxy S7 with Exynos 8890 actually comes out on top at 6356, while Macbook with 6th Gen Intel Core M gets 5842. The Galaxy S7 made a great leap in benchmark score from its predecessor S6, which only scored 4691. (In the recent history of smartphones, Geekbench scores have risen 1000-1500 each year for the best mobile chip in town.)

Samsung Galaxy S7 (2016) from XEETECHCARE (YouTube) Apple Macbook (2016) from The Verge

How can this be? Some argue that the cross-platform benchmark tool Geekbench is inaccurate when comparing ARM and Intel architecture chipsets. Most smart portable devices nowadays adopt ARM architecture in brands of Snapdragon and Exynos, while traditional computational devices uses Intel such as Atom and Core series for complex calculations. Generally ARM architecture chips favour simplicity, power-efficiency versus those of Intel that favour high processing power and great power draw. Of course the benchmarks above cannot fully represent the experience you get from each device; There are too many factors to count such as OSes, optimisations, and cores’ normal behaviours.

The results we see today make us rethink the capabilities of our handy companion. To be fair, the new 2016 Macbook isn’t a powerhouse, it is an ultra-thin device for office-class productivity. The Macbook Air and Pro which are considered “proper” laptops scored respectably in benchmarks. So don’t toss out your laptop yet.

Are you surprised? Share this with your friends!

Image credit: Samsung