Lab Test: New MacBook Pro 42% Faster
Lab Tests February 25th, 2011

Benchmark test results by The Hypervisor indicate the new MacBook Pro, launched yesterday, is over 40% faster than the previous comparable model.

We tested the new entry-level MacBok Pro fitted with a 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor and compared the results with the previous entry-level MacBook Pro, which was fitted with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

Both laptops come with a 13inch screen and 4GB of RAM, but the older model has a 250GB hard disk while this year’s model has a 320GB hard disk.

We also ran the same tests on the new 13inch MacBook Pro fitted with a 2.7GHz Intel Core i7 processor.

We used a suite of JavaScript benchmarks to assess performance. Of course, many people say their current computer is fast enough. But tasks such as processing video frequently take several hours to complete, even on very modern computers, so for some people, performance is still an important factor when deciding whether to upgrade.

The JavaScript software we used for our tests does not handle video, but it runs a variety of CPU intensive tests, such as processor intensive crypto functions, and the suite runs on a very wide variety of computer, regardless of operating system or CPU architecture.

Time (ms) Relative difference
MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo 316 1.00
MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 222 1.42
MacBook Pro 2.7GHz Intel Core i7 189 1.67

Our test results show the new MacBook Pro outperforms its older counterpart by 42%. Our tests also show the new 2.7GHz model runs software 67% faster than the old 2.4GHz model.

It certainly interesting to consider the 25% performance boost of the 2.7GHz model comes at a modest 30% price difference.

Leave a Response

You must be logged in to post a response.