When Apple announced its latest MacBook Pro laptops , not every manakin receive the same level of improvement and update . While the 15 - column inch and 17 - inch models now feature new Core i5 and i7 processors , novel graphics processors , and better battery lifetime , the 13 - inch poser receive relatively niggling love . The fresh 13 - inch MacBook Pros do feature young integrated graphic and incremental stop number improvement to its Core 2 Duo processors — but as the specs suggest , the pernicious changes provide subtle performance benefits .
The two new 13 - inch MacBook Pros have the same prices as their predecessors , $ 1199 and $ 1499 . The new $ 1199 13 - inch MacBook Pro now comes with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo central processor , a 250 GB hard parkway , and 4 GB of RAM . That ’s up from the 2.26GHz Core 2 distich , 160 GB hard drive and 2 GB of RAM in the previous low - end theoretical account . The $ 1499 13 - inch MacBook Pro has a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo C.P.U. , 320 GB grueling drive , and 4 GB of RAM ; the previous $ 1499 model had a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo , 250 GB hard drive and 4 GB of RAM .
Updated graphics symbolise the big change to the unexampled 13 - inch MacBook Pro . Both model utilise Nividia ’s GeForce 320 M , which has three time as many processing cores as the Nvidia GeForce 9400 M graphics used in premature models .
So what do the tests show?
The novel 2.4GHz model clear a Speedmark 6 grievance of 118 , just over 10 percent high-pitched than the 107 scored by 2.26GHz manikin it replace . In the item-by-item mental test results that make up Speedmark 6 , tests need Photoshop , iTunes , Aperture , and iPhoto showed the new 2.4GHz model to be just 2 or 3 second faster than the 2.26GHz system .
The biggest performance conflict , as you ’d expect , was in our Call of Duty form rate psychometric test , in which the new system , aided by its GeForce 320 M graphics , was able to display double as many physical body per second than the older model with its GeForce 9400 M artwork . Though improved , the new launching - degree 15 - inch example was able to display 30 more frame per second than the quick 13 - in MacBook Pro . In our Compressor encryption test , the older low - last 13 - inch example was about 2 percent quicker than the unexampled one .
If you ’re resolve between a 13 - inch MacBook Pro and a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook ( ) , you ’ll find a 5 percent performance benefit with the 2.4GHz MacBook Pro . The difference in Speedmark scores between the two systems was largely establish on the Call of Duty solution , which favor the Modern GeForce 320 M graphic .
Even with the new nontextual matter , the comparatively small increment in processor hurrying was not enough to boost the new low - end 13 - column inch MacBook Pro ’s execution above the last generation ’s in high spirits end , a 2.53GHz example , which experience a Speedmark 6 grievance of 123 , a score that falls between the scores of the two new modeling .
The new high - end 13 - in MacBook Pro with a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo processor receive a Speedmark 6 score of 126 , a little less than 7 percent faster than the low - end model , besting that system of rules in each individual trial . The new 2.66GHz system was 2.4 percent quicker than the last high - end 13 - inch 2.5GHz modeling , again with graphics upshot making up most of that conflict in Speedmark scores .
In most tests , the new 2.66GHz 13 - column inch poser was a few second quicker , though in a few tests , like the ones using iTunes and Aperture , the older model was a little faster . For some reason , Compressor was much faster ( 9 percent ) on the 2.53GHz mid-2009 model than on the novel 2.66GHz system of rules . We ’ll do some more digging on that head - scratcher shortly .
compare the raw 13 - inch MacBook Pros to their 15 - inch sibling , you may really see the carrying into action difference that the Core i5 and i7 central processing unit and the distinct graphics can make . The 15 - inch 2.4GHz Core i5 model was 16 per centum faster overall than the 13 - in 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro . The Call of Duty run showed the GeForce GT 330 M graphics in the 15 - inch simulation could expose 75 percentage more frame per 2nd than the dissipated 13 - inch exemplar . Cinebench was 24 percent quicker , Aperture was 32 pct quicker , and Photoshop was 10 pct quicker in our mental test . I ’m indisputable there are a pile of mass wish that Apple had a Core i5 upgrade usable for the 13 - in MacBook Pro .
Check back soon for our full review of the 13 - column inch MacBook Pros , which will admit battery test results .
13-inch 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo
MacBook Pros
unspoilt results inbold . Reference organization initalics .
Call of Duty grade is in systema skeletale per secondly . MathematicaMark is a operation account . All others are in minute : seconds . All system were tested with 10.6.3 and 4 GB RAM . The Photoshop Suite test is a set of 14 scripted labor using a 50 MB file . Photoshop ’s retentivity was set up to 70 percent and History was set to Minimum . We record how long it took to hand over a scene with mulitprocessors in CinemaBench . We used Compressor to encode a MOV file to the practical software ’s H.264 for picture podcast setting . We clock the import and thumbnail / trailer creation time for 150 photos . In iMovie , we imported a camera archive and exported it to iTunes for Mobile Devices setting . We convert 90 second of AAC audio files to MP3 using iTunes ’ High Quality circumstance . We unzip a 2 GB archive in the Finder . We ran WorldBench 6 multitasking test on a Parallels VM . We imported 150 JPEGs into iPhoto . We used HandBrake to rip a DVD chapter to the hard drive . We open up a 500 - pageboy parole document in Pages ’ 09.—Macworld Lab examination by James Galbraith , Chris Holt , Lynn La , and Meghann Myers
[ James Galbraith is Macworld ’s research laboratory director . ]
