Measuring performance

In this second and final installment of our review of the MacBook Pro, we take a look at the machine's performance. We focus mainly on graphics and gaming performance, because the new models feature two GPUs from NVIDIA: one integrated graphics processor and one discrete mobile graphics processor. Read on to see what kind of boost the units give to Apple's flagship mobile line. (Just in case you missed it, here's Part I of the review.)

The CPU of the new MacBooks have not changed considerably from the previous generation. The only significant change is the option to upgrade your processor to a maximum of a 2.8GHz part. The previous high-end was a 2.6GHz built-to-order option. The real strides in performance on the new MacBooks come in the form of a new graphics chipset supporting two different video cards, the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256MB of shared memory and the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT with 512MB of discrete DDR3 memory.

We ran this laptop through a number of benchmarks and will be comparing it against our previous review units to give all of our Mac-using readers a general idea of how much more power this machine has versus whatever they may be running.

The test machines we ran our benchmarks on are:

MBP (Late 2008) MBP (Late 2008) MBP (mid 2007) MB (orig.) MB Air (orig.) CPU 2.53GHz "Penryn" 2.53GHz "Penryn" 2.4GHz "Merom" 2.0GHz "Yonah" 1.6GHz "Merom" L2 Cache 6MB 6MB 4MB 2MB 4MB System Bus 1066MHz 1066MHz 800MHz 667MHz 800MHz Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT Intel GMA950 Intel GMA X3100 Video Memory 512MB GDDR3 256MB DDR3 (shared) 256MB GDDR3 64MB DDR2 (shared) 144MB DDR2 (shared) System Memory 4GB DDR3 PC2-8500 4GB DDR3 PC2-8500 2GB DDR2 PC2-5300 512MB DDR2 PC2-5300 2GB DDR2 PC-5300

But before we start the benches, at the request of our readers, we did a demonstration of how the new MacBook Pro handles Exposé:

GeekBench



GeekBench is a cross-platform benchmarking tool that tests four areas of system performance by running a number of specialized algorithms, CPU (integer and floating point), memory, and stream performance. Check out PrimateLab's website for a more detailed explanation of what and how GeekBench tests a system.

We ran this battery of tests three times on each system and averaged the results. We did not run GeekBench under both video card options as this tool does not test graphics performance.

It's evident that this MacBook Pro is not that much faster than its predecessor as far as the CPU goes. In our testing using GeekBench, the 2.53GHz, late 2008 model was only about 2.5% faster than the previous model. For any real performance gain in this category, the new 2.8GHz model will be your best bet. For that segment of readers who are currently not using a last generation MacBook Pro, however, there may be significant gains to be had in purchasing this edition. Those coming from any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro released before the beginning of 2008 will experience noticeable performance gains. MacBook Air owners will see improvements for a number of factors and those of you still holding on to your last generation PowerBooks (we know you're out there!) will have to go buy new socks.