The new MacBook Pro’s have barely been out a few hours and Gizmodo has already benchmarked the top of the line 15″ model that features a Core i7 processor running at 2.66Ghz, check out the graph above for the gains against the previous top-end model, the Core 2 Duo at 2.8Ghz. Even ripping a DVD with Handbrake took almost 40% less time on the new Core i7 chip. Some of the performance gain is undoubtedly the result of Turbo Boost, a feature of the Core i5 and i7 processors which take the 2.6Ghz MacBook Pro to 3.3Ghz in times of intense CPU usage. So the new Core i5/i7 MacBook Pro’s are confirmed to be blazing fast, pardon me while I mop up my drool.

After seeing these huge increases in performance, I’m a little confused as to why Apple didn’t put a Core i5 into my personal favorite MacBook Pro, the 13″ model. TechCrunch speculates that Apple chose to forgo haw computing power in favor of the extended battery life, but that seems like an odd compromise for a Pro machine. Apparently I’m not the only one who wonders about the use of an older CPU in the 13″ model, according to MacRumors, someone emailed Steve Jobs asking about it and received this response:

“We chose killer graphics plus 10 hour battery life over a very small CPU speed increase. Users will see far more performance boost from the speedy graphics.”

If the above benchmarks are any indicator of general speed increases when moving from a Core 2 Duo to the new Intel Core i5/i7 chips, I’m not so sure I agree with that statement, but I imagine some real world benchmarks on the 13″ will soon appear and we’ll have an answer. So while the 13″ models minor update has raised a few curious eyebrows, the specs of the new MacBook Pro 15″ and 17″ model are undoubtedly very powerful and quite enticing.

Anyone have an extra $2300 laying around? That MacBook Pro 15″ with a Core i7 chip and high-res screen is looking like a Mac lovers dream.