Benchmark? Macbook Pro 13" Non-retina vs Macbook Air 2015

[Archer39]

I have upgraded my new Macbook Pro 13" (2012 model) to 8gb of RAM and an SSD and don't have the money for Geekbench. I'm wondering how it compares to the base Macbook Air 13" 2015 model.

I imagine it's slightly faster but not a lot.

 

[matt_on_a_mtn]

MBP: ~5700 (64bit Multicore)
MBA: ~5600 (64bit Multicore)

Source: http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

 

[duervo]

Doesn't matter as Geekbench is primarily a CPU benchmark. Upgrading RAM and SSD will have no noticeable effect on the benchmark results.

"Geekbench 3 is Primate Labs' cross-platform processor benchmark, with a new scoring system that separates single-core and multi-core performance, and new workloads that simulate real-world scenarios. "​

 

[Archer39]

oh. kinda wish there was a way to test all 3 of those things.

 

[RoboWarriorSr]

There are a variety of factors that determine how much faster but while the benchmarks of the CPU are similar the 2015 model should hold their turbo boost much longer than the 2012 due to the architecture change (Ivy Bridge vs Broadwell, even on the Haswell models, I heard people say the die shrink is enough of a difference from the fan slowly spinning while web browsing to silent operation doing the same task). Additionally due to Intel pushing graphics, the HD 6000 is a far amount faster than the HD 4000 (approximately 134% according to http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compar...vs-Intel-HD-4000-Mobile-125-GHz/m24946vsm7653). The difference between PCI-e 4x (1.5 GBps) vs SATA 3 (500 MBps) is another large difference that will show up in daily usage.

 

[duervo]

There is that BlackMagic disk test app that people use. If I remember right you can get it from Mac App Store.

That will test the SSD performance.

Not sure what you could use to test RAM in OS X. Best case is you might have to look at one of the live bootable Linux images for that. I'm not aware of native OS X tools to use for RAM benchmarking. Maybe somebody else knows.

 

[Archer39]

There is that BlackMagic disk test app that people use. If I remember right you can get it from Mac App Store.

That will test the SSD performance.

Not sure what you could use to test RAM in OS X. Best case is you might have to look at one of the live bootable Linux images for that. I'm not aware of native OS X tools to use for RAM benchmarking. Maybe somebody else knows.

I tried the demo of Geekbench and it actually does benchmark your RAM also, it's just in smaller text further down in the window.

 

[thunng8]

There are a variety of factors that determine how much faster but while the benchmarks of the CPU are similar the 2015 model should hold their turbo boost much longer than the 2012 due to the architecture change (Ivy Bridge vs Broadwell, even on the Haswell models,

Not true. the 2012 MBP non-retina uses 35W chips and have the associated cooling to hold their turbo speeds -- certainly more than any Macbook air.

 

[RoboWarriorSr]

Not true. the 2012 MBP non-retina uses 35W chips and have the associated cooling to hold their turbo speeds -- certainly more than any Macbook air.

I don't think you know what I'm even referring to... I mean that was the main benefit that Skylake has over Broadwell is the increased efficiency allowing the processor to run cooler at higher clock speeds (see every Core M benchmark and the surface pro).

 

[thunng8]

I don't think you know what I'm even referring to... I mean that was the main benefit that Skylake has over Broadwell is the increased efficiency allowing the processor to run cooler at higher clock speeds (see every Core M benchmark and the surface pro).

That is correct but irrevelant to the discussion. We are talking about the 2012 macbook Pro and 2015 macbook air. Neither has the Core M. 2012 MBP has a high powered 35W processor that can maintain high turbo speeds, higher than what a 2015 macbook air with a Low wattage (15W) processor.

 

[RoboWarriorSr]

That is correct but irrevelant to the discussion. We are talking about the 2012 macbook Pro and 2015 macbook air. Neither has the Core M. 2012 MBP has a high powered 35W processor that can maintain high turbo speeds, higher than what a 2015 macbook air with a Low wattage (15W) processor.

I'm pretty sure the 2015 MBA will throttle less than the 2012 MBP considering the fact they have nearly identical fan designs. Additionally GeekBench scores back this up since the 2012 hovers around ~6729 (i&) while the 2015 MBA is around ~6873 (i7), the 2015 will be faster [yes it is rather small, not accounting for GPU performance which a lot of programs now utilize], this isn't one year difference but a 3 years difference. They have different architectures so looking at the clock speed on turbo isn't going to compare.