How much faster is a new MacBook Pro vs. my early 2011?

[pete1]

I use a 15" MacBook Pro, early 2011 2.3GHz model for my motion graphics business; I am basically interested in improving After Effects performance. I have an SSD and 16GB RAM also. My question is, for what I do, how much faster would a top-of-the-line latest model 15" MacBook Pro be? Are we talking night and day here, or more of a modest increase in performance?

 

[stockscalper]

I have a late 2010 2.3 GHZ model and upgraded to a late 2016 i5 and the difference is night and day in speed. Others may weigh in with different opinions, but with the new system the difference is very noticeable.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I have a late 2010 2.3 GHZ model and upgraded to a late 2016 i5 and the difference is night and day in speed. Others may weigh in with different opinions, but with the new system the difference is very noticeable.

I don't see a late-2010 2.3GHz MBP. I think yours is the same as the OP's early-2011.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I use a 15" MacBook Pro, early 2011 2.3GHz model for my motion graphics business; I am basically interested in improving After Effects performance. I have an SSD and 16GB RAM also. My question is, for what I do, how much faster would a top-of-the-line latest model 15" MacBook Pro be? Are we talking night and day here, or more of a modest increase in performance?

For motion graphics the huge GPU improvements, especially with the 560 card, will make it night and day. You may want to try and hold on for 6 core and possible vega graphics this year if you can though.

 

[robvas]

I have a late 2010 2.3 GHZ model and upgraded to a late 2016 i5 and the difference is night and day in speed. Others may weigh in with different opinions, but with the new system the difference is very noticeable.

2010 to 2011 was probably the biggest jump in performance for Macs. Probably the last 'really noticeable' one.

Going from a 2011 with SSD + 16G to a new one will still be a noticeable improvement, but not a huge jump like 2010-2011 was.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

2010 to 2011 was probably the biggest jump in performance for Macs. Probably the last 'really noticeable' one.

Going from a 2011 with SSD + 16G to a new one will still be a noticeable improvement, but not a huge jump like 2010-2011 was.

For The OP's use with 3D motion the graphics boost is a huge deal, the graphics in those 2011 were pretty poor by todays standards, yes the CPU hasn't changed all that much but GPU compute is a completely different matter.

Take a look here for a comparison the top end from 2011 vs the 560 from the 2017, at least 100% increase in performance across all metrics some of them much faster.

Benchmarks Real world tests of Radeon Pro 560 vs HD 6770M
Bitcoin mining Data courtesy CompuBench

Radeon Pro 560
226.35 mHash/s

Radeon HD 6770M
33.43 mHash/s
Face detection Data courtesy CompuBench

Radeon Pro 560
41.39 mPixels/s

Radeon HD 6770M
4.82 mPixels/s
Ocean surface simulation Data courtesy CompuBench

Radeon Pro 560
614.58 frames/s

Radeon HD 6770M
234.76 frames/s
Particle simulation Data courtesy CompuBench

Radeon Pro 560
346.06 mInteraction/s

Radeon HD 6770M
77.16 mInteraction/s
T-Rex (Compubench 1.5) Data courtesy CompuBench

Radeon Pro 560
3.6 frames/s

Radeon HD 6770M
0.39 frames/s
Video composition Data courtesy CompuBench

Radeon Pro 560
31.52 frames/s

Radeon HD 6770M
15.44 frames/s


http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-Pro-560-vs-Radeon-HD-6770M

 

[pete1]

For The OP's use with 3D motion the graphics boost is a huge deal, the graphics in those 2011 were pretty poor by todays standards, yes the CPU hasn't changed all that much but GPU compute is a completely different matter.

To what extent does the latest version of After Effects take advantage of the graphics hardware? Bearing in mind that it's not a 3D package like Cinema 4D.