Guys, I think it is time for me to replace my 2012 13" MacBook Pro. It is getting way too slow for some modern applications. But when I check out the current Apple offerings, I'm not sure I would get that much of a boost. My current MacBook is running a 2.5GHz dual-core i5 processor with 16GB of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM, while the best current Intel 13" MacBook uses a 2.3GHz quad-core i7 with 3733MHz DDR4. How much of a performance improvement can I really expect? I can see the advantage of faster memory, but the fact that the CPU speed is just about the same, does the i7 really run that much faster with the same clock speed? I need to stick with Intel because of couple Windows VMs I need to support. Thanks for any comment!
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Intel 2.5GHz dual-core i5 vs 2.3GHz quad-core i7 performance comparison
- Thread starter pflau
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Assuming you're talking about the mid 2012 MacBook Pro (9,2) that laptop benchmarks at 492 single core and 1068 on multi core for GeekBench 5. The 2020 i7 MacBook Pro 13" (16,2) gets 1350 single core and 4565 multi core score. There is a huge improvement over the single core score (~2.5x) and an even larger one on the multi core score (~4.25x). I can't see why you wouldn't see a large improvement in performance.
2 cores vs 4, hyper threading vs not. If you look at the Geekbench scores for the various machines the difference becomes obvious.
2012 - single core - 577, multi core 1252
2020 - single core 1167, multi core 4335
2121 - single core 1689, multi core 7289 (M1 processor)
unless you really need an Intel processor (Bootcamp, VM) then the M1 chip is the way to go.
2012 - single core - 577, multi core 1252
2020 - single core 1167, multi core 4335
2121 - single core 1689, multi core 7289 (M1 processor)
unless you really need an Intel processor (Bootcamp, VM) then the M1 chip is the way to go.
The newer ones can also Turbo to higher clock speeds. What is listed is just the base clock speed. Your 2.5Ghz i5 can turbo up to 3.1Ghz. The 2.3Ghz i7 on the 2020 model can turbo up to 4.1Ghz.
There is a big performance difference mainly because of the newer architecture (IPC improvements), but also because it has twice the cores being quad core instead of dual core.
I have a 2015 13" MBP 3.1Ghz i7 (dual core, 3.4Ghz Turbo) with 16GB of RAM. I used to have a 2020 13" MBP 2.0Ghz i5 (quad core, 3.8Ghz Turbo) with 16GB of RAM. The 2020 model very easily outperformed the 2015 model.
I say used to because I ended up getting the M1 MBP to replace the 2020 Intel MBP. I kept the 2015 13" MBP as a backup.
There is a big performance difference mainly because of the newer architecture (IPC improvements), but also because it has twice the cores being quad core instead of dual core.
I have a 2015 13" MBP 3.1Ghz i7 (dual core, 3.4Ghz Turbo) with 16GB of RAM. I used to have a 2020 13" MBP 2.0Ghz i5 (quad core, 3.8Ghz Turbo) with 16GB of RAM. The 2020 model very easily outperformed the 2015 model.
I say used to because I ended up getting the M1 MBP to replace the 2020 Intel MBP. I kept the 2015 13" MBP as a backup.
You didn't mention the addition of an SSD in your post. I have two mid 2012 MBP's, one 2.9GHz i7 and the other the same as yours, a 2.5GHz unit. I have upgraded both to 16GB of ram and also 1TB SSD's. The addition of the SSD's made an incredible difference and I am perfectly happy with my 2.9GHz as my daily driver and the other as a backup for all but most processor intensive tasks, probably due to the dual-core's. Just for info's sake, I did not notice a real big difference between the two regards to the processor speeds. I was given the 2.5GHz and liked it so much I bought a used 2.9GHz shortly after.