MacBook Pro 13 2017 i7 non-touchbar vs MacBook Pro 13 2018 i7 Touchbar - GPU differences/gains?

[SSD-GUY]

Hi all

I’ve got a top end non touchbar MacBook Pro 13 i7, and am seriously considering jumping to a 2018 13” i7 due to the quad core cpus now making their way to the 13” line, making me having to live with the touchbar as I much prefer the physical keys. I’ve also noticed that battery life is actually quite good for the 2018s from the reviews I’ve read, considering it’s a quad core model!

I’ve already seen there there is a nice boost when it comes to cpu performance on the 2018 machines in the multi core dept, however does anyone have any gpu benchmarks?

I’ve ran cinebench 15 on my mbp and scored 42 FPS, however from what I’ve seen, the 2018 13” get around the same FPS on cinebench. Are there any other examples that people can share, as if the gpu upgrade isn’t all that, I may hold off on upgrading (also seen as ddr4 hasn’t made its way to the 13” line yet either)

 

[mikethebigo]

You're comparing the Iris Plus 640 to the Iris Plus 655.

I'm also seeing best case scenario of 42 FPS in Cinebench, so that's about the same.

However, OpenCl scores with GeekBench seem to show some improvement - the 640 in your unit scored average 28,498 while I'm seeing on the 2018 i7 about 36,000. Don't know why those are different but at least in some workloads I suppose there will be an improvement.

According to those scores though, I wouldn't base any upgrade decision on the iGPU. I would stick to getting it if the CPU is something you want or need.

 

[SSD-GUY]

You're comparing the Iris Plus 640 to the Iris Plus 655.

I'm also seeing best case scenario of 42 FPS in Cinebench, so that's about the same.

However, OpenCl scores with GeekBench seem to show some improvement - the 640 in your unit scored average 28,498 while I'm seeing on the 2018 i7 about 36,000. Don't know why those are different but at least in some workloads I suppose there will be an improvement.

According to those scores though, I wouldn't base any upgrade decision on the iGPU. I would stick to getting it if the CPU is something you want or need.

Thanks. Just to double check then, you have the MBP 13" 2018 i7 and you're also getting around 42FPS on cinebench?

Yeah the CPU boost is actually really, really good. I've seen some insane scores and times where it can cut workload, however as you point out, the iGPU could be better.

 

[leman]

At its core, its the same GPU (Intel gen9 with 48 EUs). The 2018 TB model has 128MB of eDRAM cache vs. the 64MB for the 2017 model, and its also clocked higher. Benchmarks I've seen put them around 30-50% apart. If you play games, it will be a substantial difference.

 

[mikethebigo]

Thanks. Just to double check then, you have the MBP 13" 2018 i7 and you're also getting around 42FPS on cinebench?

Yeah the CPU boost is actually really, really good. I've seen some insane scores and times where it can cut workload, however as you point out, the iGPU could be better.

Yep I have the 2018 i7 and my best Cinebench is 42.5 FPS.

Whatever improvements were made between the generations probably aren’t harnessed by Cinebench, but they seem to be with GeekBench.