MacBook Pro 2.53Ghz i5 vs iMac 2.66Ghz i5

[thiagos]

Hi guys,

I know this might seem like a stupid question, but it really has me wondering. What is the difference between the i5 processor on the MacBook Pro and the iMac? Are they exactly the same except for the clock speed of .13? If I were to upgrade my MacBook Pro with a 7200RPM HD, would it be the exact same computer?

The reason why I ask is because I read online that the i5 on the iMac has 4 cores and the i5 on the MacBook Pro only has 2 and that got me confused, why would two different processors be called the same?

Thanks

 

[Hellhammer]

The i5 in iMac is a desktop CPU (Lynnfield). It has four cores but not Hyper-Threading (so only four threads).

The i5 in MBP is a mobile CPU (Arrandale). It has two physical cores but due to Hyper-Threading, it has four threads.

Both support Turbo. iMac is still faster though.