Macbook Pro 2019 Benchmarks and First Impressions! Post yours!

[Dave245]

It would get the doors blown off.

I've looked at the benchmarks for the base model and they are not far off, single thread is 4993 and multi-core is 18283. That thrashes my 2012 iMac that i'm currently using. It certainly beats the old 2011 Macbook Pro i was using before it's death late last year.

Single core is also around 900 points faster than the 2018 Macbook Air, multi-core it's more than twice as fast as the Air. (see screenshot). However when it comes to multi-core does that affect day to day use? For example i use my 2012 iMac for Safari (only a couple of tabs open at a time), Pages, Mail, Pixelmator Pro for light photo edits (no 4K or anything like that).

The Air is faster than the 2011 Macbook Pro i had, but only in single-core when it comes to multi-core the Air 2018 is slower.

What should i be looking at when deciding which laptop to buy in the future? single-core or multi-core?

 

[Glockworkorange]

How's the new keyboard? Any difference from butterfly gen 3 that you can discern?

Feels the same for me. Perhaps a little "springier." I'm coming from a 2018 13 inch, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

No problems so far.
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I've looked at the benchmarks for the base model and they are not far off, single thread is 4993 and multi-core is 18283. That thrashes my 2012 iMac that i'm currently using. It certainly beats the old 2011 Macbook Pro i was using before it's death late last year.

Single core is also around 900 points faster than the 2018 Macbook Air, multi-core it's more than twice as fast as the Air. (see screenshot). However when it comes to multi-core does that affect day to day use? For example i use my 2012 iMac for Safari (only a couple of tabs open at a time), Pages, Mail, Pixelmator Pro for light photo edits (no 4K or anything like that).

The Air is faster than the 2011 Macbook Pro i had, but only in single-core when it comes to multi-core the Air 2018 is slower.

What should i be looking at when deciding which laptop to buy in the future? single-core or multi-core?

For your uses, single core.

Just an FYI, Pixelmator Pro made my TouchBar uncomfortably warm. This on the i9 8 core model. Very strange.

 

[Dave245]

For your uses, single core.

Just an FYI, Pixelmator Pro made my TouchBar uncomfortably warm. This on the i9 8 core model. Very strange.

Thanks for the heads up. I may get a MacBook Air 2018 instead of the Pro, the specs of the Pro may be wasted on me and my usage.

I’d still get Touch ID, the only thing I won’t get is the Touch Bar. The Air is dual core as well while the new 13” is quad, but as I say it may be wasted on me.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Thanks for the heads up. I may get a MacBook Air 2018 instead of the Pro, the specs of the Pro may be wasted on me and my usage.

I’d still get Touch ID, the only thing I won’t get is the Touch Bar. The Air is dual core as well while the new 13” is quad, but as I say it may be wasted on me.

I think the Air will be fine for you if: 1) your photo editing is just a hobby and you don't work with giant RAW files and 2) you don't plan on using external monitors of 4K (or above).

I think we discussed this---I used an Air for a week while my 13 inch was having the keyboard fixed. I hooked both one and then two 4K monitors up for a full day of work. The fans droned all day and animations like Mission Control lagged.

If you're using multiple monitors, I'd get the 13 inch MBP with the TouchBar, unless you are fine with all day fan noise and like 15 frames per second of macOS animations.

 

[Dave245]

I think the Air will be fine for you if: 1) your photo editing is just a hobby and you don't work with giant RAW files and 2) you don't plan on using external monitors of 4K (or above).

I think we discussed this---I used an Air for a week while my 13 inch was having the keyboard fixed. I hooked both one and then two 4K monitors up for a full day of work. The fans droned all day and animations like Mission Control lagged.

If you're using multiple monitors, I'd get the 13 inch MBP with the TouchBar, unless you are fine with all day fan noise and like 15 frames per second of macOS animations.

Yea it's just a hobby at this point, i don't deal with big RAW files at all, i use Pixelmator on my iPad Pro as well, i find it's great to be able to start an edit on the Mac and then pick it up on the iPad Pro if need be. I don't use external monitors at all, i have an 2012 iMac that i use as my Mac at the moment (my 2011 Macbook Pro died late last year).

How do you find the Touch Bar in Pixelmator Pro? do you think it helps when editing photos? that's what i keep thinking when deciding between the Air or the Pro. I have seen the Air in the store and i loved it! but i wasn't sure if the Pro would be better in the long term with Touch Bar use, but if it's not something i would use then i could just get the Air.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Yea it's just a hobby at this point, i don't deal with big RAW files at all, i use Pixelmator on my iPad Pro as well, i find it's great to be able to start an edit on the Mac and then pick it up on the iPad Pro if need be. I don't use external monitors at all, i have an 2012 iMac that i use as my Mac at the moment (my 2011 Macbook Pro died late last year).

How do you find the Touch Bar in Pixelmator Pro? do you think it helps when editing photos? that's what i keep thinking when deciding between the Air or the Pro. I have seen the Air in the store and i loved it! but i wasn't sure if the Pro would be better in the long term with Touch Bar use, but if it's not something i would use then i could just get the Air.

I find the keyboard shortcuts to be easier than the Touch Bar. It’s not needed and not a time saver. Pixelmator Pro was a new install for me after years of regular Pixelmator and I just wanted to see how the TB worked. I probably won’t use it again. You won’t be missing anything! Just buy the Air.

 

[Dave245]

I find the keyboard shortcuts to be easier than the Touch Bar. It’s not needed and not a time saver. Pixelmator Pro was a new install for me after years of regular Pixelmator and I just wanted to see how the TB worked. I probably won’t use it again. You won’t be missing anything! Just buy the Air.

Thank you for the heads up 🙂 sounds like the extra battery life on the Air is going to be more useful than the Touch Bar will for me.

 

[RumorConsumer]

Thank you for the heads up 🙂 sounds like the extra battery life on the Air is going to be more useful than the Touch Bar will for me.

Id get the pro just for the longevity/speed. It'll be way faster for longer.

 

[Dave245]

Id get the pro just for the longevity/speed. It'll be way faster for longer.

But would i notice the speed with my usage?

 

[RumorConsumer]

But would i notice the speed with my usage?

How many hours a day are you on the computer?

 

[Dave245]

How many hours a day are you on the computer?

When I had my old 2011 MacBook Pro I was on it a lot. Now that I’m using my iMac, I use that until I decide what Macbook to get and when. I’m on it most of the day, I’m a writer so I spend most of my time writing, and researching.

In what small spare time I do have, I edit photos in Pixelmator Pro as a hobby. I also like to multitask on my Mac, picture in picture is one of my favourite features 🙂

 

[bcaslis]

If you do photo editing, either 13" or 15" Pro. The screen on the pro is brighter and support P3 color for a wider gamut. That's a reason I use the Pro instead of the Air.

 

[kp98077]

I don’t think the air is a good suggestion. When I tries it just something as simple as watching YouTube and checking email, and browsing took longer than usual - and sometimes stalled frustrating! Then again, I’m not patient

 

[Howard2k]

Thanks for the heads up. I may get a MacBook Air 2018 instead of the Pro, the specs of the Pro may be wasted on me and my usage.

I’d still get Touch ID, the only thing I won’t get is the Touch Bar. The Air is dual core as well while the new 13” is quad, but as I say it may be wasted on me.

I have a 2015 13” Pro, so similar performance to the 2018 Air. I run mine harder I suspect. I do some photo stuff in GIMP and Lightroom, and some recording and processing in GarageBand. GarageBand hits the CPU hard. As does Handbrake for the occasional DVD rip. But other than that, even with 30 or 40 tabs, I’m not pushing the CPU (or RAM) hard.

If I was to upgrade I’d get a quad, but only because I know of specific instances like processing in GarageBand where it takes time to process. For my basic photo tasks or surfing etc, the dual core is great.

I run Activity Monitor all the time so every now and then I will see a run away process, usually from a webpage, and I can kill it.

 

[souko]

I use MacBook Pro 13” 2015 (i5 2.7GHz) and in Affinity photo with raw files from Halide app on iPhone Xr there is some lag. 4K video editing in iMovie is with dropped frames too... And it is not to much different in performance than Air 2018... And P3 display makes the difference. But my use case is probbably more difficult for performance...

If you can afford it I would recommend MacBook Pro... It gives you more longetivity... (If you do not need extra battery life)

 

[Dave245]

I use MacBook Pro 13” 2015 (i5 2.7GHz) and in Affinity photo with raw files from Halide app on iPhone Xr there is some lag. 4K video editing in iMovie is with dropped frames too... And it is not to much different in performance than Air 2018... And P3 display makes the difference. But my use case is probbably more difficult for performance...

If you can afford it I would recommend MacBook Pro... It gives you more longetivity... (If you do not need extra battery life)

I’ll keep that in mind, I do get a discount so i can get the Pro or Air cheaper (around £150 off the base 13”)

 

[keithop]

so if I'm reading this correctly, in the 2019 models, Apple is trying to keep the fan noise down even at the expense of performance.

This would suit me well

So, what do the 2019's sound like just sitting there doing web/email/editing etc? my 2018 still sounds loud enough to be annoying even though its not doing anything amazing

 

[RumorConsumer]

so if I'm reading this correctly, in the 2019 models, Apple is trying to keep the fan noise down even at the expense of performance.

This would suit me well

So, what do the 2019's sound like just sitting there doing web/email/editing etc? my 2018 still sounds loud enough to be annoying even though its not doing anything amazing

This maxed out 13” quiet as a mouse. The @MacRS4 videos demo the fan noise on the 15. Generally people are really happy with them.

 

[sdjensen]

Hi,

I been searching for an overview of the benchmarks for the new Macbook Pro 2019 base models, but I can't seem to find any besides the top model and I am interested in comparing them all - especially the 15'' versions.

Can anyone help?

Ty

 

[RumorConsumer]

I feel positively about this model. I’m gonna take the plunge on a CLASSIC SILVER NO F****** SPACE GRAY BULL*** ahem 2.4 8 core with 32gb and 1tb nothing special on graphics. Speak now or forever hold your peace. Upgrading from a 3.5ghz 2017 13” currently in my possession but loaned to me by a generous friend.

 

[Dave245]

I feel positively about this model. I’m gonna take the plunge on a CLASSIC SILVER NO F****** SPACE GRAY BULL*** ahem 2.4 8 core with 32gb and 1tb nothing special on graphics. Speak now or forever hold your peace. Upgrading from a 3.5ghz 2017 13” currently in my possession but loaned to me by a generous friend.

Good luck 😀. It sound like you have picked a beast of a machine. I'm very tempted to pull the trigger on a new Macbook Pro, especially now that i've learned the SideCar feature of MacOS Catalina won't work on any Macbook Pro before 2016 😱. I saw a Tweet from Steve Troughton Smith on Twitter (see screen shot).

 

[maflynn]

I feel positively about this model. I’m gonna take the plunge on a CLASSIC SILVER NO F****** SPACE GRAY BULL*** ahem 2.4 8 core with 32gb and 1tb nothing special on graphics. Speak now or forever hold your peace. Upgrading from a 3.5ghz 2017 13” currently in my possession but loaned to me by a generous friend.

Don't do it 😱

Get space gray it looks better 😀

 

[idark77]

+1 for silver 😀

 

[RumorConsumer]

The only ONLY reason to consider space gray. And I think I am gonna stick with the ship still in orbit.

@maflynn

 

[Dave245]

Ok so i've just taken the plunge and ordered a base 13" Macbook Pro, i really hope i don't live to regret this 😱!!!!