New Benchmarks Show 13-Inch MacBook Air Rivaling Its MacBook Pro Counterpart

[dextro]

Macworld attributes this difference to processor throttling imposed by Apple on the earlier models to deal with heat issues, something the company appears to have solved in the new models to allow the processors to run at closer to their full capacity.

Article Link: New Benchmarks Show 13-Inch MacBook Air Rivaling Its MacBook Pro Counterpart

I hope this is the case as the heat issues were never solved in any MBA in the past. I would never recommend buying a MacBook Air. Worst computer I've ever owned.

Cheers

 

[Speedy2]

So? There's more to performance than the CPU.

It really depends on what you do with your computer. There are many tasks in which CPU-performance is decisive. Or having enough RAM. Or having a very fast mass storage drive.
What I was trying to say is that if you put an SSD in your MBP the numbers will look very different.

Apple sells extremely overpriced SSD upgrades for their products, except for the MBA, so the comparison is skewed. But luckily, you can buy an SSD anywhere else.

 

[Shanpdx]

It really depends on what you do with your computer. There are many tasks in which CPU-performance is decisive. Or having enough RAM. Or having a very fast mass storage drive.
What I was trying to say is that if you put an SSD in your MBP the numbers will look very different.

Apple sells extremely overpriced SSD upgrades for their products, except for the MBA, so the comparison is skewed. But luckily, you can buy an SSD anywhere else.

when the next refresh hope SSD will be standard in Macbook Pro as well (either as Flash storage or SSD drive form)

 

[dwsolberg]

Come on guys. Please compare Apples to Apples and rerun the test with a 64GB SSD in the 13" Macbook Pro. The model they tested it against has a 5400rpm HDD.

CPU-wise, the MBA is no match for any current MBP.

It's not very useful to people who know what they're doing. However, remember that 90% of people get the stock computers, so for most people it's going to describe their experience.

 

[Speedy2]

Help me out guys, so is the immediate future of Macbook pros a 2 HD array with onboard SSD for Operating System and some applications and a HDD to retain storage space at a reasonable price?

Is this a technical nightmare or a reasonable possibility?

Could someone with more technical experience juxtapose this for me?

Thx in advance

Not gonna happen. Too expensive, too cumbersome, too much wasted space. Apple is in the fortunate position to live in the high-end sector, so they will simply offer SSDs and people will buy them.

 

[Speedy2]

It's not very useful to people who know what they're doing. However, remember that 90% of people get the stock computers, so for most people it's going to describe their experience.

The MBA was JUST released, the MBP could do with an update. Guess which way they are going .... You will be able to get an MBP with a cheaper SSD than at the moment.

 

[franswa za]

This comes as good news to me. I'm trying to figure out if the upgrade to an 11" 1.6GHz CPU and 4GB of RAM is worth it, or even necessary/noticeable. Otherwise, I'd go to the store and grab one of the base 11" 1.4 GHz 2GB models today. Any thoughts?

personally i'd go for a current base model and wait for 2011/2's new MBA version 2? sandy bridge and more improved stuffings

ps- still LOVE my late 2009 mbp 13" for traveling but are SO tempted by the new mba

 

[Scarpad]

Ordered the 13in maxed out and I'm glad I did, the 11 inchers portability aspect is nice but for the price its hard not to justify the 13. Plus after lugging around my HP win 7 behemoth the 13 will feel like a feather.

 

[sososowhat]

Even the 11" performs

Even the 11" runs circles around both old Air models, and isn't much slower than my new MBP 13. That's pretty impressive to me.

As someone who uses cmd-+ all the time to make fonts bigger I do worry that the high-resolution screens will make fonts too small. I'll have to go check them out.

 

[Carlanga]

ummm, this is making me go and buy an SSD drive on Black Friday...

 

[drapacioli]

I'm impressed! Apple has done a nice job on the MacBook Air, such a nice job I may actually consider the model next time I'm in the market for a laptop, even though I somehow consider my 15" dell to be light and portable enough for my needs (Although for only $600 it's really nice, if only Apple could get into the budget PC category It'd be perfect!). It's obvious to me that Apple has figured out how to maximize the performance of laptops, and I hope the other manufacturers try and follow suit on their high-end models. This could lead to a huge increase in laptop performance across the board if they implement these features in future macbooks!

 

[cohibadad]

It's all down to the flash.

yep. Apple is showing how you can dramatically improve performance without juicing up the CPU constantly. The responsiveness of flash is something the fastest CPU saddled with a platter drive cannot match.

 

[decimortis]

Stoked...

I just ordered a maxed out 11" Air.
This is the first Apple product I've purchased while it's still been on the front page of Apple's website.

While not expecting a powerhouse computer, these tests show it should run my precious InDesign just fine. I happy.

D.

 

[lilo777]

Does this particular benchmark take disk I/O speed into account?
If so, then it's Apples/Oranges since standard config MBP's don't use SSD -- although SSD is an option. If disk I/O speed *IS* a factor in this benchmark then they should try against MBP with SSD option.

Steve Jobs told the press that MBA is the future of Macs and it looks like some people in the press are trying hard to prove his point. They do it a lot when comparing Macs to PC but this is something new. Now they are trying to use bogus comparisons to prove that some Macs are better then others

 

[3N16MA]

Nice to see the MBA is no longer gimped in performance. Makes an interesting buying decision if someone does not need the SuperDrive in the MB/MBP.

 

[Roofy.]

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This new MBA is turning out to be a better product than the iPad. Especially the 11'

 

[daver3k]

For those wondering how a current MacBook Air compares to a 13" MacBook Pro with a fast SSD, I made the following post over in the other benchmarks thread:

I thought I might be able to add to this discussion a bit.

I've got a MacBook Pro (Late 2009), 13.3", 2.26GHz C2D. I've replaced the optical drive in it with a 40GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD which I use as a boot/apps volume. I've also got a new MacBook Air, 11.6", 1.4GHz C2D. The bone-stock $999 model. I bought it because I travel a fair bit and wanted something between my iPad and my MacBook Pros. Even the 13.3" MBP feels like a behemoth when you otherwise make it a point to pack light.

Anyway, the MBP is fast. Not the fastest MBP, but with the SSD, it is incredibly responsive. I've uploaded a few YouTube videos to demonstrate how quickly it boots and launches apps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjnBLKH2Mes - Boot from disk chooser screen and launch Quicksilver, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and iTunes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4R9tyBp9a0 - Power-on to usable desktop with Chrome auto-launched.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zUQzGHlYq8 - Boot from disk chooser screen and then manually launch Chrome and Safari.

I thought it would be interesting to see just how quick the MacBook Air was when compared to my MacBook Pro. I expected the MBP to run circles around the Air, but that's not exactly what happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZizRmnexDxA - MacBook Air and MacBook Pro booting simultaneously and launching Quicksilver, Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

I've also run the Xbench Disk tests on both SSDs. Both were run on a cleanly booted system with no other apps (besides Quicksilver) running. You can see the results here: MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

All in all, I am very happy with the performance of the MacBook Air. I'm not using it for Handbrake encodes (that's what the Mac Pro is for), but for web browsing, YouTube, word processing, spreadsheets and coding - basically, every day typical end-user tasks - it's very responsive and fast feeling.

I'm happy to answer questions, run more benchmarks or record more videos. If there's an app that's freely available and you want to see how it launches on the base 11.6" MacBook Air, let me know and I'll post a video for you.

As quoted above, I'm happy to run other benchmarks/comparisons between the two, but the short answer is that putting a fast SSD in your MacBook Pro makes it extremely responsive, just like the new MacBook Air.

 

[Shanpdx]

Nice to see the MBA is no longer gimped in performance. Makes an interesting buying decision if someone does not need the SuperDrive in the MB/MBP.

my guess,

1) 13" MBP the super drive will be removed; HDD will be removed Flash storage/SSD - 13" is much easier to move than 15"
2) 15" or 17" MBP will keep super drive and SSD in Drive form
3) Macbook might be left with standard HDD

i want an 15" plastic Macbook for better price - you can always do after market SSD upgrade

 

[BoRegardless]

Why not? Most people don't have SSD drives in their Macbook Pros. Are you just mad that your MBP almost got beat by the Air?

If you need pro work, and a lot of us do, from CS4-5, SolidWorks on Win7, video, then go with the 2.66Ghz i7 and solid state drives and you blow away all but the Mac desktops.

If you do NOT need pro work, I think it is OBVIOUS, that the new 13" Air is the way to go.

 

[cky880]

personally i'd go for a current base model and wait for 2011/2's new MBA version 2? sandy bridge and more improved stuffings

ps- still LOVE my late 2009 mbp 13" for traveling but are SO tempted by the new mba

Thanks for the response! I think I agree with you in that the base should cut it for now. As for the sandy bridge, I worry that the second generation of these will still be a step behind (maybe adopt i3/i5's when MBPs incorporate sandy bridge). Either way, its the size that makes me want it!

 

[cky880]

I just ordered a maxed out 11" Air.
This is the first Apple product I've purchased while it's still been on the front page of Apple's website.

While not expecting a powerhouse computer, these tests show it should run my precious InDesign just fine. I happy.

D.

Nice to see some love for the 11" when everyone is talking about the 13". I'm about ready to pull the trigger on the same one!

 

[NinjaHERO]

Wow. That was unexpected.

 

[aznguyen316]

how are people still being convinced of what an SSD can do? It's been known and proven for quite sometime that SSDs are the best bang for the buck if you're wanting to upgrade a component on your computer, make it the drive! Threads crop up nearly everyday, should I upgrade to SSD? should I get a .26Ghz CPU upgrade or SSD? it's certainly my best upgrade, that and removing my damn superdrive haha. I'm curious now as to what my MBP benches with ssd compared to those MBA's

 

[netdog]

Comparing the MBP with an HDD and the MBA with an SSD is complete BS. You can't even compare them, because it's so blatantly obvious the SSD will be hands down faster.

Looks like you're one of a number of MBP owners who aren't too pleased with these results.

 

[Nicky G]

True, it is actually a VERY unimportant spec.

You really think that processor cache is "very unimportant?" I'm really curious what makes you say that -- given that it can, at least in some situations, make a very large difference in overall processor performance.

Here's a link you can use as a refresher:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L2_cache