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Which MacBook -- the 13" 2.26 GHz or 2.53 GHz???

MacCurry said:
If you're going to do any sort of video editing, get the 2.53 GHz. It will make a difference and with Snow Leopard probably even more so.
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Well I'll only ever be doing a very minimal amount of video editing on the MacBook Pro, and like I said in my original post, I found the experience of dragging clips in the timeline and editing them (minimal rendering) to be perfectly acceptable, even with 35 MBps 1080p footage, on a previous-generation 2GHz unibody MacBook with just 2 GB of ram.

Having said that, I just read the following in a recent article on Macworld.com:

We tested the two new 13-inch MacBook Pros using our overall system performance test tool, Speedmark 5. Compared to each other, the new 13-inch 2.53GHz MacBook Pro was just over 12 percent faster overall than the 13-inch 2.26GHz MacBook Pro. The 2.53GHz laptop was about 21 percent faster at Photoshop and Cinema 4D.
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So this has me all confused once again! I imagine that Adobe Premiere and even Final Cut Pro would see a 21% increase with the 2.53 GHz also!
 
I just bought a stock 2.53, and coming from a 2.0ghz iMac with 3gb of RAM and a 7200rpm HDD, I went down from 35 minutes for an intricate dvd menu render to just 20 minutes, so there is a little sense of how much 500mhz is worth. So for half that, you would still be 7.5 minutes faster, giving a 27% speed advantage. I know its kind of apples to oranges but this comparison has some value as to how much cpu clock speed has an effect.
 
txhockey9404 said:
I just bought a stock 2.53, and coming from a 2.0ghz iMac with 3gb of RAM and a 7200rpm HDD, I went down from 35 minutes for an intricate dvd menu render to just 20 minutes, so there is a little sense of how much 500mhz is worth. So for half that, you would still be 7.5 minutes faster, giving a 27% speed advantage. I know its kind of apples to oranges but this comparison has some value as to how much cpu clock speed has an effect.
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Actually, 7.5 minutes faster would equate to 21%, which is in agreement with the Macworld article. Maybe I will get the 2.53 GHz!!! :eek:
 
vardamir said:
Actually, 7.5 minutes faster would equate to 21%, which is in agreement with the Macworld article. Maybe I will get the 2.53 GHz!!! :eek:
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As someone said, get the 2.26 and spend the difference on a good SSD. Then, watch your bootups and apps fly.
 
vardamir said:
Actually, 7.5 minutes faster would equate to 21%, which is in agreement with the Macworld article. Maybe I will get the 2.53 GHz!!! :eek:
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The 2.53 is around 11% faster, the machine that was 21% faster had 4GB's of RAM vs 2GB in the 2.26. When they leveled out the RAM it was only 10% faster, NOT 21%. You must have money to burn if you think going from 2.26 to 2.53 is going to be noticeable.

New 13-inch MacBook Pros: Speedmark performance


Longer bars are better. Blue bars in italics represent reference systems. Macworld Lab testing by James Galbraith, Blair Hanley Frank, Chris Holt, and Helen Williamson.
We tested the two new 13-inch MacBook Pros using our overall system performance test tool, Speedmark 5. Compared to each other, the new 13-inch 2.53GHz MacBook Pro was just over 12 percent faster overall than the 13-inch 2.26GHz MacBook Pro. The 2.53GHz laptop was about 21 percent faster at Photoshop and Cinema 4D.

There’s a major difference in the amount of RAM installed in the standard configurations of these two laptops; the 2.53GHz model comes with 4GB of RAM, while the 2.26GHz model has 2GB of RAM. We leveled the playing field by adding 2GBs of memory to the 2.26GHz model, bringing it up to 4GB. Most of our tests, which are run one at a time, don't benefit much from additional RAM, and the underwhelming two-point improvement in the Speedmark score bears that out. The biggest performance difference with the additional RAM was in our Photoshop suite times, which improved the 2.26GHz MacBook Pro's score by about 10 percent.

When compared to the aluminum 2GHz MacBook, the new 13-inch 2.26GHz MacBook Pro is about 12 percent faster overall in our Speedmark test, as well as speed improvements across the board in our other application tests.

Looking at the performance differences between the new 13-inch 2.26GHz MacBook Pro and the lowest priced Mac laptop, the $999 2.13GHz white MacBook, we find a Speedmark improvement of 7.5 percent with the 2.26GHz MacBook Pro. The 2.26GHz model also had better frame rates in 3-D games, thanks to the faster memory that the MacBook Pro uses; the white MacBook uses 800MHz DDR2 memory, while the 2.26GHz MacBook Pro uses 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM.

The most interesting benchmark comparison is between the 13-inch 2.53GHz MacBook Pro and the 15-inch 2.53GHz MacBook Pro. These laptops had a less than one percent difference with their Speedmark scores; the specifications for these two laptops are nearly identical. The $200 price difference between the two buys you nothing more than an additional two inches diagonal of screen real estate.
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Ferris23 said:
The 2.53 is around 11% faster, the machine that was 21% faster had 4GB's of RAM vs 2GB in the 2.26. When they leveled out the RAM it was only 10% faster, NOT 21%. You must have money to burn if you think going from 2.26 to 2.53 is going to be noticeable.
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so adding 4gb to the 2.26 mbp , what will be the speed then of the video edting etc?Or is wholly dependent on the processor?

edit
I guess the above article answers my questions :)
 
txhockey9404 said:
I just bought a stock 2.53, and coming from a 2.0ghz iMac with 3gb of RAM and a 7200rpm HDD, I went down from 35 minutes for an intricate dvd menu render to just 20 minutes, so there is a little sense of how much 500mhz is worth. So for half that, you would still be 7.5 minutes faster, giving a 27% speed advantage. I know its kind of apples to oranges but this comparison has some value as to how much cpu clock speed has an effect.
Click to expand...

I believe the 2.53 is based on a newer Intel Core 2 Duo vs that of your older 2.0 Core 2 Duo.
 
cpnotebook80 said:
so adding 4gb to the 2.26 mbp , what will be the speed then of the video edting etc?Or is wholly dependent on the processor?
Click to expand...

Comparing the 2 with equal RAM would probably increase your speed by about 10%, which would most likley result in seconds saved, not minutes. IMO, not worth it. Faster hard drive, more RAM, but 270mhz is not going to make or break any application.

I just went from a 2.4GHZ Unibody Macbook Pro back to the 13.3 2.26 and notice no difference at all, I'm not timing anything on a stopwatch but I can tell you that it makes no difference. Even a theoretical 10% difference in speed doesn't mean you are going to notice it in real world applications.
 
My opinion is to upgrade the RAM and get a larger 7200 RPM drive and STILL come in cheaper than the 2.53.
 
chrmjenkins said:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148374&Tpk=7200 2.5

I even got a Canadian link for you ;)
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Ok this is what I found for my budget at the moment lol.Its not as cheap as the Us store though.
Will this be ok?I dont need the 500gb

Western Digital Scorpio Black WD3200BEKT 320GB 7200 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822136280
$107.99

Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Laptop Memory Model CT2KIT25664BC1067 - Retail
$75.99


shipping taxes comes to 220$ cdn.
You think I can get it for cheaper elsewhere.Its not bad than paying 400$ to apple! heheh
 
cpnotebook80 said:
Ok this is what I found for my budget at the moment lol.Its not as cheap as the Us store though.
Will this be ok?I dont need the 500gb

Western Digital Scorpio Black WD3200BEKT 320GB 7200 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822136280
$107.99

Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Laptop Memory Model CT2KIT25664BC1067 - Retail
$75.99


shipping taxes comes to 220$ cdn.
You think I can get it for cheaper elsewhere.Its not bad than paying 400$ to apple! heheh
Click to expand...

Both excellent choices.
 
Well I've said it before and I'll say it again... it looks like the 2.26 GHz is the one to get! Most people posting here agree with this, and I trust their judgment. I don't know if I'll be getting a 7200 rpm drive just yet, however, because of possible clicking and beeping issues. I'd rather just upgrade to a SSD in future when prices come down.
 
Get the faster machine. If you can afford it then get the 2.26 otherwise you will always wonder if you should have got the 2.53, and that's the one bit you're stuck with until you sell the machine.
 
Queue Cumber said:
I always have complete trust in the opinions of anonymous strangers on the internet. Especially a big bunch of anonymous strangers on the internet! :rolleyes:
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Blast, you've exposed our dastardly plot to take over the world by misinforming random people on the internet about technology purchases.

It would have worked if it weren't for those meddlesome kids!
 
CalMin said:
Get the faster machine. If you can afford it then get the 2.26 otherwise you will always wonder if you should have got the 2.53, and that's the one bit you're stuck with until you sell the machine.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much a ridiculous reason to ignore facts, benchmarks and spend more money when you really don't have to, unless you are that hung up on specs and lack common sense.

:)

I mean, I know what you're saying, but.......c'mon

Like someone is going to buy a sweet ass MBP and then dwell for the life of that Macbook over 270 mhz.

Not really. I'd use the money saved to buy some other more useful things.
 
I was at the Apple Store yesterday ready to buy my new 2.53ghz machine. He had the iPod, printer, and MBP out and everything until I realized he brought out a 2.26 machine. I mentioned to him I wanted the faster machine so he went to the back to check to see if they had any left. There were none and I walked out empty handed.

It seems most people here are buying the 2.26 model, but the Apple Store I visited would suggest otherwise.
 
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