Early Benchmarks Reveal New MacBook Air Rivaling High-End 2010 MacBook Pro
According to the report, not only do the new MacBook Air models at least double the scores of the previous generation in testing with Geekbench, but the new machines also compare extremely favorably to even high-end MacBook Pro models from last year.
The new 13-inch MacBook Air earned a Geekbench score of 5860, a bump in performance of over 100 percent compared to last year’s model. The 11-inch MacBook Air was even more impressive, skyrocketing from 2024 to 5040 for 149 percent increase.
To put these benchmarks into perspective, the 2010 17-inch 2.67 GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro scored 5423. For £849 the 11-inch MacBook Air offers a benchmark on par with last year’s £2099 17-inch MacBook Pro.
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Maybe I am crazy, but Ive just realised that I want new 11inch MBA and Thunderbolt Display. Am I crazy? I need feedback. I want it mostly for Aperture and Photoshop. Cinema display has firewire so I can connect my external drives. Seems perfect. Doesnt it?
Sounds tempting, right? An external display/docking station for desktop-style use, 2nd-gen Core speed, SSD speed, plus the most portable laptop ever—all in one?
But you’re flat-out crazy if you’d consider an Air for serious work: I’ve done that (Photoshop, Flash, OpenOffice) for 3 years on my Air, and it means that ALL MY WORK is right there, ready to grab with one hand and run out the door! No synching needed, nothing to think about. I just have all my projects with me SO much more of the time than I used to with my 15” bulkmonster. And yet I can do everything I need right on the Air.
That means I’m never away from work :( My clients can get me to do stuff all the time!
Do yourself a favor: if you do pro work, get the bulkiest laptop you can, or a giant tower, and tell your clients you’ll "deal with it" when you get back to the office :)
Don’t get addicted to the Air like me. Save yourself.
Everyone should keep in mind that Ivy Bridge is next year. This is when we should see a quad-core MacBook Air (and Mac Mini), and 8-core iMacs. Additionally, there will also be the move to 22nm fabrication processes in addition to 3D transistors, which should be comparable to a fabrication shrink itself.
If you think this year was a big boost, wait until you see what Intel has in store for next year.
If only there was a 15" Air :rolleyes:
Keep in mind that the resolution of the 13" MBA is equal to that of the 15" MBP.
Anyways, I'm mostly curious as to the IGP's performance.
I'm going to make a wild guess here and say that the MBP tested doesn't have an SSD? It doesn't seem to say on the site.
Hahahaha. Give the MBP a decent SSD, then we'll see what's faster.
Anyways, I'm mostly curious as to the IGP's performance.
Geekbench doesn't measure hard drive performance, so in fact the Macbook Air would only come out even further ahead if that were taken in account. It's strictly CPU and memory performance being measured here.
Do these benchmarks take into consideration the GPU?
Nope.
;)
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