Benchmarks for New 13-Inch MacBook Pro Beat MacBook Air, Previous MacBook Pro by 10-15%

Last week, Primate Labs summarized its Geekbench 2 database results for Apple's new MacBook Air and 15-inch MacBook Pro models, but did not address the 13-inch MacBook Pro as not enough data had been collected at that time.

But over the past week more data has come in, and the firm now shares its results which show the new 13-inch models are yielding approximately 10-15% higher Geekbench 2 scores than both the corresponding previous-generation 13-inch MacBook Pro models as well as the current 13-inch MacBook Air models against which they are directly competing.

The latest MacBook Pros offer a nice increase in performance over the previous MacBook Pros. Both the Core i5 and the Core i7 Mid 2012 13-inch MacBook Pros are over 10% faster than the equivalent Late 2011 13-inch MacBook Pros. Some of the increase is from higher processor speeds, while some of the increase is from the improved Ivy Bridge processor architecture.

The latest MacBook Pros also offer a nice increase in performance over the latest MacBook Airs. The Core i5 13-inch MacBook Pro is 10% faster than the Core i5 13-inch MacBook Air, while the Core i7 13-inch MacBook Pro is 15% faster (and $100 cheaper) than the Core i7 13-inch MacBook Air.

The popular Geekbench tool also provides a glimpse into the relative popularity of various models, and with the 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air coming in at the same base price points at both low and high ends, the frequency with which those machines appear provides an interesting perspective on how customers are deciding between the two lines.

At the low end, Primate Labs notes that the MacBook Air is showing up in the database twice as frequently as the MacBook Pro, suggesting that budget-conscious consumers are opting for the slimmer form factor of the MacBook Air as a primary factor in their decision-making. But the ratio is reversed at the high end, with the MacBook Pro appearing twice as frequently as the MacBook Air, as may be expected as the market shifts more toward professional users looking for high performance as their primary criterion.