Benchmarks for Mid-2012 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air

With the first Mid-2012 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models reaching the public, Primate Labs has collated some data from its Geekbench 2 benchmarking database to assess the raw performance of these systems compared to their predecessors.

For the MacBook Pro, Primate Labs has data on four different models: the new Retina model with 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz processors and the non-Retina model with 2.3 GHz and 2.7 GHz processors. The top-of-the-line 2.7 GHz system registers with a Geekbench average score of 12,303, roughly 16% higher than the top-of-the-line 2.5 GHz Sandy Bridge system from the previous generation.

geekbench mid 2012 macbook pro
Notably, the leaked MacBook Pro benchmark from mid-May does appear to have been legitimate, with details corresponding to the new non-Retina 15-inch MacBook Pro. That machine is designated MacBookPro9,1, while the 13-inch model is designated MacBookPro9,2. The Retina MacBook Pro appears as MacBookPro10,1.

On the MacBook Air side, top-of-the-line systems are seeing boosts of over 20% in Geekbench scores over their corresponding predecessors. As with the MacBook Pro, even the low-end systems of the new generation outperform the high end of the previous generation.

benchmarks
Geekbench testing focuses on processor and memory performance, providing comparisons of raw power between machines but only telling part of the story. But with these machines seeing significant boosts in graphics performance with the addition of Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics and/or the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M, and systems with solid-state drives using faster drives than in the previous generation, real-world performance should see marked improvement.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Caution)
Related Forums: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air

Top Rated Comments

daneoni Avatar
143 months ago
Chess will run blazingly now!
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrmjenkins Avatar
143 months ago
These kinds of benchmarks were more relevant in the powerPC days. Now it's pretty much, "Yup, those faster intel processors that we already saw the benchmarks of are in the new MBP."
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
entropy1980 Avatar
143 months ago
Can't wait for my 13" Pro to get here tomorrow!!! Bummed to not see any benchmarks for it yet though...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LaWally Avatar
143 months ago
1.8 and 2.0 isnt hardly worth the extra investment on the air?

Upgrading from 1.8 (i5) to 2.0 (i7) costs $100, which is about 4.7% of the cost of the MBA 13" (i5) fully configured. For that you get a 1.3% increase in gb score.

I don't like that math.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ivbaseball06 Avatar
143 months ago
Interesting that the numbers are very similar to the leaked benchmarks from a few months ago, especially considering that there was an iMac benchmark too. Maybe Apple was developing two new products, the Retina MBP and some new iMac. Maybe instead of shadowing each other by releasing them the same day they decided to break their releases up, or perhaps the iMac isn't ready yet. Those benchmarks for the new iMac are the biggest evidence of a potential iMac release in the next month or so, IMO. A man can dream right?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coder12 Avatar
143 months ago
Chess will run blazingly now!

No kidding! I remember back in the DOS days playing Battle Chess (or something like that...) and it took like 30 seconds to 2 minutes for the computer to think. ;)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)