New 13-Inch MacBook Pro Sans Touch Bar is Marginally Faster But More Efficient Than Last Year's Base Model

Benchmarks for Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar are beginning to collect on Geekbench, providing a closer look at the notebook's performance improvements and energy efficiency.

13-inch-macbook-pro-2016-vs-2015
The entry-level model, powered by a Skylake-based 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, currently has an average multi-core score of 6,970, indicating the notebook is only up to 7% faster than the early 2015 base model 13-inch MacBook Pro. Last year's comparable model, equipped with a Broadwell-based 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, currently has an average multi-core score of 6,497.

The late 2016 model is also slightly faster than last year's mid-range 13-inch MacBook Pro, while slightly outperformed by the higher-end model.

macbook_pro_2016_geekbench
The notebooks are each calibrated against a baseline score of 4,000, which is the score of Intel's high-end Core i7-6600U processor.

While the performance improvements are negligible, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar's 15-watt chip is more energy efficient than the 28-watt chip in last year's entry-level model. The lower power consumption gives the 2016 base model comparable battery life to last year's model despite having a smaller 54.5-watt-hour battery versus the 74.9-watt-hour battery in last year's comparable.

Given that the non-Touch Bar model's 6360U chip would typically be appropriate for the MacBook Air, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar should be a more accurate comparable to last year's base 13-inch model. However, it is also $500 more expensive. Benchmarks for that model should be available next month when Apple begins shipping the Touch Bar notebooks to customers.

Related Forum: MacBook Pro

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Top Rated Comments

Hyperion0808 Avatar
113 months ago
Brutal. Years waiting.......for this.


No reason to rehash all the reasons why, you guys know them all.
Score: 79 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vvs14 Avatar
113 months ago
Buying the 2015 Retina MBP is turning out to be a masterstroke...
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
meaning-matters Avatar
113 months ago
I've concluded: Under Jobs we received explanations for design choices. Currently: No word about leaving MagSafe behind, no logic for the non-industry-standard audio output on iPhone 7, not a word about the MBP's headphone jack (probably too scared to mention), ...

Jobs' explanations were also fabulous: "The problem with them is really sort of in the bottom 40 there." talking about plastic keyboards on 'smart' phones during iPhone's introduction.

Explanations we now get are 'courage' or Ive's 'making it thinner, lighter and more powerful' that's conflicting with adding a touch screen for example (MR post today).

Change triggers natural resistance and needs reasons to be accepted. Apple doesn't explain=sell their changes/choices any longer.
Score: 55 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AyeGear Avatar
113 months ago
New Macbook Pro start-up chime is here:
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
El Cabong Avatar
113 months ago
So...
(1) no performance improvement
(2) no battery life improvement
but
(3) slightly thinner

Sounds about right.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
al_bundy Avatar
113 months ago
Removing features and charging more is an awesome business model.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)