According to new benchmark reports, the new entry-level MacBook Pro is more than 80% faster than its predecessor, a huge improvement in performance that will no doubt allow the device to rate as one of Apple’s must-buys in the coming months and years ahead.
Geekbench 4 scores suggest that the new entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro, which was released earlier this week and comes with an 8th-generation 1.4GHz quad-core Core i5 processor, is up to 6.8 percent faster in terms of single-core performance, but up to 83.4 percent faster when it comes to multi-core performance in comparison to the 2017 MacBook Pro model with a 7th-generation 2.3GHz dual-core Core i5 processor.
That gives the new model single-core and multi-core scores of 4,639 and 16,665, compared with the 4,341 and 9,084 scores given to the 2017 entry-level MacBook Pro.
Apple’s new MacBook Pro, which now comes with a Touch Bar (previously, a version without a Touch Bar was still an option) features an Intel Core i5-8257U processor, a custom variation of its Core i5-8250U processor designed exclusively for Apple.
The MacBook Pro features a 15W chip, part of the Coffee Lake range, and can offer a max Turbo Boost frequency of up to 3.9GHz, an impressive feat for a small notebook.
Of course, it’s possible to upgrade this to an 8th-generation 1.7GHz quad-core Core i7 processor, which would further increase the performance of the device, though the Geekbench scores suggest that most users would be happy with the standard variant.
Apple says that the new MacBook Pro is “two times more powerful” than the last generation, and whilst the benchmarks suggest an 83 percent increase, of course, performance in the real world can vary, depending on a whole host of factors such as temperature and programs.
The company did not refresh the 13-inch MacBook Pro last year, despite refreshing the 15-inch model, which is why Geekbench used the 2017 model for comparative purposes.
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