Earlier this week Apple released new MacBooks and MacBook Pros. While the biggest changes are the new enclosures and the new graphics cards, the new laptops also have a new chipset (an NVIDIA chipset instead of an Intel chipset) and faster DDR3 memory. These last two features might improve processor performance even though the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros don’t really have upgraded processors.

So, do the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros have better processor performance than the old MacBooks and MacBook Pros? Does the new memory and chipset make a difference? Let’s find out!

Setup

I used Geekbench 2, our cross-platform benchmark, to measure the processor and memory performance of the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Here is the configuration of the eight test machines.

  • MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
    • Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz or
    • Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
    • 4.00 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
    • Mac OS X 10.5.5 (Build 9F2088)
  • MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
    • Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 @ 2.60GHz or
    • Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
    • 4.00 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.5.5 (Build 9F33)
  • MacBook (Late 2008)
    • Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz or
    • Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.00GHz
    • 2.00 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
    • Mac OS X 10.5.5 (Build 9F2114)
  • MacBook (Early 2008)
    • Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz or
    • Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2.10GHz
    • 2.00 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.5.5 (Build 9F33)

Geekbench 2 scores are calibrated against a baseline score of 1000 (which is the score a Power Mac G5 @ 1.6GHz would receive). Higher scores are better.

Results

Overall Performance

MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz
3290
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 @ 2.60GHz
3375
 
MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
3129
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
3137
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
3139
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
3042
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.00GHz
2706
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2.10GHz
2573
 

Integer Performance

MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz
2864
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 @ 2.60GHz
3015
 
MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
2656
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
2726
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
2656
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
2702
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.00GHz
2252
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2.10GHz
2263
 

Floating Point Performance

MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz
4565
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 @ 2.60GHz
4739
 
MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
4333
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
4401
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
4318
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
4135
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.00GHz
3621
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2.10GHz
3474
 

Memory Performance

MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz
2593
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 @ 2.60GHz
2416
 
MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
2483
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
2359
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
2573
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
2329
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.00GHz
2363
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2.10GHz
1981
 

Stream Performance

MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz
1702
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 @ 2.60GHz
1752
 
MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
1860
 
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
1734
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz
1856
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
1815
 
MacBook (Late 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.00GHz
1818
 
MacBook (Early 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2.10GHz
1675
 

Conclusions

Somewhat surprisingly, processor performance is virtually unchanged in the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros; the new NVIDIA chipset and the faster DDR3 memory haven’t managed to help increase processor performance.

Why is this surprising? Well, with other hardware revisions Apple’s managed to make some modest gains in processor performance with chipset or memory upgrades without upgrading the processor itself. Here, though, performance is practically the same (and actually down in some cases) with the new chipset and memory. I think NVIDIA has a ways to go (at least compared to Intel) when it comes to implementing chipsets.

Does this mean the new laptops are a bad upgrade? Hardly! While the NVIDIA chipsets might not be as good as the Intel chipsets when it comes to processor performance, they far surpass Intel when it comes to graphics performance. This increased graphics performance is a huge gain for the MacBook, and makes the MacBook a compelling machine for people looking for a smaller MacBook Pro.

Throw in the new, sturdier chassis and you’ve got a compelling upgrade for almost any Mac laptop user.