Right now I’m busy working on Geekbench 2.2 so I’ve only done an abbreviated performance comparison of the new MacBook Airs that Apple released last week.
I’ve grabbed Geekbench 2 scores from the Geekbench Browser for all of the MacBook Air models, as well as the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro models (it being the most logical comparison outside of the Air lineup). I’ve also included scores for the iPad and the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro models (as they’re the products most folks will be comparing the new Airs against).
Update: I’ve updated the chart with scores for the 1.6GHz and 2.13GHz MacBook Airs, as well as for the latest 13-inch MacBook.
If you’re not familiar with Geekbench 2, higher Geekbench 2 scores are better. Also, keep in mind that Geekbench 2 only measures processor and memory performance; it won’t measure the benefits of new video cards or storage devices.
Geekbench 2 Scores
| MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2010) Intel Core 2 Duo P8800 2.66 GHz (2 cores) |
3655 | |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2010) Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4 GHz (2 cores) |
3358 | |
| MacBook (Mid 2010) Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4 GHz (2 cores) |
3345 | |
| MacBook Air (13-inch Late 2010) Intel Core 2 Duo L9600 2.13 GHz (2 cores) |
3003 | |
| MacBook Air (13-inch Late 2010) Intel Core 2 Duo L9400 1.86 GHz (2 cores) |
2695 | |
| MacBook Air (Late 2008) Intel Core 2 Duo L9400 1.86 GHz (2 cores) |
2444 | |
| MacBook Air (11-inch Late 2010) Intel Core 2 Duo U9600 1.6 GHz (2 cores) |
2280 | |
| MacBook Air (Late 2008) Intel Core 2 Duo L9300 1.6 GHz (2 cores) |
2255 | |
| MacBook Air Intel Core 2 Duo P7700 1.8 GHz (2 cores) |
2100 | |
| MacBook Air Intel Core 2 Duo P7500 1.6 GHz (2 cores) |
2031 | |
| MacBook Air (11-inch Late 2010) Intel Core 2 Duo U9400 1.4 GHz (2 cores) |
2026 | |
| iPad Apple A4 (1 core) |
453 |
There are two ways you can look at the new 11-inch MacBook Air; it’s either a much smaller but slower MacBook Pro, or a much faster but larger iPad. The 11-inch MacBook Air is small enough that I’d consider bringing it instead of an iPad, but I’d worry it’s not fast enough (or have enough screen space) to be my primary laptop.
The 13-inch MacBook Air is a much more straightforward product; it has 80% of the processor performance of the latest 13-inch Pro, making it an acceptable substitute for users looking for a slightly more portable Pro.