MacBook Pros get super-quick with whizzer new chips

Both the 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pro laptops now ship with the choice of i5 or i7 processors and dual graphics cards.

I'm sorry I haven't written about the iPad yet. I just can't get excited about something that's not available here. It's not supported in New Zealand, and Apple doesn't even seem to be able to (or want to) tell us when we're getting it.

I have friends with iPads. I've seen one. Looks great. But I can't bring myself to part with about $1300 (the price I've seen them on Trade Me) to maybe discover I don't need or want one, and I don't otherwise have access to one for enough time I could really get to grips with it, so I'm waiting.

But something I can get excited about is Apple's new MacBook Pros. These have been a long time coming – they were a good few months past the usual time Apple refreshes this range.

Perhaps the iPad can be blamed for that too – maybe Apple moves some talent around development teams subsequently. But MacBook Pros suit the dwindling (or so the pundits say) category of those who input (me) compared to those who compute and surf, but don't (or hardly ever) input.

The big news is the Intel i5 and i7-chipped 15- and 17-inch versions - the new 13-inch stayed Core 2 Duo.

However, the 13-inch also got improved. The popular 13-inch MacBook Pro features the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor for up to 80 per cent faster graphics. It also got the new battery tech offering up to 10 hours of service.

All the new 13-inch MacBook Pros have Intel Core 2 Duo processors, sure, but they're faster than previous for the same price.

The 13 comes with 4GB RAM but the real speed increase comes from 48 processing cores in the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M video card. That's three times more video processing cores than the outgoing models.

Apple calls this the "fastest integrated graphics processor on the market", saying it's for graphics intensive applications or high performance games, as befitting the 'Pro' moniker of Apple's sleek little aluminium laptop.

In tests done by Macworld, the new 2.4GHz model earned a Speedmark 6 score of 118, or just over 10 per cent higher than the 107 scored by 2.26GHz model it replaces.

In the individual tests results that make up Speedmark 6, tests involving Photoshop, iTunes, Aperture, and iPhoto showed the new 2.4GHz model to be 2 or 3 seconds faster than the 2.26GHz system.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is available in two configurations: one has a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 250GB HD (NZ$1999 inc GST; the other has a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 320GB HD (NZ$2599).

They are modestly faster than the outgoing models except in applications like Call of Duty 4, in which they were great (according to Macworld) thanks to the new video cards. The best thing about them is: no price change for more power; better graphics is always good; and they're tiny.

Intel i5, i7

But the new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models feature Intel Core i5 and i7 processors (your choice) which make them up to 50 per cent faster than the systems they replaced, according to Apple.

They also ship with Apple's new automatic graphics switching technology. This toggles between NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and more energy efficient Intel HD Graphics processors.

And yes, this is mostly for better battery life – they stay on the NVIDIA when you're on the grid. On battery, the new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro should get eight to nine hours.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M video card is more than twice as fast as the the previous models' GeForce 320M.

According to benchmarks run by Primate Labs, the i5 gives better performance for the dollar. The tester said Core i5 MacBooks are "more than sufficient," being 25 per cent cheaper but only 15 per cent slower than i7 systems. The greater trade off may be in terms of hard drive space and video card memory.

The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is available in three stock models (there are further build-to-order options): 2.4GHz Intel Core i5/320GB hard drive for NZ$3099; 2.53GHz Intel Core i5/500GB hard drive at NZ3499; and the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7/500GB hard drive at NZ3799. Oh, and this also has the 512MB Video card – the i5s have 256MB cards.

The new 17-inch MacBook Pro has a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and 500GB hard drive for NZ$3999, which seems good buying – the 17-inchers used to cost a lot more for that extra two inches of monitor than $200 – but yeah, it's i5 not i7.

But it does have the 512MB video card. You can actually get an i7 17-inch – it's just $360 more as a build-to-order.

Speeds

I looked at the cross platform speed-testing tool Geekbench to get a more real-world idea of speeds. My own mid-2007 MacBook Pro 15 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/4GB RAM) netted me an overall score of 3393 in 32-bit mode and a tiny-bit-faster 3396 in 64-bit.

The Mac Pro 4-core tower I had for a few months in 2007 (2.66GHz 2x4-core, 4GB RAM, OS 10.4.9) clocked 5106 in 32-bit mode – not that much faster than my laptop for twice the cores.

But a 2009 8-core Mac Pro tower with 2.27GHz CPUs and 6GBs RAM (OS 10.6) turned in a stonkin' 13,074 in 64-bit mode.

Sean Craig's brand new i7 MacBook Pro 15-inch (2.67GHz/4GB RAM) showed a score of 5388 in 32-bit mode, and 6353 in 64-bit mode. The new architectures clearly get more out of 64-bit mode than older Macs do.

There are more specs on the new MacBook Pros at Apple.

I got Sean Craig to benchmark his office's new i7 27-inch iMac, too – this 4-core 2.8GHz all-in-one with 8GB RAM showed a most impressive 8607 in 32-bit mode.

By date order (higher numbers are faster):

Mid 2007 15-inch MacBook Pro 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo 32-bit 3393
Mid 2007 15-inch MacBook Pro 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo 64-bit 3396
Mid 2007 Mac Pro 2x2-core 2.66GHz Xeon 32-bit 5106
Early 2009 Mac Pro 2x4-core 2.27GHx Xeon 32-bit 11,626
Early 2009 Mac Pro 2x4-core 2.27GHx Xeon 64-bit 12,951
Late 2009 27-inch iMac 2.8GHz i7 32-bit 8607
Early 2010 15-inch MacBook Pro 2.67GHz i7 32-bit 5388
Early 2010 15-inch MacBook Pro 2.67GHz i7 64-bit 6353

I think you'll agree, the new i7 MacBook Pro 15-inch shows most impressive results considering it has four cores. It's faster than the four-core 2007 Mac Pro tower, and half the speed of the 8-core Mac Pro tower for a difference of $2000 (not counting a monitor you need to buy extra for the tower) and a saving of 16.16KGs in weight (the tower weighs 18.7kgs, the 15-inch 2.54kgs).

Photographers and glare

The 15s and 17s can actually be ordered with anti-glare screens for an extra $90, but I asked professional photographer Sean Craig about this. He recently got a new i7 15-incher as a replacement for a 15-inch that got damaged beyond repair in his busy working life.

He didn't opt for the anti-glare option (or wasn't allowed to – I'm not sure), yet finds the shiny screen surprisingly good, since it's bright, accurate and shows detail so well. He's well pleased with the screen, which is really not what he expected.

Darn. I want a new MacBook Pro!

- Mark Websters mac-nz.com