While we are still digesting that the new MacBook Air sent the white MacBook to pasture, a report out today from Wired indicates that the MacBook Pro better watch its back, too.
Apparently, the new MacBook Air outperforms every 2010 MacBook Pro in benchmark tests. Guess that means little cousin Air is not so little anymore. For serious.
According to the report, via Laptop magazine, the new 13-inch Air jumped 100 percent in performance over last year's model, now scoring 5,860 on the Geekbench test; the 11-inch jumped 149 percent, tagging an amazing score of 5,040. Last year, the 2010 17-inch MacBook Pro scored 5,423. The higher score wins, yo; the new 13-inch Mac Book Air knocks out the 17-inch Pro, and the 11-inch Air goes toe-to-toe till the final bell.
And that is something white MacBook never did.
Wired goes on to break down several of the stats, but the article also touches on a possible bigger picture here: Apple continues to focus on the consumer and "prosumer" market, at the expense of the professional market. Final Cut X, anyone? This is not to say that Apple is abandoning the pros, but devices like the iPhone and iPad and, now, the MacBook Air really do seem focused bringing high powered tools into the hands of everyday users, even if the devices do not have every bell and whistle the niche market of professional users want.
Anyway you spin it, the MacBook Air is one skinny, fast, fierce machine.
Via Wired
munas
July 21, 2011 at 7:59pm
I just geekbenched my MBP 17" mid 2010, i7 2,6GHz. I even with Safari, Mail, iCal, App Store, Skype, iChat running during the test, I have 5659 (OS X 10.7).
Laptop magazine needs to bring their 2010 17-inch MacBook Pro to service :)
joecz2011
July 21, 2011 at 2:39pm
It's not really fair to compare the white MacBook to the Pro. They are two completely different machines for two different purposes. All you did was throw a cheap jab at the MacBook. BTW, I have a MacBook that I bought in June and it serves my purposes very well...as a matter of fact, the Pro did more than wanted so I saved the money for other things.
Adrian Hoppel
July 22, 2011 at 8:04am
joecz2011, not a cheap shot. I love the white MacBook; in fact, it is what I use for much the same reasons as you listed. I was, and am, quite sad to see it dissappear. I was just making the point that while many people, myself included, thought the MBA was an odd choice for an entry level notebook... out of the box it IS very powerful, moreso than the white MB it is replacing. FWIW, I intend to keep my white MB running until some future cat-themed OS makes it obsolete.
