Eight-core 2019 15-inch MacBook Pro crushes mid-2018 model in benchmarks
An initial benchmark of Apple's updated 15-inch MacBook Pro with an eight-core processor indicates the 2019 revision of the highest-specification model offers considerable improvements on the 2018 equivalent, especially in multi-core performance.
On Tuesday, Apple updated the MacBook Pro lineup with 8th and 9th-generation Intel Core processors, including changes to the 13-inch and 15-inch lineups. The highlight change is a 15-inch MacBook pro that uses the Core i9-9980HK, an 8-core processor clocked at 4.8GHz.
Benchmarks published to Geekbench on Thursday for the "MacBookPro15,3," believed to be the new model, reveals the new processor has given a significant boost to overall system performance. According to the results, its single core test score was 5879, which is a 9.9% gain from the 5348 of the Mid-2018 15-inch MacBook Pro, which used the six-core Intel Core i9-8950HK.
The increase from six cores to eight also made a predictable improvement to the multi-core test results, with the new model achieving 29,184 versus 22620 for 2018, a boost of 29% year-on-year.
According to the system information of the published results, the Mac in question was running macOS 10.14.5, and was equipped with 32 gigabytes of 2400MHz DDR4 memory.
The refreshed high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro starts from $2,799, and is equipped with 2280 by 1800 P3 Wide Color Gamut displays offering 500 nits of brightness and TrueTone support. Options are available for 16GB or 32GB of RAM, between 512GB and 4TB of SSD storage, and either Radeon Pro 560X or Vega 20 graphics with up to 4GB of HBM2 memory.
AppleInsider will be testing the thermal environment of the new high-end MacBook Pro in the next week.
On Tuesday, Apple updated the MacBook Pro lineup with 8th and 9th-generation Intel Core processors, including changes to the 13-inch and 15-inch lineups. The highlight change is a 15-inch MacBook pro that uses the Core i9-9980HK, an 8-core processor clocked at 4.8GHz.
Benchmarks published to Geekbench on Thursday for the "MacBookPro15,3," believed to be the new model, reveals the new processor has given a significant boost to overall system performance. According to the results, its single core test score was 5879, which is a 9.9% gain from the 5348 of the Mid-2018 15-inch MacBook Pro, which used the six-core Intel Core i9-8950HK.
The increase from six cores to eight also made a predictable improvement to the multi-core test results, with the new model achieving 29,184 versus 22620 for 2018, a boost of 29% year-on-year.
According to the system information of the published results, the Mac in question was running macOS 10.14.5, and was equipped with 32 gigabytes of 2400MHz DDR4 memory.
The refreshed high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro starts from $2,799, and is equipped with 2280 by 1800 P3 Wide Color Gamut displays offering 500 nits of brightness and TrueTone support. Options are available for 16GB or 32GB of RAM, between 512GB and 4TB of SSD storage, and either Radeon Pro 560X or Vega 20 graphics with up to 4GB of HBM2 memory.
AppleInsider will be testing the thermal environment of the new high-end MacBook Pro in the next week.
Comments
...and yet still holding out at this end for such (basic?) 'pro' features as...
- lower cost non-touch bar option (the mac I actually use)
- user adjustable non-proprietary storage (benefitting every mac I've owned)
- user adjustable non-proprietary ram (benefitting every mac I've owned)
- an HD screen I don't have to squint at (17")
I know, I know - I'll likely be waiting a long time...
But the idea that those things make it "pro" is silly. The idea of "pro" itself is silly.
I would not buy an 8 core knowing that the i9 with 6 cores does not achieve its performance capabilities except for a few seconds until it throttles down due to excessive heat. The i9 and the new 8 core both require a revised platform to achieve their performance potential. I consider these upgrades a waste of money under the present configurations.
This new one has a base clock of 2.4ghz
both 14nm
Don’t know about you, but Intel is still refining their 14 nm fab, slowly eeking out 10% year over year, adding more cores year over year, while shredding the definition of TDP. Even the top end clock rate might only be achieve through thermal velocity boost, a further technique for taking advantage of processor’s thermal capacitance before it reaches the top end temperature.
The drama queen antics get old.
The fanboy antics get old
The other issue is the nature of the problem and the cost/inconvenience to fix it. If it were a non-critical part of the laptop or if one could fix it in 10 minutes with a $2 part it would be annoying but not a catastrophe. The keyboard is a critical component and the fix is $700 and takes over a week. Apple is reportedly covering the cost now but you are still left without a laptop. The flip side of this is that Apple has a big financial incentive to fix the problem - $700 a pop is a lot of money for them to swallow.
Single Core score is off as I scored 5598
Multicore is spot on as I scored 22620
All early indicators point to this being a nice CPU bump.
I'm equally as curious about the keyboard refinements.