Imac i5 faster than macbook pro i5?

[Romy_16]

Hello, is the iMac i5 processor faster than the new Macbook Pro i5?

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Yes iMac CPU is faster:
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs-17inch.html
"2.53GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 3MB shared L3 cache; or optional 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache"

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html
" 2.66GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.2GHz
2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.46GHz; Hyper-Threading for up to eight virtual cores"

 

[Romy_16]

Thank you so much Maziar! But do you think the new macbook pro i5 and i7 is a good buy without comparing it to iMac? I'm thinking of buying one but I don't know if the macbook pro i7 is really way better than the macbook pro i5. Thanks again!

 

[cobot]

Well, it certainly isn't a good choice when it comes to performance-per-dollar.
It is by no means slow, the specs are quite good, but you can get similarily specced pcs for much less.

No, where the macbooks excell is in quality & design, portability, and user-friendliness.

Are they worth the price premium? If you have the cash, then yes.

 

[donovands]

It depends on what you want to do. If you want to game then no, Apple is not the way to go. You will get good performance on other apps but as Cobot says, you can get the same specs on a PC based laptop for much less (about 1/2 the cost or so depending on the models compared). What Apple brings to the table will be the aluminum unibody design, generally lower weight, longer battery life and the Mac OS (if that matters to you).

 

[Maziar]

Thank you so much Maziar! But do you think the new macbook pro i5 and i7 is a good buy without comparing it to iMac? I'm thinking of buying one but I don't know if the macbook pro i7 is really way better than the macbook pro i5. Thanks again!

No problem
Well price/performance wise,the answer is no because there are lots of better laptops in the same price range with better specs,however the new MBP's battery life are really impressive and far better compared to similar windows laptops

 

[Romy_16]

Well, it certainly isn't a good choice when it comes to performance-per-dollar.
It is by no means slow, the specs are quite good, but you can get similarily specced pcs for much less.

No, where the macbooks excell is in quality & design, portability, and user-friendliness.

Are they worth the price premium? If you have the cash, then yes.

Eversince, i'm a Mac user...so my only choice is between the 15" Macbook pro i5 and 15" Macbook pro i7. My question is... is the i7 processor really waaaay much better than the i5? Because if not, i will choose the i5. I just can't decide. Honestly, I don't know that much about processors. Thanks Cobot!

 

[Romy_16]

It depends on what you want to do. If you want to game then no, Apple is not the way to go. You will get good performance on other apps but as Cobot says, you can get the same specs on a PC based laptop for much less (about 1/2 the cost or so depending on the models compared). What Apple brings to the table will be the aluminum unibody design, generally lower weight, longer battery life and the Mac OS (if that matters to you).

Hi Donovands! I do intensive graphic designs and motion graphics/video editing and not much into gaming. Do you know if the i7 laptop processor is really better than the i5?

 

[Romy_16]

No problem
Well price/performance wise,the answer is no because there are lots of better laptops in the same price range with better specs,however the new MBP's battery life are really impressive and far better compared to similar windows laptops

I'm a loyal mac user! hehe😛 I'm choosing between the i5 and i7 macbook pro. My only problem is I don't have any idea if the i7 is really much better than the i5. If not, i will choose the i5. At least it is slightly cheaper. Do you know someone who already tested the i5 & i7 laptop processors?

 

[Maziar]

How much is the price difference?
Because the difference isn't noticeable since the i5 models are clocked @ 2.4/2.5 with 3MB cache whereas i7 one is clocked @ 2.6 with 4MB cache so the difference isn't much

 

[Romy_16]

How much is the price difference?
Because the difference isn't noticeable since the i5 models are clocked @ 2.4/2.5 with 3MB cache whereas i7 one is clocked @ 2.6 with 4MB cache so the difference isn't much

$USD 400 difference. Now, I think the 15" macbook pro i5 2.4ghz is the best choice! Thank you so much again Maziar!

 

[cobot]

$USD 400 difference. Now, I think the 15" macbook pro i5 2.4ghz is the best choice! Thank you so much again Maziar!

I'd probably go for the i5 as well. The i7 will be a bit faster, but the difference isn't enormous:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html


It's just not quite worth 400 bucks...

 

[Maziar]

$USD 400 difference. Now, I think the 15" macbook pro i5 2.4ghz is the best choice! Thank you so much again Maziar!

Its definitely not worth it for $400,if it was like $100 or so then i would have said to get it.
You will be fine with the 2.4 i5
And no problem,glad to help 😉

 

[barrk9]

Well, it certainly isn't a good choice when it comes to performance-per-dollar.
It is by no means slow, the specs are quite good, but you can get similarily specced pcs for much less.

No, where the macbooks excell is in quality & design, portability, and user-friendliness.

Are they worth the price premium? If you have the cash, then yes.

I would strongly disagree. I use both PC's and Mac's and all my serious work is on the Mac's.
The PC's though at first "seemingly" impressive by their specs and price point, do not put out.
There is a vast difference between PC's and Macs and after many years of trying to save money by buying PC's,
I now save up my dollars and buy a Mac less often and use it for a longer period of time. Macs have a staying power that is impressive.
They are built to do computing work for years, not a year. Consumers that are fixated on specs and numbers don't get that part.
Then there's the ergonomics. How much do you save when you're constantly frustrated by the bad design that plagues the Windows world?
If you want your PC to behave as well as a Mac then buy a Mac.

 

[barrk9]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Yes iMac CPU is faster:
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs-17inch.html
"2.53GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 3MB shared L3 cache; or optional 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache"

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html
" 2.66GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.2GHz
2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.46GHz; Hyper-Threading for up to eight virtual cores"

You missed this part of the new MacBook Pro specs:
Turbo Boost.
Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors also feature Turbo Boost. If you’re using processor-intensive applications like Aperture 3 or Final Cut Pro that would benefit from an extra performance kick, Turbo Boost dynamically increases the speed of one or both cores, taking a 2.66GHz MacBook Pro all the way up to 3.33GHz.

Hyper-Threading.
Built-in Hyper-Threading allows two threads to run simultaneously on each core, so Mac OS X recognizes four virtual cores instead of just two. When you’re running multiple applications at once, the Core i5 and Core i7 processors spread tasks more evenly across a greater number of cores — so you can get more done, faster.

Integrated memory controller.
Unlike systems that connect memory to the processor through a separate controller, the new MacBook Pro uses an integrated memory controller to connect memory directly to the processor. In a sense, this cuts out the middleman. With faster access to memory, each core gets right to work on your data, rather than waiting for it to arrive. Together with up to 4MB of shared L3 cache, the integrated memory controller ensures MacBook Pro can keep up with you.

May not make them as fast as the new iMac but certainly faster than you implied.

 

[Maziar]

Well actually the iMac has those features too but they aren't posted in there
http://www.apple.com/imac/performance.html
Both MBP and iMacs which use i7/i5 CPUs have the same technologies and features but iMac CPUs have more cache and clock speed

 

[Guest]

$USD 400 difference. Now, I think the 15" macbook pro i5 2.4ghz is the best choice! Thank you so much again Maziar!

I see a $150 difference between i5 and i7 on MacBook Pro 15, and $180 on MacBook Pro 17

 

[cobot]

I would strongly disagree. I use both PC's and Mac's and all my serious work is on the Mac's.
The PC's though at first "seemingly" impressive by their specs and price point, do not put out.
There is a vast difference between PC's and Macs and after many years of trying to save money by buying PC's,
I now save up my dollars and buy a Mac less often and use it for a longer period of time. Macs have a staying power that is impressive.
They are built to do computing work for years, not a year. Consumers that are fixated on specs and numbers don't get that part.
Then there's the ergonomics. How much do you save when you're constantly frustrated by the bad design that plagues the Windows world?
If you want your PC to behave as well as a Mac then buy a Mac.

Yes, but what does all this have to do with performance-per-dollar?

Also, I think you are generalizing, PC's come in all flavors. I used to like HP's pro series and the vaios - fantastic laptops! Of course, they are also as expensive as the macbooks.

The greatest advantage os the Macs is mac osx.

 

[barrk9]

Performance per dollar is a good way to put it.
We tend to harbour an illusion that you can spend less on a PC and get equal performance to a Mac.
From my experience that is totally inaccurate.
If you're going to attempt to get as good as performance from a PC then you'll have to spend as much as you would on a Mac.
Even then I would argue against the performance being equal to the Mac.
I haven't seen it and I've owned a lot of PCs.

 

[cobot]

The illusion is real.

Fortunately, theere are facts available to prove it:

This 17" Asus, for example, is even cheaper than the 15" macbook:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220704

Even though it costs much less, it is still faster than the 17" macbook.

Please note that I am only talking performance per dollar here. You gotta remember that PCs and Macs use the same hardware (except for EFI vs Bios) and apple is considered a premium brand (some will disagree). Being a premium brand, thy will not aim at maximum performance, but on design, quality etc.