Browse tag: benchmarks

Browse tag: benchmarks

Speedmark 6: Macworld Lab's new benchmark suite
The Macworld Lab has been hard at work tweaking Speedmark, our overall system performance testing tool, to better accommodate Snow Leopard and to test the Macs on which it runs.
iMac (Late 2009) benchmarks
Macworld Lab has the new iMacs and we’ve put them to the test.
New DiskTool Pro update includes CPU meter, improved Snow Leopard support
Macware on Tuesday announced an update to DiskTools Pro, the company’s software utility for hard drive management.
Mac mini (Late 2009) benchmarks
Macworld Lab has the Mac minis, and we put them through our benchmark tests. Our result show that the new Mac minis are impressively faster than the models they replace.
Review: 13-inch MacBook/2.26GHz (Late 2009)
In bringing the unibody treatment to the white MacBook, Apple has added many pro features while removing FireWire and the infrared port.
MacBook (Late 2009) benchmarks
Macworld Lab has received the new MacBook and has been hard at work, putting it to the test. And while we don’t have Speedmark 6 finalized just yet, we do have some MacBook benchmark results we’d like to share.
New MacBook Pro speed tests
Macworld Lab tested all six of the new MacBook Pros, and the result show modest gains over the previous models.
Review: 13-inch MacBook/2.13GHz (white)
If price plays a greater role in a shopper's buying decisions during tough economic times, Apple's recent updates to its entry-level laptop, the $999 white MacBook, should help push some cost-conscious consumers over the laptop-buying fence.
Lab test: $999 MacBook outpaces pricier models
The revamped white MacBook Apple released last week not only outperforms the entry-level machine it replaces; it also beats the 2GHz unibody MacBook in Macworld Lab's latest tests.
Maximizing your Mac mini
Dan Frakes takes a look at the process -- and the results -- of upgrading your Mac mini and finds you can top the performance of Apple's $799 model for a lower price tag.
Benchmarks: 2.93GHz Xeon-based Mac Pros
Macworld Lab tested a couple of different Mac Pro configure-to-order systems and the results include our first Speedmark 5 score to top 400.
Benchmarks: Mac Pros, iMacs gaming performance
Though our reviews of the new iMacs and Mac Pros have all posted, the work in the Macworld Lab is not done. We’ve received and tested a number of build-to-order (BTO) systems (as well as the standard configuration Macs) and ran them through some high-resolution game tests.
Review: Quad-Core and Eight-Core Mac Pros (2009 editions)
With its improved graphics, memory bandwidth, and reduced memory latency, the 2.66GHz quad-core Mac Pro was faster than the 2.8GHz eight-core Mac Pro, and at $2,499 costs $300 less. It would be a fine purchase for anyone replacing an older Mac or buying a new one for the first time.
Lab results: New iMacs show speed boost
We have benchmark results on the four new iMacs. The speed improvements over the iMacs released in April 2008 are significant, and there are also some interesting performance observations between the new iMac models.
Benchmarks: New Mac minis
The Mac mini, waiting patiently on the sidelines for the past 17 months, has finally been refreshed. Though the new systems appears identical to the previous Mac mini, there are some important changes internally—changes that have a positive impact to the tune of a 21 percent increase in overall system performance, according to our testing.
Benchmarks: 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro 2.66GHz
With a slightly faster processor than its predecessor, the new 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro outperformed the previous 17-inch MacBook Pro—but by a small percentage. Macworld's lab director James Galbraith analyzes the performance benchmarks from Apple's new mega-sized laptop.
17-inch MacBook Pro benchmarks
Little attention has been paid to the extremes of Apple’s revamped laptops. We turn our attention to the 17-inch MacBook Pro to find out how this 2.5GHz portable fares in our battery of tests.
Customized MacBook Pro benchmarks
Apple typically offers customers options for customizing their Macs, and the newly-introduced line of MacBook Pros is no exception. We take a 2.8GHz MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM and a 7,200-rpm drive and put it to the test against other systems to see how much performance bang you get for spending your optional bucks.
Lab tests: New 1.86GHz MacBook Air
Macworld Lab tests the new top-of-the-line MacBook Air to see if its upgraded internals really make a difference when it comes to speed. Turns out it does—but how you view the results depends entirely on your perspective.
Lab Tests: MacBook Pro benchmarks
Our tests of Apple’s new laptop offerings continues, with MacBook Pro benchmarks, as we discover that the new 2.53GHz MacBook Pro is the fastest standard configuration Mac portable we’ve tested.
Benchmarks: The new MacBook and games
The verdict is in: The Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chip makes the MacBook a capable and affordable action gaming laptop—finally. And the new Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics chip in the MacBook Pro provides a substantial boost over the graphics chip in the previous MacBook Pro.
Test Results: MacBook benchmarks
The performance gap between the fastest MacBook and the entry-level MacBook Pro has narrowed after the latest round of laptop updates. Macworld Lab has put the new MacBooks through their paces, and James Galbraith breaks down the results of our first benchmark tests.
iMac performance evolves through the years
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the iMac’s release, Macworld Lab digs some older machines out of storage to see how well they perform compared to the current models.
Welcome to the Macworld Lab
Associate Editor Brian Chen welcomes you to Macworld's newest blog, From the Lab.
From the Lab: Comparing new iMacs to older models
When Apple releases new hardware, it’s usually not owners of the previous models that are looking to upgrade—rather, it’s people who own older systems. With that in mind, Macworld Lab compares the test results for the latest iMacs to some older models, including a Core Duo-based iMac and an iMac G5.
From the Lab: How Psystar’s computer measures up to a Mac
The Open Computer, an Intel-based machine capable of running OS X, can outperform a Mac mini. But it lagged behind the entry-level iMac as well as a home-built system in our benchmark testing.
From the Lab: Penryn iMacs show promise
Macworld Lab has begun testing the new iMacs released Monday, and we’ve got results for the entry-level 2.4GHz model as well as the build-to-order 3.06GHz machine.
Lab-testing the Frankenmac clone
Macworld Lab gauges the performance of Rob Griffiths's hand-built Mac clone.
From the Lab: Mac Pro options put to the test
The current Mac Pro may be the most customizable machine to ever come out of Cupertino. But what do each of those options add in terms of performance? Macworld Lab has configured a Mac Pro to test tweaks to memory, the hard drive, and the graphics card to figure out what effect each upgrade has on the Mac Pro’s speed.
From the Lab: Optimizing the MacBook Pro
We’ve seen what Intel’s next-generation of Penryn chips can do to the performance of both MacBook Pros and MacBooks. But that testing focused on standard configurations rather than build-to-order configurations. And now we’ve gotten our hands on such a system, a customized MacBook Pro, to see how optimizing the hardware translates to performance gains.