Apple’s Retina MacBook Pro Benchmarks Surface One Day After Release, Suggest Modest Performance Gains

One day after Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) released the latest Retina MacBook Pro models on Tuesday, a few benchmarks were leaked for the new laptops that are powered by the new Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Haswell processors.

The benchmark results for both 13-inch and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro models showed up in Geekbench benchmarks, demonstrating how the devices’ raw performance compares to their predecessors, MacRumors reported, adding that although some of the entries look fake, there are some results that seem legitimate.

According to benchmarks published on the Geekbench 3 site, the Core i7 2.3GHz and Core i7 2.6GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro models scored 11,771 and 12,813 respectively in Geekbench 3. Meanwhile, the Core i5 2.4GHz, Core i5 2.5GHz and Core i5 2.8Ghz 13-inch MacBook Pro models scored 4,348 and 5,954 and 6,189 respectively.

The MacRumors report said these benchmarks appear genuine as the kind of enhancement seen is typically expected from updated machines with updated processors. The report also said that the new models are approximately 4 percent to 10 percent better than last year’s models -- a modest performance enhancement -- while Apple has also improved the devices' overall battery life by using Intel's Haswell processors.

In June, the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro appeared in benchmark results from Geekbench 2, which used different baseline scores than the current Geekbench 3. Benchmarks for the 15-inch model were also leaked in July, but with an Intel i7-4950HQ chip at 2.4 GHz, which Apple did not use in the final product. Instead of that, the company incorporated the i7-4960HQ chip at 2.6 GHz, a new processor that was launched in September.

The 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro comes with the same form factor as its predecessor while the 13-inch version is thinner than the previous model. Apple claims that the new processors will help the 13-inch and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros offer 9 hours and 8 hours of battery life respectively.

The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro features dual-core Intel Core i5 processors with up to 2.6Ghz speed and Intel’s integrated Iris graphics for 90 percent faster performance than the predecessor. The device can be configured to 2.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processors at an added cost.

As for the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, the device sports quad-core Intel Core i7 processors up to 2.6Ghz (for extra cost) and Intel’s Iris Pro 5200 Integrated Graphics. In addition, a GeForce GT 750M separate graphics card with 2GB of video memory can also be added for an extra charge.

More details can be found on the Apple website here.