Apple MacBook 16 Inch: CPU Performance
Apple released the MacBook pro 16". It’s not an addition the lineup but a replacement of the 15". Early reviews have been very positives mainly because of the new (old) keyboard design.
So while pondering which one to buy I released it’s pretty difficult at this stage (November 2019) to get clear information on the actual performance of the different options.
With this guide I will help you decide which CPU is right for you. Apple offers only three options, so it should be a simple choice, right? Let’s find out!
Deciding on specs
CPU Benchmarks
Apple gives you three CPUs to choose from. It has an entry level version with the Intel i7 CPU and AMD 5300M Pro GPU and a performance version with the Intel i9 and AMD 5500M Pro. Apple is always quite sketchy on which exact CPU model but I’ll give you the specs and model names:
- Intel Core i7-9750H 2,6GHz; 6 core; Turbo Boost 4,5 GHz
- Intel Core i9–9880H 2,3GHz; 8 core; Turbo Boost 4,8 GHz
- Intel Core i9–9980HK 2,4GHz; 8 core; Turbo Boost 5,0 GHz
The most obvious choice to make is the number of cores you want. The i7 comes with 6 cores, while the i9 comes with 8 cores plus the i9 has some extra internal cache (more is better).
The difference between the two i9 models though is only the slightly higher clock speed, no extra cache or other upgrades. So expect 4% extra performance. My advice is to avoid the $200/€220 price increase and spend your money elsewhere (or save it). The weird thing is Apple lets you choose the fastest i9 as an upgrade in their entry level version. If you do, you end up with the entry level GPU but with fastest but the too expensive i9.
Let’s have a look at some real numbers to see how the different CPU options perform. One graph can tell a thousand words.
The left 3 bars are the single core performance, 3 bars on the right the multi core performance. TL;DR: the 3 CPUs perform within an inch of each other in single core performance.
The two i9 CPUs perform nearly identical, as expected. So the numbers are not convincing enough to go for the fastest i9. So save some money or spend it on extra memory or a faster GPU to get better performance.
The only other comparison that makes sense to me is with the 2015 15" MacBook Pro. Why? Because it shares the same scissor keyboard with the 16” model. Quite a few people held off buying the dreaded butterfly keyboard MacBook because of the bad press. So the 16" might convince quite a few people to upgrade.
The CPU we’re comparing with is the Intel Core i7-4770HQ with 4 cores at 2.2Ghz. As you can see in the single core scores the 16" MacBook Pro is 35% to 40% faster than the classic 15" MacBook. Not a world of difference but still significant. The multi core score is more dramatic, where the 8 core Intel i9 more than doubles the score of the old i7. The new i7 is still 65% faster, which makes sense since there are 2 more cores to work with.
Conclusion
Avoid the 2.4Ghz i9 in the new 16" MacBook Pro. The other two CPU options give you better value for money. Also don’t feel bad opting for the i7. Its single core performance is on par with the i9 and you would only ever see better performance in the i9 if you can utilise all CPU cores at the same time. Some applications are optimised for multi core usage, so for some it will be worth it. But if don’t already know how you’re going to max out 8 cores, go for the i7.
Any comments or questions, feel free to leave a note!
