The 2021 Apple MacBook Pro are fast 🏎💨
A major leap in performance for personal computers is upon us
With the introduction of the 5th generation 2021 Apple MacBook Pro laptops with their M1 Pro and M1 Max chipset on October of this year, Apple leaped personal computing performance forward many times over. Don’t believe me? I am about to show you.
Here is the hardware we are about to compare:
| Spec | 13” MacBook Pro | 14” MacBook Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Model Year | 2018 | 2021 |
| CPU | Intel Core i5 4-core | M1 Pro 8-core |
| Graphics | Intel Iris Plus 655 | M1 Pro 14-core |
| RAM | 8GB | 16GB |
| Storage (SSD) | 512GB | 512GB |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ac | 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 |
As for what software I will be running to compare the performance of these two generations of MacBook Pros, it will be developer focused. Meaning, I will be running a number of software development commands, to mimic activities a software developer would do, and show the difference in real time that it took to execute said commands. Here we go…
| Command | 13” MacBook Pro | 14” MacBook Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Install Ruby 3.0.2 | 346s | 144s |
| Install Python 3.9.9 | 127s | 54s |
| Build a Docker project | 28s | 12s |
On average, the 2021 14” MacBook Pro was 2.3x faster! If that doesn’t catch your attention, or get you excited, not sure what will.
Think about it this way, in 2021, the Tesla Model 3 Long Range is rated at 0-60 mph in 4.2 seconds. The level of performance upgrade that the 2021 14” MacBook Pro brings is like if the 2022 Tesla Model 3 Long Range all of a sudden had a rating of 0-60 mph in 1.8 seconds!
Don’t believe me still? Well, read more about it here and here. Or, watch more about it here and here.