Mac Performance (June 2007)

It's been a couple of months since I've posted a comprehensive Mac performance comparison using Geekbench and the results from the Geekbench Browser. While the last one compared the performance of Intel-based Macs, this one compares the performance of Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. There are over a 145 different Macs listed below, ranging from the old Power Mac G3 (Blue and White) to the new Mac Pro (8-core). That's over eight years of Macs represented in this comparison!

Setup

Results were collected from Geekbench 2 for Mac OS X running on Macs with standard processors (i.e., no processor upgrades or overclocked processors) and at least 512MB of RAM.

I’ve reported the average overall score for each model and processor combination, where 1000 is the score a Power Mac G5 @ 1.6GHz would receive. Higher scores are better. Keep in mind that Geekbench 2 only measures processor and memory performance which is why, for example, MacBook and MacBook Pro scores are so similar, despite both having radically different graphics adapters.

Results

Mac Pro (8-core)
Dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons @ 3.00 GHz
8618
 
Xserve (Late 2006)
Dual Dual-Core Intel Xeons @ 3.00 GHz
5632
 
Mac Pro
Dual Dual-Core Intel Xeons @ 3.00 GHz
5565
 
Xserve (Late 2006)
Dual Dual-Core Intel Xeons @ 2.66 GHz
5093
 
Mac Pro
Dual Dual-Core Intel Xeons @ 2.66 GHz
5014
 
Mac Pro
Dual Dual-Core Intel Xeons @ 2.00 GHz
3894
 
Xserve (Late 2006)
Dual Dual-Core Intel Xeons @ 2.00 GHz
3831
 
Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)
Dual Dual-Core PowerPC G5 @ 2.5 GHz
3284
 
MacBook Pro (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.40 GHz
3152
 
iMac (24-inch)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.33 GHz
3056
 
iMac (Late 2006)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.33 GHz
3048
 
MacBook Pro (17-inch Core 2 Duo)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.33 GHz
3016
 
MacBook Pro (Core 2 Duo)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.33 GHz
2971
 
MacBook Pro (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.20 GHz
2963
 
iMac (24-inch)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.16 GHz
2862
 
iMac (Late 2006)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.16 GHz
2856
 
MacBook Pro (17-inch Core 2 Duo)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.16 GHz
2821
 
MacBook (Late 2006)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.16 GHz
2821
 
MacBook Pro (Core 2 Duo)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.16 GHz
2773
 
MacBook Pro
Intel Core Duo @ 2.16 GHz
2679
 
iMac (Late 2006)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.00 GHz
2637
 
MacBook Pro (17-inch)
Intel Core Duo @ 2.16 GHz
2635
 
MacBook (Late 2006)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.00 GHz
2601
 
iMac (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 2.00 GHz
2515
 
MacBook Pro
Intel Core Duo @ 2.00 GHz
2492
 
MacBook
Intel Core Duo @ 2.00 GHz
2464
 
MacBook (Late 2006)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.83 GHz
2383
 
iMac (17-inch Late 2006 CD)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.83 GHz
2366
 
iMac (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.83 GHz
2338
 
MacBook Pro
Intel Core Duo @ 1.83 GHz
2312
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.83 GHz
2305
 
MacBook
Intel Core Duo @ 1.83 GHz
2298
 
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 2.7 GHz
2245
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.67 GHz
2110
 
Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)
Dual-Core PowerPC G5 @ 2.3 GHz
2108
 
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 2.5 GHz
2103
 
Xserve G5
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 2.3 GHz
2065
 
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 2.3 GHz
1960
 
Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)
Dual-Core PowerPC G5 @ 2.0 GHz
1818
 
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 2.0 GHz
1745
 
Power Mac G5
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 2.0 GHz
1671
 
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 2.0 GHz
1645
 
Xserve G5
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 2.0 GHz
1629
 
Power Mac G5
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 1.8 GHz
1592
 
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 1.8 GHz
1580
 
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
Dual PowerPC G5 @ 1.8 GHz
1513
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Solo @ 1.50 GHz
1399
 
iMac G5 (iSight)
PowerPC G5 @ 2.1 GHz
1229
 
iMac G5 (Ambient Light Sensor)
PowerPC G5 @ 2.0 GHz
1172
 
Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 1.42 GHz
1159
 
iMac G5 (iSight)
PowerPC G5 @ 1.9 GHz
1128
 
Power Mac G5
PowerPC G5 @ 1.8 GHz
1127
 
Xserve (Slot Load)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 1.33 GHz
1126
 
Power Mac G5 (Late 2004)
PowerPC G5 @ 1.8 GHz
1085
 
iMac G5 (Ambient Light Sensor)
PowerPC G5 @ 1.8 GHz
1063
 
Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
1048
 
iMac G5
PowerPC G5 @ 1.8 GHz
1044
 
iMac G4 (20-inch Flat-Panel)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.92 GHz
1008
 
Power Mac G5
PowerPC G5 @ 1.6 GHz
988
 
PowerBook G4 (Double-Layer SD, 15-inch)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.67 GHz
907
 
PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.67 GHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.67 GHz
888
 
Xserve
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
882
 
PowerBook G4 (Double-Layer SD, 17-inch)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.67 GHz
879
 
Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
873
 
PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.67/1.5 GHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.67 GHz
863
 
Xserve (Slot Load)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.42 GHz
854
 
iMac G5
PowerPC G5 @ 1.6 GHz
848
 
Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
833
 
eMac (USB 2.0)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.42 GHz
814
 
PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.5/1.33 GHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.50 GHz
807
 
Mac mini (Late 2005)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.50 GHz
806
 
Mac mini (Late 2005)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.33 GHz
801
 
PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.67/1.5 GHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.50 GHz
793
 
iBook G4 (Mid 2005)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.42 GHz
774
 
PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.5 GHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.50 GHz
772
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 @ 1.42 GHz
768
 
PowerBook G4 (12-inch 1.5 GHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.50 GHz
748
 
PowerBook G4 (12-inch 1.33 GHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.33 GHz
723
 
eMac (USB 2.0)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
719
 
eMac
PowerPC G4 @ 1.40 GHz
710
 
Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 867 MHz
710
 
Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
705
 
eMac (USB 2.0)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
704
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
700
 
PowerBook G4 (15-inch FW800)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
692
 
iBook G4 (Mid 2005)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.33 GHz
690
 
PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.33 GHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.33 GHz
689
 
iMac G4 (USB 2.0)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
682
 
iBook G4 (Early 2004)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.33 GHz
674
 
PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.5/1.33 GHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.33 GHz
673
 
Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 800 MHz
671
 
iMac G4 (20-inch Flat-Panel)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
667
 
iBook G4 (Early 2004)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.20 GHz
601
 
iBook G4 (Early 2004)
PowerPC G4 @ 1.07 GHz
595
 
PowerBook G4 (17-inch)
PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
575
 
PowerBook G4 (1 GHz/867 MHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
561
 
PowerBook G4 (15-inch FW800)
PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
554
 
Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors)
PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
551
 
Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 533 MHz
542
 
eMac
PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
530
 
Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver)
PowerPC G4 @ 933 MHz
524
 
PowerBook G4 (12-inch DVI)
PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
516
 
Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver)
PowerPC G4 @ 933 MHz
510
 
Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 500 MHz
500
 
iMac G4 (USB 2.0)
PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
499
 
PowerBook G4 (1 GHz/867 MHz)
PowerPC G4 @ 867 MHz
489
 
iBook G4
PowerPC G4 @ 933 MHz
484
 
Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver)
PowerPC G4 @ 867 MHz
482
 
iBook G4
PowerPC G4 @ 1000 MHz
465
 
PowerBook G4 (DVI)
PowerPC G4 @ 800 MHz
454
 
Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio)
PowerPC G4 @ 800 MHz
451
 
PowerBook G4 (12-inch)
PowerPC G4 @ 867 MHz
434
 
iBook G4
PowerPC G4 @ 800 MHz
431
 
Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver)
PowerPC G4 @ 800 MHz
419
 
Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet)
Dual PowerPC G4 @ 450 MHz
418
 
iMac (Flat-Panel)
PowerPC G4 @ 800 MHz
413
 
PowerBook G4 (DVI)
PowerPC G4 @ 667 MHz
392
 
iMac G4 (17-inch Flat-Panel)
PowerPC G4 @ 800 MHz
390
 
eMac
PowerPC G4 @ 800 MHz
372
 
Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver)
PowerPC G4 @ 733 MHz
368
 
iBook (Opaque 16 VRAM)
PowerPC G3 @ 700 MHz
363
 
eMac
PowerPC G4 @ 700 MHz
353
 
Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics)
PowerPC G4 @ 500 MHz
353
 
Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio)
PowerPC G4 @ 533 MHz
352
 
PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet)
PowerPC G4 @ 667 MHz
351
 
iMac (Flat-Panel)
PowerPC G4 @ 700 MHz
350
 
PowerBook G4
PowerPC G4 @ 500 MHz
329
 
Power Mac G4 Cube
PowerPC G4 @ 500 MHz
325
 
iBook (Opaque 16 VRAM)
PowerPC G3 @ 600 MHz
318
 
Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio)
PowerPC G4 @ 467 MHz
314
 
iBook (16 VRAM)
PowerPC G3 @ 600 MHz
304
 
iMac G3 (Early 2001)
PowerPC G3 @ 600 MHz
291
 
Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics)
PowerPC G4 @ 450 MHz
289
 
Power Mac G4 Cube
PowerPC G4 @ 450 MHz
285
 
PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet)
PowerPC G4 @ 500 MHz
284
 
Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet)
PowerPC G4 @ 400 MHz
261
 
Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics)
PowerPC G4 @ 350 MHz
236
 
iBook (Dual USB)
PowerPC G3 @ 500 MHz
233
 
iMac G3 (Early 2001)
PowerPC G3 @ 500 MHz
229
 
Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics)
PowerPC G4 @ 400 MHz
228
 
Power Mac G3 (Blue and White)
PowerPC G3 @ 450 MHz
223
 
PowerBook G3
PowerPC G3 @ 400 MHz
213
 
PowerBook G3 (FireWire)
PowerPC G3 @ 400 MHz
210
 
Power Mac G3 (Blue and White)
PowerPC G3 @ 350 MHz
186
 
iMac (Slot Load)
PowerPC G3 @ 400 MHz
177
 

 
John Poole is the founder of Primate Labs and lives in Toronto, Ontario with his wife Deborah. You can find John on Twitter or .