Benchmarks of Apple's new MacBook Pro lineup are making their way online just hours after Thursday's unveiling, with initial tests putting the entry-level 13-inch model without Touch Bar at performance levels equivalent to last year's 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display.
Out of three tests submitted to the Geekbench 4 test suite database, the highest single-core score achieved by the new bottom tier MacBook Pro -- designated "macbook13,1" -- comes in at 3,589 points, while the highest multi-core score is listed as 7,229 points. On the low end, an identical configuration reached single- and multi-core scores of 2,400 points and 5,702 points, respectively.
Primate Labs founder John Poole shared the results in a tweet late Thursday.
The machine, or machines, tested were equipped with a sixth-generation 2GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor running 8GB of RAM, Apple's baseline configuration. By comparison, recent Geekbench 4 scores for early-2015 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro models equipped with fifth-generation 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 CPUs hover at around 3,500 points for single-core and about 6,800 points for multi-core.
Graphical processing benchmarks for the new 13-inch MacBook Pro were unavailable at press time.
As noted by Apple earlier today, the redesigned MacBook Pro line is powered by Intel's power efficient Skylake family of processors. The $1,499 13-inch model comes standard with a dual-core CPU clocked at 2GHz, with Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz. Customers can swap the chip out for an optional 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 with Turbo Boost up to 3.4GHz for an extra $300.
While not a particularly fair comparison, Apple is targeting the entry-level 13-inch Pro variant at potential MacBook Air upgraders. For early-2015 13-inch MacBook Air models running standard 1.6GHz Core i5 CPUs, recent Geekbench listings reveal single- and multi-core scores of 3,200 points and 5,700 points on the high end. Apple discontinued the ultraportable 11-inch version with the introduction of today's hardware, but continues to sell the 13-inch MacBook Air for $999. B&H, an Apple authorized reseller, is discounting models further with configurations starting at $899 per our Mac Price Guide.