New Low-Cost iMac 40% Slower in Multi-Core, Comparable in Single-Core BenchmarksFollowing today's launch of a
new entry-level iMac model featuring an ultra-low voltage Intel processor actually used in the MacBook Air, the new iMac
appears to have shown up in Geekbench's benchmarking database. The use of an ultra-low voltage chip in the iMac is a somewhat curious move for Apple, as the company has traditionally used much more powerful desktop processors in the line.
As expected, the new machine posts relatively low 32-bit scores of 2820 in single-core mode and 5435 in multi-core mode. These scores are marginally better than the 2476/4690 scores posted by the current-generation MacBook Air running the same chip and actually fairly close to single-core scores from the previous low-end iMac model, which remains available, at 2882.
But where this new low-end iMac falls far short of the previous low-end model is in multi-core performance, where the older model clocks in at 9204. This major difference is due primarily to the chip used in the new low-end model being a dual-core chip, while the older low-end chip is quad-core.
The new low-end iMac comes in
$200 cheaper than the previous entry-level model, but for that savings users will sacrifice some CPU and graphics performance and will have a 500 GB hard drive rather than the 1 TB drive included in the more expensive low-end model.
Update 12:25 PM: Primate Labs' John Poole has
shared a blog post putting the new low-end iMac's performance in perspective compared to other iMac models and highlighting a <a hrwf="
https://twitter.com/AndrewWrites/statuses/479262179938795520">Tweet[/url] from
Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham noting that Apple's decision to use a chip from its MacBook Air line may have been made for graphics reasons.<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I'd say Apple used an Ultrabook CPU in the new iMac to avoid shipping Intel's HD 4600 GPU in anything. No desktop CPUs include HD 5000.</p>— Andrew Cunningham (@AndrewWrites)
June 18, 2014 <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></center>
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Source:
New Low-Cost iMac 40% Slower in Multi-Core, Comparable in Single-Core Benchmarks
