Apple Boot Camp Benchmarks
April 7th, 2006Accelerate Your Mac has some benchmarks (run by Other World Computing, link to weird URL here) posted comparing a couple of different machines and some interesting user comments about how to install various versions of Windows XP.
The interesting thing is that it seems the Mac needs to do some Open GL work. The Mac OS is still behind by around 19% on some Open GL tests.
Regardless of the test scores, it’s only making it more attractive to buy a MacBook Pro, even with the higher price tag with all the options I’d want. Even if Dell or Lenovo made a laptop for a lesser cost, I believe the difference would only amount to a few hundred dollars and it’s not going to have some of the nicer design features that the Apple machine has. o
Jon,
I agree with the comment about Open GL. There should be improvements, after all this is beta. I look for better speeds later. One thing that the release of Bootcamp has done is clarify the reason that Apple went with Intel rather than AMD for their chips.
I am looking forward to having ONE laptop. All my bucks go to Apple and I will use either Bootcamp or virtualization to run Windows.
Pete
I agree with the OpenGL comment as well, but I think as we progress toward Leopard, we’ll see improvements to the Windows/Macintosh driver set that ships with Boot Camp.
I’ve been very impressed with the performace I’ve seen out of my 20″ iMac Core Duo since I installed XP on it a couple of days ago. Even gaming performance (not that I have time to play games, but I still had to try it out) is pretty decent. I installed Battlefield 2 and played at reasonably high graphics settings with no problems at all.
But, aside from all that, Boot Camp will allow me to rid my apartment of my two noisy PC’s which is a huge bonus for me living in a relatively small space.
I haven’t installed Windows on my MBPro yet, but I will get around to it eventually. Notwithstanding being a little noisy now and then, I love this machine and can’t imagine going back.
Hi Jon,
I’ve never left a comment before, although I’ve been reading for a while.
I completely agree with you about Bootcamp making a MacBook pro more attractive. I am currently using a desktop PC as my main computer, but I’m looking for a laptop and have become convinced that a MacBook Pro might really be the best option for me. I’ve been tempted by Macs for quite a while now, but the advent of the Intel Macs (and now Bootcamp!) have made it much more likely that I will end up purchasing one.
Thanks for the post!
I’d imagine most of us couldn’t really perceive the difference.
It’s funny, here in Germany, several Apple dealers are now offering OEM versions of XP with a mac purchase.
I think the one laptop hardware vendor that could get hit hard by recent developments is Sony.
Ian
Actually you can get a Dell laptop with the exact same specs as the MacBook Pro for half the price.
Paul, you wouldn’t have a model number would you?
Mine arrived a few days ago:
Dell Inspiron E1505: Upgraded to 1 GB ram and 1680×1050 video card.
Of course sacrificing the apple form factor and the backlit keyboard.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulm/125362461/
Thanks for that, Paul. I did a comparison using Apple and Dell price configurators. I came out to a $3,200 (apple) $2,100 (dell) price difference. Dell has “At-Home” support, which I opted for and if they send someone out, is awesome. I wish Apple had lowered their prices by about 25% with the shift to Intel and lowered their support price by about $100 for a laptop.
I wonder if Apple is just trying to be the expensive brand, trying to sell a value add (run multiple OSs!) or just trying to maintain margins on hardware. I predict lower prices after a few months.