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Touch Bar MacBook Pro Q&A
Published August 31, 2018
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How fast are the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models compared to one another? How fast are they compared to the models replaced?
Please note that the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models have been discontinued. However, this Q&A is up-to-date and can be quite helpful for anyone buying or selling one of these notebooks on the used market.
In the company press release for the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models, Apple uses the word performance eight times.
More precisely, the company boasts that:
The new MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar feature 8th-generation Intel Core processors, with 6-core on the 15-inch model for up to 70 percent faster performance and quad-core on the 13-inch model for up to two times faster performance -- ideal for manipulating large data sets, performing complex simulations, creating multi-track audio projects or doing advanced image processing or film editing.
With such significant emphasis on performance and specific performance claims, it is a safe bet that the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models are significantly faster than their predecessors, but independent benchmarks and testing can be useful for more details as well as objectivity separate from any company's marketing department.
Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Touch Bar MacBook Pro)
General Performance Overview
For a general overview of overall performance between the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models and earlier notebooks, EveryMac.com's own Ultimate Mac Comparison makes it quick to compare side-by-side 32-bit and 64-bit Geekbench benchmark averages with all other G3 and later Macs for thousands of possible performance comparisons.
For example, compared to one another, Geekbench 4.0 shows that the entry-level 15-Inch model -- the MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.2 15" Touch Bar -- is a modest 10% faster in single core tasks and a huge 29% faster in multicore tasks than the standard 13-Inch model -- the MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.3 13" Touch Bar. The 15-Inch models have six cores rather than four, which explains the much more substantial difference in multicore performance.
For those who would like the ultimate in performance from the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro series, Geekbench 4.0 shows that the custom configured 13-Inch model -- the MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.7 13" Touch Bar -- is 14% faster in single core tasks but only 7% faster in multicore tasks than its standard counterpart. Because it costs roughly 16% more (US$300), it's not a bad value for someone who desires more performance -- particularly in single core tasks -- in a physically smaller computer. It also may reflect heat-related throttling in multicore tasks.
For the 15-Inch models, Geekbench 4.0 demonstrates that the ultimate custom configured option -- the MacBook Pro "Core i9" 2.9 15" Touch Bar -- is only about 6% faster in single core and multicore tasks than the standard high-end 15-Inch model -- the MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.6 15" Touch Bar. Because it costs around 11% more (US$300), it makes most sense for someone who finds time more important than money. Someone more interested in value may prefer to save the US$300 instead of gain 6% more performance.
The Geekbench 4.0 benchmark shows that the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models are faster across the board compared to the "Mid-2017" models replaced, although note that six "Touch Bar" models were replaced by just five:
| Mid-2017 MBP | Mid-2018 MBP | Percent Faster |
| "Core i5" 3.1 13" Touch | "Core i5" 2.3 13" Touch | 6%-84% |
| "Core i5" 3.3 13" Touch "Core i7" 3.5 13" Touch |
"Core i7" 2.7 13" Touch | 12%-86% |
| "Core i7" 2.8 15" Touch | "Core i7" 2.2 15" Touch | 13%-46% |
| "Core i7" 2.9 15" Touch | "Core i7" 2.6 15" Touch | 13%-39% |
| "Core i7" 3.1 15" Touch | "Core i9" 2.9 15" Touch | 15%-44% |
The Geekbench 4.0 benchmark doesn't show a performance increase quite as much as Apple's claim, but the performance increase between these models and their predecessors still is massive, particularly in multicore tasks.
Other Benchmarks & Real-World Test Results
Geekbench benchmarks provide a solid overview of overall performance, but other benchmarks and real-world tests also can be useful for perspective.
In a series of tests, BareFeats put the 15-Inch "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models through their paces and found them to be a "serious upgrade" for CPU performance but "only incrementally faster than the three previous models of MacBook Pro 15 inch when it comes to graphics intensive apps."
In a pair of detailed technical reviews, NotebookCheck hit both 13-Inch and 15-Inch "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models with the Cinebench R15 benchmark and were disappointed by their performance compared to Windows notebooks with the same or similar processors:
The new MacBook Pro 13 is [roughly 90%] faster than the old previous 2017 model, but some Windows devices are faster with supposedly slower CPUs. . .
The single-core result of the new MacBook Pro 15 is okay, but the multi-core score of just 953 points is pretty low. The old MacBook Pro 2017 with the Core i7-7700HQ is beaten by almost 30%, but many rivals are faster.
Finally, in detailed tests, MacPerformanceGuide was pleased, declaring the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro to be "easily the largest leap forward in a decade" after being highly critical of the 2017 model.
Nevertheless, the site still found degraded performance with sustained use. For example, using Photoshop, the site reported:
At first the time is in the range of ~6 .3 seconds, but within 11 iterations it declines to ~7.1 seconds and (on average) stays that way, never again going as fast as initially.
This is a far better result than the 28% decline seen with the 2017 MacBook Pro. Since the decline is less than 10%, this performance is a major improvement over previous models in terms of sustained consistent performance.
This performance decrease over time likely is because of GPU throttling to prevent the thin notebook from overheating.
It is clear that the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models provide an overall boost in performance compared to their predecessors, but the amount of the performance increase can vary substantially depending on the software used.
Performance Summary
Ultimately, the "Mid-2018" MacBook Pro models provide a massive speed boost compared to their predecessors, particularly the 15-Inch models in multicore tasks thanks to six cores instead of just four, but real world performance can vary significantly.
It also seems that Apple's obsession with keeping its notebooks wafer thin may be having a negative impact on performance compared to slightly thicker Windows systems.
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