09-15-2011, 07:35 AM

This really baffles the mind. I currently own a 2011 iMac (3.1 GHz quad core i5, 12 GB of RAM). Last week I bought a 2011 17 inch MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz i7, with only 4 GB of RAM). Needless to say the startup and shutdown time is much faster with the MacBook Pro then the iMac, even though the specs on the iMac are much better. I guess I have to ask, why is the MacBook Pro with the lesser specs faster? Any input on this would be deeply appreciated.

May God bless.

Ed

09-15-2011, 08:31 AM

Kind of need to to know what you do on both and what apps are installed.

If you're running your MBP to surf the web and your iMac to do heavy video editing with lots of HD files on, it's bound to start up slower.

09-15-2011, 08:52 AM

I noticed the same thing. Even out of the box - with nothing additional installed on the iMac the MBP will boot faster. I just wrote it off as having to do with more RAM checks, a larger disk drive, different hardware which requires different sets of start up processes and checks - but I can't put my finger on it explicitly. There's a clear and definitive difference though. However, once that larger train gets up and running at speed - it will perform other operations faster than the MBP.

09-16-2011, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by BrianLachoreVPI

I noticed the same thing. Even out of the box - with nothing additional installed on the iMac the MBP will boot faster. I just wrote it off as having to do with more RAM checks, a larger disk drive, different hardware which requires different sets of start up processes and checks - but I can't put my finger on it explicitly. There's a clear and definitive difference though. However, once that larger train gets up and running at speed - it will perform other operations faster than the MBP.

This is true for me also. Once the iMac is up and running, it does work faster then my MBP also.

Take care and May God bless!

Ed

09-16-2011, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by ronin67

This really baffles the mind. I currently own a 2011 iMac (3.1 GHz quad core i5, 12 GB of RAM). Last week I bought a 2011 17 inch MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz i7, with only 4 GB of RAM). Needless to say the startup and shutdown time is much faster with the MacBook Pro then the iMac, even though the specs on the iMac are much better. I guess I have to ask, why is the MacBook Pro with the lesser specs faster? Any input on this would be deeply appreciated.

May God bless.

Ed

Let's look at this one step at a time.

First the cpu:

- 2011 27" iMac, 3.1ghz quad-core i5. Gets a Geekbench score of 8379
- 2011 17" MacBook Pro, 2.2ghz i7 (4 cores). Gets a Geekbench score of 9965

Second the ram.

Just because the iMac has 12 gig of ram...does not necessarily mean that it will add any speed...it just means you can open more apps. or devote more ram to a couple really ram hungry programs. So 12 gig (iMac) vs. 4 gig (MacBook Pro)...not a big difference when it comes to speed.

Third...hard drive.

- iMac has a 7200rpm hard drive
- the MacBook Pro either has a 5400rpm or a 7200 rpm drive...depending how it was configured.

The bottom line is...the MacBook Pro with a Geekbench score of 9965 is a good bit faster than the iMac with a Geekbench score of 8379.

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. Geekbench Scores link:

http://www.primatelabs.ca/geekbench/mac-benchmarks/