2.2 vs 2.3 vs 2.7 MacBook Pro
What is Processor speed?
Processor speed is the speed at which the processor is able to complete a certain amount of cycles per second. Processor speed is measured in Hertz. In simple terms, if the processor speed is 1 hertz that means the processor is able to complete exactly one cycle in one second. Gigahertz is the most common range of processor speeds today. 1 gigahertz means that the processor completes one billion cycles per second. Overclocking is the process of running the processor at speeds much higher than it was designed for. But benefits of overclocking are highly dependent upon the extra heat dissipated in the processor due to overclocking.
In recent years clock speeds increased rapidly. But now it has saturated because it is very difficult to increase the rates beyond 3.5 GHz due to the physical limitations present in manufacturing processes. However, due to the introduction of processor cores (for e.g. double core), computer manufacturers are finding ways to increase the effective speed of the whole system.
MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro is a professional-based Macintosh notebook released by Apple in 2006 as the first product in the MacBook family. It is the high end of the MacBook family. MacBook Pro uses Intel Core i5 and i7 processors (introducing Thunderbolt technology) and replaces PowerBook line. MacBook Pro has 13.3’’, 15.4’’ and 17’’ models. Largest screens of 1440×900 or 1680×1050 (15.4’’) and 1920×1200 (17’’) are offered with MacBook pro. MacBook Pro has three USB 2.0 ports and FireWire 800. There are two MacBook Pro designs, both of which use aluminum. One is a carry-over from the PowerBook series and the other is a unibody tapered design. MacBook Pro comes with 2GB RAM. However, the user has the option of installing a 4GB RAM when purchasing.
What’re the differences between 2.2 and 2.3 and 2.7 MacBook Pro?
All MacBook products in the Australian market at the moment have dual-core or quad-core processors, Intel core i5 or i7, 4GB (1333 MHz), 320GB or higher hard disks (5400rpm) and Intel HD Graphics 3000. There are two 2.2 GHz products (15-inch and 17-inch), which are more expensive than the 2.3 and 2.7 GHz ones. Price is higher (even though the speed is lower) because of the improvements in other areas (such as 760GB hard disks over 500/320 GB and the inclusion of AMD Radeon GDDR5). Both 2.2 GHz products are expensive than the 2.0 GHz products, which has almost the same specification (except for the processor speeds). 2.7 GHz MackBook Pro is expensive than the 2.3 GHz product (which has similar specification in almost all other areas, only difference being Intel core i7 vs. i5 and 500GB hard vs. 320 GB ).
Comparison of Processor speeds
Usually, higher the speed means higher the price of the computer. On the other hand, higher speeds always dissipate more heat so it may require better cooling systems. Clock speed of the CPU is only suitable for comparing CPUs of the same family (because there are many other factors that influence CPU performance such as width of CPU data bus, memory latency and cache specifications).