Who cares about 2% difference.
Its like driving with 50 versus 51 mph.

hmm, i wonder if these tests were done in exactly the same conditions, i have found that when running geek bench, even having my widgets loaded can change the results quite a bit; best way, do a restart, with no login items... seems to be more of a true reading

@Nemo: 50 mph is not driving, it's creeping

That was the mid level model now its the entry level model so the comparison is kinda pointless.

No "Boom."

I exit my drive from my house similar to how a Patriot missile leaves its launching tube....supersonically.

The new Penryn 2.4GHz model has less L2 cache than the Merom 2.4GHz model.

Either way, I don't think this is any different than what you'd see in other benchmarks. As taoprophet said, the main thing is that the machine you used to have to pay $2499 to get (if you wanted a 2.4GHz CPU and 256MB of VRAM) is now $1999, plus you get the other small benefits of Penryn that have already been documented.

I had a friend at my first job out of college with whom I used to argue about the definition of "performance" with respect to cars. He really liked diesels because they got 40-50 MPG. I said they are smelly and noisy, have poor pickup, and have trouble in cold weather.

His notion of performance centered around economy (and maybe torque), not speed or acceleration. He, 30 years in retrospect, is not wrong.

I can't tell if this is a good move or a bad move by Apple with the speed that they are upgrading units. On one hand I think it's good because it keeps the freshest technology out on the market so when they drop new operating systems, people don't have computers that can't support the latest technologies; On the other hand, my good fiend has a First Gen Macbook Pro that is only 2 years old, but is already 7 revisions old! Apple knocks off about $200 every time there is a new generation of a Macbook Pro then throws em into the refurbished bin. Does that mean that his 2 year old $2000 dollar laptop is now worth $600 or even less?! My Macbook Pro is already down to $1500 refurbished from last year in May. Apples rapid "upgrades" is sending the resale value of the products down the tubes.

@Joseph: Actually, macbooks (pros especially) routinely sell for MORE than apple's refurbished price on ebay. Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but see for yourself. As far as I know, they have the best resale value of pretty much any computer out there, which (in my mind) completely offsets the price premium. The reason they refresh so often is because they only have 3 (4 if you count 17") laptop models, so it's not hard for them to update the configuration. This is actually a good thing, since rather than buying technology that's 2 years old, the worst you can do is buy something 6 months old.

Supposedly Intel's move from 65nn to 45nn chips, with the older chips aggressively phased out, obligated Apple to make the switch in order to ensure supplies.

Wait! You want it lighter, cooler, more features, more efficient...AND faster???

@lpranal: that's because idiots on ebay are more than willing to overpay for damn near anything.

@frigg: i dont believe that. as of now the only 45nm chips available are the e8400 and those found in new laptops. i wouldnt expect the push to 45nm to be until november.

What about the 2.5GHz and 2.6GHz Penryn CPUs which have 6MB of L2 cache, double that of the 2.4GHz chip....Why is the 2.5GHz Penryn slower than the 2.5GHz Merom?

"I switched to 45nm and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"

Its not.

The 2.5 Penryn is nearly as fast as the 2.6 Merom (not 2.5)

I think everyone is missing the point, my PC can kick your macs ass. Or, wait, errr, maybe my mac can kick your PC's ass! Damnit, well, you see my point...

I think everyone is missing the point, my PC can kick your mac's ass. Or wait, errr, well, no, my mac can kick your PC's ass, uh.., yeah, well, obviously you see might point....

@lpranal:

You mean scammers purchase products slightly more on ebay because they'll try to pay with a stolen credit card or someone's hijacked account. Selling high value items poses as much risk for the seller as it does the buyer. Your old macbook pro may exceed the refurbished amount, but don't always count on the winning bid to pay because they usually skip out and you have to relist your item.

I dont get why the mid 2007 2.4 ghz benchmarked better than the new and inproved chipset. if anything they should be the same.

Flawed benchmark test? Or is intel making us grab our ankles and take it? u choose.

@Syndication: It happens, and much more often than on smaller items, but I was watching macbook auctions for a few weeks (before deciding to go the apple refurb route... I REALLY do my research when shopping for this kind of stuff) and they always, ALWAYS are either equal to or more than the refurbished price, or have defects / wear on them which the refurbished ones don't.

The problem is that the advertising and branding of all of apple's stuff gives the impression that it's value is higher than it really is. Offering free ipods/iphones has become a cottage industry because of this effect. They are nice computers, and they hold their value, but in the immortal words of chuck D

don't believe the hype

I dont know. I just bought one yesterday and i love it. I should've shifted to mac long ago. I upped it to 4gb of ram and it's so fast! eeek! i love it!