Intel's Iris graphics boost 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro GPU performance by more than 50%
Benchmarks: Upgraded graphics boost new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro — The first of the new MacBook Pros unveiled on Tuesday are in the Macworld Lab, and the results show that the internal updates …
Context & Ripple Effects
Intel had framed its fourth-generation Core graphics lineup as a major step up in May 2013, following an earlier push to bring faster integrated graphics and OpenCL support to Apple notebooks. The Macworld Lab results give that processor-roadmap claim a product-specific test in Apple's 13-inch Retina model.
The result also marks a contrast with the NVIDIA-GPU-led MacBook Pro update of 2008: graphics performance in this Apple notebook is increasingly an Intel platform attribute rather than only a separate graphics-component story.
First-order effects
- Buyers of the updated 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro receive more than 50% higher GPU benchmark performance, making graphics throughput a tangible benefit of the internal refresh.
- Intel gains independent validation in an Apple notebook for the Iris graphics gains it outlined with fourth-generation Core processors.
Second-order effects
- Apple can market the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro's internal update around measurable graphics performance, while Intel must sustain that advantage as its graphics roadmap becomes more visible to notebook buyers.
Third-order effects
- If successive Apple notebook refreshes continue to deliver graphics gains through the processor platform, GPU differentiation will shift further toward CPU vendors' integrated-graphics roadmaps rather than stand-alone GPU branding.
The trend: Notebook graphics performance is becoming a core processor-platform competition, with Apple refreshes serving as visible tests of Intel's integrated GPU progress.