Mac mini Performance (August 2007)

Along with new iMacs, Apple announced (well, sort of announced) updated Mac minis last week. While the Mac mini updates are much more modest than the iMac updates, they're still significant, and with the Mac mini's move from the Core Duo to the Core 2 Duo, Apple's current computer lineup is 64-bit (which is a first for a PC manufacturer, I believe).

Of course, how much of a performance improvement does the switch to Core 2 Duo processors bring to the Mac mini? To find out, I've compiled a comparison of the new Mac mini models against most of the previous Mac mini models (including the PowerPC-based Mac minis) using Geekbench 2 results from the Geekbench Browser.

Setup

  • Mac mini (Mid 2007)

    • Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.00GHz
    • 2.00 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.4.10 (Build 8R3014)
  • Mac mini (Mid 2007)

    • Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.83GHz
    • 2.00 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.4.10 (Build 8R3014)
  • Mac mini (Early 2006)

    • Intel Core Duo @ 1.83GHz
    • 2.00 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.4.10 (Build 8R2218)
  • Mac mini (Early 2006)

    • Intel Core Duo @ 1.66GHz
    • 2.00 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.4.10 (Build 8R2218)
  • Mac mini (Early 2006)

    • Intel Core Solo @ 1.50GHz
    • 2.00 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.4.10 (Build 8R2218)
  • Mac mini

    • PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.50GHz
    • 1.00 GB PC3200U-30330 DDR SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.4.10 (Build 8R218)
  • Mac mini

    • PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.42 GHz
    • 1.00 GB PC3200U-30330 DDR SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.4.10 (Build 8R218)
  • Mac mini

    • PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.25 GHz
    • 1.00 GB PC3200U-30330 DDR SDRAM
    • Mac OS X 10.4.10 (Build 8R218)

I’m reporting the baseline score, rather than the raw score, for each benchmark (where a score of 1000 is the score a Power Mac G5 1.6GHz would receive). Higher is better.

Results

Overall Performance

Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.00GHz
2668
 
Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.83GHz
2473
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.83GHz
2334
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.66GHz
2157
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Solo @ 1.50GHz
1459
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.50GHz
806
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.42GHz
802
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.25GHz
727
 

Integer Performance

Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.00GHz
2353
 
Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.83GHz
2170
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.83GHz
1957
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.66GHz
1751
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Solo @ 1.50GHz
1044
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.50GHz
990
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.42GHz
990
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.25GHz
884
 

Floating Point Performance

Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.00GHz
3770
 
Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.83GHz
3445
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.83GHz
3479
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.66GHz
3102
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Solo @ 1.50GHz
1834
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.50GHz
919
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.42GHz
906
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.25GHz
803
 

Memory Performance

Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.00GHz
1877
 
Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.83GHz
1804
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.83GHz
1575
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.66GHz
1590
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Solo @ 1.50GHz
1555
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.50GHz
535
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.42GHz
536
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.25GHz
528
 

Stream Performance

Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.00GHz
1499
 
Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.83GHz
1477
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.83GHz
1164
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Duo @ 1.66GHz
1139
 
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel Core Solo @ 1.50GHz
1010
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.50GHz
312
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.42GHz
320
 
Mac mini
PowerPC G4 (7447A) @ 1.25GHz
315
 

Conclusions

Moving from the Core Duo to the Core 2 Duo brings modest performance improvements without an increase in clock speed, and moving from 1.83GHz to 2.0GHz brings (unsurprisingly) another modest increase in performance. If you're running a previous generation Mac mini I see no real reason to upgrade (unless, of course, you want to use 64-bit applications).

Of course, if you're moving from a PowerPC (or Core Solo) Mac mini, you'll notice a huge improvement in performance, not only from the improved Core 2 architecture, but also from the addition of an extra processing core.


 
John Poole is the founder of Primate Labs and lives in Toronto, Ontario with his wife Deborah. You can find John on Twitter or .