The new 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro devices, unveiled by Apple earlier this month at WWDC 2017, surpassed the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro in some benchmark tests, revealing the power behind Apple's new tablets.
The 10.5-inch iPad Pro was described during its announcement as a replacement for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. With these benchmark scores, is it confirmed that the tablet can also replace the MacBook Pro?
iPad Pro vs MacBook Pro
Robert Morgan, in his Bare Feats blog, narrated that the idea of comparing the new models of the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro happened while rerunning benchmarks on the older versions of the two Apple devices.
Out of simple curiosity on how the new iPad Pro models will stack up against the MacBook Pro, the discovery was made that the performance between the two vastly different devices were closer than expected.
A variety of benchmark tests on GeekBench and GFXBench were run involving the 2017 and 2016 models of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the 2017 and 2015 model of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the newly announced 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and the 2016 9.7-inch iPad Pro that it is replacing. For the two MacBook Pro models, the versions used for the tests were powered by the top-of-the-line specifications offered by Apple for each laptop, with Intel Core i7 processors, Intel graphics, and 16 GB RAM.
For the GeekBench single-core CPU score, the 2017 MacBook Pro came out on top with a score of 4,650, followed by the 2016 MacBook Pro with 4,417. The two new iPad Pro models were not far behind though, with the 10.5-inch model scoring 3,951 and the 12.9-inch model scoring 3,920.
For the multi-core CPU score, the 2017 MacBook Pro still ranked first, with a score of 10,261. However, the two new iPad Pro models beat the 2016 MacBook Pro, with the 10.5-inch model scoring 9,332, the 12.9-inch model scoring 9,220, and the 2016 MacBook Pro scoring 8,509.
In the GeekBench Metal GPU tests, however, the tables started to turn. The 10.5-inch iPad Pro came in first, followed by the 2016 MacBook Pro, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and the 2017 MacBook Pro, with scores of 27,814, 27,631, 27,597, and 26,353, respectively.
The new iPad Pro models further displayed their dominance in the GFXBench tests. In two different graphics tests, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the 10.5-inch iPad Pro came in first and second, beating both models of the MacBook Pro by a considerable margin.
Is The iPad Pro Better Than The MacBook Pro?
While the benchmark tests reveal that the iPad Pro proves to be more powerful than the MacBook Pro in certain situations, this does not necessarily mean that MacBook Pro users should replace their computers with Apple's latest tablets.
Benchmark tests do not reflect real-world usage, and the larger displays with higher resolution of the MacBook Pro dampen the GPU test scores of the laptops.
Nevertheless, it is fun to see the top-of-the-line MacBook Pro beaten by the new iPad Pro, despite the computer carrying a price tag that is three times more compared to those of the tablets. The iPad Pro will not replace the MacBook Pro as they serve very different purposes, but it is encouraging to see Apple pushing the iPad line to greater heights.
