Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Hardware, Software, Odds and ends, Apple
New MacBook Pro benchmarked within Boot Camp
The good news is that the MacBook Pro is faster than ever, and graphics have significantly improved. And trust us, any improvement over the old chips is a step in the right direction.
The bad news is that in a practical situation (like playing the Crysis demo, which is actually about a year old at this point), a MacBook Pro in Boot Camp at the highest settings isn't actually playable, and the 15 fps you might squeeze out of it on a good day still can't compare to the 50 fps you can get out of even average video cards in a Windows PC. If the graphics are turned down, it's a different story -- we've seen a new MBP run games well in Boot Camp already, so it'll play, but Apple still has a ways to go to be competitive with brand new games.
But let's keep this all in perspective -- it's very good news when you compare the new MacBook Pros to the old ones. Apple is at least realizing that 3D performance needs an upgrade in their units. Maybe next time around they can bring some software updates into the mix as well, and we can start to see some real competition in high-end performance.
InformationWeek 
During an Intel-bashing session at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, The CEO of AMD, Hector Ruiz, 
Intel sounds
excited about their relationship with Apple, as Deborah Conrad, vice president and director of Team Apple at Intel,
spoke positively to a group of CNET editors yesterday about how things are going so far. Deborah was doubtful that an
Intel chip would be powering the iPod anytime soon, but she mentioned the company was enthusiastic about the potential
for their chips to show up in other future Apple gadgets. Thanks Deborah - I'm sure in the coming weeks the rumors
sites will crank out all sorts of fantastic nonsense from that statement.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
