Hands-On Report: Mac OS X 10.7 Lion--How fast is it?

by Bill Fox, MacsOnly.com July 25, 2011

Apple released Mac OS X 10.7, its latest operating system, code-named Lion on July 20th. Having recently speed tested the last version of Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6.8, I immediately installed Lion and put it through its paces with my usual speed tests for comparison. I was eager to test Lion because the initial version of Snow Leopard (10.6) was much slower in graphics than the final version of Leopard (10.5.8) and it took until the final version of Snow Leopard (10.6.8) to finally surpass Leopard.

So, how fast is Lion?

My first test computer is a 2008 dual quad 2.8GHz Mac Pro with 10GB of RAM, the fastest Mac graphics card currently available, an ATI Radeon HD 5870, and a 1TB 7200RPM hard disk drive. Here are the results:

Mac Pro Speed Tests of Mac OS X 10.7 vs 10.6.8
Test Mac OS X Change
GRAPHICS BENCHMARKS
10.7 10.6.8
%
Cinebench 11.5
   
-- CPU Rendering (8x)
6.61 6.54
+1
-- OpenGL Hardware Lighting
29.8 26.0
+15
Xbench 1.3
   
-- Quartz Graphics
270 233
+16
-- OpenGL Graphics
288 282
+2
-- User Interface Graphics
357 387
-8
OpenGL Viewer 3.37
   
-- 2.1 Cube
2829 2671
+6
FINDER/DISK TESTS
   
Start Up (sec)
30 26 -13
Shut Down (sec)
26 7
-73
Dup. 500 MB Folder (sec)
26 23
-12
GAME TESTS
   
Quake III Arena (frames/sec)
995 978
+2
Halo 2.0.4 (frames/sec)
197 211
-7
       
Red is faster by 10% or more. Blue is slower by 10% or more.

For all but two of the graphics-related benchmarks and games, scores are faster but mostly only marginally so. On the other hand, the scores related to the Finder and disk operations are slower, again marginally so except for Shut Down. Shutting down takes much longer in Lion on my Mac Pro than in Snow Leopard.

My second test computer is a 13" mid-2010 2.4GHz MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics and a 240GB OWC Extreme Pro SSD. And the results are:

13" MacBook Pro Speed Tests of Mac OS X 10.7 vs 10.6.8
Test Mac OS X Change
GRAPHICS BENCHMARKS
10.7 10.6.8
%
Cinebench 11.5
   
-- CPU Rendering (2x)
1.34 1.35
-1
-- OpenGL Hardware Lighting
12.3 12.4
-1
Xbench 1.3
   
-- Quartz Graphics
189 153
+24
-- OpenGL Graphics
134 170
-21
-- User Interface Graphics
90 239
-62
OpenGL Viewer 3.37
   
-- 2.1 Cube
569 563
+1
FINDER/DISK TESTS
   
Start Up (sec)
18 30 +40
Shut Down (sec)
4 6
+33
Dup. 500 MB Folder (sec)
24 30
+20
GAME TESTS
   
Quake III Arena (frames/sec)
408 383
+7
Halo 2.0.4 (frames/sec)
-- --
--
       
Red is faster by 10% or more. Blue is slower by 10% or more.

The results from the MacBook Pro are about the opposite of those from the Mac Pro. The graphics lean slower and the Finder/Disk operations are generally faster than using the last version of Snow Leopard.

Aside from the CPU speed and number of cores, one has ATI graphics and the other has Nvidia graphics and one has a standard 7200RPM hard disk drive and the other has an SSD which may account for the differences.


Software Special of the Day: 20 to 50% Off or more!

Get a deal a day from MacUpdate's Software Promo.




Copyright © 1995-2011 by Bill Fox
All rights reserved.

MY LAWYER MADE ME POST THIS: 8-/
The Macs Only! web site is for informational purposes only. No one associated with Macs Only! assumes any responsibility for its accuracy. The information is subject to change without notice. Any use of, or actions taken based upon any of the information contained on this web site is done entirely at your own risk. Mention of any products or services is for informational purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation. Macs Only! and those associated with Macs Only! assume no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance or use of these products.

OUR PRIVACY POLICY

Apple, Apple Logos, Macintosh, and Mac OS Logos are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners.

[Back to top of page]

 

 

Apple iTunes

Apple Store

Apple Store

Buy a Mac and get a FREE iPod Nano!

Apple Online Store

About Us

Est. Dec. 28, 1995


Publisher