2019 iMac vs 2025 MacBook Pro
Interesting Comparison
In 2019, I purchased a new iMac. The computer is now six years old. I was thinking if I got a new MacBook pro would there be a significant difference?
I put the question to the test to Grok3, and was surprised to find out that I would notice a big difference. Basically I should see a significant difference. The only downside would be missing the larger screen.
This information is useful for anyone that purchased a computer in the pre-Apple chip days.
2019 iMac
The 2019 iMac came in 21.5-inch and 27-inch variants with Intel processors. For a balanced comparison, let's take a mid-to-high-end model: the 27-inch iMac with a 3.7 GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 (9th-gen Coffee Lake, Turbo Boost up to 4.6 GHz). It typically shipped with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM (upgradable to 64 GB), a Radeon Pro 580X GPU with 8 GB VRAM, and a 1 TB Fusion Drive or optional SSD. Geekbench 5 scores for this model are roughly 1,100?1,200 single-core and 5,500?6,000 multi-core, based on historical data for similar 9th-gen Intel chips. Storage speeds for the Fusion Drive were around 50?100 MB/s for the HDD component and up to 500 MB/s for the SSD portion, while a full SSD option hit ~1,500 MB/s read/write.
Today's MacBook (2025)
As of March 8, 2025, current MacBooks include the MacBook Air (M4) and MacBook Pro (M4, M4 Pro, M4 Max). For a fair comparison, let's use the base MacBook Air M4: a 10-core CPU (4 performance, 6 efficiency cores), 10-core GPU, 16 GB unified memory, and a 256 GB SSD with read/write speeds of ~3,000?5,000 MB/s. Geekbench 6 scores for the M4 are approximately 3,200 single-core and 12,500 multi-core, reflecting Apple's claims of incremental gains over the M3 and real-world tests of early M4 models. The unified memory architecture provides 120 GB/s bandwidth, far outpacing traditional RAM setups.
Speed Comparison
- CPU Performance:
- Single-Core: 2019 iMac (~1,150 Geekbench 5) vs.?MacBook Air M4 (~3,200 Geekbench 6). Adjusting for benchmark differences (Geekbench 6 scores are ~10?15% higher than Geekbench 5 for the same hardware), the M4 is roughly 2.5?3x faster in single-threaded tasks. This reflects better architecture (ARM vs.?x86) and higher efficiency.
- Multi-Core: 2019 iMac (~5,750 Geekbench 5) vs.?MacBook Air M4 (~12,500 Geekbench 6). The M4 is ~2?2.5x faster, thanks to its 10 cores (vs.?6) and optimized design for parallel workloads.
- Memory:
- 2019 iMac: 8 GB DDR4 at ~2,666 MHz (~20?30 GB/s bandwidth), upgradable but still separate from the CPU/GPU.
- MacBook Air M4: 16 GB unified memory at 120 GB/s. The M4's memory is ~4?6x faster in bandwidth and integrated, reducing latency. Even with a maxed-out 64 GB iMac config, bandwidth wouldn't approach the M4's.
- Storage:
- 2019 iMac: Fusion Drive (~50?500 MB/s) or SSD (~1,500 MB/s).
- MacBook Air M4: SSD (~3,000?5,000 MB/s). The M4's storage is 2?10x faster, depending on the iMac's config, slashing load times and improving file transfers.
- Graphics:
- 2019 iMac: Radeon Pro 580X (~1,200?1,500 GFLOPS, good for 2019 gaming/editing).
- MacBook Air M4: 10-core GPU (~4?5 TFLOPS, estimated from M3's ~3 TFLOPS and Apple's claims). The M4's GPU is ~3?4x faster, with hardware ray tracing and better power efficiency, excelling in modern creative workloads.
- Real-World Impact:
- Boot/App Launch: The iMac took ~20?30 seconds to boot macOS Mojave; the M4 MacBook boots macOS in <10 seconds. Apps like Photoshop might open in 5?10 seconds on the iMac vs.?<2 seconds on the M4.
- Workloads: Video encoding (e.g., 4K H.264) could take 2x longer on the iMac. The M4's Neural Engine and media accelerators further widen the gap for AI/ML tasks or ProRes editing - tasks the iMac struggles with.
Conclusion
The MacBook Air M4 (2025) is dramatically faster than a 2019 iMac - 2?3x in CPU performance, 3?4x in graphics, and up to 10x in storage speed. The gap widens with higher-end MacBook Pro M4 models (e.g., M4 Max with 40 GPU cores and 400 GB/s bandwidth). The 2019 iMac's Intel architecture and older components can't compete with Apple Silicon's efficiency and integration. For everyday tasks, creative work, or even heavy lifting, today's MacBook leaves the 2019 iMac in the dust - think minutes vs.?seconds for complex jobs.