14 DAY TRIAL // Geekbench 2.3.0, the latest version of Primate Labs’ performance-measuring tool, no longer supports Macintosh computers relying on processors built on the PowerPC architecture. This, and other changes, are detailed further below.
Posted earlier this week, Geekbench 2.3.0 is an important update to an even more important software tool for people who care about their hardware. Surprisingly, the update garnered very little coverage, despite some noteworthy changes.
Over at the Primate Labs blog, the author of Geekbench writes: “I'm excited to announce Geekbench 2.3.0 is now available for download from the Geekbench website. Geekbench 2.3.0 features the following changes,” says the author, following up with a state-of-the-art changelog.
The first documented change is, by far, the most significant - discontinued support for PowerPC Macs.
The author says he was left with no choice, as Apple has long discontinued PowerPC support in both its operating system and its developer tools, and also because of the increasing scarcity of PowerPC hardware.
He claims it was a difficult decision because, despite most users migrating to Intel Macs, “there's still a small but vibrant community on PowerPC Macs.”
“With this update I decided to focus my limited resources on the latest Mac hardware,” he wrote.
“Users who want to use Geekbench on a PowerPC Mac can still download Geekbench 2.2.0 (which works on PowerPC Macs running Mac OS X 10.4 and later) from the Geekbench website,” the author added.
Other changes in Geekbench 2.3.0 include the removal of offline result management from tryout mode, the addition of portable installs for Pro licenses and support for Ivy Bridge processors, improved support for MacBook Pro (17-inch Mid 2009), and improved "internal timer error" diagnostic message.
For those who aren’t very familiar with the software, Geekbench measures your computer's processor and memory performance and offers a comprehensive set of tests specifically engineered to accurately assess the performance of your system - desktop or portable.
“Designed to make benchmarks easy to run and easy to understand, Geekbench takes the guesswork out of producing robust and reliable benchmark results,” says Primate Labs.
Geekbench 2.3.0 is being offered as a free update for all registered Geekbench 2 users.