Would upgrading the MacBook Pro Aluminum model from 2.53 Ghz to 2.8 Ghz make a significant difference in the performance of Photoshop CS4 or Lightroom 2.0?
RAM rather than clock speed remains the most constraining architectural limitation of MBPs. Personally I will not upgrade at least until 8 GB RAM can be accessed. The other big issue is that new MBPs only come with glossy displays, unacceptable to me. Also as a 17" MBP user, I am looking for two internal drives at some future point, probably one of them SSD.
The good thing about clock speed difference is that it is pretty straightforward; ~10% more clock speed means just that, and does affect operation for apps like PS. However 10% improvement of an operation that takes 0.1 second is like Ramón says not noticeable. Even a 20 second operation made 2 seconds faster is non-obvious, and some operations are most affected by other architectural parameters anyway.
Whether or not the extra 10% speed is worth US$300 depends on individual finances and box usage. For someone with good clients running heavy graphics apps 8 hours a day it probably is worth $300, especially since that 10% does extend the life cycle of the box, and does mean that for 2-3 years the user does receive slightly snappier performance.
However IMO someone with good clients running heavy graphics apps 8 hours a day should primarily be doing it on a Mac Pro; not on a laptop or an iMac. 🙂
Mac and performance shouldn’t even be put in the same sentence, macs are sweet for browsing and media but if your looking for performance pull out your wallet!
