Q: How do I tell what generation the i7 processor is in my MacBook Pro?

i7 is the generation/series.

How to identify MacBook Pro models

Download Mactracker. 

I get the OP's frustration. Long time fan of MacTracker for its details of every Mac ever made, and even it doesn't spell out what the actual generation of the i7 chip. Nor is "generation" mentioned in any of the "About This Mac" details.

On eBay, they give the option to select with Processor Type the MacBook Pro is, and gives these as the choices:

Intel Core i7 2nd Generation

Intel Core i7 3rd Generation

Intel Core i7 4th Generation

I finally figured out what my own MBPro was, but only after a lot of searching. I still haven't found a single page that says things like "the MacBookPro9,1 uses theIntel Core i7 3rd Generation."

Nomenclature: it's important™

Just in case anyone bumps into this problem again, an easy solution is to download Cinebench (http://www.maxon.net/products/cinebench/).

Its a benchmarking suite, but most importantly it will tell you your exact processor model, speed and cores/threads.

You can also go to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro The team here has put in some pretty good generational information to help you find what you're looking for. Intel also lists out on their website what all the i7 generation numbers mean.

Here you go. Just put in your Mac's serial number and it will tell you all about it.

http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/

Hey Kristi,

I hope this will certainly answer your question. you need to know the processor type in Macbook Pro. try this command in terminal :

sysctl -n machdep.cpu.brand_string

This will return you something like this :

% sysctl -n machdep.cpu.brand_string
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5257U CPU @ 2.70GHz

Now as you can see that, Processor type is Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5257U.

So this makes it 5th generation processor, if that would be Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2760QM. That means this is a 2nd generation processor.

Down below the picture explains the rest.