Apple M1 vs Intel Core i9-12900K
Last updated:
CPU comparison with benchmarks
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| Apple M1 | Intel Core i9-12900K | |
CPU comparisonIn this CPU comparison, we compare the Apple M1 and the Intel Core i9-12900K and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.
We compare the Apple M1 8 core processor released in Q4/2020 with the Intel Core i9-12900K which has 16 CPU cores and was introduced in Q4/2021. |
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| Apple M series (23) | Family | Intel Core i9 (78) |
| Apple M1 (9) | CPU group | Intel Core i 12000 (34) |
| 1 | Generation | 12 |
| M1 | Architecture | Alder Lake S |
| Mobile | Segment | Desktop / Server |
| -- | Predecessor | Intel Core i9-11900K |
| Apple M2 | Successor | Intel Core i9-13900K |
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CPU Cores and Base FrequencyThe Apple M1 is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Intel Core i9-12900K clocks with 3.20 GHz (5.20 GHz), has 16 CPU cores and can calculate 24 threads in parallel. |
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| Apple M1 | Characteristic | Intel Core i9-12900K |
| 8 | Cores | 16 |
| 8 | Threads | 24 |
| hybrid (big.LITTLE) | Core architecture | hybrid (big.LITTLE) |
| No | Hyperthreading | Yes |
| No | Overclocking ? | Yes |
| 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz) 4x Firestorm |
A-Core | 3.20 GHz (5.20 GHz) 8x Golden Cove |
| 0.60 GHz (2.06 GHz) 4x Icestorm |
B-Core | 2.40 GHz (3.90 GHz) 8x Gracemont |
Artificial Intelligence and Machine LearningProcessors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor. |
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| Apple M1 | Characteristic | Intel Core i9-12900K |
| Apple Neural Engine | AI hardware | -- |
| 16 Neural cores @ 11 TOPS | AI specifications | -- |
Internal GraphicsGraphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback. |
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| Apple M1 (8 Core) | GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 770 |
| 0.39 GHz | GPU frequency | 0.30 GHz |
| 1.30 GHz | GPU (Turbo) | 1.55 GHz |
| 1 | GPU Generation | 11 |
| 5 nm | Technology | 10 nm |
| 2 | Max. displays | 3 |
| 128 | Compute units | 32 |
| 1024 | Shader | 256 |
| No | Hardware Raytracing | No |
| No | Frame Generation | No |
| 8 GB | Max. GPU Memory | 64 GB |
| -- | DirectX Version | 12 |
Hardware codec supportA photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos. |
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| Apple M1 (8 Core) | GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 770 |
| Decode / Encode | Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) | Decode / Encode |
| Decode / Encode | Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) | Decode / Encode |
| Decode / Encode | Codec h264 | Decode / Encode |
| Decode / Encode | Codec VP9 | Decode / Encode |
| Decode | Codec VP8 | Decode / Encode |
| No | Codec AV1 | Decode |
| Decode | Codec AVC | Decode / Encode |
| Decode | Codec VC-1 | Decode |
| Decode / Encode | Codec JPEG | Decode / Encode |
Memory & PCIeUp to 16 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Apple M1, while the Intel Core i9-12900K supports a maximum of 128 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 76.8 GB/s enabled. |
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| Apple M1 | Characteristic | Intel Core i9-12900K |
| LPDDR4X-4266 | Memory | DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 |
| 16 GB | Max. Memory | 128 GB |
| 2 (Dual Channel) | Memory channels | 2 (Dual Channel) |
| 68.2 GB/s | Max. Bandwidth | 76.8 GB/s |
| No | ECC | Yes |
| 16.00 MB | L2 Cache | 14.00 MB |
| -- | L3 Cache | 30.00 MB |
| 4.0 | PCIe version | 5.0 |
| -- | PCIe lanes | 20 |
| -- | PCIe Bandwidth | 78.8 GB/s |
Thermal ManagementThe Apple M1 has a TDP of 18 W. The TDP of the Intel Core i9-12900K is 125 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution. |
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| Apple M1 | Characteristic | Intel Core i9-12900K |
| 18 W | TDP (PL1 / PBP) | 125 W |
| -- | TDP (PL2) | 241 W |
| 20 W | TDP up | -- |
| 10 W | TDP down | -- |
| -- | Tjunction max. | 100 °C |
Technical detailsThe Apple M1 has 16.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 5 nm. The cache of Intel Core i9-12900K is at 44.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 10 nm. |
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| Apple M1 | Characteristic | Intel Core i9-12900K |
| 5 nm | Technology | 10 nm |
| Chiplet | Chip design | Monolithic |
| Armv8.5-A (64 bit) | Instruction set (ISA) | x86-64 (64 bit) |
| Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation | ISA extensions | SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+ |
| -- | Socket | LGA 1700 |
| Apple Virtualization Framework | Virtualization | VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d |
| Yes | AES-NI | Yes |
| macOS | Operating systems | Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux |
| Q4/2020 | Release date | Q4/2021 |
| -- | Release price | 589 $ |
| show more data | show more data | |
8C 8T @ 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save!
16C 24T @ 3.20 GHz (5.20 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save!
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Rate these processors
Average performance in benchmarks
⌀ Single core performance in 4 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 6 CPU benchmarks
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz |
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Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz |
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Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz |
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Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz |
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Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz |
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Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)
Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz |
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Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz |
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Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz |
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iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)
The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
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Apple M1
Apple M1 (8 Core) @ 1.30 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
Intel UHD Graphics 770 @ 1.55 GHz |
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Blender 3.1 Benchmark
In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz |
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Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark
Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz |
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CPU performance per watt (efficiency)
Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
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Apple M1
7,759 CB R23 MC @ 18 W |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
27,472 CB R23 MC @ 240 W |
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Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz |
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Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz |
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Blender 2.81 (bmw27)
Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz |
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CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Single-Core)
The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz |
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CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)
The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 0.60 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz |
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Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz |
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Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
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Apple M1
8C 8T @ 0.60 GHz |
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Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 3.20 GHz |
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Devices using this processor |
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| Apple M1 | Intel Core i9-12900K |
| Apple iMac 24 (2021) Apple MacBook Pro 13 (L2020) Apple MacBook Air (2020) Apple Mac mini (2020) Apple iPad Pro 11 (2021) Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) Apple iPad Air (2022) |
Unknown |
News and articles for the Apple M1 and the Intel Core i9-12900K
First Geekbench 5 benchmark of the Intel Core i7-13700K
Posted by Stefan on 2022-07-26
Last week we already reported on the new Intel Core i7-13700K processor from Intel, which is expected in autumn 2022. With 8+8 CPU cores (24 threads), the Intel Core i7-13700K should have the same configuration as last year's Intel Core i9-12900K. With this, Intel wants to finally clear AMD's lead in multi-core performance, which has existed for several years.
Apple M2 Pro with more CPU cores and production in 3 nm ?
Posted by Stefan on 2022-06-28
After Apple surprisingly presented the normal Apple M2 processor as the first successor to the Apple M1 already in June 2022, the Apple M2 Pro and the Apple M2 Max may follow in autumn. The difference in performance compared to the basic version could be even greater this time and range from 25 to 40 percent.
In this article we describe how Apple could realize this and why the price should also go up.
In this article we describe how Apple could realize this and why the price should also go up.
Intel Core i9-13900 benchmark of engineering sample
Posted by Stefan on 2022-06-15
Intels 13th generation of the Intel Core i series (Raptor Lake) is about to be released and a lot of information is already known from the official side. This information includes e.g. the number of CPU cores, the expected increase in performance and the manufacturing technology of the new CPUs.
We compare the technical data of the Intel Core i9-13900 with its predecessor and look at benchmarks that have already been published.
We compare the technical data of the Intel Core i9-13900 with its predecessor and look at benchmarks that have already been published.
Apple M2 vs Apple M1 - What are the differences?
Posted by Stefan on 2022-06-09
During WWDC 2022 on June 6th, 2022 Apple surprisingly presented its new Apple M2 processor. This will initially be installed in a completely revised Apple MacBook Air with 13.6 inches, a even thinner form factor and new colors. Apple also updated the already known (old) Apple MacBook Pro 13.3 with touch bar.
Many leakers had counted on Apple not presenting its new second-generation M processor until the fall. But things turned out differently. And there is very likely a reason for that: the improvements in the Apple M2 are limited compared to the predecessor.
Many leakers had counted on Apple not presenting its new second-generation M processor until the fall. But things turned out differently. And there is very likely a reason for that: the improvements in the Apple M2 are limited compared to the predecessor.
Comparison of the two processors
Anyone comparing these two processors would like to know how Apple's entry-level processor fares against Intel's 12th-generation high-end processor. First of all, you have to know that the Apple M1 released in the fourth quarter of 2020 is based on an ARM instruction set, while the Intel Core i9-12900K that was released in the fourth quarter of 2021 is based on an X86 instruction set.Both processors rely on a hybrid big.LITTLE structure. For the Apple M1, this means that in addition to 4 performance cores (Firestorm), 4 efficiency cores (Icestorm) are also installed. The performance cores clock at 3.20 gigahertz and the efficiency cores at 2.06 gigahertz. In the Intel Core i9-12900K, twice the number of cores is used with 16 cores. These are divided into 8 performance cores (Golden Cove) and 8 efficiency cores (Gracemont). The performance cores also support hyperthreading, which means that the processor has a total of 24 threads at its disposal.
This data alone shows that the Intel processor must be significantly faster, and our benchmarks confirm that. Especially in the multi-core benchmarks, the Intel Core i9-12900K is more than twice as fast as the Apple M1. In addition, the Intel Core i9-12900K can also be overclocked, which further increases the distance to the Apple M1.
Both processors have an internal graphics unit and here the Apple M1 clearly scores over the Intel Core i9-12900K. The graphics unit of the Apple M1 has 128 execution units with 1024 shaders and clocks at 1.30 gigahertz. It achieves an FP32 computing power of 2610 GigaFLOPS. The Intel graphics (Intel UHD Graphics 770) has 32 execution units with 256 shaders and clocks at up to 1.55 gigahertz. it achieves a significantly lower FP32 computing power of only 794 GigaFLOPS.
When it comes to RAM, the Intel Core i9-12900K is clearly ahead again, with it up to 128 gigabytes of RAM (DDR4-3200, DDR5-4800) can be operated, whereas the Apple M1 can be equipped with a maximum of 16 gigabytes (LPDDR4X-4266). .
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