Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) vs Intel Core i7-8550U

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i7-8550U
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Intel Core i7-8550U

CPU comparison

Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) or Intel Core i7-8550U - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) has 10 cores with 10 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.20 GHz. Up to 32 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) was released in Q3/2021.

The Intel Core i7-8550U has 4 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.00 GHz. The CPU supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-8550U was released in Q3/2017.
Apple M series (23) Family Intel Core i7 (293)
Apple M1 (9) CPU group Intel Core i 8000U (7)
1 Generation 8
M1 Architecture Kaby Lake U Refresh
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) has 10 CPU cores and can calculate 10 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) is 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz) while the Intel Core i7-8550U has 4 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i7-8550U is at 1.80 GHz (4.00 GHz).

Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
10 Cores 4
10 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz)
8x Firestorm
A-Core 1.80 GHz (4.00 GHz)
0.60 GHz (2.06 GHz)
2x Icestorm
B-Core --

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

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. 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.

Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware --
16 Neural cores @ 11 TOPS AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) or Intel Core i7-8550U has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

Apple M1 Pro (14 Core) GPU Intel UHD Graphics 620
0.39 GHz GPU frequency 0.30 GHz
1.30 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.15 GHz
1 GPU Generation 9.5
5 nm Technology 14 nm
3 Max. displays 3
224 Compute units 24
1792 Shader 192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
32 GB Max. GPU Memory 16 GB
-- DirectX Version 12

Hardware codec support

A 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.

Apple M1 Pro (14 Core) GPU Intel UHD Graphics 620
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 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) can use up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 102.4 GB/s. The Intel Core i7-8550U supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 38.4 GB/s.

Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
LPDDR5-6400 Memory DDR4-2400
32 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
102.4 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 38.4 GB/s
No ECC No
28.00 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 8.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version 3.0
-- PCIe lanes 12
-- PCIe Bandwidth 11.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) is 45 W, while the Intel Core i7-8550U has a TDP of 15 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
45 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) is manufactured in 5 nm and has 28.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i7-8550U is manufactured in 14 nm and has a 8.00 MB cache.

Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
5 nm Technology 14 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
-- Socket BGA 1356
Apple Virtualization Framework Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
macOS Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q3/2021 Release date Q3/2017
-- Release price 385 $
show more data show more data


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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 4 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 5 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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
113 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
61 (54%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
802 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
189 (24%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
1534 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
1032 (67%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
12390 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
4626 (37%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
1768 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
1037 (59%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
12574 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
2967 (24%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
2397 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
1296 (54%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
12407 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
3419 (28%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
Apple M1 Pro (14 Core) @ 1.30 GHz
4580 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
Intel UHD Graphics 620 @ 1.15 GHz
442 (10%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
192 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
37 (19%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
354 (100%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
1211 (100%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
5955 (100%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
671.5 (100%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
378 (100%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 0.60 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 1.80 GHz
1666 (100%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
167 (100%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
564 (100%)

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.
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
12,390 CB R23 MC @ 45 W
275 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
1.80 GHz
0 (0%)

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).
Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
10C 10T @ 0.60 GHz
11 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) Intel Core i7-8550U
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
Unknown

News and articles for the Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU) and the Intel Core i7-8550U


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