Apple M4 (10-CPU) vs Intel Core i3-6100U

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M4 (10-CPU) CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i3-6100U
Apple M4 (10-CPU) Intel Core i3-6100U

CPU comparison

Apple M4 (10-CPU) or Intel Core i3-6100U - 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 M4 (10-CPU) has 10 cores with 10 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.41 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple M4 (10-CPU) was released in Q2/2024.

The Intel Core i3-6100U has 2 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.30 GHz. The CPU supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i3-6100U was released in Q3/2015.
Apple M series (25) Family Intel Core i3 (205)
Apple M4 (2) CPU group Intel Core i 6000U (20)
4 Generation 6
M4 Architecture Skylake U
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple M3 Predecessor --
-- Successor Intel Core i3-7100U

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M4 (10-CPU) has 10 CPU cores and can calculate 10 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple M4 (10-CPU) is 0.70 GHz (4.41 GHz) while the Intel Core i3-6100U has 2 CPU cores and 4 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i3-6100U is at 2.30 GHz.

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Intel Core i3-6100U
10 Cores 2
10 Threads 4
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
0.70 GHz (4.41 GHz)
4x P-Core
A-Core 2.30 GHz
0.74 GHz (2.85 GHz)
6x E-Core
B-Core --

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Intel Core i3-6100U
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware --
16 Neural cores @ 38 TOPS AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The Apple M4 (10-CPU) or Intel Core i3-6100U 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 M4 (10 Core) GPU Intel HD Graphics 520
GPU frequency 0.30 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.00 GHz
-- GPU Generation 9
3 nm Technology 14 nm
2 Max. displays 3
160 Compute units 24
1280 Shader 192
Yes Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
24 GB Max. GPU Memory 32 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 M4 (10 Core) GPU Intel HD Graphics 520
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 Decode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple M4 (10-CPU) can use up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 120.0 GB/s. The Intel Core i3-6100U supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 34.1 GB/s.

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Intel Core i3-6100U
LPDDR5X-7500 Memory LPDDR3-1866, DDR4-2133, DDR3-1600
16 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
120.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 34.1 GB/s
No ECC No
22.00 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 3.00 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 M4 (10-CPU) is 22 W, while the Intel Core i3-6100U has a TDP of 15 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Intel Core i3-6100U
22 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
15 W TDP down 7.5 W
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Apple M4 (10-CPU) is manufactured in 3 nm and has 22.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i3-6100U is manufactured in 14 nm and has a 3.00 MB cache.

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Intel Core i3-6100U
3 nm Technology 14 nm
Chiplet Chip design Monolithic
Armv9-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation, AVX2, SME 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, iPadOS Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q2/2024 Release date Q3/2015
-- Release price 281 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple M4 (10-CPU) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.8 stars (104 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M4 (10-CPU) (100%)
Intel Core i3-6100U (22%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M4 (10-CPU) (100%)
Intel Core i3-6100U (11%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 4.41 GHz
2491 (100%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
2C 4T @ 2.30 GHz
617 (25%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
12509 (100%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
2C 4T @ 2.30 GHz
1360 (11%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 4.41 GHz
3767 (100%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
2C 4T @ 2.30 GHz
720 (19%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
14621 (100%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
2C 4T @ 2.30 GHz
1643 (11%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
Apple M4 (10 Core) @ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
Intel HD Graphics 520 @ 1.00 GHz
384 (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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
2C 4T @ 2.30 GHz
2630 (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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
2C 4T @ 2.30 GHz
643 (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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 4.41 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
2C 4T @ 2.30 GHz
98 (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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
2C 4T @ 2.30 GHz
251 (100%)

AI performance (NPU)

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is given here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher.

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
38 (100%)
Intel Core i3-6100U Intel Core i3-6100U
2C 4T @ 2.30 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Intel Core i3-6100U
Apple iPad Pro 11 (2024) [1-2 TB] Unknown

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