Intel Core i5-12600H vs Apple M4

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i5-12600H CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M4
Intel Core i5-12600H Apple M4

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Intel Core i5-12600H and the Apple M4 and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Intel Core i5-12600H 12 core processor released in Q1/2022 with the Apple M4 which has 9 CPU cores and was introduced in Q2/2024.
Intel Core i5 (331) Family Apple M series (25)
Intel Core i 12000H (23) CPU group Apple M4 (2)
12 Generation 4
Alder Lake H Architecture M4
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple M3
Intel Core i5-13600H Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i5-12600H is a 12 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.00 GHz (4.50 GHz). The processor can compute 16 threads at the same time. The Apple M4 clocks with 0.70 GHz (4.41 GHz), has 9 CPU cores and can calculate 9 threads in parallel.

Intel Core i5-12600H Characteristic Apple M4
12 Cores 9
16 Threads 9
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.00 GHz (4.50 GHz)
4x Golden Cove
A-Core 0.70 GHz (4.41 GHz)
3x P-Core
2.00 GHz (3.30 GHz)
8x Gracemont
B-Core 0.74 GHz (2.85 GHz)
6x E-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.

Intel Core i5-12600H Characteristic Apple M4
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 38 TOPS
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

Graphics (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.

Intel Iris Xe Graphics 80 (Alder Lake) GPU Apple M4 (10 Core)
0.40 GHz GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
1.40 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.40 GHz
13 GPU Generation --
10 nm Technology 3 nm
4 Max. displays 2
80 Compute units 160
640 Shader 1280
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
32 GB Max. GPU Memory 24 GB
12.1 DirectX Version --

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.

Intel Iris Xe Graphics 80 (Alder Lake) GPU Apple M4 (10 Core)
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
Decode Codec AV1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 64 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Intel Core i5-12600H, while the Apple M4 supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 120.0 GB/s enabled.

Intel Core i5-12600H Characteristic Apple M4
LPDDR5-5200, LPDDR4X-4266, DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR5X-7500
64 GB Max. Memory 8 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
83.2 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 120.0 GB/s
No ECC No
9.00 MB L2 Cache 18.00 MB
18.00 MB L3 Cache --
4.0 PCIe version 4.0
28 PCIe lanes --
55.1 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Intel Core i5-12600H has a TDP of 45 W. The TDP of the Apple M4 is 22 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Intel Core i5-12600H Characteristic Apple M4
45 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 22 W
95 W TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down 15 W
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core i5-12600H has 27.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 10 nm. The cache of Apple M4 is at 18.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 3 nm.

Intel Core i5-12600H Characteristic Apple M4
10 nm Technology 3 nm
Monolithic Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv9-A (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+ ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation, AVX2, SME
BGA 1744 Socket --
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems macOS, iPadOS
Q1/2022 Release date Q2/2024
311 $ Release price --
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Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i5-12600H to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 2.0 stars (3 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple M4 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.2 stars (95 ratings). Rate now:


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.
Intel Core i5-12600H Intel Core i5-12600H
12C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 4.41 GHz
2491 (100%)

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.
Intel Core i5-12600H Intel Core i5-12600H
12C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 4.41 GHz
3630 (100%)

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.
Intel Core i5-12600H Intel Core i5-12600H
12C 16T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 0.70 GHz
13060 (100%)

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.
Intel Core i5-12600H Intel Core i5-12600H
Intel Iris Xe Graphics 80 (Alder Lake) @ 1.40 GHz
1735 (100%)
Apple M4 Apple M4
Apple M4 (10 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Intel Core i5-12600H Intel Core i5-12600H
12C 16T @ 3.20 GHz
23005 (100%)
Apple M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)

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).
Intel Core i5-12600H Intel Core i5-12600H
12C 16T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 0.70 GHz
38 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i5-12600H Apple M4
Unknown Apple iPad Pro 11 (2024)

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