Intel Core i7-1260U vs Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)

Last updated: 2023-11-14

CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i7-1260U		Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)
CPU comparison Intel Core i7-1260U or Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) - 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 Intel Core i7-1260U has 10 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.70 GHz. Up to 64 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-1260U was released in Q1/2022. The Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) has 24 cores with 24 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. The CPU supports up to 192 GB of memory in 8 memory channels. The Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) was released in Q2/2023.

Intel Core i7 (298)	Family	Apple M series (25)
Intel Core i 1200P/1200U (21)	CPU group	Apple M2 (8)
12	Generation	2
Alder Lake U	Architecture	M2
Mobile	Segment	Mobile
--	Predecessor	Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
--	Successor	--

CPU Cores and Base Frequency The Intel Core i7-1260U is a 10 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.10 GHz (4.70 GHz). The Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) has 24 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz).
Intel Core i7-1260U	Characteristic	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)
10	Cores	24
12	Threads	24
hybrid (big.LITTLE)	Core architecture	hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes	Hyperthreading	No
No	Overclocking ?	No
1.10 GHz (4.70 GHz) 2x Golden Cove	A-Core	0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz) 16x Avalanche
0.80 GHz (3.50 GHz) 8x Gracemont	B-Core	0.60 GHz (2.42 GHz) 8x Blizzard
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.
Intel Core i7-1260U	Characteristic	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)
--	AI hardware	Apple Neural Engine
--	AI specifications	32 Neural cores @ 31.6 TOPS

Internal Graphics The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.
Intel Iris Xe Graphics 96 (Alder Lake)	GPU	Apple M2 Ultra (76 Core)
0.25 GHz	GPU frequency	0.45 GHz
0.95 GHz	GPU (Turbo)	1.40 GHz
13	GPU Generation	2
10 nm	Technology	5 nm
4	Max. displays	8
96	Compute units	1216
768	Shader	9728
No	Hardware Raytracing	No
No	Frame Generation	No
32 GB	Max. GPU Memory	192 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 96 (Alder Lake)	GPU	Apple M2 Ultra (76 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	No
Decode / Encode	Codec AVC	Decode
Decode	Codec VC-1	Decode
Decode / Encode	Codec JPEG	Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe The Intel Core i7-1260U supports a maximum of 64 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) can connect up to 192 GB of memory in 8 memory channels.
Intel Core i7-1260U	Characteristic	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)
LPDDR5-5200, LPDDR4X-4266, DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200	Memory	LPDDR5-6400
64 GB	Max. Memory	192 GB
2 (Dual Channel)	Memory channels	8 (Octa Channel)
83.2 GB/s	Max. Bandwidth	819.1 GB/s
No	ECC	No
6.50 MB	L2 Cache	72.00 MB
12.00 MB	L3 Cache	--
4.0	PCIe version	4.0
28	PCIe lanes	64
55.1 GB/s	PCIe Bandwidth	126.0 GB/s
Thermal Management The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Intel Core i7-1260U has a TDP of 9 W, that of the Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) is 80 W.
Intel Core i7-1260U	Characteristic	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)
9 W	TDP (PL1 / PBP)	80 W
29 W	TDP (PL2)	--
--	TDP up	--
--	TDP down	--
100 °C	Tjunction max.	100 °C
Technical details The Intel Core i7-1260U has a 18.50 MB cache, while the Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) cache has a total of 72.00 MB.
Intel Core i7-1260U	Characteristic	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)
10 nm	Technology	5 nm
Monolithic	Chip design	Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit)	Instruction set (ISA)	Armv8.5-A (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2	ISA extensions	Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
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	Q2/2023
--	Release price	--

show more data		show more data

Intel Core i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 1.10 GHz (4.70 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save! Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save!

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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks

Intel Core i7-1260U (87%)

Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) (99%)

⌀ Multi core performance in 4 CPU benchmarks

Intel Core i7-1260U (26%)

Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) (100%)

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.


	Intel Core i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 4.70 GHz	1745 (100%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	1695 (97%)

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.


	Intel Core i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 2.10 GHz	6788 (24%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	28570 (100%)

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 i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 4.70 GHz	1596 (82%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	1940 (100%)

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.


	Intel Core i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 2.10 GHz	6874 (25%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	27860 (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 i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 4.70 GHz	2115 (79%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	2689 (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 i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 2.10 GHz	6296 (29%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	21450 (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 i7-1260U Intel Iris Xe Graphics 96 (Alder Lake) @ 0.95 GHz	1456 (5%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) Apple M2 Ultra (76 Core) @ 1.40 GHz	26980 (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.


	Intel Core i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 2.10 GHz	13307 (27%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	48560 (100%)

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.


	Intel Core i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 4.70 GHz	0 (0%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	126 (100%)

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.


	Intel Core i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 4.70 GHz	0 (0%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	1918 (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.


	Intel Core i7-1260U 1.10 GHz	0 (0%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 28,570 CB R23 MC @ 80 W	357 (100%)

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).


	Intel Core i7-1260U 10C 12T @ 1.10 GHz	0 (0%)
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 0.66 GHz	31.6 (100%)

Devices using this processor
Intel Core i7-1260U	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)
Unknown	Unknown

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