Intel Core i7-12700F vs Apple M3 (8-GPU)

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i7-12700F CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M3 (8-GPU)
Intel Core i7-12700F Apple M3 (8-GPU)

CPU comparison

Intel Core i7-12700F or Apple M3 (8-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 i7-12700F has 12 cores with 20 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.90 GHz. Up to 128 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-12700F was released in Q1/2022.

The Apple M3 (8-GPU) has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.06 GHz. The CPU supports up to 24 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple M3 (8-GPU) was released in Q4/2023.
Intel Core i7 (298) Family Apple M series (25)
Intel Core i 12000 (34) CPU group Apple M3 (6)
12 Generation 3
Alder Lake S Architecture M3
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
Intel Core i7-11700F Predecessor Apple M2 (8-GPU)
Intel Core i7-13700F Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i7-12700F is a 12 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.10 GHz (4.90 GHz). The Apple M3 (8-GPU) has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz).

Intel Core i7-12700F Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
12 Cores 8
20 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.10 GHz (4.90 GHz)
8x Golden Cove
A-Core 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz)
4x P-Core
1.60 GHz (3.60 GHz)
4x Gracemont
B-Core 0.74 GHz (2.75 GHz)
4x 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 i7-12700F Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

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.

no iGPU GPU Apple M3 (8 Core)
GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.40 GHz
-- GPU Generation --
Technology 3 nm
Max. displays 2
-- Compute units 128
-- Shader 1024
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 24 GB
-- 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.

no iGPU GPU Apple M3 (8 Core)
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 Decode
No Codec AVC Decode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i7-12700F supports a maximum of 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple M3 (8-GPU) can connect up to 24 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

Intel Core i7-12700F Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR5-6400
128 GB Max. Memory 24 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
76.8 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 102.4 GB/s
No ECC No
12.00 MB L2 Cache 20.00 MB
25.00 MB L3 Cache --
5.0 PCIe version 4.0
20 PCIe lanes --
78.8 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Intel Core i7-12700F has a TDP of 65 W, that of the Apple M3 (8-GPU) is 22 W.

Intel Core i7-12700F Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
65 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 22 W
180 W TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down 10 W
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core i7-12700F has a 37.00 MB cache, while the Apple M3 (8-GPU) cache has a total of 20.00 MB.

Intel Core i7-12700F Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
10 nm Technology 3 nm
Monolithic Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+ ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
LGA 1700 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 Q4/2023
314 $ Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i7-12700F to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.0 stars (5 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple M3 (8-GPU) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.9 stars (71 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 4 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i7-12700F (83%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 4 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i7-12700F (100%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) (75%)

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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.90 GHz
107 (78%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
137 (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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.90 GHz
1004 (100%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
659 (66%)

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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.90 GHz
1862 (95%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
1965 (100%)

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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.00 GHz
21568 (100%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
10437 (48%)

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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.90 GHz
1712 (80%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
2150 (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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.00 GHz
11650 (100%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
10450 (90%)

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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.90 GHz
2497 (80%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
3125 (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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.00 GHz
12448 (100%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
11863 (95%)

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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
Apple M3 (8 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
2840 (100%)

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.
Intel Core i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.00 GHz
284 (100%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 4.00 GHz
31146 (100%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Intel Core i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 2.10 GHz
7405 (100%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)

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 i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
2.10 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
10,437 CB R23 MC @ 22 W
474 (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).
Intel Core i7-12700F Intel Core i7-12700F
12C 20T @ 2.10 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 0.70 GHz
35 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i7-12700F Apple M3 (8-GPU)
Unknown Apple iMac 24 (2023)

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