Apple M1
VS
Intel Core i9-12900K
Apple M1
VS
Intel Core i9-12900K

Which to select

It is time to pick the winner. What is the difference between Apple M1 vs Intel Core i9-12900K? What CPU is more powerful? It is quite easy to determine – look at comparison table. The processor with more cores/ threads and also with higher frequency is the absolute winner!

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

Who will win between Apple M1 vs  Intel Core i9-12900K. The general performance of a CPU can easily be determined based on the number of its cores and the thread count, as well as the base frequency and Turbo frequency. The more GHz and cores a CPU has, the better. Please note that high technical specs require using a powerful cooling system.

3.20 GHz
Frequency
3.70 GHz
8
CPU Cores
16
No turbo
Turbo (1 Core)
5.30 GHz
No
Hyperthreading
Yes
No
Overclocking
Yes
No turbo
Turbo (8 Cores)
no data
Turbo (16 Cores)
5.00 GHz
hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Core architecture
hybrid (big.LITTLE)
4x Firestorm
A core
8x Golden Cove
4x Icestorm
B core
8x Gracemont
--
C core
--

CPU generation and family

Apple M1
Name
Intel Core i9-12900K
Mobile
Segment
Desktop / Server
Apple M1
CPU group
Intel Core i 12000
Apple M series
Family
Intel Core i9
1
Generation
12
--
Predecessor
Intel Core i9-11900K
--
Successor
--

Internal Graphics

Some manufacturers complement their CPUs with graphic chips, such a solution being especially popular in laptops. The higher the clock frequency of a GPU is and the bigger its memory, the better. Find a winner - Apple M1 vs Intel Core i9-12900K. 

Apple M1 (8 Core)
GPU name
Intel Iris Xe Graphics 32 (Alder Lake S)
3.20 GHz
GPU frequency
0.40 GHz
No turbo
GPU (Turbo)
1.45 GHz
1
Generation
12
DirectX Version
12
128
Execution units
32
0
Shader
256
2
Max. displays
3
5 nm
Technology
10 nm
Q4/2020
Release date
Q4/2021
8 GB
Max. GPU Memory
16 GB

Hardware codec support

Here we deal with specs that are used by some CPU manufacturers. These numbers are mainly technical and can be neglected for the purpose of the comparison analysis.

Decode / Encode
h264
Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode
JPEG
Decode / Encode
Decode
VP8
Decode
Decode / Encode
VP9
Decode / Encode
Decode
VC-1
Decode
Decode
AVC
Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode
h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode
h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
Decode / Encode
Decode
AV1
Decode

Memory & PCIe

These are memory standards supported by CPUs. The higher such standards, the better a CPU’s performance is.

LPDDR4X-4266
Memory type
DDR4-3200DDR5-4800
16 GB
Max. Memory
256 GB
2
Memory channels
2
No
ECC
No
4.0
PCIe version
5.0
PCIe lanes
20

Encryption

Data encryption support

Yes
AES-NI
Yes

Memory & AMP; PCIe

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP), sometimes called thermal design point, is the maximum amount of heat generated by a computer chip or component (often a CPU, GPU or system on a chip) that the cooling system in a computer is designed to dissipate under any workload.

--
Tjunction max.
100 °C
20 W
TDP up
--
10 W
TDP down
--
15 W
TDP (PL1)
125 W
--
TDP (PL2)
228 W / 56 s

Technical details

8
CPU Threads
24
--
L3-Cache
30.00 MB
5 nm
Technology
10 nm
M1
Architecture
Alder Lake S
None
Virtualization
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
N/A
Socket
LGA 1700
Q4/2020
Release date
Q4/2021
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
Instruction set (ISA)
x86-64 (64 bit)
16.00 MB
L2-Cache
--
--
Part Number
--
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
ISA extensions
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX-512

Devices using this processor

You probably know already what devices use CPUs. These can be a desktop or a laptop.

Apple iMac 24 (2021) Apple MacBook Pro 13 (L2020) Apple MacBook Air (2020) Apple Mac mini (2020) Apple iPad Pro 11 (2021) Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021)
Used in
Unknown

Compatibility

Technologies and extensions

Virtualization technologies

Memory specs

Peripherals

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is based on Cinema 4 Suite. It is the software used to create 3D forms. The benchmark runs for single-core test procedure without counting of hyperthreading ability.

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

It is the new version of the benchmark which is developed on the basis of Cinebench R15 (both versions are operated on the basis of Cinema 4 - the most popular 3D modeling software). Cinebench R20 is used for multi-core processor performance benchmark tests and hyperthreading ability.