In 2006, Apple first started using Intel processors in its devices. Then, on November 17, 2020, Apple announced it would include its new M1 chip in its MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini.
The M1 chip is based on Arm architecture rather than the x86 architecture used by both Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) as Intel. Apple has been using Arm architecture chips in its iPhones for a number of years now and modifying and improving them to improve performance.
Under the hood of the M1
The M1 is an 8-core processor, with four performance cores and four efficiency cores that are only used during peak performance.
Several things make the M1 unique. It is manufactured using the advanced Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) 5nm (nanometer) transistor making process, which is superior to both AMD’s 7nm process and Intel’s 10nm manufacturing process. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, and the smaller the transistor, the more that can be packed on a single chip.
The M1 has Unified Random Access Memory (RAM) that enables lightning-fast data transfer, and comes with an 8-core graphics processing unit (GPU) that offers superior graphics in many cases than that of the Intel Xe graphics processor, used in Intel’s 11th generation processors. The M1 also comes with a 16-core Neural Engine for machine learning and artificial intelligence-related tasks.
Where the M1 really shines is its high performance per watt. This low electricity consumption has two important advantages:
- Less heat build-up – This allows Apple to eliminate fans, resulting in a thinner device design
- Longer battery life – the M1 offers 50% to 80% more battery life than Apple’s Intel processors.
Reviewer Joel Hruska said of the Apple M1 chip, “It represents the most powerful threat to x86 dominance I’ve seen in my entire career.”
AMD Ryzen chips come with a whopping 64 cores, which increases their multitasking capability. On November 5, 2020, AMD announced the launch of its Ryzen 5000 series mobile processors.
How the M1 fares against Intel and AMD chips
In side-by-side testing, PC World tested an Apple MacBook Pro M1, which includes an M1 Arm-based SoC / CPU, a 512 GB custom SSD, 16 GB LPDDR4X / 4267 memory, and a 13.3-inch 2560×1600 display . In contrast, they analyzed several laptops of a similar size, including:
- MSI’s Prestige 14 Evo with a four-core 11th Gen Core i7-1185G7 with Iris Xe graphics, 16 GB LPDDR4X / 4267 memory, a 512 GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD and a 14-inch FHD display
- MSI’s Prestige 14 with a six-core 10th Gen Core i7-10710U, GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics, 16 GB LPDDR3 / 2133 memory, a 1 TB PCIe 3.0 SSD, and a 14-inch 4K display
- Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7 with an eight-core Ryzen 4800U with Radeon graphics, 16 GB LPDDR4X / 4267 memory, a 512 GB PCIe 3.0 SSD, a 14-inch FHD
- Acer Predator Triton 500 with a six-core 10th Gen Core i7-10750H CPU, GeForce RTX 2080 Super graphics, 32 GB DDR4 / 3200 memory, a 1 TB PCIe 3.0 SSD, and a 15.6-inch 300Hz FHD display.
PC World reported that 3D rendering tests led to the M1 being “a stone-cold killer,” with no fan noise, while the fans on board the x86 laptops were racing. Most notably, the 8-core M1 Mac beat the Ryzen chip laptops and most Intel chip laptops, with only the MSI Prestige 14 leading the way a bit.
PC World also reported that tests conducted by Puget Systems on Photoshop, a single-thread process, showed that the M1 beat the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 with its Ryzen 7 4800U chip. However, Intel’s 11th-gen Tiger Lake chip beat the MacBook Pro M1 a little bit. What made the biggest difference in Photoshop’s tests was the amount of available memory.
Starting November 18, 2020, Adobe Photoshop will work natively on Apple M1 Macs and Microsoft Surface Pro X tablets, which also include Arm-based processors. Microsoft’s Surface Pro X tablet is unique in that it uses Qualcomm’s custom Arm-based SQ1 chip, which is built exclusively for Microsoft.
Intel fires shots over Apple’s arc
Maybe he felt the pressure from the M1 and Intel started firing back at Apple, citing benchmark tests. On January 5, 2021, the website Tom’s Hardware published slides of a recent Intel presentation that pitted the M1 against Intel’s chips for a range of tasks, including photo enhancement, album organization, stock option selection, and online homework.
However, Tom’s Hardware pointed out that the chip Intel used in the comparison is the Core i7-1185G7, while the Intel chip used in most laptops is the Core i7-1165G7. The i7-1185G7 is only used in one production laptop: the MSI Prestige 14 Evo.
Even more remarkable, Intel switched between different Apple devices during some tests. It switched to a MacBook Pro with just 8 GB of RAM instead of the 16 GB model, and in a battery life test, Intel switched to an Intel Core i7-1165G7 notebook, the Acer Swift 5, instead of sticking to the Core i7-1185G7.
Intel has included in its stats the performance of the M1 in games that currently don’t work with the macOS and with the M1 CPU, including Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, games in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Crysis Remastered, and Red Dead Redemption 2.
In its presentation, Intel praised the broader form factors offered by Windows machines, such as 2-in-1s, small form factor desktops, desktops with touchscreens, and even easels. Apple is currently lagging behind on the touchscreen and convertible 2-in-1 areas. Intel recently launched a campaign on Twitter to showcase tasks that are impossible on M1 machines, perhaps indicating some degree of desperation on Intel’s part.
Only a PC offers tablet mode, touchscreen and stylus capabilities in one device. #GoPC
– Intel (@intel) February 2, 2021
Microsoft, Google and Amazon would be interested in the power-efficient features offered by the M1, which would be especially beneficial for use on servers. As we recently reported, Intel’s cloud service provider revenues are down 15% from a year earlier, indicating a potential weakness in the data center business. Microsoft, Google and Amazon may be trying to develop their own chips, with Microsoft and AMD already reporting that they are working on their own ARM-based chips.
Should you buy an M1 device?
In conclusion, early adopters of M1 devices may have to suffer for a while before developers catch up. One major area where the M1 seems to be lagging behind is gaming, but that will change as developers migrate their apps to the Arm architecture. Apple is known for optimizing its software and hardware to create what its fans consider unparalleled performance.