4 ms·

Apple M3 CPUs Hit 4.05 GHz, Challenge Raptor Lake in Geekbench

42 points by CharlesW 3y ago

ericpauley 3y ago
Comparing laptop (Mac) and desktop SKUs?
- rsynnott 3y ago
  This is their primary point of comparison: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236773/intel-core-i9-processor-14900k-36m-cache-up-to-6-00-ghz/specifications.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236773/... (Confusingly, they use a different one for the M3 comparison, but this is what they use for the M3 Max). It's a desktop part with a TDP of 253W (Intel might quibble; it's a "maximum turbo power", not a TDP, totally different!)
- Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
  I think it needs to happen more often, tbh. If I'm buying hardware to complete a task, and I'm already doing it on a desktop, but am considering a laptop, I need to know how the laptop will perform relative to the desktop. This is especially true in gaming. Like, yes, I expect the mobile version of an RTX 3060 to be lesser than the desktop, but how much lower? Should I consider a 4070 in my laptop? These are not apples-to-oranges comparisons.
- postalrat 3y ago
  Would comparing based on price be better?
- zamadatix 3y ago
  The performance bump when they put it in the mini/studio/imac is absolutely miniscule (on the order of 1%) and there isn't an M3 Ultra to bump up the core count with in a la Mac Pro (yet?).
runjake 3y ago
Typo in article: When it comes to multi-threaded workloads, results of Apple's M3 and M3 Max are a mixed bag in Geekbench 6. Should be: When it comes to multi-threaded workloads, results of Apple's M3 and M3 Pro are a mixed bag in Geekbench 6.
- re 3y ago
  It's a weirdly structured paragraph, and it doesn't seem like the article is justifying some of its claims (like "Apple's high-end workstation SoCs still cannot compete against workstation-grade offerings from renowned CPU developers"), but I wouldn't call it a typo. M3 Pro shouldn't be mentioned at all as there are no Geekbench results for it yet. https://browser.geekbench.com/search?q=apple+m3 https://browser.geekbench.com/search?q=apple+m3
- barbariangrunge 3y ago
  another detail: > enabling them to manage even the most challenging workloads with ease. The hardware needed to handle the most challenging possible workloads would take almost infinite resources, and all the energy in the universe. So this is not quite accurate. I also doubt certain web apps and badly optimized games will perform well no matter the cpu Just wanted to be a part of the nitpicking before my lunch break ends
kramerger 3y ago
Intel? AMD is really the one you need to compete with these days :) And I recall the main issue of hitting these speeds used to be getting rid of the heat. The heat issue gets slightly easier on on newer nodes, but Apple did have some problems with M2 at much lower frequencies.
zamadatix 3y ago
All of their benchmark values seem decently higher than the values in the main processor chart https://browser.geekbench.com/processor-benchmarks/ https://browser.geekbench.com/processor-benchmarks/. Not sure what to read of that.

42 points by CharlesW 3y ago

ericpauley 3y ago

Comparing laptop (Mac) and desktop SKUs?

rsynnott 3y ago
This is their primary point of comparison: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236773/intel-core-i9-processor-14900k-36m-cache-up-to-6-00-ghz/specifications.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236773/... (Confusingly, they use a different one for the M3 comparison, but this is what they use for the M3 Max). It's a desktop part with a TDP of 253W (Intel might quibble; it's a "maximum turbo power", not a TDP, totally different!)
Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
I think it needs to happen more often, tbh. If I'm buying hardware to complete a task, and I'm already doing it on a desktop, but am considering a laptop, I need to know how the laptop will perform relative to the desktop. This is especially true in gaming. Like, yes, I expect the mobile version of an RTX 3060 to be lesser than the desktop, but how much lower? Should I consider a 4070 in my laptop? These are not apples-to-oranges comparisons.
postalrat 3y ago
Would comparing based on price be better?
zamadatix 3y ago
The performance bump when they put it in the mini/studio/imac is absolutely miniscule (on the order of 1%) and there isn't an M3 Ultra to bump up the core count with in a la Mac Pro (yet?).

runjake 3y ago

Typo in article: When it comes to multi-threaded workloads, results of Apple's M3 and M3 Max are a mixed bag in Geekbench 6. Should be: When it comes to multi-threaded workloads, results of Apple's M3 and M3 Pro are a mixed bag in Geekbench 6.

re 3y ago
It's a weirdly structured paragraph, and it doesn't seem like the article is justifying some of its claims (like "Apple's high-end workstation SoCs still cannot compete against workstation-grade offerings from renowned CPU developers"), but I wouldn't call it a typo. M3 Pro shouldn't be mentioned at all as there are no Geekbench results for it yet. https://browser.geekbench.com/search?q=apple+m3 https://browser.geekbench.com/search?q=apple+m3
barbariangrunge 3y ago
another detail: > enabling them to manage even the most challenging workloads with ease. The hardware needed to handle the most challenging possible workloads would take almost infinite resources, and all the energy in the universe. So this is not quite accurate. I also doubt certain web apps and badly optimized games will perform well no matter the cpu Just wanted to be a part of the nitpicking before my lunch break ends

kramerger 3y ago

Intel? AMD is really the one you need to compete with these days :) And I recall the main issue of hitting these speeds used to be getting rid of the heat. The heat issue gets slightly easier on on newer nodes, but Apple did have some problems with M2 at much lower frequencies.

zamadatix 3y ago

All of their benchmark values seem decently higher than the values in the main processor chart https://browser.geekbench.com/processor-benchmarks/ https://browser.geekbench.com/processor-benchmarks/. Not sure what to read of that.