The 2018 macbook pros weren't even using the best silicon of the time - they were in the middle of Intel's "14nm skylake again" period, and an AMD GPU from 2016

The 2018 macbook pros weren't even using the best silicon of the time - they were in the middle of Intel's "14nm skylake again" period, and an AMD GPU from 2016. I suspect one of the reasons why Apple silicon looks so good is the previous generations were at a dip of performance. Maybe they took the foot off the gas WRT updates as they knew the M series of chips was coming soon?