Almost three months after the launch of Apple’s M1 Macs with rave analysis, Intel responded, but there are some asterisks involved.
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In a slide show shared by PCWorld this week, Intel highlighted what PCWorld described as “carefully crafted” benchmarks in an attempt to prove that laptops with the latest 11th Generation Core processors are superior to those with Apple’s custom M1 chip.
For example, Intel said that exporting a PowerPoint presentation as a PDF file is up to 2.3x faster on a Windows laptop equipped with an 11th generation Core i7 processor and 16 GB of RAM compared to completing the same task on a MacBook 13-inch Pro with M1 chip and 16 GB of RAM, with Intel noting that PowerPoint ran natively on both systems.
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Intel also indicated that Topaz Labs Gigapixel AI’s AI-based photo magnification software performed up to 6x faster on the Core i7 system compared to the M1 MacBook Pro. PCWorld said that “the results are quite real”, noting that Topaz Labs applications are designed to take advantage of hardware acceleration within Intel processors.
As for gaming performance, the results were mixed, with Intel emphasizing the well-established view that Macs are not ideal for games and lack support for “countless” games like Gear Tactics, Hitman 2 and others.
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Intel also conducted a “real-world battery life test” and found that both the M1 MacBook Air and the Acer Swift 5 with an 11th generation Core i7 processor achieved a 10-hour battery life virtually identical to streaming the Netflix with additional tabs open. Intel said both notebooks were set to 250 nits of screen brightness, with the MacBook Air running Safari and the Acer Swift 5 running Chrome for testing.
It is important to note that Intel switched MacBook Pro to performance benchmarks for MacBook Air for battery life testing, and Intel used a different Core i7 processor SKU for each of these tests as well.
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The Apple website announces that the MacBook Air M1 has up to 18 hours of battery life when continuously playing 1080p content on the Apple TV app with a 50% screen brightness and up to 15 hours of battery life when browsing 25 popular sites on Safari over Wi- Fi with screen brightness set to 50%.
Intel added that its processors are not just about performance, but also about choice, as they power all types of devices, from traditional notebooks to tablets with features like touch screens and support for multiple external monitors. Officially, the M1-based MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro support only an external monitor, but some users have found that this limitation can be circumvented with DisplayLink adapters as an unofficial solution.
“M1-Unfriendly Benchmarks”
Apple columnist Jason Snell referred to Intel’s benchmarks as “M1-hostile” in a comment shared on his website Six colors.
“Inconsistent test platforms, alternating arguments, missing data and the not-so-faint smell of despair,” wrote Snell. “Today’s M1 processor is a low-cost chip for low-cost systems, so Intel only has a small window to compare favorably with those systems before high-performance Apple silicon Macs are released and make their job. much more difficult. “
Tom’s HardwareAndrew Freedman of the company also warned that all benchmarks provided by suppliers should be considered with caution.
Apple says the M1 chip offers industry-leading performance per watt, with the latest MacBook Air surpassing a 16-inch Intel-based MacBook Pro in Geekbench benchmarks. Rumors suggest that Apple will launch new models of 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, a redesigned iMac and more with Apple’s next-generation silicon later this year.