Intel last week introduced its new series processors «Alder lake«. And the North American manufacturer has not been slow to “get chest” with the data from its performance tests. Based on these numbers, they are much faster than Apple’s new M1 Pro and M1 Max.
But the comparison has a “trick” and is not real. The new Intel processors are designed to desktop computers, so its consumption and its heating do not matter much, both factors being very high. Instead, Apple’s new chips have been specifically designed for Macbook pro, with an energy efficiency and a low working temperature without competition.
Intel has just unveiled its first 12th generation “Alder Lake” processors. There are six new chips aimed at desktop computers, including the high-end Core i9-12900K, a 16-core chip, half of them for high performance, and the other eight cores for low power consumption.
Up to 1.5 times faster
The first scores obtained by Geekbench 5 for the Core i9-12900K reveal that the processor is up to 1.5 times faster than Apple’s M1 Pro and M1 Max in multi-core performance. The Core i9 processor has an average multi-core score of approximately 18,500, compared to approximately 12,500 for the M1 Pro and M1 Max.
On paper, these new Intel processors are more powerful than Apple’s new ARMs. But keep in mind that the former have been designed to be mounted on desktop computers, while the latter are specific to Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops. So the difference in energy consumption and working temperature between them is abysmal, in favor of the M1.
Intel explains that the Core i9 needs up to 125 W power at base frequencies and up to 241 W of power with Turbo Boost. Unthinkable on a laptop.
In fairness, then, we will have to wait for the twelfth generation of Intel processors for laptops, which will be launched at the beginning of 2022, and then it will be a “clean” comparison against Apple’s M1 Max and M1 Pro. We will see then.
