In 2006, Apple first used Intel’s processors in its devices. Then, on November 17, 2020, Apple announced that 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 developed by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) and Intel are used. Apple has been using Arm Architecture chips in its iPhones for several years now, modifying and improving them to increase performance.
Under the hood of the M1
The M1 is an 8-core processor, with four performance cores and four efficiency cores used only during peak performance.
Several things make the M1 unique. It is manufactured using the latest Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) 5 nm (nanometer) process for creating transistors, which is superior to AMD’s 7 nm process and Intel’s 10 nm manufacturing process. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, and the smaller the transistor, the more it can be packed on a single chip.
The M1 has uniform random access memory (RAM) that enables fast data transfer, and it has an 8-core graphics processing unit (GPU) that in many cases provides better graphics than that of the Intel Xe Graphics processor. used in Intel’s 11th generation processors. The M1 also has 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 primary advantages:
- Less heat generation – this allows Apple to eliminate fans, resulting in a thinner design of the device
- Longer battery life – the M1 offers a 50% to 80% increase in battery life over Apple’s Intel processors.
Reviewer Joel Hruska said of the Apple M1 chip: “This is the biggest threat to the dominance of x86 I’ve seen in my entire career.”
AMD Ryzen chips have up to a huge 64-core, which increases their multitasking capability. On November 5, 2020, AMD announces the launch of its Ryzen 5000 range of mobile processors.
How the M1 unites with Intel and AMD chips
In world tests, PC World tested an Apple MacBook Pro M1, which features an M1-based SoC / CPU, a custom 512 GB SSD, 16 GB LPDDR4X / 4267 memory and a 13.3-inch 2560×1600 screen . In contrast, they analyzed a number of similar laptops, including:
- MSI’s Prestige 14 Evo featuring a quad-core, 11th-generation Core i7-1185G7 with Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of LPDDR4X / 4267 memory, a 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD and a 14-inch FHD display
- MSI’s Prestige 14, featuring a six-core, 10th-generation Core i7-10710U, GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics, 16GB of LPDDR3 / 2133 memory, a 1TB PCIe 3.0 SSD and a 14-inch 4K screen contains
- Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7 featuring an eight-core Ryzen 4800U with Radeon graphics, 16GB LPDDR4X / 4267 memory, a 512GB PCIe 3.0 SSD, a 14-inch FHD
- Acer Predator Triton 500 with a six-core 10th-generation 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 screen.
PC World reports that 3D version tests resulted in the M1 being a ‘stone-cold killer’, with no fan noise while fans chased aboard the x86 laptops. Most importantly, the 8-core M1 Mac beat out the Ryzen laptops and most Intel laptops, with only the MSI Prestige 14 pulling slightly ahead.
PC World also reported that tests performed by Puget Systems on Photoshop, which is a single-thread process, showed that the M1 covered the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 with its Ryzen 7 4800U chip. However, Intel’s 11th generation Tiger Lake chip beat the MacBook Pro M1 by a tiny bit. What made the biggest difference in the Photoshop tests was the amount of memory available.
As of November 18, 2020, Adobe Photoshop will be originally used 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 SQ1 chip on the arm, which was built exclusively for Microsoft.
Intel fires shots over Apple’s bow
Maybe he feels the pressure of the M1, Intel has started firing back at Apple, citing standard tests. On January 5, 2021, the website Tom’s Hardware publishes slides from a recent Intel presentation that pits the M1 against Intel’s slides in a variety of tasks, including photo enhancement, album organization, stock selection, and online homework.
However, Tom’s Hardware pointed out that the chip that Intel used in the comparison is its Core i7-1185G7, while the Intel chip used in most laptops is the Core i7-1165G7. The i7-1185G7 is used in only one production laptop – the MSI Prestige 14 Evo.
Even more peculiar was that Intel switched between different Apple devices during some tests. It switched to a MacBook Pro with only 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, rather than to hold the Core i7-1185G7.
Intel has included in its statistics the performance of M1 in games currently not working with 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 mentions the broader form factors that Windows machines offer, such as 2-in-1s, small-form-factor desktops, desktops and even donkeys. Apple currently lies in the touch screen and convertible 2-in-1 areas. Intel recently launched a campaign on Twitter to show tasks that are impossible on M1 machines, which may indicate a certain amount of desperation on Intel’s part.
Only one computer offers tablet mode, touch screen and stylus capabilities in a single device. # GoPC
– Intel (@intel) 2 February 2021
It is said that Microsoft, Google and Amazon are interested in the low-power features that the M1 offers, which will be particularly beneficial for use in servers. As we recently reported, Intel’s revenue from cloud service providers fell by 15% from a year earlier, indicating a possible weakness in its data center business. Microsoft, Google and Amazon can try to develop their own chips, and Microsoft and AMD are already working on their own ARM-based chips.
Need to buy an M1 device?
The conclusion should be that early adoption of M1 devices may take some time before developers catch up. An important area where the M1 appears to be 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.