Apple launched the new MacBook Pro, which is an evolution for the year-old Apple Silicon. It has brought more computing power and graphical ability to the brand new models. The introduction of new Mac models by Apple using M1 chips, including the 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini, signalled a sea change for the company since it transitioned away from the Intel processors. The launch is set to start a two-year schedule for Apple.
The latest M1 chips differ in some crucial ways. Let’s find out what’s inside when you buy a new MacBook Pro.
The latest products were announced at Apple’s fall Unleashed event in late October. It brought us two more high-powered members to the M1 homegrown chip line that it initially launched a year ago. Its debut in its shiny new MacBook Pro 14 and MacBook Pro 16 laptops. The Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max represent an extra step forward in Apple’s two-year plan to ditch its use of Intel’s competing processors.
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The new chips arrived earlier to Intel’s launch this week of its 12th-gen Alder Lake desktop CPUs. Nevertheless, it uses a similar architecture, such as incorporating high-performance and low-power cores and a design borrowed from phone chips to balance performance and battery life better.
The real competition, however, is between laptop performances. Because when it heats the Intel, it will deliver its mobile versions of the 12th-gen chips in early 2022, and Apple will overhaul its iMac 27-inch (and possibly Mac Pro) with top-of-the-line M1s. The same is rumored for mid-2022.
Apple’s new launch is sure to confuse people with its options. Thanks to the variations in the number of GPU and CPU and cores that fall under the exact model name, the three different lines of M1 chips can break into multiple versions you can configure a system with.
For example, there are two versions of the M1 Pro,
- one with eight CPU cores and 14 GPU cores, and
- other with 10 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores.
Specifications
M1 (2020) | M1 Pro (2021) | M1 Max (2021) | |
CPU Cores (Total) | 8 | 8 or 10 | 10 |
CPU Performance Cores | 4 | 6 or 8 | 8 |
CPU Efficiency Cores | 4 | 2 | 2 |
GPU Cores | 7 or 8 | 14 or 16 | 24 or 32 |
Neural Engine Cores | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Transistors | 16 billion | 33.7 billion | 57 billion |
Foundry process | 5nm | 5nm | 5nm |
Unified Memory Capacities | 8GB, 16GB | 16GB, 32GB | 32GB, 64GB |
Memory Bandwidth | – | 200GB/s | 400GB/s |
Media Engine | – | Video decode engine, Video encode engine ProRes encode and decode engine | Video decode engine, 2 Video encode engines 2 ProRes encode and decode engines |
The M1 Max and M1 Pro can differ in terms of peak performance. The M1 Max doubles to some essential contributors to theoretical performance, which is extremely important for many things. These include pro video editing, doubled bandwidth for some internal interfaces, such as between memory and the processor, etc.
All the M1 implementations have in common so far that there is no mention of discrete graphics support. Instead, apple has griped up the potential integrated GPU performance. Further, it boasts that the M1 Max supports the most memory available to a mobile GPU, up to 64GB.
Is Apple Silicon faster than Intel?
Numerous factors will make your buying decision bend towards an Apple Silicon Mac versus an Intel Mac. This guide will highlight the significant factors that contribute to this, and we will tell you why it’s smarter to opt for something like the M1 chip and 24-inch iMac with over the 27-inch iMac.
- Apple M1 chip is Newer and Faster: Apple Silicon was a giant leap forward in computing technology. The M1 chip stood up to its expectations in real-world tests. The MacBook Pro M1 even beat the top-of-the-line 16-inch MacBook Pro with a Core i9 Intel CPU. It made it one of the best laptops in the market to indicate how capable the M1 chip is., The M1 is both newer and faster in terms of CPU processing in comparison to the Intel chip found on the 27-inch iMac. So if you are planning on getting a Mac for productivity tasks, the 24-inch iMac with M1 is a far better option for you.
- Better Thermal Management: Apart from the excellent performance it delivers, a significant advantage of Apple Silicon Macs over Intel Macs is its thermal management. Apple has accomplished keeping the power requirement of the M1 relatively low. For that reason, the heat generated is less compared to an Intel Mac.
- Updated and Slim Design: A direct by-product of better thermal management is a slimmer chassis. And this is precisely the case with the new 24-inch M1 iMac. The older 27-inch Intel iMac has a bulkier design because more surface area is required to dissipate the heat generated from the CPU. However, the 24-inch iMac uses Apple Silicon; they can shave off a large chunk of extra space in the chassis. This makes the new iMac as slim as 11.6mm. The new 24-inch iMac looks a lot more modern in comparison to the older 27-inch iMac.
- Apple’s Hardware and Software Integration: Apple offers a refined experience right from the UI to the apps, mainly because Apple manages both the hardware and software on those devices. This makes them very well integrated. Apple is bringing the same experience to their computers with Apple Silicon for Macs.
- Support for iPhone and iPad Apps: Another notable advantage of picking up an Apple Silicon Mac is that it can run your favourite iOS and iPad OS apps on your Mac natively.
Is M1 Max faster than M1 Pro Chip MacBook Pro?
According to Apple, the M1 Pro and Max will offer up to 70% faster performance compared to the M1. This is because the GPU performance in the M1 Pro and Max, memory bandwidth, and the number of transistors are twice more on the M1 Pro than the M1. Further, you get up to 400GBps of memory bandwidth in the M1 Max. This new addition is almost six times that of M1. Further, the M1 Pro supports up to two external displays and four external displays on the M1 Max.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, we can all agree that Apple has nailed the performance aspect of its custom Silicon along with battery life on the MacBook M1 pro and M1 Max. This is only the first generation of Apple Silicon we’re looking at. The subsequent iterations will keep getting better.