New Apple Leak Shows Powerful MacBook Performance

Ahead of Apple’s “One More Thing” event this Tuesday and the anticipated release of the first ARM-based Mac machines, there are two big questions that many hope will be answered. One of them is the ability of macOS on ARM to run macOS apps designed for Intel-based Macs. The second is how much power Apple’s new ARM chips will have.

In the days leading up to launch, we’re getting closer to a later answer thanks to a leak via an online benchmarking tool.

November 8th update: In addition to the performance figures from the benchmarking, further details on the support that the A14X system on the chip offers Apple’s hardware designers. Chris Smith reports::

“According to CPU-Monkey, the A14X supports both LPDDR4 and LPDDR5 RAM, and the memory can be up to 32 GB. The thermal design power (TDP) is 15 W. In comparison, the A14 Bionic in the iPhone 12 has a TDP of 6 W. “

An important consideration when considering these potential specs is that Apple has an edge over other chip manufacturers. Only the A14X is being developed for Apple hardware. Intel has to deal with a wide variety of desktops and laptops, as well as Qualcomm’s ARM chips for desk-based hardware. The native benefits of choosing ARM will come with tight integration with the hardware – a similar story to the iPhone and iPad.

Apple is expected to use its A14X processor in the new MacBook Pro and MacBook laptops. The A14 family made their debut in the iPhone 12 phones, and the A14X variant is also expected to be the heart of the iPad Pro when the 2021 variant is announced early next year. But how does it compare with the current Intel processors on Macs?

Benchmarks were shown in the popular Geekbanch suite listing the hardware of the A14X. Wesley Hillard has more:

“The alleged CPU benchmarks for the“ A14X ”show a 1.80 GHz processor that allows Turbo Boosting to 3.10 GHz. This is the first custom Apple Silicon to ever clock above 3 GHz. It is an 8 core processor with a large array, the GPU results show that there is 8 GB of RAM in the processor.

“The single-core benchmark for the” A14X “scored 1634 versus the A12Z at 1118. The A14 scored 1,583 points for single-core tests, which is expected because the single-core scores are between the regular and the” X “shouldn’t change significantly. Models. ”

How does this fit in with the Intel MacBooks? Very well! The current 16-inch MacBook Pro is rated at 1096 for a single core and 6869 for multiple cores.

This is all about the processing grunt. Moving to ARM has many other benefits, including lower battery power consumption. Running at a lower temperature, which does not require aggressive cooling; and of course not having to rely on Intel’s production and design schedule.

No doubt Apple will rely heavily on some of these benchmarking results when presenting the hardware. And I have no doubt that when the hardware hits consumers there will be more benchmarking and testing to see how good the ARM is in terms of performance.

Right now the numbers look good, but once the machines hit the real world we will for sure know.

Read more about Apple’s classic storytelling technique around the introduction of the new MacBooks …