Home / CPU Comparison / Apple M1 or Intel Core i7-8500Y: What's better?

Apple M1

vs

Intel Core i7-8500Y

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Apple M1 and Intel Core i7-8500Y processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.

Advantages

Apple M1

More Total Cores: 8 (8 vs 2)
Higher Technology: 5 nm (5 nm vs 14 nm)
Higher Memory Type: Unified LPDDR4X-4266 (Unified LPDDR4X-4266 vs LPDDR3-1866 | DDR3L-1600)
Newer Launch Date: November 2020 (November 2020 vs January 2019)

Basic

Apple

Label Name

Intel

November 2020

Launch Date

January 2019

Laptop

Platform

Mobile

Apple Firestorm + Apple Icestorm

CPU Architecture

Apple M1

CPU Name

T8103

Part Number

Apple M1

Model Name

i7-8500Y

Code Name

Amber Lake Y

TSMC

Foundry

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Performance-cores

Efficient-cores

Basic Frequency

1.50 GHz

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Yes

Max Turbo Frequency

4.20 GHz

2.064 GHz

Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency

NEON

Instruction Set Extensions

3.204 GHz

Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Yes

ARMv8.4-A, NEON

Extended Instruction Set

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Yes

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

2.0

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

4.20 GHz

P-cores: 192 KB instruction + 128 KB data per core; E-cores: 128 KB instruction + 64 KB data per core

L1 Cache

P-core cluster: 12 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB

L2 Cache

Cache

4 MB Intel® Smart Cache

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCBGA1515

Intel AES New Instructions

Yes

5 nm

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

14 nm

TDP

5 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

3.0

Max Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

ARMv8.4-A

Instruction Set

An instruction set architecture (ISA) defines the instructions a processor can execute. Common architectures include x86-64, ARM and RISC-V. The ISA determines software compatibility, while optional instruction extensions add specialized capabilities.

64-bit

Intel 64

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Yes

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

1x4 | 2x2 | 1x2+2x1 and 4x1

16 billion

Transistor Count

Memory Specifications

128-bit

Memory Bus Width

Unified LPDDR4X-4266

Memory Type

LPDDR3-1866 | DDR3L-1600

16 GB

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

16 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

4 GT/s

68.25 GB/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

33.3 GB/s

ECC Memory Support

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

Intel Flex Memory Access

Yes

GPU Specifications

Apple M1 GPU

GPU Name

H.264, HEVC (H.265); multiple 4K video streams / up to 4K 60 fps depending on codec, bitrate and app

Video Decode

H.264, HEVC (H.265); up to 4K 60 fps depending on profile, level and app

Video Encode

Integrated Graphics Model

An integrated GPU refers to the graphics core that is integrated into the CPU processor. Leveraging the processor's powerful computational capabilities and intelligent power efficiency management, it delivers outstanding graphics performance and a smooth application experience at a lower power consumption.

Intel® UHD Graphics 615

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

300 MHz

Graphics Core Count

Graphics Frequency

1.05 GHz

4K Support

Yes | at 60Hz

Graphics Video Max Memory

16 GB

DirectX Support

DirectX* Support indicates support for a specific version of Microsoft’s collection of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for handling multimedia compute tasks.

Max Resolution (DP)

Max Resolution (DP) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the DP interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

3840 x 2160@60Hz

Max Resolution (eDP - Integrated Flat Panel)

Max Resolution (Integrated Flat Panel) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor for a device with an integrated flat panel (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your device.

3840 x 2160@60Hz

Max Resolution (HDMI)

Max Resolution (HDMI) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the HDMI interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096 x 2304@24Hz

Number of Displays Supported

Metal, OpenCL

GPU APIs

Up to 2.6 TFLOPS FP32

Graphics Performance

Graphics Output

Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.

eDP/DP/HDMI/DVI

Media encode and decode engines

Media Engine

Intel Clear Video HD Technology

Yes

Intel Clear Video Technology

Yes

Video Decode Engines

Video Encode Engines

ProRes Encode/Decode Engines

OpenGL Support

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics.

4.5

Intel Quick Sync Video

Yes

AI Specifications

16-core Apple Neural Engine

AI Engine

Neural Engine Core Count

Apple Neural Engine

NPU Name

11 TOPS

NPU Performance

Connectivity

Yes

Bluetooth Support

Bluetooth 5.0

Bluetooth Version

Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)

Wi-Fi Standard

Interfaces and Ports

Yes, up to 40 Gbps

Thunderbolt Support

USB4

USB Version

Yes, up to 40 Gbps

USB4 Support

Miscellaneous

Yes, Apple silicon secure boot chain of trust

Hardware-Verified Secure Boot

Apple image signal processor

Image Signal Processor

KIP, FPR, SCIP, PAC, PPL

Runtime Anti-Exploitation

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes