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Apple M5 10 Cores

vs

Intel Core i7-12700KF

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Apple M5 10 Cores and Intel Core i7-12700KF processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.

Advantages

Apple M5 10 Cores

Higher Technology: Third-generation 3 nm (Third-generation 3 nm vs Intel 7)
Newer Launch Date: October 2025 (October 2025 vs November 2021)

Intel Core i7-12700KF

More Total Cores: 12 (10 vs 12)
Higher Max Turbo Frequency: 5.00 GHz (4.61 GHz vs 5.00 GHz)
Higher Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 4.90 GHz (4.61 GHz vs 4.90 GHz)

Basic

Apple

Label Name

Intel

October 2025

Launch Date

November 2021

Laptop

Platform

Desktop

Apple custom ARM architecture

CPU Architecture

Apple M5

CPU Name

Apple M5 10-Core

Model Name

i7-12700KF

Code Name

Alder Lake

TSMC N3P

Foundry

Generation

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

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Yes

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

Yes

4.61 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

5.00 GHz

Performance-core Base Frequency

3.60 GHz

Efficient-core Base Frequency

2.70 GHz

3.05 GHz

Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency

3.80 GHz

4.61 GHz

Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency

4.90 GHz

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Yes

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Yes

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Yes

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 Frequency

5.00 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

2.0

L3 Cache

25 MB

Cache

25 MB Intel® Smart Cache

CPU Socket

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

FCLGA1700

Intel AES New Instructions

Yes

Third-generation 3 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.

Intel 7

TDP

125 W

Processor Base Power

125 W

Maximum Turbo Power

190 W

Max. Operating Temperature

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

100°C

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.

5.0 and 4.0

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.

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.

Up to 1x16+4 | 2x8+4

Memory Specifications

LPDDR5X unified memory

Memory Type

Up to DDR5 4800 MT/s Up to DDR4 3200 MT/s

32 GB

Max Memory Size

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

128 GB

Memory Channels

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

153 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).

76.8 GB/s

9600 MT/s

Maximum Memory Speed

GPU Specifications

Thunderbolt / DisplayPort over USB-C; HDMI

External Display Standard

Apple M5 10-core GPU

GPU Name

Supported

Hardware-accelerated ray tracing

Up to two external displays: two 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz; or one 8K at 60Hz, 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz

Max External Display Resolution

H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed

Video Decode

H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed

Video Encode

Graphics Core Count

Up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz

Max Resolution

Metal

GPU APIs

Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; AV1 decode

Media Engine

Video Decode Engines

Video Encode Engines

ProRes Encode/Decode Engines

AI Specifications

Apple Neural Engine with Neural Accelerators in GPU cores

AI Engine

Intel Gaussian Neural Accelerator

3.0

Neural Engine Core Count

16-core Neural Engine

NPU Name

Intel Deep Learning Boost (Intel DL Boost) on CPU

Yes

Connectivity

Supported

Bluetooth Support

Interfaces and Ports

Thunderbolt 4

Thunderbolt Support

USB 4 up to 40Gb/s

USB Version

Supported

USB4 Support

Intel Volume Management Device (VMD)

Yes

Miscellaneous

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 Boot Guard

Yes

Intel Control-Flow Enforcement Technology

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes