Home / CPU Comparison / Apple M5 Pro 15 Cores or Intel Core Ultra 9 386H: What's better?

Apple M5 Pro 15 Cores

vs

Intel Core Ultra 9 386H

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Apple M5 Pro 15 Cores and Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.

Advantages

Apple M5 Pro 15 Cores

Newer Launch Date: March 2026 (March 2026 vs January 2026)

Intel Core Ultra 9 386H

More Total Cores: 16 (15 vs 16)
Higher Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 4.9 GHz (4.61 GHz vs 4.9 GHz)
Higher Technology: 2 nm (Third-generation 3 nm vs 2 nm)

Basic

Apple

Label Name

Intel

March 2026

Launch Date

January 2026

Laptop

Platform

Laptop

Apple custom ARM architecture

CPU Architecture

Apple M5 Pro

CPU Name

Apple M5 Pro 15-Core

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

386H

Code Name

Panther Lake

TSMC N3P

Foundry

M5 Pro

Generation

CPU Specifications

Apple Fusion Architecture

Interconnect Technology

Performance Cores

4.38 GHz

Performance-core Multi-Core Max Frequency

Prime Cores

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

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Performance-cores

Efficient-cores

4.61 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

Performance-core Base Frequency

2.2 GHz

Efficient-core Base Frequency

1.7 GHz

4.61 GHz

Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency

Maximum P-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.

4.9 GHz

L1 Cache

112 K per core

L2 Cache

3 MB per core

L3 Cache

18 MB shared

Bus Frequency

100 MHz

CPU Socket

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

FCBGA-2049

Multiplier

Unlocked Multiplier

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.

2 nm

TDP

Max. Operating Temperature

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

110 °C

PCIe Version

PCI Express is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard used for connecting high-speed components, replacing older standards such as AGP, PCI, and PCI-X. It has gone through multiple revisions and improvements since its initial release. PCIe 1.0 was first introduced in 2002, and in order to meet the growing demand for higher bandwidth, subsequent versions have been released over time.

5.0

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

x86-64

Memory Specifications

LPDDR5X unified memory

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

LPDDR5-8400,LPDDR5x-8400,DDR5-6400

48 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.

307 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).

137 GB/s

9600 MT/s

Maximum Memory Speed

ECC Memory Support

GPU Specifications

Thunderbolt / DisplayPort 2.1 over USB-C; HDMI

External Display Standard

Metal

GPU APIs

Apple M5 Pro 16-core GPU

GPU Name

Supported

Hardware-accelerated ray tracing

Up to three external displays: three displays up to 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz; or one display up to 8K at 60Hz, 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz plus a second display up to 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 200Hz

Max External Display Resolution

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

Media Engine

ProRes Encode/Decode Engines

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

Video Decode

Video Decode Engines

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

Video Encode

Video Encode Engines

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.

true

GPU Base Frequency

800 MHz

GPU Max Dynamic Frequency

2300 MHz

Graphics Core Count

Execution Units

The Execution Unit is the foundational building block of Intel’s graphics architecture. Execution Units are compute processors optimized for simultaneous Multi-Threading for high throughput compute power.

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

Max Resolution