Home / CPU Comparison / Intel Core 3 304 or Apple M6 12 Cores: What's better?

Intel Core 3 304

vs

Apple M6 12 Cores

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Intel Core 3 304 and Apple M6 12 Cores processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.

Advantages

Intel Core 3 304

Higher Memory Type: Up to LPDDR5X 7467 MT/s Up to DDR5 6400 MT/s (Up to LPDDR5X 7467 MT/s Up to DDR5 6400 MT/s vs Unified memory)

Apple M6 12 Cores

More Total Cores: 12 (5 vs 12)
Higher Technology: 2 nm (Intel 18A vs 2 nm)
Newer Launch Date: August 2026 (April 2026 vs August 2026)

Basic

Intel

Label Name

Apple

April 2026

Launch Date

August 2026

Mobile

Platform

Laptop

CPU Name

Apple M6

304

Model Name

Apple M6 12 Cores

Products formerly Wildcat Lake

Code Name

Foundry

TSMC N2

Generation

CPU Specifications

Performance-core Multi-Core Max Frequency

4.61 GHz

Super-core Max Frequency

4.80 GHz

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

1.4 GHz

Low Power Efficient-core Base Frequency

3.3 GHz

Low Power Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency

Low Power Efficient-cores

Super-cores

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Yes

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

4.3 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

1.5 GHz

Performance-core Base Frequency

Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency

3.20 GHz

Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2

Instruction Set Extensions

4.3 GHz

Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency

Yes

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

2.0

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

6 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Cache

FCBGA1516

CPU Socket

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

Yes

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel 18A

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

15 W

Processor Base Power

35 W

Maximum Turbo Power

10 W

Minimum Assured Power

100 °C

Max. Operating Temperature

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

4.0

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.

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.

64-bit

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.

Yes

Intel 64

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

x6 PCIe4(1x4,3x2,6x1)

PCI Express Configurations

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

Memory Specifications

Up to LPDDR5X 7467 MT/s
Up to DDR5 6400 MT/s

Memory Type

Unified memory

LPDDR5 Speed

10667 MT/s

64 GB

Max Memory Size

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

32 GB

Memory Channels

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

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).

170 GB/s

GPU Specifications

External Display Standard

DisplayPort 1.4 over Thunderbolt 4; HDMI

Intel® Graphics

GPU Name

Apple M6 12-core GPU

GPU TOPS

Hardware-accelerated ray tracing

Supported

Max External Display Resolution

Up to 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz

Video Decode

H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1

Video Encode

H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW

2.3 GHz

GPU Max Dynamic Frequency

Graphics Core Count

Xe-cores

DirectX 12

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

Up to 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz

3840 x 2160 @ 60Hz

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.

Number of Displays Supported

eDP1.5, DP 2.1 HBR3, HDMI 2.0b (TMDS only)

Graphics Output

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

Media Engine

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

Video Decode Engines

Video Encode Engines

ProRes Encode/Decode Engines

4.6

OpenGL Support

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

3.0

OpenCL Support

OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for heterogeneous parallel programming.

Yes

Intel Quick Sync Video

AI Specifications

AI Engine

Dual 16-core Neural Engine; Neural Accelerators in each GPU core

Neural Engine Core Count

NPU Name

Dual 16-core Neural Engine

Yes

Intel Deep Learning Boost (Intel DL Boost) on CPU

Interfaces and Ports

Thunderbolt Support

Thunderbolt 4

USB4 Support

Supported

Yes

Intel Volume Management Device (VMD)

Miscellaneous

Intel Core 3 304

Official Website

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Yes

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.

Intel Active Management Technology (AMT)

Yes

Intel High Definition Audio

Yes

Intel Boot Guard

Yes

Intel Control-Flow Enforcement Technology

Yes

Intel OS Guard