Apple's M1 Chip Delivers Desktop-Class Speed in Fanless MacBook Air
The first Geekbench tests reveal that Apple's new M1 processor in the base MacBook Air outperforms the high-end 16-inch Intel MacBook Pro in multi-core CPU tasks.
The first benchmark results for Apple's new M1 chip appear on Geekbench, showcasing impressive numbers for the base model MacBook Air. The fanless laptop earns a single-core score of 1687 and a multi-core score of 7433, easily surpassing all current iOS devices including the iPhone 12 Pro and the A14 iPad Air.
When compared to existing Macs, the M1 processor delivers the best single-core performance of any Mac currently available. Remarkably, the multi-core score of the MacBook Air even beats out the high-end 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro equipped with a 2.4GHz Intel Core i9 processor, which scores just 6870 in the same multi-core test.
Despite this massive leap in CPU performance, the 16-inch MacBook Pro likely retains an advantage in graphics-heavy tasks due to its discrete GPU. Additionally, early benchmarks for the M1 Mac mini and the 13-inch MacBook Pro show similar impressive scores, though the MacBook Pro may maintain slightly higher sustained performance thanks to its active cooling system.