Intel is trying to prove its processors are better than the Apple M1 SoC. But the methods are the same as when dealing with a Ryzen CPU

When Ryzen processors began to outperform Intel solutions, first in terms of price-performance ratio, and then on almost all fronts, Intel realized that it was necessary to change the format of its CPU promotion.

As a result, the company began to argue that the tests in Cinebench are far from reality, that they need to be compared in everyday applications, and also focused on games. True, all this looked very tense and controversial for the purpose.

Now, Intel’s situation with AMD is gradually improving: mobile Tiger Lake-U are good, and within a year Tiger Lake-H45, desktop Rocket Lake and server Ice Lake-SP will be released. But a new competitor has emerged – Apple.

And here everything is much more complicated, since you have to compare completely different products. And if technically Intel solutions often cannot compare with SoC Apple M1 for objective reasons, then from the point of view of marketers the task is much easier.

The source obtained slides from Intel’s presentation, where the company demonstrates the advantage of its CPUs over the new Apple solution. It goes without saying, as in the case of AMD, exclusively from certain angles.

As before, Intel generally tries to avoid comparing its CPUs with a competitor in real heavy applications, where all the capabilities of modern processors are clearly visible. Instead, the company proposes to compare in WebXPRT and Microsoft Office 365, where, according to Intel’s own tests, its Core i7-1185G7 outperforms Apple M1 by 30% or more, and sometimes the superiority is three times. Also, the Intel CPU is faster in AI benchmarks and in Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, and Lightroom. Of course, there is also a comparison in games, but hardly anyone considers macOS as a gaming platform. At the same time, speaking of games, Intel, apparently, decided to play a trick on Apple, indicating the results where the Cupertino product simply does not work.

It should be noted that there are still quite resource-intensive applications in the test suite, and there the Core i7-1185G7 is supposedly faster than the Apple M1.

Another revealing comparison is a package of 25 applications, where, apparently, there is not a single resource-intensive one. There are YouTube, Zoom, Spotify and more. And then Intel claims that the Apple laptop has failed eight tests from this set, that is, a third. At the same time, there is no clear explanation of the situation, and it is difficult to understand how a computer could fail the function of starting a video conference in Zoom.

Also, an interesting nuance lies in the configurations of the test benches. When it comes to performance, Intel chooses the top-end Core i7-1185G7, which appears to only be found in one production laptop. But in the tests of autonomy, Intel already uses the Core i7-1165G7. At the same time, in the tests, Intel MacBook Air and Acer Swift 5 performed on an equal footing, although you can see dozens of reviews on the Web, where Apple’s new products conditionally smash any Windows laptops precisely in terms of battery life.

Separately, Intel touches on the platform as a whole, pointing to a much larger selection of laptops with Intel and Windows CPUs, support for various technologies and functions, and here one cannot find fault with the arguments. They just go beyond comparing processors directly.

If we return to the CPU, then the Intel comparison again looks at least controversial. Of course, the company needs to somehow prove that its products are better, but such methods are not the best option.

Also worth noting are rumors and leaks that the Apple M1 is the company’s youngest SoC for computers. So now Intel has the opportunity to somehow demonstrate its advantage, and the company is seizing the moment.