Intel Core i5 12400F vs Apple M2
49
out of 100
VS
55
out of 100
We compared two CPUs: the 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 12400F (desktop) with 6-cores against the 3.5 GHz Apple M2 (laptop) with 8-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.
Review
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the NanoReview Score for desktop CPU.
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of Intel Core i5 12400F
- Supports up to 128 GB DDR5-4800 RAM
- Newer PCI Express version β 5.0
Advantages of Apple M2
- More modern manufacturing process β 5 versus 10 nanometers
- Has 2 more physical cores
- Around 25.6 GB/s (33%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
- Newer - released 6 months later
- Includes an integrated GPU Apple M2 GPU
- 13% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2589 vs 2300 points
Test in Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasksCinebench
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
| File compression | 789 MB/sec | 1130 MB/sec |
| Clang compilation | 69.9 Klines/sec | 80.4 Klines/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 221 pages/sec | 235.3 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 263.7 Mpixels/sec | 266.1 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 230 pages/sec | 257.4 pages/sec |
| Background blur | 49.5 images/sec | 42.1 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 77.9 images/sec | 107 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 16.2 Mpixels/sec | 10.5 Mpixels/sec |
PassMark
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
| Integer math | 60.1 GOps/sec | 37 GOps/sec |
| Floating point math | 46.9 GOps/sec | 37.5 GOps/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 74M Primes/sec | 174M Primes/sec |
| Random string sorting | 23.2M Strings/sec | 23.7M Strings/sec |
| Data encryption | 11.7 GBytes/sec | 9.5 GBytes/sec |
| Data compression | 233.1 MBytes/sec | 185.8 MBytes/sec |
| Physics | 1257 Frames/sec | 1667 Frames/sec |
| Extended instructions | 15.9B Matrices/sec | 7.8B Matrices/sec |
Blender
Blender CPU
Performance Per Watt
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 9.8 PPW | 32.3 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 145.8 PPW | 562.3 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 300.8 PPW | 869.5 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | 2.48 PPW | 6.07 PPW |
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.
Recent User Tests
Intel Core i5 12400F
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-01-24 (Ecstatify) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2918 / 13277 |
| π 2025-08-17 (Olini) | Cinebench 2024 | 101 / 664 |
| π 2025-07-21 (Rolling Manatee) | Cinebench 2024 | 95 / 640 |
| π 2025-05-12 (inoklike) | Cinebench 2024 | 93 / 646 |
| π 2025-03-04 (RD) | Cinebench 2024 | 88 / 620 |
Apple M2
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-03-14 (T) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2647 / 10245 |
| π 2026-01-05 (AR) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2655 / 10211 |
| π 2025-10-24 (Shivam) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2619 / 9900 |
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 12400F and Apple M2General
| Vendor | Intel | Apple |
| Released | January 4, 2022 | June 6, 2022 |
| Type | Desktop | Laptop |
| Instruction Set | x86-64 | ARMv8 |
| Codename | Alder Lake | Apple M2 |
| Model number | i5-12400F | - |
| Integrated GPU | No | Apple M2 GPU |
| Successor | - Intel Core Ultra 5 225F | - Apple M5 (10-Core) |
Intel CPU rating (#163rd place)
CPU
| P-Cores | 6 | 4 |
| P-Threads | 12 | 4 |
| Base Frequency (P) | 2.5 GHz | 3.5 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 4.4 GHz | - |
| E-Cores | - | 4 |
| E-Threads | - | 4 |
| Base Frequency (E) | - | 2.4 GHz |
| Total Cores | 6 | 8 |
| Total Threads | 12 | 8 |
| Bus Frequency | 100 MHz | - |
| Multiplier | 25x | - |
| L1 Cache | 80K (per core) | 192K (per core) |
| L2 Cache | 1280K (per core) | 16MB (shared) |
| L3 Cache | 18MB (shared) | - |
| Unlocked Multiplier | No | No |
Package
| Transistors | - | 20 billions |
| Fabrication Process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
| TDP (PL1) | 65 W | 18 W |
| Max. Boost TDP (PL2) | 117 W | - |
| Socket | LGA-1700 | Apple M-Socket |
| Peak Temperature | 100Β°C | - |
Desktop CPU ranking (#108th place)
Laptop processors ranking (#133rd place)
iGPU
| Integrated Graphics | - | Apple M2 GPU |
| GPU Base Clock | - | 500 MHz |
| GPU Boost Clock | - | 1398 MHz |
| Shading Units | - | 1024 |
| TMUs | - | 64 |
| ROPs | - | 32 |
| Execution Units | - | 128 |
| TGP | - | 15 W |
iGPU FLOPS
Memory Support
| Memory Types | - DDR5-4800 - DDR4-3200 |
- LPDDR5-6400 |
| Max. Memory Size | 128 GB | 24 GB |
| Memory Channels | 2 | 8 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 76.8 GB/s | 102.4 GB/s |
| ECC Support | No | No |
Misc
| Official Site | Intel Core i5 12400F official page | - |
| PCI Express Version | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| PCI Express Lanes | 20 | - |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 164
Competitors
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