Intel Core i7 12700K vs Apple M1 Max
We compared two CPUs: the 3.6 GHz Intel Core i7 12700K (desktop) with 12-cores against the 3.2 GHz Apple M1 Max (laptop) with 10-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
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
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 i7 12700K
- Unlocked multiplier
- Supports up to 128 GB DDR5-4800 RAM
- Has 2 more physical cores
Advantages of Apple M1 Max
- More powerful Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) integrated graphics: 10.6 vs 0.8 TFLOPS
- Around 332.8 GB/s (433%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
- More modern manufacturing process โ 5 versus 10 nanometers
- Supports quad-channel memory
Test in Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasksCinebench
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
| Cinebench 2026 (Single) | 597 | - |
| Cinebench 2026 (Multi) | 4728 | - |
Cinebench Scores (#110th place)
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
| File compression | 1230 MB/sec | 1450 MB/sec |
| Clang compilation | 122.3 Klines/sec | 105.1 Klines/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 382.6 pages/sec | 329.2 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 374.5 Mpixels/sec | 317 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 267.6 pages/sec | 249.6 pages/sec |
| Background blur | 55.9 images/sec | 42.2 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 98.2 images/sec | 122.8 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 29.6 Mpixels/sec | 14.9 Mpixels/sec |
PassMark
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
| Integer math | 114.3 GOps/sec | 46.1 GOps/sec |
| Floating point math | 87.9 GOps/sec | 64.5 GOps/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 112M Primes/sec | 278M Primes/sec |
| Random string sorting | 45.8M Strings/sec | 32.7M Strings/sec |
| Data encryption | 23.4 GBytes/sec | 12.2 GBytes/sec |
| Data compression | 445.1 MBytes/sec | 274.4 MBytes/sec |
| Physics | 1773 Frames/sec | 2833 Frames/sec |
| Extended instructions | 28.8B Matrices/sec | 12.8B Matrices/sec |
Blender
Blender CPU
Performance Per Watt
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 9.6 PPW | 15.8 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 117.7 PPW | 253.5 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 274 PPW | 443.2 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | 2.47 PPW | 3.98 PPW |
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.
Recent User Tests
Intel Core i7 12700K
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ 2026-08-14 (Melvin Tejada) | Cinebench 2026 | 597 / 4728 |
| ๐ 2026-07-08 (Myla) | Cinebench 2026 | 555 / 3917 |
| ๐ 2026-05-04 (sisham) | Cinebench 2024 | 100 / 635 |
| ๐ 2025-08-22 (Ray) | Cinebench 2024 | 115 / 1305 |
| ๐ 2024-12-19 (Zach Jones) | Cinebench 2024 | 114 / 1231 |
Apple M1 Max
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ 2025-07-04 (Daniel) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2459 / 13052 |
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i7 12700K and Apple M1 MaxGeneral
| Vendor | Intel | Apple |
| Released | October 27, 2021 | October 18, 2021 |
| Type | Desktop | Laptop |
| Instruction Set | x86-64 | ARMv8 |
| Codename | Alder Lake | Apple M1 |
| Model number | i7-12700K | - |
| Integrated GPU | UHD Graphics 770 | Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) |
| Rival Equivalent | - AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | - |
| Successor | - Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus | - Apple M5 Max (40-ัore GPU) |
Intel CPU rating (#69th place)
CPU
| P-Cores | 8 | 8 |
| P-Threads | 16 | 8 |
| Base Frequency (P) | 3.6 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 4.9 GHz | - |
| E-Cores | 4 | 2 |
| E-Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Base Frequency (E) | 2.7 GHz | 2.1 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (E) | 3.8 GHz | - |
| Total Cores | 12 | 10 |
| Total Threads | 20 | 10 |
| Bus Frequency | 100 MHz | - |
| Multiplier | 36x | - |
| L1 Cache | 80K (per core) | 192K (per core) |
| L2 Cache | 12MB (shared) | 24MB (shared) |
| L3 Cache | 25MB (shared) | - |
| Unlocked Multiplier | Yes | No |
Package
| Transistors | - | 57 billions |
| Fabrication Process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
| TDP (PL1) | 125 W | 50 W |
| Max. Boost TDP (PL2) | 190 W | - |
| Socket | LGA-1700 | Apple M-Socket |
| Peak Temperature | 100ยฐC | - |
Desktop CPU ranking (#69th place)
Laptop processors ranking (#95th place)
iGPU
| Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) |
| GPU Base Clock | 300 MHz | 450 MHz |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1500 MHz | 1296 MHz |
| Shading Units | 256 | 4096 |
| TMUs | 16 | 256 |
| ROPs | 8 | 128 |
| Execution Units | 32 | 512 |
| TGP | 15 W | - |
iGPU FLOPS
Memory Support
| Memory Types | - DDR5-4800 - DDR4-3200 |
- LPDDR5-6400 |
| Max. Memory Size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Memory Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 76.8 GB/s | 409.6 GB/s |
| ECC Support | Yes | No |
Misc
| Official Site | Intel Core i7 12700K official page | - |
| PCI Express Version | 5.0 | - |
| PCI Express Lanes | 20 | - |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 479
Competitors
8.
Apple M1 Max vs Apple M3 (4)