Intel Core i7 12700K vs Apple M1 Max

64 out of 100
Intel Core i7 12700K
VS
57 out of 100
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

General overview and comparison of the processors
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.
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
๐Ÿ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click โ€œCalculate".
Currency
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Key Differences

What are the key differences between Max and 12700K
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 tasks

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
1203
789
Cinebench 2026 (Single) 597 -
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 4728 -
Cinebench Scores (#110th place)

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
2627
2431
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
14714
12673
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
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] โ€“ 731 & 447 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
4003
3831
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
34256
22162
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
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] โ€“ 11963 & 2398 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
309.16
199.2

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
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

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Intel Core i7 12700K
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-08-14 (Melvin Tejada)Cinebench 2026597 / 4728
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-07-08 (Myla)Cinebench 2026555 / 3917
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-05-04 (sisham)Cinebench 2024100 / 635
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-08-22 (Ray)Cinebench 2024115 / 1305
๐Ÿ“˜ 2024-12-19 (Zach Jones)Cinebench 2024114 / 1231
Apple M1 Max
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-07-04 (Daniel)Geekbench 6 CPU2459 / 13052

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i7 12700K and Apple M1 Max

General

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

Performance Cores
P-Cores 8 8
P-Threads 16 8
Base Frequency (P) 3.6 GHz 3.2 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.9 GHz -
Efficient Cores
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
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)

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
0.8 TFLOPS
M1 Max +1225%
10.6 TFLOPS

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

Choose between two processors
342 (71.4%)
137 (28.6%)
Total votes: 479

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M1 Max or Intel Core i7 12700K?
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guest_user_9832 May 10, 2022 at 07:46 AM
Definitely i7 1200k because of its compatibility with more apps.
+35 Reply