Home > CPU Comparisons > Core i9 12900H or Apple M2: what's better?

Intel Core i9 12900H vs Apple M2

Intel Core i9 12900H
VS
Apple M2
Intel Core i9 12900H
Apple M2

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 2.5 GHz Intel Core i9 12900H with 14-cores against the 3.5 GHz Apple M2 with 8-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (2)

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
NanoReview Final Score
Generic CPU rating

Key Differences

What are the key differences between M2 and 12900H
Advantages of Intel Core i9 12900H
  • Supports up to 64 GB DDR5-4800 RAM
  • Has 6 more physical cores
Advantages of Apple M2
  • More modern manufacturing process – 5 versus 10 nanometers
  • Newer - released 5-months later
  • 15% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2594 vs 2260 points
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Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i9 12900H
vs
Apple M2

Cinebench R23

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Core i9 12900H +21%
1905
Apple M2
1570
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Core i9 12900H +92%
16541
Apple M2
8593
Submit your Cinebench result

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Core i9 12900H
2260
Apple M2 +15%
2594
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Core i9 12900H
9765
Apple M2 +3%
10094
File compression 763.2 MB/sec 1100 MB/sec
Clang compilation 79.6 Klines/sec 81.3 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 225.2 pages/sec 227.5 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 309.3 Mpixels/sec 280 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 210 pages/sec 261.3 pages/sec
Background blur 30.9 images/sec 41.4 images/sec
Photo processing 76.3 images/sec 95.9 images/sec
Ray tracing 17.6 Mpixels/sec 10.8 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2]

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Core i9 12900H
3861
Apple M2 +3%
3976
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i9 12900H +87%
28701
Apple M2
15346
Integer math 98.2 GOps/sec 36.3 GOps/sec
Floating point math 71.2 GOps/sec 38.7 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 111M Primes/sec 183M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 37.4M Strings/sec 24.5M Strings/sec
Data encryption 19.6 GBytes/sec 9.7 GBytes/sec
Data compression 333.7 MBytes/sec 190.6 MBytes/sec
Physics 1812 Frames/sec 1657 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 19.9B Matrices/sec 6.4B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4]

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i9 12900H and Apple M2

General

Vendor Intel Apple
Released January 4, 2022 June 6, 2022
Type Laptop Laptop
instruction set x86-64 ARMv8
Codename Alder Lake Apple M2
Model number i9-12900H -
Integrated GPU Iris Xe Graphics (96EU) Apple M2 GPU

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 6 4
P-Threads 12 4
Base Frequency (P) 2.5 GHz 3.5 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 5 GHz -
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 8 4
E-Threads 8 4
Base Frequency (E) 1.8 GHz 2.4 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 3.8 GHz -
Total
Total Cores 14 8
Total Threads 20 8
Bus Frequency 100 MHz -
Multiplier 25x -
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 1280K (per core) 16MB (shared)
L3 Cache 24MB (shared) -
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors - 20 billions
Fabrication process 10 nm 5 nm
TDP (PL1) 35-45 W (configurable) 15 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 115 W -
Socket BGA-1744 Apple M-Socket
Peak temperature 100°C -

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel Iris Xe Graphics (96EU) Apple M2 GPU
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz 500 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1450 MHz 1398 MHz
Shading Units 768 1024
TMUs 48 64
ROPs 24 32
Execution Units 96 128
TGP 15 W 15 W
Max. Resolution - 6016x3384 - 60 Hz
iGPU FLOPS
Core i9 12900H
1.69 TFLOPS
Apple M2
3 TFLOPS

Memory Support

Memory types - DDR5-4800
- DDR4-3200
- LPDDR5-5200
- LPDDR4x-4267		 - LPDDR5-6400
Memory Size 64 GB 24 GB
Max. Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth - 102.4 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

Official site Intel Core i9 12900H official page -
PCI Express Version 4.0 4.0
PCI Express Lanes 28 -

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
461 (63.1%)
270 (36.9%)
Total votes: 731

Сompetitors

1. Core i7 12700H and Apple M2
2. Apple M1 and Apple M2
3. Core i7 13700K and Apple M2
4. M2 Pro and Apple M2
5. Core i7 1360P and Apple M2
6. M1 Pro and Apple M2
7. Core i5 12500H and Apple M2
8. M2 Max and Core i9 12900H
9. Core i7 13700HX and Core i9 12900H
10. Core i9 13900H and Core i9 12900H
Compare other CPUs (580+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M2 or Intel Core i9 12900H?
Avatar
altviewpoint 20 April 2023 19:51
I'm actively using computers with high-end Intel and Apple silicon. The benchmark data doesn't capture real-world use. Apple does have its drawbacks but has a history of protecting and advocating for user privacy. The M1 laptop I'm using SMOKES an older generation i9 in performance, even while running the same software through a VM. The i9 chews through batteries like crazy and gets wildly hot in the lap in use. The M1 machine gets warm and a charge goes much further. Hardly "little to no" efficiency gains. They're significant in my use case. Can't argue with criticisms of price, upgradeability, and repairability with Apple, though. There are still some good laptop manufacturers making laptops with upgradeable RAM. I hope that Intel or AMD will keep innovating and try some radically new architectures that bring their chips closer to the efficiency of the ARM stuff. I hope Apple will make their stuff more repairable, and at least make the desktops upgradeable. If price is a major factor in your purchase, then Intel is a no-brainer. If not, you should give the Apple silicon a try. You may be surprised. I was.
+21 Reply
Avatar
undervolter 28 January 2023 01:37
No comparison. The apple CPU's come with so many strings attached for little to no performance or efficiency gains. They do look pretty but the flexibility of PCs is unbeatable. The added privacy issues of American corporations make it less of an option to consider the glass prison that is Apple.
+34 Reply
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