Intel Core i9 12900H vs Apple M4 (10-Core)
55
out of 100
VS
76
out of 100
We compared two laptop CPUs: the 2.5 GHz Intel Core i9 12900H with 14-cores against the 4.46 GHz Apple M4 (10-Core) 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
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
Key Differences
Advantages of Intel Core i9 12900H
- Supports up to 64 GB DDR5-4800 RAM
- Has 4 more physical cores
Advantages of Apple M4 (10-Core)
- More modern manufacturing process β 3 versus 10 nanometers
- Newer - released 2 years and 4 months later
- More powerful Apple M4 GPU (10-core) integrated graphics: 3.8 vs 2.2 TFLOPS
- 58% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 3777 vs 2397 points
Test in Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasksCinebench
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
| Cinebench 2026 (Multi) | - | 3211 |
Cinebench Scores (157th and 158th place)
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
| File compression | 898.1 MB/sec | 1500 MB/sec |
| Clang compilation | 97.6 Klines/sec | 120.2 Klines/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 270 pages/sec | 329.3 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 325.3 Mpixels/sec | 362.1 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 248.3 pages/sec | 352.1 pages/sec |
| Background blur | 52.7 images/sec | 69.8 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 94.2 images/sec | 114.4 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 23.8 Mpixels/sec | 18.1 Mpixels/sec |
PassMark
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
| Integer math | 91.3 GOps/sec | 54.2 GOps/sec |
| Floating point math | 66 GOps/sec | 49.6 GOps/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 104M Primes/sec | 263M Primes/sec |
| Random string sorting | 34.4M Strings/sec | 34.3M Strings/sec |
| Data encryption | 18 GBytes/sec | 15.1 GBytes/sec |
| Data compression | 308.2 MBytes/sec | 280.5 MBytes/sec |
| Physics | 1700 Frames/sec | 2527 Frames/sec |
| Extended instructions | 18.4B Matrices/sec | 13.6B Matrices/sec |
Blender
Blender CPU
Performance Per Watt
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 21.9 PPW | 40.9 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 265.9 PPW | 617.4 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 591 PPW | 983.5 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | 4.67 PPW | 9.58 PPW |
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.
Recent User Tests
Intel Core i9 12900H
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2025-11-21 (Robert L) | Cinebench 2024 | 104 / 765 |
| π 2025-05-02 (Toksik Vegeta) | Cinebench 2024 | 107 / 984 |
Apple M4 (10-Core)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-06-13 (doannguuyenmfs) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3703 / 15450 |
| π 2026-04-18 (Avacada) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3906 / 15577 |
| π 2026-03-05 (Dovlet) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3916 / 15202 |
| π 2025-12-31 (gmamorim) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3730 / 15258 |
| π 2025-12-28 (LC) | Cinebench 2024 | 174 / 993 |
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i9 12900H and Apple M4 (10-Core)General
| Vendor | Intel | Apple |
| Released | January 4, 2022 | May 7, 2024 |
| Type | Laptop | Laptop |
| Instruction Set | x86-64 | ARMv9 |
| Codename | Alder Lake | Apple M4 |
| Model number | i9-12900H | APL1206 |
| Integrated GPU | Iris Xe Graphics (96EU) | Apple M4 GPU (10-core) |
| Rival Equivalent | - AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS | - Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) |
| Successor | - Intel Core Ultra 9 288V | - Apple M5 (10-Core) |
Intel CPU rating (#115th place)
CPU
| P-Cores | 6 | 4 |
| P-Threads | 12 | 4 |
| Base Frequency (P) | 2.5 GHz | 4.46 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 5 GHz | - |
| E-Cores | 8 | 6 |
| E-Threads | 8 | 6 |
| Base Frequency (E) | 1.8 GHz | 2.89 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (E) | 3.8 GHz | - |
| Total Cores | 14 | 10 |
| Total Threads | 20 | 10 |
| Bus Frequency | 100 MHz | 100 MHz |
| Multiplier | 25x | 44x |
| 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 | - | 28 billions |
| Fabrication Process | 10 nm | 3 nm |
| TDP (PL1) | 35-45 W (configurable) | 24 W |
| Max. Boost TDP (PL2) | 115 W | - |
| Socket | BGA-1744 | Apple M-Socket |
| Peak Temperature | 100Β°C | 100Β°C |
| Die Size | - | 169.4 mmΒ² |
Laptop processors ranking (152nd and 28th place)
iGPU
| Integrated Graphics | Intel Iris Xe Graphics (96EU) | Apple M4 GPU (10-core) |
| GPU Base Clock | 300 MHz | 500 MHz |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1450 MHz | 1470 MHz |
| Shading Units | 768 | 1280 |
| TMUs | 48 | 80 |
| ROPs | 24 | 40 |
| Execution Units | 96 | 160 |
| TGP | 15 W | 18 W |
iGPU FLOPS
Memory Support
| Memory Types | - DDR5-4800 - DDR4-3200 - LPDDR5-5200 - LPDDR4x-4267 |
- LPDDR5X-7500 |
| Max. Memory Size | 64 GB | 32 GB |
| Memory Channels | 2 | 8 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | - | 120 GB/s |
| ECC Support | No | No |
Misc
| Official Site | Intel Core i9 12900H official page | - |
| PCI Express Version | 4.0 | - |
| PCI Express Lanes | 28 | - |
Further details
Notes on M4 (10-Core):
- SoC is designed using ARMv9.4-A architecture.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 117
Competitors
6.
Apple M4 (10-Core) vs Apple M1 (11)
