Intel Core i9 9980HK vs Apple M2 Max
36
out of 100
VS
68
out of 100
We compared two laptop CPUs: the 2.4 GHz Intel Core i9 9980HK with 8-cores against the 3.5 GHz Apple M2 Max with 12-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 9980HK
- Unlocked multiplier
- Supports up to 128 GB DDR4-2666 RAM
Advantages of Apple M2 Max
- More powerful Apple M2 Max GPU (38-core) integrated graphics: 13.6 vs 0.5 TFLOPS
- Around 367.8 GB/s (880%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
- More modern manufacturing process – 5 versus 14 nanometers
- Newer - released 3 years and 10 months later
- Supports quad-channel memory
- 75% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2695 vs 1538 points
- Has 4 more physical cores
- Newer PCI Express version – 4.0
Test in Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasksCinebench
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
| Cinebench 2026 (Single) | 646 | - |
| Cinebench 2026 (Multi) | 4296 | - |
Cinebench Scores (#148th place)
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
| File compression | 513.3 MB/sec | 1690 MB/sec |
| Clang compilation | 58.3 Klines/sec | 131.8 Klines/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 158.7 pages/sec | 368.6 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 234.6 Mpixels/sec | 382.1 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 139.6 pages/sec | 272.7 pages/sec |
| Background blur | 31.6 images/sec | 54.1 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 56.3 images/sec | 149.6 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 12.4 Mpixels/sec | 17 Mpixels/sec |
PassMark
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
| Integer math | 52.4 GOps/sec | 57.7 GOps/sec |
| Floating point math | 30.8 GOps/sec | 73.4 GOps/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 40M Primes/sec | 359M Primes/sec |
| Random string sorting | 26.3M Strings/sec | 41.1M Strings/sec |
| Data encryption | 5.3 GBytes/sec | 15.7 GBytes/sec |
| Data compression | 204.5 MBytes/sec | 335.2 MBytes/sec |
| Physics | 823 Frames/sec | 3849 Frames/sec |
| Extended instructions | 11.2B Matrices/sec | 14.7B Matrices/sec |
Blender
Blender CPU
Performance Per Watt
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 10.2 PPW | 20.4 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 154.3 PPW | 297.8 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 309.6 PPW | 536.9 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | 2.89 PPW | 5.06 PPW |
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.
Recent User Tests
Intel Core i9 9980HK
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-05-20 (Nico) | Cinebench 2026 | 646 / 4296 |
Apple M2 Max
No benchmark results yet
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i9 9980HK and Apple M2 MaxGeneral
| Vendor | Intel | Apple |
| Released | April 23, 2019 | January 17, 2023 |
| Type | Laptop | Laptop |
| Instruction Set | x86-64 | ARMv8 |
| Codename | Coffee Lake | Apple M2 |
| Model number | i9-9980HK | - |
| Integrated GPU | UHD Graphics 630 | Apple M2 Max GPU (38-core) |
| Successor | - Intel Core i9 13900HK | - Apple M5 Max (40-сore GPU) |
CPU
| P-Cores | 8 | 8 |
| P-Threads | 16 | 8 |
| Base Frequency (P) | 2.4 GHz | 3.5 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 5 GHz | - |
| E-Cores | - | 4 |
| E-Threads | - | 4 |
| Base Frequency (E) | - | 2.4 GHz |
| Total Cores | 8 | 12 |
| Total Threads | 16 | 12 |
| Multiplier | 24x | 35x |
| Bus Bandwidth | 8 GT/s | - |
| L1 Cache | 64K (per core) | 192K (per core) |
| L2 Cache | 256K (per core) | 32MB (shared) |
| L3 Cache | 16MB (shared) | - |
| Unlocked Multiplier | Yes | No |
Package
| Transistors | - | 67 billions |
| Fabrication Process | 14 nm | 5 nm |
| TDP (PL1) | 45 W | 50 W |
| Socket | BGA-1440 | Apple M-Socket |
| Peak Temperature | 100°C | 100°C |
Laptop processors ranking (#64th place)
iGPU
| Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | Apple M2 Max GPU (38-core) |
| GPU Base Clock | 350 MHz | 450 MHz |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1250 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| Shading Units | 192 | 4864 |
| TMUs | 24 | 304 |
| ROPs | 3 | 152 |
| Execution Units | 24 | 608 |
| TGP | 15 W | 70 W |
iGPU FLOPS
Memory Support
| Memory Types | - DDR4-2666 - LPDDR3-2133 |
- LPDDR5-6400 |
| Max. Memory Size | 128 GB | 96 GB |
| Memory Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 41.8 GB/s | 409.6 GB/s |
| ECC Support | No | No |
Misc
| Official Site | Intel Core i9 9980HK official page | - |
| PCI Express Version | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| PCI Express Lanes | 16 | - |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 31