Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus vs Apple M4 Ultra
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99
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We compared two CPUs: the 2.7 GHz Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (laptop) with 24-cores against the 4.52 GHz Apple M4 Ultra (desktop) with 32-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.
Please note that the tests on the Apple M4 Ultra are done on an engineering sample provided by our insiders. The data will be more accurate after the final version of this CPU is available.
Key Differences
Advantages of Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
- Unlocked multiplier
- Newer - released 8 months later
- Supports up to 256 GB DDR5-6400 RAM
Advantages of Apple M4 Ultra
- More powerful Apple M4 Ultra GPU (80-core) integrated graphics: 32.3 vs 2 TFLOPS
- Around 949.6 GB/s (927%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
- Has 8 more physical cores
- 27% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 4062 vs 3198 points
Test in Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasksCinebench
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
| Cinebench 2026 (Single) | 588 | - |
| Cinebench 2026 (Multi) | 9708 | - |
Cinebench Scores (#8th place)
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
| File compression | 1660 MB/sec | - |
| Clang compilation | 217.2 Klines/sec | - |
| HTML 5 Browser | 495.3 pages/sec | - |
| PDF Renderer | 584.4 Mpixels/sec | - |
| Text processing | 342.8 pages/sec | - |
| Background blur | 84 images/sec | - |
| Photo processing | 160.2 images/sec | - |
| Ray tracing | 46.4 Mpixels/sec | - |
PassMark
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
| Integer math | 165.3 GOps/sec | - |
| Floating point math | 201.5 GOps/sec | - |
| Find prime numbers | 514M Primes/sec | - |
| Random string sorting | 80M Strings/sec | - |
| Data encryption | 50 GBytes/sec | - |
| Data compression | 656.5 MBytes/sec | - |
| Physics | 3361 Frames/sec | - |
| Extended instructions | 51B Matrices/sec | - |
Performance Per Watt
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 44.2 PPW | - |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 392.4 PPW | - |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 1077.7 PPW | - |
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and Apple M4 UltraGeneral
| Vendor | Intel | Apple |
| Released | January 17, 2026 | May 1, 2025 |
| Type | Laptop | Desktop |
| Instruction Set | x86-64 | ARMv9 |
| Codename | Arrow Lake | Apple M4 |
| Model number | 290HX+ | - |
| Integrated GPU | Arc Graphics (4-Cores) | Apple M4 Ultra GPU (80-core) |
Intel CPU rating (#4th place)
CPU
| P-Cores | 8 | 24 |
| P-Threads | 8 | 24 |
| Base Frequency (P) | 2.7 GHz | 4.52 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 5.5 GHz | - |
| E-Cores | 16 | 8 |
| E-Threads | 16 | 8 |
| Base Frequency (E) | 1.8 GHz | 2.89 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (E) | 4.7 GHz | - |
| Total Cores | 24 | 32 |
| Total Threads | 24 | 32 |
| Bus Frequency | 100 MHz | - |
| Multiplier | 27x | 45x |
| L1 Cache | 192K (per core) | - |
| L2 Cache | 3MB (per core) | - |
| L3 Cache | 36MB (shared) | - |
| Unlocked Multiplier | Yes | No |
Package
| Fabrication Process | 3 nm | 3 nm |
| TDP (PL1) | 45-55 W (configurable) | - |
| Max. Boost TDP (PL2) | 160 W | - |
| Socket | FCBGA-2114 | Apple M-Socket |
| Peak Temperature | 105°C | 100°C |
Laptop processors ranking (#11th place)
iGPU
| Integrated Graphics | Arc Graphics (4-Cores) | Apple M4 Ultra GPU (80-core) |
| GPU Base Clock | 300 MHz | 500 MHz |
| GPU Boost Clock | 2000 MHz | 1578 MHz |
| Shading Units | 512 | 10240 |
| TMUs | 32 | 640 |
| ROPs | 16 | 320 |
| Execution Units | 64 | 1280 |
| TGP | 14 W | 120 W |
iGPU FLOPS
Memory Support
| Memory Types | - DDR5-6400 | - LPDDR5X-8533 |
| Max. Memory Size | 256 GB | 192 GB |
| Memory Channels | 2 | 64 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 102.4 GB/s | 1052 GB/s |
| ECC Support | No | No |
Misc
| Official Site | Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus official page | - |
| PCI Express Version | 5.0 | - |
| PCI Express Lanes | 24 | - |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 8