Let’s first start with the Cinebench R23 Single-Core Score. Some of the early Intel i7 (11th Gen) samples offer a high of 1502 on the Single Core score, but we have seen the retail units struggling to stay around 1400+ on the R23 with the i7 processors.
On the other hand, the Apple M1 scores close to 1493, and the AMD Ryzen 4800U is at 1235. The Ryzen 4900Hs has an impressive 1284 score, and the Ryzen 4800H has a 1235 score.,
For the multi-core score, the AMD Ryzen 4000 series is the best and offers incredible performance. The Ryzen 4800H and the Ryzen 4900Hs both offer above 10,000 in the Multi-Core score. Apple M1 scores 7634 that is actually faster than the 10th Gen 45 Watts Intel 10750H.
In the GeekBench 5, the Apple M1 is the fastest processor and has a 1733 score. Intel 11th Gen has a 1423 score, and the Ryzen 4000 is really struggling to keep up with both Intel 11th Gen and the Apple M1.
Notably, AMD has made huge gains in the Single-Core performance with the desktop Ryzen 5000 series processors and has bridged the gap with Intel. I am sure when they will launch the Ryzen 5000 series for laptops, it will have excellent single-core performance. It may not match the Apple M1 but will be close to the Intel 11th Gen
In the Geekbench Multi-Core test, the Apple M1 shines with a score of 7432 and is even better than the 8 Core Ryzen 4800H and the Intel Core i9 9980H
There is no comparison with Ryzen 4000 series or Intel Processor-based laptops when it comes to video editing. Notable, it is mostly due to the optimization of the video editing software.
The Adobe Premiere Pro that many creators use for Windows-based machines is a resource hog and needs a huge amount of Ram (32 GB) to work at optimal speed, and the cost of such laptops is usually higher than the new MacBook 13 inch. Even with a lot of hardware muscle, the Premiere Pro runs sluggishly with 4K editing, especially with Luts, Transitions, and Text effects.
Battery Life and TDP
Consider the Apple M1 consumes insanely low energy than the rivals and still able to outperform most of the Intel and Ryzen chips in either Single-Core or the Multi-core performance.
The Apple M1 is an incredible chip and with unified memory, low TDP (10 Watts), and 8 Core Graphics card. It is not ideal for gaming but is insanely fast in Apps that are optimized for the ARM architecture.
AMD is great with the multi-core performance but lags when it comes to integrated graphics performance or the Single-Core performance. We can have better graphics using a dedicated GPU with AMD Notebooks but single-core performance is not at par.
Again a small form factor machine like the MacBook Air will be hard to make either AMD or Intel solutions with similar performance.
Considering that it is manufactured on the 5 Nm node it will take time for both AMD and Intel to match the performance. Also, Apple is known for optimizing their software and hardware to offer unmatched performance.
Undoubtedly, the Apple M1 will raise the bar for the processor industry to move ahead and launch more powerful laptop and desktop processors and graphics cards.