Apple revealed a new generation of its custom Arm-based silicon earlier this year, but took the unusual step of launching the M4 first on a new iPad Pro model. This move was emblematic of Apple's shift toward mobile and touch computing versus its legacy laptop business, but the MacBook Pro won't be left in the lurch. The upcoming M4-powered machine has appeared on Geekbench and yes, it is very fast.
The M4 is built on TSMC's 3nm process node, which remains the most advanced currently available. The chip has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, which has the same design as the M3. However, the updated instruction set and more power-efficient design should make it moderately faster. There is also an improvement neural processing unit (NPU) as one would expect in the age of AI. Apple says the NPU can manages an impressive 38 TOPS.
The newly revealed benchmark doesn't touch AI cores: it's the standard Geekbench test of CPU and GPU performance. However, the wide use of that benchmark makes it easier to compare the M4's capabilities.
The MacBook Pro M4 pull down 3864/15288 for the single/multi-core CPU test and 38153 for the OpenCL GPU test. If we compare that to the MacBook Pro M3, the single-core speed increases by about 25% and the multi-core speed is 32% higher. GPU calculation is comparative evaluation about 25% more in this test for the new chip; However, it's unclear whether that computing boost will make games faster. MacBook numbers are slightly higher than iPad M4 numberspossibly due to a better thermal solution.
Credit: Primate Laboratories
Microsoft has tried on and off for years to make Arm-based Windows laptops work, but Apple one-upped it when it announced the M1 chip in 2020. The decision to leave x86 behind has been a success for Apple, which boasts a larger battery life. duration and greater efficiency. multithreaded workloads than competing machines. Qualcomm now offers the first viable Arm processors for Windows machines, and both Intel and AMD are working to manufacture their x86 chips. more efficient and AI expert.
While the M4 leak numbers are a bit higher, there is more to come. We also expect to see the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips when Apple launches the new MacBook Pros. In past generations, the Pro and Max chips offered more capabilities and much higher speeds. This shift in silicon will continue to reshape the industry as computing priorities shift, but Apple's lead may not hold forever.
